Search - news

 
 
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington. A conservative group's charge that a liberal network is abusing its tax-exempt status mirrors similar allegations made against a right-wing activist.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023

U.S. ‘dark money’ donor groups trade accusations of tax evasion

Though the allegations by both sides are partisan, legal experts say the concerns they raise have been taken seriously by the IRS in the past.
Destroyed buildings and cars along Front Street in Lahaina, Hawaii, two days after the historic town on Maui was devastated by wildfire on Aug. 11.
WORLD
Aug 16, 2023

How fire turned Lahaina into a death trap

A week has passed since an inferno swept through West Maui. More than 100 people are confirmed dead, with the toll expected to rise substantially.
Afghan women during a protest against Taliban restrictions on women's freedom in Kabul in 2021
WORLD
Aug 14, 2023

Afghan women take protests online as Taliban crush dissent

Organizing through social media and messaging apps, women have posted pictures and videos of the protests, drawing attention to the worsening crisis.
Workers at a garment factory in the Hlaing Tar Yar industry zone in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2010. Fast fashion retailer H&M says it is following up on 20 alleged instances of labor abuse at Myanmar garment factories.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 16, 2023

H&M probes Myanmar factory abuses as pressure intensifies

The move comes after top rival Zara owner Inditex said it is phasing out purchases from the Southeast Asian country.
A playful photo of Japanese female politicians on a work trip to Paris drew much criticism back home. The backlash may be one of the reasons women choose to avoid public service.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2023

Japan has a misery-loves-company problem

The backlash to government officials' lighthearted moment is a prime example of how to undermine workers.
A worker cleans a Toyota Electric Vehicle bZ4X on display during the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show in Tangerang, near Jakarta, Indonesia, last week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 17, 2023

Japan automakers race to catch up with global EV competitors

There is a sense of crisis over a possible decline of Japan's auto industry if U.S., European and Chinese automakers continue to dominate the EV market.
U.S. President Joe Biden during an event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday. The president has crisscrossed the nation visiting groundbreakings and factories to sell his agenda, dubbed Bidenomics, with the Inflation Reduction Act as the centerpiece.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2023

Fires and heat block Biden from taking victory lap for climate law

It’s not the first time circumstances beyond Biden’s control have undone his efforts to revel in a victory.
Yellowknife residents leave the city Wednesday on the only highway in or out of the northern Canadian community after an evacuation order was given due to a wildfire.
WORLD
Aug 17, 2023

Evacuation ordered as wildfire threatens town in northern Canada

Yellowknife has a population of around 20,000 people and lies 400 kilometers south of the Arctic circle.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol attend a photo op on the day of trilateral engagement during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea to announce new hotline at summit

The three countries' leaders will to agree on a “very ambitious set of initiatives that seek to lock in trilateral engagement,” a top U.S. official said.
Shin-Osaka Station is crowded with travelers as services resume on Thursday morning.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 17, 2023

Shinkansen lines resume, but travelers may still face long delays

Central Japan Railway is urging people to refrain from using the train service until stations become less crowded.
Gond, which opened in May near Ochanomizu Station, is run by the same group behind the long-running Dhaba India restaurant that closed in April.
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Aug 20, 2023

At Gond, a legendary Indian street food lineage endures

You can tell straight away that Gond has a personality to match its extensive and eclectic menu of dishes from around the subcontinent.
Fake oranges filled with captagon pills, intercepted by the customs and the anti-drug brigade at Beirut port, Lebanon, in 2021.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 18, 2023

‘Poor man’s cocaine’ costing $3 a pill threatens to proliferate

Selling for around $3 to $25 per tablet, experts say captagon is primarily produced and trafficked by groups tied to Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The remains of a missile that dropped cluster bombs at a housing complex in Sloviansk, Ukraine
WORLD
Aug 18, 2023

Unexploded missile suggests Moscow is rushing weapons to the front

The discovery adds to other evidence that Moscow is under pressure to fire missiles as soon as they roll off manufacturing lines.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with a payload of 21 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 27.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2023

Starlink lifts off in Asia as satellite internet race heats up

Elon Musk's company has carved out a niche and an opportunity through the region's natural disasters and the vast sweep of its archipelagoes and islands.
Social division and the polarization of the American political system are becoming more and more apparent.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023

Where is the America I once knew headed?

The sociopolitical transformation I witnessed in San Francisco is not just a West Coast phenomenon, but perhaps a nationwide trend.
Novo Nordisk' anti-obesity drug Wegovy
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 18, 2023

Insurers can’t avoid covering weight-loss drugs forever

Evidence is mounting that drugs like Wegovy not only help patients lose weight but also help prevent heart attacks and strokes.
A man examines the rates at a currency exchange office in Moscow on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 19, 2023

Russia’s powerful split into squabbling factions over the ruble

Sparring over the ruble’s plunge focused on what caused it just as much as on what to do about it.
Relatives and friends touch the coffin of a man who was killed fighting Russian troops in Ukraine's Donetsk region, during a funeral ceremony in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 19, 2023

Troop deaths and injuries in Ukraine war near 500,000

Ukraine and Russia have lost a staggering number of troops as Kyiv’s counteroffensive drags on. A lack of rapid medical care has added to the toll.
A Chinese fighter jet takes part in military exercises around Taiwan in this screenshot from video released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 19, 2023

China launches drills near Taiwan in response to VP's U.S. trip

The People's Liberation Army's Eastern Theater Command said it was carrying out joint naval and air combat readiness patrols around the island.
After enjoying robust demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, air cargo firms are now reeling from overcapacity.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Aug 19, 2023

Air travel boom creates crosswinds for air cargo

Passenger jets grounded during the pandemic are flying again and transporting goods, upping the competition with dedicated air freighters.
News footage of China's People's Liberation Army military drills around Taiwan in a shopping area of Beijing on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 20, 2023

Taiwan details China drills as VP says election not China's to call

Taiwan's election next year is a choice between democracy and autocracy, Vice President Lai Ching-te said following the military exercises.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at Camp David in Maryland on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2023

Biden wants to sell his economic plan. But there's a problem.

The White House is embracing "Bidenomics” — originally intended to deride the president's policies — to instead promote his stewardship of the economy.
Residents clean up debris in the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis in Date, Fukushima Prefecture, in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / OUR PLANET
Aug 20, 2023

A Japan research team dares to ask: Can typhoons be controlled?

Researchers in Yokohama are probing whether tropical cyclones can be weakened or diverted, with energy they produce also tapped to generate power.
States should direct a greater share of resources away from selective flagship universities and toward schools that serve broader, less affluent populations.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 15, 2023

End of Affirmative action in the U.S. demands a rethink

Colleges must now work harder to ensure the diversity of their classes, including by increasing outreach to high-performing low-income students.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian in Tokyo on Aug. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2023

Leaders of Japan and Iran to meet in September in New York, report says

Kishida and Raisi are also expected to discuss Iran's alleged provision of armed drones to Russia, which has invaded Ukraine.
Olga Carmona scored the only goal of the Women's World Cup final as Spain defeated England 1-0 in Sydney on Sunday.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 21, 2023

World Cup hero Olga Carmona learns of father's death after final

Carmona learned of her father's death after scoring the only goal in Spain's victory over England in the Women's World Cup final.
NASA and the Department of Defense are collaborating with Lockheed Martin to build and test a nuclear rocket engine by 2027.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2023

NASA’s $500 million rocket gamble is worth it

Nuclear rockets are worth pursuing, but only with careful safeguards and international cooperation.
The Netherlands and Denmark have led a monthslong push to train Ukrainian pilots to fly F-16's and ultimately to deliver the jets to help them counter Russia's air superiority.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2023

Netherlands and Denmark pledge to give Ukraine F-16s next year

The pledge is the first real promise of F-16's for Ukraine's armed forces and comes days after the United States approved the possible delivery.
The U.S. has 8,000 km of carbon dioxide pipelines, but will need at least 50,000 to hit climate goals, according to a carbon transport engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2023

U.S. Midwest is ground zero in the fight over carbon capture

The U.S. wants to greatly expand carbon capture and storage infrastructure, including pipelines, but many projects face opposition in the Midwest.
Bernardo Arevalo displays an inked finger after casting a ballot at a polling station during the runoff presidential elections in Guatemala City, Guatemala, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2023

Anti-graft crusader wins Guatemala presidency by landslide

Bernardo Arevalo, a 64-year-old ex-diplomat and son of a former president, had built an unassailable advantage after 94% of the votes had been counted.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat