Tag - aid

 
 

AID

A damaged sign at the headquarters of UNRWA following an Israeli raid in Gaza City on July 12
WORLD
Oct 29, 2024
Israel bans U.N. aid agency as its tanks trap 100,000 civilians in north Gaza
The law banning the U.N. relief agency UNRWA from operating inside Israel alarms some Western allies who fear it will worsen the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
A man who works for a restaurant consults a social welfare council official in Tokyo about COVID-19 relief loans in June 2020.
JAPAN
Oct 23, 2024
Welfare councils loaned ¥1.4 billion in COVID relief to ineligible borrowers
Individuals who were receiving welfare support were ineligible for the loans because they are already guaranteed a minimum standard of living.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency is responsible for most of Japan's overseas aid known as official development assistance.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 16, 2024
JICA staffer suspected of leaking info on Philippines railway project
The employee is thought to have intended to secure a contractor in advance to prevent delays to the ¥38.1 billion project.
Independence Square in central Kyiv
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2024
World Bank board approves new Ukraine fund, sources say
The fund will help fulfill a pledge by Group of Seven rich democracies to provide Ukraine with up to $50 billion in additional funding by the end of the year.
Dul Saroth (left) and Soeum Samrach, deminers with the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority, practice using the Advanced Landmine Imaging System in Cambodia’s Siem Reap province in August.
JAPAN / Longform
Oct 7, 2024
The Japanese tech that could one day make Southeast Asia landmine-free
The Advanced Landmine Imaging System being tested in Cambodia promises to speed up landmine clearance work and save lives.
A protest against the Taliban’s decision to cancel the return of high school-aged girls to school in Kabul in 2022. Women and girls are banned from education in Afghanistan beyond the sixth grade.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024
Japan shouldn’t work with the Taliban, not even to build schools
Japan's development aid to Afghanistan strengthens the Taliban. Instead, Tokyo should support those, like exiled Afghans, who defend democracy and human rights.
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in the northern Gaza Strip on Sept. 11.
WORLD
Oct 3, 2024
New Israeli rules slowing flow of food aid into Gaza, sources say
The number of trucks carrying food and other goods into Gaza fell to around 130 per day on average in September, far off the 600 trucks a day required to prevent famine.
The world's multilateral development banks must shift to a growth-focused approach that stabilizes economies without forcing them to cut essential public spending.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 27, 2024
The world needs bigger and better financial firefighters
The world's multilateral development banks must shift to a growth-focused approach that stabilizes economies without forcing them to cut essential public spending.
One problem with Japan’s investments in African infrastructure compared to other countries is that its projects often lack long-term sustainability and alignment with local development plans, limiting their impact. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2024
Is Japan’s involvement in Africa’s development outdated?
Japan's traditional aid approach is seen as too transactional and insufficiently addressing Africa's broader development challenges.
Damaged buildings in the Mellah, or Jewish quarter of Marrakech, Morocco, in October 2023, in the aftermath of a deadly earthquake the previous month.
WORLD / Society
Sep 5, 2024
One year on, Morocco's quake victims still wait for homes
The 6.8 magnitude quake killed more than 2,900 people and damaged vital infrastructure.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa attends a new conference for the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) Ministerial Meeting in Tokyo on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 3, 2024
Africa's rising importance for Japan’s Indo-Pacific goals
Africa is becoming an increasingly important element of Japanese FOIP strategy. It is a work in progress, but it is proceeding.
The Foreign Ministry in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 30, 2024
Japan's Foreign Ministry seeks ¥66.2 billion to fight false info
The total amount of funds sought in the budget request for fiscal 2025 is ¥814.6 billion, up 12.3% from the initial budget for the previous year.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a summit seeking peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad, Switzerland, on June 15.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024
Kamala Harris must correct America's Ukraine policy
The war in Ukraine could be a boon for Harris, but she must correct Biden’s mistakes and provide the additional resources Ukraine needs to defeat Russia.
A Palestinian man rides a bicycle past a damaged vehicle in which employees from the World Central Kitchen were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on April 2. The Israeli military said it is conducting a thorough review to understand the circumstances of the "tragic" incident, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2024
U.N. warns of 'unacceptable' level of violence against aid workers
The world body warns that the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip is potentially fueling even higher numbers of such deaths this year.
A meeting of the Lao-Lao liquor cooperative held in the village of Xai in Attapeu Province in June.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 19, 2024
Co-op Okinawa nurtures Laos farmers' cooperatives to encourage growth
By setting up cooperatives, farmers can prevent unfavorable price negotiations by sharing information with one another.
A Palestinian mourns those killed in Israeli strikes, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024
Extreme heat poses new challenge for aid agencies in Gaza
Aid trucks in Gaza often spend hours under the sun waiting for clearance due to Israeli restrictions.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is set to visit Kazakhstan later this month to meet with regional leaders in central Asia.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024
Kishida to announce Central Asia aid package
Kishida is scheduled to visit Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Mongolia from August 9 to 12.
Traditional soap cakes are manufactured in Aleppo in northern Syria in February.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 31, 2024
Japanese importer fights to preserve traditional Aleppo soap
It is said that Aleppo has upheld the tradition of soapmaking for approximately 1,000 years, using olive and laurel oil with alkali made from charcoaled desert shrubs.
Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024
Japanese ambassador to Ukraine urges continuing of aid
Kuninori Matsuda said that Japan should not feel that it has no direct stake in the conflict, as Ukrainian aid helps protect the international order.
A man with a whip tries to control a crowd of Sudanese refugees waiting to receive food at an impromptu aid distribution on the outskirts of a refugee camp in Adre, Chad, on July 8. As starvation spreads in Sudan, its military is blocking the United Nations from bringing food into the country via the most straightforward route.
WORLD
Jul 29, 2024
As starvation spreads in Sudan, military blocks aid trucks at border
Distrust and the loss of border control is hindering delivery of food by the United Nations via the most straightforward route.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go