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U.S. President Joe Biden enters the stage after an introduction by his daughter, Ashley Biden, on the first night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2024

Joe Biden begins a long and necessary goodbye

It took grace, maturity and generosity for Biden to bow out. A measure of resentment has also accompanied his exit.
Katsunobu Kato, former health minister, speaks in an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2024

Japan should keep rates and prices moving, prime minister hopeful Kato says

The former health minister is a dark horse but also the type of person who could emerge as a compromise candidate.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, who is expected to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election, is likely to get support from former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Ex-PM Suga likely to back Shinjiro Koizumi in LDP leadership race

Suga appears to be reluctant to support digital transformation minister Taro Kono, meanwhile.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda is scheduled to respond to questions from lawmakers in parliament on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2024

BOJ governor set to face intense scrutiny after market chaos

Gov. Kazuo Ueda will respond to questions from lawmakers in the Lower House on Friday morning, and those in the Upper House in the afternoon.
In an image provided by federal agencies, a colorized electron microscope image shows avian influenza grown in cultured cells. The virus is poised to become a permanent presence in cattle, raising the odds of an eventual outbreak among people.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 22, 2024

How U.S. farms could start a bird flu pandemic

The longer the virus circulates in cattle, the more chances it has to acquire the mutations necessary to set off an influenza pandemic.
Yukio Edano announces his bid to run in the leadership race of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 23, 2024

Yukio Edano pushes centrist image in CDP leadership bid

The ex-leader is attempting to shed a leftist identity by avoiding the expression "zero nuclear power" and pledging to review ties with the Japanese Communist Party.
The opposite of diversity isn’t meritocracy, but homogeneity. And in organizations where everyone looks the same, standards tend to be lower.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2024

‘DEI hires’ don’t lower the bar. They raise it.

Race and gender are not superficial characteristics that can or should be stripped away in order to prove someone’s merit.
Attendees wave the U.S. flag after Vice President Kamala Harris spoke on the last day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2024

Democrats taste victory in November. But are they too confident?

In a series of speeches during the party's convention, several people issued stern warnings for anyone believing the happy talk that November's election will be easy.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at the entrance of the Mariinskyi Palace ahead of their meeting in Kyiv on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 24, 2024

After Russia, Modi visits Ukraine as he walks diplomatic tightrope

The Indian leader reiterated the need for “dialogue and diplomacy” to end the war, during talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
A rocket carrying two astronauts aboard Boeing's Starliner is launched on a mission to the International Space Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on June 5.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2024

NASA picks SpaceX to rescue astronauts marooned in space

Boeing’s flawed Starliner craft will return without people on board in early September, the U.S. space agency said.
Demonstrators with a stylized painting depicting Telegram's founder, Pavel Durov, protest against the blocking of the popular messaging app in Russia, during a May Day rally in Saint Petersburg on in May 2018.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 25, 2024

Telegram messaging app CEO Durov arrested in France, reports say

Pavel Durov, the Russian-French billionaire founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, was arrested at Bourget Airport outside Paris on Saturday evening, TF1 TV and BFM TV said, citing unidentified sources.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives onstage Thursday to speak on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Kamala Harris charts her vision for the United States

Harris’ speech capped a week featuring the Democratic Party’s brightest stars, showcasing a broad, diverse and inclusive party.
A picture taken in 2021 in Moscow shows the mobile messaging and call service Telegram logo on a smartphone screen. French judicial authorities extended the detention of the Russian-born founder and chief of Telegram Pavel Durov on Sunday after his arrest at an airport near Paris over alleged offenses related to the popular but controversial messaging app.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 26, 2024

Telegram founder Pavel Durov arrested in France, sources say

A French police source said Durov was the subject of an arrest warrant in France.
People hold the Paralympic torch at the entrance of the Channel Tunnel in Coquelles, France, on Sunday.
PARALYMPICS
Aug 28, 2024

IPC president hails Paris Games as turning point for Paralympics

More than 1.75 million tickets had been sold by Friday ahead of Wednesday's opening ceremony.
Thailand's former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, arrives at Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok on Aug. 19. The former leader's views at a dinner event last week have been closely dissected by analysts and media for days after.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 28, 2024

Thaksin’s dinner talk signals his clout in new Thai government

His comments have been interpreted as a blueprint that’s likely to be adopted by his daughter and her Cabinet when they take office in the next couple of weeks.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and British Ambassador to Germany Jill Gallard walk near the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024

U.K. pushes for new pact with Germany as Starmer rebuilds EU ties

The U.K. and Germany are also looking within the next few months to forge a narrower agreement on defense and security.
Political polarization in the U.S. is fueling domestic social divisions, eroding democratic norms and leading to a more self-centered U.S. foreign policy that threatens the global liberal order.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 28, 2024

The transformation of American liberalism

Liberalism in the U.S. is the product of overextending the idea of individual autonomy, resulting in selfishness, and, at the same time, a return to traditional morality.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024

How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?

The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
Pope Francis arrives at the weekly general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 29, 2024

Pope Francis takes climate message to Southeast Asia on 12-day trip

It will be the longest trip yet by Pope Francis, who now regularly uses a wheelchair due to knee and back pain.
A protestor hold what they called a Stand up to Racism rally in Liverpool, England, on Aug 3. Savvy anti-populists should concentrate their rhetorical fire on populist leaders, rather than on their supporters.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 30, 2024

The counteroffensive against populism

One lesson from the past few months might sound like a truism: All parties that value democracy must unite to face down anti-democratic threats.
Yoko Ogawa’s latest novel to be translated into English, “Mina’s Matchbox,” is like a playground for the author’s interest in particular details: the subtleties of striking matches, playing volleyball and searching for typos, to name a few.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 1, 2024

Yoko Ogawa's 'Mina’s Matchbox' sparkles with quiet intimacy

The latest novel in translation from one of Japan's most eclectic writers leans toward magical realism while reveling in the minutiae of an affluent family's life.
Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo, according to media reports.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 30, 2024

Japan scraps idea to woo women out of city with cash

Bureaucrats had envisioned payments of up to ¥600,000 for women who got married and settled outside of Tokyo.
X owner Elon Musk speaks at the 27th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles in May.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 31, 2024

Brazil judge bans X as Elon Musk challenges top court’s orders

The platform's ban caps a monthslong feud between Musk and Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who is spearheading efforts to combat fake news.
Tokyo needs to leverage its political, economic, diplomatic and security strengths to shape Washington's engagement and regional stability in the Asia-Pacific no matter who wins the U.S. presidential election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 1, 2024

Japan's strategy for navigating an uncertain U.S. election

Japan needs to continue its role as a diplomatic bridge in shaping U.S.-China strategic competition to ensure peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
Kemi Badenoch is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the U.K. Conservative Party leadership contest.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 1, 2024

U.K.’s most Tory district uninspired even as leadership race heats up

Even in the Britain's most Conservative constituency, the former governing party’s contest to choose a new leader is failing to set pulses racing.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi announces his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Yoshimasa Hayashi announces candidacy in LDP leadership race

The chief cabinet secretary has proposed a new independent agency to regulate the financing of electoral campaigns.
One survey revealed that 68% of recruiters admit to appearance-based hiring and 96% say interviews are influenced by visual impressions, which is why many employment experts advise job hunters to invest significantly in their appearance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024

Why do I need a photo on my resume to apply for a job in Japan?

It is time to build a recruitment system in Japan that rewards people’s talents, irrespective of their looks
Beyond losing the American market, China is losing some of its own manufacturing companies, which are shifting parts of their production to countries such as Vietnam and Mexico to avoid U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 4, 2024

The rise and coming fall of Chinese manufacturing

Despite China's significant investments in technology, the decline of its manufacturing sector seems inevitable.
Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attend a campaign event in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Monday. Authorities have accused two RT employees of working with two foreign nationals in the U.S. who set up a company that recruited prominent conservative commentators to post regular videos on topics such as immigration and U.S. politics.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2024

U.S. charges employees of Russia's RT network over polls influence scheme

Officials accuse them of hiring a company in Tennessee to produce online videos aimed at amplifying political divisions ahead of the U.S. presidential election.
Chinese President Xi Jinping applauds as he delivers his keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the China-Africa summit in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 5, 2024

Xi courts Africa with $50 billion pledge and military support

The support is a sweeping effort to deepen China’s relations with a continent seen as key to the Chinese leader's geopolitical ambitions.

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