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South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol held a news conference on Thursday, his first in about two years as he tried to set a new course for his conservative government after suffering a stinging defeat in parliamentary elections last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2024

South Korea’s Yoon tries to reset agenda with rare news conference

The leader used the event to lay out his priorities for his remaining three years in office.
The Russian Embassy in London. Britain's deportation of Russia's defense attache is a response to a suspected arson attack against Ukrainian-linked properties in East London and other espionage activities, the U.K. Home Secretary said.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2024

U.K. expels Russian envoy in pushback against spying surge

The action is a response to a suspected arson attack against Ukrainian-linked properties in East London and espionage activities across the U.K and Europe.
The idea of quitting tends to be associated with weakness, but moving on from a problematic situation can sometimes be extremely positive.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 10, 2024

Sometimes there's power in quitting

Modern society tends to see quitting as a sign of weakness, but Buddhist teaching has extolled the benefits of letting go of something at the right time.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Chinese President Xi Jinping hold a joint news conference at the Carmelite Monastery in Budapest, Hungary, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2024

Xi uses Europe visit to slow continent’s ‘de-risking’ from China

Closer ties with Hungary and Serbia serve to benefit Beijing politically and economically as they help sustain its waning footprint in the region.
SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son in 2019. Son is said to be selling off assets from the Vision Fund’s portfolio as he prepares for possible forays into AI and related hardware.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2024

SoftBank's Vision Fund lightens asset load as Son pivots to AI and chips

Son has moved on to new obsessions, inspired in part by the success of Arm — which has soared in value to around $106 billion since its market debut.
Employees work on a production line at an automotive plant producing electric cars near Ningbo, China. The U.S. is set to announce new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other goods as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2024

Biden set to hit China EVs and strategic sectors with tariffs

The decision, which could come as early as next week, represents one of Biden’s biggest moves in the economic race with China.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow on April 11.
WORLD
May 11, 2024

Satellite images reveal where Russian nukes could be stored in Belarus

A New York Times analysis shows security upgrades unique to Russian nuclear storage facilities at a Cold War-era munitions depot.
Philippine and U.S. Marines watch as a projectile hits a target at sea during a live-fire exercise against an imaginary "invasion" force as part of the annual joint military drills, on a strip of sand dunes in Laoag on Luzon island's northwest coast, on May 6.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 11, 2024

U.S. builds web of arms, ships and bases in the Pacific to deter China

With missiles, submarines and alliances, the Biden administration has built a presence in the region to rein in Beijing’s expansionist goals.
Andrei Belousov, economic aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Putin taps economist to run defense in unexpected move

It is vital to ensure military spending aligns with Russia's overall economy, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
U.S. President Joe Biden touts the economic benefits of semiconductor investment at Intel’s Ocotillo Campus in Chandler, Arizona, on March 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2024

Global chips battle intensifies with $81 billion subsidy surge

The rush of funding has hardened battle lines in the U.S.-China trade war, including in nations like Japan.
South Africa President Cyril Ramaphosa speaks at the Congress of South African Trade Unions National Worker's Day rally at Athlone Stadium in Cape Town on May 1.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024

Who’s who in South Africa’s tightest post-apartheid election

For the first time since White-minority rule ended, South Africa is heading into national elections in which an outright winner isn’t apparent.
A reconstructed skeleton of <i>Futabasaurus suzukii</i> (top) and its fossil's replica are displayed at the Iwaki City Coal and Fossil Museum (Horuru) in Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
May 13, 2024

Fukushima fossil museum marks 40 years of unearthing history

The discovery of the fossil of a new genus of plesiosaur in 1968 led to the birth of the museum, which now hosts its replica and reconstructed skeleton.
Nintendo tends to innovate and take unconventional product development routes, producing both great successes, like its Switch console, and spectacular failures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2024

Nintendo needs to 'switch' its next console up

The Kyoto firm has been coy about what will come after the highly successful Switch console, but it needs to step up its game and learn from past mistakes.
Major Japanese companies are increasing ventures in the United States, with Toyota investing $13.9 billion in North Carolina alone.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 13, 2024

Japan’s gamble to hedge against U.S. political risks

As Japanese companies increasingly invest in U.S. states like North Carolina, friend-shoring ensures economic resilience in the face of political change.
After his family loses its political influence, Prince Takaoka leaves his life in Japan behind and embarks on an adventure across Asia in Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s “Takaoka’s Travels.”
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2024

‘Takaoka’s Travels’: The fantastical romp of a real-life royal turned monk

Tatsuhiko Shibusawa’s outlandish novel is based on a real-life Japanese prince who set out for India, only to go missing along the way.
Toyota CEO Koji Sato says the company plans to expand AI-related investments, and this year will focus on building a strong foundation for software-defined vehicles.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Japan’s carmakers look to China tech to claw back market share

With no signs of demand slowing for Chinese EVs, Japanese carmakers are looking to adapt their strategies to win over the world’s biggest auto market.
French President Emmanuel Macron during an interview on the fringes of the Choose France summit in Versailles, France, on Monday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

Macron puts French banks in play with plan to transform Europe

Macron has been trying to persuade his EU partners to embrace reforms that he says would turn the bloc into a more united and powerful economic force.
Natural gas burns on a domestic kitchen stove in London.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2024

As war stems Russian gas, Norway's Equinor gains outsized market impact

Norway now supplies 30% of Europe's gas, and roughly two-thirds of Norway's exports last year were sold by Equinor.
Penny Sackett, a former director of the Australian National University’s Mount Stromlo Observatory, in the remains of the observatory, which was destroyed by a wildfire in 2003, just outside Canberra on May 6.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 14, 2024

Alarmed by climate change, astronomers train their sights on Earth

Seeing how climate change has impacted the earth, many astronomers have left science to become full-time activists.
North Korea's Ambassador to the United Nations Kim Song speaks during a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly at U.N. headquarters in New York on June 8, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2024

U.N. experts: North Korea laundered $147.5 million in stolen crypto

The money was stolen from the HTX cryptocurrency exchange before being laundered in March this year, the experts said.
A demonstrator holds a music score while singing the “Glory to Hong Kong” protest song during a flash mob protest in Hong Kong in September 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 15, 2024

Videos of Hong Kong protest song blocked on YouTube after court order

The Court of Appeal granted an injunction that holds platforms responsible for hosting the song, exposing global internet companies to new legal risks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is greeted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the opening ceremony at the Expo Center at the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia summit in Shanghai in May 2014.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 15, 2024

Putin to visit Xi amid U.S. threat of China sanctions over Ukraine

The two sides are set to discuss ways to challenge the U.S.-led global order while bolstering Moscow’s economic resilience amid its war in Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2024

Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.

U.S. president is seen to be trying to "outtrump Trump" to appeal to voters who worry about geopolitical competition or hold anti-China sentiments.
Tourists and locals stroll along Tokyo's Ginza shopping district where some roads are closed off for pedestrians due to the national holiday on April 29.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2024

Fortress’s Japan hotel unit doubles pay to fight labor shortage

MyStays Hotel Management is offering monthly salaries of ¥500,000 ($3,210) for new hires into its fast-track program.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a meeting of the Lower House Judicial Affairs Committee on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 15, 2024

Kishida defends planned rule to revoke foreigners' residency

The bill calls for allowing the government to revoke permanent residence permits of foreigners who intentionally evade taxes or social insurance premiums.
Displaced Palestinian children stand at a school as they wait to flee Rafah after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of the southern Gaza city, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2024

How many of Gaza’s dead are women and children? For 10,000, it’s unclear.

The absence of personal details needed to ascertain their identities leads to their exclusion from the breakdown now being cited by the U.N.
A German Navy frigate takes part in the BALTOPS 22 exercise in Baltic Sea in June 2022. Russia will push back against NATO's Baltic drills, although the correlation of forces at sea is now weighted heavily against it. 
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2024

Putin’s next target may be the ‘NATO lake’

Some say the argument that Putin would invade the Baltic states is overblown; but just three years ago, no one believed he would invade Ukraine.
Tokyo-based artist Jumadiba says he forgoes the label of simply “rap” for his music because the Japanese rap scene isn’t confined to a particular sound.
CULTURE / Music
May 16, 2024

Japanese rap creates its mecca in Pop Yours

The two-day music festival showcases Japan's growing and diversifying hip-hop scene through local acts such as Awich and Jumadiba.
Attendees watch a broadcast of the swearing-in ceremony of Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 16, 2024

Singapore’s PM Wong takes office warning of ‘more violent’ world

Lawrence Wong takes office with rising concerns over the cost of living, strained U.S.-China ties and wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
Tesla's charging network is widely viewed as a signature achievement for the EV maker and a key driver of its sales. Tesla Superchargers account for more than 60% of U.S. high-speed charging ports, federal statistics show.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2024

The inside story of Elon Musk’s mass firings of Tesla Supercharger staff

Former charging chief met Musk expecting the go-ahead for a massive expansion of the charging network, but ended up getting fired along with her 500-member team.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years