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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2022

How the Russia-Ukraine war can and cannot end

Brewing talk of a diplomatic solution to the conflict in Ukraine demands an honest look at the possible end games.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2022

Looking for the Qatar World Cup winner? Don’t follow the money

Even in today's winner-takes-all economy, superstars won't always come out ahead.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 22, 2022

Surprising lessons from the war in Ukraine

Russia's invasion of Ukraine underscores challenges not just in Europe but as far away as the Indo-Pacific
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2022

Pfizer’s RSV vaccine succeeds where others failed

Early data bodes well for Pfizer's RSV shot, which would be given during pregnancy to protect infants in the early months of life.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 21, 2022

After disappointing midterms, U.S. Republicans look to fresh faces for 2024

At the first major gathering of possible Republican 2024 presidential candidates this weekend, party members voiced a desire to move on from former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 20, 2022

Even a small nuclear war would mean mass famine

Some bombs are so powerful that they could change the Earth's climate and cause the food supply to collapse.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 20, 2022

Kishida plans to sack third Cabinet minister in under a month, report says

The move to fire internal affairs minister Minoru Terada over funding scandals would deal a yet another blow to the prime minister's already low support ratings.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2022

AI can make crypto safer for everyone

Artificial intelligence can make cryptocurrencies easier to use without the need for intermediaries that people may not trust.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 18, 2022

Trump is on the defensive for the first time in years

Former U.S. President Donald Trump still hasn't come up with a plausible way to explain why he isn't responsible for last week's Republican midterm defeats.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2022

Kishida Cabinet approval nearly flat at 27.7% in Jiji poll

The proportion of respondents who support the Kishida government's new economic package featuring measures to fight surging electricity and gas bills came to 33.5%.
Supporters of Niger's National Council of Safeguard of the Homeland wave a flag of the private Wagner military company during a protest near the capital Niamey on Sept. 16.
COMMENTARY
Sep 30, 2023

If the U.S. exits Niger, the terrorists and Russians win

What transpired in Niamey was obviously a coup. Nonetheless, the U.S. has global responsibilities that require it to stay in Niger.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 1, 2023

Yukio Edano moves to return as CDP leader

Yukio Edano, former leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, is believed to have begun his bid to return as party leader.
Striking writers and actors stage a solidarity march through Hollywood on Sept. 13.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 1, 2023

The Writers Guild had a PR strategy like no other

So how did the Writers Guild union do it? First and foremost, it’s impossible to overstate the importance of social media in the equation.
Smer-SSD party leader Robert Fico (center) celebrates his victory in general elections alongside party members, in Bratislava on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2023

Slovak populists opposed to Ukraine aid win election

Analysts predict a Robert Fico government could radically change Slovakia's foreign policy to resemble that of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
Polish opposition leader, former premier and head of the centrist Civic Coalition bloc, Donald Tusk addresses participants of a rally in Warsaw on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2023

Polish opposition takes to the streets to energize campaign

Protesters supporting Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition swelled into Warsaw in last-ditch attempt to boost momentum and narrow the gap.
Gamers play during the first day of Europe's leading digital games fair, Gamescom, in Cologne, Germany, in August 2019
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2023

Video game competitions should be in the Olympics

Esports is already among the world’s most popular competitive activities. Last year, the global audience totaled more than 500 million people.
Mori Building's Azabudai Hills complex in Tokyo's Minato Ward, which will house offices, shops, apartments, hotels and a school, is set to open in November
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 2, 2023

While Manhattan’s offices stay empty, Tokyo keeps building

Remote working has decimated offices in cities like New York and London. But Tokyo's workspaces have bounced back, also thanks to new builds.
A TotalEnergies tanker truck with sustainable aviation fuel at the 54th International Paris Airshow near Paris on June 19
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Oct 3, 2023

Too expensive, too scarce: Doubts grow over green aviation fuel

Generating the required quantities of alternative fuel would require huge areas of land and natural resources.
Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou speaks to members of the media at Taoyuan International Airport on April 7 after a 12-day trip to China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

Taiwan's national day becomes polarizing celebration

Taiwan's identity, including how it relates to China, is a major issue for Taiwanese voters.
Katalin Kariko (right) and Drew Weissman, the winners of the 2023 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for their discoveries enabling the development of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023

Nobel for mRNA vaccines shows the power of perseverance

Decades of work by Nobel Prize winners Kariko and Weissman made the rapid development of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines possible.
A prescription injector for Ozempic, a weight loss drug
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2023

Ozempic cuts alcohol cravings. Liquor companies aren’t ready.

A survey conducted by Morgan Stanley’s AlphaWise research unit found that people consumed 62% less alcohol while taking weight loss drugs.
A new study defines some critical differences in certain biomarkers of people with long COVID.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2023

Long COVID is real. Now the evidence is piling up.

In what the researchers believe is a first, they did a detailed study of the differences between people with long COVID and those who are healthy.
Robert Fico, whose Smer-Social Democracy Party won Slovakia’s early parliamentary elections, exits a meeting with the country’s president on Monday. 
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 3, 2023

Can national reconciliation defeat European populism?

For the U.S., Slovakia's general election may produce another unreliable allied government.
Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters after he was ousted as speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 4, 2023

McCarthy’s ouster highlights the depths of GOP dysfunction

The recent removal of Kevin McCarthy as U.S. House speaker is symptom of the wider malaise in a fractious Republican Party.
Volunteers work at a Salvation Army mobile health clinic in Montreal on Sept. 22. Canada, despite being a wealthy nation, is gripped by a surge in homelessness that has seen thousands of people living in the streets after being priced out of real estate and rental markets.
WORLD / Society
Oct 5, 2023

Homelessness explodes in Canada as rents and housing prices soar

Researchers warn government data is vastly underestimating the number of homeless across the country.
Generative AI will change work for young professionals, but their reasoning skills will still be needed.
COMMENTARY
Oct 5, 2023

Is ChatGPT coming for entry-level jobs?

If entry-level workers get that much faster and better, won’t companies be able to get by with fewer of them? Maybe.
Max Verstappen (right) celebrates with Red Bull's team principal, Christian Horner, after the Dutch star won the Japanese Grand Prix on Sept. 24 to clinch the constructors' title for the team.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Oct 6, 2023

Lewis Hamilton says 'phenomenal' Max Verstappen raised bar in F1

Verstappen needs just three points to secure another F1 title.
From happōshu to real beer, Japan’s tax changes aim to improve brewing quality and prices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 6, 2023

Amid rising costs, why is Japan making beer cheaper?

A 350-milliliter can of brew costs drinkers about ¥7 (5 cents) less from October, thanks to changes in the country’s tax system.
A lithium mine near Itinga, Minas Gerais state, Brazil
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2023

We’re not even close to running out of green minerals

Rising reserves challenge fears of mineral shortages in green transition.
Israeli soldiers examine the remains of a police station where a battle took place following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2023

Hamas torches Biden’s deal to remake the Middle East

In a surprise attack, Hamas fired thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israel, killing dozens and and leaving some areas looking like war-torn Ukraine.

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