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Troops take part in a military parade to mark the 75th founding anniversary of North Korea's army, in Pyongyang, on Feb. 8.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 27, 2023

What we know after 70 years of the Korean War armistice

Despite remains technically at war for 70 years, the signing of an armistice deal on July 27, 1953, turned a divided peninsula into the world's longest ceasefire.
A screen displays Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing last October.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 28, 2023

China eyes accelerated plan for ‘world-class military,’ Japan says

An annual defense white paper said the world was facing its greatest test since World War II amid China's military buildup and the Ukraine war.
Demonstrators march against the Israeli government's judicial reform plan in Tel Aviv on Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 28, 2023

When democracy stumbles, we all will suffer

The erosion of democratic norms and principles in one country undermines the value of those norms in others.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in July 2022
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2023

Biden presses ahead with effort to broker Israeli-Saudi rapprochement

The fact that U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan returned to Jeddah so soon after his last visit suggests prospects for an accord.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks to the media during a visit to Cofton Park, near Rednal, England, on July 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2023

Sunak gambles with lurch to right as U.K. moderates flee to Labour

The prime minister plans to lean into controversial cultural issues and create dividing lines with Labour and the surging party’s leader, Keir Starmer.
A man poses for pictures at a booth showing off a book by Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the China International Import Expo at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai in November 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 31, 2023

Survey finds historically high negative views of China

In the survey, only about 28% of respondents had a favorable opinion of China despite Beijing’s diplomatic initiatives over the past year.
Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk gets in a Tesla car as he leaves a hotel in Beijing in May.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 1, 2023

Elon Musk’s unmatched power in the stars

The tech billionaire has become the dominant power in satellite internet technology. The ways he is wielding that influence are raising global alarms.
Then-Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang attends a news conference in Beijing on May 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 1, 2023

China's ex-foreign minister is gone but wait for explanation goes on

A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman on Thursday said Beijing will release information in a timely matter regarding Qin Gang and opposes "malicious hype."
A new high-rise is erected in Beijing in October 2021. The same year, 41% of the assets in China’s banking system were accounted for by property-related loans and credit.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Is Japan’s economic past China’s future?

China is facing a long period of low growth similar to Japan’s experience since the 1990s.
Ukrainian Olga Kharlan (left) and Russian Anna Smirnova compete during the women's sabre senior individual qualifiers at the FIE Fencing World Championships in Milan on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2023

Don't ask Ukrainian athletes to shake hands with Russians

In fencing and tennis as in life, responsibility is individual, not collective. All the more reason why Olga Kharlan did the right thing.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, attend a document signing ceremony during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

China’s weaponization of race and history

BRICS nations seek a more equitable global architecture that represents the interests of the Global South as China uses race to challenge the West.
A downgrade by Fitch Ratings is being viewed as a condemnation of partisan U.S. politics, including the recent debt ceiling standoff and the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Fitch’s U.S. downgrade stokes the very fight it warned against

Washington’s hostile political factions have quickly taken up the agency's downgrade of U.S. government debt as a new weapon of political combat.
Shinjiro Atae, a J-pop idol who came out publicly as gay during a recent fan event, with his stylist and makeup artist in the afternoon prior to his announcement, in Tokyo on July 25.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 3, 2023

In Japan, LGBTQ celebrities fuel impetus for change

Celebrities coming out as LGBTQ can have a big impact in Japan and fuel change. But such announcements are rarely made easily.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington. After its downgrade of the U.S., Fitch’s AAA club now consists of Germany and Australia, along with seven others, including smaller, rich countries such as Switzerland and Luxembourg.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023

Pristine AAA bond universe just got a whole lot smaller

Fitch's U.S. downgrade is the latest example of a decadelong trend in rich economies as worries about high and rising debt burdens come to the fore.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Washington on Thursday, the day former U.S. President Donald Trump, who is facing federal charges related to attempts to overturn his 2020 election, appeared in a U.S. district court in the nation's capital.
EDITORIALS
Aug 4, 2023

The United States of America vs. Donald J. Trump

The outcome of the trial against former U.S. President Donald Trump will test the rule of law and U.S. democracy.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the joint news conference of the China-Central Asia Summit in Xian, China, in May.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 5, 2023

Xi spent two days outside China in 2023 as problems mount

Mounting domestic problems from a faltering economy to rare political scandals have demanded the Chinese leader's attention at home.
Members and supporters of the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance attend a rally outside the California Public Utilities Commission headquarters in San Francisco on Monday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 8, 2023

Will AI be an economic blessing or curse? History offers clues

History shows the economic impact of technological advances is generally uncertain, unequal and sometimes outright malign.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 8, 2023

Nihon University chairwoman apologizes for student drug scandal

Mariko Hayashi denied reports that she was kept in the dark about facts surrounding the case, which involves the university's American football team.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and his minister of indigenous peoples, Sonia Guajajara, chat during the Amazon Summit IV Meeting of Presidents of States Parties to the Amazon Cooperation Treaty in Belem, Para State, Brazil, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 9, 2023

Brazil's Lula fosters regional unity in battle to save the Amazon

The Amazon Summit is taking place in Belem, the rainforest city slated to host the United Nations’ COP30 climate meetings in 2025.
U.S. President Joe Biden recent comments about China are some of his most direct criticisms yet about the U.S.’s top geopolitical and economic rival.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 12, 2023

Biden fears Chinese economy is ‘ticking time bomb’

Biden's comments included several major inaccuracies about the world’s second-largest economy.
Argentine presidential candidate Javier Milei (center) on stage at his campaign headquarters on the day of Argentina's primary elections, in Buenos Aires on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2023

Argentine far-right outsider posts shock win in primary election

With some 90% of ballots counted, far-right libertarian economist Javier Milei had 30.5% of the vote, far higher than predicted.
Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar has been named caretaker prime minister with the task of leading Pakistan through to elections due by November.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2023

Little-known senator to be Pakistan's caretaker prime minister

Sen. Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has been named Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, tasked with governing until elections later this year.
Cirebon-1, an 11-year-old coal power station in West Java, Indonesia, is set to close early, sparing the planet millions of tons of carbon dioxide.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 16, 2023

Indonesian facility shows cutting coal is a hard sell for banks

The early closure of the Cirebon-1 coal plant could be a decarbonization model for Asia, but big banks have been shy about fueling the transition.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen speaks at an event in Las Vegas on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2023

Yellen's Las Vegas stop shows Bidenomics can be a tough sell

Even as Americans feel the benefits, it's not clear this approach will deliver Biden the votes he needs in 2024.
Chinese national flags fly over Tiananmen Square along with other red flags ahead of the fifth plenary session of the First Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 12.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 16, 2023

China is hiding more and more data from the rest of the world

China’s abrupt decision to pause releasing data on its soaring youth jobless rate this week was the latest sign the Asian giant is increasingly restricting sensitive information - especially when it’s unflattering to the nation’s faltering economy.
New Paraguayan President Santiago Pena (left) shakes hands with Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te at the presidential residence in Asuncion, Paraguay, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 16, 2023

Lai’s Paraguay trip shows Taipei’s embrace of diplomatic partners

The visit has also reignited a hotly debated topic in Taiwan — whether the struggle with China over diplomatic recognition is still worth it.
A playful photo of Japanese female politicians on a work trip to Paris drew much criticism back home. The backlash may be one of the reasons women choose to avoid public service.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2023

Japan has a misery-loves-company problem

The backlash to government officials' lighthearted moment is a prime example of how to undermine workers.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 17, 2023

Kishida may call snap election to halt rise of rival Nippon Ishin

The prime minister, however, must first regain his standing in the polls to a level where he will feel more confident about holding an election.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol attend a photo op on the day of trilateral engagement during the Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima in May.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea to announce new hotline at summit

The three countries' leaders will to agree on a “very ambitious set of initiatives that seek to lock in trilateral engagement,” a top U.S. official said.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2023

Japanese political parties boosting support for female candidates

The parties hope to win the support of independent voters by demonstrating their commitment to increasing the number of female lawmakers.

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