Search - 2021

 
 
Barcelona players celebrate Ronald Araujo scoring the side's winning goal against Real Sociedad on Saturday in San Sebastian, Spain.
SOCCER
Nov 6, 2023

Inconsistent Barca target early Champions League progress

The Spanish champions can guarantee progress with a fourth consecutive victory in Group H.
China's dominance in the electric vehicle market has prompted the European Union to take action regarding economic security.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 7, 2023

How electric vehicles became subject to EU economic security

The bloc has felt the pressure from China in the EV market, leading it to take steps to better protect vehicles, batteries and materials.
Blackstone's headquarters in New York
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2023

Blackstone sees most Asia deal activity in Japan and India in 2024

The world’s largest alternative asset manager expects India and Japan to be its most active markets in Asia next year based on capital allocation.
Nobuhiro Torii, president of Suntory Spirits, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Oct. 27.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 6, 2023

Suntory to boost output as Japanese whisky sees global boom

Suntory Spirits has begun two-year renovations at its Yamazaki distillery in Osaka Prefecture and its Hakushu distillery in Yamanashi Prefecture.
Yogendra Puranik, the first person from India to win elected office in Japan, at the Indian cultural center he manages in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023

Japan needs Indian migrants. How can it attract them?

India can help fill the domestic labor gap, but for migrants to succeed, Japan must embrace a genuinely intercultural approach.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet, exits federal court in Washington on Oct. 30.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2023

Google's app store strategy bad for everyone, Epic says in court

Moves by Alphabet to thwart competition hurt developers and raise prices for consumers, the games firm said in opening statements.
WeWork sought U.S. bankruptcy protection on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2023

SoftBank's WeWork, once most valuable U.S. startup, goes bankrupt

The company reported estimated assets and liabilities ranging from $10 billion to $50 billion, according to a bankruptcy filing.
Plumes of smoke rise from a new isle after a recent volcano on Iwo Jima on Nov. 3.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 7, 2023

New isle emerges after underwater volcano erupts south of Tokyo

A recent undersea volcanic eruption has led to the formation of a new isle off the coast of Iwo Jima, about 1,200 kilometers south of Tokyo.
Students stand during a flag-lowering ceremony on the first day of the new academic year in Shanghai in 2021.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 8, 2023

China's private schools struggle amid COVID and regulatory woes

The sector stumbled after Beijing imposed new rules in 2021 and cracked down on the private tutoring business.
The McKinsey & Company logo at the 54th International Paris Airshow on June 21
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 8, 2023

Top consultancy undermining climate change fight: whistleblowers

Privately, the U.S.-based firm offers energy scenarios at odds with its public climate goals to the summit's decision-makers.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog's claim all Gazans are responsible for Hamas' actions ignores the iron grip the group has over the strip and how isolated its people are.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2023

No, Gazans can’t rise up against Hamas

Claiming all Gazans are responsible for Hamas' actions ignores the iron grip the group has over the strip and how isolated its people are.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend a news conference after visiting the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Australia’s Albanese to face anti-nuclear push at Pacific talks

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is beginning 24 hours of intensive meetings between the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum.
Staff at the Tokyo Legacy Half Marathon 2023 collect used paper cups after the event on Oct. 15.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 9, 2023

Japanese paper-makers pioneer domestic recycling of paper cups

Until now paper cups have typically been discarded as flammable waste, but are made from high quality pulp that can be reused.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishda speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Kishida rules out snap election amid record low popularity

The prime minister has once again ruled out a snap election as he faces record low popularity ratings and growing criticism from within his own party.
With water drawn from sources in upstate New York, new sake brewing facilities in the Empire State back by Niigata Prefecture's Hakkaisan will be producing bottles by 2024.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 12, 2023

Hakkaisan and New York brewer to produce U.S.-based sake by 2024

The water for sake will come from upstate New York, while rice will come from California and Arkansas.
Germany, which likely plays a key role in determining Europe’s China strategy, unveiled its 64-page strategy on China on July 13.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 14, 2023

