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A woman pays her respects at a makeshift memorial in front of the Crocus City Hall in Moscow on Friday, a week after a deadly attack by gunmen there killed at least 143 people.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2024

Putin's conspiracy theories make Russians less safe

The Kremlin hopes that blaming Kyiv and the West for the attack will turn a difficult domestic political situation to its advantage.
Tugboats guide the Maersk Atlanta container ship at the Port of Newark in Newark, New Jersey, on Saturday. The bridge collapse Tuesday that shut the Port of Baltimore and closed a major highway will cause weeks or months of transportation disruptions in the Mid-Atlantic region.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2024

Baltimore ship accident has east coast ports scrambling to absorb cargo

The bridge collapse will accelerate a shift of cargo to the U.S. West Coast in order to avoid potential bottlenecks at trade gateways from Boston to Miami.
A Ukrainian soldier loads ammunition into an M2 Browning machine gun.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Moscow is outpacing Ukraine’s allies in the race for ammunition

The flow of military aid has dropped dramatically, and some Ukrainian guns are firing just a single round a day in order to save their dwindling stocks.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks on the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Oval Office in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024

Biden ultimatum to Netanyahu: protect Gaza civilians, or else

Analysts said the implicit threat was to slow U.S. arms transfers to Israel or to temper U.S. support at the U.N.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. Despite growing pressure from Biden, the Israeli prime minister appears in no rush to end the war in Gaza. Some think he is dragging out the war to prevent the collapse of his fragile right-wing coalition and extend his time in office.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2024

After six months of war, some Israelis ask: Is Netanyahu dragging it out?

Despite growing pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu appears in no rush to end the war in Gaza.
A Tesla Model 3 vehicle drives using FSD (Full Self-Driving) in Encinitas, California, in October.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 6, 2024

Tesla's bet on robotaxis is a long way from paying off

A greater emphasis on robotaxis comes with more risk for Tesla due to the complexity of the technology involved, analysts said.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British leader Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2024

AUKUS weighs expanding security pact to deter China, report says

Rahm Emanuel, the outspoken U.S. ambassador in Tokyo, wrote in a recent commentary that Japan was "about to become the first additional Pillar II partner."
Gen. Charles Flynn at U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys, south of Seoul, on Saturday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 8, 2024

North Korea’s ballistic missiles are getting valuable battlefield testing in Ukraine

Pyongyang is gaining valuable information in technical matters, procedures and the munitions themselves, a top U.S. general has said.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo in May 2022.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024

Biden and Kishida likely to discuss Texas bullet train project, sources say

The leaders may publicly voice support for the multi-billion-dollar Texas project after Wednesday's talks.
Smoke rising above buildings after an aerial bombardment in Khartoum North, Sudan, in May 2023
WORLD / Politics
Apr 11, 2024

Iranian-made drones may be turning tide to army's favor in Sudan civil war

Residents say newer drones appear to monitor RSF movements, target their positions and pinpoint artillery strikes in a city that forms part of the capital.
The departure hall at Haneda Airport in Tokyo. Now with inflation at its strongest in decades, Japanese are starting to realize that years of static wages leave many of them budgeting each month before their next pay check.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

Japan’s young workers head abroad as huge wage gap persists

The outflow is also a sign that many Japanese aren’t buying into the nation’s economic optimism as it exits from decades of deflation.
U.S. President Joe Biden during a joint news conference with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (not pictured) in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 13, 2024

It's inflation, stupid: Biden faces renewed election threat

The cost of living is rising more quickly again, just when he thought he had put the issue behind him to get a clear run at November's vote.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's summit in Washington showed that Japan's evolving defense policy reflects a changing security landscape. It will also require increased defense spending and commitments to international engagement.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2024

Japan steps up to become a 'full global partner'

One U.S. official described the results of the Japan-U.S. talks as probably the largest set of substantial, significant deliverables ever seen.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (left) with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2022. Scholz is travelling to China again this week with the goal of shoring up economic ties with Germany's biggest trading partner.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2024

An EV trade war with China would be an own goal for carmakers

As German Chancellor Scholz visits China this week, he should push for stronger ties between Chinese and European automakers, especially in the EV market.
A nationwide survey by Japan Press Research Institute released in October found that 74.6% of respondents see or hear news a few times a week on the internet. Meanwhile, 87.6% receive news through private broadcasters.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 21, 2024

How to deal with influence operations in the era of generative AI

A significant number of people in Japan don't care about where online news is sourced from, one poll found.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during the signing of the Rasht-Astara railway agreement in May 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2024

New 'sanctions-proof' transport routes put Russia at heart of global trade

Shipping and rail networks via Iran and an Arctic sea passage could strengthen Moscow’s pivot toward China and India and away from Europe.
The world is waiting to see if tit-for-tat missile and drone strikes by Israel and Iran will end after one exchange or escalate into a wider war that threatens the region. 
EDITORIALS
Apr 19, 2024

Stop the slide toward catastrophe in the Middle East

Tensions mount as Israel and Iran trade strikes, threatening regional stability.
Elderly women walk past a building destroyed during a Russian missile attack in the town of Selydove, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on April 14. The West needs to take decisive action to support an out-gunned Ukraine before the situation worsens.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 19, 2024

If only the West backed Ukraine as it did Israel

Western leaders need to take decisive action to support an out-gunned Ukraine before the situation worsens.
Sunrockers fans at a game in Tokyo in March.
BASKETBALL / B. League
Apr 20, 2024

'Mr. Incredible' and Japan’s improbable bid to compete with the NBA

Japan is a latecomer to basketball’s global expansion, but it has stratospheric expectations for its future.
Digital platforms have been flooded with disinformation, allowing foreign countries to conduct influence operations and leading to widened social divides.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 28, 2024

How democratic states are regulating digital platforms

Some platforms have been flooded with disinformation, allowing foreign countries to conduct influence operations.
Buyers inside an exhibition hall at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou on April 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 24, 2024

China’s prices are just too low for buyers to sweat about tariffs

Many buyers at China’s biggest trade event in the southern city of Guangzhou shrugged off the risk of an escalating trade war with the U.S.
Despite the potential benefits AI might have for bank customers, like finding the best interest rates, there are concerns about the destabilizing effects it may have on financial stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 24, 2024

Generative AI is coming for your bank. Maybe.

Tech investors reckon that supersmart agents will soon upend the business model of traditional banks, but there are caveats.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in February 2022. Emanuel has praised the Kishida administration's efforts to boost national and regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan's unlikeliest cheerleader is an American ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel showers his host country, and its government, with praise. And in his view, Washington doesn't understand Japan well.
A key aspect of AI technology that is often forgotten is that it requires an enormous amount of energy to develop and run. And that’s where utilities come in.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2024

AI boom’s secret winners? The companies expected to power it

Across the U.S., utilities are preparing for historic increases in electricity demand led by data centers and AI.
The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2024

Biden's focus on Ukraine risks Indo-Pacific security

The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine, as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
A woman and baby at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to El Fasher in North Darfur, Sudan, in January.
WORLD
Apr 30, 2024

Surrounded by fighters and haunted by famine, Sudan city fears worst

The contest for control of El Fasher in Darfur has prompted alarmed warnings from American and United Nations officials who fear mass bloodshed.
The Naughton coal power plant in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Ministers from the Group of Seven countries have agreed on a schedule for phasing out coal-fired power plants, setting as a goal the mid-2030s.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 1, 2024

G7 to phase out coal-fired power plants by mid-2030s

The move was hailed as significant by some environmentalists but slammed as "too late" by others.
New Zealand foreign minister Winston Peters
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 3, 2024

New Zealand 'seriously concerned' about China's actions in Pacific

New Zealand's foreign minister acknowledged China as a "vital economic partner" but said Wellington will continue to share its concerns with Beijing.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Sao Paulo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 5, 2024

Kishida talks up bolstered Latin American ties as China cements position

While the visit may improve ties, observers doubt countries like Brazil will jeopardize relations with Beijing, their most important trading partner.
U.K. Prime Minister Sunak is hearing calls to consider policies including an immigration cap and a withdrawal from the European Court of Human Rights.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2024

Tories press Sunak to move to right after local election rout

Sunak's team said they will respond with upcoming media appearances and policy announcements on the economy, migration and healthcare.

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Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.