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The United States has cautioned Pacific Islands nations against assistance from China after reports surfaced that Chinese police are working in Kiribati.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 28, 2024

U.S. cautions after Hawaii neighbor Kiribati gets Chinese police

The news comes as Beijing renews a push to expand security ties in the Pacific Islands in an intensifying rivalry with the United States.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to decide whether former U.S. President Donald Trump is immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 29, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court immunity case jeopardizes Trump trial pre-election

Polls indicate a conviction of Trump could undercut the Republican front-runner’s bid to reclaim the White House.
I was skeptical of Lillian Cumic's avocado tempura, but I wound up loving it.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 3, 2024

Vegan or no, ‘Hawaii Washoku’ is a cookbook for all eaters

Chef Lilian Cumic offers creative versions of many of Japan’s most iconic dishes crafted from scratch with pantry staples found in most kitchens.
A tank near the Israel-Gaza border on Saturday
WORLD
Mar 3, 2024

Gaza truce for Ramadan hangs in balance as Hamas seeks plan to end war

A source briefed on the talks said Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of hostages who are still alive.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2024

For Democrats pining for an alternative, Biden team has a message: Get over it.

While a new poll shows that 2 in 5 Democrats say the president shouldn't be the nominee, no one who matters to Biden is willing to suggest he step aside.
Sean Williams' sled dog team participates in the ceremonial start of the 52nd Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race in Anchorage, Alaska, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 3, 2024

Alaska's 52nd annual Iditarod sled dog race mushes to starting line

The number of competitors this year, 38, represents one of the smallest fields going back to the first year of the race in 1973.
John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate issues, gestures as he attends a news conference in Beijing in July 2023.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Mar 4, 2024

John Kerry bolstered U.S. climate reputation, but trust still elusive

Kerry is credited with restoring U.S. climate ties with China and courting private capital for climate action.
Under the watch of Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has expanded state control of strategically critical areas from semiconductor manufacturing to quantum computing.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 5, 2024

China vows to mobilize nation as it fights U.S. for tech supremacy

The central government will increase spending on scientific and technology research by 10% in 2024.
A chip taken from a smartphone. The U.S. is urging the Netherlands to stop ASML from servicing and repairing sensitive chipmaking equipment that Chinese clients purchased before limits on sales of those devices were put into place this year.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 7, 2024

U.S. urges allies to squeeze China further on chip technology

Washington's latest push is partly aimed at plugging holes in export controls it has levied over the past two years.
Palestinians carry bags of flour they grabbed from an aid truck in mid February near an Israeli checkpoint as Gaza residents face crisis levels of hunger amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 7, 2024

Getting more aid to Gaza shouldn’t be this difficult

Adding avoidable deaths through hunger and disease in Gaza to an already high fatality toll is good for no one but extremists.
Research from the International Monetary Fund suggests that gains from fully closing the gender gap in labor markets could increase gross domestic product in developing economies by 23% on average.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 8, 2024

The economic power of gender equality

There is ample empirical research demonstrating that gender equality delivers better results for people, for the planet and for profits.
A solar farm owned by the Huaneng Group in Shilin, China on March 2. Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels, as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 9, 2024

China racing ahead on plans to dominate solar energy industry

Beijing is set to further increase its manufacturing and installation of solar panels as it seeks to master global markets and wean itself from imports.
Americans, who by nearly every measure are hungering for a new direction, are confronted with the choice between a continuation with U.S. President Joe Biden or a restoration with former leader Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2024

The Biden-Trump rerun: A nation craving change gets more of the same

Americans love a candidate who promises something new. But when a sitting president runs against a former one, can either claim the mantle of change?
Many countries including the U.S. and China are prioritizing domestic production and shortening supply chains to enhance economic self-reliance — but they are doing so at the  risk of fueling systemic instability and intensifying great-power tensions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 10, 2024

Economic self-reliance is a dangerous delusion

Countries around the world have given high priority to shortening supply chains, rebuilding domestic production capacity and diversifying suppliers.
A Palestinian child stands in the remains of a building following an Israeli airstrike in a residential neighborhood of Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2024

Israel-Hamas cease-fire agreement elusive as Ramadan arrives

The U.S. had been hoping for a breakthrough in the negotiations before Islam’s holy month of Ramadan, which began after sundown Sunday.
Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk (right, center) speaks next to Poland's President Andrzej Duda (right, second from right) during a meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden (left, second from left), at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2024

Biden offers ‘ironclad’ commitment to allies, defying Russia

The U.S. president's meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tusk marked the 25th year since Poland's accession to NATO.
The Biden administration has regularly sent warnings about Nippon Steel's proposed purchase of U.S. Steel and has steadfastly sided with the United Steelworkers over the sale of a once-iconic firm based in Pennsylvania, a crucial swing state.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 14, 2024

Biden to express concern over Nippon Steel's deal for U.S. Steel, source says

U.S. officials and lawyers have drafted a statement of concern and the White House has privately informed Tokyo of Biden's move, according to reports.
During the last round of negotiations between Washington and Seoul, then-U.S. President Donald Trump requested steep increases in South Korea’s share of defense costs.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 14, 2024

South Korea, U.S. talk cost-sharing as Seoul girds for Trump 2.0

The agreement on an unusually early start of the defense cost-sharing deals reflects unease over a possible return of Donald Trump to the White House.
TikTok creators gather before a news conference to voice their opposition to a pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Mar 15, 2024

TikTok bill sets up fight over free speech protections of U.S. Constitution

Opponents could argue it infringes free speech by preventing users from expressing themselves and businesses from using the app to promote their products.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday that he had OK'd a plan to attack the Gaza city of Rafah on the southern edge of the shattered Palestinian enclave.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2024

Israel approves plan to attack Rafah but keeps truce hopes alive

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said he had OK'd a plan to attack the city on the southern edge of the shattered Palestinian enclave.
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.
People walk past a television showing a news broadcast of a past North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2024

North Korea launches three ballistic missiles as top U.S. diplomat visits Seoul

The latest launches came as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for a multinational democracy summit.
Mamiko Tanaka (right), wife of Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani, arrives at Incheon International Airport on Friday ahead of the 2024 MLB Seoul Series baseball games.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 18, 2024

A mystery no more: What we know about Ohtani’s wife

No one in the sports world is receiving as much attention right now as baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani — that is, besides his wife, Mamiko Tanaka.
Giovanna Gonzalez of Chicago demonstrates outside the U.S. Capitol following a press conference by TikTok creators to voice their opposition to the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act," pending crackdown legislation on TikTok in the House of Representatives, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 12.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 19, 2024

TikTok and its 'secret sauce' caught in U.S.-China tussle

China's ByteDance's algorithm has helped drive TikTok's stratospheric success since the app was launched for the international market in 2017.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches a rocket salvo firing drill at an unconfirmed location in the country in this image released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024

North Korea's Kim oversees 'super-large' rocket launcher drills

The North has claimed the weapon has the capability to be equipped with a tactical nuclear warhead.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Enrique Manalo attend a working luncheon at the Sofitel Hotel in Manila on Tuesday. Blinken’s trip, which also touched upon economic cooperation, followed a trade mission visit by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo a week earlier.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2024

Blinken pledges closer U.S.-Philippine security ties ahead of trilateral summit with Japan

The top U.S. diplomat and his Philippine counterpart also signaled the allies were eyeing ways to "operationalize" security cooperation with Tokyo.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives to vote in Florida's primary election at a polling station at the Morton and Barbara Mandel Recreation Center in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

Trump again conditions U.S. help to NATO allies on paying their 'fair share'

The Republican presidential candidate reiterated his stance, saying that his harsh words are "a form of negotiation."
A recent $1 billion donation to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine will make the school tuition-free indefinitely, but greater systemic changes would better serve students and society.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 20, 2024

Free tuition is no panacea for medical schools

An historic $1 billion donation paves the way for debt-free medical education.
Then-U.S. President Bill Clinton and first lady Hillary Clinton tour the American Cemetery in Manila in November 1994, two years before the alleged assassination attempt.
WORLD
Mar 24, 2024

The al-Qaida plot to kill Bill Clinton that history nearly forgot

Four former U.S. officials, including the ambassador in Manila at the time, Thomas Hubbard, confirmed the foiled attack against Bill Clinton.
Both the U.S. and U.K. have announced sanctions against Chinese nationals for cybercrimes.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2024

U.S. and U.K. accuse China of broad cyberattacks and voter data theft

The revelations add to a growing list of cybersecurity breaches that the U.S. and its allies say are backed by the Chinese government.

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