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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a commemoration ceremony for soldiers killed during the 2014 Gaza war, also known as Operation Protective Edge, at the Memorial Hall on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 21, 2024

Defiant Benjamin Netanyahu to face U.S. Congress amid Gaza tensions

Netanyahu, Israel's longest-serving premier, will become the first foreign leader to address a joint meeting of the two chambers four times.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden walk through the colonnade on their way to the Oval Office at the White House in Washington in January 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2024

World leaders praise Biden’s record after U.S. president quits 2024 race

Leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, said they would continue to watch the U.S. presidential race closely.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris speaks at West Allis Central High School during her first campaign rally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

Harris in speech says Trump would create a U.S. of 'fear and hate'

In her speech, Kamala Harris went after Donald Trump's vulnerabilities, comparing her background as a former prosecutor to his record as a convicted felon.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has been under fire from U.S. officials over the handling of a case involving Chinese swimmers in the months before the Tokyo Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2024

WADA to put U.S. anti-doping agency under compliance review

WADA is taking the step as a result of a dispute with the USADA over its handling of a case involving 23 Chinese swimmers.
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington in April.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2024

As U.S. ‘minilateral’ diplomacy grows, Japan emerges as key actor

As geopolitical tensions in the region rise, the breakout of any conflict would put Tokyo on the front lines alongside Washington.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa, Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin attend the Japan-U.S. Extended Deterrence Dialogue in Tokyo on July 28.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 7, 2024

Japan-U.S. alliance transforms with concrete 'two-plus-two' talks

Despite the long and challenging history of Japan-U.S. two-plus-two meetings, this year's Tokyo meeting was truly groundbreaking.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024

Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom

For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Protesters countering the far right gather in London on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 12, 2024

White supremacists turn U.K. riots into online recruiting pitch

Using messaging app Telegram and social media platform X, they promote conspiracy theories and incite violence in their bid to lure new members.
California Assemblymember Dr. Jasmeet Bains, the first Sikh-American politician to be elected in the California State Legislature, poses for a picture with fellow assembly member Sharon Quirk-Silva while attending a luncheon gathering in Artesia, California, on June 8.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 13, 2024

Some U.S. Sikhs fear Modi government is threatening them

Some Sikhs in the U.S. described experiencing online harassment and surveillance at their homes.
Google is appealing an Aug. 5 ruling that it illegally monopolized the markets of online search and search text ads but the presiding judge has ordered the start of plans for the second phase of the case, which will involve the government’s proposals for restoring competition, including a possible breakup request.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 14, 2024

U.S. considers a rare antitrust move: breaking up Google

If the breakup plan proceeds, the most likely units for divestment are the Android operating system and Chrome web browser.
A F-18 jet lands on the runway of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military exercises about 160 kilometers south of Oahu, Hawaii, on July 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

U.S. Navy's newest long range missile could shift balance in South China Sea

The AIM-174B can fly several times farther than alternatives, does not require new production lines, and is compatible with Australian aircraft.
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, gestures during a news conference in Kabul on May 26.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2024

Taliban bars U.N. human rights special rapporteur from Afghanistan

Richard Bennett is based outside Afghanistan but has visited several times to research the situation there.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris meets with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a summit seeking peace in Ukraine, in Stansstad, Switzerland, on June 15.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Kamala Harris must correct America's Ukraine policy

The war in Ukraine could be a boon for Harris, but she must correct Biden’s mistakes and provide the additional resources Ukraine needs to defeat Russia.
Instead of secretly arming against the combined nuclear forces of China, Russia and North Korea, the U.S. must launch a global campaign to restart arms control.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Why is the U.S. fighting nuclear threats behind closed doors?

Secret armaments or doctrinal shifts without public messaging will only make adversaries more paranoid and a full-on arms race all but inevitable.
Kemi Badenoch is the bookmakers’ favorite to win the U.K. Conservative Party leadership contest.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 1, 2024

U.K.’s most Tory district uninspired even as leadership race heats up

Even in the Britain's most Conservative constituency, the former governing party’s contest to choose a new leader is failing to set pulses racing.
When it comes to trade disputes between the U.S. and China, not even the game of golf is spared.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

U.S. golf cart industry reveals how China tariffs are a blunt instrument

In factories and shops around the country, finding complaints about cheaper Chinese competitors is easy — but reaching a consensus on how to combat them is harder.
The 225-issue Nikkei average plunged 4.2% on Wednesday, its sharpest drop since a 12% crash on Aug. 5.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 5, 2024

Japanese stocks seen as volatile and capped as U.S. walks economic tightrope

Japan's stock market is heavily influenced by movements in Wall Street and the exchange rate, which remain uncertain due to the unpredictable U.S. presidential election.
An Nvidia Quantum-X800 InfiniBand Platform on display in Taipei on June 5
WORLD / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

U.S. targets China with quantum and chip-related export curbs

The rules cover all worldwide exports, but include exemptions for countries that implement similar measures.
Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) William Burns arrives to testify before a closed Senate Appropriations Defense Subcommittee hearing on U.S. President Joe Biden's proposed budget request for the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 12.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 8, 2024

U.S. and U.K. spy chiefs warn of deepening Iran-Russia military links

Iran has sent ballistic missiles to Russia, defying months of warnings by U.S. and European officials.
U.K. Ambassador to Japan Julia Longbottom says the Indo-Pacific region offers a unique opportunity to not only tackle shared security concerns but also to generate new sources of economic growth.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 9, 2024

U.K. envoy to Japan pushes back on Indo-Pacific disengagement concerns

The region — and Japan — remain “critical" to Britain's interests, Ambassador Julia Longbottom told The Japan Times.
Candidates for Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election stand together onstage at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

LDP presidential hopefuls outline approach to U.S. and China concerns

The nine candidates jostled over the best way to resolve Nippon Steel's contentious bid for U.S. Steel, while also grappling with the Chinese military challenge.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni meet on Monday and plan to discuss a proposal for Ukraine to use British long-range Storm Shadow cruise missiles on Russian territory.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 16, 2024

U.K.’s Starmer seeks Italy’s support for missiles to Ukraine

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit to Rome comes days after he met with U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington.
The Typhon missile system at Laoag International Airport, in Laoag, Philippines, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 19, 2024

U.S. keeps missile system in Philippines as China tensions rise

China and Russia condemned the move — the first deployment of the system to the Indo-Pacific — and accused Washington of fueling an arms race.
Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 19, 2024

Microsoft executive warns of meddling in final days of U.S. election

Brad Smith said lessons should be learned from certain other elections that have seen fake information circulated.
Americans face a choice in the November presidential election between Donald Trump’s isolationist vision of America alone and Kamala Harris’ approach, which builds on the Biden administration’s legacy of strengthening alliances to tackle global challenges.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2024

America’s role in the world is hard. It just got much harder.

November's election offers stark contrast between Donald Trump’s isolationism and Kamala Harris’ focus on strengthening alliances.
Caption TK
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Sep 23, 2024

Hokkaido seeks to grow market for scallops in the U.S. — and beyond

China's refusal to budge from its ban on Japanese seafood forces local officials to look elsewhere.
A Ukrainian soldier operates a DJI drone on the front line of the war, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in March 2023. U.S. authorities consider Chinese drone-maker DJI a security threat.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 25, 2024

Taiwan and U.S. work to counter China’s drone dominance

Discussions in Taiwan, set to finish Wednesday, brought more than two dozen U.S. companies together with Taiwanese firms looking for U.S. knowledge and customers.
Shipping containers are stacked on a pier at the Red Hook Terminal in Brooklyn, New York. A prolonged strike, alongside an ongoing strike by 30,000 machinists at Boeing, could put a dent in the U.S. job market next month at a critical moment.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 27, 2024

Shippers scramble for workarounds ahead of threatened U.S. port strike

A prolonged strike, alongside an ongoing strike by 30,000 machinists at Boeing, could put a dent in the U.S. job market next month at a critical moment.
A series of satellite images from Planet Labs appears to show cranes at the Wuchang shipyard in Wuhan, China, on June 15.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2024

China's newest nuclear-powered submarine sank this year, U.S. says

It was not clear if the sub was carrying nuclear fuel, but the accident has dealt a major blow to Beijing as it seeks to showcase its growing military prowess.
U.S. officials are warning that foreign adversaries are aiming to sow doubt in the Nov. 5 election results to stoke division and undermine trust.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2024

U.S. expecting foreign actors to question validity of election

Countries would seek to "launder their narratives" through witting and unwitting American voices and stoke divisions in society.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami