Worldcrunch
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 TERRORISTS CLAIM EXECUTION OF U.S. JOURNALIST The jihadist terror group ISIS has claimed to have killed James Foley, an American journalist captured in Syria two years ago. A video the group posted online, but later removed, purported to show the man being beheaded, The Washington Post reports. U.S. intelligence is said […]
REUTERS Worldcrunch OKINAWA – A U.S. military helicopter crashed on Japan’s southern island of Okinawa on Monday, Japanese officials said, an incident that could add to anger over the concentration of U.S. military bases on the island. The crash took place at a maneuvering ground inside the U.S. Marine’s Camp Hansen in central Okinawa, an […]
That is one bold idea floated to prevent older voters from paralyzing the democracy and blocking necessary reforms for the future.
In Japanese schools, parents come and talk about the upside of starting a family. The number of places in day care centers is being expanded; on the walls, posters show male celebrities touting the advantages of being a dad. In view of demographic change, the Asian archipelago nation is trying all it can to get […]
TOKYO – A few months ago, Shin Sugimoto, Human Resources director at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Tokyo, revolutionized the traditional methods of recruitment in Japan. Instead of automatically promoting the most experienced man, as it is traditionally done – who had patiently been waiting for his turn for years – Sugimoto proposed to choose the next […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
When there are fewer humans to fill certain jobs, businesses turn to different *creatures.*
Worldcrunch OSAKA – Tired of getting the same cup o” Joe every morning? Think your Starbucks barista should be more of a bartista? Meet Kazuki Yamamoto, a 26-year-old Japanese “cappuccino painter” based in Osaka, who took latte art (drawing on espresso with milk) to the next level. No doubt Yamamoto’s unbelievable 2D and 3D moch’art […]
PARIS – Using a three-pronged ice crusher, the bartender strikes the massive frozen block with practiced precision. In no time at all, he is able to shape the ice block into a tiny ball – small enough to fit into a whisky glass. He pours the Hibiki 12, a 12-year-old whiskey, one of the prime […]
-Op-Ed- BEIJING – On April 28, the Japanese government held a ceremony it dubbed the “Anniversary of Japan’s Restoration of Sovereignty and Return to the International Community.” Held in Tokyo, the occasion celebrated the end of the American-led occupation in Japan in 1952, and featured Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe asking the public to cheer […]
This week’s selection of magazine covers from around the world.
AMSTERDAM- On Tuesday, Japan’s best-known prisoner — Her Imperial Highness Crown Princess Masako – will after 11 years of relative isolation join her husband Crown Prince Naruhito’s at the coronation of Willem-Alexander in the Netherlands. What would be routine protocol for most members of imperial and royal families will, for Masako, 49, represent a huge […]
RANGOON – Down Pyay Road, in the middle of a huge traffic-jam, children walk between old Japanese cars in the stifling heat and humidity. Like in other cities of emerging Asian countries, the children walk through the busy streets to sell soda cans and jasmine flower bouquets that are supposed to help cool down the […]
YONYAP (South Korea), JAPAN TIMES, THE DIPLOMAT (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – North Korea warned Japan on Friday that Tokyo would be its first target of a nuclear strike if it continued to maintain its hostile stance, reports Yonyap news agency. North Korea criticized Tokyo’s standing orders to destroy any missile heading toward Japan, threatening that […]
BEIJING – On April 6, China’s new Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the North Korean situation on the phone with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Wang made China’s stance quite clear: it will not allow “troublemaking” at its doorsteps. This is the toughest talk to date from the Chinese government, and its intention is clear: to […]
BLOOMBERG, AP Worldcrunch TOKYO – The global auto industry faces another major recall crisis after defective airbags have forced Japanese carmakers Toyota, Honda, Mazda and Nissan Motor to call back more than 3 million vehicles. A spokesman for Japanese auto parts maker Takata Corp revealed the airbag malfunction on Thursday, blaming it on “human errors.” […]
EUROSPORT, YOUTUBE Worldcrunch A Japanese TV show created a soccer goalkeeper robot that reacts at the speed of light, apparently making it all but impossible to score. After several top Japanese players were stymied by the machine, Argentinian soccer legend Lionel Messi accepted the challenge. (No word on how much he was paid to show […]
The onus is on Washington and Beijing to forge a new, much deeper diplomatic bond to stop the Korean Peninsula and Japan-China conflicts from sliding into open war.
Way better than an inflatable iPad!
The death penalty is alive and well in the land of the rising sun — and death row is particularly wretched.
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, TEPCO, KYODO (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) announced on Tuesday that cooling systems at the Fukushima nuclear plant have been partially restored after a power failure had suspended cooling operations at three spent fuel ponds on Monday. Map Saneef/Babbage The shutdown of cooling systems occurred after a power […]
Those who managed to survive the March 11, 2011 disaster that killed nearly 19,000 have suffered from both physical and social fallout.
JAPAN TIMES, ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan) AFP Worldcrunch TOKYO – On Monday, Japan honored the victims of the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis that killed nearly 19,000 people two years ago. At 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck northeast Japan, triggering a tsunami with 30-meter high waves that wiped out entire […]
KYODO (Japan), WHO, AFP Worldcrunch TOKYO – The Japanese government on Friday refuted a World Health Organization report that found a higher cancer risk for people living in areas contaminated by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, reports Kyodo news. The UN health agency’s report, which was published on Thursday, said that there was a 70% […]
AFP, NHK (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – A powerful earthquake shook Tokyo on Monday, with buildings swaying for 30 seconds, but few reports of injuries. The magnitude 5.7 quake was centered in the mountain resort town of Nikko, about 140 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, reports the AFP. Earlier reports had put the quake at magnitude 6.2. […]
Worldcrunch 1. ARGENTINA – The twin sister of a murdered model is set to wed her dead sister’s killer, much to the dismay of her parents, according to Buenos Aires daily Clarín. The wedding has been in the works for months, but these two lovebirds hold back nothing when it comes to romance: the ceremony […]
TOKYO – While he was Prime Minister of Japan from September 2009 to June 2010, Yukio Hatoyama did not demonstrate a particularly acute political vision. But when he visited Beijing recently, he showed common sense shared by many Japanese but seldom seen in their leaders – he admitted that there was a “territorial disagreement” between […]
Police have arrested “yakuza” mob members, who recruited people who owed them money or were mentally disabled to do cleanup work in contaminated nuclear zones.
AFP, WALL STREET JOURNAL, JAPAN TIMES (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said during a meeting that elderly people should “hurry up and die.” Taro Aso. Photo Sebastian Derungs “Heaven forbid if you are forced to live on when you want to die. You cannot sleep well when you think it’s all […]
MADRID – Spanish has become the most spoken language in the world after English – in real life as well as on social networking sites. It is the second most used language on Twitter, after English, ahead of Portuguese and Japanese. These findings were presented in Madrid last week by the head of the Cervantes […]
AP, BBC, DAILY YOMIURI, KYODO (Japan) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Amidst continuing safety concerns, airlines and regulators have grounded the majority of Boeing’s flagship 787 Dreamliner planes around the world, reports the BBC. By Thursday, chief air safety agencies in Europe, the United States, Japan and elsewhere had ordered flights halted. The 787 is the newest […]
Japan has just crossed perhaps the most vivid line in the demographic divide. Still, there are other surprises about what may ensure future economic growth across Asia.
DAILY YOMUIRI, KYODO (Japan), DOW JONES NEWSWIRES, AFP Worldcrunch TOKYO – The Japanese government has formally approved a massive 20.2 trillion yen ($227 billion) stimulus package during a cabinet meeting on Friday morning, reports the Daily Yomuiri. The national government will spend 10.3 trillion yen ($116 billion), with nearly the same amount kicked in by […]
BEIJING – After a five-year hiatus, Shinzo Abe is back as Japan’s Prime Minister. What will this mean for China-Japan relations, which are at a historic 40-year low because of the Senkaku Islands dispute? According to observers, Chinese officials had been expecting the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to step down from power, so they […]
ASAHI SHIMBUN (Japan), KICKSTARTER (UK) Worldcrunch TOKYO – Japan is a country known for its cutting-edge science and technology. Walkmans, videocassette recorders, Compact Discs, Blue-Ray, digital cameras, flat panel tvs – you name it, it was invented in Japan. But this new Japanese invention will – literally – blow your tail off. The “Tailly,” according […]
-OpEd- BEIJING – Despite strong opposition from the international community, North Korea went ahead with its planned use of a long-range rocket to launch a satellite. As the North Koreans were cheering the successful Dec. 4 launch, their longtime Chinese ally was in no mood for celebrations. North Korea’s missile and nuclear capabilities have been […]
In 2011, Sony accumulated losses of $5.6 billion, Sharp lost $4.7 billion, and Panasonic $9.6 billion. The momentum of similar huge losses at these firms has continued through 2012. All these enterprises that used to be so much admired by the Chinese are plunging, one by one, into historic lows. Of course the ups and […]
AGEO – Shigeo Iizuka still has the black-and-white photo of his little sister, Yaeko, stuck on the inside cover of his pocket diary. It was June 1978, when the 22-year-old suddently disappeared, taken from the bustling heart of Tokyo and transferred to North Korea to be used as a teacher of Japanese language and customs […]
JAPAN TODAY, NHK (Japan), AFP Worldcrunch HIROSHIMA – A worker at a waste disposal facility in Hiroshima in western Japan, has found more than 10 million yen (about $120,000) in cash in a pile of garbage. The money, whose origin has yet to be determined, was spotted by a monitor on a conveyor belt. Some […]
DAILY YOMUIRI, JAPAN TIMES, ASAHI SHIMBUN, (Japan) SKY NEWS (UK), WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA) Worldcrunch TOKYO– After three years in the opposition, the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) crushed the left-wing Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) in this Sunday’s House of Representatives election, reports the Daily Yomiuri. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda suffered a harsh defeat […]