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Then-U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at the White House in Washington on Nov. 2, 2017.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 9, 2024

Trump says he has no plan to remove Powell as Fed chair

Powell, whose term expires in May 2026, told reporters last month that he wouldn’t step aside early if Trump asked for his resignation.
People walk past a Dior shop in Rome on Dec. 18.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 26, 2024

Luxury labels bulk up on lower-priced goods to broaden appeal

After more than two years of sharp price hikes, luxury labels are finding themselves at risk of alienating the middle class.
Members of the Wajima City Morning Market Association pose for a group photograph on the site where the market once stood.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 30, 2024

In the wake of disaster, the revival of Wajima's market brings hope

Wajima's morning market on the Noto Peninsula was devastated a year ago. Now, led by women vendors and bold ideas, it is rising as a symbol of resilience.
Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs scores against the 49ers during their game in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 3, 2025

Lions and Vikings to determine No. 1 seed in winner-take-all showdown

The stakes are clear in the latest game in the long-running rivalry between NFC North foes Detroit (14-2) and visiting Minnesota (14-2).
Japan’s ski resorts are popular with tourists and knowing some basic Japanese will help you navigate the slopes a lot easier.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 9, 2025

Japanese ski vocabulary: Hit the books before you hit the slopes

Knowing some basic terms will help you graduate from that linguistic bunny slope in no time.
The Middle East is at a pivotal moment and U.S. President Donald Trump has the chance to reshape the region, with potential solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Lebanon's civil war, Syria's restoration and Iran's nuclear ambitions.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 23, 2025

U.S. President Trump, you can remake the Middle East if you dare

U.S. policy must be to ensure that all three stages of this ceasefire agreement are carried out and followed by a real diplomatic process for a wider settlement.
Roki Sasaki pitches in a game against the Czech Republic during the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on March 11, 2023, the 12th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
BASEBALL
Feb 4, 2025

Roki Sasaki's road to glory was paved by ache of a tragedy

Long before he became a pitching phenom and signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Roki Sasaki's life was marked by tragedy.
Created by a Hokkaido workshop, this Camembert represents the vanguard of Japanese cheeses no longer content with a reputation as low-quality, processed slices.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 16, 2025

Fresh off awards, Japanese cheese seeks a taste ‘unique to this land’

A growing number of Japanese cheesemakers are gaining international recognition, and some are aiming for a new frontier of flavor.
A Russian military vehicle heads toward Hmeimim air base in Latakia, Syria, on Dec. 15.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2025

Russia gambles to keep military bases in post-Assad Syria

Syria's interim president wants to renegotiate the 49-year lease for one base and an indefinite lease for the other to secure better terms.
A herd of sheep move across a solar farm in Haskell, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2024.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 4, 2025

Sheep grazing under solar panels help U.S. farmers to survive crop-price slump

Instead of plowing fields, Raines spent the year ferrying his flock of sheep to solar farms, to munch on the grass that grows around the gleaming panels.
American faithful celebrate after Pope Leo XIV appeared at the central balcony of the Vatican's St. Peter’s Basilica following his election on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2025

The new American pope can take Catholics in three directions

Americans (and Donald Trump) may want to stake their claims on him, but he now belongs to a much bigger organization.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (left) U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick (second from left), U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (second from right) and Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's economic revitalization minster, pose for a photo ahead of a meeting in Washington on May 1.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 19, 2025

China-U.S. trade truce prompts nations to consider tougher tactics

After China’s tough negotiating tactics earned it a favorable deal, nations taking a more diplomatic and expedited approach are questioning whether that’s the right path.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (second from left), the businessman Dang Thanh Tam, (third from left), and Eric and Lara Trump (center) attend a groundbreaking ceremony for a new Trump hotel and golf course in the Hung Yen Province of Vietnam on May 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 26, 2025

Why Vietnam ignored its own laws to fast-track a Trump family golf complex

Hanoi faces intense pressure to strike a trade deal that would head off Trump’s threat of steep tariffs, which would hit about 30% of Vietnam’s exports.
Toshiba's Richie Mo'unga runs with the ball at Chichibunomiya Rugby Stadium on May 24.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jun 2, 2025

Mo'unga shrugs off broken hand to win Japanese title

The fly-half has finished every season in top-level domestic rugby since 2017 with a winner's medal, and he picked up another with Toshiba.
Identifying a sustainable product can involve evaluating claims about emissions, plastic use, water waste and packaging recyclability.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Sep 19, 2023

Regulators are trying to stop greenwashing before it gets worse

The range of agencies tackling dubious sustainability claims is indicative of its ambiguity and breadth.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy speaks to reporters following a GOP briefing at the Capitol in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 2, 2023

U.S. House speaker vows to survive ouster threat in shutdown showdown

Hard-line Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz said he would file a "motion to vacate," a call for a vote to remove McCarthy as speaker of the House.
Israeli soldiers examine the remains of a police station where a battle took place following a mass infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip in Sderot, Israel, on Sunday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2023

Hamas torches Biden’s deal to remake the Middle East

In a surprise attack, Hamas fired thousands of rockets from Gaza into Israel, killing dozens and and leaving some areas looking like war-torn Ukraine.
Blair Masters and Talisker Scott Hunter pose for a photo with their kei truck, nicknamed “KT,” outside Ebisu Circuit in Fukushima Prefecture.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Nov 6, 2023

The little truck that could: A fresh way to tour Japan's north

Travelers have documented almost every corner of Japan. Perhaps a new kind of adventure would be doing those same journeys by different means.
Japan’s public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of such facilities in Tokyo alone dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 14, 2023

Japan seeks digital detox with return to ‘way of the sauna’

Public bathhouses have been in decline for decades, with the number of sentō baths in Tokyo dropping by nearly half in the last 15 years.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones before a game against Scotland at the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Jones will be returning to the post, the Japan Rugby Football Union announced Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 14, 2023

Wounded Eddie Jones has plenty to prove on Japan return

The 63-year-old is revered in Japan for masterminding their "Miracle of Brighton" win over South Africa at the 2015 World Cup.
Children dressed as Chinese Red Army soldiers in front of a statue of Mao Zedong at the Revolution Museum in Jinggangshan, China, in 2021
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023

The CCP equates its ideology with patriotism

A new law on patriotic education will take effect in China in 2024, forcing a narrow, jingoistic interpretation of nationalism.
Buildings in Xiamen on mainland China across the Taiwan Strait from anti-landing barriers on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2023

Taiwan’s ability to defend against Chinese invasion questioned

For all the support given by Washington, the reality is that when it comes to both civil and military defense, Taiwan still has a lot to do.
A member of the Israeli security forces inspects humanitarian aid trucks arriving from Egypt on the Israeli side of the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the southern Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2023

Without a truce, U.N. resolution may do little for Gaza, aid groups say

Humanitarian assistance is "impossible" to deploy in an active combat zone, they said.
Bill Belichick on the sideline during his final game as Patriots head coach on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 12, 2024

How Belichick helped the Patriots go from laughingstock to economic powerhouse

The Patriots' dynasty truly came to a close on Thursday when the team parted ways with Belichick, 71, the second-winningest coach in modern NFL history.
Journalist Shiori Ito sheds a tear as she speaks to reporters outside the Tokyo district court on Dec. 18, 2019, after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2024

Japanese journalist brings lonely #MeToo battle to Sundance

Shiori Ito's fight for justice is the subject of "Black Box Diaries," a documentary she herself directed.
A driver for an independent contractor to FedEx delivers packages on Cyber Monday in New York on Nov. 27, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Delivery firms struggle to adopt EVs as online sales drive up demand

Many climate pledges have been scaled back as the industry fails to keep pace with climbing emissions.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Feb 9, 2024

Roki Sasaki gets back to business after weeks of speculation about future

After weeks of rampant rumors, the "Monster of the Reiwa Era" is back to the business of baseball, and the MLB questions are back on the shelf for now.
A soldier participates in a multinational training exercise in the municipality of Hohenfels in Germany.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Europe's race against time to rebuild militaries in uncertain world

The continent is a decade away from being able to defend itself unaided, officials say, while Russia could target a NATO member in three to five years.
An activist holds an umbrella during a Fridays for Future movement climate strike on Friday in Stockholm.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Apr 22, 2024

World's largest private firms fail to set climate targets: report

The Net Zero Tracker report compared 200 of the world's largest public and private companies.
Later this month, author Shogo Imamura will open Honmaru, a bookstore that allows other businesses to rent its shelves. It's part of a wave of ideas Japanese booksellers are trying to compete with online spaces.
CULTURE / Books / Longform
Apr 22, 2024

The story isn't over for Japan's bookstores

Shops without staff, shelves for rent, cafes and meetups are some of the ways the country's dwindling bookstores are trying to survive.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight