Search - world

 
 
Japan revised economic data higher, reversing a quarterly contraction in October-December 2023 into positive growth and avoiding a technical recession.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 11, 2024

Japan’s economy avoids recession one week before BOJ meeting

The government made an upward revision to capital investment figures to reflect 2% growth, which in turn sent the country's GDP into positive territory.
Unpicked grapes wither on the vine near the town of Griffith in southeast Australia in February.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 11, 2024

Australian farmers rip out millions of vines amid wine glut

Falling consumption of wine worldwide has hit Australia particularly hard as demand shrinks fastest for the cheaper reds that are its biggest product.
Portugal's Democratic Alliance (AD) leader Luis Montenegro casts his ballot a polling station in Espinho, near Porto, during the legislative elections held on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Luis Montenegro, the unlikely champion of Portugal's right

Luis Montenegro is a seasoned parliamentarian with no government experience who is perceived as honest and competent despite a lack of flair.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (left) embraces Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola before a match in Manchester, England, on April 1, 2023.
SOCCER
Mar 11, 2024

Premier League rivalry between Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola ends on high note

The pair have gone head-to-head in several epic title races
An armed soldier stands guard next to a sign prohibiting the use of weapons outside the military headquarters as Haiti continues in a state of emergency, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on March 6.
WORLD / Society
Mar 11, 2024

Violence in Haiti puts focus on how to unravel gangs' grip on power

Armed gangs have profited from collusion, negligence and chaos since the 2021 assassination of former Haitian President Jovenel Moise.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, but the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Putin hopes a Trump win would change course for Russia

While Putin has said he prefers U.S. President Joe Biden to Donald Trump, the remark was widely interpreted to mean exactly the opposite.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas, winners of the Oscar for best picture for "Oppenheimer," pose with Takashi Yamazaki, winner of the Oscar for best visual effects for "Godzilla Minus One," at the Governors Ball, following the 96th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, on Sunday.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 11, 2024

‘Oppenheimer’ caps a big night with best picture Oscar

The big night for ‘Oppenheimer’ offered hope for traditional cinema.
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron (right) and former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg are both experiencing a revival in U.K. political and business circles.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024

Has the U.K. learned nothing from Brexit?

The current success of David Cameron and Nick Clegg in the U.K. suggests that the country — and the world — have learned little from populism's rise.
A backdrop of a broadly soaring stock market and signs of long-awaited wage and price growth is drawing bets that the BOJ might back away from its ultraeasy policy settings as soon as its next meeting in a week's time.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2024

Bank of Japan skips ETF buying, stoking policy speculation

It was not clear why it did not buy the listed funds even as the Topix index slid 2% — a mark that generally draws a response.
An amphibious assault demonstration with joint forces of the Swedish, Finnish, Italian and French army during the Nordic Response 24 military exercise on Sunday near Sorstraumen, above the Arctic Circle in Norway. Nordic Response 24 is part of the larger NATO exercise Steadfast Defender.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

In frozen north, a stronger NATO prepares for Russia's threat

NATO's four-month Steadfast Defender exercise in its Arctic fringe are part of the largest drills staged by the alliance since the Cold War.
Alexei Navalny looks out of the window of his cell in a detention center in Moscow on Dec. 8, 2011.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

Putin's opposition: Dead, jailed or exiled

Putin's staunchest critic of the last decade, Alexei Navalny, died last month in a prison colony. Dozens of others remain behind bars.
Novak Djokovic hits a shot in his third-round match against Luca Nardi in the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, on Monday.
TENNIS
Mar 12, 2024

Djokovic rues 'bad day' after shock exit from Indian Wells

The world number one had not competed at the tournament since 2019.
The defense request is largely seen as a symbolic opening shot in what is expected to be a protracted spending battle in Congress ahead of a November presidential election that will almost certainly pit President Joe Biden against his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2024

With eye on Indo-Pacific, Biden seeks record U.S. defense budget

But the $895.2 billion figure for fiscal 2025 is only about a 1% increase from the $886.3 billion proposal made last year — far below inflation levels.
Shi Pong Hsu, 75, makes coffee in a Singapore coffee shop. The city-state's government projects that almost a quarter of its population will be 65 or over by 2030.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2024

Singapore is bracing for a super-aging society

Japan and South Korea may be the poster children for low birthrates, but Singapore is confronting its own decline. Its solution? Bonuses for nurses.
Some 38% of Bank of Japan watchers in a survey believe the central bank will end its negative rates next week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2024

Half of BOJ watchers still see April rate hike while bets on March move jump

The proportion of 50 economists forecasting an end to the world’s last negative rate in April slipped to 54% in the latest survey from 59% in January.
The study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2024

Study of polyglots offers insight on brain's language processing

The brain's language network consists of a few areas situated in its frontal and temporal lobes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 12, 2024

Health ministry urges caution after measles outbreak

Eight cases have been confirmed among passengers of a flight from the United Arab Emirates that landed at Kansai International Airport in late February.
Leonid Volkov, who was chief of staff to Alexei Navalny, speaks during an interview in Vilnius, Lithuania, in 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Top Navalny aide attacked with hammer outside home in Lithuania

At least one assailant smashed Leonid Volkov's car window, sprayed him with tear gas and began beating him with the hammer.
A 737 Max 9 under construction at a Boeing production facility in Renton, Washington
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 13, 2024

Boeing tells staff to take 'immediate' action on safety incidents

Of 89 production process audits recently conducted by the FAA, Boeing reportedly failed 33 of them with 97 instances of noncompliance.
Paraguay Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano says that the free trade agreement to be negotiated between Tokyo and Mercosur would include goods and services, including agricultural products, which is very important for Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 13, 2024

Mercosur ‘ready’ to resume FTA talks with Japan, Paraguay foreign minister says

The bloc is keen to expand ties with Asia as it seeks to boost trade and deepen economic integration with partners beyond the U.S., Europe and China.
Carlos Alcaraz pumps his first after winning a point against Fabian Marozsan as the defending champion moved into the Indian Wells quarterfinals on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Mar 13, 2024

Alcaraz and Sinner reach Indian Wells quarters

Alcaraz never looked to be in any trouble against Marozsan, pounding forehands and confidently holding serve throughout the match.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Biden and Trump clinch nominations, kicking off rematch

Both men have already turned their attention to the Nov. 5 general election, holding dueling rallies in Georgia.
Samsung Electronics plans to use a technology championed by its rival SK Hynix, as the world's top memory chipmaker seeks to catch up in the race to produce high-end chips used to power artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2024

Samsung to adopt chipmaking tech used by rival amid AI chip supply race

Samsung's decision to stick with a chipmaking technology called nonconductive film is one of the reasons it has fallen behind.
Phytochemical Products CEO Makiko Kato (second from right) and Chief Technology Officer and professor Naomi Kitakawa (right) at the startup's laboratory in Sendai
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Mar 18, 2024

Tohoku University startup opens path to waste oil recycling

Its proprietary technology allows it to extract useful compounds from waste oil to produce biofuel and other products.
Kirishima (behind) gets thrown down against Ura on Tuesday. The newly promoted ozeki's 0-3 start in Osaka has been one of the big disappointments of the tournament so far.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 13, 2024

Scandal and poor starts have sumo in a rut in Osaka

While the meet has had a rocky first few days, one of the sport's most promising young wrestlers is proving to be a beacon of light on the horizon.
China insists that for meaningful negotiations to occur, the nuclear arsenals of the U.S. and Russia must be reduced to levels comparable to its own.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2024

China’s ‘minimum’ nuclear deterrence is still a threat

Estimates of the number of Chinese warheads range from 400 to 500, a striking contrast to the several thousand that the U.S and Russia possess.
Veteran peace activist Setsuko Yamazato warns of the gathering “clouds of war” in Chie Mikami’s eight-year chronicle of the militarization of Okinawa.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 14, 2024

‘Clouds of War’: The real story of Okinawa is its people

“Clouds of War” is an unwieldy but heartfelt portrait of citizens fighting back against militarization in Okinawa.
Supporters of TikTok gather outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

U.S. House passes bill to force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face ban

The fate of TikTok, used by about 170 million Americans, has become a major issue in Washington.
The best way to eat spring cabbage is to either treat it like a quick pickle by rubbing the leaves with salt and leaving them to ferment for a brief time, or by cooking it quickly so that the leaves turn even softer.
LIFE / Food & Drink / JAPANESE KITCHEN
Mar 17, 2024

Recipe: Spring cabbage has sprung

Although spring cabbage is tender, it isn't suited to Japan’s traditional method of eating the vegetable raw.
Despite Japan's still-nascent domestic winemaking scene, wine drinkers in the country have long enjoyed an obsession with obtaining certifications around the beverage.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 17, 2024

What’s driving Japan’s love affair with wine certifications?

Studying wine is an extremely popular pastime in Japan — despite the number of students without a professional need to do so.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go