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Hamas traffics in outrage and one of its primary objectives with the Oct. 7 atrocities was to goad the Jewish state into indiscriminate attacks — and that is what Israel gave it. 
EDITORIALS
Apr 5, 2024

Israel needs to stop killing civilians immediately

Israel must wake up to the suffering it is inflicting on innocent people and the damage it is doing to its image and reputation.
A screen on the News Corp. building shows the news after an earthquake shook New York City on Friday.
WORLD
Apr 6, 2024

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake hits New York City area

The quake's epicenter was in Tewksbury in central New Jersey, about 64 kilometers west of New York City.
The V.Stella generative AI assistant at the Integrit booth on the opening day of the Mobile World Congress (MWC) at the Fira de Barcelona venue in Barcelona on Feb. 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 8, 2024

Wall street hunts AI winners beyond Nvidia in emerging markets

Analysts see a 61% increase in earnings for emerging-market technology companies as a whole
An AA patrol for electric vehicles in Birmingham, England. Fewer than 10% of the U.K.’s 236,000 auto mechanics are qualified to work directly on EV batteries or their cases, according to the Institute of the Motor Industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 13, 2024

EVs head for junkyard as mechanic shortage inflates repair costs

High costs are prompting underwriters to total cars with relatively benign damage — prematurely consigning electric models to the junk heap.
A truck rolls off a cargo vessel docked at Esbjerg Port in Ebjerg, Denmark. European Union food imports to the U.K. are about to get more expensive and complicated as the British government implements the Brexit deal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2024

Britons finally taste full Brexit as costly border checks begin

From April 30, the U.K. will impose checks on European Union food imports — a stark reversal from the pre-Brexit era of frictionless trade.
Attendees at the Leap technology conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 6, 202. The oil-rich country is plowing money into glitzy events, computing power and artificial intelligence research, putting it in the middle of an escalating U.S.-China struggle for technological influence.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2024

‘To the future’: Saudi Arabia spends big to become an AI superpower

Saudi Arabia was long a financial spigot for tech, but is now building its own industry.
Economic security has evolved to include offensive measures, such as industrial policy. Countries like Japan are increasingly on-shoring strategic industries such as semiconductors, regardless of the cost.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 7, 2024

The shift from economic security to geoeconomics

Economic security started out as a defensive concept, but it has now been weaponized to include an offensive element, morphing into a geoeconomic tool.
Missile systems form part of the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9. The FBI tries to maintain a tricky balance in spy operations: the more access informants have to valuable intelligence, the higher the risk that they could be compromised.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2024

FBI shed informants linked to Russian influence operations

After a secret review several years ago, the bureau cut off confidential sources thought to be connected to Russian disinformation.
Amateur actor Chihiro Kawano (front) performs in Hikaru Fujii's video art installation "War Is Over" in Saiki, Oita Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2024

War is (not) over: Hikaru Fujii probes historical memory in Kyushu

Viewable at its current location until June 16, “War Is Over” simply would not be the same work in a different location.
Colin Croy's Japanese is still a work in progress, but he hasn't had much trouble communicating with local customers in Sapporo due to the mutual language of musical performance.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 10, 2024

Colin Croy: 'After I built my first pedal, I just kept making more and more'

A St. Louis transplant in Sapporo serves the Hokkaido capital's music scene with equipment repairs, upgrades and customizations.
By April 2024, dengue fever cases in the Americas passed the total for the previous year.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 15, 2024

What's behind the post-COVID surge in communicable diseases?

Many regions have reported at least one infectious disease resurgence that’s at least ten times worse than the prepandemic baseline.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024

Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get

With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
"Shogun" features Hiroyuki Sanada as the warlord Toranaga. The series is generating major buzz ahead of the announcement of Emmy nominations on July 17.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 6, 2024

All hail the era of Japan-themed prestige TV

With shows like "Shogun" and "Tokyo Vice" vying for Emmy nominations this month, it's safe to say the streamers are having a bit of a "Japan moment."
Sue Mi Terry, then director at Bower Group Asia, speaks on a panel at the Asia Society in New York in 2017.
WORLD
Jul 17, 2024

Former White House official accused of acting as South Korea agent

In exchange for gifts, a foreign policy specialist is accused of giving South Korea information on the United States government, among other things.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks aboard the USS Howard destroyer at the Yokosuka Naval Base, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September 2022.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 23, 2024

Continuity in Asia: Harris' policies likely to assuage concerns in Japan

Tokyo is already quite familiar with the approach of the U.S. vice president, who will likely continue her predecessor's foreign policy if she is elected president.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington in April. In July, Russia's defense minister said he needed to talk to Austin about an alleged Ukrainian operation. What happened next remains murky.
WORLD
Jul 27, 2024

A mysterious plot prompts a rare call from Russia to the Pentagon

Russia’s defense minister said he needed to talk to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin about an alleged Ukrainian operation. What happened next remains murky.
Fuka Nagano (left) and Hinata Miyazawa after Japan was eliminated from the Olympic soccer tournament by the U.S. on Saturday in Paris.
OLYMPICS
Aug 4, 2024

For Nadeshiko Japan, the quarterfinals prove to be a stumbling block — again

The team fell 1-0 to the U.S. after also losing in the last eight at the Tokyo Games in 2021 and at the Women’s World Cup in 2023.
Despite China’s advocacy for “no first use” as a global standard and its call for inclusion in international law for nuclear weapons, many analysts view it as a political statement rather than a practical strategy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 6, 2024

China’s 'no first use' nuclear policy rings hollow for many

Critics argue that China's NFU policy is less credible due to its expanding nuclear arsenal and the secrecy surrounding
The United States' Stephen Curry (right) and LeBron James celebrate after their win over Serbia in the men's basketball semifinals at the Paris Olympics on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Aug 9, 2024

United States passes tough test against Serbia to reach Olympic final in Paris

Stephen Curry scored 36 points for the United States.
Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
COMMUNITY / Issues / Longform
Aug 9, 2024

In search of the ‘Japanese dream’

You've likely heard of the American dream. In Japan, where no such concept exists, immigrants forge their own ideals.
While there are similarities between the geopolitical competition involving the U.S. and the former Soviet Union, such as global rivalry and ideological divisions, key differences suggest the situation with China does not constitute a new Cold War.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 10, 2024

A new ‘Cold War’ with China might be the best hope for the future

The current situation is often described as "a new great game," a world in which our time and challenges result from the stirring of old empires.
Feeling overshadowed by U.S. elections, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might conduct a nuclear test, fire missiles, annul the Korean War armistice or demand territorial concessions.
COMMENTARY
Sep 23, 2024

Kim Jong Un will have his October surprise

Feeling overshadowed by U.S. elections, Kim Jong Un might conduct a nuclear test, fire missiles, annul the Korean War armistice or demand territorial concessions.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu speaks to a Ground Self-Defense Force soldier at the town hall on Yonaguni, Japan's westernmost inhabited island in Okinawa Prefecture last  November.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 26, 2024

Deterring Taiwan conflict is top priority for Japan's ‘front-line’ mayor

The mayor believes the U.S. and Japan must do away with "strategic ambiguity" over Taiwan if they intend to keep China in check.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has floated an idea of creating an Asian version of the NATO security framework.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2024

Ishiba's 'Asian NATO' dead on arrival as new PM set for diplomatic debut

Many Asian countries maintain delicate ties with China, making the creation of any defense group aimed at countering Beijing's influence difficult.
Then-President Donald Trump (right) meets with President Vladimir Putin of Russia at the G20 Summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019. Trump and Putin have secretly spoken several times since Trump left office, according to a new book by journalist Bob Woodward.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

Trump sent COVID-19 tests to Putin, Bob Woodward says in his new book

Donald Trump also retains a personal relationship with Vladimir Putin, Woodward writes.
A Palestinian boy holds up a portrait of slain Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar during a rally in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, on Friday.
WORLD
Oct 19, 2024

Hamas mourns Sinwar, vowing no hostage release until war ends

The killing of Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the deadliest attack in Israeli history, had raised hopes of a turning point in the war.
In a group interview at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Thursday, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya declined to make predictions about the Liberal Democratic Party’s approach to any revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement, but said he believes “some wisdom will probably come about” from planned talks within the party.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Top diplomat says Foreign Ministry will ‘quietly examine’ revising SOFA pact

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya says finding a "mutually acceptable" solution to issues in the pact governing the U.S. military presence in Japan is key.
Japanese exporters could be hit by higher U.S. tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 11, 2024

Trump tariffs could have a significant impact on Japanese exports

The U.S. president-elect has promised 10% to 20% duties on all goods coming into the United States.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 14, 2024

‘Call anytime you want’: Trump roils G20 with disdain for rules

World leaders who didn’t experience Donald Trump’s first merry-go-round are quickly learning how he likes to operate.
The No. 1 Poultry building, left, in the City of London
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2023

South Korean investors stung as bet on offices in financial centers turns sour

With a growing need for environmental credentials for corporate renters and downsizing due to the pandemic, office real-estate markets are seeing a "flight to quality" — leaving some exposed

Longform

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