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Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in March
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

Four Thai court cases that could unleash political crisis

Four cases before the courts on Tuesday involve the country's most powerful politicians.
Group of Seven leaders and officials look to the sky during a ceremony involving paratroopers at Borgo Egnazia Golf Club San Domenico in Savelletri, Italy, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics / First person
Jun 17, 2024

In perspective: a firsthand account of this year’s G7

In an increasingly multipolar world, the bloc's relevance comes into question, but any attempt to foster dialogue and ease tensions should be welcomed.
France forward Kylian Mbappe receives medical treatment during the Euro 2024 Group D match between Austria and France in Duesseldorf on Monday.
SOCCER
Jun 18, 2024

France edge Austria in Euro 2024 opener as Mbappe gets broken nose

Sources close to Mbappe confirmed he had broken his nose in an accidental clash with Kevin Danso.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin walk past children during a welcoming ceremony in Pyongyang's Kim Il Sung Square on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Putin and Kim sign mutual defense pact in dramatic upgrade of ties

The North Korean and Russian leaders inked a "strategic partnership treaty," upgrading ties to a level that Kim said was on par with a formal alliance.
The European leader to watch in the months and perhaps years ahead is Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, whose far-right party was among the big winners in the recent European elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2024

EU populists are blind to the real threat to the bloc

The center-right will continue to dominate parliament, the surge in support for the extreme right evokes memories of the ugliest moments of the 20th century.
Vladimir Putin is expected to continue using asymmetric tactics, such as covert operations, sabotage and cyberattacks, to destabilize Europe.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2024

Putin’s 'shadow war' against Europe is intensifying

Vladimir Putin is expected to continue using asymmetric tactics, such as covert operations, sabotage and cyberattacks, to destabilize Europe.
German and Japanese fighter jets take part in an exercise over Japan. Germany's air force plans to send three of the fighters to Japan next month for the first-ever joint aerial exercise between the Luftwaffe and Air Self-Defense Force.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Germany laser-focused on Indo-Pacific despite hurdles, top envoy to Japan says

German Ambassador Clemens von Goetze expects soaring ties with Japan to continue to reach unprecedented heights.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Kenta Izumi (left) faces off against Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a debate in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

CDP's Izumi challenges Kishida to dissolve Lower House

Izumi said Kishida ought to seek a fresh mandate from the public due to his party's handling of its slush funds scandal.
Philippines Vice President Sara Duterte in Manila on Jan. 28, 2024. Duterte resigned from the Cabinet of President Ferdinand Marcos on Wednesday, the presidential palace said.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Philippine vice president exits Marcos Cabinet as alliance collapses

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte resigning from two key posts might give her more power to go against President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Most Japanese companies see no need for their government to follow the U.S. in raising tariffs on Chinese imports, a survey has found.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

Most Japanese firms see no need to follow U.S. with tariffs on China

U.S. President Joe Biden last month unveiled steep tariff increases on an array of Chinese goods.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Jun Azumi (center) submits a no-confidence motion against the Cabinet of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Lower House Speaker Fukushiro Nukaga (second from left) on Thursday in the parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2024

Lower House votes down no-confidence motion against Kishida’s government

The motion was voted down by the LDP and its junior coalition partner Komeito, which together hold a supermajority in the chamber.
A person walks among the giant columns supporting the Metropolitan Area Outer Underground Discharge Channel in Saitama Prefecture.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 20, 2024

Tokyo underground: The city beneath our feet

Join us this week on Deep Dive as we discuss with Alex K.T. Martin the expansive subterranean world of Tokyo’s ever-changing underground.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024

For Kishida, the LDP election means a fraught summer ahead

Attention is turning to what the prime minister will do as potential rivals rally support ahead of September's vote for party president.
People participate in a hustings event focused on the Hong Kong community, in Sutton, London, earlier this month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 22, 2024

Hong Kongers embrace politics in U.K., but some still fear Beijing

Since 2021, more than 180,0000 Hong Kongers have moved to Britain under a special visa program set up in response to a crackdown in their homeland.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vietnam President To Lam during a reception in Hanoi on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2024

Putin came to Asia to disrupt, and he succeeded

After stops in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Hanoi, Vietnam, last week that were draped in communist red, Putin left behind a redrawn map of risk in Asia.
A feminist demonstration against the far-right party in Toulouse, France, on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

French feminists protest Marine Le Pen even as she pulls in women

Protesters have had to reckon with a difficult reality: The National Rally leader has made progress in casting her party as a defender of women’s rights.
Emperor Naruhito meets with British people with connections to Japan at a hotel in London on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2024

Emperor Naruhito visits London

Empress Masako did not attend events on Sunday based on medical advice, due to fatigue from her flight to Britain.
Park Cheol-hee, the brains behind President Yoon Suk-yeol's diplomatic policies, is expected to be appointed as the country's next ambassador to Japan.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

South Korea to name Japan hand as next ambassador to Tokyo

Seoul has informally decided to appoint Park Cheol-hee, the brains behind President Yoon Suk-yeol's diplomatic policies.
In his 14 years as prime minister, Viktor Orban has become expert in playing hardball with Brussels and has repeatedly wielded his veto to get more EU funds.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Will Hungary hijack the EU during its presidency?

Officials and diplomats fret that one major victim of Hungary's six months in charge will be EU support for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invading forces.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference after being found guilty over hush-money charges, at Trump Tower in New York City on May 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 25, 2024

U.S. and allies race to ‘Trump-proof’ Biden security deals by year-end

Concerns are rising about a potential push to undo or restructure Biden-era agreements should the ex-president be returned to the White House.
An ingot of a rare earth metal used to make components for technology products at a factory in China. The country is the world’s top exporter of rare earth elements, but that may change if deep-sea mining gains traction in nations like Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 25, 2024

We’ve got to get deep-sea mining right

Seabed mining could muddy the waters of critical minerals' supply chains by tapping into new sources. But will environmental and legal concerns sink the project?
Crosses adorn a makeshift memorial for the shooting victims at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 26, 2022.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 26, 2024

U.S. surgeon general declares gun violence a 'public health crisis'

The advisory by Vivek Murthy, who was nominated by President Joe Biden, is the first such major report on gun violence from a surgeon general.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about student debt in Madison, Wisconsin, in April.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2024

How Trump and Biden might attack each other at their first 2024 debate

Immigration, the economy, democracy and abortion rights: Here are the main ways each candidate is likely to slam the other at Thursday’s high-stakes confrontation.
Izumi (Hana Sugisaki, left) tries to get to the bottom of a murder case that ends up going all the way to the top of Japan’s national intelligence agency.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 27, 2024

‘Sakura’: Secret agents, a murder mystery and one very determined young sleuth

Hana Sugisaki’s performance as a lowly employee in a prefectural police department stands out from typical portrayals in a domestic whodunit.
Former Bolivian Gen. Juan Jose Zuniga is presented following his arrest by the authorities for a coup attempt in La Paz, Bolivia, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jun 27, 2024

Bolivian general is arrested after apparent coup attempt

In all, an attempted afternoon incursion into the presidential palace lasted just three hours. As time wore on, it became clear that the plan had little support.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte emerged as the sole candidate for NATO secretary-general after his final challenger, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, dropped out of the race last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2024

NATO’s next chief, Mark Rutte, will have his work cut out for him

The war in Ukraine, uncertainty about Washington's position in the alliance and growing tensions with China are among the challenges he will face.
Civil servants listen to the national anthem before the polls open as they wait for voters at a polling station for the Mongolian parliamentary elections in Sergelen sum in Tuv province, Mongolia, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 28, 2024

Mongolians vote as anger grows over corruption and economy

Analysts expect the ruling Mongolian People's Party to retain its majority.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of 2024 at CNN's studios in Atlanta on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

At first debate, Biden stumbles amid Trump's barrage of falsehoods

The two men traded barbs on a host of issues as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.
French center Victor Wembanyama said France must avoid extremes in its upcoming parliamentary elections.
BASKETBALL
Jun 28, 2024

Victor Wembanyama urges French voters to reject 'extremes' in parliamentary election

Basketball star Victor Wembanyama joined other leading French athletes on Thursday in warning against voting for the "extremes" in this weekend's parliamentary election.
Wind turbines near New Brighton, England. According to the International Energy Agency, Japan could produce over 900% of its energy demand with offshore wind alone.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jun 30, 2024

Japan looks farther out to sea for overdue wind power boost

A bill enabling development in the country's exclusive economic zone is seen as key to Japan achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

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