Kim Moon-soo, the presidential candidate for South Korea's conservative People Power Party, attends an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 19, 2025
South Korean conservative presidential candidate open to discussing U.S. troop costs
South Korea's conservative presidential candidate Kim Moon-soo said on Monday he was willing to discuss sharing more of the cost of stationing the U.S. military in the country.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (center) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (right) take part in a flag-raising ceremony at the Presidential Office in Taipei, on Jan. 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 19, 2025
Taiwan's Lai Ching-te tied up by political chaos after year in office
Analysts say the current dysfunction is distracting lawmakers and eroding public confidence — to the benefit of Beijing.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 17, 2025
Ex-South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol leaves conservative party
The announcement comes as PPP's presidential candidate is badly trailing liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung in the polls before the June 3 snap election.
A Pakistan Ranger stands guard at the Pakistan-India joint check post at Wagah border, near Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 15, 2025
Pakistan and India shift to war of words after shooting stops
"Mr. Modi, if you take this route again, you will get a devastating answer,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
A nuclear reactor in New Taipei City
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 14, 2025
Taiwan opens door to restart atomic power plants in reversal
Under the new law, plants that could previously only operate for 40 years will be allowed to renew or extend their licenses for up to 20 years at a time.
A satellite image shows Nur Khan air base in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 14, 2025
How backchannel diplomacy pulled India and Pakistan back from the brink of war
At 2 a.m., explosions began. By nightfall, a U.S.-brokered ceasefire ended the deadliest escalation between India and Pakistan in decades.
Men read newspapers with front-page articles on the India-Pakistan conflict, in Amritsar, India, on May 8, a day after India launched strikes on Pakistan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 13, 2025
No truce in India-Pakistan disinformation war
Platforms such as Facebook and X are still flooded with misrepresented footage of the attacks that killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb