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While online influence campaigns are increasingly common as powerful people and governments around the world seek to manipulate public opinion, experts tracking such operations say China is one of the biggest sources of such drives alongside Russia and Iran.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 8, 2024

Chinese firm behind ‘news’ sites pushes pro-Beijing content globally, report says

Spread over websites in 30 countries, the propaganda material is interspersed with news aggregated from local news outlets and Chinese state media.
At the new teamLab Borderless museum, the crowd-favorite room of lamps from Borderless 1.0 has evolved into a room of light bubbles, which interact with each other and the bodies passing by.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 8, 2024

Have we reached teamLab saturation?

The art collective re-opens its Borderless museum in Azabudai Hills. But the experience is starting to feel stale.
A lenticular cloud is seen over a mountain at sunset in a clear sky, due to an anticyclone during a prolonged drought with warming temperatures and lack of rain in winter, in Ronda, Spain, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 9, 2024

Climate change drives world to first 12-month spell over 1.5 C

Human-caused climate change and El Nino pushed temperatures higher.
For the first time in 16 years, Taiwan will have a minority government when Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party is sworn in on May 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2024

To Taiwan’s president-elect, here is a proposal for your consideration

For the first time in 16 years, Taiwan will have a minority government when Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party is sworn in on May 20.
The Japanese government forecast that number of digital workers in 2026 will fall short of projected needs by 2.3 million.
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2024

Japan struggles with digital transformation

Japan's general tendency toward risk aversion reduces the readiness to adopt new policies, procedures and technologies.
Boeing 737 Max airplanes on the tarmac at the Boeing factory in Renton, Washington, in 2019
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2024

How production pressures plunged Boeing into yet another crisis

Soul-searching about quality controls and plunged Boeing into its second safety crisis in five years.
Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi fires toward the Vissel Kobe goal during a friendly at National Stadium in Tokyo on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Feb 11, 2024

Amid row over Messi's no-show, China nixes Argentina matches

The upcoming friendly with the Argentine squad has been canceled due to "well-known reasons,” the sports authority in the eastern city of Hangzhou said.
The market in 2023 and 2024 has been marked by breathless enthusiasm for the potential of artificial intelligence as well as wildly disparate guesses about how the technology will translate into future cash flows.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 11, 2024

Is the S&P 500's surge signaling a bubble or a bull market?

Are we reliving 1995 — when, coincidentally, a previous "soft landing” economy pushed the Dow Jones Industrial Average above 5,000?
An Israeli soldier stands by as a mobile artillery unit fires, near the Israel-Lebanon border on Jan. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2024

France poses Hezbollah withdrawal for Israel-Lebanon truce

The plan aims to end fighting between the Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel at the border.
Jordan's King Abdullah II looks on as U.S. President Joe Biden speaks following a meeting in Washington on Monday. Biden said he's pushing for a six-week pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas to allow for the release of hostages, saying those conditions could lay the groundwork for a broader peace.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2024

Biden pushes for six-week pause in Israel-Hamas hostage deal

Biden’s comments were his most detailed yet about the ongoing negotiations between Israel and Hamas, which the U.S. is helping to facilitate.
Naomi Osaka hits a backhand during her win over Petra Martic at the Qatar Open in Doha on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Feb 14, 2024

Osaka advances as Gauff and Jabeur dumped out of Qatar Open

It is the first WTA tournament in almost two years at which Osaka has won back-to-back matches.
Telecoms giant KDDI plans with Mitsubishi to take convenience store operator Lawson private could help it as it currently stands behind FamilyMart and Seven & I Holdings in a three-horse race.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2024

There are clouds on the horizon in Japan’s 'conbini-land'

Industry consolidation has pushed minor players out of the conbini game.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron as chief guest of celebrations marking India's Republic Day on Jan. 26.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2024

The fraternity between France and India has never been stronger

Beyond the pomp of Republic Day celebrations with Macron as guest of honor, Modi and the French leader signed substantive defense deals, cementing ties.
The decisions by JPMorgan and State Street to quit a global investor coalition will collectively remove trillions of dollars from efforts to coordinate Wall Street action on climate change.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 16, 2024

JPMorgan and State Street quit climate group as BlackRock steps back

Financial firms have faced growing pressure from Republican politicians over their membership in such groups.
Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said on Thursday that a visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 16, 2024

North Korea-Japan summit push gains steam after remarks by Kim’s sister

A visit by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Pyongyang could materialize, but only if Tokyo met several caveats, Kim Yo Jong said.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2024

Japan’s space agency successfully launches latest H3 rocket

With the H3, JAXA aims to maintain Japan’s prowess in rocket development technologies and give a jolt to related industries.
People walk past the Trump Building after a ruling against former U.S. President Donald Trump ordering him to pay $354.9 million and barring him from doing business in New York state for three years, in New York City on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Trump keeps New York empire intact as judge rescinds asset-sale order

Former U.S. President Donald Trump was banned from doing business in New York for three years and ordered to pay $354 million for lying about his wealth.
In Hokkaido’s Niseko ski resort area, a bowl of ramen or soba from a food truck easily goes for more than three times what it costs at a sit-down joint in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY
Feb 18, 2024

¥3,800 ski-slope ramen is a glimpse of Japan’s future

Foreign tourist spending has potential to stimulate growth but needs careful management to ensure equitable distribution of benefits for locals.
Western Conference forward LeBron James dunks during the first half of the NBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Sunday. James said he hopes to finish his career with he Lakers.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 19, 2024

LeBron James hoping to end career with Lakers

LeBron James has not formulated a plan for his retirement, but is looking forward to the Paris Olympics this summer and wants to finish his career with the Los Angeles Lakers, the four-time NBA champion said Sunday.
Graffiti painted on a wall of the Saudi Arabian embassy in Sanaa depicts a Houthi fighter stopping an Israeli ship off the coast of Yemen. The group has been targeting ships in the Red Sea since November.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Houthi strikes force crew to abandon ship for first time

The militant group made unverified claims that the attack on the British vessel resulted in its complete sinking.
China's C919 — the country's first domestically developed large, narrow-body passenger aircraft, is displayed at the Singapore Air Show on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2024

China debuts C919 aircraft in Singapore, but can it challenge Boeing and Airbus?

The Asian powerhouse hopes the country's first domestically developed large, narrow-body passenger aircraft will help it break into new markets.
The Etihad Towers surrounded by residential and commercial properties in Abu Dhabi
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2024

UAE poised to exit watchdog’s dirty money list after reforms

The UAE is expected to come off the list on Feb. 23.
Volkswagen ID.3 and Cupra Born electric cars on the production line at the company’s plant in Zwickau, Germany.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 21, 2024

Europe is being forced to reboot its car industry

Unless they can get strategies back on track, Europe’s automakers risk falling further behind China and Tesla
TikTok parent company ByteDance's offices in Singapore. Chinese companies are increasingly using the city-state as a springboard into the U.S. market.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2024

'Singapore-washing' and China’s sneaky trade practices

Chinese firms are using Singapore as a springboard into the U.S., circumventing restrictions. The island nation shouldn't enable these deceptive tactics.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Tel Aviv on Wednesday calling for the release of hostages kidnapped in the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from Gaza.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2024

Israel steps up attacks in Gaza Strip amid cease-fire talks

A new draft of a deal is being negotiated after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu withdrew from the last one over Hamas' "ludicrous" demands.
Members of the 31st Separate Mechanized Brigade fire at a Russian target in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on Tuesday. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States and China and their allies are pulling apart, World Trade Organization economists say.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024

Global trade rift widening as Ukraine war passes two-year mark

There are clear signs that the global economy is fragmenting into two separate blocs, World Trade Organization economists say.
A member of the Ukrainian State Emergency Service attends a transfer ceremony of special vehicles from Japan to Ukraine in Kyiv on Nov. 20, 2023.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 23, 2024

An ominous portent emerges for Japan as Ukraine war enters third year

There are growing indications that the once-durable coalition of partners backing Kyiv’s war effort is crumbling — an ominous sign for Japan.
Demonstrators protest the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in front of the Russian Embassy in Berlin on Feb. 16.
EDITORIALS
Feb 23, 2024

Vladimir Putin must be shown the limits of his power

Navalny’s death deprives Russia of its most thoughtful and powerful opposition to President Vladimir Putin and his criminal clique.
Pedestrians look at an electronic board displaying the Nikkei index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on a street in the Japanese capital on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 24, 2024

Record-high Nikkei’s rise just getting started on foreign demand

Investors and strategists are also watching for a broadening of equities gains that may take the wider Topix index to an all-time high this year.
A symbolic illumination called "Ray of Memory" is seen over the graves of Ukrainian soldiers who died in the war with Russia, at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2024

Ukraine on the defensive as Russia war enters third year

On Friday, more than 50 countries, including Japan and the United States, issued a joint statement blasting Russia for the invasion.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji