51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Tag - democracy

 
Menu
Search
 
July 24, 2026
 

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

DEMOCRACY

A 20?year?old restaurant worker and Gen?Z protester raises a shovel in defiance in the wake of anti?corruption protests in Kathmandu last September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 23, 2026
Why Nepal¡¯s Gen Z protestors are back in the streets
Nepal¡¯s Gen Z did not take to the streets last year simply to replace one government with another. It demanded a government that would be more accountable.
Money in politics mostly affirms politicians¡¯ existing beliefs and voter preferences and efforts to restrict it often end up empowering outside groups.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2026
Money isn¡¯t the root of all political evil
Money from super PACs and 501(c)4s flows to politicians that those entities already agree with and only helps as much as the candidate uses it.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi¡¯s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has strengthened its grip on power by manipulating the electoral process itself.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 3, 2026
Modi is rigging Indian democracy
The result of voter purging is an electoral system increasingly designed to favor India¡¯s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.
Hong Kong's chief executive officer, John Lee, speaks at a news conference in Beijing in December.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2026
The sudden death of judicial reviews in Hong Kong
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee can now certify anything as ¡°endangering national security¡± and thus restrict freedom of expression.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te attends the opening ceremony of the annual Computex trade show in Taipei on Tuesday. He said he sincerely hopes "China can face up to the June incident of 37 years ago," in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2026
Taiwan presses China to confront Tiananmen past
The events on June 4, 1989, when Chinese troops opened fire to end pro-democracy protests, are not publicly discussed in ?China, and the anniversary is not officially marked.
A giant screen shows Chinese leader Xi Jinping meeting U.S. President Donald Trump in Beijing on May 14. China distorts narratives portraying Japan as a military threat while similar dynamics in the U.S. erode truth and accountability.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 3, 2026
Defending democracy from the global war on reality
From Beijing to Washington, the very concept of objective truth feels unattainable
Partisan gerrymandering, now supercharged by technology and protected by court decisions, has escalated into a major democratic problem that is hard to reverse under current political incentives.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2026
Redistricting is making a mockery of American democracy
This history demonstrates something profound about the nature of democracy: The design of an electoral system makes a huge difference in the results it delivers.
Restoring democracy in Russia will require challenging Vladimir Putin¡¯s authoritarian rule by rebuilding locally accountable governments that can deliver public services and foster political accountability.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2026
Putin should be challenged to restore local democracy in Russia
Before the 1990 elections, many experts had assumed that the main effect of local democracy would be to deliver more autonomy for regions populated by ethnic minorities.
Amid senseless global suffering and authoritarian threats, recent democratic activism and crises such as U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s actions and the Iran conflict show that tragedy can spark hope for moral progress and climate action.
COMMENTARY / World
May 4, 2026
From despair to action: Tragedy is reborn as hope.
The crisis of democracy feeds the climate crisis.
U.S. President Donald Trump may try to use war with Iran and escalating crises as a pretext to cancel or overturn elections, invoking emergency powers or even staging a false flag operation to remain in power.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 21, 2026
Trump¡¯s wartime strategy sparks coup concerns
Trump¡¯s chief concern is preserving his own comfort and power, much of which will be lost if the Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (center), flanked by world leaders and attendees of the Global Progressive Mobilization forum, in Barcelona on Friday
WORLD / Politics
Apr 20, 2026
Global leftists rally in Spain hoping to spark resurgence against far right
Spearheaded by Spain¡¯s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a critic of U.S. President Donald Trump, the summit was buoyed by hopes that the far-right surge may have peaked.
People write on a banner while attending a "No Kings" protest against U.S. President Donald Trump in Denver on March 28. While Iran¡¯s system is built to survive, America risks weakening its own continuity by concentrating power in one leader.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2026
Why America, not Iran, has a succession problem
Iran has not collapsed. Nor has it staggered in any decisive way. It was built, from the beginning, to survive exactly this kind of assault.
President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters after signing an executive order in the Oval Office on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 1, 2026
Trump signs order tightening mail-in voting, drawing swift legal threats
The ?order would ?use federal data to help election officials verify voter eligibility and would require absentee ballots to be sent only to voters on each state¡¯s approved list.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2026
Trump¡¯s push for election power raises fears he will ¡®subvert¡¯ midterms
With election deniers in federal posts and Cabinet officials hunting for evidence of voter fraud, U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s moves have raised fears of potential interference.
Police stand guard outside the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts as twelve pro-democracy activists appeal their convictions and sentences in a landmark national security case, in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 23, 2026
Court upholds jailing of 12 activists in ¡®Hong Kong 47¡¯ subversion case
The appeal stems from a case where pro-democracy activists and ?politicians were arrested en masse in early 2021.
Traditional Russian wooden nesting dolls depict Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump in a shop in Moscow on Tuesday. Since returning to the White House, Trump has upended domestic and foreign politics while ramping up pressure on institutions ranging from universities to the Federal Reserve.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
Corruption watchdog sees ¡®worrying decline¡¯ in democracies such as U.S.
Transparency International said the United States had slid to the lowest-ever score on its 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index.
A prison van believed to be carrying Jimmy Lai, founder of the now-defunct pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily, leaves the West Kowloon Magistrates' Courts building following sentencing in a national security collusion trial, in Hong Kong on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
China to deepen Hong Kong security focus as Jimmy Lai case stirs outcry
Beijing¡¯s State Council has outlined plans to strengthen security in the city, naming finance and shipping among areas of focus.
Peter Obi, Nigeria¡¯s Labour Party presidential candidate, speaks to workers in Lagos in 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2026
Nigerian protesters want election results uploaded in real time
Demonstrators marched to the National Assembly to voice their anger at legislators approving changes to electoral laws, while omitting a key reform demanded by the opposition.
Branding every U.S. election as existential fuels hyperpartisan fear and overreach, even though repeated outcomes show democracy endures and power regularly changes hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2026
The problem with making every election an existential threat
Branding every U.S. election as existential fuels hyperpartisan fear and overreach, even though repeated outcomes show democracy endures and power regularly changes hands.
Some AI-generated content is easy to spot as fake and is marked as such, but others are convincing enough that anyone scrolling through social media could easily be misled.
51³Ô¹ÏÍø / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 7, 2026
In Japan, generative AI takes fake election news to new levels
Leaders of a new Japanese political party unveil a logo that features China, a candidate campaigns in freezing weather wearing tank tops and grannies vent in public ¡ª or do they?
Japan scientists identify clusters of protein believed to trigger Alzheimer¡¯s disease
A team of researchers said they found a ¡°seed¡± that accelerates the amyloid beta accumulation process in the brain, naming it ¡°Peak 1 amyloid beta,¡± as seen in a mouse's brain.
Indian brothers make manga debut in Japan
Two Indian brothers made their manga debut in Japan with "Kung Fu Kung Fool" ¡ª an action-comedy series that follows the adventures of a notorious thief and a young boy.
Japan weighs regulating Pokemon cards amid trading mania
A Pokemon event is held in Jakarta on July 11
Low-income families in Japan cut food and air conditioning during summer break
Yumiko Watanabe, the chairperson of nonprofit Kidsdoor, explains the results of a survey in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on July 1.
Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role
Iranian drones are displayed in an undisclosed location in Iran, in this handout image obtained on Jan. 13, 2025.U.S. officials have acknowledged that Russia has ?provided targeting ?and other support for Iran in its drone strikes on U.S. targets in the Persian Gulf region.
The sci-fi sensibilities of electronic trio Black Boboi
Black Boboi was formed in 2018 when solo artists Julia Shortreed, Utena Kobayashi and Ermhoi came together under Kobayashi¡¯s newly founded label, Bindividual.
A perfect storm: Kaze Fujii fans flock to Fuji Rock
Okayama-born singer-songwriter Kaze Fujii has carved out a distinctive place in Japanese pop since his major-label debut in 2019.
Can Japanese comedy get laughs in English? Yoshimoto Kogyo lets the jokes rip
Wes-P has millions of followers and his viral clips made him recognizable out of Japan.
The 180-day locals: Life on Japan¡¯s digital nomad visa
Christopher Flinn works remotely from Tokyo earlier this month. Japan issued 646 digital nomad visas in 2025, but tourism officials are hoping to increase that figure in the coming years, with Japan's relatively cheap cost of living and the weak yen seen as potential draws for young professionals.
Japan reveals hint of new defense spending target in fiscal blueprint
The Self-Defense Forces' Type 16 mobile combat vehicle fires during a joint live-fire drill with U.S. Marines as part of the annual Resolute Dragon exercises in Yufu, Oita Prefecture, on June 28.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

For many people, utility poles and power lines have become such a familiar part of Japan¡¯s landscape that they often go unnoticed.
Why Japan¡¯s utility poles won¡¯t be disappearing anytime soon
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE 51³Ô¹ÏÍø

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER