Tag - focus

 
 

FOCUS

HIF Global's Haru Oni clean hydrogen plant in Punta Arenas, Chile, last month
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / FOCUS
Oct 5, 2024
Latin America gears up for clean hydrogen boom but the road is not smooth
Government leaders expect a major boon for the region from clean hydrogen, produced using electricity from renewable sources that do not emit carbon.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani, 66, has experience as the onetime head of Japan’s former Defense Agency before it became a full-fledged ministry and is seen as a pair of steady hands.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024
Ishiba looks to 'defense tribe' to fill key Cabinet positions
The new prime minister has named four former defense ministers to key posts — most notably, the defense and foreign affairs portfolios.
Traders borrow in currencies where rates are low and put that money to work in economies where rates are high, pocketing the difference.
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Oct 2, 2024
Massive carry trade still lurks in the shadows and looms over markets
Trillions might remain, slightly different, less obvious and all but forgotten by a market eager to move on.
Japan's declining population has made it more difficult for convenience store operators to grow.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2024
Some 7-Eleven owners in Japan welcome foreign bid, hoping for change
Some franchisees are concerned about competition from rivals and say they are struggling with rising costs.
Shigeru Ishiba, newly elected leader of the Liberal Democratic Party, speaks at a news conference after winning the party's leadership election in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Ishiba's foreign policy vision to face immediate tests as he takes helm
The new Japanese leader will be greeted immediately with the challenge of reining in escalating regional tensions and building up the U.S. alliance.
Hezbollah fighters take part in a funeral procession for one of the movement's commanders who was killed in an Israeli strike, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Sep 29, 2024
Nasrallah's killing reveals depth of Israel's penetration of Hezbollah
The Hezbollah leader had been even more cautious than usual since the Sept. 17 pager blasts, out of concern Israel would try to kill him.
A photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping is displayed at the National Security Exhibition Gallery in Hong Kong on Monday. The 24-man Politburo led by Xi has recently unveiled a series of pro-growth goodies to help the country's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2024
Xi’s big stimulus week aims to draw a line under China slowdown
A recent barrage of policy announcements marked a sea change in Xi’s approach to managing China’s $18 trillion economy.
Economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, a candidate in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s presidential election, speaks during a debate in Tokyo on Sept. 14.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 25, 2024
Does Sanae Takaichi have a real shot at becoming Japan's first female leader?
After failing to win the party presidency in 2021, Takaichi is trying her luck once again — and this time her chances of winning seem better than before.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba reacts during a news conference ahead of the Liberal Democratic Party leadership election in Tokyo on Sept. 6.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2024
Why is Shigeru Ishiba so unpopular among his LDP peers?
The former defense minister is highly regarded among the public and local chapters of the ruling party, but it's a different story when it comes to LDP lawmakers.
Masahiko Uotani (third from left), head of Keidanren's diversity promotion committee, hands its proposal on a separate surname system for married couples to members of a lawmaker group focused on realizing such a system, in June.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 24, 2024
Japan's top business lobby group pushes for separate surnames option
In response to Keidanren's push, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party held internal discussions on the issue for the first time in about three years.
Warships and fighter jets of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy take part in a military display in the South China Sea in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Sep 21, 2024
U.S. leans on shipbuilding prowess of allies to compete with China
America’s shipbuilding industry has virtually collapsed over the last generation, raising concerns amid its rivalry with China.
Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates after a campaign event in Nagoya on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 18, 2024
LDP leader candidates split on separate surnames for married couples
While party conservatives worry about damaging family unity, others say it’s time to push through a legislative change.
Japan's new speed limit on narrow roads in residential areas will be set at 30 kph in September 2026.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2024
Raising awareness key to Japan's new residential road speed limit
Violations of the speed limits will be punished by up to six months' imprisonment or a fine not exceeding ¥100,000.
A supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump waves a flag reading “God, Guns and Trump” during a demonstration in support of the Republican presidential candidate in Huntington Beach, California, on July 14, a day after Trump was shot in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2024
'Bullets are flying': Divisive U.S. political rhetoric sees violence soar
In a neck-and-neck U.S. presidential election, tensions have soared along with the rhetoric.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike poses with Liberal Democratic Party members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on July 8, following her win for a third term in the gubernatorial election the previous day.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2024
After Tokyo governor poll, eyes turn to 2025 assembly election
Both the Liberal Democratic Party and the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan are under pressure to regroup ahead of the quadrennial metropolitan assembly election.
Sergei Kiriyenko, who is the first deputy head in Russian President Vladimir Putin’s administration, oversaw a yearslong Kremlin operation to meddle in U.S. elections and use disinformation to promote pro-Russian narratives online, according to a 277-page affidavit that U.S. officials unsealed Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 7, 2024
The evolution of Putin’s aide accused of gaming the U.S. election
The head of a Russian propaganda campaign that allegedly aimed to influence the upcoming U.S. elections began as a liberal politician.
Demand for electric vehicles in Japan has long been sluggish, and the government this year changed how EV subsidies are calculated, reducing them for BYD and several of its rivals, raising concerns about protectionism.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Sep 5, 2024
BYD's global expansion push runs into a stiff test in Japan
Demand for electric vehicles in Japan has long been sluggish, and the government this year changed how EV subsidies are calculated.
Michie Hino, 77, works at an elderly care home in Chiba Prefecture. She is one of a growing number of senior Japanese citizens working into their 70s.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 5, 2024
Working till your 70s — Japan's prospective gift to the world
A struggling pension system and the highest inflation in decades have led more Japanese people to delay retirement until their 70s or later to make ends meet.
Therapy dogs are brought in for correctional education at the Kakogawa Gakuen juvenile correctional facility in Hyogo Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Sep 3, 2024
Novel dog training program aids rehab at juvenile correctional facility
An official involved in the program highlighted its importance, saying, 'Interaction with animals plays a valuable role in the rehabilitation of juveniles.'
Job seekers crowd a job fair at Liberation Square in Shijiazhuang, China, in 2018.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Sep 2, 2024
New unproductive forces: the Chinese youth owning their unemployment
Urban youth unemployment for the roughly 100 million Chinese aged 16-24 spiked to 17.1% in July, a figure analysts say masks millions of rural unemployed.

Longform

Wozme, founded by dancer and choreographer Wakaba Kohei, is composed of Kana Kitty, Ami Ishii, Akane Watanabe and Natsuki. Its aim is to inject elegance and beauty, traits traditionally associated with femininity, into the sometimes grotesque art form of butoh dance.
Wozme, an all-women dance troupe, wants to move the needle in butoh