JAPAN

South China Sea: US To Hold War Games With South Asian Nations To Challenge Chinese 'Bullying'

ASEAN defence ministers
The United States and 10 ASEAN members are poised to begin joint maritime naval exercises in what appears to be a response to Chinese aggression in the South China Sea and other Asian waters. Thailand and the U.S. are expected to be the co-leaders of the exercises that will begin in Sattahip Naval Base in Thailand and end in Singapore. The drills are expected to last five days.
More news
duterte china

Duterte In China, To Raise Thorny South China Sea Dispute With Xi

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is in Beijing arriving late Wednesday before his scheduled bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday. Duterte has promised to raise the issue of a 2016 international arbitration ruling with Xi. The ruling invalidated China's claim to sovereignty over most of the South China Sea.
Graphic on green tea production and consumption in Japan.

Can global matcha craze save Japan's tea industry?

From matcha ice cream to cake and chocolate, producers of traditional Japanese green tea are capitalising on growing global interest in its flavour -- even as demand for the drink declines at home.At Shigehiko Suzuki's tea shop in central Japan, adorned with a traditional "noren" drape, the customers are flooding in but more to scoop up gelato or cake than to sip the bright-green tea.In 1998, Suzuki's company Marushichi Seicha started making powdered matcha green tea -- traditionally made using a bamboo whisk in a tiny room. The firm now exports 30 tonnes of green tea to the US, Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Russian humanoid robot boards space station after delay

It was second time lucky on Tuesday as an unmanned spacecraft carrying Russia's first humanoid robot docked at the International Space Station following a failed attempt over the weekend."Sorry for the delay. Got stuck in traffic. Am ready to carry on with work," the robot's Twitter account said in a jokey first tweet from space.Copying human movements and designed to help with high-risk tasks, the lifesize robot, Fedor, is due to stay on the ISS until September 7.

Pages

IBT Spotlight

We Help Businesses Find B2B Service Providers They Can Trust.