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Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Sep 2, 2022

As Pakistan drowns, better climate planning urged to cut risks

Problems from a lack of investment in warning systems to the building of homes in danger zones and a failure of political will to cut fossil fuel use are key drivers, analysts said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 26, 2022

South Korea doubles down on risky ‘Kill Chain’ plans to counter North's nuclear threat

Seoul is pouring resources into preparing for preemptive strikes if necessary, a strategy some experts say may exacerbate their arms race and risks miscalculation during a conflict.
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.
Workers walk past an underconstruction area with completed office towers in the background in Shenzhen's Qianhai new district on Aug. 25, 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 1, 2024

China's strained economy casts shadow over 2024

Last year, the economy was roiled by a real estate crisis, falling consumer confidence, deflation and the disappearance of foreign investment.
Supporters of India's regional Samajwadi Party take part in a campaign rally in Varanasi, India, in March 2022.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2024

Democracy in Asia will get a reckoning this year

Asia’s liberal credentials are under significant pressure, with only a tiny minority of people living in high-performing democracies.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a presidential permit for energy development that he signed during a tour of an oil rig in Midland, Texas, in July 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2024

How the planet could survive another Trump term

In his first term, Trump pulled the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, rolled back environmental regulations, unleashed gas drilling and more.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang chat at the end of the opening session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 5, 2024

China sets robust economic growth goal but no big bang stimulus

Premier Li Qiang targets growth of about 5% this year but signals continued reluctance to use deficit spending for economic stimulus.
A sign warns of underground natural gas pipelines outside Rifle, Colorado, in June 2012.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 11, 2024

U.S. gas pipeline accidents pose big, unreported climate threat

Accidental pipeline leaks — caused by incidents like punctures, corrosion, severe weather and faulty equipment — happen routinely.
A flare burns at a gas plant near Orla, Texas. Production and use of fossil fuels put more than 120 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere last year, a slight rise from 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Mar 14, 2024

Methane emissions from energy sector rose in 2023 despite pledges

Production and use of fossil fuels put more than 120 million metric tons of methane into the atmosphere last year.
Gold beans for sale inside a Luk Fook Holdings International jewelry store in Shanghai on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2024

Gold beans all the rage with China’s Gen Z as deflation bites

Weighing as little as 1 gram, the beans — and other forms of gold jewelry — are increasingly viewed as the safest investment bet for young Chinese.
Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, as the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on March 5.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2024

In Gaza, starving children fill hospital wards as famine looms

Hundreds if not thousands more children could die of hunger unless fighting stops and aid agencies have full access throughout Gaza, UNICEF says.
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.

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