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Members of the U.S. Special Operations Command train with their South Korean counterparts during the annual Freedom Shield joint military exercise at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, South Korea, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2024

U.S. commandos laud training for the 'unexpected' in North Korea's shadow

The Korean Peninsula joins the South China Sea and Taiwan as military flashpoints with the potential to involve the region and the world.
Chinese President Xi Jinping during an event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 11
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

Decoding Xi’s new catchphrase aimed at reviving China’s economy

Slogans matter in China, and the adoption of new catchphrases can herald profound shifts in policy.
People look at the screens showing views from polling stations across Russia, at the headquarters of Russia's Central Election Commission on the final day of the presidential election in Moscow on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2024

What Putin’s election win tells us about Russia today

Putin won 87.3%, or 76 million votes, by far the biggest landslide in post-Soviet Russian history.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 25, 2024

Ohtani to speak Monday on allegations surrounding ex-interpreter

Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said he hoped two-way superstar's plans to speak on the press would bring "clarity."
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Works facility is seen in Braddock, Pennsylvania. A group of automakers have warned that a deal by steelmaker Cleveland Cliffs for U.S. Steel could "drive up the cost of both steel and e-steel, and ultimately increase the cost of finished vehicles (including EVs) for American consumers."
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 30, 2024

Automakers urge White House to oppose U.S. Steel sale to Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs has said it would consider another bid for U.S. Steel if the deal with Nippon Steel — opposed by President Joe Biden — falls apart.
U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell laughs during the Macroeconomics and Monetary Policy Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in San Francisco on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 30, 2024

Powell reiterates Fed doesn’t need to be in hurry to cut rates

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell repeated that the U.S. central bank will await more evidence that inflation is contained before cutting rates.
With emerging headwinds in the U.S. and Japan, U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will have their work cut out for them next month as they look to maintain the momentum driving change in the alliance between both countries.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2024

Kishida heads to U.S. with a mission — maintain alliance momentum amid challenges

Defense and security will likely top the agenda, though it is unclear how the PM will handle the issue of Ukraine assistance amid a split U.S. Congress.
Tadashi Imai, who became Nippon Steel's new president on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2024

Nippon Steel emphasizes its roots in the U.S. as it pursues deal

The Japanese firm has agreed to buy U.S. Steel for roughly $15 billion but the deal faces an uphill battle to approval in a U.S. election year.
The top U.S. military commander in the Indo-Pacific, Adm. John Aquilino, has said that Beijing is maintaining its goal of being able to invade Taiwan by 2027.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 2, 2024

Will China truly be ‘ready’ to invade Taiwan by 2027? It’s complicated.

The most important factor shaping any plan will not be based on just military readiness, but rather on political and strategic objectives, analysts say.
Virginia-class attack submarine USS Hawaii passes by Diamond Head crater on Oahu in Hawaii in July 2009.
WORLD
Apr 3, 2024

U.S. attack submarines to counter China are up to two years late

Delivery dates for Virginia-class subs are an estimated 24 to 36 months past the contracted dates
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

In campaign speech, Trump calls illegal immigrants 'animals'

The Republican presidential candidate warned that violence and chaos would consume America if he did not win the Nov. 5 election.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Biden-Xi call highlights stabilizing ties, but also hints at lingering divide

The nearly two-hour telephone call saw the leaders of the world's two largest economies discuss a range of other issues, from TikTok to Taiwan.
Tokyo police arrested four men for allegedly introducing Japanese women to brothels in New York and Washington.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 5, 2024

4 men arrested in Japan over brokering prostitution abroad

The men sent between 200 and 300 Japanese women to brothels in the United States, Canada and Australia, making roughly ¥200 million over three years.
A Wheeling-Nippon Steel facility in in Follansbee, West Virginia. Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Apr 5, 2024

Why Japan is not giving up on fraught U.S. Steel deal

Four senior Japanese officials speaking on condition of anonymity said it is still premature to declare the deal dead.
Drivers in California’s Marin County rely on a single hydrogen fueling station.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 6, 2024

Few stations and $200 to fill up: Life on California’s ‘hydrogen highway’

Fuel shortages and soaring prices have stalled the adoption of hydrogen cars — but proponents aren’t throwing in the towel.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen meets China's Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Guangdong Zhudao Guest House, in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, China, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2024

U.S. and China to start new talks on balanced growth, Yellen says

The top priority of her four day visit to China was to persuade Beijing to rein in excess production capacity for clean energy technology.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps speak during a news conference following an AUKUS defense ministerial meeting in Mountain View, California, last December.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 9, 2024

U.S., U.K. and Australia consider working with Japan on AUKUS security pact

The three countries said they were weighing inviting Tokyo to join the pact’s second stage, with talks with Japan and others set to begin this year.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attend an an arrival ceremony as part of a state visit by Kishida, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 11, 2024

Global ambitions? U.S. and Japan eye a boosted partnership, but the hurdles are high.

Can Japan truly be America's "global partner"? Experts are divided over the issue.
Flights between China and the United States have emerged as a rare area of cooperation between the two countries, but U.S. airlines have expressed concern about the rapid pace of increasing flights.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 12, 2024

Biden administration urged not to approve more China flights

U.S. airlines have expressed concern about the rapid pace of increasing flights.
Yoasobi member Ayase (far left) joins U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a toast during a state dinner at the White House on Wednesday.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 12, 2024

A brief history of J-pop stars meeting U.S. presidents

Yoasobi's presence at the White House state dinner catapults the duo to a new strata. It also says a lot about what sound currently rules Japanese music.
U.S. President Joe Biden escorts Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to their trilateral summit at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 12, 2024

Biden vows 'ironclad' defense of Philippines and Japan as China tensions rise

Biden reiterated Washington’s commitment to defending the Philippines from any attack in the South China Sea.
A funeral procession in Tehran for seven Iranian military commanders killed by an Israeli airstrike in Syria, on April 5. American intelligence analysts and officials said Friday that they expected Iran to strike multiple targets inside Israel within the next few days in retaliation for an Israeli bombing in the Syrian capital on April 1 that killed several senior Iranian commanders.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

U.S. targets unlikely to be on list in possible Iranian attack, officials say

In anticipation of the strikes, several countries have issued new guidelines to their citizens about travel in Israel and the surrounding region.
Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki (left), U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen (center) and South Korean Finance Minister Choi Sang-mok meet on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and Group of 20 meetings, at the U.S. Treasury in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2024

U.S. nods to concerns from Japan and South Korea over slumping currencies

Washington's acknowledgement of concerns may lay the groundwork for intervention, some analysts said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 20, 2024

U.S. 'fully expects' to finalize new AUKUS trade exemptions in next 120 days

The announcement signals a further delay in the move, but offers the prospect of a positive outcome in the project to counter China.
Protesters react as a man holds up a sign demanding that soldiers from the United States Army leave Niger without negotiation during a demonstration in the capital, Niamey, on April 13.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 20, 2024

U.S. to withdraw military personnel from Niger

There were a little over 1,000 U.S. troops in Niger as of last year, where the U.S. military operated out of two bases, including a drone base.
The Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia. Current and former U.S. officials say the Pentagon may have to revisit assumptions about military needs in the Middle East if the crisis deepens.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 20, 2024

U.S. military strategy tested as Iran-Israel warfare comes out of shadows

The tit-for-tat attacks have raised fears of an unpredictable regional war that the United States has sought to prevent.
U.S. President Joe Biden Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 Summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in November 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2024

China braces for worst as it becomes punching bag in U.S. election

Chinese policymakers already battling a protracted property crisis and weak demand at home have scant incentive to escalate tensions.
Many U.S. lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties and the Biden administration say TikTok poses national security risks because China could compel the company to share the data of its 170 million U.S. users.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 22, 2024

TikTok braces for U.S. divest-or-ban law — and a fresh legal fight

The legislation has been fast-tracked and tied to a crucial aid package for Ukraine and Israel, which the Senate is set to vote on in the coming days.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Taro Aso, vice president of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, in New York on Tuesday. The Japanese government’s top spokesman on Wednesday played down the meeting as one conducted "in the capacity of one lawmaker" and “without the government’s involvement.”
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 24, 2024

Japan's former PM Aso meets Trump for talks on security and economy

The visit highlights behind-the-scenes moves by Tokyo to cultivate ties with the Trump camp ahead of November’s U.S. presidential election.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel meets with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in February 2022. Emanuel has praised the Kishida administration's efforts to boost national and regional security.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 26, 2024

Japan's unlikeliest cheerleader is an American ambassador

U.S. Ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel showers his host country, and its government, with praise. And in his view, Washington doesn't understand Japan well.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight