Search - 2021

 
 
A Houthi military helicopter flies over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released Monday.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Nov 22, 2023

Houthi ship hijacking stokes fears of escalating Israel-Hamas war

The group warned they would continue to target vessels linked to Israelis until the end of the military campaign against Hamas militants in Gaza.
Shareholders arrive to attend Toshiba's extraordinary shareholders meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2023

Toshiba shareholders approve plan to go private next month

The decision will allow a consortium led by JIP to buy all of Toshiba's remaining shares, marking the end of its decadeslong history as a public firm.
Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in Gaza in July to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2023

Israel's historical role in the rise of Hamas

The complicated relationship between Israel and Hamas with the the "Frankenstein" Jewish state help create
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a Budget Committee session in the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

LDP faces scrutiny in parliament over underreporting of funds

Sizable omissions in political funding reports by the ruling party took center stage in parliamentary debate as the opposition questioned the government.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is exploring more investments in mid- and late-stage tech startups, seeing room for expansion into a field that historically was shunned by relatively conservative giant lenders.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2023

Top Japanese bank builds startup fund as policy push lures lenders

Mars Growth Capital, co-run by Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, now has around 40 to 50 potential investment deals for its recently launched equity fund.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo speaks during a news conference in Helsinki on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

Finland to close all but northernmost border crossing with Russia

Since the beginning of the month, more than 600 people without valid travel documents to the European Union have come to Finland via Russia.
Mizuho Financial Group is seeking to establish a securities company in China.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 23, 2023

Japan's Mizuho applies to set up securities company in China

The application comes as the bank is hoping to tap China's lucrative capital markets fee pool, the largest after the United States and Europe.
Children and their parents wait at a hospital in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 23, 2023

WHO asks China for more data on respiratory illness outbreak

Northern China has reported an increase in "influenza-like illness" since mid-October when compared to the same period in the previous three years.
The European Union finds itself at a crossroads of balancing national borders, economic autonomy and liberal values.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2023

The geopolitics of EU enlargement

The European bloc appears to be moving toward radical reinvention.
A pyrotechnic display takes place at Lusail Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022.
SOCCER
Nov 23, 2023

Qatar still reaping benefits of World Cup one year later

The World Cup has raised Qatar's profile in the Middle East.
Core consumer prices in Japan rose 2.9% in October from a year earlier, staying above the Bank of Japan's 2% target for the 19th straight month as products seeing price hikes continued to broaden.
BUSINESS
Nov 24, 2023

Japan inflation quickens, clouding price outlook for BOJ

A weak yen has been a key driver behind high import costs, as it has stayed near a 33-year low against the dollar in recent months.
Finnish Border Guards escort migrants at the international border crossing at Salla, northern Finland, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

Finland pushing back 'weaponized migration' on Russia border

Finnish PM described Russia's move to allow a growing number of migrants without papers to reach the border as "a systematic and organized action."
A survey found that the number of children newly hospitalized for anorexia nervosa in Japan came to 183 in fiscal 2022, up around 60% from fiscal 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Nov 24, 2023

Anorexia in children remained an issue three years into pandemic

Cases in fiscal 2022 were 40% higher than the level in fiscal 2019, before the pandemic.
Liberty Island claims victory in the Shuka Sho race at Kyoto Racecourse on Oct. 15, completing Japan’s Triple Tiara of top races for fillies.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Nov 24, 2023

Domestic horses look to continue home dominance

It’s the weekend of the Group 1 Japan Cup in association with Longines, when one of the most prestigious horse races in Japan, if not the world, will be run at Tokyo Racecourse on Sunday. Having grown in stature over the past 40 years or so, the race has made a real name for itself over that time in...
NATO forces have to navigate a variety of national regulations before ammunition can be shipped.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

NATO urges members to get their logistics homework done

Red tape hindering troop movements across Europe could cause major delays if a conflict with Russia erupts, logistics chief says
Analysts say that the election of brash Argentine upstart Javier Milei shows that an anti-incumbent trend over the past decade is becoming a fixture.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

Fed-up voters put Latin American leaders on thin ice

From Chile to Peru, Colombia and Ecuador, voters have simply opted to boot out the government of the day in favor of someone new.
Pro-Palestinian supporters gather in a show of solidarity at the National Monument in Jakarta on Nov. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2023

Asia’s Muslims grow weary of the West’s double standards

Indonesia and Malaysia have long taken a strong pro-Palestinian stance and neither has diplomatic ties with Israel.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (right) celebrates with engineer Gianpiero Lambiase after winning the Qatar Grand Prix in Lusail, Qatar, on Oct. 8.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 25, 2023

Gianpiero Lambiase embraces role as man in Max Verstappen’s ear

Lambiase has helped Verstappen win 53 Grand Prix titles and three Formula One drivers’ championships in their time together.
The number of syphilis cases in Japan totaled 13,251 this year as of Sunday, hitting a record high for the third consecutive year, national data showed Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2023

Syphilis cases hit record high for third straight year in Japan

The total exceeded the previous annual record of 13,228 cases reported in the entire year of 2022.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses his sentencing hearing and the judge after being convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in June 2021 in a still image taken from video.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 25, 2023

Police officer who killed George Floyd stabbed in U.S. prison

The former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of murdering Floyd during a 2020 arrest, survived the attack.
Billionaire Elon Musk, owner of the X social media platform, pauses during an event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Nov. 2.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 25, 2023

X may lose up to $75 million in revenue as advertisers pull out

Scores of brands have pulled their ads after owner Elon Musk’s endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh on Dec. 8, 2022.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2023

Mideast wealth funds draw greater U.S. scrutiny over China ties

A U.S. committee is reviewing several multibillion dollar deals this year on concerns they could pose national security risks.
Bluefin tuna in the season's first haul at a port in Tottori Prefecture in May
JAPAN
Nov 26, 2023

Japan to tighten Pacific bluefin tuna catch management

Under the plan, operators will have to report the weight and number of Pacific bluefin tuna weighing at least 30 kilograms.
A supporter of the Kuomintang, Taiwan's main opposition party, waves the island's flag outside the Central Election Commission office in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2023

Taiwan draws clear U.S.-versus-China battle lines in key election

The collapse of the opposition alliance makes Chinese President Xi Jinping’s stated goal of voluntary unification with Taiwan more remote.
In Japan on a scholarship he fought hard for, Oscar Ruto found himself needing to take a break and headed into Tokyo for a weekend of partying.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Nov 27, 2023

'I wasn't always an alcoholic … and then I was'

As the party season draws near, it's important to deal with yearend stress in healthier ways.
Staff members work at a desk next to an exhibition for Shenzhen's metro carbon inclusion project, inside a subway station in Pingshan district of Shenzhen on Oct. 19.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023

China turns to households in fight to slash carbon emissions

"Carbon inclusion" programs aim to help transform the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter into a carbon-neutral country by 2060.
Israeli soldiers walk during a raid at the Balata camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2023

The West Bank is being reshaped along with Gaza post-Oct. 7

Hamas' attack has aggravated the long-standing conflict over the land between Israel and the Jordan River that forms the other Palestinian territory.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks at a news conference in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Friday. Biden will not attend a major United Nations climate summit that begins Thursday in Dubai.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

Biden to skip U.N. climate summit, White House official says

Climate activists are likely to be angered by the decision, but analysts said it was not typical for a U.S. president to attend every climate summit.
A man sings for customers touring the Erhai lake on a sightseeing bus in Dali, in China's Yunnan province.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 27, 2023

Chasing a different dream, China's tech nomads head for the hills

In the mountain town of Dali, former city-dwellers in search of a space for open discussion and exchange of ideas in authoritarian China find refuge.
Gold medalist Laura Kenny of Britain on the last day of the cycling track events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, at the Izu Velodrome, in Shizuoka Prefecture, on Aug. 8, 2021
OLYMPICS / Cycling
Nov 28, 2023

British cycling great Laura Kenny sets sights on Paris

Time is ticking for the 31-year-old to force her way back into the British team, but five-time Olympic gold medal winner Kenny says she is determined.

Longform

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