Search - question

 
 
Supporters listen as President Joe Biden speaks at a reelection campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, one day after his debate with former President Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

The road to a crisis: How Democrats let Biden glide to renomination

Many fear U.S. President Joe Biden will lose to former President Donald Trump and drag Democrats to devastating defeats in congressional and state elections.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (right) looks on as French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to reporters on the day of a joint Franco-German cabinet meeting in Gransee, Germany, on May 28.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

As France votes, Europe holds its breath

The big fear for the European Union's traditional political mainstream is an outright National Rally victory in France.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks at his watch as he stands on the balcony during an Independence Day celebration on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

Biden tells wavering Democrats he will not abandon campaign

President Joe Biden faces a critical week as he tries to shore up a campaign that has been on defense since a shaky June 27 debate.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an event in New Orleans on Saturday. Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate Harris as the party's future, rather than sidelining her for her perceived unpopularity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2024

Kamala Harris is Democrats’ future, no matter what

Whether with Harris as presidential nominee or No. 2 on Biden's tickets, Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate rather than sideline the VP.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at the NATO Summit in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

At high-stakes news conference, Biden vows to ‘finish the job’

The U.S. president conceded for the first time that polls show "other people can beat Mr. Trump in the fall” but added that, "it’s hard to start from scratch.”
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speak to reporters in Berlin on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 13, 2024

Japanese and German leaders deepen ties with new economic security framework

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and German Chancellor Olaz Scholz agreed on the new mechanism during the Japanese leader's first visit to the country as PM.
During a demonstration to demand a ceasefire and an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in Tokyo on June 24, Sophia University student Jumana Kasemu participates in “Tears for Palestine,” a global event that started in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 19, 2024

If the Gaza protests seem one-sided, it’s because the current violence is

Empathy for Israeli suffering doesn't prevent college students in Japan and beyond from manifesting their anger at indiscriminate violence leveled against Palestinians.
The misinterpretation of data on guns and self-defense in the United States highlights how studies may overstate the benefits while downplaying risks and unintended consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 21, 2024

Guns aren’t as good for self-defense as America thinks

Like other public health crises, gun violence has been studied and scientists have data pointing to ways the carnage can be reduced.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media after his meeting with President Droupadi Murmu, to stake claim to form the new government at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on June 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

India's budget reflects new power realities of Modi's fickle coalition

Modi has been forced to rely on allies to run a government for the first time in his career.
A study shows that autocracies and weak democracies are more likely to import Chinese artificial intelligence facial-recognition technology, especially during times of domestic unrest. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2024

China is exporting its AI surveillance state

Trade does not always foster democracy or liberalize regimes. Instead, China’s greater integration with the developing world may do precisely the opposite.
While the Pentagon dismisses UFO evidence as inconclusive, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee has pushed back and demanded further investigation.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2024

The real government conspiracy isn’t about UFOs

As the Pentagon dismisses UFO evidence, the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee pushes back and demands further investigation.
A meeting of the Lao-Lao liquor cooperative held in the village of Xai in Attapeu Province in June.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 19, 2024

Co-op Okinawa nurtures Laos farmers' cooperatives to encourage growth

By setting up cooperatives, farmers can prevent unfavorable price negotiations by sharing information with one another.
Ami competes in the women's breaking competition at the Paris Olympics on Friday.
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Aug 11, 2024

Is breaking a sport? Even among competitors, the answer depends on who you ask.

There was not even consensus from the B-girls — though all agreed that it belongs in the Olympics.
Flaring at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana. Flaring, a common sight at LNG plants, is a controlled burning of gas for reasons ranging from depressurizing equipment to disposing of gas that can’t be used. The practice is a "waste of money" and negatively impacts climate change and human health, says the International Energy Agency.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Aug 11, 2024

Japan fuels U.S. LNG boom even as climate targets and impacts loom

For over half a century, Japan has been a sizable buyer of LNG, and its government, banks and energy companies have played a key role in continued investment.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida leaves at the end of a news conference, in which he announced he is stepping down, at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 14, 2024

Kishida's shock announcement shakes already unsettled Japanese markets

The prime minister's decision to step down follows the Bank of Japan's surprise rate hike just two weeks earlier.
Srettha Thavisin in Bangkok on Wednesday. He became the fourth Thai prime minister to be ousted by the Constitutional Court in the past two decades.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 15, 2024

Thai political upheaval shows royalists still firmly in charge

The difference this time is that former leader Thaksin Shinawatra is now in an alliance with his former conservative adversaries as part of a deal struck last year.
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference on May 6 in Beverly Hills, California.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 15, 2024

Musk’s free speech mantra collides with crackdowns on hate speech and disinformation

Since taking over, Musk has largely abandoned X’s prior efforts to curb misinformation, instead asking users to police themselves.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Livingston County Sheriff's Office in Howell, Michigan, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Trump pushes agenda in town with historic links to white extremism

Donald Trump did not speak out against hate during his 45-minute remarks in a Michigan town with historic ties to white supremacy.
Lawmakers leave a Lower House plenary session after the chamber was dissolved in October 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 21, 2024

Signs point toward November general election following LDP race

The advantage gained from the change in LDP leadership may diminish if the snap poll is not called soon after the party's presidential race.
U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris arrives onstage Thursday to speak on the fourth and final day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 25, 2024

Kamala Harris charts her vision for the United States

Harris’ speech capped a week featuring the Democratic Party’s brightest stars, showcasing a broad, diverse and inclusive party.
In this NASA handout, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft onboard at Space Launch Complex 41 ahead of a test flight at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida in July 2021.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 26, 2024

Boeing's CEO faces hard choices after NASA snubs Starliner for SpaceX

The specter of NASA astronauts being stuck in space is just one embarrassing moment of many for Boeing during an epically bad year.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius inspects Leopard II tanks that were due to be supplied to Ukraine at a military facility in Augustdorf, Germany, in February 2023.
COMMENTARY
Aug 27, 2024

Ukraine has a Germany problem again. Here’s how to fix it.

Kyiv’s Kursk operation was aimed less at the battlefield than at Berlin and other allies.
Elon Musk, the owner of X, during an event in November last year. Brazil blocked the social network after Musk refused to comply with a Brazilian judge's orders to suspend certain accounts.
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2024

Musk’s X goes dark in Brazil after supreme court’s ruling

While the U.S. tends toward strong free-speech protections, many countries are taking aggressive steps to make companies more accountable for their online content.
Few in Japan may be more passionate about the 'onigiri' (rice ball) than Yumiko Ukon, owner of an onigiri specialty shop in Tokyo's Otsuka neighborhood.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Sep 8, 2024

‘When I die, I would like to come back as a rice ball’

There’s no denying the cultural significance of the ‘onigiri’ (rice ball). But there comes a point where an onigiri is surely just an onigiri.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an event in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 13, 2024

Giving Kyiv long-range missiles pulls West into war, Putin says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with Kyiv's allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles deep into Russian territory.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell injected uncertainty as to where future rates will ultimately land during his news conference following the Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 19, 2024

The Fed’s uncertain destination troubles the bond market

The upshot is that longer-term bond yields don’t have much room to fall in the near-term unless the economy weakens materially.
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan presidential candidates Harumi Yoshida (far left), Kenta Izumi (center left), Yukio Edano (center right) and Yoshihiko Noda pose at a news conference in Tokyo on Sept. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 20, 2024

CDP leader hopefuls must bridge internal and external differences

Once elected, the leader of the main opposition party must both unify the different groups within and choose who to work with to win the next general election.
A Russian submarine arrives at the port of Dagang, in Qingdao, Shandong province, China, in April 2019 for a joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 2, 2024

The China-Russia relationship once derided, now looks to endure

Both China and Russia are concerned about U.S. alliances in the Indo-Pacific and are acting to counterbalance them.
Digital minister Taro Kono attends an Upper House committee session in June. The cautioning of Kono over his use of his smartphone to respond to a question in the Upper House last November attracted significant attention and led to a bipartisan call for digital transformation within parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 4, 2024

Digitalization advances gradually in Japan's parliament

Improvement plans have been adopted but certain practices, such as the use of tablets at the podium during plenary sessions, remain off-limits.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 9, 2024

LDP pulls endorsements of 12 'slush fund' lawmakers for Oct. 27 election

Former LDP policy chief Koichi Hagiuda, ex-party Diet affairs chief Tsuyoshi Takagi and former education minister Hakubun Shimomura are among those not endorsed.

Longform

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