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A military chaplain sprays holy water on Ukrainian service members of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade during an Easter service near the front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Dnipropetrovsk region, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 21, 2025

Ukraine and Russia accuse each other of violating Easter ceasefire

Each said the other committed attacks that violated the one-day truce.
Televisions in Washington under a portrait of President Donald Trump display a Fox News program on April 16.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Always 'the enemy' — Trump steps up media assault in first 100 days

The United States fell from 45th to 55th place in 2024 in the World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders.
Amid trade war uncertainty, central bankers, including Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, are leaning toward cautious policies, with some signaling potential rate cuts while awaiting the fallout from U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025

Rate cuts anyone? Anyone? Ferris Bueller’s tariff lesson

The collective sense of "we don't know” will give way to either hiking or easing. In Asia, the bias appears to favor the latter.
People gather to protest outside the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) headquarters after the Elon Musk-led "department of government efficiency" (DOGE) was charged with oversight of OPM, in Washington on Feb. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency

"DOGE is not a serious exercise," said Jessica Riedl, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank that supports streamlining government.
The No. 1 Poultry building, left, in the City of London
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2023

South Korean investors stung as bet on offices in financial centers turns sour

With a growing need for environmental credentials for corporate renters and downsizing due to the pandemic, office real-estate markets are seeing a "flight to quality" — leaving some exposed
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida meets with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other officials in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 21, 2023

Kishida takes ‘global green’ initiative to the Middle East

Middle East countries are keen to diversify their economies, reducing their reliance on oil and gas for revenue. Japan hopes to assist in that transition.
Lighting fireworks on Myeongpa Beach, where families can camp near the DMZ border, in Goseong-gun, South Korea, on July 30, 2022. ​In recent years, northern counties of South Korea have become unlikely tourist destinations, attracting people drawn to the history of the DMZ.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 27, 2023

Life along the Korean DMZ, 70 years after the fighting ended

After nearly eight decades of living separated across the tightly sealed border​, many South Koreans see reunification as a distant dream.
The emergency vacuum building sits south of the reactor site at the Darlington Nuclear generating station in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada, in April 2016.
WORLD
Aug 1, 2023

Canada turns to nuclear after 30-year pause amid demand surge

There are plans to make a plant the world’s largest and a pledge to add three small modular reactors to a site where another is already being built.
A new high-rise is erected in Beijing in October 2021. The same year, 41% of the assets in China’s banking system were accounted for by property-related loans and credit.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

Is Japan’s economic past China’s future?

China is facing a long period of low growth similar to Japan’s experience since the 1990s.
More than 30 samples of drugs made by Synokem, including generic abortion pills, have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators and public health researchers since 2018.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Global abortion pill provider buys from maker with poor quality record

More than 30 samples of drugs made by Delhi-based Synokem Pharmaceuticals have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators.
A courtroom sketch shows former U.S. President Donald Trump taking an oath during a court appearance in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2023

Civics lesson or reality TV? Calls grow to broadcast Trump trial

Lawyers and politicians in the U.S. are lining up to urge that cameras be allowed inside the courtroom.
A participant operates the "Flappy Bird," a self-made flying machine, during an event in Hong Kong in May 2014. Vietnam first caught the attention of global gamers in 2013 after Hanoi developer Dong Nguyen created, Flappy Bird, a simple but addictive game app.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 7, 2023

A decade after Flappy Bird, Vietnam becomes gaming powerhouse

Moving beyond outsourced software and sneaker factories, Hanoi views mobile games as a crucial part of its emerging tech sector.
Kiminoi Shuzo's brewery (pictured in 1904) has been a fixture of the community in Arai, Niigata Prefecture, since its 1894 founding.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 13, 2023

Struggling Niigata sake sees ‘a future in Japan’s past’

New challenges are forcing Niigata’s brewers to adapt their ancient craft to changing times, a balancing act that is often easier said than done.
Japan midfielder Yui Hasegawa controls the ball during a training session in Auckland on Tuesday.
SOCCER / Women's World cup
Aug 11, 2023

Rejuvenated Nadeshiko Japan 'ready to fight against anyone'

Japan, a sagging power suddenly revived, might be the most impressive contender remaining in the Women's World Cup.
Workers at a WeWork coworking office in London
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 11, 2023

Flexible work will survive despite gloomy corporate signals

A growing body of research, trend data and surveys show that flexibility matters, and that work is now a thing we do, not a place we go.
At the inaugural World Lambrusco Day held this June, the sparkling wine took center stage beneath the Eiffel Tower.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Aug 20, 2023

Passe or sparkling, Lambrusco can get you through a Tokyo summer

Fizzy, fruity and tantalizingly affordable, the sparkling red wine from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region is a convivial antidote to the summertime blues.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off with a payload of 21 Starlink satellites from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Feb. 27.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 18, 2023

Starlink lifts off in Asia as satellite internet race heats up

Elon Musk's company has carved out a niche and an opportunity through the region's natural disasters and the vast sweep of its archipelagoes and islands.
Washington is worried that Beijing’s struggles with high unemployment and an aging workforce make China “a ticking time bomb.”
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2023

America’s ‘new’ China narrative: A wounded dragon

The new China narrative is really about the West, its lead in technologies, the free market, wielding power and keeping all challengers at bay.
EDITORIALS
Aug 26, 2023

Bigger isn’t necessarily better for the future of BRICS

Shared grievances may bind them, but they are not enough to fuel concerted action to challenge the dominace of the West.
An efficient, just-in-time strategy for manufacturing made Toyota’s production system famous.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023

Toyota shuts factories, investors shrug. That’s resilience.

An efficient, just-in-time strategy for manufacturing made Toyota’s production system famous.
As China slips into deflation, one word is popping up more and more to describe the gloomy atmospherics: "Japanification."
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023

'Japanification' for China? It should be so lucky.

China is not on the path to global dominance nor set for collapse, and observers should consider the various shades of gray in analyzing these countries.
Mizuki Yoneyama is the Kodo taiko troupe's first female odaiko (large-scale drum) player, an indication that things are changing in the traditional community.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Sep 2, 2023

For these women, taiko drumming is no longer a man's art

Ensemble taiko shows were developed in the 1950s, primarily by male leaders. Women taking part in Kodo’s early recitals only performed dance routines.
Southeast Asian officials at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2023

ASEAN leaders seek to assert bloc's relevance at annual summit

ASEAN is seeking to clarify its relevance as cracks emerge in its response to the conflict in Myanmar.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel talks to local fishermen on Thursday to show his support for the water discharge from the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2023

Fukushima water disposal is leadership opportunity for Japan

Some 1,000 storage tanks that hold the water are almost full and more tanks can’t be installed as they would interfere with the plant’s decommissioning.
Panelists led by Kenya's President William Ruto (center) conduct a session during the Africa Climate Summit 2023 in Nairobi on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2023

'Unfair' global finance system in focus at Africa climate talks

The Nairobi summit hopes to boost investment in renewables, with the UAE pledging $4.5 billion to accelerate Africa's clean energy transition.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom at the 2023 Milken Institute Global Conference in California on May 2
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 7, 2023

California governor signs executive order to explore AI risks

The directive comes as Washington and other governments struggle with how to regulate artificial intelligence technology.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 11, 2023

North Korean weapons cache gives Kim a role in the Kremlin’s invasion

Kim Jong Un is expected to cross into Russia this week for his first trip outside the peninsula in four years for talks with Vladimir Putin.
The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, a nuclear fusion demonstration project, in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance, France, in October 2016
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2023

Fusion research shouldn’t be a nuclear weapons side hustle

Some question the wisdom of improving nuclear weapons while advocating for the separation of fusion research from weapons development.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu (far left) attends the 20th IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 15, 2023

Missing Chinese defense chief signals turmoil in Xi's government

Washington has reportedly concluded that Li Shangfu, who took up his post in March, has been stripped of his responsibilities.
Emperor Naruhito greets newly appointed reconstruction minister Shinako Tsuchiya during the attestation ceremony at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Wednesday following Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's Cabinet reshuffle.
EDITORIALS
Sep 15, 2023

Kishida's Cabinet shuffle will make little difference

It will take more than new faces — and inexperienced ministers — to address the issues that bedevil the Kishida government and the country.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami