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Mainland Chinese tourists on a converted car ferry in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbor on April 19, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Business-first Hong Kong now comes with a catch: Beijing politics

The former British colony is hewing closer to mainland China, blurring distinctions that once cemented the city’s status as mostly free from Chinese politics.
Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota's chief technology officer, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Toyota bets on alternate-fuel engines in an electric future

The carmaker said its making progress on developing smaller, more efficient engines that can work with EV manufacturing platforms.
Foreign private credit funds are focusing on Japanese investors as they move more money into higher-paying assets.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Private credit chases Japan’s trillions as inflation spurs shift

Private credit funds are betting that inflation will prompt investors to channel more money into riskier overseas investments.
Aphelele Vavi (right), 22, who is studying sound engineering, at lunch with fellow students at SAE Creative Media Institute in Rosebank, South Africa, on March 19
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

South Africa’s young democracy leaves its young voters disillusioned

The nation is heading into a pivotal election, in which voters will determine who will pick the president, but voter turnout has been dropping in recent years.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of her meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, Palestinian Authority prime minister, at the Chigi Palace in Rome on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 29, 2024

Once ostracized, Italy's Meloni is now center stage in Europe

If Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backs center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term, expect the Italian leader's influence to grow.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks after a trilateral AUKUS meeting, in San Diego in March 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2024

Who will 'plug and play' with AUKUS?

Tokyo, Ottawa, and Seoul must demonstrate their value in AUKUS by contributing sustainably and enhancing its effectiveness in promoting a rules-based Indo-Pacific order.
With the recent focus on the yen and individual investing, the phrase "Mrs. Watanabe" — one of the most common pieces of jargon in Japanese financial circles — has seen a resurgence.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2024

My search for the original 'Mrs. Watanabe'

Yen retail traders are back in the spotlight. But where did the phrase for the archetypal Japanese housewife investor come from?
The documentary short “Now and Then" traces how the Beatles honored John Lennon after his death by crafting a tune he wrote into the “last Beatles song.”
CULTURE / Film
May 30, 2024

Eight standout films to catch at this year's Short Shorts Film Festival

The event will screen roughly 270 films that range from dramas about current social issues to animations that push the limits of the imagination.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a train station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 30, 2024

In unusual move, North Korea fires off barrage of at least 10 ballistic missiles

While the North has in the past launched multiple missiles in a single volley, the sheer number fired Thursday pointed to training for so-called saturation strikes.
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's former prime minister, arrives at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok after returning from a self-imposed exile on Aug. 22, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2024

Thailand heads for fresh political turmoil as Thaksin indictment looms

The political instability can potentially delay a parliamentary approval for the 2025 budget and cause further damage to the nation’s fragile financial markets.
Deputy U.S. Treasury secretary Wally Adeyemo
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

China must stop aiding Russia in war, deputy U.S treasury chief says

The U.S. is "open to sanctioning” anyone helping Russia gain access to components that can be used for weapons, U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo said.
Many condo complexes are facing challenges in securing sufficient reserve funds for extensive repair projects.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 30, 2024

Land ministry sets standards for condo repair reserve funds

Large-scale condo repairs typically occur roughly every 15 years.
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.
Australia's Josh Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc celebrate with the trophy after winning the ICC Cricket World Cup in November 2023. Australia will try to complete a rare treble of titles when the T20 World Cup begins in June.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
May 30, 2024

Australia will chase historic treble at T20 World Cup

Australia will be aiming to become the first team to possess all three of cricket's global titles at the same time.
Magnetic paper train tickets have been in use in Japan since the late 1960s.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 30, 2024

Eastern Japan rail operators to introduce QR code tickets by March 2027

JR East and seven other railway operators will replace their decades-old magnetic ticketing system to improve efficiency and sustainability.
Why does it feel like we’re in a ceaseless cycle of seasonal prep?
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 31, 2024

Help! I'm stuck in Japan's endless cycle of seasonal prep

Rainy season is here, and so are all the preparations for your home and clothes. Why does living in Japan feel like an endless cycle of gearing up for the weather?
A Donald Trump campaign event at Crotona Park in the Bronx borough of New York City on May 23.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2024

Unfazed Republican donors focus on Trump's polling, not guilty verdict

Many conservative donors already viewed the New York hush-money cash as political persecution.
A ground crew worker refuels a plane at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport in Arizona.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2024

Waste-to-fuel company that raised $1 billion verges on collapse

Fulcrum BioEnergy has recently laid off nearly all of its staff of about 100 and halted most of its operations, according to more than a half-dozen former employees.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump gestures following the announcement of the verdict in his criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016, outside Trump Tower in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2024

Trump guilty verdict adds twist to 2024 race: a convicted felon

While such a development may change the trajectory of the presidential race, few experts are confident it will.
A residential development under construction in Shanghai in February. Problems in the property sector have had a negative impact across broad areas of China's economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 31, 2024

China's factory activity unexpectedly dips as property pain persists

The disappointing number adds to a series of recent indicators showing the $18.6 trillion economy is struggling to get back on its feet.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Komeito head Natsuo Yamaguchi meet at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 31, 2024

LDP secures backing for revisions to political funding law

The agreement with Komeito and Nippon Ishin no Kai paves the way for the bill's passage in the current session of parliament.
As mind-numbingly big as the clean-energy price tag may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
COMMENTARY / World
May 31, 2024

$215 trillion to save the planet is a bargain

And as mind-numbingly big as $215 trillion may be, it’s actually a bargain compared with the potential economic destruction of unabated climate change.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addresses the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Seoul on Monday as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang listen on.
EDITORIALS
May 31, 2024

A long-neglected trilateral resumes — to expected results

Revival of this trilateral has been driven by Chinese uncertainty: worries about its economy and anxiety regarding geopolitical developments.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivers a keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Friday night.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2024

Marcos lays out red line in South China Sea at security conference

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his clearest remarks yet on his red lines in the ongoing row with China over the disputed waterway.
Local residents rush to get cold water at an ice factory in Jacobabad, Pakistan, on Tuesday. It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024

A matter of survival as South Asia’s heat wave reaches 52 degrees

It is yet another brutal summer in the age of climate change, in a part of the world that is among the most vulnerable to its dire effects.
Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara (left) shakes hands with Chinese defense chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan defense chief tells China counterpart of 'serious' military concerns

Defense Minister Minoru Kihara met Chinese defense chief Dong Jun on the sidelines of a major Asian security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
Passenger carriers will receive 19% fewer aircraft this year than expected because of production issues at Boeing and Airbus, according to AeroDynamic Advisory.
BUSINESS / Companies / ANALYSIS
Jun 1, 2024

Aircraft shortages turn into cash bonanza for some airlines

Sale-and-leaseback transactions have long been a way for airlines globally to generate liquidity and ease the strain on their balance sheets.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

U.S. defense chief stresses commitment to Asia as concerns mount

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was focused on the region even as the White House grapples with the conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza.
Voters stand in line to cast their ballot at a polling station on the seventh and final phase of voting of India's general election, in Patna on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

India’s long, bitter election fight heads toward finish line

The results won’t be declared until June 4, but Saturday will offer a clue as to whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on track for a third term.
In “A Gentleman from Japan,” Thomas Lockley lays out the history of English exploration around the globe during the 16th century, delving into the life of the first recorded Japanese person to set foot in the United Kingdom, the United States and South America.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 2, 2024

'A Gentleman from Japan': A journey of firsts in the age of exploration

Written in fast, novelistic prose, Thomas Lockley uses the thread of one Japanese man’s experience to guide his readers into a complex world of suspicion and danger.

Longform

Passengers that were on a morning train attacked by members of the Aum Shinrikyo group wait for medical assistance outside Kasumigaseki Station on March 20,1995.
The day a religious cult brought terror to Tokyo