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Assembly engineers work on a lithography system at ASML in Veldhoven, Netherlands in June.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 5, 2024

Targeting Chinese chips, U.S. to push Dutch on ASML service contracts

The U.S.' export policy chief is set to meet in the Netherlands next Monday with officials from the Dutch government and ASML.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield (right) at U.N. headquarters in New York in March
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 5, 2024

U.S. ambassador to U.N. to visit Japan and South Korea this month

The ambassador plans to discuss responses to North Korea, diplomatic sources said.
Military delegates leave the Great Hall of the People following the second plenary session of the National People's Congress in Beijing on March 8.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 6, 2024

U.S. and China resume military meetings as diplomatic thaw continues

The two sides resumed a defense dialog aimed at preventing an inadvertent clash, part of a broader push to resume military contacts.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. Despite growing pressure from Biden, the Israeli prime minister appears in no rush to end the war in Gaza. Some think he is dragging out the war to prevent the collapse of his fragile right-wing coalition and extend his time in office.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2024

After six months of war, some Israelis ask: Is Netanyahu dragging it out?

Despite growing pressure from U.S. President Joe Biden, Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu appears in no rush to end the war in Gaza.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 7, 2024

Yellen and Li express hope for U.S.-China cooperation

The U.S.-China relationship can only move forward with direct and open communication, Treasury chief Janet Yellen told Premier Li Qiang.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen arrives to attend a meeting with university students at Beijing University National School on <i>Sunday</i>.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2024

Yellen advances U.S.-China ties despite tough criticism on exports

Yellen’s tough message hasn’t hurt progress made between the two sides.
NATO headquarters in Brussels. In attacking the transatlantic alliance, Trump fails to see that the grouping is key to safeguarding the United States' own interests.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024

NATO is not a hegemonic burden

Trump is wrong in wrangling over NATO. Withdrawing from the alliance would hurt U.S. interests — without really reducing its military spending.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen visits the Guozijian Hutong Alley in Beijing on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2024

Yellen threatens sanctions for China banks that aid Russia war

America’s ultimate weapon against financial institutions is its ability to cut off access to U.S. dollars, a threat for any bank operating internationally.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo in May 2022.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2024

Biden and Kishida likely to discuss Texas bullet train project, sources say

The leaders may publicly voice support for the multi-billion-dollar Texas project after Wednesday's talks.
The United States has repeatedly threatened sanctions if China takes substantial action to support Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

U.S. warns it will hold China accountable if Russia gains in Ukraine

Officials say Russian gains in Ukraine could alter the power of balance in Europe in "unacceptable" ways.
Pro-life demonstrators listen to U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks at the 47th annual "March for Life" in Washington on January 24, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 10, 2024

Trump making a risky bet on abortion as he seeks re-election

Trump has taken credit for the surprise overturning of the federal right to abortion in 2022.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint meeting of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 12, 2024

'The world needs the United States': Kishida warns Congress over risk of American retreat

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida became just the second Japanese leader to address a joint meeting of Congress, pledging to stand side-by-side with the U.S.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

U.S. says China is boosting Russia's war machine in Ukraine

The Chinese Embassy in the U.S., however, said it has not provided weaponry to any party.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. salutes during a welcome ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

U.S.-Japan-Philippines trilateral deal to change dynamic in South China Sea, Marcos says

Still, the Philippine president sought to assure China it was not a target, saying the summit was "not against any country."
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol (right), seen here meeting with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, has made strengthening ties with Tokyo one of his foreign policy priorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2024

A humbled Yoon must future-proof Seoul’s alliances

Despite Yoon Suk-yeol's weak grip on South Korea's government after his electoral defeat, he can still do a lot to ensure his foreign policy lives on.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida addresses a joint session of Congress in Washington on Thursday. Kishida’s recent summit with U.S. President Joe Biden is being lauded as a success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2024

Give credit where credit’s due after prime minister's outstanding U.S. summit

The Japan-U.S. summit has been rightly called historic and a big deal for Tokyo and the alliance — if its long list of deliverables is realized.
A robotics company’s research and development center in Shenzhen. Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2024

China needs a better innovation ecosystem

Chinese firms struggle to attract the private equity and venture capital funds that U.S. companies enjoy, putting a damper on their ability to innovate.
The dollar's resurgence has come on the back of a slew of signs that the U.S. economy avoided the slowdown many anticipated.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 23, 2024

U.S. dollar’s extended reign delivers stark wake-up call to markets

Global investors are talking about "U.S. exceptionalism” after a predicted slowdown to the nation's economy didn't transpire.
Protesters outside the U.S. Supreme Court as the justices hear arguments in a legal fight over homelessness and a bid by Grants Pass, Oregon, to enforce local laws against people camping on public property
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court scrutinizes laws used against the homeless

The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing a case about whether a city in Oregon banning camping outside on public streets and parks violates the Constitution.
The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2024

Biden's focus on Ukraine risks Indo-Pacific security

The U.S. should use diplomacy to achieve a cease-fire in Ukraine, as a prolonged conflict could reshape global power dynamics and strengthen China.
Palestinian children stand in a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the border with Egypt on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2024

U.S. pushes for Gaza truce and hostage release as Blinken visits

The White House said that Israel has agreed to hear out its concerns.
A scene from "The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves" ("Benten Kozo") at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
CULTURE / Stage
May 5, 2024

Students from Hawaii to perform English-language kabuki in Japan

The group will perform "Benten Kozo," a play depicting the twists and turns of five thieves following their own code of honor.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara takes part in an arrival ceremony with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington last October.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2024

‘Collective capacity’ to top agenda at four-way defense talks in Hawaii

One thing will be on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation with allies to counter China.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, on March 13, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2024

U.S. reduces arms licensing burden for U.K. and Australia to boost AUKUS

The U.S. State Department unveiled its proposal to reduce licensing requirements for transferring military equipment as part of the AUKUS defense project.
Senator Tim Scott (center), a Republican from South Carolina, speaks during a campaign event with former U.S. President Donald Trump, (left), and Doug Burgum (right), governor of North Dakota, in Laconia, New Hampshire, in January.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2024

Trump auditions VP picks before wealthy donors in Palm Beach

Trump’s running mate may have to take on an unusually large amount of campaigning if his legal troubles prevent him from keeping a robust travel schedule.
The 1960s protests, rooted in civil rights and anti-war movements, convulsed campuses nationwide for nearly a decade, while recent protests lack comparable breadth and intensity.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2024

Comparing Gaza protests to the ’60s is wrong — and dangerous

Confusing a few weeks of pro-Palestinian activism with a more than decade-long movement could lead to needless tragedy.
Law enforcement officers walk along the Kremlin wall near Red Square in Moscow on Dec. 31.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2024

U.S. says soldier who went to Russia detained for ‘misconduct’

A U.S. soldier was detained in eastern Russia on "charges of criminal misconduct,” the U.S. Army said Monday, a potential new flashpoint in relations between the nations already at a low since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.
The growing divide between U.S.-led and China-aligned blocs is taking a toll on the global economy as trade and investment flows are redirected along geopolitical lines in ways not seen since the Cold War.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024

Cold War-type divide puts trade and investment at risk, top IMF official warns

After years of shocks, countries are reevaluating their trading partners, an IMF official has said.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a news conference on Friday in Tokyo
JAPAN
May 10, 2024

Japan raps U.S. officials' remarks about atomic bombings

The comments were "inappropriate and unacceptable" the Foreign Minister told a parliamentary committee meeting.
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, will his foreign policy be as erratic as it was the first time? Would that help or hinder the U.S.? Leaders all over the world are asking themselves these questions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2024

Would Trump 2.0 rekindle the merits of volatility?

Was Trump's erratic foreign policy an asset or a liability for the U.S.? In capitals all over the world, leaders are weighing the prospect of his return.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell