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Pedestrians passing anti-tank obstacles in Odesa, Ukraine, on Thursday
WORLD
Jul 30, 2023

U.S. pressures Russia war smugglers after army’s run on chips

A chip ban is aimed at curbing Russia’s production of drones and precision missiles that rely on components that are largely manufactured in Taiwan.
While the pace of deploying clean-energy solutions is faster than it has ever been, with climate change, the world overall is racing in the wrong direction.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 1, 2023

What the climate fight is really about

Now that a future of higher average global temperatures is inevitable, managing the problem well requires that we cut off the tail end of the extreme-weather distribution.
Former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump attends one of his campaign rallies in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD
Aug 1, 2023

Trump's bid to quash Georgia probe rejected by judge

The judge denied Trump's request to disqualify the lead prosecutor, block any potential indictments and throw out a special grand jury report.
Supporters wave flags as they rally in support of Niger's junta in front of the National Assembly in Niamey on Sunday.
WORLD
Aug 1, 2023

U.S. sees narrow opportunity to reverse course in Niger after coup

The U.S. has condemned the junta's overthrow of elected President Mohamed Bazoum.
New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Hipkins (center) and others, as Britain signs the treaty to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, in Auckland on July 16.
BUSINESS / ANALYSIS
Aug 1, 2023

China entry into trans-Pacific trade pact faces political hurdles

China should be able to meet standards set out in the pact, experts say, forcing members to make a politically uncomfortable decision on letting it join.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday called the downgrade of the United States' top-tier sovereign credit grade by Fitch Ratings "arbitrary” and "outdated.”
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 2, 2023

U.S. credit rating downgraded from AAA by Fitch 

Fitch Ratings criticized the country’s ballooning fiscal deficits and an "erosion of governance” that have led to repeated debt limit clashes.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, arrives at Reagan National Airport in Washington en route to his arraignment in federal court on Thursday.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2023

Trump pleads not guilty to charges of obstructing election

After the hearing, the former U.S. president briefly addressed reporters at the Washington airport, calling it a "very sad day for America.”
Two U.S. Navy sailors have been arrested on charges of providing sensitive U.S. military information to China. Both men are Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizens.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2023

U.S. sailors charged with selling military secrets to China

Two sailors have been arrested on charges of providing sensitive U.S. military information to China. Both men are Chinese-born naturalized U.S. citizens.
A Shein office in Singapore. The meteoric rise of shopping platforms selling Chinese-made goods has been fueled by a decades-old loophole that allows cheap products to land in U.S. mailboxes tariff-free.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023

Key trade loophole keeps cheap Chinese products flowing to U.S.

The fact that Chinese goods and China-founded companies are benefiting from the loophole has frustrated some U.S. lawmakers.
Children play on a beach near a Taiwan Navy supply ship on Nangan Island, which is part of the Matsu Archipelago that is controlled by Taipei and located close to the coast of mainland China.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 4, 2023

A year after Nancy Pelosi’s historic visit, is Taiwan more secure?

Though both U.S. and broader international support for Taipei has accelerated, the Chinese military is regularly operating closer to the island than ever.
A courtroom sketch shows former U.S. President Donald Trump taking an oath during a court appearance in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 6, 2023

Civics lesson or reality TV? Calls grow to broadcast Trump trial

Lawyers and politicians in the U.S. are lining up to urge that cameras be allowed inside the courtroom.
A landscape worker from Mexico takes a break during a heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona, on July 27. A thermal camera registered surface temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius, with an air temperature of 42 C.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 8, 2023

Thermal camera captures record heat wave scorching Phoenix

The southwestern U.S. city has shattered its 1974 heat-wave record with temperatures above 43 degrees Celsius for 31 straight days.
People lie passed out on a sidewalk in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco in February 2020.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 8, 2023

Is America’s soft power eroding?

San Francisco has changed from a hub of hippie culture and freedom in the 1960s and '70s, suggesting America's soft power is abating.
Tom Malian on Monday at his business, Toluca Lake Dry Cleaners, in Burbank, California near the Warner Bros. and Disney studios. His business has taken a severe blow since Hollywood went on strike. Film and TV production ground to a halt 100 days ago when writers downed their pens, before being joined on the picket lines in mid-July by actors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 9, 2023

Los Angeles subdued as Hollywood double strike hits 100 days

Despite its sprawling size, the city is almost as much a company town as any in America dominated by a single industry.
U.S. President Joe Biden in Washington on July 21. On Wednesday, Biden signed an executive order that will prohibit some new U.S. investment in China in sensitive technologies like computer chips, and require government notification in other technology sectors.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 10, 2023

Biden orders ban on U.S. investment in key Chinese technologies

The order restricts investments in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum information technologies and certain artificial intelligence systems.
Smoke billows as wildfires driven by high winds destroy a large part of the historic town of Lahaina in Mauii County, Hawaii, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Aug 10, 2023

Hawaii wildfires kill 36 as 'apocalypse' hits resort city

Multiple neighborhoods were burnt to the ground as the western side of the island was nearly cut off.
The impact of China's latest metal curbs will likely be limited, experts say, as the United States is already looking for alternative supply chains.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 11, 2023

China’s gallium curbs to have limited impact on U.S. defense

China said the recent export controls are necessary to safeguard national security, but experts believe this is a way for the country to hit back at U.S.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at an event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 11, 2023

New U.S. rules on China investments fail to offer clear guidance

The Treasury Department’s 46-page notice released alongside the order includes at least 80 separate questions about how it should structure the program.
As long as coal plants are still operating, it is a good idea to make them capture their carbon dioxide emissions. But the sooner that coal is replaced by renewables, the better it will be for the planet.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 11, 2023

Carbon capture and the changing economics of power generation

Carbon capture policies could unwittingly extend the life of dirtier energy sources.
U.S. President Joe Biden recent comments about China are some of his most direct criticisms yet about the U.S.’s top geopolitical and economic rival.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 12, 2023

Biden fears Chinese economy is ‘ticking time bomb’

Biden's comments included several major inaccuracies about the world’s second-largest economy.
As of Saturday, at least 89 death have been recorded as a result of the wildfire that engulfed the Maui town of Lahaina, Hawaii. That toll is likely to rise as the search for victims continues.
WORLD
Aug 13, 2023

Maui fire death toll, at 89, is highest in U.S. in a century

Maui death toll is likely to rise in the coming days as only 3% of areas burned Tuesday had been searched by canine teams.
Taiwan's vice president, Lai Ching-te, waves at Taoyuan International Airport before as he departs on Saturday to the United States for a stopover in New York on his way to Paraguay.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 13, 2023

China’s Foreign Ministry condemns Taiwan VP’s U.S. stopovers

Lai Ching-te’s stopovers in New York and California are scheduled to take place on his way to and from Paraguay for the inauguration of its new president.
North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un stands on a multipurpose armored vehicle after a visit to an important munitions factory at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 14, 2023

Kim Jong Un calls for more missiles ahead of South Korea and U.S. drills

Seoul and Washington say the exercises are staged to improve their ability to respond to Pyongyang's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
Taiwan's Vice President Lai Ching-te speaks during a luncheon in New York City in this handout picture released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 14, 2023

Taiwan VP vows to ‘never back down’ amid totalitarian threats

Lai Ching-te is not known to have met any top U.S. officials during his stopover in New York City.
A trader on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange on July 26
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 15, 2023

U.S. loss of AAA badge shows shift in views on government debt

Fitch Ratings flagged not only U.S. governance but also higher rates driving up debt service costs, an aging population and rising health care spending.
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington. A conservative group's charge that a liberal network is abusing its tax-exempt status mirrors similar allegations made against a right-wing activist.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023

U.S. ‘dark money’ donor groups trade accusations of tax evasion

Though the allegations by both sides are partisan, legal experts say the concerns they raise have been taken seriously by the IRS in the past.
Surgeons work to transplant a pig kidney at a hospital in New York in July.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 17, 2023

Surgeons say pig kidney functional in human for over a month

The latest experimental procedure is part of a growing field of research aimed at advancing cross-species transplants.
Taiwanese Vice President Lai Ching-te arrives at a banquet before addressing supporters at the San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront hotel on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 18, 2023

Taiwan VP displays diplomatic skills in key U.S.-Paraguay trip

Although Lai’s political rivals criticized the low profile of his stopovers in New York and San Francisco, experts say the trip achieved its main goals.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump looks on during Round 3 at the LIV Golf-Bedminster 2023 at the Trump National in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 13.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2023

Trump center stage despite threat to skip Republican debate

The 77-year-old former president, who is rarely out of the headlines, has been vocal about possibly skipping the event in the city of Milwaukee.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a news conference at Camp David in Maryland on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2023

Biden wants to sell his economic plan. But there's a problem.

The White House is embracing "Bidenomics” — originally intended to deride the president's policies — to instead promote his stewardship of the economy.

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