Search - 2022

 
 
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma carries teammate Kylian Mbappe after their win over Lyon in the French Cup final in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France, on Saturday.
SOCCER
May 27, 2024

PSG prepares for life without superstar Kylian Mbappe

The France captain brought the curtain down on his seven-year spell at PSG in a 2-1 win over Lyon in the French Cup final.
Red Square in Moscow on Oct. 17, 2022. Russian military intelligence, the G.R.U., is behind arson attacks aimed at undermining support for Ukraine’s war effort, security officials say.
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2024

Russia steps up a covert sabotage campaign aimed at Europe

British and other European diplomats have been pressing countries to call out Russian covert operations more aggressively.
A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024

Government and society are at odds on national security

Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.
Shipping containers at the port in Ningbo, China, March 27, 2024. The U.S. and Europe are trying to catch up to China’s lead in industrial policy, a rival skilled in using all the levers of government and banking to dominate global manufacturing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 28, 2024

How China pulled so far ahead on industrial policy

In 2022, Beijing accounted for 85% of all clean-energy manufacturing investment in the world, according to the International Energy Agency.
Counterfeit nail products branded with the logo of Louis Vuitton
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2024

Aichi woman referred to prosecutors for selling counterfeit nail products

She allegedly sold nail products bearing the logos of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton and Chanel via social media and flea market apps.
Osaka Metropolitan University
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2024

Man arrested for stealing sodium cyanide from Osaka lab

The suspect has admitted to the allegations against him, saying that he stole the poisonous compound to kill his father.
Protestors rally against capital punishment in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in June 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 29, 2024

Number of executions in 2023 highest in nearly a decade, Amnesty says

The 1,153 known executions that took place last year were the most recorded by the global rights monitor since 2015.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda during a news conference in Nagoya in January
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Toyota investors urged to vote against founding family chair

The recommendations come ahead of Toyota’s annual shareholders meeting scheduled for June 18 at its headquarters in the city of Toyota in Aichi Prefecture.
Notwithstanding the increase in EV sales, there are now more cars than ever powered by internal-combustion engines.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2024

Nevermind those EVs — oil demand keeps growing

The oil bulls still have reason to worry: With OPEC+ trying to keep prices as close as possible to $100 a barrel, non-OPEC supply, including from biofuels, keeps surging.
A professional single from Tokyo follows a deaf photographer to rural Hokkaido in Toshihiko Tanaka’s directorial debut, “Rei.”
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2024

'Rei': An imperfect yet compelling directorial debut

Toshihiko Tanaka’s Rotterdam prizewinner is a flawed but oddly engrossing epic.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman (right) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh on Dec. 8, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Xi lays out vision for greater cooperation with Arab states

China has been stepping up its diplomatic efforts in the Middle East in recent years to win new allies in its global contest for influence with the U.S.
While the recent trilateral summit between Japan, South Korea and China in Seoul was aimed at restarting dialogue, it yielded minimal concrete outcomes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 30, 2024

Lessons from the Japan-South Korea-China summit

The underlying force driving the trilateral summit — which yielded little in substance — is the fact that Beijing needed these talks more than Tokyo and Seoul.
As the world marks World No Tobacco Day on Friday, debate is growing over passive smoking in one crucial space that remains unregulated: private homes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 30, 2024

In Japan, neighborly debates light up over secondhand smoke

Passive smoking has become a concern because many people live in multiunit apartment buildings or small houses with little space between them.
A bid-rigging case represents the first time the Japan Fair Trade Commission has issued a cease-and-desist order order over a project related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2024

FTC issues cease-and-desist orders to JTB and other travel agencies

It is the first time the antitrust watchdog has issued such an order over a project related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday. According to four U.S. officials, Biden has quietly authorized Ukraine to use U.S.-supplied weapons against military targets inside Russia.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2024

Biden allows Ukraine limited use of U.S. arms to strike inside Russia

Revelation by U.S. officials marks a policy shift by Biden, who had refused to allow Ukraine to use U.S. weaponry for strikes inside Russia.
U.S. soldiers participate in a joint exercise conducted for South Korean and U.S. soldiers in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi province, South Korea, on March 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

China's military drills 'remain underdeveloped' amid regional tensions

Noting the U.S. military may eventually lose its edge over China in the region, a new study says China is challenged by a lack of combat experience.
A residential development under construction in Shanghai in February. Problems in the property sector have had a negative impact across broad areas of China's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 31, 2024

China's factory activity unexpectedly dips as property pain persists

The disappointing number adds to a series of recent indicators showing the $18.6 trillion economy is struggling to get back on its feet.
Tomohide Miyata, who became Eneos Holding's CEO in April
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2024

Eneos seeks female directors in wake of harassment scandals

Japan's top oil refiner has nominated four women and seven outside directors to be elected by shareholders to a smaller 10-seat board.
Whether you get your goosebumps from horror movies, the dark or even historical battle sites, there are lots of ways to express fear in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 31, 2024

Using intransitive verbs to make Japanese ghost stories extra spooky

Since intransitive verbs don't need to take a subject, they are best at describing things that happen of their own accord.
Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun (center) arrives with his delegation for a bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the 21st Shangri-La Dialogue summit at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs agree on importance of military talks

The meeting marked the first face-to-face talks by the U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs in 18 months.
Completed in 1889, the original Yebisu brewery finally has a worthy successor in the neighborhood that still bears the beer's name.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 1, 2024

A new brew for Ebisu, the town that beer made

Ebisu and its beer are unique among communities with drinking histories. Here, the beer named the town.
The Supreme Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. This case will mark the first time for the Supreme Court to rule on a parent-child relationship in a case in which the biological father has a child after transitioning to a woman.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2024

Top court to rule on recognizing post-transition woman as parent

The Tokyo Family Court rejected the woman's petition in 2022, stating that she did not fit the definitions of a father or a birth-giving mother under the Civil Code.
Local residents rush to get cold water at an ice factory in Jacobabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday. It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024

A matter of survival as South Asia’s heat wave reaches 52 degrees

It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
DMM Bitcoin said it would replace customers' lost bitcoin deposits with the help of other group companies.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 1, 2024

Japan's DMM Bitcoin says over ¥48 billion of cryptocurrency lost

It gave no details of how the incident occurred or whether an outside party had been involved, but said that it was investigating.
A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to fire a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops in May.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2024

Biden tip-toes deeper into Ukraine conflict with arms decision

Experts say the decision to relax some restrictions on Ukraine's use of U.S. weaponry inside Russia could help blunt Moscow's offensive.
Passenger carriers will receive 19% fewer aircraft this year than expected because of production issues at Boeing and Airbus, according to AeroDynamic Advisory.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2024

Aircraft shortages turn into cash bonanza for some airlines

Sale-and-leaseback transactions have long been a way for airlines globally to generate liquidity and ease the strain on their balance sheets.
South Korea's first openly gay legislator, Cha Hae-young
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024

'We exist': South Korea's first LGBTQ councilor tackles inclusion

Cha Hae-young was elected to the Mapo district council on June 1, 2022 — the same day as Seoul's annual LGBTQ Pride march.
Greek-flagged bulk cargo vessel Sea Champion is docked to the port of Aden, Yemen to which it arrived after being attacked in the Red Sea in what appears to have been a mistaken missile strike by Houthi militia, in February.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 1, 2024

How Red Sea disruptions are driving up carbon emissions

A surge of attacks on ships traveling the waters of the Red Sea is forcing shippers to reroute their vessels, driving up emissions.
Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2024

Japanese billionaire Maezawa cancels moon flyby mission

The team had originally aimed to make the circumlunar flight with celebrities on board by the end of last year.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik, meet on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan and South Korea agree to prevent repeat of 2018 naval row

The move to shelve long-standing political differences is seen as a significant step toward restoring bilateral defense and security cooperation.

Longform

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