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A damaged multistory apartment block, a section of which collapsed as the result of what local authorities called a Ukrainian missile strike, in the city of Belgorod, Russia, on May 13
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Inside the White House, a debate over letting Ukraine shoot U.S. weapons into Russia

Russia’s forces have placed weapons right across the Ukrainian border and aimed them at Kharkiv — knowing weaponry that can be used in response is limited.
A member of a Ukrainian artillery crew stores munitions at a firing position near the town of Vovchansk, in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, on May 19. Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine's recent battlefield setbacks.
WORLD
May 26, 2024

Some U.S. weapons stymied by Russian jamming in Ukraine

Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine’s recent battlefield setbacks.
A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024

Government and society are at odds on national security

Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.
Trump speaks to members of the media at Manhattan criminal court in New York on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024

Trump’s historic closing arguments will be a ‘tale of two cases’

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will give dueling takes on the evidence and testimony presented over nearly five weeks.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the National Memorial Day Wreath-Laying and Observance Ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 29, 2024

Biden's blurred red lines under scrutiny after Rafah carnage

Despite global outrage over a recent deadly attack in Rafah, the White House has insisted that it did not believe Israel had launched the major operation.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures as he arrives back at Trump Tower after being convicted in his criminal trial, in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 31, 2024

Trump found guilty on all counts in hush money case

Prosecutors said Trump led a broader scheme to influence the election by concealing stories of his alleged sexual encounters with women.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump after the verdict was read at Manhattan criminal court in New York City, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 31, 2024

For Trump's false records conviction, prison is not unprecedented

Prison time is rare for people convicted in New York state of felony falsification of business records — the charge Donald Trump faced at his six-week trial.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission, which polices deceptive advertising practices, saw a jump in complaints over the past year about ads that either used AI or claimed to use it to lure people into scams.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2024

AI scam complaints are just the tip of the iceberg

The U.S. FTC, which polices deceptive advertising practices, saw a jump in complaints over the past year about ads using AI to lure people into scams.
Donald Trump holds a rally in the South Bronx on May 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2024

'Enemy within': Trump rhetoric rings alarm bells

During his first term Trump regularly railed at the media as the "enemy of the people," but his sweep now seems wider and more indiscriminate.
Ukrainian soldiers patrol a heavily war-damaged area of the town of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine on May 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2024

Ukraine and its allies need a new strategy. Here’s a start.

With the war in Ukraine, stop talking about ‘liberal’ democracy and the ‘rules-based international order.’
The NewsBreak company logo adorns a sign at a corporate office building in Mountain View, California, on April 26
WORLD
Jun 6, 2024

Top news app in U.S. has Chinese origins and ‘writes fiction’ with AI

NewsBreak launched in the U.S. in 2015 as a subsidiary of Yidian, a Chinese news aggregation app.
Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and Mexico's president-elect, during the closing campaign rally at Zocalo Plaza in Mexico City on May 29, 2024.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 7, 2024

Traders stunned by election surprises from Mexico to India

Voters in countries representing roughly 40% of the world’s population and its gross domestic product will have elected new leaders before the year is out.
A Mirage 2000-5F jet fighter takes off from an air-base in France in March 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 8, 2024

French Mirage jets to join U.S. F-16 in patchwork Ukraine air force

Kyiv hopes the defense upgrade will bolster its counteroffensive against Russia, but integration challenges remain.
President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden arrive with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a State Dinner at the White House in Washington on June 22, 2023. As the United States prioritizes teamwork with its partners in the Asia-Pacific region, many believe they are witnessing a lasting change in American power.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 13, 2024

In China’s backyard, the U.S. has become a humbler superpower

The United States no longer presents itself as the confident guarantor of security but as an eager teammate for military modernization and tech development.
A health worker puts on an adhesive bandage after inoculating a man with a booster shot of the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Manila in January 2022.
WORLD
Jun 14, 2024

U.S. ran secret anti-vaccine campaign to undermine China during pandemic

The clandestine operation aimed to sow doubt about the safety and efficacy of vaccines and other life-saving aid that was being supplied by China.
U.S. President Joe Biden talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the G7 summit in Savelletri, Italy, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 16, 2024

Modi seizes center stage at G7 to ambush Biden and Trudeau

Modi arrived at the G7 meetings bruised by disappointing election results and facing an outcry over a pair of assassination plots allegedly backed by his government.
The US economic engine has pulled in an increasing share of global capital.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 17, 2024

How the U.S. mopped up a third of global capital flows since COVID-19

The U.S. also pulled in a fresh wave of foreign direct investment thanks to billions of dollars worth of incentives.
A view of the Unit 4 reactor of Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in Lianyungang, Jiangsu province, China, in 2018
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2024

U.S. as many as 15 years behind China on nuclear power, report says

Beijing's state-backed technology approach and extensive financing give it the edge over its rival, the study by the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2024

Biden offers legal path to undocumented spouses of citizens

Spouses and children of citizens who have been in the U.S. for at least a decade can apply for residence without first being forced to leave the country.
Anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court in Washington on June 14.
WORLD / Society
Jun 19, 2024

'Unthinkable' normalized two years after U.S. abortion ruling

From medics to single mothers to abused minors, Americans from all walks of life have been affected.
The dollar’s reign has wreaked havoc across currency markets, especially in Japan where ultralow interest rates have sent the yen spiraling down more than 11% against the greenback this year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 22, 2024

Dollar winning streak extends into fifth week as yen slumps

The dollar’s reign has wreaked havoc in Japan where low interest rates have sent the yen spiraling down more than 11% against the greenback this year.
This screen grab taken from video posted on the WikiLeaks X account on Tuesday shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looking out the window of a private jet as he flies from London to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. authorities.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2024

Assange walks free, but plea deal sets a chilling precedent

The Committee to Protect Journalists says the prosecution had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide.
An image of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange released on social media on Tuesday. Assange pleaded guilty to a single charge of disseminating classified documents in a plea bargain that leaves him a free man.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2024

Julian Assange’s saga will forever exist in a legal gray area

WikiLeaks founder Assange’s case lies on the boundary between espionage and protected speech. Its outcome has done nothing to shed light on this gray zone.
Outgoing Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte emerged as the sole candidate for NATO secretary-general after his final challenger, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis, dropped out of the race last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2024

NATO’s next chief, Mark Rutte, will have his work cut out for him

The war in Ukraine, uncertainty about Washington's position in the alliance and growing tensions with China are among the challenges he will face.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, U.S. President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego in March last year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Australian diplomat says adding AUKUS partners 'complicated'

A senior Australian diplomat has said he does not believe the U.S. Congress is open to expanding the pact — though collaboration would be a different matter.
As the 1924 Exclusion Act came into effect in the United States, people in Japan were not happy. It would define American immigration policy for near three decades.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jul 1, 2024

Japan Times 1924: Anti-America Day observed by all Japan

Two very different views of the United States from Japan, separated by 25 years and, more importantly, a war, define this month's look back at Japanese history.
U.S. President Joe Biden takes a call as he walks from Marine One to Air Force One with first lady Jill Biden and granddaughters Natalie Biden and Finnegan Biden in Burlington County, New Jersey, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Top Democrats rule out replacing Biden amid calls for him to quit 2024 race

A post-debate CBS poll showed a 10-point jump in the number of Democrats who believe Biden should not be running for president, up to 46%.
A city street in Kyoto crowded with tourists in April. American tourists headed for Japan have surged this year, according to data from the International Trade Administration.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2024

More American tourists head to Japan as battered yen beckons

Airlines are also moving in tandem with this trend, adding 9% more seats between the United States and Japan in the three months through August.
U.S. President Joe Biden has seen Republican Donald Trump take a lead of six points, according to two prominent national polls, intensifying pressure on the beleaguered Democratic incumbent to drop out of the presidential race.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

Biden struggles to contain mounting pressure to drop out of race

Numerous Democratic lawmakers are contemplating signing a letter urging Biden to withdraw from the race, according to a senior party official.
The weakness of the yen is posing a big problem for small and midsize businesses. As for desired exchange rates, 69.5% said they want the yen trading between ¥110 and ¥135 to the dollar.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 4, 2024

Weak yen inflicts major damage to small and midsize businesses, survey says

While some larger, export driven companies have benefited from the weak currency, smaller firms are struggling to adjust.

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