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Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an interview with Reuters in Kyiv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

Ukraine's Zelenskyy wants allies to step up aid and war involvement

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation on the battlefield was "one of the most difficult" he had known since the start of Russia's invasion.
People hold pictures of victims of the contaminated blood scandal, at a vigil to remember those that lost their lives, ahead of the release of the final report of the Infected Blood Inquiry, in London on Sunday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 21, 2024

Probe into infected blood scandal slams U.K. state over ‘chilling’ cover-up

More than 30,000 people were infected with HIV and Hepatitis C in the U.K. in the 1970s and 1980s after receiving treatments with contaminated blood products.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (left) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim wave to a crowd following his swearing-in at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 21, 2024

As new Taiwan leader takes office, a fragile status quo and power struggle at home await

New Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has pledged to build on the legacy of his predecessor.
Legislators from Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang (top) gather by the parliamentary speaker's seat as lawmakers from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (bottom) display various placards to protest against bills tabled by the opposition to expand the power of parliament in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 21, 2024

Taiwan parliament erupts in arguments at start of Lai's presidency

Politicians from both sides engaged in rowdy arguments amid an opposition push to expand the powers of the legislature in which the president's party has no majority.
The modernization of Japan's defense strategy is not just about military capabilities, it is also about building consensus and fostering public understanding.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2024

The winding road to Japan's defense modernization

The government's efforts to engage the public on defense issues are crucial for building consensus and ensuring the sustainability of defense reforms.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a meeting with New Caledonia's elected officials and local representatives at French High Commissioner Louis Le Franc's residence in Noumea, New Caledonia on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Macron arrives in riot-hit New Caledonia for high-stakes talks

Local group warns things may take a turn for the worse if the French president does withdraw an electoral bill that protesters fear will dilute Indigenous votes.
Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi said in a video posted on TikTok in December that the party did not want to be seen as part of the same group as the LDP.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

Challenges mount for Komeito amid rift with LDP

As the junior partner in the ruling coalition approaches its 60th anniversary, an existential crisis looms over it.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a gathering of a Liberal Democratic Party faction led by LDP Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi (left) in Tokyo in 2022.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2024

LDP loss in Shizuoka election could increase pressure for snap poll

Shizuoka's gubernatorial election is a close race between candidates backed by the ruling party and the main opposition.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at a campaign rally for his Bharatiya Janata party in Chandrapur, India, on April 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2024

Modi’s 400-seat dream in doubt as India opposition gains steam

Party insiders, opposition members and analysts who have traveled across India to speak to voters say there’s little evidence of a "Modi wave.”
Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker Takashi Yamashita answers questions at a meeting of a Lower House special political reform committee Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 25, 2024

LDP and CDP at odds over fate of fundraising parties

While the ruling party stressed the importance of maintaining the events, the main opposition party called for an outright ban.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike attends a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo in November 2020.
JAPAN / Politics
May 25, 2024

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike plans to seek third term

Koike, who was reelected in 2020 as an independent, could make an announcement as early as Wednesday, sources close to the matter said.
Royalty took the top image spots on the June 3, 1924, edition of The Japan Times. In addition to Japan's imperial celebrations, the paper nodded to the birthday of Britain's King George V.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jun 1, 2024

Japan Times 1924: Tokyo gaily makes merry

After having suffered from a devastating earthquake the previous year, a royal wedding brings back a celebratory mood to the capital.
Richard Grenell speaks at a Donald Trump rally in Florence, Arizona, on Jan. 15, 2022.  Grenell has a good chance of landing a top foreign policy job in a second Trump administration — if not as secretary of state, which requires Senate confirmation, then perhaps as national security adviser, which does not.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2024

He threw ‘spaghetti at the wall’ for Trump. Now he’s after a top job.

If Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency, Richard Grenell hopes to be secretary of state. But his work raises questions, even from his former boss.
Catherine Wallace
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / The Big Questions
May 27, 2024

Hitotsubashi’s Catherine Wallace on business ethics

Active in cross-cultural collaboration, innovation and sustainability, Wallace worked as a diplomat and is now a professor at Hitotsubashi University
French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech during the European Youth Festival "Fete de l'Europe" (Festival of Europe) in front of the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) in Dresden, eastern Germany, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024

Macron calls far-right rise an 'ill wind' for Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron's trip comes two weeks ahead of European Union elections, in which polls are indicating his centrist coalition is trailing the far right.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak inspects troops at a military base in North Yorkshire, Britain, on May 3. Sunak is making the question of protecting Britain and navigating dangerous geopolitical conditions central themes of his election campaign.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2024

War is at the heart of the U.K.’s summer election

British Prime Minister Sunak is nevertheless right to inject defense into the heart of the election campaign.
A protester holds a sign reading "Keep Taiwan Free" during a demonstration outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Taiwan government to reject contested parliament reforms

The legislation, backed by the main opposition Kuomintang, brought tens of thousands onto the streets to protest and accusations of Chinese interference.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets his supporters after landing at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport last August. He will be prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, the attorney general's office said on Wednesday, over comments he made while in self-exile in 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Former Thai PM Thaksin will be indicted in royal insult case

The move creates fresh legal risk for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the head of the political dynasty that controls the country’s ruling party.
Aphelele Vavi (right), 22, who is studying sound engineering, at lunch with fellow students at SAE Creative Media Institute in Rosebank, South Africa, on March 19
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

South Africa’s young democracy leaves its young voters disillusioned

The nation is heading into a pivotal election, in which voters will determine who will pick the president, but voter turnout has been dropping in recent years.
Meta, the parent of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has seen threat actors rely on artificial intelligence to produce fake images, videos and text to try influencing users on its sites.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2024

Meta removes AI-generated influence campaigns from China and Israel

Social media companies such as Facebook, ByteDance’s TikTok and Elon Musk’s X have struggled with the influx of fake and misleading AI-generated content on their sites.
While the recent trilateral summit between Japan, South Korea and China in Seoul was aimed at restarting dialogue, it yielded minimal concrete outcomes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 30, 2024

Lessons from the Japan-South Korea-China summit

The underlying force driving the trilateral summit — which yielded little in substance — is the fact that Beijing needed these talks more than Tokyo and Seoul.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures following the announcement of the verdict in his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, outside Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2024

Trump guilty verdict adds twist to 2024 race: a convicted felon

While such a development may change the trajectory of the presidential race, few experts are confident it will.
OpenAI said that a Chinese network known as Spamouflage, which used its models to research social media activities, has been generating articles in various languages that were then posted on social media platforms and forums.
JAPAN / Society
May 31, 2024

Chinese group used OpenAI tech to discredit Fukushima water discharge

OpenAI said that a Chinese network used its models to generate articles in various languages accusing Japan of polluting the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang listen on.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2024

A long-neglected trilateral resumes — to expected results

Revival of this trilateral has been driven by Chinese uncertainty: worries about its economy and anxiety regarding geopolitical developments.
The ultimate challenge for the next government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024

India’s election winner has a repair job waiting

The ultimate challenge for the next Indian government is to balance infrastructure investment with measures that improve household financial stability and income.
A supporter of former President Donald Trump protests in Palm Beach, Florida, after the guilty verdict over falsifying business records was announced on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2024

Why Republicans go crawling back to Donald Trump

Donald Trump has been convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. But this is unlikely to make much difference to the Republican Party. Not only is he still the GOP’s presumptive presidential nominee; Republicans have repeatedly proved perfectly willing to forgive his indiscretions,...
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and South Korean defense chief Shin Won-sik attend a trilateral meeting on sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 2, 2024

Japan, South Korea and U.S. unveil new initiatives to cement defense ties

The three partner nations agreed to develop a framework to institutionalize trilateral cooperation within the year.
A Palestinian youth moves containers of water past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on May 28.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Israel pushes back against Gaza ceasefire Biden has outlined

Hamas said it welcomed any proposal "based on a permanent ceasefire" as well as "a total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip."
Senior ruling and opposition lawmakers on the Lower House political reform committee decide Monday that the bill will be voted on in parliament the following day.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Lower House vote on political funds law revision agreed

Movement on the vote follows a deal between the Liberal Democratic Party, Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai on the content of the bill.

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