Search - member

 
 
U.S. Army soldiers with the NATO multinational battle group on the territory of Bulgaria stand in formation with a U.S. flag and an armored vehicle during a visit by NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the Novo Selo military ground near Mokren, Bulgaria, on Dec. 19.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 11, 2025

NATO won't back Trump's new defense spending target but will raise its sights

A new target is likely to be agreed at a NATO summit in June, but the key questions are what that new target will be and whether it will be enough to satisfy Trump.
Mark Zuckerberg, then chief executive of Facebook, appears at a joint U.S. Senate Judiciary and Commerce Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington in April 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2025

Inside Mark Zuckerberg’s sprint to remake Meta for the Trump era

The highly unusual overhaul of the firm's speech policies came after the Meta CEO visited U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in November.
Olaf Scholz, Germany's chancellor, during the SPD party congress in Berlin on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 12, 2025

Scholz steps up criticism of Trump’s expansionist rhetoric

In power since 2021, Scholz’s SPD party has slumped as an early election looms for Europe’s largest economy on Feb. 23.
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins runs with the ball after making a reception during the third quarter of Houston's win over Los Angeles on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 12, 2025

Texans devour Chargers as Ravens run over Steelers in wild-card games

After throwing just three interceptions in 504 passing attempts during the regular season, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was picked off four times in the loss.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba during a ceremonial welcome at the Presidential Palace in Bogor, Indonesia, on Saturday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 12, 2025

Ishiba turns to Southeast Asia amid growing international uncertainty

Experts say that Ishiba's decision to prioritize Malaysia and Indonesia was a sign of the importance of the two major regional economies.
A man casts his ballot during the general election at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

Ishiba keeping eye on Lower House multiseat constituency talks

The prime minister is believed to be eyeing cooperation with opposition parties by using electoral system reform as an opportunity.
Commuters inside Zurich's main railway station
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 13, 2025

Widening pay gap for women on boards is ‘red flag’ for Europe

Women were paid 36% less than men on average in 2023 on the boards of banks, insurers and asset managers, an analysis shows.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks at a memorial service for the victims of the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean, at Uppsala Cathedral in Sweden on Dec. 26.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

Sweden may have to build up its defense force, premier says

The premier's comments come as NATO increases its surveillance operations in the Baltic Sea.
African tiger fish swim in the Okavango river in Botswana.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jan 13, 2025

Study documents extinction threats to world's freshwater species

Threats to such species include pollution, dams and water extraction, agriculture and invasive species.
Solar panels and a coal-fired power station in Fukushima Prefecture. Japan has not set a clear path for phasing out coal and its new draft energy plan foresees an important role for fossil fuels, especially gas, and nuclear power in its future energy mix.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2025

Japan’s energy plans endanger real climate solutions

The government's draft energy plans were not subject to open debate and their outcome shows an insufficient commitment to making the changes needed to tackle climate change.
A worker inspects the outdoor gas pipes at the underground gas storage facility operated by Gas Storage in Haje, Czech Republic, on Jan. 3.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jan 13, 2025

Europe threatens to trigger a global scramble for natural gas

For the first time since the energy crisis was turbocharged by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Europe risks failing to meet its storage targets for next winter.
People watch a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

North Korea fires suspected short-range ballistic missiles

The launches on Tuesday morning came a day after the foreign ministers of South Korea and Japan held talks to reaffirm ties.
An aerial photograph taken on Monday shows inflatable dinghies and outboard engines stored in a Port Authority yard in Dover, southeast England, that are believed to have been used by migrants who were picked up at sea while crossing the English Channel from France.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

Fortress Europe: What will migration policy look like in 2025?

Some countries in Europe are calling for the rules fast-tracking asylum processes and returns to be sharpened or implemented sooner.
Bank of Japan Deputy Gov. Ryozo Himino has said that the central bank will raise rates if its outlook continues to be realized.
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2025

BOJ deputy chief signals chance of rate hike next week

Most BOJ watchers see an interest rate hike coming in either January or March.
Participants observe a minute of silence for the victims of the Jan. 17, 1995, earthquake during an event for the the Coming-of-Age Day in Kobe on Monday.
JAPAN
Jan 14, 2025

20-year-olds celebrated in Kobe 30 years after earthquake

A minute of silence was observed for the victims of the Jan. 17, 1995, earthquake.
The oil tanker Eagle S sits anchored near the Port of Kilpilahti in Porvoo, on the Gulf of Finland, on Jan. 7. The vessel is believed to have dragged its anchor for long distances, damaging an undersea cable in late December.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 14, 2025

Baltic Sea cables damage can’t be accident, EU tech chief says

There have been three incidents involving damage caused to underwater power lines, data cables and a gas pipeline over the past 15 months in the Baltic Sea.
Kaja Kallas, vice president of the European Commission, in Brussels on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Jan 15, 2025

EU’s top diplomat aims to use economic muscle against Russia

The EU is trying to find ways to ramp up its defense spending to rearm the continent while also putting pressure on Russia to join possible peace talks over Ukraine.
The Fuji TV building in Tokyo's Odaiba district. In a letter to Fuji Media Holdings' board of directors, Dalton Investments expressed outrage over the “serious flaws” in the broadcaster’s corporate governance in relation to its handling of the uproar sparked by TV star Masahiro Nakai, a former member of boy band SMAP.
JAPAN / Media
Jan 15, 2025

U.S. investment firm demands Fuji TV probe Nakai's alleged sex misconduct

Dalton Investments expressed outrage over the “serious flaws” in the broadcaster’s corporate governance amid the uproar sparked by the former member of boy band SMAP.
China has increased provocations against Japan under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's weak leadership, exploiting political instability to push its agenda, including military incursions, cyberattacks and other forms of coercion.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2025

China seizes opportunities amid Ishiba’s weak leadership

China is also no longer hesitant to send its aircraft carrier group through narrow straits in the southernmost Nansei Islands to conduct drills.
The "madman theory" in foreign policy, which some apply to Donald Trump, relies on perceived irrationality to intimidate adversaries and generally fails to achieve its goals, leading to dangerous miscalculations.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 15, 2025

There is no place for ‘madmen’ in international diplomacy

Historians root the madman theory in Machiavelli, who wrote that “at times it is a very wise thing to simulate madness.”
A motorcade carrying South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol leaves for the Seoul Detention Center at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials following his arrest, in Gwacheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 16, 2025

South Korean president’s arrest shows peril as Trump returns

Bureaucrats in Seoul are hoping that Donald Trump goes easy on South Korea once he's back in the White House.
It's taken Takuma Watanabe little time to establish himself as one of New York's hottest bartenders.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 16, 2025

From Tokyo to Manhattan, Takuma Watanabe stirs up a stiff drink

Tokyo native Takuma Watanabe offers a formidable addition to New York’s pantheon of cocktail bars.
India Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, in October. India's outreach to China may be a strategy to gain leverage over the U.S. and secure support amid domestic and international challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2025

As Trump returns, Sino-Indian relations are changing

The shift in relations stems from America’s declining leadership and China and India’s bid for leverage.
Ichiro Suzuki had 1,278 hits and a .353 batting average in nine seasons with the BlueWave in NPB.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 16, 2025

Ichiro voted into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame

Former players Hitoki Iwase and Masayuki Kakefu and former Central League umpire Hiroya Tomizawa were also voted into the Hall.
Bob Uecker gestures after throwing out the first pitch before the Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Brewers and Diamondbacks on Oct. 1, 2011.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 17, 2025

Beloved Brewers broadcaster Bob Uecker dies at 90

"Ueck was the light of the Brewers, the soundtrack of our summers, the laughter in our hearts, and his passing is a profound loss," the team said in a statement.
Komeito Secretary-General Makoto Nishida (left) and Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (center) hold talks with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Jan 17, 2025

A moment of opportunity for Japan-China relations

While the outcome of the Japan-China meeting is important, it must not compromise Japan's national interests.
Then-Rep. Brandon Williams, a Republican from New York, during a House Committee on Education and the Workforce hearing in Washington last May
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

Trump picks one-term congressman to manage U.S. nuclear arsenal

Brandon Williams represented a New York congressional district for one term, but little is known about his experience in the management of atomic weapons.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in August 2022, after returning from a trip to Kentucky.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

How Biden’s inner circle protected a faltering president

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and then-Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump greet each other at a campaign event sponsored by conservative group Turning Point USA, in Duluth, Georgia, in October.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought to stop COVID-19 shots six months after rollout

Donald Trump's pick to lead U.S. health agencies, petitioned the FDA to revoke authorization of the shots at a time when they were in high demand and considered life-saving.
Woodworkers check phones during a blackout at an industrial complex in Tehran on Dec. 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 20, 2025

Blackouts in Iran leave industry in tatters

The regime is bracing for a harder road ahead, with incoming U.S. President Donald Trump pledging pressure and preparing sanctions.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building