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Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with the families of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 22, 2024

Raisi death reshapes Iran succession, putting focus on Khamenei son

Following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's, son Mojtaba has emerged as a top contender.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2024

Putin wants Ukraine cease-fire on current front lines, sources say

The Russian president is also prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond, according to sources.
Entrepreneur Lee Hee-tae at his office in Seoul. Lee had planned South Korea's largest sex festival in April, but the two-day event was banned by authorities following a backlash by local rights groups.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 30, 2024

Pervert or pioneer? The entrepreneur trying to get South Korea into porn

The South Korean adult content industry produces around 2,000 adult movies a year, compared with Tokyo's 2,000 a day $36.5-billion-dollar behemoth.
Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 5, 2024

Why Line, a superapp, sparked a diplomatic dispute

Line, which has evolved into an all-encompassing app used for messaging, payments, job searches and more, is now at the center of a dispute over its ownership.
Gold prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2024

You can now buy gold bars from vending machines in South Korea

Prices change daily, reflecting wider market movements, but start at about 88,000 won ($64) for a 0.5-gram bar.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy looks at papers as he attends a plenary session during a peace summit at the luxury Burgenstock resort in Switzerland on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2024

Ukraine summit sees hard road to peace as way forward uncertain

The peace conference failed to persuade major nonaligned states to join their final statement, and no country came forward to host a sequel.
A member of the Sinaloa Cartel shows capsules with methamphetamine in a safe house in Culiacan, Mexico, in 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2024

Chinese 'underground bankers' launder Sinaloa drug money

24 defendants have been charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine and money laundering offenses.
Tourists walk through Nakamise shopping street near Sensoji temple in Tokyo. This year is expected to bring 33 million travelers to Japan, an unprecedented surge and a 30% increase from last year.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 21, 2024

How an arrival tax could stem the overtourism tide

How can Japan ensure that tourism benefits locals and travelers alike? There's no silver bullet but an arrival tax of around $40 could be a good starting point.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a news conference following his first Cabinet meeting on Saturday in London.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2024

Britain’s new leader is about to get a crash course in statecraft

Some experts say the shift to Labour was less about ideology and more about fatigue with the Tories and a distrust of political institutions in general.
U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a 75th anniversary celebratory event for the alliance on Tuesday, the opening day of its summit in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

NATO offers Ukraine more air defense systems as summit kicks off

The move came as fresh assessments indicate the conflict with Russia is headed toward an indefinite stalemate.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and others at a position of Ukrainian servicemen in the town of Kupiansk last November.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 13, 2024

Being Volodymyr Zelenskyy: How war has changed Ukraine's leader

His ambition when he was elected in 2019 had been to help Ukraine become a modern democracy, before that was shattered by Russia's invasion in 2022.
Ohio Senator JD Vance at Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 16, 2024

Trump taps Vance as running mate, picking populist protege

Sen. J.D. Vance’s selection saw Donald Trump bypass many of the senator’s own colleagues, including Tim Scott of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida.
Palestinians search through rubble following an Israeli strike in Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 16, 2024

Israel launches fresh Gaza strikes after weekend attack on ‘safe zone’

Israel said it targeted a Hamas military commander in its Saturday strike on Mawasi, which killed at least 90 people, according to Palestinian officials.
China's 15-day visa-free policy is giving tourism a huge boost, with bookings from eligible countries surging 150% and attracting millions of visitors post-pandemic.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 17, 2024

China strives to lure foreign tourists, but it's a hard sell for some

The recent surge in tourism comes after China closed its borders in early 2020 to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and kept them shut until the start of 2023.
China's official app for digital yuan is seen on a mobile phone next to 100-yuan banknotes
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

Trump’s disdain for digital dollar risks ‘Cold War era’ in money

His vow to never allow the dollar to be digitized may turn money into a new front in Trump's trade war with China.
Ukrainian military Leopard 2A4 tanks during a training exercise in Spain.
WORLD
Jul 20, 2024

How a Berlin Cold War outpost offers a window on challenges today

With the West again aligned against Moscow as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine grinds on, it now seems strangely current.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (left) shakes hands with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in April.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 25, 2024

The LDP members best placed to deal with the next U.S. president

With Kamala Harris entering the race, the LDP now has to prepare to deal with either a familiar former president or a not-so-familiar vice president.
Athletes from South Korea take part in the floating parade on the River Seine during the 2024 Paris Olympics' opening ceremony on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 27, 2024

South Korea expresses 'regret' over Olympics opening ceremony gaffe

The South Korean athletes were introduced as representing the Democratic People's Republic of Korea — the official name for North Korea.
Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, during an event at the Buergenstock Resort in Stansstad near Lucerne, Switzerland, on June 15.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 3, 2024

Ukraine’s allies are worried about the power of Zelenskyy’s top aide

Some of Ukraine’s international backers are growing concerned about just how much decision making power Andriy Yermak has.
South Korean Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik on during an interview in Seoul on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 8, 2024

South Korean nuclear weapons would break U.S. ties, defense chief says

The idea of another term for former U.S. President Donald Trump, who complained about the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea, has fueled the debate.
A Goku balloon from the “Dragon Ball” anime series takes part in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan in November 2018. Japan’s creative industries are under threat as AI tools make it easy to mimic anime, manga and other forms of the nation’s artistic output.
COMMENTARY
Aug 9, 2024

Japan’s soft AI stance is betraying its anime artists

From Studio Ghibli to Pokemon, the country’s creatives have driven its influence and must be protected.
Helmut Engwer and Gerhard Iffert pose for a photo during a Buendnis Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance election campaign rally in Eisenach, Germany, on Aug. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2024

Eastern Germany's economic success leaves voters cold

Half of east Germans are convinced their region is economically stagnating, a study has shown.
An abandoned house in Urayama, Saitama Prefecture. Buying an <i>akiya</i>, which means empty house in Japanese, can be a rewarding experience that yields a unique space and a livable home, competitively priced. Or it could turn out to be a money pit.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 2, 2024

First lesson of Japan’s akiya gold rush: No such thing as a free house.

Renovations are usually the most expensive part of the journey and the laundry list of what needs to be done is long and tends to get longer after the process starts.
A welcome message for Pope Francis is displayed on an electric billboard at a roundabout in Jakarta on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Pope heads to Indonesia as the first stop of his four-nation tour

The tour — the longest and farthest of his 11 years leading the worldwide Catholic Church — will test Pope Francis' increasingly fragile health.
Kyoto International High Shool's baseball team receives a champion flag after winning the Japanese High School Baseball Championship final at Koshien Stadium in Hyogo Prefecture on Aug. 23.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 31, 2024

A high school baseball championship and Japan-South Korea relations

The reactions to Kyoto International High School winning the National High School Baseball Championship, both in Japan and South Korea, were intriguing.
The Tokyo leg of Magical Mirai 2024, a gathering centered on a concert starring the aqua-haired Hatsune Miku and other avatars created by Sapporo-based company Crypton Future Media, kicked off on Aug. 30.
CULTURE / Music
Sep 9, 2024

Magical Mirai 2024 shows that the future is bright for Hatsune Miku

Thousands of visitors helped kick off the Tokyo leg of the gathering, which offers an immersive dive into every part of the aqua-haired anime avatar's world.
Attendees to the 57th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting at National Convention Center in Vientiane take a group photo on July 26. Southeast Asian nations are concerned about nuclear weapons but are more focused on regional security and stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2024

Southeast Asia untroubled by China’s nuclear modernization efforts

Southeast Asian nations are concerned about nuclear weapons but are more focused on regional security and stability.
Former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves after he was elected as the new head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party during a leadership vote on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 27, 2024

Fifth time's a charm: Shigeru Ishiba set to be Japan PM after LDP poll win

Ishiba, who has also served as party secretary-general, won the LDP presidential election on Friday, defeating economic security minister Sanae Takaichi in a runoff vote.
Israeli soldiers patrol near the Israel-Lebanon border on Friday amid ongoing hostilities with Hezbollah.
WORLD
Oct 6, 2024

Israel on alert ahead of Hamas attack anniversary

The alert came with Israel engaged in an intensifying war with the Lebanese Hezbollah group, which officials said would be hit "without concession or respite."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has floated an idea of creating an Asian version of the NATO security framework.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 8, 2024

Ishiba's 'Asian NATO' dead on arrival as new PM set for diplomatic debut

Many Asian countries maintain delicate ties with China, making the creation of any defense group aimed at countering Beijing's influence difficult.

Longform

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