Germany’s China strategy is epoch-making but ambiguous

While attempting to protect its interests, Berlin has had to deal with business circles attempting to avoid damaging ties with Beijing.
Billionaire Yusaku Maezawa attends a news conference after returning to Japan following a 12-day journey into space, in Tokyo, in January 2022.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2023

Yusaku Maezawa's lunar orbital trip postponed indefinitely

His craft's development is still incomplete, after the rocket blew up immediately after blasting off in an unmanned test-launch in April.
A mother assists her child to breathe with the help of a nebuliser at the emergency ward of the government-run Chacha Nehru Bal Chikitsalaya children hospital in New Delhi on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 10, 2023

'Like breathing poison': Delhi children hardest hit by smog

"Imagine telling a parent not to let their child go out and play in this toxic environment."
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin during a committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Manchin will not seek re-election in 2024

The move by the 76-year-old lawmaker will make it very difficult for Democrats to defend the West Virginia seat.
Yoon Suk-yeol, then the 2022 presidential election candidate of South Korea's main opposition People Power Party, attends a news conference in Seoul in November 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 10, 2023

President’s war against ‘fake news’ raises alarms in South Korea

Critics say South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol is silencing journalists in the name of fighting disinformation.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol speaks at an event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 10, 2023

South Korea boosts diplomatic reach while North Korea retreats

Seoul has said the expansion is part of efforts to “exert global leadership and bolster our diplomatic power.”
Both Israelis and Arabs must think carefully about what their policies and actions are likely to accomplish.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023

The futility of violence in the Middle East

In the Israeli-Palestinian context, wars have a long history of achieving little, beyond satisfying a self-destructive desire for vengeance.
An assembly line at Honda Motor's  Performance Manufacturing Center in Marysville, Ohio, in November 2016
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 11, 2023

Honda will give autoworkers 11% raise after UAW’s big wins

While nonunion automakers race to boost pay and keep the union out of its gates, the UAW is trying to organize foreign-owned factories in the U.S.
A protester looks on during a protest on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders' Meeting in San Francisco on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

APEC San Francisco protesters span gamut of political issues

Demonstrations could become confrontational on Wednesday, with protesters calling to block attendees from entering the San Francisco conference center.
State Minister of Finance Kenji Kanda (left) and Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki attend an Upper House session in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

State minister of finance resigns in further blow to Kishida

Kenji Kanda submitted his resignation after admitting that his firm had failed to pay fixed asset taxes.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency booth at the International Space Industry Exhibition in Tokyo in February
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2023

Japan to create ¥1 trillion fund to develop outer space industry

The ¥1 trillion fund will be allocated over a 10-year period for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), as a new global space race heats up.
Young monks practice writing Tibetan at a monastery in Yushu, China. Beijing has restricted the teaching and practice of minority languages and religions.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2023

China’s new law on religion: A great leap backward

Beijing's new law on religious venues has received little attention but has far-reaching consequences in restricting religious freedom.
Smoke and steam billow from a coal-fired power plant in Suralaya, Banten province, Indonesia.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Nov 13, 2023

Can Indonesia deliver a green power plan for the people?

Communities impacted by a major climate deal are at risk of losing out because they have had limited involvement in planning the transition so far.
U Moe Zaw Oo, the deputy foreign minister of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, a shadow government seeking recognition as the legitimate leadership of the country, at the group’s headquarters in Washington on July 17
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Fighting to govern Myanmar, from a teeny office in Washington

The U.S. capital attracts political refugees from all over the world who hope proximity to power will draw attention to their national plights.
Major ports handling nearly 40% of Australia's freight trade may be crippled for days, officials said on Monday, three days after a cyberattack blocked the key gateways.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 14, 2023

The growing cybersecurity threat to global shipping

An attack on DP World's ports — which handle 40% of Australia's freight trade — was the latest in a series of breaches around the world in recent years.

Longform

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