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Lionel Laurent
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket is launched for a mission to study one of Jupiter's 95 moons from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Oct. 14.
COMMENTARY
Oct 25, 2024
In space, no one can hear Musk's rivals scream
The billionaire's gravity-defying lead is a painful one for competitors. Is it too late to catch up?
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes his visiting French counterpart,  Emmanuel Macron, in Washington in April 2018. European leaders, such as Macron, recognize the need to adapt to a new reality where globalization may no longer drive growth, especially if Trump wins the U.S. election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 7, 2024
Trump-proofing Europe looks impossible
Global supply chain strengths turn into weaknesses in a fragmented world, with unreliable access to cheap energy, Chinese consumers and U.S. security.
The real significance of Brussels' case against Apple is that it will increase pressure to reform how multinationals allocate their profits globally and are taxed.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2024
Ireland struck it rich with Apple. Others struck it poor.
The Apple case highlights the need for global tax reforms to ensure multinationals pay taxes where they operate, benefiting countries beyond just Ireland.
Paris must complete its gold-medal transformation into something greater once the athletes have packed up and gone home.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2024
Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city
As Paris prepares for the Olympics, it must also work towards a more cohesive and equitable regional future, striving to balance progress with social harmony.
President Emmanuel Macron has gone from king to kingmaker of French politics after his bloc came second in the parliamentary election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2024
Gambler Macron wins chance to be kingmaker
Even as Macron breathes a sigh of relief after voters halted a far-right triumph, the left-leaning coalition the president will try to build faces a treacherous path.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at a courthouse in New York in March 2023. On Thursday, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 1, 2024
Sam Bankman-Fried's 25-year sentence is a warning to crypto
The former FTX CEO's conviction to 25 years in prison sends a clear message to cryptocurrency fraudsters. The costs of misconduct outweigh the benefits.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX, exits the federal courthouse in Manhattan in February.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried won't be the last crypto mogul behind bars
If Sam Bankman-Fried culpability for the "pyramid of deceit” behind FTX’s collapse seemed so obvious, it’s partly because he was prosecutorial gold.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center) and deposed president Ali Bongo of Gabon (center left) at an African Union-European Union summit in 2017
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 8, 2023
A domino effect in Africa, embarrassment in Paris
A new season of military coups is sweeping over Africa, with grave implications for France and the West as they struggle to maintain influence.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2023
French riot deja vu is raising the stakes for Macron
Years of Frances unkept promises have created resentment and made the nation’s deprived suburbs a powder keg.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2023
The AI gold rush will take humanity to some dark places
Encoding iris scans on the blockchain shows a need to curb Silicon Valley’s savior complex.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2023
On the U.S. and China, Macron says the quiet part out loud
French President Macron has annoyed allies by saying Europeans should stand apart from the U.S. on China and Taiwan or risk becoming 'vassals.”
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 28, 2023
Blocking the Louvre won’t defuse France’s pension bomb
France’s pay-as-you-go pension system will have only 1.2 workers for every retiree by 2070 — an untenable situation.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2022
Crypto’s chainsaw massacre bloodies digital exchanges
The platforms that have promoted Bitcoin and other new currencies have a lot to answer for.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
May 5, 2022
When $1 billion tech unicorns start to look like ponies
In a world where every startup gallops, counting horns starts to look futile. France needs new metrics for a clearer innovation picture.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2022
French President Macron knows inflation is Le Pen’s best weapon
If there's one thing that could make French voters more receptive to the far right, it's a shake of the magic money tree.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 25, 2021
Winter is coming for Europe's pandemic optimists
The urge to abandon caution when COVID-19 cases are low, which is essentially what some European nations did this summer, is part of the problem.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 29, 2021
Even the People’s Bank of China can’t kill Bitcoin's appeal
The bulls reckon the latest attempt by Beijing to crack down on crypto — the seventh — will fail to throttle an asset that bypasses borders and banking systems.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2021
The U.K.’s bizarre $1.7 billion vaccine rug-pull
The British government abruptly canceled its supply contract, having found Valneva in breach of its obligations without specifying how — something Valneva contests.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 1, 2021
EU’s guidelines on U.S. visitors is sounding like trade war diplomacy
Europeans have been more pragmatic than the Americans. These latest travel curbs are nonbinding recommendations that will likely only affect the unvaccinated.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2021
Don’t let autocrats run the internet after COVID-19
Lukashenko's government blocked much of the internet during protests last summer with the help of technology from U.S.-based Sandvine Inc.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?