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September 18, 2025
 

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DEMOCRACY

A woman passes a graffitied wall outside Nepal's torched Parliament in Kathmandu on Sunday. The country's new leader, Sushila Karki, vowed the same day to follow protesters' demands to "end corruption" as she began work as interim prime minister.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2025
Why Nepal’s new power brokers should worry India and China
If India and China continue treating Nepal primarily as a geopolitical pawn, they risk alienating future leaders.
China’s parade marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, attended by dictatorial leaders like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, highlights Beijing’s attempts to rewrite history and promote an alternative authoritarian order.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2025
The disturbing message behind China’s ‘grand parade’
This international gathering in the Chinese capital's Tiananmen Square illuminated what might be termed the “Beijing Consensus” in its starkest form.
Protesters wave a pirate flag from the Japanese anime "One Piece," an internet trend used to criticize government policies, during a demonstration in front of the Bali police station in Denpasar, Indonesia, on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2025
Indonesia’s protests may fade. The fury won’t.
Politicians and business tycoons from the previous era still have clout, through dynastic parties, family owned businesses and patronage networks.
A correctional services van holding media tycoon Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon court for his national security trial in Hong Kong on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 28, 2025
Hong Kong wraps up pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai's security trial
The 156-day trial has become the most high-profile example of China's crackdown on rights and freedoms in the Asian financial hub.
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi addresses the media in front of a screen showing India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) and Home Minister Amit Shah at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Aug. 7, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the Indian state of Bihar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025
India's election commission faces claim of vote-rigging ahead of state poll
Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said his party lost dozens of seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections as voter rolls were manipulated to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up an executive order after signing it in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2025
Trump suggests many Americans 'like a dictator'
Democrats have repeatedly accused Trump of pushing presidential power way past its constitutional limits.
Democratic Texas Rep. Gene Wu speaks at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. State officials are redrawing congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025
Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds
As Texas Republicans redraw the state's congressional maps to benefit their party, California Democrats threaten to respond in kind.
Jimmy Lai at the Next Digital offices in Hong Kong in 2020. The national security trial of the Hong Kong media mogul, which began in late 2023, entered its final stages on Aug. 14, as lawyers present closing arguments.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 21, 2025
Why Jimmy Lai’s persecution should worry Japan
The trial of 77-year-old publisher is showing how Beijing uses Hong Kong as a laboratory for silencing critics worldwide, from students to exiles.
Political activist Tony Chung attends a demonstration outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office in London to protest the introduction of Hong Kong's Article 23 national security law on March 23, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2025
U.K. grants asylum to Hong Kong democracy activist Chung
Tony Chung, who became the youngest person to be jailed under the city's security law in 2021 at the age of 20, vows to never give up.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates’ Courts building for the closing submissions in the national security collusion trial of Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, in Hong Kong on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 18, 2025
Hong Kong democrat Jimmy Lai given heart monitor for final stretch of marathon trial
Lai's lawyer told the court last Friday that Lai had some episodes where he felt that he was collapsing and had heart "palpitations."
U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to punish Brazil with tariffs to protect former President Jair Bolsonaro is just one sign that the far right is shifting from rhetoric to real cross-border solidarity that undermines democratic norms.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Trump is trying to build a far-right international alliance
There has been a lack of concrete solidarity among populist leaders. But Trump is changing that in his second term.
A woman casts her vote during parliamentary elections in Qom, Iran, in March 2012. Regime change in the Islamic country is harder than many think, but it has the institutions needed for democracy if it happens.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025
Iran is more prepared for democracy than many realize
Some commentators, like the economist Nouriel Roubini and the Stanford political scientist Abbas Milani, see regime change as plausible or imminent.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) and Donald Trump during their meeting at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on March 8, 2024
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2025
'Trump before Trump': Orban's illiberal model on show
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been accused of silencing critical voices from the judiciary, academia, media and civil society, and of restricting minority rights.
Since January, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly pushed to secure more power for himself, calling for judges to be axed, firing independent watchdogs and sidestepping the legislative process.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 19, 2025
'Frightening': Trump's historic power grab worries experts
The Republican leader has spent six months testing the limits of his authority like no other modern U.S. president.
The recent massive pride parade in Hungary shows that even under authoritarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, popular resistance for liberal democracy persists — but the region’s deeper political stalemate endures.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2025
Is democracy stalemated?
Yet neither triumphalism nor fatalism captures the real dynamic. A more measured analysis shows that history’s arc is not bending at all — it is stuck.
Lawrence Lau arrives at the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building, ahead of hearing appeals from 13 jailed pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 14, 2025
Twelve Hong Kong activists appeal convictions in landmark '47 democrats' case
The court found 45 of defendants guilty of organizing an unofficial primary election in in 2020 after massive pro-democracy protests brought the city to a standstill.
Pro-China supporters hold Chinese flags at an event celebrating the 28th anniversary of the former British colony's handover to Chinese rule, in Hong Kong, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 1, 2025
Hong Kong rights record under fire as it marks China handover anniversary
Lee's government enacted a separate security law of its own in 2024 saying it was needed to restore order.
Taiwan, under constant threat from AI-powered disinformation by authoritarian regimes, has emerged as a global leader in digital democratic defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025
Taiwan provides a model for digital defense of democracy
As the U.S. and others struggle to confront AI-driven disinformation, Taiwan’s resilience has become its latest key export.
Pro-democracy activist Jimmy Sham (center) speaks at a League of Social Democrats press conference at their headquarters in Hong Kong on Sunday. The League of Social Democrats, one of the city's last remaining opposition parties, said it will disband after a five-year political crackdown by Beijing, a year ahead of its 20th anniversary.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 30, 2025
Hong Kong opposition party disbands, citing 'immense' pressure
The League of Social Democrats is the latest opposition party to cease operating after Beijing imposed a national security law in 2020 to end democracy protests.
The United Nations Security Council holds a vote during a meeting on the third anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine at the bodies headquarters in New York on Feb. 24.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jun 26, 2025
Democracy shouldn’t be used as an ideological weapon
The democracy-vs-autocracy framing has widened the divide between democratic countries — “us” — and Russia and its allies — “them.”
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
Japan dispatches five language education 'partners' to India
Five members of the Japan Foundation's Nihongo Partners program (front) gather at the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi on Monday.
Struggling train firm in Chiba Prefecture turns to self-deprecating humor
"Laughter is important when you're in a difficult situation," said Katsunori Takemoto, president of Choshi Electric Railway, on Aug. 5 in Choshi, Chiba Prefecture.
Japan's elderly population down at around 36.2 million
The estimated number of people age 65 or older in Japan stands at 36.19 million as of Monday, accounting for record 29.4% of the country's total population, according to the internal affairs ministry.
China says Philippine ship ‘deliberately rammed’ coast guard vessel in South China Sea
A China Coast Guard ship navigates near the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in August.
Japanese athletes inspired by raucous home fans at World Athletics Championships
Fans cheer on the home favorites during the women's marathon at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Sunday.
Pole vault rivals in awe after Duplantis has another historic night in Tokyo
Sweden's Armand Duplantis competes in the men's pole fault final during the World Athletics Championships at National Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
Tara Davis-Woodhall leaps to gold and finds redemption at world championships
Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrates after winning the women's long jump final at the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Sunday night.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’
By Alex K.T. Martin

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