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U.S. President Joe Biden addresses the nation on the conflict between Israel and Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 21, 2023

Biden says Hamas attack was to halt Israel-Saudi Arabia thaw

The remarks were the U.S. president's most illuminating comments yet on the impetus for the crisis in the Middle East.
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestinian groups.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 22, 2023

Fears grow that Israel-Hamas war could spread across Middle East

Tensions surged as the U.S. said it was sending more military assets to the region and Israel appeared poised for a ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu salutes before delivering a speech during the 20th Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on June 4.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 24, 2023

China ousts defense chief and removes ex-top envoy from Cabinet

Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu has been removed from his positions as defense chief and state councilor, state-run media said.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Oct. 18.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2023

Biden treads tightrope on Israel-Hamas cease-fire

The balancing act is becoming tougher by the day, with reports that Washington is concerned about Israel's plan of action for a Gaza invasion.
Palestinians at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2023

World leaders seek pause in Israeli strikes on Hamas for Gaza aid

Deadly clashes have intensified between multiple parties, with wider conflict posing a risk to security in a region key to global energy supplies.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda meets with European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Aug. 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 25, 2023

As geopolitical risks grow, businesses are slow to respond

Businesses need to integrate geopolitical risk into their decision-making in an ever-transforming world.
A health care worker administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a child in Rio de Janeiro in January 2022.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2023

How we got COVID’s risk right but the response wrong

It was not the initial consensus on the fatality rate that drove the response but rather the way the risks of COVID-19 were balanced with the costs.
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Nov 1, 2023

Israel kills at least 50 in military strike on Gaza refugee camp

An Israel Defense Forces statement said the strike by fighter jets on Jabalia, Gaza's largest refugee camp, had killed a Hamas commander.
Protesters wave Palestinian flags as they walk over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in London on Saturday.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2023

Immigration, politics and the West's foreign policy

On the same day that a 100,000 strong pro-Palestinian march took place in London, the police pressured a pro-Israeli prayer walk to cancel the event.
Palestinian Hamas militants take part in a rally marking the 31st anniversary of Hamas' founding, in Gaza City, in the Gaza Strip, in December 2018.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 4, 2023

How Hamas aims to trap Israel in Gaza quagmire

The militant group has prepared for a drawn-out war and believes it can hold up Israel's advance to force its archenemy to agree to a cease-fire.
Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Manhattan federal court in New York in January.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Nov 4, 2023

Swift FTX case vindicates prosecution ‘need for speed’

ON Thursday, the jury took only a few hours to convict Sam Bankman-Fried of treating FTX as his personal piggy bank.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu points to a red line he drew on the graphic of a bomb used to represent Iran's nuclear program as he addresses the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York in September 2012.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 6, 2023

Israeli minister's Gaza nuclear comments spotlight opaque arsenal

The country has long had a policy of ambiguity as to whether it has nuclear weapons, though it is widely believed to possess a sizable number.
Zero carbon energy accounts for 28% of Japan's grid, falling short of countries like Germany, whose share of clean energy generation reached 58% last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023

How Japan became the land the energy transition forgot

Its symbol may be the rising sun, but a wholesale adoption of renewables by Japan is light years away, mired in bureaucratic and technical hurdles.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden meet on the sidelines of the Group of 20 summit in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, in November last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2023

Biden wins global vote of confidence over China's Xi, survey finds

A survey has found that nearly two-dozen countries are nearly three times more likely to the U.S. president more positively than the Chinese leader.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa speak as they wait for a group photo session during the Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 8, 2023

G7 top diplomats call for ‘humanitarian pauses’ in Israel-Hamas war

The statement didn’t mention a cease-fire, only noting the necessity of humanitarian action.
Displaced residents of the city of Gaza walk to the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 9, 2023

Tens of thousands flee as Israel tightens 'stranglehold' on Gaza

U.N. rights chief Volker Turk described Israel's collective punishment of Palestinian civilians and their forcible evacuation as war crimes.
ICBC Financial Services said in a statement a ransomware attack resulted in disruption to certain systems and it was conducting an investigation and "progressing its recovery efforts."
BUSINESS
Nov 10, 2023

China's biggest lender ICBC hit by ransomware attack

The lender said it was investigating the attack that disrupted some of its systems, and making progress toward recovering from it.
U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks with entrepreneur Elon Musk during a chat session on the rewards and risks of artificial intelligence in London, earlier this month.
EDITORIALS
Nov 10, 2023

Can the world harness AI’s fire without getting burned?

Calls are increasing for governance of artificial intelligence, the world-changing tech that bears both major rewards and risks.
Smoke and flares dropped by Israeli forces over the Gaza Strip is seen amid ongoing battles between Israel and Palestinian Hamas militants on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 11, 2023

As Gaza toll rises, Israel faces pressure to protect civilians

Global calls for Israeli restraint increased as the number of Palestinians killed rose above 11,000 in a 5-week-old Israeli conflict.
Executives were scrambling for seats for dinner with Xi or to be put on a waiting list, according to people familiar with the situation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 15, 2023

Elon Musk among cadre of CEOs hoping to woo China’s Xi

CEO summit on the sidelines of APEC will coincide with the most challenging trade climate in a generation.
U.S. President Joe Biden shakes hands with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at Filoli estate in Woodside, California, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Xi and Biden agree to restart high-level military-to-military talks

The leaders of the two superpowers looked to stabilize a relationship that has been in freefall amid fears it could devolve into outright conflict.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meets with Hamas' top leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran in June. Both men met again in early November during which the former told the latter that Iran would not intervene directly following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 16, 2023

Iran's 'Axis of Resistance' against Israel faces trial by fire

Iran has built a military alliance over four decades to oppose Israeli and American power in the Middle East.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping before a meeting during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders week in Woodside, California, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 16, 2023

Biden and Xi agree to pick up the phone to avert crisis. But now what?

Agreed measures are unlikely to be enough to improve bilateral ties, as neither side appeared willing to tackle fundamental differences head on.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Woodside, California, on Nov. 15.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 21, 2023

'Offensive' and 'defensive' diplomacy: Managing ties with China

Since the 20th National Congress of the CCP, in October last year, Beijing has been seeking to maintain a balance.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, along with his daughter, walks away from an intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released on Nov. 19, 2022
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Kim Jong Un’s daughter marks a year as country’s propaganda star

The preservation of the family rule is inextricably tied to the country’s weapons program
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese President Xi Jinping pose for a family photo during an APEC summit in San Francisco on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 17, 2023

Kishida and Xi aim for trade progress despite lingering tensions

Their talks signaled initial momentum toward a cautious detente, although the two countries appeared to prioritize an improvement in economic ties.
The risk of unsecure nuclear weapons or a vengeful leader such as Vladimir Putin going down with his finger on the trigger may seem far-fetched, but the world must prepare for the worst-case scenario. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2023

Preparing for a Russian nuclear meltdown

The risk of “loose nukes” or a vengeful leader going down with his finger on the trigger may seem far-fetched, but the chances are not zero.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in Woodside, California, on Wednesday during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2023

Biden-Xi meeting long on symbolism, short on substance

The Biden-Xi meeting aimed to set a floor under U.S.-China bilateral relations, but the results provided few grounds for optimism.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the final session of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 18, 2023

A rare opportunity to see China’s leader up close and (sort of) personal

President Xi Jinping of China is one of the most self-contained Chinese leaders in decades, who reveals next to nothing about his personal life.
An Israeli soldier gestures from a tank, near a border area with Gaza, in southern Israel, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 19, 2023

Is Israel’s military strategy to eradicate Hamas working?

Israel is making progress in ground control of Gaza, but it has not vanquished Hamas or freed most of the hostages as global condemnation grows.

Longform

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