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Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold a rally on London’s Waterloo Bridge on May 11. The current protests have many similarities to the student uprisings of the late 1960s, only the latter envisioned a new political movement to ameliorate the ills of their time.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

Echoes of despair amid global outrage over Gaza conflict

Everyone knows that the situation in Gaza is unacceptable. But a great deal of energy has been devoted to postponing the kind of intervention that the crisis requires.
Wang YunHe's residence in Singapore, overlooking the country's premier shopping belt.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 1, 2024

Singapore wealth flows face new scrutiny in superhacker case

The case is a reminder of the difficult balancing act faced by Singapore and other financial hubs as they push to attract the world’s ultra rich.
Geely Automobile Holdings' Zeekr electric vehicles bound for shipment to Europe at the Port of Taicang in Taicang, Jiangsu Province, China, on Aug. 24, 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 5, 2024

China risks trade war on two fronts as low-tech exports soar, too

The European Union is poised to slap tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles this week, the latest example of rising barriers to global trade.
From behind his desk in a Tokyo office, Hideki (Arata Iura) yearns for something more in life, but he is not prepared for the culture shock of life on a Montana ranch in “Tokyo Cowboy.”
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jun 13, 2024

‘Tokyo Cowboy’ strikes balance between cross-cultural comedy and fish-out-of-water tale

From behind his desk in a Tokyo office, Hideki yearns for something more in life, but he is not prepared for the culture shock of life on a Montana ranch.
Recently, Japan designated Hokkaido Prefecture (including its capital, Sapporo), Fukuoka, Tokyo and Osaka as special zones for financial and asset management businesses. Kumamoto Prefecture was also named a national strategic zone for semiconductors.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 14, 2024

International social infrastructure key to Japan’s high-tech future

Across the globe there is an ongoing search for talent, especially in high-tech sectors, and Japan is no different.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in Savelletri, Italy, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 16, 2024

Modi seizes center stage at G7 to ambush Biden and Trudeau

Modi arrived at the G7 meetings bruised by disappointing election results and facing an outcry over a pair of assassination plots allegedly backed by his government.
After just 1.3 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the countries with the most refugees, asylum-seekers, and displaced people are already among those hardest hit by climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2024

It’s far cheaper to help migrants before they leave home

As global temperatures rise, so will the frequency of heat waves, droughts, floods, pandemics, natural disasters, food and water shortages and conflicts over resources.
Passengers look at the tarmac as they wait for flights at Beijing Capital International Airport on April 20.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

Chinese outbound travel recovery lags due to costs and visa snags

Chinese people took 87 million trips abroad last year, down 40% from pre-COVID 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visit the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's far east Amur region on Sept. 13, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 17, 2024

Putin to visit North Korea from Tuesday for meeting with Kim

The Russian president is expected to ask Kim Jong Un for even more weapons, adding to an influx of arms in the wake of a summit last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their meeting at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in Russia's Amur region last September.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2024

Putin pledges to take Russia-North Korea ties to 'a higher level'

The Russian leader is expected to ask for even more weapons, while Kim will seek continued military tech support and cash to keep his regime afloat.
Jars containing rare earth minerals produced near Laverton, northeast of Perth, Australia, in 2019
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 18, 2024

Brazil sees opportunity in race to loosen China's grip on rare earths

Rare earths projects in Brazil are expected to be a test for how effectively the West can build a new advanced industry almost from scratch.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Amur Oblast region of Far East Russia on Sept. 13 .
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2024

Worry more about Putin’s visit than Kim’s dung balloons

Russia and North Korea, heavily sanctioned, have much to gain from each other and little to lose, reducing the leverage that the U.S. and its allies have over them.
A typhoon hits Hong Kong. Scientists warn that the danger ahead isn’t just from supercharged weather catastrophes. A warmer planet increases the chances of "compound events,” where multiple disasters — natural and manmade — occur at the same time or place.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 19, 2024

The era of super-wild weather is already here

Floods, wildfires, droughts and heat waves have become more widespread and volatile than before.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel prepare rubber fenders after China Coast Guard vessels blocked their way to a resupply mission at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on March 5.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 19, 2024

In South China Sea dispute, Philippines' bolder hand tests Beijing

Publicizing China's actions, combined with Manila's deepened military alliance with the U.S., has constrained Beijing's ability to escalate matters at sea.
Dan Martin of Sankaku Nutrition helps busy professionals in the Tokyo area with their meal prep.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jun 21, 2024

Dan Martin: ‘Long-term sustainability is the key factor to any diet’

The “sankaku” (triangle) in Sankaku Nutrition stands for improving gut health, energy balance and sleep hygiene among expats with busy lives.
The members of bed are (from left to right) vocalist Une, guitarist Joneu, bassist Shinji and drummer Shun.  
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2024

Don't sleep on bed's genre-melding mayhem

The band co-runs a rave called Uzu, and an event series at clubasia called “bedroom” that features an impressive roster of names from the Japanese music scene.
Caeleb Dressel dives into the pool during the U.S. Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS / Swimming
Jun 23, 2024

Resurgent Caeleb Dressel has new take on young swimming rivals

Dressel's five golds at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Games included individual triumphs in the 50 and 100 free and the 100 butterfly.
Container ships are berthed at PSA's Pasir Panjang Terminal in Singapore in July 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jun 26, 2024

Singapore port congestion shows global impact of Red Sea attacks

Global port congestion has reached an 18-month high, with 60% of ships waiting at anchor located in Asia.
Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto speaks at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 1. The leader is expected to pursue an ambitious foreign policy aiming for a bigger role for Indonesia as a regional and global player.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2024

What Prabowo’s presidency in Indonesia will look like

Rather than being a puppet of the outgoing Widodo, incoming President Prabowo will pursue a strong foreign policy and potentially roll back some democratic institutions.
Japan’s Coco Yoshizawa participates in a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier. This summer’s Olympics will be the first in which half of athletes are female.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2024

Paris Olympics’ gender equality boast has an asterisk

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics where half of all athletes are female. But the gender gap remains wide among the ranks of coaches and needs to be tackled.
American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024

Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.

Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with steelworkers at United Steel Workers headquarters in Pittsburgh in April.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Biden and Trump battle for blue-collar voters as steel merger looms over vote

Just how many rank-and-file workers ignore union chiefs and vote for Donald Trump could have a decisive impact in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
If Joe Biden doesn’t let another, better suited candidate run against Donald Trump, he will undo decades of public service.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2024

Will Joe Biden go and spoil it all?

Like former presidential candidate Ralph Nader before him, Biden shouldn't stand in the way of the Democrats winning the election and should let another candidate run.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024

Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?

The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
Israeli tanks operate near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

Gaza cease-fire efforts show signs of revival as Israel pounds enclave

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to secure a truce in Gaza, but their efforts have repeatedly failed.
Russia isn’t a theocracy but Orthodox Christianity, the state religion, has become all-encompassing, with President Vladimir Putin claiming to have a divine mission.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

The demigods of populism

By claiming to represent the will of the divine, populist leaders like Putin, Modi, Erdogan — and even Trump — stake an otherworldly claim to political power.
A monitor in Tokyo shows Japan's two major stock indexes hitting new highs on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

Investors hunt for Trump-win trades in Japan's stock market

The Topix index gained almost 30% in dollar terms in the year after the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won, beating the S&P 500 and the MSCI World index.
London's financial district in August 2023
BUSINESS
Jul 5, 2024

Labour win brings few hopes — or fears — to London's financial district

The Labour Party has assiduously courted the City of London, mindful that their plans for boosting economic growth will need a big dose of private capital.
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus One,” which won an Academy Award for best visual effects, was made for a reported $15 million — a small fraction of the budgets used by its Hollywood competitors.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2024

Japanese cinema is having a stand-out year. Here are some films to watch.

The success of "Godzilla Minus One" gave Japan's film industry a confidence boost, but we haven't been short on must-see hits in 2024.

Longform

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