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The Biden administration has regularly sent warnings about Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of U.S. Steel and has steadfastly sided with the United Steelworkers over the sale of a once-iconic firm based in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2024

Biden to express concern over Nippon Steel's deal for U.S. Steel, source says

U.S. officials and lawyers have drafted a statement of concern and the White House has privately informed Tokyo of Biden's move, according to reports.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra takes a photo with a supporter alongside his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra (right), in Chiang Mai on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

Former Thai PM Thaksin Shinawatra makes first appearance after jail release

The controversial billionaire, ousted in a 2006 military coup, prayed at a Bangkok shrine before flying to Chiang Mai to meet family and supporters.
MIT professor Yasheng Huang  argues that the seeds of China’s decline were planted as far back as the 6th century with the implementation of the famed and stifling Keju civil-service examination system.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2024

Understanding China’s political economy

The seeds of China’s decline were planted as far back as the 6th century, with the implementation of the stifling Keju civil-service examination system.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign event in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2024

Biden’s best shot against Trump lies in ‘blue wall’ states

In Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, his campaign sees signs for optimism.
U.S. President Joe Biden said Thursday that United States Steel should be domestically owned, coming out against Nippon Steel's plan to acquire the company as support from labor unions is becoming more significant for his re-election bid.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 15, 2024

Nippon Steel determined to complete U.S. Steel deal

The firm has promised no layoffs or plant closures until at least September 2026.
A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / Longform
Mar 15, 2024

Akira Toriyama's gift to the world

The artist's impact was such that he should be considered alongside greats such as Walt Disney and Stan Lee when it comes to cultural contributions.
There are growing calls within the LDP to query former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori (left) over his possible involvement in the scandal. While Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has said that the party would discuss hearing directly from those involved, he did not offer specific examples of who he had in mind.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 15, 2024

Shimomura to testify amid growing calls to query Mori over funds scandal

The former LDP policy chief's testimony before an ethics committee could pressure the ex-PM to disclose what he knows about the kickback scheme.
Members of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council stage a "menthol funeral" to draw attention to the annual toll of smoking-related deaths outside the White House in Washington on Jan. 18.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2024

Smokes and votes: Could menthol cigarette ban sway U.S. election?

A proposed ban from President Joe Biden's administration on the mint-flavored smokes has miffed some Black Americans, a key Democratic Party base.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of executives of LDP regional chapters in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 16, 2024

Kishida vows to revive LDP after funds scandal

The LDP will boost efforts toward a revival, Kishida said at a meeting of executives of the party's regional chapters.
Members of the U.S. Special Operations Command train with their South Korean counterparts during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2024

U.S. commandos laud training for the 'unexpected' in North Korea's shadow

The Korean Peninsula joins the South China Sea and Taiwan as military flashpoints with the potential to involve the region and the world.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

Shimomura testimony fails to shed light on LDP funds scandal

Former Liberal Democratic Party policy chief Hakubun Shimomura had hinted that he would finally provide some answers to key questions.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during an event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

Decoding Xi’s new catchphrase aimed at reviving China’s economy

Slogans matter in China, and the adoption of new catchphrases can herald profound shifts in policy.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the media at his campaign headquarters in Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

Five takeaways from Putin’s orchestrated win in Russia

Putin always seeks to project an image of political stability and control, which the carefully choreographed presidential votes are designed to burnish.
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi (center) with other party leaders of the I.N.D.I.A alliance in New Delhi in December 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2024

Anti-Modi alliance in India is faltering as election nears

Absent a clear vision that presents the Indian electorate with an alternative to the ruling BJP, the Congress-led alliance faces an uphill task in polls.
Denys Kostev, a Ukrainian teen who lived in an orphanage in southern Ukraine and ended up in Russian-controlled territory following Moscow's full-scale invasion
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Poster child for Russia's removal of Ukraine orphans says he was coached, threatened

Kyiv says many Ukrainian orphans taken to Russian-controlled territory have been subjected to an orchestrated program to make them accept Kremlin ideology.
Hong Kong leader John Lee (center) with lawmakers after they passed the city's new security law. Hong Kong has fast-tracked into law domestic security legislation that critics say could muzzle open economic discussion and tighten control over foreign bodies operating in the global finance hub.
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2024

Hong Kong's new security law only deepens challenges for financial hub

While the city’s role as a financial center dwarfs that of rivals, more firms are choosing Singapore as their Asian base.
As two friends deal with normal problems teenagers face, their lives are complicated by the looming specter of an alien takeover in “Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction Part 1.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2024

‘Dead Dead Demons Dededede Destruction: Part 1’: A prophetic vision of pandemic life

Tomoyuki Kurokawa’s adaptation of Inio Asano’s manga of the same name pokes fun at modern society and politics amid a crisis.
The opposition has no means to force the six current and former Liberal Democratic Party members to testify in parliament without the agreement from the party's leadership, starting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, who concurrently serves as party president.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Kishida weighs demand for sworn testimonies to clear air on scandal

Opposition parties want six current and former LDP members to testify before parliament on their knowledge of party fundraising kickbacks.
The resignation of Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong on Wednesday is "not really a good sign for a country often boasted for having very strong political stability.”
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 21, 2024

‘Political earthquake’ shakes up succession battle in Vietnam

The ouster of a second president in just over a year leaves a leadership vacuum in one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies.
Giant cut-outs of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other party leaders are positioned beside a road in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on Feb. 25.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 21, 2024

Hardships and broken promises no hindrance for Modi in India's rural north

If India's prime minister earns a third term in office, it will be in spite of the state of the rural and farming economy — not because of it.
People lay flowers at a makeshift memorial near Crocus City Hall, a concert venue outside Moscow that was the site of a mass shooting on Friday night.
WORLD
Mar 24, 2024

Deadly Moscow attack shatters Putin’s security promise to Russians

The tragedy outside Moscow is a blow to a leader riding an aura of confidence only days after a stage-managed election victory.
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned on Wednesday among anti-graft probes into Hanoi’s top leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2024

Vietnam could lose its 'China +1' appeal among political turmoil

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong resigned on Wednesday among a wider probe. This could compromise Hanoi's image as an economic alternative to Beijing.
Jim Rauh, founder of Families Against Fentanyl, holds a photograph of his son Thomas in Akron, Ohio, on March 4. How Trump and Biden address a lethal chapter of the U.S. drug-overdose epidemic will be pivotal in swing states that are likely to decide the election.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2024

270,000 overdose deaths thrust fentanyl into heart of U.S. presidential race

More than 4 in 10 Americans personally know someone who has died from a drug overdose.
While Beijing promotes a vision of a peaceful and cooperative world, its foreign policy increasingly involves coercion, military buildup and assertive actions that challenge the existing international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 27, 2024

What is Beijing’s ultimate endgame? The answer is clear.

China's purported vision of equality and security for the world is belied by increasingly forceful foreign policy.
Directed and co-written by Sunao Katabuchi, animated film “In This Corner of the World” depicts the beauty of nature and the horrors of war with equal potency.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 27, 2024

Films that give the Japanese perspective of the atomic bomb

Movies about the nation's darkest days — in genres such as dramas, fantasies and anime — offer another side to Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' story.
Kim Jong Un and his daughter Kim Ju Ae attend the opening ceremony of the Gangdong Greenhouse in North Korea in this picture released on March 16.
JAPAN / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 27, 2024

North Korea reaches for familiar playbook in talks with Japan

Pyongyang blowing hot and cold on a potential leaders summit is meant to gain the upper hand in negotiations to realize such a meeting.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman rings a ceremonial bell at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to celebrate the company's initial public offering on March 21.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 28, 2024

Reddit’s IPO is a content moderation success story

Deciding what users are and aren’t allowed to post is something every social media company has to embrace eventually, if it wants to succeed.
An installation titled "Ukiyo-e" by Atsushi Kaga is displayed at Art Basel in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Art Basel Hong Kong’s full-scale return tests city’s events appeal

The art fair will serve as a test of the city’s ability to stage major events, in the wake of several big-name controversies and cancellations.
With President Yoon Suk-yeol's approval rating hovering around 34% and public discontent running high over the country's lackluster economy, the opposition is ahead in some polls. Yoon term as president ends in 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

South Korea kicks off campaigning ahead of April election

Poll is crucial for Yoon Suk-yeol's ruling People Power Party to avoid him ending up a lame duck president should the opposition secure a supermajority.
A poster for "Oppenheimer" is displayed at a theater in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward on Friday. The film's Japan debut came eight months after its global release.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 29, 2024

'Oppenheimer' opens in Japan eight months after global release

Japan screenings were delayed as the worldwide premiere was only weeks before the anniversary of the 1945 bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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