Search - world

 
 
Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

Commercial asteroid mining has a astronomical cost issue

Asteroid mining only works in a science-fiction world where metals are thousands of times more expensive than they are today.
Tokyo now boasts five different Quidditch teams, while universities in Osaka and Kyoto also play host to their own clubs.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Nov 4, 2023

'Accio broomstick!' Quidditch is back and open to everyone

From relatively humble beginnings, Quidditch has continued to grow in popularity across Japan.
Climate activists demand that the World Bank stop fossil fuel financing on the first day of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Marrakech, Morocco, on Oct. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

Telling countries not to be poor is bad climate advice

As developing nations bear the brunt of the costs of climate change; the world's richer states need to pay up.
An Albanian communist hangs a banner with Enver Hoxha's image in a public cemetery in Tirana in April 2012 to mark the anniversary of the hard-line Stalinist dictator's death.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2023

When freedom does not bring about justice

From communism to capitalism, Lea Ypi's book,"Free: Coming of Age at the End of History" reflects on Albania's transition to freedom.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 30, 2023

Orix's Gonzalez eager for more jewelry with win in Japan Series

The Buffaloes infielder, who is in his first season in Japan, is fine tuning his approach as he goes along.
Economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura (center) is right to insist that economic security is linked to national power and determines the fate of the nation. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 31, 2023

Economic security demands attention and defies simple explanation

A global challenge: Resilience and innovation are key strategies in the pursuit of economic security.
Kelvin Kiptum of Kenya celebrates after finishing in a world record time of 2:00:35 to win the Chicago Marathon on Oct. 8.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Nov 3, 2023

Smashed records bring new focus to marathon ahead of New York

The Kenyan former world record-holder Brigid Kosgei will make her Big Apple debut after five previous major wins.
Cracks run through the partially dried-up river bed of the Gan River during a regional drought in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, in August last year.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Global warming will reach 1.5 C threshold this decade, report says

The new paper adds to evidence suggesting that the goal of limiting warming to 1.5 C is already out of reach.
People wearing sun protection gear amid a heat wave walk on a street in Beijing in July.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 3, 2023

Climate's 'Catch-22': Cutting pollution heats up the planet

The removal of air pollution may have had a greater effect on temperatures in some Chinese cities than the warming from greenhouse gases.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses an emergency session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations headquarters on Oct. 27.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

Where’s the United Nations in all this? Oh, right, nowhere.

In times of crisis, the United Nations turns into a Babel in which everybody distrusts everybody else and finding common ground becomes impossible.
A woman and her children at the Minnanouen Kitakagaya community garden in Osaka's Suminoe Ward
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Nov 5, 2023

How simple steps can help alleviate climate anxiety

From gardening to flood-proofing your home, experts say there are simple ways you can ease some of your concern.
Motosaburo Saito at the headquarters of Oji Holdings, a building that won the Wood Design Award
ESG CONSORTIUM
Nov 6, 2023

Old-growth paper company Oji renews forests, products, vision

Oji Holdings, Japan’s leading paper manufacturer, is also its largest corporate forest owner. It studies and develops paper products and related materials and is committed to the maintenance of healthy forests. In a recent interview with The Japan Times, the general manager of Oji’s department on...
Shipping containers near the train station near the China–Laos border in Boten, Laos, on June 29. The Global Times, a newspaper backed by the China’s Communist Party, said the railway “connects hearts” and promotes development.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 7, 2023

China revamps lending to Global South as U.S. narrows spending gap

Beijing is moving away from the big bilateral deals in favor of collaborative lending that reduces its exposure to financial risk, a new report says.
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.
A hearse carrying the coffin of England World Cup winner and Manchester United legend Bobby Charlton is driven past Old Trafford stadium ahead of his funeral in Manchester on Monday. Charlton, described by Manchester United as a "giant of the game," died on Oct. 21 at the age of 86.
SOCCER
Nov 14, 2023

Thousands line Manchester streets to bid farewell to Bobby Charlton

The 1966 World Cup winner, widely regarded as one of England's greatest players, died after an accidental fall at his care home on Oct. 21.
U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House on Sept. 25, 2015. Speeches by the Chinese leader show how he was bracing for an intensifying rivalry with the United States from early in his rule.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 14, 2023

Behind public assurances, Xi Jinping spreads grim views on U.S.

Speeches by the Chinese leader show how he was bracing for an intensifying rivalry with the United States from early in his rule.
Cooling towers at a coal-fired power plant in Germany. While surface temperatures might stabilize quickly after reaching net-zero, other shifting parts of the climate are harder to slow once set in motion.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science
Nov 17, 2023

Amid climate efforts, will net-zero emissions be enough?

A new study suggests uncertainty about how climate systems will respond after emissions stabilize is an argument for reducing them as quickly as possible.
Petroleum pipelines and fuel storage tanks at a refinery near Manama, Bahrain, in 2017
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 18, 2023

To meet climate goals, Gulf countries will have to overhaul everything

The growing oil-rich region faces myriad challenges as the world pushes to decarbonize.
Sam Altman, then the chief executive of OpenAI, in Redmond, Washington, in February
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 19, 2023

The perpetual rise of Sam Altman takes an unexpected turn

The former OpenAI CEO was the face of an AI-fueled future. He was the most Silicon Valley person alive. Then, on Friday, he was fired.
Japan's culture of floor-sitting stretches back to ancient times. Only in the last 60 years has it faced off against a new lifestyle brought along by the rapid spread of chairs and other high furniture.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Nov 20, 2023

Has Japan mastered sitting?

Sitting is a deceptively simple act. But the story of sitting in Japan spans centuries of culture, politics and religion.
Steve Jobs, Apple's former chief executive, speaks at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 6, 2011. Sam Altman, the most prominent promoter of artificial intelligence, learned that it’s hard to be a visionary founder like the Apple legend.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2023

The long shadow of Steve Jobs looms over the turmoil at OpenAI

The sudden firing and bid to reinstate OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has deepened the parallels to Jobs, who was marginalized by the board of Apple in 1985.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 22, 2023

Things get warmer with Xi; Johnny’s get the cold shoulder

While Japan and China look to ease tensions, NHK makes things tense with a Johnny’s-less “Kohaku” announcement.
Stacks of trays holding treated limestone, used to absorb CO2 from the air in Tracy, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 23, 2023

Why carbon capture is no easy solution to climate change

The technology — vital to the climate strategies of many world governments — is expensive, unproven at scale, and can be hard to sell to a nervous public.
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.
Many moods come and go, inspiring our art. Though love could be fleeting, it proved the most inspirational of all.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Nov 27, 2023

Tales of a Closed Country: Part 2

Even Japan's "sakoku" policies couldn't deter the lovers, artists and poets from their muses. After all, we humans tend to look for beauty where we can.
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.
A person walks past a COP28 sign in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 28, 2023

Biggest climate talks ever confront global chaos and record heat

Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and promises to cut pollution remain insufficient to take the risk of unmanageable warming off the table.
A wind farm near near Golmud, Qinghai province, China
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

The promise of China’s sustainable-development path

As of this month, China has (since 2017) approved 572 “ecological civilization construction demonstration zones.”
A sign at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Dec 7, 2023

How AI fits into China's raft of global initiatives

The administration of President Xi Jinping has recently attached great importance to AI technology and is actively set on promoting it.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets leaders of the Group of 20 countries in New Delhi on Sept. 9.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 30, 2023

India’s G20 presidency is marked by a dawn of new multilateralism

From empowerment to climate change action, India ends an impactful year as the G20 president.

Longform

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.
The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble