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Thailand will seek to get a new cannabis bill explicitly outlawing the recreational use of cannabis approved by the end of October.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 22, 2024

Thailand aims for clampdown on recreational cannabis by year-end

The move would put thousands of marijuana shops and farms out of business.
U.S. President Joe Biden embraces Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of Alexei Navalny, in San Francisco, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2024

Biden holds poignant meeting with Navalny's widow and daughter

The White House also announced fresh sanctions against Russia over the Kremlin opposition leader's death.
The mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Lyudmila Navalnaya, delivers a video address in Salekhard, in the Russia's Yamal-Nenets region, in this image taken from video released Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2024

Russia threatening to bury Navalny on prison grounds, team says

Several leading Russian cultural figures and activists have called on authorities to release the opposition leader's body to his mother.
For all of U.S. President Joe Biden’s talk about the sanctions, his team is still unwilling to go after revenue streams that experts argue would really cripple Russia’s economy, for fear of setting off broad shocks that could rebound on the U.S. economy.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 24, 2024

U.S. sidesteps riskiest sanctions in latest move against Russia

The U.S. is concerned that the toughest measures left in Washington's arsenal risk roiling the global economy.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron at the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July 2023.
WORLD
Feb 24, 2024

Europe’s east is losing faith in its west over arming Ukraine

The mood in diplomatic circles is that, should Russia ultimately win its war in Ukraine, Western Europe will not be forgiven.
A woman visits a makeshift memorial for late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD
Feb 25, 2024

Navalny's 'tortured' body handed over to his mother

Family and supporters of Navalny have accused Vladimir Putin of having him killed, an accusation the Kremlin rejects.
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.
Palestinians help an injured man in the aftermath of an Israeli strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 23, 2024

The Gaza war isn't a Holocaust, but it's still a nightmare

There are, sadly, many examples in history of the kind of conflict under way in Gaza, and the Holocaust isn’t one of them.
Feleti Teo was formally selected by lawmakers as Tuvalu's premier on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2024

Taiwan envoy says Tuvalu ties 'rock solid' post-election

With a population of just 11,000, Tuvalu is one of just 12 states that still have formal diplomatic relations with Taipei rather than Beijing.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to board Air Force One for travel to New York from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Biden hopes for cease-fire in days as talks with Israelis and Hamas progress

The presence of both sides meeting mediators separately but in the same city suggested talks were further along than at any time since February.
Toru Nakashima, CEO of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, says he is considering an expansion of the bank’s alliance with Jefferies Financial Group into Asia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 27, 2024

Sumitomo Mitsui may expand Jefferies pact into Asia amid focus overseas

The partners won more than 30 deals since expanding their tie-up last year, in which Sumitomo Mitsui agreed to triple its stake in the U.S. bank.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

What to know about the ethics committee probing the LDP funds scandal

When the committee convenes later this week, at least five senior ruling party officials are expected to testify on what they knew about the scandal.
A vigil is held for Russian activist Alexei Navalny in Munich on Feb. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2024

Prisoner swap deal for Alexei Navalny was in works when he died

The U.S. State Department said in early December it made a "new and significant” proposal to Russia, but Moscow had rejected the offer.
Christmas lights decorate downtown Brampton, a suburb of Toronto, on Jan. 5. In Canada, a post-COVID explosion in foreign students has resulted in housing shortages and flawed academic programs being taught in strip malls.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

Canada’s welcome for foreign students becomes 'trafficking’ nightmare

An open-door policy has caused rental prices to soar, soured the electorate on new arrivals, and allowed colleges to take advantage of young people.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

Talks on easing Japan defense export rules pushed back to March

The Liberal Democratic Party and junior coalition partner Komeito failed to reach an agreement on revisions to existing restrictions on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

Kishida apologizes over slush funds scandal at ethics committee meeting

In a rare appearance in front of the committee, the prime minister also vowed to implement political reforms in the wake of the scandal.
Aoi Suzuki’s son runs past a home in Taketomi on Iriomote Island (not to be confused with Taketomi Island, which lies to the east of Iriomote). The Suzukis run the Takemori Inn, one of the few hotels on Iriomote.
PODCAST / deep dive
Feb 29, 2024

[Rebroadcast] Traveling Okinawa with a broken heart

This week on Deep Dive we get contributing writer and photographer Lance Henderstein to read us his article on traveling Okinawa during the rainy season.
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.
People hold portraits of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas militants, near the site of the Supernova music festival in southern Israel, in February.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 7, 2024

Gaza hostages at risk of lasting psychological trauma, experts say

Some hostages were released under a weeklong truce in November but around 130 others remain in the hands of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida arrives for a meeting of a parliamentary ethics committee at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Feb. 29.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2024

Kishida's three challenges: Discipline, by-elections and Motegi

How the prime minister handles these matters could impact his political future as well as that of the Liberal Democratic Party.
An event for female coders in New York in 2013. Women’s full participation is key to ensure technologies like AI help bridge the gender gap.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024

Now is our chance to govern AI for women’s empowerment

The pace of AI development may seem relentless, but there's still time to create safeguards to ensure that innovation doesn't perpetuate gender inequality.
Demonstrators hold a banner as they take part in a march to call for gender equality and protest against gender discrimination as part of an International Women’s Day march in Tokyo in 2021.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 8, 2024

Recognizing the vocabulary surrounding International Women’s Day

Many of the terms describing issues women are facing in Japan have a string of complex kanji. Knowing the basics can go a long way in aiding understanding.
Both China and Russia may believe there will never be a more opportune moment to overthrow American dominance than now. And should the two combine their forces, they could represent the most serious challenge to the global economic and strategic order since 1945.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 8, 2024

The threat to American hegemony is real

Russia and China might be tempted to threaten America's hegemony with a simultaneous and coordinated challenge.
Palestinian children carrying sacks walk past the rubble of a building amid the Israeli offensive in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 9, 2024

Biden's port for aid to Gaza might not be ready for 60 days, Pentagon says

The United Nations has warned that widespread famine in the Gaza Strip is "almost inevitable" without urgent action.
Some 38% of Bank of Japan watchers in a survey believe the central bank will end its negative rates next week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2024

Half of BOJ watchers still see April rate hike while bets on March move jump

The proportion of 50 economists forecasting an end to the world’s last negative rate in April slipped to 54% in the latest survey from 59% in January.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan addresses the media during a news conference in August 2023.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 13, 2024

Talks between PGA Tour and Saudi fund 'accelerating'

Speaking to reporters ahead of this week's Players Championship, Monahan said negotiations with Saudi Arabia's PIF were progressing.
Several U.S. lawmakers along with TikTok creators hold a news conference to voice their opposition to the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act in Washington on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY
Mar 13, 2024

America’s TikTok addiction isn’t just China’s fault

If you’ve spent time on the platform, you will know how addictive TikTok is. With 170 million users, at least one in three Americans have accessed it.
Paris Saint Germain's Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring his team's first goal against OGC Nice in Paris on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 15, 2024

Mbappe presence at Olympics 'very difficult,' says Deschamps

Deschamps said the Euro 2024 tournament, shortly before the Games, "remains the priority."
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Programme's fighter jet is displayed at the DSEI Japan defense show at Makuhari Messe in Chiba in March 2023.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2024

Japan's ruling coalition approves export of future joint fighter jet

The step removes a potentially critical hurdle for the multinational Global Combat Aircraft Program involving the U.K. and Italy.
French President Emmanuel Macron (left), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (center) and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk join hands at a news conference at the Chancellery in Berlin on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2024

France and Germany to build arms plant in Ukraine as stakes rise

The announcement will do little to address Ukraine’s most pressing need: getting Kyiv enough ammunition in the short term.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?