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A bull statue stands outside the Shenzhen Stock Exchange building in Shenzhen in September 2019.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 9, 2024

China’s plenum promises cues for commodity bulls and bears

China is the world’s biggest importer of commodities and its dominant supplier of clean energy, so decisions taken in Beijing ripple across the world.
Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku, Tokyo. According to data recently published by Mercer, Tokyo fell 30 places from 2023 and is now the 49th most expensive city in the world, just ahead of Houston.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024

Tokyo is cheaper to live in than San Juan, according to global survey

The capital fell a full 30 places from 2023. It was No. 3 in 2020 and No. 1 as recently as 2012.
England's Jude Bellingham celebrates after the team's Euro 2024 semifinal win over the Netherlands on Wednesday in Dortmund, Germany.
SOCCER
Jul 12, 2024

England ready to reap benefits of decade of development in Euro 2024 final

England will face Spain in the Euro 2024 final.
The production plant of GCL Technology in Xuzhou, Jiangsu province, China, on July 2
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2024

Xi Jinping’s great economic rewiring is cushioning China’s slowdown

Tech advances and a resulting export boom have helped to keep economic growth within reach of its targeted pace of around 5%.
Japan's Naoya Inoue poses for photographs following a news conference ahead of his Sept. 3 super-bantamweight fight against Ireland's TJ Doheny, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jul 16, 2024

'Monster' Inoue to defend titles against Ireland's Doheny

The undefeated boxer stopped Mexico's Luis Nery in front of 55,000 fans at the Tokyo Dome in his last fight in May.
Japan's Hikaru Kitagawa dribbles past a defender during an Olympic qualifying match against North Korea at National Stadium in Tokyo in February.
OLYMPICS / Football
Jul 17, 2024

After Tokyo Olympic disappointment, Nadeshiko Japan look for redemption

For many, a disappointing effort on home soil in 2021 was a marker of just how far Japan's women's soccer team had fallen. Now the squad has its sights set on redemption.
If the billions of people who will watch this summer's Paris Olympic Games were to take inspiration from history and call for cease-fires in today's wars, many lives could be saved.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2024

Restore the Olympic peace

International collaboration and moral leadership are essential for achieving peace, paralleling the ancient Olympic Games as symbols of halting hostilities.
France's Sarah Leonie Cysique battles Uzbekistan's Shukurjon Aminova at the Paris Grand Slam at Accor Arena on Feb. 2.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 18, 2024

How France embraced judo and became a martial arts powerhouse

The country has embraced the Japanese martial art to the point where it may be more popular in France than in Japan.
Tools at an exploration site run by KoBold Metals in Chililabombwe, Zambia, on June 11. A complex AI-driven technology that data crunchers at KoBold Metals painstakingly built over years helped identify a copper bonanza deep below a site in Zambia, and the company’s process could radically transform the discovery of metal and mineral deposits critical not only to the tech industry but to the fight against climate change.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 18, 2024

AI joins search for needed metals just in time

KoBold’s find comes as the United States and China are increasingly clashing over global access to minerals.
China's official app for digital yuan is seen on a mobile phone next to 100-yuan banknotes
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

Trump’s disdain for digital dollar risks ‘Cold War era’ in money

His vow to never allow the dollar to be digitized may turn money into a new front in Trump's trade war with China.
As childish as Ryokan may have been, human suffering wrung his heart. A portrait of the monk and calligraphy by him are shown here. (Ink on paper; early 19th century; replica before 1970)
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jul 21, 2024

Ryokan and us: 'How wide! How boundless!'

The Edo Period monk could see the world through a child's eyes, maybe even those of a child from our modern era.
One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jul 22, 2024

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Homeless influencers, fantasy boyfriends and bubble-era bars — Kabukicho seems to have it all.
Sha'Carri Richardson is a heavy favorite to become the first American since Gail Devers at the 1996 Olympics to be regarded as the world's fastest woman.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2024

Fast, not furious: Richardson eyes Olympic redemption

An Olympic gold would be the reward for untold hours of grueling training as well her personal growth over the past two seasons since the nadirs of 2021-2022.
Starbucks mobile app shows an error message on Friday. A botched software update from cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike crashed countless Microsoft Windows computer systems globally.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2024

CrowdStrike meltdown and the price of real security

Catastrophic system failure isn’t part of the equation — until it happens. Which will be occurring with increasing frequency in our deeply interconnected world.
Norwegian and Australian players take part in a practice session ahead of the opening of the Paris Olympics at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2024

After joyless silence in Tokyo, Paris is ready to get the Olympic party started

No COVID-19 testing, no bubbles and no more locking out the fans. Paris marks a return to normal for an event that, like many, was brought to its knees by the pandemic.
Rafael Nadal trains at Roland Garros in Paris on Wednesday ahead of the start of the Olympic tennis tournament.
TENNIS
Jul 26, 2024

Nadal and Djokovic fighting time and new generation at Olympics

Nadal has won 14 of his 22 Grand Slam titles in Paris but at 38 time is ticking for the Spaniard, who last month suffered his earliest exit from the French Open.
La Defense Arena in Nanterre, France, which will host the Olympic swimming competition starting Saturday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

China doping row set to raise tension at Paris pool

Some of the world's best in the sport have criticized anti-doping authorities and raised concerns about the competition's integrity.
Australia's Ariarne Titmus celebrates winning gold in the women's 400-meter freestyle at the Paris Olympics on Saturday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jul 28, 2024

'Goofy girl' Titmus struggling to believe Olympic gold

The down-to-earth 23-year-old held off Canadian teenager Summer McIntosh and American great Katie Ledecky in a race that had plenty of hype.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, in May against a bill labeling organizations that receive foreign funding as spies. The passing of the so-called Russia law has been a setback for Georgia's democracy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 29, 2024

Democracy is on tenuous ground this ‘election year’

From former Soviet countries to India and even the U.S., democracies are backsliding and authoritarianism is gaining ground, with far-reaching global implications.
The world needs a smaller, more focused Olympics to ensure sustainability and relevance amid changing global conditions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 31, 2024

Olympics host cities don’t belong on a warming planet

The world needs a smaller, more focused Olympics to ensure sustainability and relevance amid changing global conditions.
Noah Lyles celebrates after winning gold in the men's 100-meter final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday.
OLYMPICS / Athletics
Aug 5, 2024

Showman Noah Lyles wins 100-meter gold by five thousandths of a second

Lyles had believed he had left it too late to catch the powerful Kishane Thompson, but he was soon confirmed as the winner in a personal best of 9.79 seconds.
China's Pan Zhanle celebrates after winning Olympic gold and breaking a world record in the men's 100-meter freestyle final on July 31.
OLYMPICS
Aug 5, 2024

China shrugs off doping controversy to win 12 Olympic swimming medals

The team's haul — two gold, three silver and seven bronze — was an improvement on a Tokyo collection of nine.
Mikio Saiki speaks to students in the city of Hiroshima on July 28 about the horrors of the atomic bomb.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 5, 2024

Hiroshima survivor shares story after 79 years of silence

"People around the world don’t know the misery of nuclear weapons. We have an obligation to inform them," Mikio Saiki said.
The Great War of Africa between 1998 and 2003 was the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II. Now, hostilities between Congo, Rwanda and Uganda are reigniting.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2024

Africa is heading toward another deadly war

Armed clashes between Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and others could see a repeat of the world’s deadliest conflict since WWII, unless an escalation can be averted.
Hiroshima citizens place flowers at the Cenotaph, commemorating those lost in the atomic bombing of the city, on Tuesday, the 79th anniversary of the attack.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2024

Hiroshima marks 79 years since atomic bombing as nuclear war fears rise

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui stressed the need to “not be resigned to pessimism” as conflicts across globe prompt growing focus on nuclear deterrence.
The International Boxing Association holds a news conference in Paris on Monday, with the association's president, Umar Kremlev, appearing on a video feed from Moscow.
OLYMPICS
Aug 6, 2024

A chaotic news conference offers little clarity on an Olympic boxing dispute

The International Boxing Association’s Russian president delivered wild accusations, personal attacks and used questionable language when detailing the two women's cases.
Athletes who are part of the Refugee Olympic Team participate in the Parade of Nations on the River Seine during the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on July 26.
OLYMPICS
Aug 6, 2024

Refugee Olympic Team representing displaced people and making its mark in Paris

The refugee team, which first competed at the 2016 Games, will walk away from the Paris Olympics with one medal and potentially more.
Shigekix, whose real name is Shigeyuki Nakarai, in action during the world championships in Leuven, Belgium, in September
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 7, 2024

From the Bronx to Paris: Breaking set for its Olympic close-up

B-boys and B-girls from across the globe will soon compete in Olympic dance battles that feature intricate steps, acrobatic moves and plenty of flair.
The shadows of workers from EKI Energy Services at a ReGen Powertech wind farm in Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India, in 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Aug 8, 2024

Climate crisis hinges on green power for those in need, study shows

Some of the poorest nations also have the world’s best solar energy potential, the report stated.
Utagawa Hiroshige produced several highly successful series of landscape prints over the course of his career, including “One Hundred Famous Views of Edo” — the largest collection of his career.
CULTURE / Books
Aug 8, 2024

The definitive guide to Utagawa Hiroshige's masterwork is a feast for the eyes

Ukiyo-e expert Andreas Marks' new book is a rare compendium of the Japanese artist’s landscapes, even by local standards.  

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