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Naomi Osaka participates in a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open in New York on Wednesday.
TENNIS
Sep 7, 2023

Naomi Osaka makes U.S. Open return. But not for tennis.

Naomi Osaka returned to the U.S. Open to participate in a forum on mental health and sports alongside former Olympian Michael Phelps.
Prime Minster Fumio Kishida talks with his Cambodian counterpart, Hun Manet, as they arrive at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations Summit in Jakarta on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Sep 8, 2023

The ASEAN Summit gives us just more of the same

ASEAN needs to address problems internal divisions and maintain its role in the region.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the China-Africa leaders’ roundtable on the closing day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 24
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2023

China and doubling of BRICS size challenges the U.S.-led global order

Although China is the world’s second largest economy, it still claims to be a developing country and depicts itself as the champion of the Global South.
The Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) fires missiles into the Sea of Japan off South Korea, in July 2017. The ATACMS under consideration for shipment to Ukraine would propel around 300 or more bomblets.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 12, 2023

Ukraine could get long-range missiles armed with U.S. cluster bombs

Greenlighting the weapons transfer would give Kyiv the ability to cause significant damage deeper within Russian-occupied territory.
A U.S. Marine shows off a Grp I UAS Black Hornet drone as part of the Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercise at Camp Pendleton, California, in July 2016.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 13, 2023

U.S. allies and partners critical for Pentagon’s drone swarm strategy

Questions remain about how much technology Washington will be willing to share without the risk of compromising security.
Models of military equipment and a giant screen displaying Chinese leader Xi Jinping are seen at an exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing last October.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 17, 2023

In risky hunt for secrets, U.S. and China expand global spy operations

The rival nations are taking bold steps in the espionage shadow war to try to collect intelligence on leadership thinking and military capabilities.
For all the scrutiny at home, many of China’s richest new grads are turning their backs on their lives abroad. Sometimes, they’re responding to the lure of China’s potential. Other times, it’s the alienation they feel overseas.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 22, 2023

China’s wealthy youth flock home as tensions with U.S. rise

For all the scrutiny at home, many of China’s richest new grads are turning their backs on their lives abroad.
Nintendo Tokyo at the Shibuya Parco department store complex, the first such official Nintendo store in Japan
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2023

Microsoft buying Nintendo would have been a disaster

Imagine the clash of cultures. Nintendo executives famously cut their own salaries rather than lay off workers during the failure of the Wii U.
A man walks toward Sankore mosque, also known as the former University of Sankore, in Timbuktu, Mali
WORLD / Politics
Oct 3, 2023

Mali in meltdown as militants advance and U.N. withdraws

The violence risks adding instability to a region already reeling from military coups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Niger.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaks at the Capitol after he was ousted as speaker of the House, in Washington on Tuesday. The ouster is without precedent in modern U.S. history and leaves the chamber without a leader, plunging it into chaos.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 4, 2023

U.S. House speaker ouster means more chaos as shutdown fight looms

Kevin McCarthy lost his post after hardliners in his party revolted over his compromise with Democrats to avert government shutdown.
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, and Ann Burroughs, president and CEO of the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles, discuss the importance of preserving the history of interned Japanese Americans.
CULTURE / Art
Oct 6, 2023

U.S. ambassador honors artworks by interned Japanese Americans

“This is not a great moment for America, and we have to own it,” Rahm Emanuel said at a reception in Tokyo.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and other members of the delegation arrive at Shanghai Pudong International Airport in Shanghai on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 7, 2023

U.S. senators arrive in China seeking Xi meeting

The bipartisan delegation led by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer is the latest high-level U.S. officials to visit China.
Iranians gather in Tehran on Saturday to show support for Palestinians after Hamas' attack on Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2023

Gauging Iran’s culpability in the Israel conflict

Tehran has a lot of layers to sift through as it determines the extent of its support and the possible repercussions.
The U.K.'s decision to cut back on its HS2 high-speed rail network runs contrary to the path taken by Japan, which stuck to a long-term infrastructure plan.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 11, 2023

U.K. effort to imitate Japan's shinkansen falls short

There is value of sticking to a long-term infrastructure plan, as Japan has done for almost 50 years with its high-speed rail system.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken returns to Amman, Jordan, early Tuesday after overnight negotiations in Tel Aviv with Israeli officials, including Benjamin Netanyahu.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 17, 2023

U.S. whirlwind Israel diplomacy hits hard Middle East realities

The top U.S. diplomat's flurry of travel to Arab capitals appears to have resulted in little beyond President Joe Biden's planned visit to Israel.
Smoke rises over buildings in the Gaza Strip on Saturday amid Israeli strikes.
WORLD
Oct 21, 2023

At Cairo summit, U.N. chief urges cease-fire to end Gaza 'nightmare'

Addressing a Cairo summit, Antonio Guterres said the Palestinian enclave of 2.4 million people was living through "a humanitarian catastrophe."
A protest for the return of the hostages on a main street in Tel Aviv on Saturday. The Biden administration has advised Israel to delay a ground invasion of Gaza, hoping to buy time for hostage negotiations and to allow more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinians in the sealed-off enclave, according to several U.S. officials.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 23, 2023

U.S. advises Israel to delay Gaza invasion, officials say

The U.S. has suggested that more time is needed for hostage negotiations, the delivery of aid and mapping out ways to avoid more civilian casualties.
Mourners bury children and their father, who were killed during Israeli airstrikes on their home, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 24, 2023

Israel steps up attacks as U.S. urges 'continuous flow' of Gaza aid

European leaders looked set to follow the U.N. and Arab nations in calling for a 'humanitarian pause' in hostilities to deliver aid.
U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2023

U.S. Republicans try, try again with fourth speaker nominee

Congress has been at a standstill and unable to address multiple global crises, as well as the fast-approaching threat of a government shutdown.
Two Air Self-Defense Force F-2 fighter jets (bottom) fly in formation with a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber as part of a joint exercise with the United States and South Korea in airspace near Kyushu on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 25, 2023

U.S., Japan and South Korea cooperation reaches new heights with aerial drill

While some view the move as signaling a "new era" in security ties, questions remain as to how long the current political momentum will hold
Israeli soldiers gather around a tank near the border with the Gaza Strip on Oct. 15. The IDF is preparing to conduct a ground offensive into the Palestinian territory.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2023

When history rhymes: Are we back in 2003, at the dawn of the Iraq War?

Given the parallels between the Israeli position today and the U.S. invasion of Iraq a decade ago, history can offer important lessons.
A soldier installs an Israeli flag on a tank during a military drill near Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
Oct 27, 2023

U.S. strikes Syrian facilities after attacks by Iran-backed militia

U.S. President Joe Biden ordered strikes on two facilities in Syria following attacks on U.S. troops in the past week, the Pentagon said, warning the U.S. will take additional measures if attacks by Iran's proxies continue.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber is escorted by South Korean F-35s during a joint military exercise over the Korean Peninsula that also involved Japan's Air-Self Defense Force.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2023

Japan, U.S. and South Korea patrol the skies together

The three countries have historically engaged in bilateral exercises with the United States, but this trilateral exercise in the air is a notable first.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei  speaks before an audience in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 28, 2023

U.S. airstrikes send twin messages to Iran, American officials say

The airstrikes were the latest gamble by the United States to modify Iran’s behavior, few of which have worked in the past.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses an emergency session on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the United Nations headquarters on Oct. 27.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 3, 2023

Where’s the United Nations in all this? Oh, right, nowhere.

In times of crisis, the United Nations turns into a Babel in which everybody distrusts everybody else and finding common ground becomes impossible.
Abortion rights activists and counterprotesters demonstrate outside the U.S. Supreme Court in June on the first anniversary of the court ruling in the Dobbs vs. Women’s Health Organization case, overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision. 
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 8, 2023

U.S. abortions haven’t dropped since Dobbs ruling

The #WeCount project says the number of U.S. abortions increased by about 2,000 between June 2022 and June 2023 compared with the prior 12-month period.
Demonstrators protest outside an Indian consulate in Canada on Sept. 25 after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the prospect of New Delhi's involvement in the murder of a Sikh separatist leader there. Now U.S. officials say they have thwarted a similar plot.
WORLD
Nov 23, 2023

U.S. thwarted plot to kill Sikh separatist in America

The U.S. is treating the plot with utmost seriousness and has raised the issue with the India "at the senior-most levels," the White House said.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman welcomes Chinese President Xi Jinping in Riyadh on Dec. 8, 2022.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2023

Mideast wealth funds draw greater U.S. scrutiny over China ties

A U.S. committee is reviewing several multibillion dollar deals this year on concerns they could pose national security risks.
Pope Francis had planned to attend the COP28 conference in Dubai this week, but canceled on Tuesday due to health concerns.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 29, 2023

U.S. bishops cling to fossil fuels, despite Pope's 2015 appeal

Not a single diocese has announced it has let go of its fossil fuel assets since the pope's landmark encyclical on environmental stewardship.
A CV-22 Osprey at the U.S. military's Yokota Air Base in Tokyo in September 2018
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2023

U.S. Osprey crash rekindles safety concerns in Japan

The unique aircraft has had its share of incidents, but still has a relatively safe record compared to other military aircraft.

Longform

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