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Left-wing activists take part in a rally in Dhaka on Jan. 3 to demand a new election under Bangladesh's caretaker government.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 18, 2024

Weeks into 2024 and the world seems on edge

The global system that emerged after World War II is giving way to a world without order.
A cut out of Lord Ram on a street ahead of the grand opening of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, India, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 20, 2024

A Hindu temple embodies the rise of Modi and India's deep divisions

With national elections a few months away, the inauguration of a controversial temple is symbolic of a changing India and marks the capstone of Modi’s 10 years in power.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak meets with local residents during a walkabout with Conservative MPs in Winchester, England, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 20, 2024

Why Sunak’s Conservatives are talking about the 1993 Canadian election

A week of Tory rebellions and cataclysmic polls has left members of Sunak’s governing party plumbing new depths of despair over their prospects of staying in power.
Farmers protest against the government's planned cuts to agricultural sector subsides in Brandenburg, Germany, on Jan. 10.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2024

Why Germany is rich but Germans are poor and angry

Germany's polarization peaks as the country's divided society faces economic turmoil.
Past warnings of a housing-market crash in China have never been borne out. But unless the government takes concerted action, this time may well be different.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2024

Fixing China’s real estate sector

Housing dreams to economic nightmares, the perils of China's real estate boom.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' campaign will be studied by the political world as an example of what not to do: Strategy miscalculations, financial mismanagement and a failure to fashion a likable candidate.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2024

How the DeSantis 2024 campaign unraveled: Hubris, infighting, awkward moments

The political world will study his campaign as an example of what not to do.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced the dissolution of his LDP faction on Friday, marking a significant shift in the wake of a political funding scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2024

Mired in scandal, the LDP chips away at its factions

Three LDP factions, including Kishida's, announced their dissolution last week. While it's unlikely that all groupings will meet the same fate, reform is in the air.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2024

LDP agrees to reshape factions and toughen rules on political funding

It remains unclear, however, whether this move will lead to a substantial reform of the party's faction-oriented politics.
Supporters of former U.S. President Donald Trump react as results are announced during his New Hampshire presidential primary election night watch party in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Trump defeats Haley in New Hampshire, moving closer to nomination

The former president's only remaining rival, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, remained defiant telling supporters at a primary night party: "This race is far from over."
Taiwan's roughly three decades of democracy have fostered a growing sense of self-identity, according to a long-running study by National Chengchi University.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 24, 2024

Taiwan’s China-backing party faces crisis after election defeat

Many voters are distrustful of the KMT's commitment to eventual unification with China, a goal shared by just a minority in the island.
Protesters during a nationwide strike near the National Congress in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. Argentina's labor movement is staging a general strike that will test popular support for President Javier Milei's austerity blitz less than two months into his presidency.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

Thousands protest Javier Milei’s reforms months into Argentine presidency

The mass protests in Buenos Aires come as the libertarian economist attempts to slash the size of the state in a bid to tame triple-digit inflation.
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat was declared not guilty in his media shareholding case by Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2024

Thai court clears former PM hopeful Pita Limjaroenrat in share case

Thailand’s constitution bars politicians from owning shares in media firms to prevent platforms being abused for personal gains and to protect media freedom.
A man walks out of a game store displaying a promotional poster for Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, the latest in the Yakuza series of video games. Behind the worldwide success of Japanese video games lies a delicate task: appealing to overseas players whose expectations on issues like sexism are increasingly influencing the content of major titles.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 25, 2024

From Japan to the world: how to translate a game

Everything from slang to costumes needs to be considered in an era where international success is crucial to making a blockbuster.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits a munitions factory at an undisclosed location in this picture released on Jan. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 26, 2024

Is North Korea's Kim preparing for an actual war?

Some believe he may be disillusioned with diplomacy and is girding for conflict; others think the provocations are timed to coincide with U.S. and South Korean elections.
People walk past a television screen showing a broadcast with file footage of South Korean lawmaker Bae Hyun-jin, at a railway station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jan 26, 2024

South Korean lawmaker treated for cuts to head following attack

Bae Hyun-jin, of the ruling party, was struck several times by the assailant who was wearing a dark coat and had his face covered.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures to his supporters, as he departs for his second civil trial after E. Jean Carroll accused Trump of raping her decades ago, outside Trump Tower in the Manhattan borough of New York City on Friday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jan 27, 2024

Big money fails to stop Trump, again, prompting a donor reckoning

Donors have learned a hard lesson: Big money cannot win the GOP presidential nomination, at least not against Trump.
South African officials speak ahead of the International Court of Justice's ruling on emergency measures against Israel following accusations by South Africa that the Israeli military operation in Gaza is a state-led genocide, in The Hague on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 27, 2024

South Africa invokes Mandela's legacy with case against Israel

To many South Africans, the country’s outspoken advocacy on behalf of Palestinians has become a point of national pride.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida delivers a policy speech during a plenary session of the Lower House in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

Kishida comes full circle in policy speech with emphasis on 'power'

Amid low approval ratings and soul-searching for the ruling party, the prime minister made "power" a key theme in his policy speech.
Garments at a Shein Group pop-up store inside a Forever-21 store in the Times Square neighborhood of New York on Nov. 10, 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Cars and online retailers outperform as China exports disappoint

The sectors represented the fastest expansion among China's economy, with an export value of at least $10 billion.
Takuo Komori, parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs, bows after speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Two Abe faction members resign as vice ministers over funds scandal

The latest development in the scandal currently enveloping the LDP comes as the opposition is expected to gear up its criticism of the ruling party.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Three years after coup, Myanmar junta chief's power in doubt

Min Aung Hlaing's leadership has been questioned after a series of military defeats during a sweeping offensive by rebel groups known as Operation 1027.
Police officers escort Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan (center) upon his arrival at the high court in Islamabad on May 12, 2023. Khan and his wife have been sentenced to 14 years' jail after being convicted of illegally selling gifts he received while he was premier.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2024

Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan gets another 14-year jail sentence

His conviction for illegally selling state gifts follows a separate charge of leaking state secrets, for which he was jailed 10 years a day earlier.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers his keynote address at the f8 Developers Conference in San Francisco in 2011.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 1, 2024

Facebook, the social network old-timer, turns 20

"Facebook, when it launched, was revolutionary"
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires toward Gaza on Thursday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his war Cabinet have been under increasing pressure to bring home the hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024

Gaza cease-fire negotiations advance as Israel-Hamas war grinds on

While talks are still in the early stages, sources said the proposal had a realistic chance of success and could lead to a longer-term cease-fire.
U.S. President Joe Biden has come under intense pressure from Republicans to take strong action, up to attacks directly on Iranian assets or territory.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024

The world waits as Biden telegraphs attack on Iran-backed groups

The U.S. has accused Iran of funding groups that have attacked American bases and personnel in the region.
The Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) is seen on the surface of the moon in an image released Jan. 25.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 2, 2024

Japan’s historic moon landing was right on target

Japan made history last month when it became the fifth nation to soft land on the moon.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak leaves a court in Kuala Lumpur on April 3, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 3, 2024

Malaysia reduces sentence of disgraced ex-leader Najib Razak

The leniency for Najib comes after weeks of speculation in Malaysia that he might be pardoned by the reigning monarch.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas testifies during a hearing in Washington on Nov. 8. The chances of Mayorkas being convicted in the Senate seem to be almost zero.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2024

Inside impeachment’s rise as a weapon of partisan warfare in the U.S.

Impeachment has essentially become just another weapon in today’s bitter, tit-for-tat partisan wars.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has said an initial vote on the bill would take place no later than Wednesday, but faces opposition from both sides of the aisle.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2024

U.S. Senate unveils $118 billion bipartisan border security bill

The measure faces an uncertain future amid opposition by Donald Trump and hard-line Republicans.
Prabowo Subianto, presidential candidate and Indonesia's defense minister, speaks during the final presidential debate in Jakarta on Sunday. More than 204 million Indonesians will vote on Feb. 14 to elect new leaders who will shape Southeast Asia's largest economy for the next five years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2024

Ex-general becomes cat-loving grandpa in bid to run Indonesia

Prabowo Subianto has been accused of human rights abuses, but now he is reaping the rewards of an extensive image makeover.

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