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Hunter Biden and his wife, Melissa Cohen Biden, depart the First Street U.S. Courthouse in Los Angeles on Sept. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2024

Biden's surprise pardon of son sparked by fears of new persecution

The president's move was panned by his Republican political opposition, but also by Democrats who say it threatens to undermine public trust in the rule of law.
An anti-regime fighter tears off a poster depicting Syrian President Bashar Assad (left) and his brother Maher at the airport in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2024

Syria flare-up jolts U.S. and offers chance for Trump

The Biden administration has committed more than $1 billion over the past year in humanitarian aid for Syria's displaced.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has, in rapid-fire fashion, named a spate of ideological warriors, conspiracy theorists and now even family members to senior government positions.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 3, 2024

Trump doubles down on defiance after collapse of Matt Gaetz selection

Trump, in rapid-fire fashion, has kept naming more ideological warriors, conspiracy theorists and now even family members to senior government positions.
The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the Five Eyes alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make concerning China, North Korea, Eastern Russia and East and Southeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2024

If ever invited, should Japan make it 'Six Eyes'?

The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make.
U.S. President Joe Biden hugs his wife Jill Biden as his children Hunter and Ashely Biden look on during his presidential inauguration in Washington on Jan. 20, 2021.  
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2024

Hunter Biden’s pardon is understandable — but wrong

Who wouldn't try sparing a child from prison? It's still a tragedy for the republic.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

Tamaki suspended for three months as DPP leader following affair

An internal committee judged Tamaki’s conduct as having contravened the party’s ethics regulations and damaged its honor and trust.
U.S. think tanks from across the political spectrum have compiled a report to address the nation's social and fiscal issues in an effort to show that compromise is still possible.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

U.S. think tanks' policy 'grand bargain' comes amid deep partisanship

The authors of the outline have no illusions about how their plan will be greeted by the incoming administration of Donald Trump, though.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announces his decision to impose martial law on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

South Korea turmoil strikes at heart of U.S. alliances in Asia

The potential impeachment of South Korea’s president after an aborted attempt to impose martial law may complicate U.S. efforts to counter China.
Komeito lawmaker Natsuo Yamaguchi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

Ex-Komeito chief Yamaguchi won't run for Upper House district seat

The 72-year-old did not say whether he will aim to secure a proportional representation seat or retire from politics.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (right) and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visit the cenotaph for the victims of the Korean atomic bomb victims in Hiroshima Peace Park in Hiroshima in May 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Former PM Kishida worried upheaval in Seoul may hurt ties

Kishida, who left office in September, formed a warm relationship with Yoon over frequent meetings.
Choi Sang-mok, South Korea's finance minister, during an interview in Seoul on Thursday
BUSINESS / Markets / ANALYSIS
Dec 6, 2024

In South Korea's crisis playbook, currency stability is paramount

In the four decades since South Korea was last under martial law, the nation has significantly evolved its systems to focus on ensuring economic stability.
Protesters condemn South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's failed martial law declaration and call for his resignation during a rally in Seoul on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 6, 2024

Yoon’s incoherent, incompetent coup defies logic and reason

Yoon’s lack of political acumen must not be allowed to tar all his policies.
South Korea's Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung (center) takes part in a joint news conference with other opposition parties and activists on Friday in Seoul to urge the passage of an impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol after his aborted attempt to impose martial law.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2024

South Korea's impeachment battle is democracy in action

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol faces an impeachment motion filed by the opposition Democratic Party, which accuses him of insurrectionary behavior.
Newly arrived asylum-seekers take advantage of phone chargers and free Wi-Fi to connect with family back home at an immigrant service center in Oceanside, California, in October 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 26, 2024

Sanctuary cities may be having an identity crisis

So far, the mayors and governors of these sanctuary cities and states have remained largely undeterred, even defiant in the face of such threats.
A protest against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 7, 2024

Yoon impeachment vote puts focus on South Korea’s generational gap

On one side are older voters, who back Yoon. The other end represents younger, more liberal South Koreans, who blame the president for a lack of job opportunities.
A woman waves a Syrian opposition flag as she celebrates at Umayyad Square in Damascus on Sunday as celebrations erupted around Syria after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus and declared President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2024

Assad’s fall in Syria puts world on watch for more Middle East chaos

Multiple Arab and U.S. officials said that a power vacuum could now be dangerous, with memories of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq still fresh.
Elon Musk, a co-leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son X Æ A-Xii Musk following a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024

DOGE's best idea yet is permanent daylight saving time

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s support for adopting a year-round clock would give the U.S. more sunshine and less confusion.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban

Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to a press conference in Jerusalem on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 10, 2024

Netanyahu to take the stand in his corruption trial for the first time

Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, despite the war in Gaza.
U.S. President Joe Biden — born in U.S. Steel’s home state of Pennsylvania — has long signaled opposition to the company's sale to Nippon Steel.
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2024

U.S. says review of Nippon Steel bid ongoing as U.S. Steel shares tumble

The companies are poised to pursue litigation over the process if U.S. President Joe Biden decides to block the merger, sources added.
The United Steelworkers union claims that Nippon Steel's latest offer is tantamount to bribery.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 11, 2024

Union blasts Nippon Steel’s $5,000 per worker bonus in U.S. Steel deal

The United Steelworkers called Nippon Steel's move “a classic union-busting tactic” and a “desperate attempt to win over support for its doomed acquisition.”
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers his speech declaring martial law in Seoul on Dec. 3.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 10, 2024

Impending fallout from Yoon's political problems

It is conceivable that a potential Lee administration, with its pro-Beijing positions, may annul Yoon’s positive contributions to stability in the Indo-Pacific region.
The village of Szolosgyorok, in Hungary
WORLD / Society
Dec 12, 2024

Some German retirees find low-cost refuge in Orban's anti-migrant Hungary

Expats may be drawn to Hungary by right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban's hard-line anti-immigration rhetoric.
The vast amount of money poured into the 2024 U.S. presidential election did not have a decisive effect on the outcome: Donald Trump won, despite being significantly outspent by Kamala Harris.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2024

Big money beat bigger money in the U.S. election

The vast amount of money that poured into the 2024 race did not have a decisive effect on the outcome.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks before ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan on Thursday morning.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2024

Time Magazine names Donald Trump person of the year for second time

This year saw Donald Trump convicted on charges of business fraud and nearly assassinated twice — and will end with him preparing to return to the White House.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with his Japanese counterpart, Gen Nakatani,  at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 13, 2024

The global spy alliance should let Japan join

Tokyo’s inclusion in the club is long overdue, especially as the region combats China’s growing assertiveness and the unpredictability of North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
France's newly appointed Prime Minister Francois Bayrou at the Hotel Matignon in Paris on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 14, 2024

Macron hands new French PM the tough job of managing Le Pen

Bayrou, 73, replaces conservative heavyweight Michel Barnier, who was ousted last week after far-right leader Marine Le Pen joined the left in a censure motion.
Han Duck-soo, South Korea's prime minister (center), arrives at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 14, 2024

Who is Han Duck-soo, South Korea's acting president after Yoon impeachment?

In a country sharply divided by partisan rhetoric, Han has been a rare official whose varied career transcended party lines.
Hayat Tahrir al-Sham fighters gather in Damascus on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 15, 2024

U.S. says it is in contact with new Syria rulers

Secretary of State Antony Blinken's comment on "direct contact" with the HTS rebels came despite the United States having designated the group as terrorists in 2018.
People holding K-pop idol sticks attend a rally to protest South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul on Dec. 8.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 15, 2024

'Into the New World': the K-pop song that became South Korea's protest anthem

The Girls' Generation track has a history of being used to give young South Koreans a voice in politics.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo