Search - 2025

 
 
An F-35B stealth fighter jet loaded in the hangar of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Kaga destroyer
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 17, 2025

SDF's biggest ships are being converted into de facto aircraft carriers

The Izumo and Kaga, each about 248 meters in length and 38 meters in width, are the largest vessels in the MSDF.
Akihiro Arimoto (left), accompanied by his wife, Kayoko, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo in 2002. Arimoto, the father of a girl who was spirited away to North Korea more than four decades ago and remains unaccounted for, died late Friday.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2025

Akihiro Arimoto, father of girl abducted by North Korea in 1983, dies

His death at the age of 96 is a sign of how long the issue has dragged on, with most parents of abductees having now died without finding out what happened to their loved ones.
Japan goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita (front left) and defender Saki Kumagai (center) in action against the United States during the Paris 2024 Olympics on Aug. 3
SOCCER
Feb 18, 2025

Nielsen eyes mentality shift in first outing as Nadeshiko boss

Japan will make its fifth appearance in the SheBelieves Cup, and is pitted against Australia, Colombia and the host, the United States.
Lower House Budget Committee Chairperson Jun Azumi (center) and others at the committee's executive meeting on Tuesday in the Diet building
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Ex-LDP accountant to testify on slush funds on Thursday

Junichiro Matsumoto served as chief accountant of the now-defunct faction once headed by the late former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Karlheinz Rabas, an 87-year-old historian, in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, on Jan. 16
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

German voters demand change as Europe's biggest economy stalls

A constitutional debt brake has prevented successive governments from making vital investments needed to overhaul Germany's ailing economic model.
U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza proposal is a reckless plan that would forcibly displace Palestinians, destabilize neighboring countries, empower Iran and and hinder any long-term peace efforts.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Trump’s Gaza plan is a crazy answer to a valid question

It is a propsal that will love Israel to death, revive Iran to life and destabilize every American friend.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House budget committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Government makes slow progress on budget concessions

Opposition parties are making known their policy demands, and even seeking legal guarantees, in return for their support in passing the budget for fiscal 2025.
Sapporo beer
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 18, 2025

Activist fund criticizes Sapporo after ‘acquisition failures’

The Singapore-based investment fund censured the management over "impairment losses on all of its overseas alcoholic beverage acquisitions.”
A person holds candles of Pope Francis on Tuesday near a statue of Pope John Paul II outside the Gemelli hospital in Rome where Pope Francis is hospitalized.
WORLD
Feb 19, 2025

Pope Francis has double pneumonia, complicating his treatment, Vatican says

Pope Francis has had a respiratory infection for more than a week and was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Feb. 14.
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and McLaren's Oscar Piastri in action during the Monaco Grand Prix on May 26, 2024
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 19, 2025

F1 plans extra pit stops to spice up Monaco Grand Prix

The Monaco Grand Prix's distinctive twisty street track has remained largely unchanged since the first race staged there in 1929.
Toyota agreed to transfer an existing order with LG Energy Solution to LG's battery plant in Michigan, sources said, after General Motors backed out of the project amid a slowdown in the growth of electric vehicle sales.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2025

Toyota is backing LG battery plant with $1.5 billion order

GM said in December it would sell its $1 billion stake in the Lansing, Michigan, plant, leaving LG scrambling to find new customers.
Newly promoted grand champion Hoshoryu (center) performs a dedication ceremony at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo on Jan. 31.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Feb 19, 2025

What is the ceiling for sumo’s newest yokozuna?

The ceremonies are complete, the celebrations are done, and now it’s time for Hoshoryu to get down to the daily task of leading Japan’s national sport.
Serbian demonstrators block the main boulevard in the central Serbian city of Kragujevac on Saturday, continuing months long calls for government accountability and reforms.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

The new face of global protests

Young Serbs understand that neither justice nor democracy is possible until the tables have been cleared.
The rapid advance of artificial intelligence and technology threatens traditional human life and values, but finding a balance between innovation and preserving human connection may offer a path forward for humanity's future.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2025

Does humanity have a future in the virtual and AI age?

The virtual age and artificial intelligence are making traditional ways of life seem increasingly obsolete, and this will only grow with AI's spread.
Liberal Democratic Party parliamentary affairs chief Tetsushi Sakamoto (left) and Hirofumi Ryu, his counterpart in the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, during a meeting at the parliament building in Tokyo on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Accountant's testimony on LDP slush fund scandal postponed

The LDP and CDP agreed to delay Lower House Budget Committee questioning of the Abe faction's former chief accountant.
DPP tax chair Motohisa Furukawa speaks during a meeting of the party's tax committee in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

Debate over income tax threshold reform hits roadblock with new LDP proposal

Neither Komeito, the ruling coalition's junior partner, nor the opposition Democratic Party for the People supported the LDP's new income tax plan.
The city government of Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, used corporate donations to create a volunteer tour, during which participants help farmers harvest apples and enjoy sightseeing in the city.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 20, 2025

Corporate hometown donations gain traction in Japan

Some local governments have been found to provide de facto rewards to donor companies, violating the system's rules and raising concerns about improper practices.
Abdul Hakim Sani Brown (center) runs during a 100-meter heat at the Paris Olympics on Aug. 3, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Feb 20, 2025

Abdul Hakim Sani Brown ready to sprint past Paris disappointment

Despite setting a personal best with a time of 9.96 seconds, Sani Brown finished fourth in his semifinal heat in the 100-meter sprint in Paris.
Prime Minister Shiger Ishiba waits for the Lower House Budget Committee session to begin in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Dispute over funds scandal questioning delays budget talks as CDP seeks leverage

Veering off schedule, even for a day, is detrimental to securing passage of the fiscal 2025 budget in the Lower House by March 2 — a priority for the government.
Japan’s biggest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, is ready to restart but needs a green light from the local governor.
JAPAN
Feb 21, 2025

The revival of Japan’s biggest nuclear plant faces its last hurdle

If the restart is approved, the nuclear power plant could start producing power within the following month.
Cat-related sweets sold by 7-Eleven in Tokyo. Employees of 7-Eleven have helped develop 23 types of cat-related products this year, compared with just five last year.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2025

Japan's Cat Day sees companies capitalize on 'a-meow-zing' economic boon

This year, products and services related to cats are estimated to generate ¥414.50 billion more than last year.
Festival organizers Smash revealed that local legend Tatsuro Yamashita is set to play Fuji Rock for the first time ever.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 21, 2025

Fuji Rock’s biggest lineup surprise? The debut of Tatsuro Yamashita.

The summer music festival also promises Vampire Weekend, Vulfpeck and Fred Again.. among the 60 acts named for its 2025 edition.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in parliament on Friday
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 21, 2025

LDP and opposition lock horns over Japan budget

Mindful of how much the ruling coalition needs their support, Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Democratic Party for the People are digging their heels in.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025

U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule

The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
Mirra Andreeva reacts after a point during her match against Clara Tauson during the Dubai Championships on Saturday.
TENNIS
Feb 23, 2025

Russian teen Mira Andreeva makes WTA history with title in Dubai

After ousting three Grand Slam winners, including second-seeded Iga Swiatek, en route to the final, Andreeva ended Clara Tauson's own dream run at the tournament.
Asian seabass are bred at the Songkhla Coastal Aquaculture Technology and Innovation Research and Development Center in southern Thailand.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Feb 23, 2025

Japan looks to save seafood and seaweed farming from warming oceans

Projects at home and in Thailand are seeking to address challenges stemming from climate change as well as sustainability concerns.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba replies to a question from Nippon Ishin no Kai co-leader Seiji Maehara at a Lower House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Feb. 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 23, 2025

Party heads' love of trains could keep budget talks from derailing

The leaders of Nippon Ishin no Kai and Komeito both share Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's passion for locomotives.
Economic pessimism is rife in the U.K., with households looking to cut their expenses,
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 23, 2025

The reluctant British consumer is a problem for Keir Starmer

Pessimism is rife and households are looking to cut expenses as fear rises over inflation and job losses.
Demonstrators rally in support of USAID in Boston on Feb 17. Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with the agency’s closure.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2025

Mr. President, foreign aid does put America first

Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with USAID's closure .
The logo of Rheinmetall is displayed at the Eurosatory international defense and security trade fair in Villepinte, near Paris, in June 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

Rheinmetall to convert German factories to make defense equipment

The move by Europe's top ammunition maker to repurpose two automotive plants highlights the impact of an expected surge in spending in the region.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji