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Philippines Foreign Minister Enrique Manalo poses for a photo at the Foreign Ministry in Manila during a recent interview with The Japan Times.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 2, 2025

Manila expects continuity in critical ties with Washington, top Philippine diplomat says

Washington’s backing remains crucial, particularly as tensions with Beijing over territorial and maritime disputes remain high.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato holds a virtual meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2025

Japan to closely monitor impact on yen of Trump tariffs, Kato says

Kato spoke as the world braces for first salvo in Trump's tariff war, with general levies of 25% on Canada and Mexico and 10% on China.
Chevy and GMC pickup trucks at a General Motors facility in Silao, Mexico, in 2022. The automaker produces more vehicles in Mexico than any other American manufacturer.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2025

Trump stretches trade law boundaries with tariffs

Experts say the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) is untested for Trump's actions and will likely face swift court challenges.
Rory McIlroy lifts the trophy after winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Feb 3, 2025

Sizzling Rory McIlroy captures Pebble Beach title

The 35-year-old four-time major winner made three birdies and an eagle after the turn to fire a 6-under par 66 and finish 21-under 267.
A sign that reads ''Buy Canadian Instead'' is displayed after the top five U.S. liquor brands were removed from sale at B.C. Liquor Stores, as part of a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, in Vancouver, British Columbia, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 3, 2025

Trump says Americans could feel 'pain' in trade war with Mexico, Canada and China

Wall Street and Washington's largest trading partners signaled hope that the trade war would not last long.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (right) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event on Monday to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025

SoftBank forms joint venture with OpenAI in enterprise play

SoftBank and OpenAI said that the joint venture will help large Japanese enterprises in the adoption and training of Cristal intelligence in order to improve their businesses.
Marcus Rashford joined Manchester United at the age of 7 and emerged from the youth academy as a teenage prodigy in 2016, but recent years have been marked by controversy.
SOCCER
Feb 4, 2025

Once Manchester United's golden boy, Marcus Rashford's run ends in divorce

Rashford appeared to have the world at his feet when he signed a new five-year contract with United in July 2023, but the relationship recently soured.
Fentanyl precursors on display in Mexico City on Oct. 4, 2023. Chemical components are said to be shipped from China to Mexico, where they are then made into fentanyl and smuggled across the border.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025

How China allegedly contributes to the deadly fentanyl crisis

Chemical components are said to be shipped from China to Mexico, where they are then made into fentanyl and smuggled across the border.
According to the National Police Agency, 99% of speech venues during last year’s House of Representatives election had baggage inspections carried out.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025

Election speech sites step up security after failed 2023 Kishida attack

The National Police Agency has applied greater pressure on speech organizers to enforce security measures following the 2023 failed attack on former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Williams' Alexander Albon in action during the Las Vegas Grand Prix on Nov. 23, 2024
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 4, 2025

Las Vegas’ F1 race moving to primetime in 2025

The race will move up two hours to 8 p.m. local time this season.
Talks by Honda and Nissan to create the world’s third-largest carmaker have gone haltingly since the plans were first announced in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Nissan shares plunge, Honda's rise as end to merger talks reported

Shares in Nissan slid more than 4% before trade was suspended by the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the Nikkei report.
Japan remains mum on a position taken by U.S. President Donald Trump to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Japan noncommittal on Trump's renaming of Gulf of Mexico

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says the government will continue to monitor related developments, but avoided confirming which name it will actually follow.
A woman stands outside the gates of the family house of detained Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon, Myanmar, on Wednesday, during an attempt to sell the lakeside mansion.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 5, 2025

Bid to sell Suu Kyi's Myanmar mansion flops for third time

It is unclear who in the country would be in a position to spend $140 million on a single, increasingly dilapidated property.
A picture depicting U.S. President Donald Trump shaking hands with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman with the slogan above "We (Israel) are ready" (for normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia) is seen in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

MBS torn between Trump and Saudi people on potential Israel deal

Among Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s biggest concerns is Saudi Arabia’s young people, which have seen Palestinian support surge amid the war in Gaza.
The bestselling Switch has a confirmed successor, but what little we know about the Switch 2 console so far raises some concerns about its longterm viability in a crowded gaming market.
LIFE / Digital
Feb 6, 2025

Making sense of Nintendo’s tight-lipped Switch 2 reveal

Nintendo will remain mum on details until April, but questions on how its new console fits into the modern gaming landscape abound.
Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, leaves the courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025

Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara sentenced to nearly five years in prison

The case involved the illegal transfer of nearly $17 million from the star's account to pay off gambling debts.
Philippine National Security Council Assistant Director-General Jonathan Malaya says information and psychological warfare have "become part and parcel" of China's malign influence in his country.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

Chinese hybrid warfare ops surge in Philippines: top security official

There has been a rise in Chinese disinformation tactics as well as suspected surveillance and espionage activities in the Philippines, the official said.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen at the ¥155 level against the dollar on Monday, when it began rallying after a sharp decline in the previous week.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 7, 2025

Yen’s weekly surge underscores growing case for a hawkish BOJ

The Japanese currency has rallied more than 2% this week, heading for the biggest gain since late November.
Ishiba eats a mikan tangerine at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Jan. 22.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 7, 2025

A 'joyful' Japan? Ishiba's choice of slogan sparks the opposite feelings

Even members of Ishiba’s Liberal Democratic Party were not happy with the slogan.
Far from making America great again, Donald Trump’s actions since assuming the presidency are giving a giant boost to China’s attempts at world leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2025

‘America First’ in action

Far from making America great again, Trump is giving a giant boost to China’s claims to world leadership.
Dig Shibuya 2025 spotlights tech in art and high-tech experiences such as “Around the Corner,” an interactive piece by the Hong Kong-based technology-driven artist group XRT (extended reality art).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2025

Shibuya becomes the canvas for tech-infused art during Dig 2025

Now in its sophomore year, the Dig Shibuya digital art festival runs from Feb. 8 to 11, with activities and exhibitions popping up across Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhood.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and U.S. President Donald Trump. Microsoft and Nvidia are quietly engaging with the Trump administration on policies affecting AI, chip exports and data centers
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 9, 2025

Tech giants Microsoft and Nvidia taking a quieter approach to Trump

Under Biden, the United States curbed the sale of Nvidia chips to China and capped the sales of its AI chips to more than 100 other countries
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold sails in the front of a formation with the Philippine Navy Jose Rizal-class frigate BRP Jose Rizal (center), the Royal Australian Navy Hobart-class air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart (left) and the Maritime Defense Force Akizuki-class destroyer Akizuki, during a multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity exercise in the South China Sea last Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 10, 2025

Calls grow louder for joint maritime patrols near Philippine hot spots

Some want Manila to consider joint coast guard and naval patrols near Chinese government vessels operating in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (left) and head coach Nick Sirianni celebrate after winning Super Bowl LIX at the New Orleans Superdome on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 10, 2025

Eagles dominate Chiefs to capture Super Bowl title and prevent three-peat

The game was played before a crowd that included U.S. President Donald Trump and pop superstar Taylor Swift.
A structure burns during the Palisades Fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 7.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 11, 2025

It’s ‘virtually certain’ the world has already breached 1.5 C

"Every increment of warming above 1.5 degrees Celsius means worse extremes,” said a research scientist.
"I hope skaters who train here will go on to shine on the world stage," Olympic silver medalist Mao Asada told the Japan Times at Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a skating rink in Tachikawa, Tokyo, whose establishment she was involved in, on Jan. 28.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Feb 11, 2025

Mao Asada sets out to safeguard the future of Japanese skating

Mao Rink Tachikawa Tachihi, a project that involved the three-time world champion, has become a dream destination for skaters.
President Donald Trump shows a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) forecast track of Hurricane Dorian that was altered with a black marker in Washington on Sept. 4, 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 11, 2025

NOAA told to make list of climate-related grants, setting off fears

Staff members were given a list and told to identify which could be "potentially impacted” by one of U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive orders.
Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts (center) with the ball during the second quarter of Sunday's Super Bowl against the Chiefs at the Caesars Superdome in New Orleans
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 12, 2025

Fox attracts a record 128 million viewers for the Super Bowl

The Philadelphia Eagles’ easy win over the Kansas City Chiefs became the most-watched event in U.S. TV history.
Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 12, 2025

Meta rally makes history as it goes on offensive with AI

Even in a market where artificial intelligence winners are rewarded, Meta shares stand out.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify

“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.

Longform

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