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A China Coast Guard ship is seen from the Philippine Coast Guard vessel BRP Cabra during a supply mission to Sabina Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Aug 27, 2024

China-Philippine tensions center on new flash point: Sabina Shoal

Clashes between the countries’ vessels have become more frequent and intense as the two sides vie for control over the disputed South China Sea atoll.
Freed Israeli hostage Qaid Farhan Alkadi talks on the phone after arriving for a checkup at the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheva. The Israeli military said its forces rescued Alkadi on Tuesday after a "complex operation."
WORLD
Aug 28, 2024

Israel rescues hostage taken on Oct. 7 from a Gaza tunnel

A 52-year-old Bedouin Arab Israeli from the town of Rahat was found by special forces in a tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip.
Wang Yi, the director of the Communist Party's Central Foreign Affairs Commission Office (right), speaks before talks with White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan at Yanqi Lake in Beijing on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 29, 2024

U.S. and China agree to leaders’ call but keep talking past each other

Although the two sides agreed to a "leader-level call" in the coming weeks, disagreements on the most contentious issues suggest ties will remain rocky.
A poll shows that many Israelis support expanding the war to confront Hezbollah in Lebanon, though this poses risks of involving Iran and other international actors.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2024

Should Israel want a bigger conflict with Iran now?

A poll shows that many Israelis support expanding the war to confront Hezbollah, though this poses risks of involving Iran and other international actors.
Since arriving in Japan, Adrian Bianco has dedicated himself to exploring the country’s many subcultures at the website sabukaru.online.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 30, 2024

Adrian Bianco: ‘Leaving your comfort zone keeps you alive’

Upon relocating in Tokyo after a stint with the Vice empire in Germany, Adrian Bianco has explored Asia's underground via his website Sabukaru Online.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli airstrike on Zibqin, in southern Lebanon, on Sunday. AFP-JIJI
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2024

The Middle East remains on a precipice

Israel's retaliations in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran have not led to a wider conflict. But neither Iran nor its proxies seem eager to expand the fighting either.
Local miners collect small rocks as they mine for gold in Benguet province in the northern Philippines.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 1, 2024

Toxic, deadly, cheap: Life for women gold miners in the Philippines

One in three of the illegal mining workforce is female — and women are 90 times more at risk of dying on the job than men.
Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, parents of Hersh Goldberg Polin, speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on Aug. 21.
WORLD
Sep 1, 2024

Israel recovers bodies of six hostages in Gaza, including an American captive

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has closely followed the fate of the hostages seized on Oct. 7, said the six included Israeli American Goldberg-Polin.
An elevator at the Stade de France commuter train station in Saint-Denis, near Paris, France. Paris built highly accessible accommodation for competitors in the 2024 Paralympic Games, but overall, the city remains difficult to navigate for people with disabilities.
PARALYMPICS
Sep 2, 2024

Paris is utopia for Paralympians until they leave the athletes village

It will be decades before the city's streets, sidewalks and parks achieve even a semblance of the Paralympic Village’s accessibility.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, speaks during a campaign event she attended with U.S. President Joe Biden at IBEW Local Union 5 in Pittsburgh on Monday.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2024

Harris says U.S. Steel should remain American owned and run

It’s not clear whether a decision on the takeover will land on U.S. President Joe Biden’s desk or that of his successor — or even if it will proceed at all.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Toshimitsu Motegi announces his candidacy for leadership of the party in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2024

In leadership bid, LDP Secretary-General Motegi says no tax hikes

He pledges to tackle Japan’s sluggish economy without increasing the burden on taxpayers and abolish the contentious "funds for political activities."
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida apologizes during a meeting with victims of forced sterilization, on July 17, following a Supreme Court ruling that recognized the now-defunct eugenic protection law unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 5, 2024

Forced sterilization settlement deal imminent

The government will agree to pay up to ¥15 million per plaintiff and ¥2 million per spouse in consolation money to bring an end to the lawsuits.
Osaka is set to open Grand Green Osaka in the city’s Umekita area. It is a sprawling redevelopment that combines a park with mixed-use skyscrapers and is part of a push to rejuvenate the merchant city.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2024

Japan’s second city can finally make Tokyo jealous

For the first time in years, Osaka has something that will make Tokyoites jealous. It might also serve as a symbol of the merchant city’s push for a comeback.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan head Kenta Izumi announces he will run for reelection as party leader in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 6, 2024

Views on interparty cooperation set CDP leader candidates apart

Kenta Izumi, Yukio Edano and Yoshihiko Noda have all outlined different ideas on working with the Japanese Communist Party and Nippon Ishin no Kai.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures as he addresses the Fraternal Order of Police at their meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 7, 2024

Trump hush money sentencing delayed until after election

Trump will be sentenced Nov. 26 instead of Sept. 18 as originally planned, with the judge conceding that going forward could have had an impact on the election.
Alimentation Couche-Tard said it is willing to engage in confidential discussions with 7-Eleven operator Seven & I Holdings and is keen on still pursuing an acquisition.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2024

Couche-Tard pushes for Seven & I deal talks after rejection

A potential deal would create a global convenience store behemoth with more than 100,000 stores.
Firefighters extinguish a car after recent shelling by Ukrainian forces in Belgorod, Russia. Although Russian President Vladimir Putin declared that talks are impossible, Ukraine’s ability to impose costs on Russia could eventually push him toward negotiations. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 9, 2024

How to make the most of the Kursk gambit

Both nations are unlikely to achieve total military victory, and the conflict will likely be resolved through negotiations.
A screen displays a message urging supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump to make a plan to vote early or in-person during a campaign rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 10, 2024

Trump hunts for elusive 2024 election prize — infrequent voters

Trump, more than in previous cycles, sees infrequent voters as critical.
Participants chat in front of an electronic image of a soldier before the closing session of the Responsible AI in the Military Domain summit in Seoul on Tuesday.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Sep 11, 2024

Global blueprint for regulating military AI proving elusive

The challenges of setting up guardrails against the misuse of the technology were highlighted during an AI summit in Seoul.
With the world's democracies and authoritarian regimes watching, the U.S. election on Nov. 5 will have global implications.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2024

The choice confronting American voters

Republicans and Democrats differ significantly on the role of government in society, a divide that the U.S. Supreme Court used to mediate.
Alimentation Couche-Tard is discussing raising its takeover bid for Seven & I Holdings, informed sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2024

Couche-Tard weighing higher price for 7-Eleven owner, sources say

Its bid would need to be significantly higher than the initial proposal of $14.86 per share in order to get Seven & I to enter negotiations, they said.
Israeli soldiers near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Wednesday. With about 170,000 active personnel, Israel’s army is large by global standards, relative to its population of 10 million. But it’s still too small to cope with today’s threats.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2024

Israel needs more soldiers as reservists tire of constant war

That Israel is fighting a protracted war on numerous fronts almost a year after Hamas' deadly rampage on Oct. 7 last year is exacerbating its troop shortage.
The U.S. presidential debate is unlikely to change the minds of voters significantly; instead, it may maintain the current momentum of the race, with Harris emerging as the apparent victor and Trump revealing his limitations.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

Trump may not have met his Waterloo, but he more than met his match

The race is too close to call, but Tuesday, Harris was the clear victor. Trump, on the other hand, left no doubt about his limitations.
Belmarsh prison in London. The financial, political and social stresses around prisons — and the potential danger they pose to the U.K.'s fledgling Labour government — were vividly exposed by widespread rioting within weeks of Labour taking power.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2024

Overcrowded prisons force U.K.’s Starmer to take first big gamble

Apart from Scotland, England and Wales lock up a bigger proportion of their combined population than anywhere else in Western Europe.
Since opening in 2022 in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo Comedy Bar has hosted comedy workshops, roast battles, open mics and international guests.
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 12, 2024

Tokyo Comedy Bar supersizes laughs with 11-night festival

Spanning 46 different shows, this month’s comedy festival spotlights rising local talent and international names in both English and Japanese.
President Xi Jinping last week appeared to signal tolerance for a rate slightly lower than 5%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 16, 2024

China’s deepening slowdown tests Xi’s tolerance for growth miss

The People’s Bank of China signaled in a rare statement alongside disappointing credit data that fighting deflation would become a higher priority.
The lapse of the historic U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement, coupled with escalating tariffs and trade restrictions, has exacerbated economic tensions between the two countries and impacted global stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 12, 2024

Resetting U.S.-China economic relations

To address global challenges, active cooperation between the two economic powers is indispensable.
A supporter of former U.S. President Donald Trump waves a flag reading “God, Guns and Trump” during a demonstration in support of the Republican presidential candidate in Huntington Beach, California, on July 14, a day after Trump was shot in an assassination attempt during a rally in Pennsylvania.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 17, 2024

'Bullets are flying': Divisive U.S. political rhetoric sees violence soar

In a neck-and-neck U.S. presidential election, tensions have soared along with the rhetoric.
Typhoon Yagi approaches Huizhou, China, on Sept. 5.
ENVIRONMENT
Sep 19, 2024

Historic rainfall inflicts chaotic floods across four continents

Though different meteorological phenomena are behind the series of storms, climate scientists agree an underlying factor is global warming writ large.
Chen Hualiang (right), his wife Mao Li (left), and children posing at their home in Shanghai. Chen takes on household tasks many Chinese fathers tend to leave to their wives, bucking a deep-rooted patriarchal tradition and even inspiring a hit TV show.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 19, 2024

China's 'full-time dads' challenge patriarchal norms

Social norms in China have for centuries dictated that men are the breadwinners, while women take care of the household and children.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji