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JAPAN
Dec 9, 2020

Former agricultural minister’s graft scandal sparks conversation about animal welfare in Japan

Allegations of bribery illustrate the lengths to which the poultry industry went to preserve its decades-old, yet globally criticized practice of confining egg-laying hens in small cages.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 1, 2020

‘Trump Is Better’: In Asia, pro-democracy forces worry about Biden

Some pro-democracy campaigners in Asia are drawn to Trump's willingness to flout diplomatic protocol, abandon international accords and keep his opponents off-balance.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 27, 2020

Japan’s ‘misunderstanding’ about a Biden administration

The U.S. alliance is more important than ever before for Japan, which must address national security concerns in the face of a rising China while dealing with the threat from North Korea.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 21, 2020

The coronavirus is airborne indoors, but we’re still scrubbing surfaces

Scientists who initially warned about contaminated surfaces now say here is little to no evidence that deep cleaning mitigates the threat indoors.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese Premier Li Qiang pose for a picture after a bilateral meeting Saturday ahead of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 6, 2025

BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs

The summit's impact will be depleted by the absence of Vladimir Putin as well as Xi Jinping, who is skipping the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Cashing in on his comeback, Trump rescues frail finances

Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.
One of Aigen's solar-powered autonomous AI Element robots demonstrates how it can hammer down on specified targets at Bowles Farm in Los Banos, California, on June 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 6, 2025

AI robots fill in for weed killers and farm hands

Weeds are becoming immune to herbicides, but a shortage of laborers often leaves chemicals as the only viable option.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands next to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, as he speaks to members of the media, upon his arrival at Morristown Airport, in Morristown, New Jersey, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2025

U.S. tariffs to kick in Aug. 1, barring trade deals

The U.S. Treasury chief signaled that letters President Donald Trump is poised to send trading partners this week aren’t the final word on countries’ immediate tariff rates.
Elon Musk said his "America Party” is dedicated to defeating Republicans who backed U.S. President Donald Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2025

Musk faces a daunting path in challenging U.S. two-party system

Musk announced the birth of the "America Party” — dedicated, he said, to defeating Republicans who backed Trump’s massive tax-cut and spending bill.
The yen-dollar exchange rate is displayed outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 10, 2025

Japan unlikely to face U.S. pressure to strengthen yen, ex-top FX diplomat says

Masatsugu Asakawa was deeply involved in Japan's trade and currency negotiations with the U.S. when he was vice finance minister for international affairs.
Copper rods are wound at a workshop that recycles the metal in Anqing, China, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 12, 2025

Trump's copper tariffs pile more metal misery on U.S. auto industry

The duties on their own may be manageable, but prices of the red metal vital for making cars have soared to record highs.
Blunt letters dictating terms posted to social media and changes late in negotiations have left trading partners wondering what U.S. President Donald Trump will do next.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 12, 2025

As Trump sows tariff confusion, rules of global commerce give way to chaos

Blunt letters dictating terms posted to social media and changes late in negotiations have left trading partners wondering what Trump will do next.
Hong Kong-based crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun, World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff and Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization Eric Trump attend the TOKEN2049 conference in Dubai on May 1.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 14, 2025

Trump's $100 million crypto mystery man

A venture calling itself Aqua 1 Foundation announced last month it had bought $100 million worth of U.S. President Donald Trump’s World Liberty crypto tokens.
A soldier operates from an artillery position in the Sumy region of Ukraine on June 19.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2025

Trump threatens 100% Russia tariffs and vows arms for Ukraine

The threats echo punishment spelled out in a bipartisan bill in Congress that would impose 500% tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil and gas.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin attend a Group of 20 leaders summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 15, 2025

Trump sours on Putin, but bromance may not be over

With his announcement Monday of new arms for Ukraine via Europe and tariff threats on Russia, Trump's bromance with Putin has hit a new low — but it may not have run its course.
A member of the media records U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during a news conference in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2025

U.S. Justice Department unit defending Trump policies loses two-thirds of staff

Sixty-nine of roughly 110 lawyers in the branch that defends against challenges to key policies have left the unit since Trump's election in November or have plans to leave.
The IPC Container Terminal at Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta in April last year
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 16, 2025

Trump says Indonesia goods to face 19% tariff under new pact

Indonesia also agreed to purchase $15 billion in U.S. energy, $4.5 billion worth of agricultural products and 50 Boeing jets, many of them 777’s.
Members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces stand in formation during a review at Camp Asaka in October 2018. The government’s latest Defense White Paper warns of growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2025

Japan must be ready for an increasingly dangerous world

If there is a complaint to be issued against this year’s Defense White Paper, it is its reluctance to fully address the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 19, 2025

Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeking $10 billion

The newspaper said that Trump in 2003 sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday greeting that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / OUR PLANET
Jul 20, 2025

Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate

The debate over the damage sunscreens cause to the marine environment is heating up as some regions ban certain chemical ingredients.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Jair Bolsonaro at Mar-a-Lago on March 7, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2025

Brazil’s top court defies Trump and signals no retreat on Bolsonaro

After the U.S. threatened 50% tariffs on Brazil, a group of justices advocated for the court to issue a statement challenging President Donald Trump ’s assertion of a "Witch Hunt.”
American lawyer Alan Dershowitz returns to the courtroom for the criminal trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump after a short break at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on May 20, 2024.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2025

Former Epstein lawyer calls for release of additional materials

U.S. President Donald Trump has been under mounting pressure from his supporters to release more information related to the government's sex-trafficking probe into Jeffrey Epstein.
Polymetallic nodules — bulbous lumps of rock that are rich in battery metals such as cobalt and nickel which carpet huge tracts of Pacific Ocean seabed — in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on June 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025

Trump’s critical minerals obsession reignites deep-sea mining

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order expediting U.S. licensing of seabed mining, departing from international law.
A protester holds a sign outside the White House demanding the release to all files related to Jeffrey Epstein in Washington on July 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

Trump claims Obama 'coup' as Epstein questions mount

The coup accusation centers on claims that fly in the face of multiple high-level official probes by the U.S. government but resonate with President Donald Trump's far-right base.
Senate Republicans must undo their reckless confirmation of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary, whose anti-vaccine crusade is fueling a deadly measles outbreak and putting more Americans at risk.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 25, 2025

RFK Jr. is making America sick again. Republicans need a cure.

Kennedy, who has no training in medicine or health, has long been the nation’s foremost peddler of junk science and the crackpot conspiracy theories that flow from it.
A video display regarding the Jeffrey Epstein files in Times Square in New York
WORLD / Politics
Jul 28, 2025

Epstein furor undermines public trust and Republican election hopes: lawmakers

The lack of transparency is reinforcing public perceptions that the rich and powerful live beyond the reach of the judicial system, the lawmakers said.
Ukrainian service members fire an anti-aircraft cannon toward a Russian drone from a sunflower field during an air attack near Pavlograd, Dnipropetrovsk region, in Ukraine on July 19.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Trump raises pressure on Putin with new 10-12 day truce deadline

The latest threat from the U.S. president — and shortened timeline for Vladimir Putin to comply — highlight his growing frustration with the Russian leader.
A billboard in Columbus, Indiana displays a message that is part of the Democratic National Committee's campaign against U.S. President Donald Trump's tax-cut and spending bill, in this image obtained on July 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2025

Early 2026 U.S. midterm ads focus on Medicaid access and Trump tax cuts

Democrats are focusing their message on health care access while Republicans are countering that the tax provisions will enrich voters.
U.S. and Chinese flags flutter outside Sweden's government offices "Rosenbad" in Stockholm on Tuesday, ahead of the second day of trade talks between China and the U.S.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 30, 2025

U.S., China agree to continue talks on tariff truce extension

The Stockholm negotiations marked the third round of U.S.-China trade talks in less than three months.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on board Air Force One en route from Scotland to Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2025

Trump says he fell out with Epstein because he was taking Mar-a-Lago spa staff

U.S. President Donald Trump gave some of his most expansive public comments yet about his falling out with Jeffrey Epstein.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes