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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2021

If Tesla's got troubles, everyone should worry

Tesla is struggling to procure a raw material only available in China for a battery cell that it's trying to develop, but U.S.-China trade tensions could stand in the way.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2021

Trump just made $1 billion. Where did it come from?

The former president's social media enterprise just raised a lot of money, but from where? And what are the security implications if he assumes the presidency again?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2021

How the U.S. can rein in skyrocketing drug prices

Negotiated prices on many medications would introduce an important new form of cost control in uncompetitive corners of the U.S. prescription-drug market.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 8, 2021

Yes, Americans can still hide bank accounts offshore

American citizens can get away with offshore accounts by using complicated trusts or soliciting family members overseas.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 7, 2021

What it will take to make the world’s ships run on time

Part of the problem has to do with how we think of supply chains. They are not really chain-like in the sense of linear pathways. If they were, the problems would be easier to fix.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2021

U.K.’s Facebook-Giphy smackdown is an omen for Big Tech

The U.K.'s antitrust watchdog killed the deal out of concern over competition, warning it could harm social media users and U.K. advertisers.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2021

Gasoline at $3 a gallon isn’t as painful as it used to be

November's year-over-year price increase is the sharpest in monthly data going back to the early 1990s.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 3, 2021

Carrie Lam’s second term depends on 0.02% of Hong Kong’s people

Lam's approval rating plummeted to around 15% two years ago, and while it has since doubled, only about one in three residents support her.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 2, 2021

Facebook users rewrite Marcos history in race to succeed Duterte

As one of Asia's most free-wheeling and online democracies, the Philippines is particularly vulnerable to misinformation campaigns and hate speech.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 2, 2021

Out of Texas, a cowboy solution to an Afghan crisis

The informal currency swap will prop up a small part of the Afghan economy but certainly won't be enough to prevent the country from slipping into full-blown famine this winter.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2021

What’s worst about omicron so far is the uncertainty

How should the world respond to omicron? We just have to wait as there is information that we don't yet have. And for many, the waiting itself is the problem.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2021

Biden’s democracy summit is a South Asian diplomatic flub

As in many parts of the world, including in South Asia, the Biden's Summit for Democracy summit is likely to do more harm than good
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2021

Invasion of Taiwan by China would be ‘economic suicide,’ former PM Abe warns

The former Japanese leader singled out Chinese President Xi Jinping, in particular, saying that he 'should never have a misunderstanding in recognizing this.'
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 1, 2021

China’s rising ultranationalism complicates Xi’s climate ambitions

There's a battle over the climate change narrative between those pushing for green reforms and those who view the measures as bending to demands from hostile Western powers.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 30, 2021

Iran insists on immediate lifting of sanctions as nuclear talks resume

As the first round of formal discussions ended Monday, Western negotiators tried to be upbeat.
A woman holds up sign reading "defeat Ishiba," Japan's new prime minister, as a small group of protesters gather outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2024

Japan’s new leader has barely the concept of a plan

If Ishiba follows through on some of his stated policies, that might be where the endearment ends.
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz speaks during a debate with Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance in New York on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2024

Walz and Vance clash at policy-heavy vice presidential debate

The two rivals, who have savaged each other on the campaign trail, struck a cordial tone, instead saving their fire for the candidates at the top of their tickets.
People take shelter on Tuesday during an air raid in central Israel after Iran fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at the country. Iran has targeted Israel twice in recent months with little to show for its efforts, risking further loss of credibility in the region.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

Iran’s missile salvo was yet another strategic blunder

The intended message was clear — we don’t want a real war, but if it comes to one, look what we can do. And yet the attack projected weakness instead.
Pro-Donald Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol amid clashes with police, during a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results in Washington on Jan. 6, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2024

Trump said ‘so what’ when told of Pence's peril on Jan. 6, U.S. prosecutors say

The government’s brief starts the next round of legal wrangling over whether the latest indictment can proceed.
While China's recent initiatives signal a willingness to address economic challenges, the road ahead remains difficult as the country's policymakers have yet to offer a clear road to success.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2024

A stimulus is good, but China still faces a hard slog

Beijing is back in investors' good books. To justify the euphoria, it needs some meaty goals.
Shigeru Ishiba's nascent administration is attracting something of a reputation for flip-flopping — and it hasn’t even been a week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Don’t take Japan's new leader literally. But should you take him seriously?

Ishiba will discover that his supply of capital with the public will run out quickly if he offers no break from his predecessor.
To preserve the integrity of the game in the legalized gambling era, Major League Baseball must double down and maintain its now posthumous ban on Pete Rose.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024

Pete Rose fans are wrong: He's not worthy of the Hall of Fame

Backing down would undermine the league’s zero-tolerance stance and signal that "permanently ineligible" isn't always permanent.
Lassana Diarra in Paris in May last year. Diarra was at the center of a high-profile case that could shake up the transfer market in European soccer.
SOCCER
Oct 4, 2024

Top EU court rules against FIFA in key transfer market ruling

In a landmark decision, the EU's top court has ruled some international soccer rules regulating player transfers are contrary to the bloc's laws.
An Israeli aerial assault on Iran’s nuclear sites and other targets would be a very complex operation, involving dozens of F-15s, in-flight refueling and the targeting of numerous known and undisclosed facilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2024

An Israel-Iran war could turn into a deadly nightmare

Israel is fully justified in wanting to hit back at Iran. Yet hating your enemies too much can cloud your judgment.
A man walks past memorial pictures of hostages, most of whom were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas, in Tel Aviv on Sept. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 7, 2024

Two ceremonies show Israel's conflicting narratives over Oct. 7

The distinction in tone for the ceremonies is at the heart of a public discourse over how to remember the darkest day in Israel's 76-year history.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes his visiting French counterpart,  Emmanuel Macron, in Washington in April 2018. European leaders, such as Macron, recognize the need to adapt to a new reality where globalization may no longer drive growth, especially if Trump wins the U.S. election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024

Trump-proofing Europe looks impossible

Global supply chain strengths turn into weaknesses in a fragmented world, with unreliable access to cheap energy, Chinese consumers and U.S. security.
Internal affairs minister Seiichiro Murakami speaks during an interview at the ministry in Tokyo's Kasumigaseki district on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 7, 2024

Japan's new internal affairs minister looks to boost regional revitalization

Seiichiro Murakami aims to increase the number of regional development cooperation volunteers from 7,200 to 10,000.
Jets coach Robert Saleh during his team's loss to the Vikings on Sunday in London.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Oct 9, 2024

Jets fire head coach Robert Saleh after 2-3 start

Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich will be the interim head coach for the remainder of the season, according to team owner Woody Johnson.
Shonannoumi hits the dirt at the hands of Kotozakura during a bout in Tokyo in May. Shonannoumi is among the many top wrestlers who have dropped out of this month's regional tour due to injury.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Oct 9, 2024

Spate of sumo tour dropouts highlights need to rethink wrestlers' health

While it would be foolish not to capitalize on sumo’s surging popularity, expanded tour schedules cut into recovery time and push wrestlers to their physical limits.
As streaming services like Netflix invest in Japanese content, the hope is to revitalize the nation’s cultural exports and elevate its television landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2024

Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ reveals some surprising truths

"Tokyo Swindlers" can reveal some home truths — even when they’re presented by a group of fraudsters.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years