Nuclear button: U.S. has no way to stop president's legal order
NEW YORK -- If a U.S. president decides to launch a nuclear attack, the order is conveyed to a duty officer at the National Military Command Center at the Pentagon. The one-star commander executes the order in roughly a minute.
In the most urgent case, a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile will fire in two minutes. A submarine-launched missile will fire in 15 minutes.
That may be all it takes to end the world as we know it. The president has the sole
At U.N., dual camps but no takers for Taliban recognition
UNITED NATIONS -- The United Nations General Assembly that closed Monday saw Taliban-controlled Afghanistan emerge as the "no man's land" of international relations and procedures, with questions looming about its legitimacy, economy and future.
A diplomatic crossfire erupted over whether to "sanction or support" the Taliban, with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, the so-called P5, divided. China, the U.S. and Russia took clear positions. France made a token mention
COVID nasal spray vaccine set to enter clinical trial in Japan
OSAKA -- Shionogi will start clinical trials for a COVID-19 nasal spray vaccine in fiscal 2022, the Japanese pharmaceutical company announced Tuesday, paving the way for an inoculation method that would benefit countries lacking medical staff.
Shionogi has a licensing agreement with HanaVax to develop a nasal spray vaccine using the venture's proprietary drug delivery system. The technology uses a polysaccharide substance to deliver the vaccine through the nose, inducing immunity in the respiratory system.
Under an agreement signed in July, Shionogi has exclusive
Volkswagen hikes prices in Japan by up to $1,000
TOKYO -- Volkswagen joins the list of foreign automakers that are raising prices on vehicles they export to Japan, Nikkei has learned, making a move that domestic players have been hesitant to do amid sluggish consumer spending.
Volkswagen's biggest price hike applies to the Tiguan R, which now sells for 6.89 million yen ($62,000) but will cost 102,000 yen more in October. Fellow German automaker Audi will raise prices on vehicles by as much as
Change, not continuity, will define Japan’s new leader
Lully Miura is president of the Yamaneko Research Institute Inc., a nonpartisan, independent think tank providing geopolitical and strategic insights as well as solutions for policymakers, media and society.
Today, Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party will elect a new president, who will then become the country's next prime minister.
The race has been a fierce power struggle that has not been seen for some time after the long and stable administration of Shinzo Abe, and the short-lived administration of Yoshihide Suga that followed.
Unlike
LDP goes to polls: Kishida-Kono showdown for next prime minister
TOKYO -- Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party presidential election on Wednesday is likely to come down to a run-off between former party policy chief Fumio Kishida, popular among lawmakers, and vaccination point man Taro Kono, a favorite among rank-and-file members.
The victor will hold a press conference in the evening and immediately begin making appointments to key party posts. He or she will be elected prime minister in a special parliamentary session Oct. 4, and a new cabinet is expected to be put in
Merkel's CDU election loss set to complicate Germany-China ties
HAMBURG, Germany -- The election defeat of the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union is set to complicate relations between Europe's biggest economy and China.
Merkel's conservative CDU won 196 seats, fewer than the center-left Social Democratic Party's 206. With neither party gaining a majority in the 735-seat Bundestag, Merkel's successor will be crowned after complex coalition negotiations.
The most likely scenario is that the SDP's Olaf Scholz will
China's CIMC to buy Maersk's cold container business for $1.1bn
HONG KONG -- China International Marine Containers (Group), the world's largest maker of shipping containers, is set to expand its reach in refrigerated ones via a $1.08 billion deal with Danish conglomerate A.P. Moller-Maersk.
Shipping containers have been in focus amid disruptions to global transport that have seen freight rates climb to record levels, with some ports stuck with mountains of empty containers while exporters elsewhere struggle to find the steel boxes to send their goods overseas.
Maersk Container Industry (
Biden's infrastructure agenda pushes Xi in the right direction
Richard Heydarian is an Asia-based academic, columnist and author of "The Rise of Duterte: A Populist Revolt Against Elite Democracy" and the "The Indo-Pacific: Trump, China and the New Struggle for Global Mastery."
During the inaugural in-person summit of Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, over the weekend, the U.S., Japan, Australia and India pressed ahead with a number of initiatives to preserve a free and open order in the Indo-Pacific.
Arguably, however,
Islamabad deeply alarmed by rise in Pakistan Taliban terrorism
ISLAMABAD -- The Afghan Taliban's recapture of Kabul has emboldened jihadi movements in the region and raised concerns that a revival of Islamist insurgency could threaten foreign investments, particularly those linked to China's Belt and Road Initiative.
Since the Afghan capital fell, there has been a significant rise in attacks on Pakistani security forces by the militant Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which operates out of bases over the border in Afghanistan.
The TTP is Pakistan's most feared terror group, and has ideological
