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Taylor Swift (right) cheers on her boyfriend Travis Kelce's team, the Kansas City Chiefs, in the AFC divisional round playoff game against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park, New York, on Jan. 21. The Chiefs will play the San Francisco 49ers in the Super Bowl.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 6, 2024

Taylor Swift rocks the world and drives the far right crazy

The “Swift effect” has become a force in both U.S. domestic politics and international relations.
U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on Monday. Biden's re-election campaign has launched a TikTok account in a bid to reach younger voters, a move that comes as the popular short-form video platform confronts concerns over its ties to China.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 13, 2024

Biden’s TikTok foray triggers bipartisan angst over app's China ties

The bipartisan leaders of a House committee charged with curbing China's influence expressed concern Monday at President Joe Biden’s campaign on TikTok.
U.S. allies reevaluate priorities in relations with Washington out of concern Donald Trump may win the U.S. presidency again.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 13, 2024

U.S. allies fear the fallout of a new Trump era

The world appears to have priced in former U.S. President Trump’s disdain not only for allies but the entire global order his predecessors created.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally ahead of the Republican caucus in Las Vegas on Jan. 27.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 22, 2024

How East Asia should prepare for a possible Trump comeback

Questions over defense funding and military support could potentially return to the fore for U.S. allies.
Japan's fall to No. 4 in the global economic rankings reflects an aging population and declining resources.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2024

Japan slips in the global economic rankings: So what’s next?

The IMF has forecast that India will overtake Japan economically in 2026 and Germany in 2027.
The Huawei Mate 60 Pro, launched in August 2023 and powered by a sophisticated chip, was seen as a symbol of the China's technological resurgence despite Washington's ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

U.S. targets China chipmaking plant after Huawei Mate 60 Pro

The Biden administration seeks to cut off China's most advanced factory from more American imports after it produced a sophisticated chip for the phone.
TikTok parent company ByteDance's offices in Singapore. Chinese companies are increasingly using the city-state as a springboard into the U.S. market.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 22, 2024

'Singapore-washing' and China’s sneaky trade practices

Chinese firms are using Singapore as a springboard into the U.S., circumventing restrictions. The island nation shouldn't enable these deceptive tactics.
With concerns over economics cutting across party lines, the preferred degree of toughness on China tends to be a policy rather than partisan divide.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 25, 2024

Biden or Trump, hawkish economic approach on China to intensify

With concerns over economics cutting across party lines, the preferred degree of toughness on Beijing tends to be a policy rather than partisan divide.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson receives information that Hungary's parliament has voted yes to ratify Sweden's NATO accession, at the government headquarters in Stockholm on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

The NATO welcoming Sweden is larger and more determined

The alliance's expansion was a consequence from the invasion of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin may not have calculated.
Starbucks workers hold a rally in New York City in 2022.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 29, 2024

Starbucks' pivot on union may shape labor relations beyond its stores

The iconic coffee chain has been locked in a bitter, high-profile and multifront battle with the union across the U.S. since its first win in 2021.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge during an event to commemorate the 59th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2024

In blunt remarks, U.S. VP Harris calls for 'immediate cease-fire' in Gaza

The Israeli government, she said, must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid and not impose "unnecessary restrictions" on its delivery.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump during a Super Tuesday election night watch party at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2024

Trump-Biden rematch likely as the two dominate Super Tuesday contests

Nikki Haley has decided to end her campaign in light of the results, the Wall Street Journal has reported.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2024

Prominent Japanese political scientist Makoto Iokibe dies at 80

He is renowned for his research on Japan's relations with the United States during postwar U.S. occupation.
Motoki Taniguchi (left) and one of his clients, Maurice Shelton, hope their lawsuit can change alleged police practices involving stop-and-search.
PODCAST / deep dive
Mar 8, 2024

A lawsuit puts alleged racial profiling by police on trial in Japan

Three residents with foreign roots have filed a lawsuit claiming Japanese police target visible minorities. We discuss what they hope to achieve.
A LNG tanker at the Negishi LNG Terminal, which is jointly operated by Tokyo Gas and JERA, in Yokohama
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2024

Japan boosts reliance on allies for long-term LNG supplies

LNG accounts for about a third of Japan's power generation and it is the world's second-largest importer behind China.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at the Forum River Center in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Biden and Trump clinch nominations, kicking off rematch

Both men have already turned their attention to the Nov. 5 general election, holding dueling rallies in Georgia.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2024

U.S. military resumes Osprey flights in Japan

The resumption came after Washington last week lifted a worldwide flight ban on the aircraft following a deadly crash last year.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump hosts a campaign rally in Rome, Georgia, on March 9.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 15, 2024

Trump launched CIA covert influence operation against China

A team promoted allegations that Communist Party members were hiding ill-gotten money overseas, sources said.
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.
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.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes