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Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin, in southern Lebanon, on Sunday. AFP-JIJI
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2024

The Middle East remains on a precipice

Israel's retaliations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have not led to a wider conflict. But neither Iran nor its proxies seem eager to expand the fighting either.
U.S. Vice President and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris waves as she arrives to speak on the fourth and last day of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago on Aug. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 31, 2024

Harris isn’t looking to pick new fights with China, unlike Trump

The U.S. vice president is betting that Americans don’t want an all-out confrontation when they tell pollsters they’d like their leaders to get even tougher on China.
Local miners collect small rocks as they mine for gold in Benguet province in the northern Philippines.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2024

Toxic, deadly, cheap: Life for women gold miners in the Philippines

One in three of the illegal mining workforce is female — and women are 90 times more at risk of dying on the job than men.
A screenshot taken from video footage shows a China Coast Guard ship colliding with the Philippine Coast Guard's BRP Teresa Magbanua near the Sabina Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 1, 2024

China comes under fire in latest South China Sea clash with Philippines

Japan and the U.S. have criticized China after a coast guard vessel repeatedly struck a Japanese-made Philippine Coast Guard ship in the waterway over the weekend.
A protester against the arrest of Pavel Durov, founder and CEO of the Telegram messaging app, near the French Embassy in Moscow on Aug. 25
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2024

Telegram’s hands-off approach to content faces a reckoning

The policies of Telegram, a popular social media platform, have allowed abuses to proliferate.
Rory McIlroy plays his shot from the ninth tee box during the third round of the Tour Championship golf tournament in Atlanta on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Sep 3, 2024

Rory McIlroy aims to cut as many as nine events in 2025

"I felt like I hit a bit of a wall sort of post-U.S. Open, and still feel a little bit of that hangover," the golfer said.
Cars are assembled at a Maruti Suzuki manufacturing plant in Manesar, India, in September 2023. Suzuki is one of the success stories for Japanese manufacturers trying to establish joint ventures in India, having become a household name in the country.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 29, 2024

For Japanese companies in India, local staff are an invaluable resource

The roots of Japanese investment in India go far back, to 1958, when the latter became the first country to receive official development assistance from Japan.
A washed-up boat on the shore of the city of Ibusuki, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Friday
JAPAN / Society
Sep 3, 2024

Typhoon-chaser's firsthand account of his pursuit of Shanshan

James Reynolds, who has built a career of venturing into the eye of nature's most ferocious storms, braved the elements as the cyclone bore down on Japan.
Vladimir Putin meets with schoolchildren in Kyzyl, Russia, on Monday, in a photo released by Russian state media.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

Putin is spending big to shape Russia’s youth in his own image

At some universities in Russia, students attend compulsory courses in the "fundamentals of Russian statehood” that were introduced last year to promote patriotism.
Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Oliver Blume speaks at a Volkswagen media event in Beijing on April 24.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 4, 2024

From peace-maker to taboo-breaker, VW boss Blume takes on the unions

Volkswagen disclosed it was not only planning to scrap a 30-year old job security plan, but weighing the closure of plants in Germany.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris at a campaign event at the Throwback Brewery, in North Hampton, New Hampshire, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2024

Harris' debate plan: Call out Trump and create social media moments

Vice President Kamala Harris' team believes many will watch the debate as video clips on social media platforms like TikTok and X.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s takeover bid for Seven & I already faces a potential funding problem, but the yen's recent rise puts another hurdle.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 5, 2024

Strong yen adds to challenge for Couche-Tard’s Seven & I bid

The buyout already faces questions in terms of potential funding and the target’s efforts to seek government protection.
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.
Sumitomo Chemical President Keiichi Iwata
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 6, 2024

Sumitomo Chemical sells hybrid bond at widest spread this year

Sumitomo Chemical priced ¥100 billion of hybrid debt at 280 basis points over Japanese government bonds.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his wife, Yuko, are welcomed upon their arrival at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Friday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 6, 2024

Never take Japan-South Korea relations for granted

The two leader’s final meeting is both an opportunity to review recent achievements and to underscore the centrality of the Japan-South Korean partnership.
Former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi declares his candidacy in the Liberal Democratic Party presidential election at a news conference in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Shinjiro Koizumi promises immediate snap election if elected LDP president

The former environment minister said he will turn to the electorate to allow voters to judge his plan to transform Japan.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korea's President Yoon Suk Yeol during a meeting at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Kishida and Yoon reaffirm importance of sustained cooperation

Kishida highlighted the need to continue efforts to advance bilateral ties, once again expressing sympathy for Koreans who suffered during Japanese colonial rule.
An investor sits in front of a board showing stock information at a brokerage office in Beijing.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 7, 2024

China bulls getting tired of waiting for elusive stock recovery

Weakness in Chinese equities is eroding the confidence of some of Wall Street’s staunchest supporters, with hopes for a turnaround fading in the world’s No. 2 economy.
A woman walks along a road in Kabul, Afghanistan, on April 20, 2023. Three years into its rule, the Taliban has codified its harsh Islamic decrees into law that now includes a ban on women’s voices in public.
WORLD / Society
Sep 9, 2024

With new Taliban manifesto, Afghan women fear the worst

A large majority of the prohibitions have been in place for much of the Taliban’s three years in power, squeezing Afghan women out of public life.
California has ambitious climate policies. But the state should shift more green energy-related costs from electricity bills to taxes to promote fairness and sustainability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 9, 2024

California's crushing power bills challenge its climate goals

California is incredible, but making it livable, what with its droughts, floods, fault-lines and wildfires, has never been cheap.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used a speech Monday marking the 76th anniversary of his country's founding to reiterate a pledge to exponentially increase the number of nuclear weapons Pyongyang possesses.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

North Korea's Kim says 'no limit' on number of nukes country builds

The policy is a response to the “grave threat” posed by an expanding U.S.-led “nuclear-based military bloc” surrounding his country, he said.
U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland sits between FBI Director Christopher Wray and Lisa Monaco, deputy attorney general, during a meeting of the Justice Department’s Election Threats Task Force, in Washington on Sept. 4. Federal prosecutors say Russia secretly paid the American company Tenet Media to push pro-Kremlin messages from social media influencers including Benny Johnson, Tim Pool and Dave Rubin.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Russia focusing on American social media stars to covertly influence voters

The approach is widely viewed by American security agencies as one of Russia’s preferred tactics this cycle.
Novak Djokovic reacts during his third-round match against Alexei Popyrin during the U.S. Open in New York on Aug. 30.
TENNIS
Sep 10, 2024

Djokovic shut out as young guns usher in new Grand Slam era

This year, Djokovic endured a lackluster Grand Slam campaign by his lofty standards.
Signage in the spin room ahead of the second presidential debate at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

What to watch for during the Harris-Trump presidential debate

Most opinion polls show Kamala Harris to be slightly ahead nationally and in the majority of battleground states, but Donald Trump is close behind.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader and prime minister, Fumio Kishida, attends a campaign event with then-LDP candidate Junko Mihara and lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (left) in Kawasaki in July 2022. Koizumi is viewed as a potential front-runner in the party's upcoming leadership contest.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2024

Japan’s public wants change. Can the ruling party deliver?

The LDP's upcoming leadership contest features a diverse field of candidates, including Shinjiro Koizumi, who is viewed as a potential front-runner.
Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces his decision not to seek reelection in his party's Sept. 28 presidential election, in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi announces decision to step down

The decision not to seek reelection marks the end of an era for the party and raises questions on how it might impact the LDP's presidential race.
From Malaysia to Brazil, free speech is being pitted against social media regulation.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2024

To hold Big Tech accountable, focus on the harms

The Malaysian case underscores the urgent need for effective safeguards against online abuse, while raising concerns about the potential misuse of regulatory power.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee for November's presidential election, speaks during a debate with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday in Philadelphia.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2024

Trump faces blowback for repeating lie about migrants and pets

The episode highlighted the risk for political candidates of embracing conspiracy theories that don’t survive the light of day off social media.
Pedestrians cross an intersection in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. Japan has experienced a postpandemic travel boom, with tourists pouring back in after restrictions closed the country’s borders to travelers.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 12, 2024

Japan jumps to No. 2, from sixth place, in Best Countries index

It jumped from 6th place on the 2023 list as a post-COVID boom and reforms helped bump it up on the subindexes used to calculate the overall score.
A vendor attends to a customer at the secondhand books section of Panjiayuan antiques market in Beijing
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 13, 2024

China wants academic exchanges, but censorship could stand in the way

The Chinese Communist Party has exerted control over all publications since establishing the People's Republic of China in 1949.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes