Search - about-us

 
 
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years

She said on Friday that she regretted the 2018 email and had apologized to him.
If Russia insists on its nuclear doctrine, allies must adopt their own and assert that a nonnuclear country attacked by a nuclear power has the right — and duty — to receive nuclear weapons for deterrence.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2024

Should nuclear weapons for Ukraine be on the table?

The situation in Ukraine is absurd: While Ukraine's missile use is called an escalation, Russia's attacks on civilians are seen as routine.
The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the Five Eyes alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make concerning China, North Korea, Eastern Russia and East and Southeast Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2024

If ever invited, should Japan make it 'Six Eyes'?

The primary motivation for potentially adding Japan to the alliance is the considerable intelligence contributions the country could make.
U.S. think tanks from across the political spectrum have compiled a report to address the nation's social and fiscal issues in an effort to show that compromise is still possible.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

U.S. think tanks' policy 'grand bargain' comes amid deep partisanship

The authors of the outline have no illusions about how their plan will be greeted by the incoming administration of Donald Trump, though.
Masato Kanda, former vice finance minister for international affairs, will start his role as Asian Development Bank's president in February.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024

Incoming ADB chief Kanda keeping eye on U.S. policy as Trump return looms

Any changes in tariffs, taxes and immigration restrictions in the U.S. could have a major impact on Japan and other Asian economies, he notes.
Elon Musk, a co-leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son X Æ A-Xii Musk following a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024

DOGE's best idea yet is permanent daylight saving time

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s support for adopting a year-round clock would give the U.S. more sunshine and less confusion.
A TikTok creator and advocate wears a button showing support outside of the U.S. Court of Appeals on Sept. 16 in Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

‘It’s for real this time’: TikTok creators react to potential ban

Many of TikTok’s users seemed to have only just begun to grasp that the app could be on its last legs in this country.
A poster advertising a reward for information is posted near the site where Brian Thompson, chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally gunned down in New York on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024

CEO killing and rage over insurance plunges UnitedHealth into crisis

Instead of eliciting sympathy from the public, the death of UnitedHealth’s CEO has spawned a hate machine against the insurance industry.
The vast amount of money poured into the 2024 U.S. presidential election did not have a decisive effect on the outcome: Donald Trump won, despite being significantly outspent by Kamala Harris.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 12, 2024

Big money beat bigger money in the U.S. election

The vast amount of money that poured into the 2024 race did not have a decisive effect on the outcome.
A broken statue of late Syrian president Hafez Assad lies outside the Baath party offices in Damascus, on Thursday. Islamist-led rebels took Damascus in a lightning offensive on Dec. 8, ousting Syrian President Bashar Assad and ending five decades of Baath rule in Syria.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

G7 to meet on Syria as new government pledges 'rule of law'

Leaders of the Group of Seven said they were ready to support the transition to an "inclusive and nonsectarian" government in Syria.
Numbered evidence markers indicate where bullet casings were located at the crime scene outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Dec. 4.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 13, 2024

Suspect in UnitedHealthcare shooting visited Japan, then vanished

New details are emerging about Luigi Mangione’s growing impatience with "a capitalist society” and his search for refuge in the mountains of Japan.
New North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick holds up the sweatshirt his father wore as an assistant coach at the school.
SPORTS / Football
Dec 13, 2024

Why Is Bill Belichick heading to North Carolina? It's all about control.

NFL teams seemed hesitant to give Belichick the omnipotent football power that he sought.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (right) shakes hands with Laotian Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone during an ASEAN summit closing ceremony to hand over the grouping's chairmanship to Kuala Lumpur at the National Convention Center in Vientiane, Laos, in October.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 16, 2024

Lowering tensions key priority for incoming ASEAN chair Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur will reach out to key players including Japan to try and jointly tackle the critical security issues affecting Southeast Asia, Malaysian envoy says.
Jay Rubin’s new translation of Haruki Murakami’s “End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland,” in part set in a walled city where inhabitants’ shadows are forcibly removed, speaks to the author’s quirky, exhaustive attention to detail when rendering his imaginative world on the page.
CULTURE / Books
Dec 16, 2024

Jay Rubin takes us back to Haruki Murakami's world

A new translation of “End of the World and Hard-Boiled Wonderland” brings the fan favorite closer to the original Japanese text.
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani attends the 51st Gems and Jewellery Awards in Jaipur, India, on Nov. 30.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 16, 2024

Extradition of India's Gautam Adani seems unlikely, experts say

Adani Group has called the allegations against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani "baseless" and vowed to seek "all possible legal recourse."
Protesters hold placards reading "Arrest Insurrectionist Yoon Suk Yeol!" during a demonstration near the presidential residence in Seoul on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2024

Yoon’s martial law order divides South Korea and may alter foreign policy direction

South Korea’s vibrant civil society also fuels a divided citizenry, evident in protests for and against Yoon’s declaration.
A Ukrainian tank is stationed near a sign that reads, "Pokrovsk," in the country's Donetsk region, on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024

Europe needs to swiftly fulfill its aid pledges to Ukraine

Europe has committed significant aid to Ukraine, but delays in delivery, especially in military support, are hindering Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the National Caucus holiday party in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Trudeau’s political crisis rips up playbook for trade fight with Trump

Canada's prime minister is now on the back foot after his finance minister resigned, a move that cast doubt on his preparation for a clash with the U.S.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to members of the news media along with U.S. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Trump-backed spending deal fails in U.S. House as shutdown approaches

Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives at the federal Liberal caucus holiday party, the day after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland unexpectedly resigned, in Ottawa on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

From liberal icon to MAGA joke: The waning fortunes of Justin Trudeau

Canada’s prime minister gained global renown 10 years ago for his unabashedly progressive politics. But at home, voters turned sour on him long ago.
Protesters behead a statue of Saddam Hussein's predecessor, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979, in Baghdad's al-Mansur district in May 2003, erasing one of the last symbols of the Baath Party's 35-year regime.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2024

Can lessons from Iraq's regime change be applied in Syria?

If regional tensions escalate, disruptions to energy supplies could impact global markets, including Japan, which remains disengaged despite the mounting crisis.
Some of the same mistakes made during COVID-19 can be seen in the U.S. government's response to H5N1, which started in poultry before a new variant began infecting the nation’s dairy cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

Another pandemic is inevitable, and the U.S. isn't ready

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s top public health agencies also don’t inspire confidence.
Singapore's Maersk Taurus container ship transits the expanded canal through Cocoli Locks at the Panama Canal, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama on Aug. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Trump previews combative foreign policy with threats to Panama and Greenland

Defenders of Donald Trump's approach say he is merely a forceful advocate of "America First" policies.
The danger of overreaction and misinformation in the digital age is real, and authorities must provide clear explanations to prevent tragedies while also addressing legitimate concerns about drones.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

How to make America's drone panic so very much worse

The weak and ineffective response of government authorities should serve as a lesson in exactly how not to handle such incidents in the digital age.
Syria symbolized Russia's "great power" status, but Vladimir Putin's failure to stop Bashar Assad's ouster exposed Russia as merely a regional power.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

Russia just lost its 'great power' status

If Russia’s war in Ukraine is about identity and empire, its presence in Syria was about prestige and status.
Former U.S. President Jimmy in 1996. Carter, who rose from Georgia farmland to become the 39th president of the United States on a promise of national healing after the wounds of Watergate and Vietnam, then lost the White House in a cauldron of economic turmoil at home and crisis in Iran, died on Sunday at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was 100.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter, president known as a peacemaker, is dead at 100

While Carter's presidency was remembered more for its failures than for its successes, his post-presidency was seen by many as a model for future chief executives.
Thaleon Tremain, chief executive of Pachamama Coffee, holds a cup of coffee beans in Sacramento, California, on Feb. 27. Wholesale coffee prices are trading near a 50-year high because of shortages related to extreme weather and increased global demand.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 30, 2024

Why coffee prices are soaring (again)

The wholesale price of beans has jumped more than 30% just since the start of November.
U.S. President Joe Biden (right) meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in Washington on Sept. 26.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

Biden announces $5.9 billion for Ukraine amid final aid push

The military aid includes $1.25 billion in so-called Presidential Drawdown Authority, which pulls weapons and ammunition from U.S. stockpiles.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda speaks at a news conference after a policy meeting in Tokyo on Dec. 19.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 1, 2025

After historic year, the Bank of Japan ambles into 2025

Two or three rate hikes expected this year could take the central bank's benchmark to 1% for the first time in three decades.
Populist and far-right parties globally are gaining working-class support as center-left parties fail to address their economic concerns and cultural disconnects.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 10, 2024

The working class and the rise of populism

Talking about creating good jobs in the industries of the future is not the same as doing it. Workers want bold, effective leaders who will take concrete action.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami