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Pakistan finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb in Islamabad on March 22
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024

Pakistan’s finance minister leaves behind banker's life and pay to fix economy

The country has Asia’s fastest inflation, anemic growth and one of the lowest tax-collection rates in the world.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol casts his ballot during early voting in parliamentary elections at a polling station in Busan, South Korea, on Friday, ahead of Election Day on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 9, 2024

South Korean parliamentary elections a political litmus test for Yoon

Wednesday's elections could have lasting implications for the final three years of President Yoon Suk-yeol’s single five-year term.
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway would be the first major non-financial overseas debt issuer to sell yen bonds after the Bank of Japan last month scrapped the world’s last negative interest rate.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 9, 2024

Berkshire plans to sell first yen bonds since BOJ move

The U.S. company last turned to the yen bond markets in November, with a ¥122 billion ($803 million) five-tranche deal.
Tiger Woods takes part in a practice round at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Apr 10, 2024

Defiant Woods sizing up a sixth Masters green jacket

Woods has always maintained he would never enter a tournament he did not believe he could win and stands by that even in the face of long odds.
Microsoft President Brad Smith
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2024

Microsoft to invest $2.9 billion to boost AI and cloud in Japan

The company will also open a lab in Japan focused on AI and robotics, while deepening its cybersecurity collaboration with the Japanese government.
A Boeing 787 Dreamliner lifts off at Paine Field in Everett, Washington.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 10, 2024

Boeing takes further blow after whistleblower alleges 787 ‘shortcuts’

Incorrect treatment of gaps between joined airframe segments could lead to "significant fatigue,” according to the former quality engineer.
The United States has repeatedly threatened sanctions if China takes substantial action to support Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

U.S. warns it will hold China accountable if Russia gains in Ukraine

Officials say Russian gains in Ukraine could alter the power of balance in Europe in "unacceptable" ways.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Myanmar junta slams U.N.'s 'one-sided' human rights claims

The junta has denounced allegations of a horrific human rights record as "unfounded."
The U.S. Coast Guard Legend-class maritime security cutter USCGC Bertholf pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii in June 2012.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

U.S. Coast Guard rebuts China's criticism of South Pacific vessel boardings

Last month six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law by local police on board a U.S. Coast Guard boat.
A demonstration in front of a Nagoya court in 2020 before the appeal trial for a father accused of sexually assaulting his 19-year-old daughter. Sexual violence remains a widespread problem in Japan and one affecting many young victims.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 10, 2024

Landmark sexual violence survey reveals shocking data

Sexual violence remains a huge problem in Japan. Despite recent legal reforms, much more needs to be done to prevent crimes and protect victims.
Two astronauts from Japan are set to take part in the Artemis program, a NASA-led effort to return astronauts to the moon.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2024

Japanese astronaut to be first non-American to set foot on moon

The offer to Japan came as part of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's state visit, and as Washington seeks to strengthen ties with a key ally.
Masato Kanda, vice finance minister for international affairs, says all options are on table after the yen fell past ¥153 to the dollar.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 11, 2024

Tokyo and Washington may be in sync, but the dollar-yen currency gap is growing

The yen slipped to its lowest level since 1990 — ¥153 against the dollar — while officials said they were examining their options.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol suffered a stinging defeat in Wednesday’s parliamentary election, hampering his conservative pro-business agenda.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

South Korea's Yoon becomes lame duck following election

The outcome at the polls effectively derailed Yoon Suk-yeol's pro-business goals for the next three years.
The U.S. Department of Commerce building in January 2022
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Firms aiding Chinese military to get AI chips now face blacklist

The companies are "involved with providing AI chips to China's military modernization programs"
Yayoi Kusama during a media preview of her exhibition at the David Zwirner gallery in New York in November 2013.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 11, 2024

Yayoi Kusama was the world’s top-selling artist last year

Sales from Kusama’s auctioned works totaled $80.9 million in 2023, moving her up from the second-highest selling artist in 2022.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets supporters during his roadshow ahead of the general elections, in Ghaziabad, India, on April 6.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

He once sold tea, but now India's Modi seeks his own 'tryst with destiny'

Modi has lofty ambitions for what could be his third and final term in office.
South Korea's ruling People Power Party's leader Han Dong-hoon (R) speaks during a press conference on the parliamentary election at the party's headquarters in Seoul on Thursday. Han resigned after his party was trounced by the opposition in parliamentary elections, leaving President Yoon Suk Yeol a lame duck for the remainder of his term.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Election rout makes Yoon's 'lame duck' fears reality

"I apologize to the people for failing to be chosen"
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson steel mill in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2024

How the U.S. Steel takeover became about Biden and swing states

The turmoil threatens to strain U.S. relations with Japan while underscoring how the politics of winning swing-state voters influences business.
People walk under flags of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Queen’s Road in Hong Kong in June 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Hong Kong court jails first dual national under Beijing's security law

Joseph John, a 41-year-old Portuguese citizen, has been denied bail for over 16 months since he was arrested and charged in November 2022.
Kobayashi Pharmaceutical's headquarters in Osaka
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 11, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma troubles reverberate in Taiwan as firm assists with recall

Taiwan is the only place outside of Japan to have seen reports of people falling ill after consuming the company's beni kōji.
Vasyl Vanzhurak, 24, sits in his home in the town of Verkhovyna, Ukraine, as his mother and younger brother help prepare dinner on March 22. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy probably changed the fates of thousands of Ukrainian men when he signed a law lowering the draft age to 25 from 27 this month.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

‘Waiting for my time to come’: Ukraine’s new draft law unsettles the young

Many of the young men who remain in Ukraine — although thousands of others have illegally fled the country — worry about their future.
Dustin Johnson has a lifetime exemption to the Masters after winning the tournament in 2020.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 11, 2024

Asian Tour remains an option for LIV stars in search of ranking points

The Asian Tour has entered into a growth cycle over the last three years, expanding to 24 tournaments.
Flights between China and the United States have emerged as a rare area of cooperation between the two countries, but U.S. airlines have expressed concern about the rapid pace of increasing flights.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Biden administration urged not to approve more China flights

U.S. airlines have expressed concern about the rapid pace of increasing flights.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reviews soldiers of the German armed forces in Berlin on Thursday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024

Between the U.S. and a hard place, Germany's Scholz reheats China ties

With Germany's economy slumping, the nation hopes to gain fairer access to China's markets despite promises to "de-risk" from them.
Masafumi Kurisaka shows off a box of luxury Sakura Momo Ichigo strawberries, which can fetch a hefty price at auction.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Apr 15, 2024

Masafumi Kurisaka: 'The fewer the flowers, the bigger the strawberry'

Masafumi Kurisaka turned his back on a corporate job to go into the family business: luxury strawberries that fetch a hefty price.
Health experts say the beni kōji supplement scandal should not be treated as a one-off incident. Instead, it should be seen as a cautionary tale about how such health food items could pose more risks than benefits.
JAPAN / Science & Health / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2024

Kobayashi Pharma’s slow response to scandal spotlights deeper issues

Health experts say the scandal should be seen as a cautionary tale, and not a one-off incident.
Sweden is known for its generous parental leave system, with parents allowed to share 480 days of leave per child and 90% of fathers taking such time off.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2024

Swedish-style paternity leave could unleash Japan’s potential

In Sweden, most new fathers take paternity leave, with direct benefits for the economy and families — an approach that holds important lessons for Japan.
A street vendor flees from gang violence in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

Haiti decrees long-awaited transition council, but questions remain

The long-delayed move is intended as a first step in restoring security to the gang-ravaged Caribbean country.
U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

It's inflation, stupid: Biden faces renewed election threat

The cost of living is rising more quickly again, just when he thought he had put the issue behind him to get a clear run at November's vote.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a tour of a new Toyota battery factory in Liberty, North Carolina, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

Kishida touts U.S. visit success, saying snap election not on his mind

The prime minister, who is due to fly back on Saturday, will be hoping the diplomatic success can translate into a bump in his low approval ratings.

Longform

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