International

BEIJING — President Barack Obama made his last trip to Asia, in September 2016, from a position of relative strength. His approval ratings were reliably high, both at home and abroad. He deepened collaboration with China on climate change, doubled American aid to Laos and lifted an arms embargo on Vietnam. But in terms of

Russian billionaire Yuri Milner gained fame and wealth as an early backer of Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and other Silicon Valley startups. Called “Russia’s most influential tech investor” by Forbes, Milner’s wealth has enabled him to partner with Facebook Chairman Mark Zuckerberg in scientific philanthropy, form a spacecraft initiative with famed physicist Stephen Hawking, and

Of all the things Syrian refugees leave behind, one of the most surprising is language. Not the dialect they speak at home, but the Arabic of written and formal speech. It’s the form of Arabic used in school, books, public life and media. It’s a simplified version of the Arabic of the Quran, and you

TOKYO — Wrapping up a visit here before flying to South Korea, President Donald Trump called for Japan to buy U.S. anti-missile batteries to counter the growing ballistic missile threat from North Korea, saying buying more U.S. military equipment would create more jobs for Americans and increase security for the Japanese. “He will shoot them