Search - 2020

 
 
The SK Hynix factory in Dalian specializes in 3D NAND flash memory used in smartphones and other devices. NAND accounts for an increasing portion of the company’s revenue, around 27% of which comes from China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 23, 2024

U.S. chip battle with China catches South Korea in the crossfire

Korean firms have to balance relations with both countries — one, a source of cutting-edge chipmaking technology and the other, the world's largest chip market.
Ethnic Uyghurs protest against China in Istanbul on July 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 23, 2024

China to face rare scrutiny on rights record in U.N. review

The Universal Periodic Review is an examination all 193 U.N. member states must undergo every four to five years to assess their human rights record.
People watch a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

North Korea fires multiple cruise missiles off western coast

Leader Kim Jong Un has signaled that his regime no longer recognizes the two Koreas de facto maritime border, staging days of artillery drills in the area earlier this month.
Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump react as results are announced during his New Hampshire presidential primary election night watch party in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Trump defeats Haley in New Hampshire, moving closer to nomination

The former president's only remaining rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, remained defiant telling supporters at a primary night party: "This race is far from over."
Pita Limjaroenrat, leader of Thailand's Move Forward party, attends a voting session on the day of the second vote for a new prime minister in Bangkok last July.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Thai court clears former PM hopeful of violating election law

The ruling said former prime ministerial hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat had not violated election law and could remain a lawmaker.
Taiwan's roughly three decades of democracy have fostered a growing sense of self-identity, according to a long-running study by National Chengchi University.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Taiwan’s China-backing party faces crisis after election defeat

Many voters are distrustful of the KMT's commitment to eventual unification with China, a goal shared by just a minority in the island.
In Palworld, players can explore an open world and collectible Pokemon-esque creatures, some of whom utilize a variety of weaponry to defeat opponents.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 24, 2024

Overnight smash Palworld is much more than ‘Pokemon with guns’

Instead of “Pokemon with guns,” a more apt description for Palworld would be “Pokemon, but it grew up over the last 30 years.”
Police officers hold a traffic safety lesson for e-scooter users in December 2022 in Tokyo's Meguro Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2024

E-scooter traffic violations rise fourfold in Japan

Reports of traffic violations totaled 1,879 in the month of December, a significant increase from the 405 cases reported in July of last year.
A scanning electron micrograph of group A streptococcus bacteria
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2024

Cases of tissue-damaging bacterial disease hit record high in Japan

Health authorities are urging people to take basic health measures such as hand-washing to prevent the spread of the disease.
American President Joe Biden hugs Brittany Alkonis after giving a State of the Union in February. The wife of jailed U.S. sailor Lt. Ridge Alkonis ran a successful pressure campaign to get her husband released from a Japanese prison into American custody. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 24, 2024

Japan owes no apology for U.S. Navy officer’s treatment

The case of Navy Lt. Ridge Alkonis is a divisive one, which both the U.S. and Japanese governments have tried to keep quiet about.
An aspiring pianist who was blinded in a traffic accident (Minami Hamabe, right) finds a devoted protector in a mute custodian (Ryosuke Yamada) at her music college in “Silent Love.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 25, 2024

‘Silent Love’: Formulaic romance strains credulity

Unlike “Midnight Swan,” Eiji Uchida’s previous film that raked in awards, the director’s new melodramatic romance lacks depth and nuance.
Alexander Zverev celebrates his after victory over Carlos Alcaraz in the Australian Open quarterfinals in Melbourne on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Jan 25, 2024

Alexander Zverev stuns Carlos Alcaraz to reach Australian Open semifinals

The big-serving German recovered from a major wobble to win 6-1, 6-3, 6-7 (2-7), 6-4 in just over three hours.
Official toy mascots for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are displayed in Villepinte, France, on Sunday.
OLYMPICS
Jan 25, 2024

Former IOC exec says Paris has chance to reignite Olympic golden age

The onus falls on Paris to reboot the image of the Olympics after recent editions marred by COVID-19 restrictions and doping scandals.
NATO, which celebrates its 75th birthday this year, has been successful at keeping the peace — but American underpinning can’t be guaranteed in perpetuity, especially with the possible reelection of Donald Trump. 
COMMENTARY
Jan 25, 2024

Europe should arm against the barbarians at its gates

Donald Trump told Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, that "NATO is dead." It would be prudent to take him at his word.
People walk past a television screen showing a broadcast with file footage of South Korean lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin, at a railway station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 26, 2024

South Korean lawmaker treated for cuts to head following attack

Bae Hyun-jin, of the ruling party, was struck several times by the assailant who was wearing a dark coat and had his face covered.
A nationwide poll of 1,250 U.S. adults showed former U.S. President Donald Trump leading incumbent Democratic President Joe Biden 40% to 34%, with the rest unsure or planning to vote for someone else or no one.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 26, 2024

Trump gains lead over Biden in rematch many Americans don't want

Slightly more than half of respondents said they were dissatisfied with the U.S. two-party system, with just one in four satisfied by it.
Noto Tetsudo's Anamizu Station in Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 15. The local railway's services have been fully suspended since a powerful New Year's Day earthquake.
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2024

Quake-hit railway vows to resume services

Noto Tetsudo is hoping to bring part of its 33.1-kilometer railway back online in February.
Environment groups gather to oppose a key LNG terminal that threatened a delicate algal reef, in Taipei in December 2021. If Taipower can’t make sufficient progress on clean-energy generation, the island could potentially lose some of its allure as a destination for chip manufacturing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 28, 2024

Taiwan’s troubled utility poses risk to chipmakers’ green goals

Political pressures have prevented the state-owned Taipower from passing on costs to customers, while bets on offshore wind have been marred by obstacles.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shakes hands with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a joint news conference in Moscow in December.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 28, 2024

India pivots away from Russian arms, but will retain strong ties

Russia supplied 65% of India's weapons purchases during the last two decades but the Ukraine war hastened New Delhi's impetus to diversify.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce celebrates after scoring a touchdown against the Ravens during the AFC title game in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 29, 2024

Defending champion Chiefs stun Ravens to reach Super Bowl

The Chiefs reached the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.
The drone strike that killed three American soldiers in Jordan presents U.S. President Joe Biden with a decision that will be one of the most consequential of his presidency.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

Biden faces pressure to confront Iran after U.S. troops killed

One possibility is covert action that would see the U.S. strike Iran without claiming credit for it but sending a clear message regardless.
The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed train is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, even faster than the shinkansen. However, demand for the new railway service remains lacking.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

Linking 17,000 islands in Indonesia tests a nation on the rise

President Joko Widodo's grand vision for the world’s largest archipelago is colliding with financial realities.
Mitsui & Co. employees hold a meeting at its headquarters in Tokyo. The company introduced a stock-based compensation system in 2020.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2024

Growing number of Japan firms adopt stock-based worker compensation

The practice underscores the belief that fostering growth can be achieved through effective human capital management.
Celebrations mark the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday in Dharamsala, India, in July 2015. The question of who will succeed the Tibetan leader, Tenzin Gyatso, now 88, looms large.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 29, 2024

Atheist China should have no say in Dalai Lama's reincarnation

Beijing views the Dalai Lama as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Why, then, is it obsessed with controlling the succession of someone it despises?
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest shareholders in all five of Japan's biggest trading companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2024

Buffett reversal risk pushes Japan firms to diversify investors

Berkshire is one of the largest shareholders in all five of Japan’s biggest trading companies.
Nitish Kumar, chief minister of the Indian state of Bihar
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

India’s political opposition reels as fickle Modi rival turns ally

Nitish Kumar was one of the key players behind the 28-party alliance created last year to fight the ruling BJP at elections due in a few months time.
A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Delivery firms struggle to adopt EVs as online sales drive up demand

Many climate pledges have been scaled back as the industry fails to keep pace with climbing emissions.
Shoko Kawata stumps in the city of Yawata, Kyoto Prefecture, last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Japan's youngest female city mayor is focused on women's empowerment

The election of Shoko Kawata, 33, was unexpected — but was a welcome change for some.
The Tokyo Kiki Lounge is a queer pageant, dance competition and party, known in the ball culture as a “kiki ball.”
CULTURE / Stage
Feb 1, 2024

You're free to be yourself at the Tokyo Kiki Lounge

The pageant, dance competition and party is a thriving safe space for Japan's queer community.
Fujitsu apologized for its role in the wrongful conviction of more than 900 subpostmasters in the U.K. who used its accounting software.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 1, 2024

Fujitsu promises better quality control after U.K. scandal

The Tokyo-based technology company is the subject of an inquiry into a glitch in its Horizon accounting software used by the U.K. Post Office.

Longform

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