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U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to sign the first national security memorandum detailing how intelligence agencies should use and protect artificial intelligence technology.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2024

White House urges agencies to adopt AI for military and spy use

U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the nation must extend its lead on AI while also managing the risks.
A man looks at a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement model by Lockheed Martin at an international military fair in Kielce, Poland, in September 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC
Oct 26, 2024

Fearing China's hypersonic weapons, U.S. Navy seeks to arm ships with Patriot missiles

Integrating the weapons with ships' air defenses comes in the wake of successful missile defense efforts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Former President Donald Trump and Sen. J.D. Vance talk at the 9/11 Memorial in New York on Sept. 11.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

Chinese hackers said to have targeted phones used by Trump and Vance

The targeting of the Republican presidential ticket’s phones is part of what appears to be an effort to gather information about American leaders.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the training base of special operations forces to guide a drill at an undisclosed location in the country on Sept. 11.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 26, 2024

NATO invites Japan and three others to ambassador-level meeting on North Korea

The meeting is aimed at sharing information with NATO's Asia-Pacific partners, which also includes South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris and former first lady Michelle Obama at a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

The Obamas stump for Harris and key allies in final days of campaign

The rally marked the second major campaign event featuring Michelle Obama, while Barack Obama has already made several high-profile appearances.
Former U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2024

Michelle Obama makes a searing appeal to men: ‘Take our lives seriously’

Michelle Obama told her audience that Trump would further damage women’s health care, while Harris has vowed to enshrine the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law.
Iranians walk next to an anti-U.S. and Israeli billboard with pictures on the left of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, and on the right, U.S. President Joe Biden and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on a street in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD
Oct 28, 2024

Israel boasts strategic gains from attack on Iran, but quietly

Israel's mission may have set the stage for another attack, possibly after the U.S. election, which could be aimed at Iran’s nuclear program or its oil infrastructure.
A woman takes photos of a gate in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico, on Monday. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe, at a Donald Trump event on Sunday, called Puerto Rico a "floating island of garbage."
WORLD / Politics
Oct 29, 2024

Trump-allied comedian blasted for calling Puerto Rico 'garbage'

Tony Hinchcliffe, who also employed racist tropes about Black Americans and Jews at a Trump event on Sunday, played down the offensive nature of his comments.
Democratic presidential nominee and U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris along with Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff attend a rally on the National Mall in Washington one week before the Nov. 5 national election.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2024

The U.S. election is happening too soon

The upcoming U.S. election is unlikely to lead to national renewal or a decisive defeat of MAGA populism.
A 15,000-pound undersea cable for transportation to Brazil, at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on June 8, 2009.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024

U.S. agency to launch review of undersea cables and national security risks

More than 400 subsea cables form the backbone of the internet, carrying more than 99% of the world’s data traffic.
Republican Presidential Nominee Donald Trump
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 31, 2024

Trump factor bringing uncertainty to Asian firms' U.S. investment outlook

The former president has criticized the Inflation Reduction Act as a "scam” and the CHIPS and Science Act as a bad deal.
A local resident watches Ukrainian rescuers clear debris on the site of a Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024

U.S. sanctions entities in India, China and Turkey over Russia war supplies

The U.S. and its allies have piled thousands of sanctions on Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, yet Russia’s GDP is projected to grow 3.5% to 4% in 2024.
The U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and two Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers transit the Philippine Sea in April 2017. Washington has recently deployed additional carrier strike groups to the Middle East as tensions in the region grow.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Nov 1, 2024

Both U.S. presidential candidates’ security strategies raise concerns

Whoever wins the election will be strongly constrained by the challenging geopolitical environment. Plus, there is unease about both candidates' foreign policy stances.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Warren, Michigan, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2024

Democrats have a plan if Trump prematurely declares election victory

Trump said he hoped to be able to declare victory on Election Day, but experts have cautioned that it could be days before the final result is known.
In a June paper, six Chinese researchers from three institutions, including two under the People's Liberation Army's leading research body, the Academy of Military Science (AMS), detailed how they had used an early version of Meta's Llama as a base for what it calls "ChatBIT."
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 2, 2024

China researchers develop AI model for military use on back of Meta's Llama

The evidence was believed to be the first showing that Chinese military experts have been systematically trying to leverage the power of open-source LLMs.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump with Elon Musk during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 5
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2024

Musk’s close ties with Trump give Xi a friend with influence

Elon Musk, who has donated more than $100 million to support Donald Trump, has extensive business interests in China.
A man watches a news broadcast about a North Korean missile test, at the main rail station in Seoul on Thursday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2024

North Korea fires off missiles hours before U.S. voters head to polls

Pyongyang launched at least seven short-range missiles that flew about 400 kilometers each before splashing down in waters outside Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, who supports Republican presidential nominee former U.S. President Donald Trump, gestures as he speaks about voting during an America PAC Town Hall in Folsom, Pennsylvania, on Oct. 17.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Elon Musk's pro-Trump group hand-picks $1 million voter giveaway winners, aide testifies

The hearing in the battleground state comes just one day before Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump square off.
President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr. at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Sept. 23
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 5, 2024

Palau's pro-U.S. president faces election test

Palau is one of Taiwan's few remaining diplomatic friends and is seen as a steadfast U.S. supporter in a region where China has made inroads.
A screen showing the yen's exchange rate against the U.S. dollar in July
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 5, 2024

Yen is the first of many Japanese assets set to pivot on U.S. election

Given the size and liquidity of its markets, Japan will be in particular focus during the U.S. election.
The European Commission's executive vice president, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng finish a joint news conference following the 10th China-EU High-Level Economic and Trade Dialogue in Beijing in September 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2024

It's not just U.S. trade hawks. Europe fears China, too.

As China’s economic policies take hold, Europe's economic concerns may be just beginning.
American voters in Tokyo gather at an election watch party, organized by Democrats Abroad Japan, at a British bar in Tokyo's Shimokitazawa district on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2024

American voters in Japan reflect divisions in home country

Several Republican voters said they believed Trump’s leadership could address the problems they are most concerned about, such as illegal immigration.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gestures as he steps on stage during a rally for former U.S. President and then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in New York on Oct. 27
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 7, 2024

What Trump's re-election means for Elon Musk

Trump has vowed to give Musk an official role cutting government spending — and with it, the power to influence policy and the federal agencies.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, China's president, shake hands during a news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Nov. 9, 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

Xi is better prepared for Trump even as 60% tariffs risk chaos

Xi would much prefer to avoid a tariff battle that risks proving much more devastating than the first round.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a news conference at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 7, 2024

South Korean president says 'not ruling out' direct weapons to Ukraine

South Korea has a long-standing policy of not providing weapons to countries in conflict.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump managed to win the support of over 72 million Americans despite his history of trying to overturn elections, a lack of policy expertise and his authoritarian rhetoric.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 7, 2024

A Donald Trump victory: How did it come to this?

How did a convicted felon, who sought to overturn a presidential election that he decisively lost just four years ago, win the votes of more than 72 million Americans?
Onlookers watch a broadcast of Republican candidate Donald Trump addressing his election night watch party, in Times Square, New York, on Wednesday. Trump has been elected the 47th president of the United States, pulling off a stunning political comeback in one of the most polarized contests for the White House in U.S. history.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 7, 2024

U.S. allies and partners gird for return of ‘transactional’ Trump

Trump is expected to raise his demands at every turn, a scenario that could very well play out with Japan, especially if Tokyo remains mired in political turmoil.
According to his team, Donald Trump will fill key jobs in the "days and weeks ahead."
WORLD / Politics
Nov 8, 2024

A look at the top contenders to staff Trump's government

Susie Wiles, his election campaign chief, became Donald Trump's first appointment when she was unveiled as his chief-of-staff, as widely expected.
Susie Wiles, 67, will be the first woman to serve as White House chief of staff.
WORLD
Nov 8, 2024

Trump picks Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff

The low-key Wiles, 67, will be the first woman to serve in the post.
For some Americans, physical distance between them and their country in the immediate post-election period is the best thing they can do for their mental health.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 9, 2024

Americans are traveling abroad as a post-election salve

One woman who temporarily relocated to Mexico City wishes she had traveled even further to a place like Japan for even more distance from domestic politcal news.

Longform

Wealthier women in the prewar era had been the targets of various media-related health campaigns that mistakenly encouraged them to avoid everything from riding bicycles to reading novels when their monthly cycles came around.
Menstruation in Japan: Breaking the silence, slowly