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China's Chang Yuan reacts after she beat Turkey's Hatice Akbas in the women's 54-kg gold-medal bout at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Aug 11, 2024

China's female boxers break through to reign at Paris Olympics

Women's boxing made its Olympic debut in 2012 and after some near-misses, China struck gold this past week with three titles in as many days at Roland Garros.
Ukrainian servicemen drive an infantry vehicle near the Russian border in the Sumy region on Saturday.
WORLD
Aug 11, 2024

Russia pushes back at Ukraine’s cross-border assault, but Kyiv presses on

The assault surprised both Moscow and Washington, as well as other Western partners and analysts who follow the war’s troop movements.
Palestinians survey the damage after an Israeli strike on a school where people were sheltering on Saturday in Gaza City.
WORLD
Aug 11, 2024

Israeli strikes on schools pose a life-or-death choice for civilians

Missile attacks on school grounds appear to reflect a shift in the Israeli military's strategy for driving Hamas out of Gaza.
Robert Read (second from left), an executive of the Captain Paul Watson Foundation, at a rally held in front of the the Embassy of Denmark in London last week
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2024

Japan will face condemnation if it convicts Sea Shepherd founder, ally says

Founder Paul Watson was placed on an international wanted list in 2010 on suspicion of obstructing Japan's research whaling. Last month, he was detained in Greenland.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024

Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom

For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Although markets can promote economic efficiency under the right conditions, there is no “invisible hand” to deliver solidarity, agency, material sufficiency and environmental sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2024

A new worldview for troubled times

The problem is not that humans are predominantly ignorant or evil. Most people abhor social discord, abject poverty and environmental destruction.
Fireworks during the closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis on Sunday
OLYMPICS
Aug 12, 2024

The Olympics, a triumph of ambition, lift France from its gloom

France came into the Games shaken by a political impasse. It will exit with those problems unsolved but with a new self-confidence.
A tourist picks up an aloha shirt at the Samurai Aloha store at Narita Airport in June.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Aug 12, 2024

Aloha shirts made from recycled kimono in Tohoku prove to be huge hit

The shirts, called Samurai Aloha, were launched in the hopes of helping the area recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake.
There are now more than a dozen apps aimed at helping users keep tabs on their individual emissions.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 12, 2024

Steps, calories … CO2? Emissions-tracking apps are on the rise

Carbon-tracking services walk a fine line between highlighting purchase emissions and suggesting individuals alone can solve the problem of climate change.
A prison van that is believed to carry media mogul Jimmy Lai, the founder of Apple Daily newspaper, leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts on the day of the national security trial, in Hong Kong on Dec. 18, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 12, 2024

Hong Kong court dismisses bid by media tycoon Jimmy Lai to overturn conviction

Lai, the founder of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, has been held in solitary confinement for more than three years since December 2020.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at a summit in Bangkok in November 2022. Despite Japan-China relations stagnating in recent years, Xi's administration presents some interesting opportunities for an overture between the two countries.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 12, 2024

Will Japan and China’s relations continue to stagnate?

Japan and China have historically been at odds and relations have stagnated. This pattern can be broken by seizing the moment, one that offers some key opportunities.
Members of the French police stand guard on the roof of Paris' commercial court prior to the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 12, 2024

French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics

The operation was like no other in recent French history, with the around 75,000 police, soldiers and private security guards mobilized on opening night.
U.S. President Donald Trump and SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on May 30, 2020
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 13, 2024

Musk scorns subsidies, but Tesla still lobbies for U.S. benefits

Despite Musk's gradual embrace of Trump, the company continues to lobby the U.S. and state governments for benefits championed by the Democratic Party.
Frederick Go, who advises the Philippine president on the economy, says Washington, Tokyo and Manila will prioritize five major projects in the Luzon Economic Corridor plan.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2024

U.S. and Japan reportedly keen on $15 billion Philippine projects

The Philippines is seeking to leverage stronger ties with the U.S. and its allies to help unlock economic benefits.
The destruction left behind by the Borel Fire near Lake Isabella, California, on July 29
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2024

Wildfires are getting weirder. Case in point: 'firenados.'

Sometimes fire thunderstorms even create their own lightning, which spawns new blazes miles away.
J-pop act Atarashii Gakko! is set to deliver a jubilant performance at Summer Sonic this weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 14, 2024

Summer Sonic bets on a more local lineup

The international music festival seeks to boost attendance figures with more domestic and Asian acts such as Atarashii Gakko!, Number_i and Creepy Nuts.
People walk past a banner with a picture of late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in a street in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Only Gaza cease-fire can delay Iran's Israel response, Iranian officials say

Iran, along with allies such as Hezbollah, could launch a direct attack if the Gaza talks fail or it perceives Israel is dragging out negotiations.
Ukrainian soldiers ride in armored personnel carriers near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Aug 14, 2024

Ukraine says it's advancing in Russia's Kursk region and hints at 'next steps'

Ukraine blindsided Moscow by pouring thousands of troops into the western Russian region of Kursk last week.
Manchester City players celebrate with the trophy after winning the Community Shield over Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday.
SOCCER
Aug 14, 2024

Time for Manchester City's case to resolve itself, says Premier League chief

City was charged in February last year with more than 100 alleged breaches of finance rules since the club's acquisition by the Abu Dhabi-City Football Group.
Paris Saint-Germain forward Goncalo Ramos (right) celebrates with teammates after scoring in a preseason friendly against Germany's RB Leipzig on Saturday.
SOCCER
Aug 14, 2024

Ligue 1 begins post-Mbappe era further weakened after TV rights fiasco

League grapples with a loss of star power as its TV deal falls further beyond other European leagues.
Philippine Defense Minister Gilberto Teodoro (right) speaks during a joint press conference with German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at a hotel in Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines, on Aug. 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Manila looks beyond Asia for defense support

Germany is the latest Western power to announce plans to deepen security ties with the Philippines amid Manila's escalating territorial disputes with China.
Students at the University of British Columbia during the first week of classes in Vancouver, Canada
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2024

Global immigration crackdown ensnares students studying abroad

Aggregate visa data for the first quarter of 2024 showed volumes to the U.K., Canada and Australia down between 20% and 30% from a year earlier.
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 leaves at the end of a news conference, in which he announced he is stepping down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida's shock announcement shakes already unsettled Japanese markets

The prime minister's decision to step down follows the Bank of Japan's surprise rate hike just two weeks earlier.
A Plug Power hydrogen plant in Woodbine, Georgia
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 14, 2024

Why almost nobody is buying green hydrogen

Many of the projects now touted with great fanfare by countries vying to become 'the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen' will likely never get built.
The only surprise about Ukraine's offensive into Russian territory is that it came so late into the war, and that’s primarily because of Western restrictions on the use of donated weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Want peace for Ukraine? Let it strike in Russia

The only surprise is that it came so late — 2½ years into President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
A ward for heatstroke patients at a hospital in Chennai, India, in May. The country experienced a severe heat wave over the spring and summer, raising concerns about the long-term impact of climate change-induced extreme heat on human health.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2024

Climate change: A health emergency in the making

Global warming's impact on health is an increasingly urgent issue — just look at excess deaths caused by extreme heat. But are health care systems well-equipped enough?
An ambitious high school student (Gordon Maeda) devotes all his waking hours to making art in “Blue Period,” Kentaro Hagiwara’s live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series of the same title.
CULTURE / Film
Aug 15, 2024

‘Blue Period’: Gordon Maeda paints a subtle picture of internal struggle

The actor’s performance as an ambitious student pursuing his dreams of being an artist is a highlight in this live-action adaptation of an ongoing manga series.
The chance of open civil unrest in the United States within the next year is low — just 2.9% — but is third highest among the Group of 20 major economies, according to the analysis.
WORLD / Society
Aug 15, 2024

Threat of U.S. civil unrest is low but rising, analysis finds

The U.S. trails only Turkey and Russia among the world’s biggest economies likeliest to see violent political turmoil in the next year.
Medical professionals and activists hold posters and candles as they take part in a midnight protest on Wednesday to condemn the rape and murder of a young medic in Kolkata. Indian doctors in government hospitals across several states halted elective services "indefinitely" on Monday in protest.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2024

Doctors' protests spread across India after rape and murder of medic

The gruesome attack on a trainee doctor last week has prompted thousands of women to march across Indian cities overnight as well as protests by fellow medics.

Longform

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