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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 16, 2022

U.S. Navy sends warship near disputed South China Sea islands for second time in a week

The U.S. destroyer sailed near the contested Spratly Islands, days after China claimed to have expelled the same vessel from waters near the disputed Paracel islets.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 7, 2022

North Korea's Kim convenes conference for strengthening party rule

The event was the first of its kind and involved 'realizing the organizational and ideological consolidation of the Party ranks in every way,' state-run media said.
Japan Times
EDITORIALS
Jun 17, 2022

Nuclear risks mount as tensions rise and arsenals grow

According to SIPRI, after a marginal decrease in the number of warheads in 2021, nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 13, 2022

Japan has opened the door to Ukrainians. Its tech sector may get a boost in return.

Businesses are taking note of prewar efforts in Ukraine to improve its tech capabilities, and some see lessons for Japan as it attempts to level up its own digital economy.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2022

Evicted villagers pay a high price for India's hydropower push

The government has said hydropower, along with solar and wind, is vital to meeting India's pledge to get half of its energy from nonfossil fuel sources by 2030.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 21, 2022

China quietly increases purchases of low-priced Russian oil

The move comes a month after Beijing initially cut back on Russian supplies, for fear of appearing to openly support Moscow and potentially exposing its state oil giants to sanctions.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 4, 2022

Growing ties between Pakistan and China raise concern in Washington and New Delhi

China's supply of advanced military equipment to Pakistan is part of an intensifying military and intelligence cooperation that reflects the growing level of trust between the two sides.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 23, 2022

U.S. threat to sanction China is spooking other nations in Asia

While Russia made up less than 1% of global trade with Southeast Asia in 2020, nations may be reluctant to cuts ties with its largest source of arms.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2022

Beijing and the inconvenient truth about the Russian business pull-out

The Achilles heel of economic statecraft directed toward China in a potential conflict will be whether businesses would prioritize politics and security over profits.
Containers transporting coal at a dock in Cam Pha, Vietnam. Enthusiasm for Vietnam’s renewables boom is dampened by factors such as its underdeveloped electricity grid and patchy regulatory framework, while the country’s major source of electricity remains coal.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Mar 25, 2024

With Japan’s help, is Vietnam headed for a flawed energy transition?

The climate-vulnerable nation is looking to renewables, but also questionable solutions promoted by Tokyo, for its energy needs.
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.
An Israeli military helicopter flying away from the helipad of a hospitalin Tel Aviv, Israel, after transporting a patient on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 28, 2024

Israel deploys expansive facial recognition program in Gaza

Members of Israeli intelligence and its military are concerned about the experimental surveillance effort's false positives and cases of mistaken identity.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un looks on as he guides a training of the fire division in this picture released on March 19. Pyongyang has spent decades stockpiling millions of rounds of artillery and thousands of rockets in the terrain north of the demilitarized zone, which sits some 40 kilometers away from Seoul.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2024

Kim Jong Un faces annihilation in nearly all Korea war scenarios

Although North Korea has a manpower advantage, the bulk of its forces rely on "increasingly obsolete equipment” dating back to Soviet era.
A voter arrives at a polling station in San Diego, California. According to a recent survey, young U.S. men were the only population group in the United States or seven EU member states actually to have become more conservative since 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2024

Despair makes young U.S. men more conservative ahead of U.S. election, poll shows

The study offered context for November's U.S. presidential poll and a plethora of votes worldwide, including an EU parliamentary election in June.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday evening.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2024

Kishida agrees to further deepen ties with South Korea's Yoon

The prime minister informed the South Korean leader about his summit earlier this month with U.S. President Joe Biden.
More than half of respondents in a recent survey say they would continue to buy a product at the same supermarket even if prices rose by 10%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 22, 2024

Higher price tolerance among Japan's shoppers supports further BOJ rate hikes

A recent survey by an inflation expert showed that more than half of respondents would keep buying a supermarket product even if prices rose by 10%.
Matthew Trickett leaves Westminster Magistrates' Court in London on May 13.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2024

Former U.K. marine in Hong Kong spy case found dead: police

Matthew Trickett was one of three men accused in the recent Hong Kong spy case.
In September 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden signed an executive order outlining what technology areas would be considered critical in the government's process for reviewing inbound investments that could pose a threat to national security.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 27, 2024

How will Japan respond to new U.S. investment rules?

Washington is reforming inbound and outbound investment rules in the context of economic security concerns. Japan needs to prepare for these changes.
Pine trees in a coniferous forest Canterbury, New Zealand
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 28, 2024

Millions more trees isn’t the climate fix New Zealand envisaged

The result of a project linking incentives for forestry development and emissions trading turned out to be less effective than hoped.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Academy of Defense Sciences in Pyongyang in this image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

North Korea's Kim admits failure, but vows to continue building spy satellites

The satellite-carrying rocket had self-destructed Tuesday "due to an abnormality in the first-stage engine," the North Korean leader said.
Tourists on a beach in China’s Fujian province in May
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2024

China’s tourists to spend nearly $1 trillion on holidays at home

Spending by domestic holidaymakers is expected to be 11% higher than 2019.
China Coast Guard vessels fire water cannons toward a Philippine resupply vessel as it made its way to the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 15, 2024

China Coast Guard's new 60-day detention rules take effect

The regulations allowing the arrest of foreign nationals suspected of trespassing in waters "under China's jurisdiction" have stoked fears of escalation.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, in November 2022. The plant was shuttered in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, and has sat idle since.
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2024

World’s largest nuclear plant sits idle while energy needs soar

The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has the potential capacity to power more than 13 million households.
Elliott Investment Management's sizable stake in Sumitomo reflects a growing shareholder activism in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024

Activist investor campaigns hit record high, driven by Japan

The number of new activists campaigns totaled 147, up 7% from 138 in the same period in 2023 and 29% above the five-year average.
One analyst argues that the billions of dollars flowing from Japan to the likes of Apple, Amazon and Microsoft might be more a positive than a negative in that more companies and individuals are using digital services.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2024

Japan’s digital deficit might be a good thing

The digital deficit indicates that digitalization has accelerated in the country, says Mitsubishi Research Institute researcher Kengo Wataya.
The Veolia Southwark Integrated Waste Management Facility in London.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 11, 2024

Nestle quietly shifted recycling goals as plastics problem grows

Nestle changing its plastics goal means 280,000 metric tons of additional nonrecyclable plastic waste a year, according to the latest available data for 2022.
The Kadena Air Base in Okinawa Prefecture. Brennon Washington, a 25-year-old U.S. Air Force serviceman based at Kadena, on Friday pleaded not guilty to kidnapping and sexually assaulting a minor.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 12, 2024

U.S. serviceman in Okinawa pleads not guilty to sexual assault

Brennon Washington, who is stationed at the Kadena Air Base, said he did not kidnap or assault an underage girl in December.
Myanmar's military marks the 72nd Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar on March 27, 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 18, 2024

Thai government to meet banks over alleged transactions for Myanmar arms

Thailand's central bank may collaborate with international and local agencies to create a database on companies linked to Myanmar's junta.
The U.S. and its allies have accused China of supporting Russia's war in Ukraine, in part by exporting parts and equipment needed by Moscow's weapons makers, including semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024

Illicit chip flows to Russia seen slowing in China

Both mainland China and Hong Kong are seen by the U.S. government as key global nodes for Russia to source materials for its military.
Scientists drive their snowmobiles cross the arctic during dawn near Ny-Alesund, Svalbard, Norway, on April 10, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2024

Pentagon to bolster response to China and Russia in Arctic

Measures are needed "to ensure the Arctic does not become a strategic blind spot,” the Defense Department said in its 2024 Arctic Strategy released Monday.

Longform

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