CATEGORIES

Influencers and litterers mar boom in tourism

At the height of the pandemic, the restaurateurs and shopkeepers of Tsukiji market in Tokyo must have dreamed of days like these. Columns of visitors shuffle along the narrow streets, pausing to inspect hand-forged kitchen knives and tsukemono pickles, and to sip gratis samples of green tea. Restaurants tempt the crowd with sticks of grilled wagyu and boiled crab legs.

Will the Year of the Dragon bring about a baby boom?

The traditional desire for a 'superior' dragon baby may not be enough to sway young couples

Shortage of royals tests monarchy's fragility

Cover for an incapacitated King Charles is looking rather thin, especially with William facing his own problems

'Bombproof Labour's green U-turn reflects readiness for May election

Labour has spent the past few weeks performing U-turns on policies as it finalises its manifesto, culminating in last Thursday's announcement of a big cut to its £28bn ($35bn) green spending plans.

Remarks by Trump'risk US and EU soldiers' lives'

The Nato chief, Jens Stoltenberg, said any attack on the western military alliance would be met with a \"united and forceful response\" after Donald Trump invited Russia to attack member countries that he perceived as not meeting their financial obligations.

Shell shocker Can Russian advance be halted if American military aid dries up?

Ukraine began 2024 on the defensive and Kyiv's battlefield prospects are dimming further as Republicans in the US Congress seem increasingly intent on blocking future military aid. If Europe does not plug the gap, Ukraine risks slowmotion defeat from 2025.

Salgado's dramatic images of our planet

At 80, the legendary Brazilian photojournalist reflects on his career, and why the natural world became his focus

Seeking justice for Del Monte farm deaths

As families of the dead men question the company's version of events, friends say the food firm bribed them

Company distances itself from farm violence

Fresh Del Monte has claimed it should not be held liable for a civil lawsuit alleging killing, rape and violence by security guards at its Kenyan pineapple farm because it is domiciled in the Cayman Islands.

A hostile state How military tried to stifle Imran Khan's PTI party

For months, police blocked Arsalan Hafeez from entering the Pakistani constituency where he stood for election last week. Since he put himself forward as the candidate for Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the political party led by Pakistan's now incarcerated former prime minister Imran Khan, Hafeez alleges that the state's machinery did everything to prevent him from contesting his district of Narowal in the state of Punjab.

Turmoil as voters deliver a rebuke to the generals

Police fired teargas to disperse supporters of Imran Khan last weekend as protests broke out across Pakistan amid allegations of widespread vote-rigging targeting the former prime minister's political party and other nationalist groups in the general election.

Fragile front Israel's assault is rocking the foundations of liberal politics

Something odd is happening. A sort of glitch or malfunction. Liberal politicians who refuse to call for a ceasefire in Gaza or halt support for Israel's assault are no longer making sense, and increasingly seem as though they are going through a crisis.

Rafah release Netanyahu uses hostage rescue to justify strikes as support dwindles

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was early this week deploying the successful rescue of two Israeli hostages to justify continued military pressure on Rafah, even as Israel came under intense international pressure not to launch a ground offensive against the southern Gaza city.

Rafah on the edge

As Israel threatened a ground operation in Gaza's southernmost city, panic and despair set in among a population with nowhere to left to turn

Smoke Screens Mental Health Apps Under Scrutiny

As experts worry over privacy issues, effectiveness and even harm, the UK is looking at how to regulate the plethora of smartphone-based mental health tools

Russia Looms Large Over Nato's Borders - But US Help Is Not Assured

In 1905, in the Finnish city of Tampere, Vladimir Lenin met Joseph Stalin for the first time. They and two dozen or so revolutionaries began to map out plans to overthrow the tsar and bring down the Russian empire.

Keep Calm And Carry On? Health Fears Could Reshape The King's Role

Last Monday, King Charles emerged from a private clinic alongside Queen Camilla to wave to a small crowd. The message that Buckingham Palace wished to convey was obvious: the monarch is strong and will carry out his duties despite the health setback.

Can Anything Stop The Deepfakes?

With Taylor Swift the latest victim of Al-generated porn, pressure is growing on social media companies to start taking it seriously.

Amazon, Joyce and the circus

As part of the centenary of Ulysses, German circus company Rimini Protokoll provocatively enacts the hyper-consumerism and physical exertion that drive the online retail giant

Pop star or 'election psyop'? US conspiracists tout Swift as Pentagon asset

Taylor Swift is a \"Pentagon asset\", an \"election interference psyop\" who, with unnamed left-leaning forces, has conspired to \"rig\" the Super Bowl and endorse Joe Biden in the presidential election.

PRECIPICE OF FEAR

Jérémie Heitz has pushed freeriding to breathtaking, beautiful new extremes. But as the risks get bigger, the questions do, too

Joe's burden Primary win reveals more about the changing face of America

Surprise! Joe Biden won the Democratic presidential primary in South Carolina with a high-90s percentage that would make even Vladimir Putin or Kim Jong-un blush.

'A mistake' Russian sect finally gets apology after 70 years

Betty Kabatoff was eight years old when she was rushed from her home and taken into the mountains to hide from Canadian police. She and some other children slept under a shelter made from tree branches, but within days, a helicopter appeared overhead and they were forced to move on.

Gallery fills creative void for artists amid island's struggles

In a country ravaged by food and health emergencies, art is vital, said Hobisoa Raininoro.

After the coup Three years on, the junta is struggling to assert control

Three years after seizing power, Myanmar's junta is struggling to assert control, with humiliating losses in recent months and growing criticism of its leader, Min Aung Hlaing, by pro-military figures.

Mill boon A co-living community designed for long life

It took 13 years to turn a historic building into eco-friendly co-housing, planned to see its members into older age

Nottingham's taxes soar, but local services are in disarray

In Nottingham's Old Market Square, the fountains that once flowed in front of the Council House are bone dry, and under proposed cost-cutting measures they may never be switched on again.

In Antakya, poor fear worst as towers rise from rubble

A huge rebuild is under way in the earthquake-damaged city -but many feel they will have no place in the new homes

Growing pain Why farmers are so angryand what the EU is trying to do about it

Farmers' protests have been sweeping Europe in countries such as Greece, Germany, Portugal, Poland and France, where the government was taken by surprise late last month by a motorway blockade of Paris.

Furious farmers demand EU reforms

Europe's farming sector is facing a big crisis and must \"profoundly\" change its rules, Emmanuel Macron said after a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels was overshadowed by protesting farmers hurling eggs, dumping manure and lighting fires.