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Hugh Jeffrey, the Australian Department of Defence’s deputy secretary for strategy, policy and industry, says the next 18 to 24 months will see Tokyo and Canberra not only test and share new technologies and capabilities, it will also see increased military deployments to each other’s territories.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Japan and Australia gear up for boosted defense tie-ups over next two years

In an interview, a senior Australian defense official spoke about cooperation in the industrial and technical fields in addition to military-to-military ties.
Traffic in the Yeouido financial district of Seoul
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 30, 2024

Ex-Goldman banker-turned-billionaire takes on South Korea’s chaebol

While private equity’s involvement in South Korea's economy has grown over the last two decades, few have taken on the powerful, family-run conglomerates.
Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak walks from the Federal Court during a court break, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, in August 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 30, 2024

Jailed Malaysian ex-PM Najib to take the stand in 1MDB corruption case

Najib Razak faces four charges of abuse of power and 21 charges of money laundering relating to state fund 1MDB.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington on Sept. 26. There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

Trump, Harris, Zelenskyy — no one’s plan will end the war

There is increasing pressure in the U.S. for a negotiated settlement, but finding a viable peace solution amid Ukraine's deteriorating conditions is complex.
A Hello Kitty fan poses with a costumed character at the Sanrio Smile Shop on its opening day at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. Hello Kitty marks its 50th anniversary on Nov. 1.
CULTURE
Oct 30, 2024

The 'CEO of supercute': Hello Kitty turns 50

She is the undeniable queen of kawaii culture in Japan — and her likeness continues to make billions for her creators at Sanrio.
Tech entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between California's technology culture and Japan.
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2024

Masayoshi Son may be the oddest of the oddball billionaires

Masayoshi Son made his fortune by becoming a bridge between Californian tech culture and Japan.
A staff member transfers baggage into a Cathay Pacific flight for departure at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture in September.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2024

The Japanese airport that says it never loses a bag

Kansai International Airport was ranked the World's Best Airport for Baggage Delivery by U.K.-based airport rating organization SKYTRAX in April.
Chipmaker Nvidia will replace rival Intel in the 128-year-old Dow Jones Industrial Average prior to the start of trading on Nov. 8.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 2, 2024

Nvidia to replace Intel in the Dow Jones Industrial Average

The company will replace rival Intel in the 128-year-old Dow Jones Industrial Average prior to the start of trading on Nov. 8.
Akira Oishi (left) and Shinichi Okanobori have taken on the responsibility of surveying the flora and fauna of Mount Tenran and Mount Tonosu in Saitama Prefecture.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife / Longform
Nov 2, 2024

Inside Japan's 100-year project to monitor its deteriorating biodiversity

With researchers and an army of volunteers on its side, the Monitoring Sites 1,000 project aims to bring attention to our fragile ecosystems.
Leaders of Japan’s political parties pose for a group photo at the start of a debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Oct. 12. Sunday’s Lower House election saw the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party take a drubbing.
EDITORIALS
Nov 1, 2024

The balance of power shifts in Japan’s politics

Despite the LDP's losses at polls, the recent election didn't exactly indicate popular support for an opposition-led government either.
Sierra Leone, ridden by Flavien Prat, wins the Breeder's Cup Classic on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Nov 3, 2024

Sierra Leone finds redemption in Breeders' Cup Classic

Fierceness finished in second while Japan's Forever Young was third.
As the European Commission prepares to make decisions on Google’s practices by the end of 2024, there is hope for a collaborative approach with U.S. regulators to create meaningful structural reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 20, 2024

Google’s breakup needs an international tag team

There’s a growing consensus among regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to redefine antitrust harm beyond just pricing issues.
The Indonesian Navy's KRI Karel Satsuitubun-356 frigate. Jakarta and Moscow have different maritime goals, with Indonesia facing threats of smuggling and piracy while Russia is looking for willing allies.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 3, 2024

Joint Russia sea drills signal start of Indonesian foreign policy shift

Indonesia has long maintained a neutral foreign policy and refuses to take sides in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or U.S.-China rivalry
Flags of the Khalistan separatist movement are seen on Sept. 20, 2023 at the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, where Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in the parking lot three months earlier, in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Sikh activists see it as freedom. India calls it terrorism.

The cause to carve out a land called Khalistan from Punjab fizzled out decades ago, but the Indian government still frames the movement as a national security threat.
Quincy Jones attends a reception in his honor at the Residence de France in Los Angeles on April 25, 2017.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Nov 4, 2024

Quincy Jones, renaissance man of American music, dies at 91

Jones died at his home in Los Angeles, surrounded by his family, according to a statement from his publicist.
Former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant attends a press conference shortly after he was sacked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who cited a lack of trust, at the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Netanyahu fires defense minister, jolting Israeli politics

After Yoav Gallant was fired, protesters in Israel blocked highways and lit bonfires on roads.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang on June 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 6, 2024

Xi’s balancing act on Ukraine disrupted by Putin-Kim alliance

Beijing has portrayed itself as neutral regarding the war in Ukraine while looking to improve ties with the U.S. and its allies.
Coco Gauff of the U.S. celebrates after winning her women's singles group stage match against Poland's Iga Swiatek at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Nov 6, 2024

Gauff beats Swiatek at WTA Finals as Sabalenka earns year-end No.1

Gauff, 20, entered the contest having lost 11 of her 12 previous meetings with Swiatek.
Singtel uncovered the breach of its network after detecting suspicious data traffic in a core back-end router and finding what it believed was sophisticated, and possibly state-sponsored, malware on it, according to a person familiar with the investigation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 6, 2024

Chinese group accused of hacking Singapore's Singtel in telecom attacks

The breach of Singtel, which has operations throughout Southeast Asia and Australia, was seen as a test run by China for further hacks against U.S. firms.
The film character Godzilla poses on the red carpet during a ceremony to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California, in November 2004.  
COMMENTARY
Nov 6, 2024

After nearly three-quarters of a century, Godzilla’s monstrous empire is thriving

The famed Japanese monster went from serious metaphor for nuclear destruction to a kitschy pop culture icon.
American voters in Tokyo gather at an election watch party, organized by Democrats Abroad Japan, at a British bar in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa district on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024

American voters in Japan reflect divisions in home country

Several Republican voters said they believed Trump’s leadership could address the problems they are most concerned about, such as illegal immigration.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage to address supporters at his rally, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 6.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Trump 2.0: Who is in the running for top jobs in Trump's second administration?

Trump’s potential cabinet choices signal a hard-line approach, prioritizing tariffs, strict immigration policies, and assertive national security strategies.
Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance (left) and President-elect Donald Trump speak during an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

JD Vance once compared Trump to Hitler. Now, he's his vice president-elect.

Trump and many of his allies see Vance's transformation as genuine, but detractors see his shift in views as a ploy to ascend the ranks of Republican politics.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he steps on stage during a rally for former U.S. President and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Oct. 27
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

What Trump's re-election means for Elon Musk

Trump has vowed to give Musk an official role cutting government spending — and with it, the power to influence policy and the federal agencies.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, China's president, shake hands during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Xi is better prepared for Trump even as 60% tariffs risk chaos

Xi would much prefer to avoid a tariff battle that risks proving much more devastating than the first round.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

South Korean president says 'not ruling out' direct weapons to Ukraine

South Korea has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.
Indian and Bangladeshi girls rescued from sexual exploitation stand near the window of a house provided by a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Kolkata on Sept. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Nov 7, 2024

Trafficked: The girls sold for sex in India

A 2023 U.S. report on trafficking said that India is making "significant efforts" but still falls below minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
Masayoshi Son (front, center) poses with the members of the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks after the team won the Pacific League championship at Kyocera Dome Osaka on Sept. 23.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Nov 18, 2024

Masayoshi Son’s aim for SoftBank Hawks remains, 20 years after buyout

This year, the team became Pacific League champions for the first time in four years. But its owner has loftier goals.
European Union Ambassador to Japan Jean-Eric Paquet says the bloc's unprecedented security and defense partnership recently launched with Japan is a clear reflection of Brussels' moves to “enhance and fortify ties” with its Indo-Pacific partners.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

New EU-Japan partnership to take ties to ‘next level,’ envoy to Tokyo says

It will complement existing initiatives between Tokyo and individual European states and pave the way for broader, collective measures at the EU level in critical areas.
Outgoing German Finance Minister Christian Lindner receives his dismissal certificate after being sacked by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, following a coalition crisis in the government, in Berlin on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2024

Germany’s government puts itself out of its misery

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz sacked his Finance Minister Christian Lindner over deep rifts within the government on how to revive Germany’s ailing economy.

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