Search - mobile

 
 
A North Korean prison policewoman stands guard at a jail on the banks of Yalu River near the Chongsong county of North Korea, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong, in May 2011.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 31, 2024

Dozens of North Koreans held for defecting 'vanish', says rights group

Of 113 people whose cases were examined in a study, more than 81% disappeared after being detained by the North's secret police.
Investigators of a joint task force set up in the wake of a series of robberies in the Kanto region attend a meeting at the Metropolitan Police Department in Tokyo on Oct. 18.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 1, 2024

College student who took job on dark web arrested for attempted robbery

The suspect said he thought he was taking on a delivery job, but instead he was forced to break into a house in western Tokyo.
Singtel uncovered the breach of its network after detecting suspicious data traffic in a core back-end router and finding what it believed was sophisticated, and possibly state-sponsored, malware on it, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Chinese group accused of hacking Singapore's Singtel in telecom attacks

The breach of Singtel, which has operations throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, was seen as a test run by China for further hacks against U.S. firms.
Rizwan Gondal, the head police officer in Rahim Yar Khan distric, says that his detectives have a dossier proving the "heinous criminal activities" of Pakistani gangster Shahid Lund Baloch, who broadcasts on TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram defiant messages delivered gun-in-hand, romanticizing his rural lifestyle and cultivating a reputation as a champion of the people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

TikTok bandits terrorize and transfix Pakistan riverlands

In riverine terrain in central Punjab that has long offered them refuge, bandits use the internet to enthrall citizens even as they prey on them.
Seven & I Holdings' 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2024

Seven & I is said to plan reducing stake in banking unit to 38%

The retailer’s 46% stake in Seven Bank could raise around ¥30 billion by the end of the current fiscal year in February.
Indian and Bangladeshi girls rescued from sexual exploitation stand near the window of a house provided by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kolkata on Sept. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024

Trafficked: The girls sold for sex in India

A 2023 U.S. report on trafficking said that India is making "significant efforts" but still falls below minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Dutch Police officers patrol on Dam Square in Amsterdam on Saturday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 10, 2024

The attacks on Israeli football fans in Amsterdam were unlike usual hooliganism

Supporters of Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv were targeted for beatings in the early hours of Friday following a match with Amsterdam's Ajax.
Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
BUSINESS / Longform
Nov 11, 2024

A boom for business tourism in Japan?

Japan’s MICE sector is expanding rapidly, adapting with tech upgrades, flexible venues and sustainable initiatives as the Osaka Expo approaches.
Tokyo police have arrested two more men on suspicion of attempted burglary in connection with a break-in in the city of Mitaka last month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 11, 2024

Two more suspects arrested over Tokyo home invasion case

Suspects Hayato Araki and Tsukuru Watanabe are said to have met at a convenience store in the city of Mitaka in western Tokyo roughly 30 minutes before the break-in.
For Seven Bank, greater independence from its parent Seven & I Holdings could lead to new growth opportunities.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2024

Seven Bank seeks to expand cash-machine network beyond 7-Elevens

Deconsolidation from Seven & I resulting from a reduction of its stake in Seven Bank would make such a scenario more possible.
Jensen Huang (left), co-founder and CEO of Nvidia, and Masayoshi Son, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group, during a fireside chat at the Nvidia AI Summit Japan on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 13, 2024

SoftBank plans first supercomputer with Nvidia Blackwell chips

Nvidia’s chips have become a prized commodity for the world’s biggest tech companies, which use the components to develop and run AI models.
Japan's economy expanded by an annualized 0.9% in the third quarter, data showed.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024

Japan’s economy beats consensus in boost for BOJ rate hike case

Gross domestic product expanded at an annualized pace of 0.9% in the three months through September from the prior period, a tad higher than the 0.7% consensus estimate.
A Metropolitan Police Department official offers a lecture on yami baito dark part-time jobs to high school students in Tokyo's Taito Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 17, 2024

Japan police helping people quit illegal part-time jobs

Police took protective steps for 46 such applicants in October and November, with more than half of them being young people.
A poster in the Tamil language advertises smartphone assembly roles outside a shop in Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, in India, on Oct. 28.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 18, 2024

Foxconn tells India recruiters: Nix marital status in iPhone job ads

The move follows an investigation published June 25 that found Foxconn excluded married women from jobs at its main India iPhone assembly plant.
The Bluesky social network has soared to one of the top positions in social network downloads in app stores in the past week since the U.S. election. The company reported a recent gain of 700,000 new users joining the social media platform, an alternative to X.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 18, 2024

How Bluesky, alternative to X and Facebook, is handling explosive growth

Bluesky’s meteoric growth underscores its role as a decentralized alternative to traditional social networks, prioritizing user control and developer creativity.
Huawei’s struggles reflect how years of U.S. sanctions have scored initial success at freezing Chinese technology advancements at current levels, and deprived its national champions of the chance to graduate to the next level.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 20, 2024

China’s chip advances stall as U.S. curbs hit Huawei AI product

Huawei's hurdle has implications for China's broader ambitions, suggesting the country will lag further behind the U.S. in 2025 when newer chips emerge.
YouTuber Genki Ichioka appears in a video produced by the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation (NITE). Since July, NITE and Ichioka have collaborated on videos on product safety awareness.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 20, 2024

NITE partners with YouTuber to reach younger audiences on product safety

The collaboration with Genki Ichioka, who has over a million subscribers on his channel, aims to raise awareness about the potential dangers of everyday products.
China’s recent breach of the innermost workings of the U.S. telecommunications system reached far deeper than the White House has described, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Thursday.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2024

China’s hacking reached deep into U.S. telecoms

Chinese activity in the past year has taken intrusions to a new level, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Thursday.
The National Consumer Affairs Center reports a growing number of consultations regarding "digital legacies" — data and online services left behind when people die.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 25, 2024

Are you leaving your loved ones digital legacies or headaches?

The National Consumer Affairs Center is getting an increasing number of consultations regarding data and online services left behind by deceased persons.
Taiwan celebrates with the trophy after beating Japan in the Premier12 final at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Nov 25, 2024

Taiwan celebrates after team's victory over Japan in Premier12 final

Taiwan is not a global sporting powerhouse but baseball is hugely popular.
Cardboard beds at a designated evacuation shelter in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31, following the Noto earthquake
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2024

Citing Noto quake, experts urge Japan to bolster disaster shelters

Key recommendations from a government task force include the provision of cardboard beds and adequate cooking and toilet facilities.
People line up to board a bus in the city of Kyoto. To ease heavy congestion caused by an influx of visitors, the Kyoto Municipal Government in June launched sightseeing express buses that run directly from Kyoto Station to major tourist attractions.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2024

Japan's local governments weigh implementing an accommodation tax

The number of visitors to Japan between January and September 2024 reached 26.88 million, setting a record-breaking pace.
Southern Lebanon near the country's border with Israel on Wednesday, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Hezbollah faces long recovery, with thousands of fighters believed killed

One source said the Iran-backed group may have lost up to 4,000 people — well over 10 times the number killed in its monthlong 2006 war with Israel.
Students look at their phones in Melbourne on Thursday as Australia looks to ban children under 16 from social media.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024

What countries do to regulate children's social media access

Here is what Australia, European countries, and tech companies have been doing to regulate children's access to social media.
Guards raise Taiwan's national flag on Democracy Boulevard at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

U.S. approves $385 million arms sale to Taiwan

The U.S. State Department has approved the potential sale of spare parts for F-16 jets and radars to the democratic island.
Ken Kutaragi, the creator of Sony's PlayStation, speaks at the annual Tokyo Game Show in the city of Chiba in September.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 2, 2024

Father of PlayStation says 'everyone told us we would fail'

With revolutionary 3D graphics and titles like "Tomb Raider" and "Metal Gear Solid," the device first hit shelves on Dec. 3, 1994.
FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem talks with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen before the Qatar Grand Prix in Doha on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 2, 2024

FIA president tells drivers to stick to racing amid questions about organization

In an interview ahead of the Qatar Grand Prix on Sunday, the Emirati suggested the drivers should stick to what they know best.
Rakuten Group is considering the sale of hybrid perpetual notes that can be called after five years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 2, 2024

Rakuten plans return to dollar bond market with hybrid notes

Rakuten’s liquidity has improved but an increased reliance on the dollar bond market may indicate weakened domestic funding access.
Kiyotaka Sato, the suspect, enters the Koganei Police Station in Koganei City, Tokyo, on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 3, 2024

Two indicted men rearrested on fresh Kokubunji robbery charges

The suspects had already been arrested and indicted for committing a house burglary and hurting a resident in Saitama Prefecture.
A fossil footprint in northern Kenya hypothesized to have been created by a Homo erectus individual, is seen in this photograph released on Nov. 28.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 3, 2024

Fossil footprints in Kenya show two ancient human species coexisted

The fossils provide the first evidence that Paranthropus boisei and Homo erectus shared the same landscape, literally crossing paths.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.