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Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 14, 2021

Taliban seize more Afghan cities, with assault on capital Kabul expected

Taliban insurgents seized Afghanistan's second- and third-biggest cities, as resistance from government forces crumbled and fears grew that an assault on the capital Kabul was days away.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2021

A more infectious COVID-19 needs a quicker test

The now-dominant COVID-19 delta variant spreads so quickly that every missed opportunity to catch an infectious person can lead to many more new cases.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2021

Can Moderna buy its way into the $200 billion club?

Moderna's COVID-19 windfall sees its market valuation surged by more than $100 billion since May.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 12, 2021

The world told Afghan women it had their backs — it doesn’t

More women and children were killed and wounded in Afghanistan in the first half of 2021 than in the first six months of any year since records began in 2009.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 11, 2021

China leaves room to release Canadian after politically charged spy conviction

Michael Spavor was given an 11-year sentence after being found guilty of stealing and illegally providing state secrets to other countries.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 11, 2021

China anti-graft watchdog calls for curbs on business drinking

China should reduce business drinking and replace it with "correct values,” the Chinese Communist Party’s anti-corruption watchdog said in a commentary on a sexual assault case involving employees with Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 10, 2021

China air travel marks biggest drop since start of pandemic

A surge in COVID-19 cases has dealt a fresh blow to tourism on the mainland during the peak summer holiday.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 10, 2021

A money-loser, yet a medal-winner: The dichotomy of hosting the Games

Hosting an Olympic Games is an economic disaster, even in nonpandemic times. After more than a century and over 50 installments, there are enough case studies to conclude that the home nation is invariably the biggest loser from the world’s largest sporting event.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 9, 2021

Taiwan for all intents and purposes is an independent country. Deal with it.

The best way to raise the diplomatic costs of adventurism to China is to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state and grant it full diplomatic recognition.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2021

Is capitalism just a phase? China struggles with the math

Communist ideology declares that capitalism is just a stage in human society, and that party leaders are the architects of the future there to look beyond this phase.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 6, 2021

Zoom's next act is a big threat to the rest of tech

The pandemic catapulted Zoom Video Communications Inc. from a scrappy upstart into a $111 billion video-conferencing behemoth, central to the lives of millions of remote workers and other socially distant users.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2021

A nuclear crisis foreseen and predicted

The U.K.'s decline in nuclear power production is due to the growing obsolescence of the nation's aging power plants — and rectifying the situation is proving difficult.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2021

Taking stock of the LDP presidential race

With five potential outcomes and myriad players and interests in the mix, there is still a lot of ground the LDP must cover to reach the finish line in its presidential election.
Japan's 2024 Word of the Year, "futehodo," is a phrase tied to a Netflix show and highlights the broader decline in the cultural significance of such awards, with recent selections often seen as superficial or promotional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 31, 2024

Japan’s 2024 word of the year has no rizz

Some critics wondered why the word of the year award was, essentially, functioning as advertising for a TV show that is still available on streaming.
After a dramatic 2024, where Japan saw political upheaval, a record stock market, a major quake and a plane crash and dramatic escape, 2025, with events like major anime sequels, the Osaka World Expo, rising foreign acquisitions, we should expect a transformative year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2025

Anime, M&A and the expo: What to watch for in Japan’s 2025

No doubt 2025 has more surprises in store for Japan after an unusually intense 12 months.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed support for allowing for married couples to retain different surnames. 
JAPAN / Society
Jan 3, 2025

Japan's dual-surname option could see turning point in 2025

Support for allowing spouses to retain separate surnames is strong among the opposition, and even within the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules as a minority government.
A recovery in the olive harvest in Spain and elsewhere is easing the olive oil crisis, but depleted stocks and rising global demand mean prices will likely stay higher than pre-crisis levels.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2025

The olive oil crisis is over — but fears continue to linger

Prices for the golden commodity are set to drop thanks to a bountiful harvest this season. That doesn’t solve all its problems.
Asian tech leaders are spearheading AI's shift to robotics, with China, Japan and South Korea leading global innovation in hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

AI robots are coming, and they’ll be made in Asia

Citigroup projects that there would be 1.3 billion AI robots globally by 2035 and 4 billion by 2050, doing everything from household chores to delivering parcels.
Head of Peoples Party (OEVP) and Chancellor Karl Nehammer addresses reporters during a presentation of his party's election platform in Vienna in September.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

Austria's chancellor to step down after coalition talks collapse

The move by conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer comes after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues.
Tech in 2025 will face growing resistance to AI, social media and streaming saturation alongside political and cultural shifts driven by Elon Musk, Trump and controversies like a potential U.S. TikTok ban.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2025

AI, Musk and Trump add up to a turbulent 2025 for tech

If the steady stream of tech CEOs visiting Mar-a-Lago is any indication, we can expect Silicon Valley to be more willing to do Trump’s bidding in 2025.
Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. There are influential American works of fantasy like “The Wizard of Oz” and “American Gods,” but they lack the cohesive, enduring impact of European counterparts such as the “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” series.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025

America needs a 'Great American Fantasy'

There is a lack of a distinctly "Great American Fantasy" in literature and popular culture.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House on Nov. 13. Trump’s presidency is expected to disrupt U.S. energy transition efforts through weakened policies and heightened trade tensions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025

Can Biden’s green boom survive Trump’s wrecking ball?

The incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump promises to undo at least some of the progress made on decarbonization under President Joe Biden.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Monday to announce his resignation.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2025

Canada's Trudeau resigns after nine years in power as Liberals force him out

Trudeau, 53, currently the longest-serving leader of any Group of Seven country, bowed to sagging approval numbers and a rebellion within his political party.
Some people are questioning the U.S. decision to block Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel, citing the lack of clear evidence of any national security risk from Japan — a country that hosts over 50,000 U.S. troops and relies on America for defense.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 7, 2025

Biden's Nippon Steel move: A troubling snub of a key ally

Preventing the takeover of U.S. Steel is bad enough. Declaring Japan a national security risk is worse.
Jannik Sinner hits a return during an exhibition in Melbourne on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jan 8, 2025

Sinner turns focus to Australian Open defense after 'amazing' year

The Italian is coming off a breakthrough year in which he backed up his maiden Grand Slam title at Melbourne Park by winning the U.S. Open and ATP Finals.
The myth that the West provoked Russian aggression in Ukraine overlooks Russia's expansionist history, the complex dynamics of NATO expansion and the true nature of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2025

What you think you know about Ukraine is probably wrong

It’s more important than ever to fact check the Kremlin's claims and excuses for the war
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan greet each other before their U.S. presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 1980.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2025

What if Reagan's vision had been more like Carter's?

Yes, Carter had his share of missteps, but he was way, way, way ahead of his time on clean energy.
"This is a year of elections," Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) told peer LDP executives at a party meeting held Tuesday to mark party members' start of work for this year, at LDP headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

Talk of summer double election persists in Japan

The Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito have agreed to begin preparations for the next Lower House election.

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