Search - i

 
 
Koichi Hagiuda (left), the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s former policy chief, has been questioned by Tokyo prosecutors over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Prosecutors question former LDP policy chief over funds scandal

Koichi Hagiuda has become the latest veteran lawmaker to be questioned on a voluntary basis over the political funds scandal.
Liverpool's Darwin Nunez in action against Burnley on Tuesday. Nunez notched his eighth goal of the season and first since Nov. 1 in the team's 2-0 win.
SOCCER
Dec 27, 2023

Liverpool moves into first as Darwin Nunez ends drought

Elsewhere, Rasmus Hojlund broke his own barren run to cap Manchester United's thrilling fightback to beat Aston Villa 3-2 on Tuesday.
An image from Dec. 9 appears to show the Russian container ship Angara, sanctioned by the U.S., unloading cargo at Najin port while containers from North Korea await loading at an adjacent pier.
WORLD
Dec 27, 2023

Ghost ships at reawakened North Korea port put Ukraine in peril

The vessels are suspected to be delivering arms to Russia that eventually make their way to the frontlines of Vladimir Putin's invasion.
Iraqi security forces' stationed in Baghdad's Tahrir Square following U.S. air strikes on Tuesday
WORLD
Dec 27, 2023

Houthi attacks and U.S. strikes raise risk of wider Middle East war

The number of nonstate groups and the unpredictability of actions by Israel and Iran makes it difficult to forecast when incidents might escalate.
Watanabe has made shapes of (from left) a monkey, an elephant and a giraffe by folding oak leaves with his hands.
CULTURE / Art / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 8, 2024

Kumamoto artist embodies re-evaluation of 'outsider art’ in Japan

Dubbed a "genius autistic paper cutout artist," Yoshihiro Watanabe's works are now being alongside those by trained artists.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi took office on Dec. 14 after his predecessor quit over a political funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi vows to tackle distrust

Hayashi, who took office after his predecessor quit over a funding scandal, says revising the relevant law is related to freedom of political activity.
A Ukrainian soldier looks out from a tank as he holds his position near to the town of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Dec. 13.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023

The battles Ukraine has already won

Many of the nation's key victories began long before Russia’s latest assault.
Surgeon Paolo Titolo speaks with health care worker Marcello Gaviglio, 55, who underwent a nerve transplant from his amputated foot in an effort to restore movement in his paralyzed hand in the city of Turin, Italy, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 28, 2023

Italian man undergoes nerve transfer from amputated leg to hand

The man suffered serious injuries to his brachial plexus, which connects to the spinal cord, leaving him unable to use either of his hands.
As Japan’s borders opened back up and tourists eager to document their long-awaited trips to the country streamed back in, 2023 saw a handful of prominent content creators stir up trouble with local residents to grab attention online.
LIFE / Digital / 2023 in Review
Dec 29, 2023

Social media binged on bad behavior in 2023

Mischief makers like Johnny Somali and "sushi terrorism" instigators gained attention online amid a deluge of Japan-related content this year.
Fighters of the Wagner private mercenary group, many of whom were recruited from prisons, are deployed in June near the city of Rostov-on-Don, Russia.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2023

Vladimir Putin’s killer patriotism

Pardoning violent convicts to get more soldiers onto the battlefield is not desirable, but for Putin, the alternative would be even worse.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 29, 2023

After breakthrough talks, China's military slams U.S. for 'meddling'

U.S. officials had hoped last week's talks between U.S. Gen. Charles Brown and China's Gen. Liu Zhenli could herald a restoration in military ties.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda gives a news conference after a policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 31, 2023

BOJ likely to finally seek normalization 2024

A turn in Japan's economic tide is in view as the Bank of Japan signals readiness to wind down its aggressive monetary stimulus.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son speaks at the SoftBank World 2023 corporate conference in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2023

Will generative AI speed up Japan's digital transformation?

An initially cautious attitude has given way to wider acceptance in the public and private sectors, providing a boost to digitalization efforts.
The entrance lobby of Accor's Mercure Tokyo Hibiya, which recently opened in the capital
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2024

Backed by tourism potential, hotels keen to cultivate Japanese market

Because Japan was slow to reopen its borders, there appears to be robust, pent-up demand to visit the country.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida makes a toast with Indonesian President Joko Widodo at a Japan-ASEAN luncheon meeting at the Japan Business Federation in Tokyo on Dec. 18. Kishida’s chance of reelection in the LDP presidential race in September will largely depend on his administration’s response to the current funding scandal and its entanglement in it.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2023

Scandal, economic policy and LDP race to weigh on Kishida in 2024

How he balances all three will determine whether he keeps his job as LDP party president and, by extension, prime minister.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump campaigns in Waterloo, Iowa, on Dec. 19.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 30, 2023

Trump ballot fights put pressure on Supreme Court to act soon

The case would be unprecedented and brings Trump’s conduct after losing the 2020 election back to the forefront of his likely 2024 rematch with Biden.
A Khudi Bari tiny home in Char Shildaha, Bangladesh
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2023

Bangladesh's tiny houses tackle giant flood challenge

The Khudi Bari — resilient tiny homes made on bamboo stilts rising out of the floodwaters that are also easy to move to safer locations when needed — offers hope to millions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during a military parade in October 2019
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 31, 2023

Sweeping Chinese military purge exposes weakness and could widen

China's top lawmakers ousted nine senior military officers from the national legislative body on Friday, state media reported.
A warship at a joint naval exercise between the Iranian, Chinese and Russian navies in the northern Indian Ocean in January 2022. Iran's Alborz destroyer has entered the Red Sea, a region where Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi rebels have been conducting attacks on merchant vessels.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Iranian warship enters Red Sea

News agency in Tehran did not specify reason for vessel's deployment but maintained that Iran's military had operated in the region since 2009.
A consumer market in New Delhi on Dec. 12, 2023. Long-term investment in India by businesses is stagnant, and foreign money is falling, even as the government is driving growth with infrastructure spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 2, 2024

India is chasing China’s economy. Something is holding it back.

While money is flying into India’s stock markets, long-term investment from overseas has been declining.
Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns on science.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2024

Let’s stop insulting each other as ‘anti-science’

Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns in science.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Netanyahu boxed in by fierce pressure over war, politics and budget

Whether his government will survive 2024 is a renewed topic of debate that will now play out against the backdrop of war.
An aerial view shows the burnt Japan Airlines Airbus A350 plane after a collision with a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda Airport in Tokyo
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Japan Coast Guard plane not cleared for takeoff before collision: transcripts

Transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines passenger plane had been given permission to land.
A Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane burns on the tarmac at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Runway safety concerns in focus as Japan probes Tokyo crash

The collision of two airplanes at Haneda Airport comes just weeks after the global airline industry heard fresh warnings about runway safety.
Books published by Tuttle Publishing on a bookshelf in Infinity Books in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Saturday
CULTURE / Books
Jan 3, 2024

Asia publishing mainstay Tuttle rides new wave of interest in Japan

The back catalog of Tuttle, which traces its history in Japan to 1948, is in high demand, and it has even branched out to graphic novel versions of classic Asian literature.
Protesters rally to denounce the Israeli government's judicial overhaul in Jerusalem on March 27. The Jan. 1 decision by the Israeli Supreme Court to reject legislative control over the judiciary displayed anew the cultural war at the heart of Israeli politics.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

The twin fronts in the battle over Israel’s identity

Protests over the efforts to diminish the courts deeply divided Israel, but the subsequent war united it.
Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich stands inside an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing on espionage charges in Moscow on Oct. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2024

Remember the world’s political prisoners. One could be you.

Hostage diplomacy and arbitrary arrests by autocratic governments are a growing threat.
A man inspects what remains of his liquor shop which was burnt down by a fire, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2024

Death toll rises in Ishikawa as rescue effort continues amid poor weather

Rain and snow might lead to landslides where the ground is loose as a result of continuing quakes.
A South Korean soldier stands guard at the Joint Security Area in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas on Feb. 7, 2023. Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a stalemate, both nations have had policies that treat each other differently than other countries.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

In threatening shift, Pyongyang moves to redefine relations with Seoul

Changes to North Korean policy and government organizations effectively treat South Korea as a separate, enemy state.
Authorities examine the burned wreckage of a Japan Airlines passenger plane at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2024

Details emerge about moments before deadly Haneda Airport collision

Key questions remain unanswered as transcript sheds light on communications between control tower and the two jets involved in the accident.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?