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U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the White House in October 2017. Canada, like other nations in the president-elect's crosshairs, is scrambling to blunt the impact of his threat to implement steep tariffs once he re-takes office.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024

The creep of national security threatens the WTO

In Trump's mind, tariffs are the cure-all for virtually everything that ails the United States.
Africa’s growing resource nationalism is prompting governments to renegotiate mining deals, aiming for a larger share of profits from mineral resources and reducing the revenues for multinational companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

Africans demand a bigger share of their natural resources wealth

Multinational companies should hurry to find sustainable ways in which they can share risk and revenue with governments, as they do elsewhere.
Google new quantum computing chip Willow. Though the technology isn’t yet ready for widespread use, the competition to build error-free quantum computers is heating up, promising significant breakthroughs in the near future.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Google is pushing quantum computing closer to reality

The Willow chip should focus investor attention on an industry that has been quietly making great strides toward developing quantum machines with practical uses.
A disinformation graphic spread via Telegram before a Russian offensive in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. The Kremlin has deployed its sophisticated propaganda machinery to justify its offensive in Ukraine, and China is learning from Russian influence tactics.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

China is taking a page from Russia’s disinformation playbook

Russian and Chinese influence operations are increasingly similar and complementary, showing how the two regimes are collaborating to dominate the information space.
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.
Hip-hop duo Creepy Nuts' uptempo “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born” quickly became a TikTok favorite after its release days into 2024, which helped turn the song into a Billboard Japan Hot 100 topper for 19 weeks before rising up viral streaming charts around the world.
CULTURE / Music / 2024 in Review
Dec 27, 2024

Bling-Bang, baby: The J-pop soundtrack of 2024

Japanese music made waves globally, fueled by Coachella debuts, TikTok virality and unexpected hits like Creepy Nuts' "Bling-Bang-Bang-Born."
Greenpeace activists protest nuclear power in Berlin in April 2023, just as Germany was shutting down its three remaining nuclear power plants. 
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

It's time for Germany to admit its mistake on nuclear energy

The main thing standing in the way of Germany rebuilding its nuclear sector is a stubborn insistence that it can’t be done.
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.
World leaders meet at the United Nations in New York in September to adopt the Pact for the Future. One of its key annexes is the Global Digital Compact, a framework to secure an open and human-centered digital future for all.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

To serve humankind, AI must be shaped by U.N. values

The U.N.'s Global Digital Compact is the first universal agreement on the international governance of AI. It seeks to ensure an open and equitable digital future for all.
Black American women, who still heavily vote for the Democratic Party, are taking a much-needed break from political engagement after the last election, with the idea that rest and renewal will prepare them for future activism.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

Temporarily disconnected from politics? Feel no guilt about it.

Opposition movements are a recurring feature of American politics and predicts a robust, reenergized response when the time comes.
The next 12 months will be more challenging, with some countries pursuing quick interest-rate cuts while others will proceed cautiously.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 27, 2024

A view to 2025: Enough with the central bank hawks and doves

Interest-rate cuts will be a feature, including at institutions that resisted easing in 2024. But mind the nuances.
China's solar industry, hit hard in 2024 by overcapacity and financial losses, is expected to recover in 2025 with tighter market conditions and a 25% revenue growth forecast.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 24, 2024

Here’s the best climate news you missed this year

There are plenty of positive trends out there once you peer past the alarmist headlines.
Bashar Assad's fall offers a chance to rebuild Syria, but the history of Middle East stabilization is littered with failure, making the coming months crucial.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2024

Rebuilding Syria after the ouster of the dictator Assad

Hope must be tempered by caution. Across the Middle East, the removal of strongmen has generally produced violent chaos.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter's surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith

The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?

Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
Indonesia's plan to increase biodiesel mandates to 50% by 2028 could require clearing 5.3 million hectares of forest for palm oil plantations by 2042, an area larger than Denmark.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

The year’s worst climate news you haven’t heard about

Not enough floodwaters for dams, more coal burning and demand for Indonesian palm oil show efforts to slow global warming are flagging.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry

It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27. Last year, incumbents in every major country that held a national election lost that vote, the first time that has happened in almost 120 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2024

The world is ever more angry. That is not good.

Hostility toward existing leadership stems from the belief that lives aren't improving and future generations will have fewer opportunities than previous ones.
Japan's 2024 Word of the Year, "futehodo," is a phrase tied to a Netflix show and highlights the broader decline in the cultural significance of such awards, with recent selections often seen as superficial or promotional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 31, 2024

Japan’s 2024 word of the year has no rizz

Some critics wondered why the word of the year award was, essentially, functioning as advertising for a TV show that is still available on streaming.
After a dramatic 2024, where Japan saw political upheaval, a record stock market, a major quake and a plane crash and dramatic escape, 2025, with events like major anime sequels, the Osaka World Expo, rising foreign acquisitions, we should expect a transformative year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2025

Anime, M&A and the expo: What to watch for in Japan’s 2025

No doubt 2025 has more surprises in store for Japan after an unusually intense 12 months.
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.
Fast Retailing’s November-ending quarter may have seen operating profit growth soften as warmer autumn-winter temperatures dented sales, even with the backdrop for consumer spending in Japan looking promising.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Uniqlo and 7-Eleven face sales headwinds despite brighter consumer spending

Uniqlo parent Fast Retailing and Seven & i Holdings are among the first to kick off this earnings season in Asia.
Then-economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura marks the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2023. The GX League, which includes the emissions trading system, already covers over half of Japan’s emissions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2025

Japan poised to lead in a brighter carbon market era

The patchy, voluntary nature of carbon markets around the world is finally changing after world leaders agreed to a new system for trading emissions reductions across borders.
A recovery in the olive harvest in Spain and elsewhere is easing the olive oil crisis, but depleted stocks and rising global demand mean prices will likely stay higher than pre-crisis levels.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2025

The olive oil crisis is over — but fears continue to linger

Prices for the golden commodity are set to drop thanks to a bountiful harvest this season. That doesn’t solve all its problems.
People demonstrate against U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in Panama City on Tuesday as the country marks the 25th anniversary of the United States' handover of the interoceanic Panama Canal.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2025

MAGA goes to Panama

The Panama Canal was an American idea and the U.S. has had difficulty letting go of it ever since.
Asian tech leaders are spearheading AI's shift to robotics, with China, Japan and South Korea leading global innovation in hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

AI robots are coming, and they’ll be made in Asia

Citigroup projects that there would be 1.3 billion AI robots globally by 2035 and 4 billion by 2050, doing everything from household chores to delivering parcels.
Tech in 2025 will face growing resistance to AI, social media and streaming saturation alongside political and cultural shifts driven by Elon Musk, Trump and controversies like a potential U.S. TikTok ban.
COMMENTARY
Jan 5, 2025

AI, Musk and Trump add up to a turbulent 2025 for tech

If the steady stream of tech CEOs visiting Mar-a-Lago is any indication, we can expect Silicon Valley to be more willing to do Trump’s bidding in 2025.
The Bank of Korea complex in Seoul. South Korea's economic growth is hindered by structural challenges like high living costs, a tough job market and an aging population.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

The Bank of Korea moves beyond monetary policy

Many Koreans are pessimistic about the future, which reflects the intense competition that defines their lives, from education to employment.
Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. There are influential American works of fantasy like “The Wizard of Oz” and “American Gods,” but they lack the cohesive, enduring impact of European counterparts such as the “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” series.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025

America needs a 'Great American Fantasy'

There is a lack of a distinctly "Great American Fantasy" in literature and popular culture.
Alice Guo, a fugitive former mayor of Bamban, Philippines, arrives at a regional trial court in Valenzuela City, Metro Manila, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 7, 2025

China takes aim at Philippine democracy

China has been stepping up its information operations globally, using the Philippines as a testing ground for tactics designed to propagate anti-American narratives.

Longform

Eme-Ima Kitchen is one of over 10,000 kodomo shokudō in Japan. A term first used in 2012 to describe makeshift eateries offering free or cheap meals to disadvantaged kids, it now refers to a diverse range of individuals, groups and organizations working to provide not only food but a sense of belonging to both children and adults.
Japan’s ‘children’s cafeterias’ are booming — but is that a good thing?