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Al Hilal's Neymar during an Asian Champions League fixture against Al Ain, in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates, on Oct. 21
SOCCER
Jan 28, 2025

Neymar and Al Hilal agree to terminate contract, club says

The 32-year-old forward played just seven times since joining the club in August 2023.
The preserved Atomic Bomb Dome is seen behind the Cenotaph for the victims of the atomic bombing at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park last October.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 28, 2025

Hiroshima and Nagasaki mayors invite Trump to visit on 80th anniversary of atomic bombing

The mayors emphasized Washington’s key role in reining in the proliferation of nuclear weapons as “tensions continue to worsen” across the globe.
The findings on the alarming acceleration of warming have enormous ramifications for ocean health, as rising temperatures impact everything from coral reefs to fisheries.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jan 28, 2025

Oceans are warming faster and faster as the Earth traps more energy

The alarming acceleration helps explain why 2023 and 2024 saw unprecedented ocean temperatures — and more extreme storms.
SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son has said the firm plans to invest $100 billion in the U.S. over the next four years.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 29, 2025

SoftBank in talks to lead $500 million AI robotics funding

The startup Skild is developing software that will allow robots to perform increasingly complicated tasks.
Smoke from the Hughes fire billows outside of Castaic, California, on Jan. 22
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 29, 2025

Climate change made Los Angeles 35% more primed to burn, scientists say

Greenhouse gas pollution raised temperatures, made drought more likely and extended the duration of fire season.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits one of his country's nuclear material production facilities at an undisclosed location in this photo released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 29, 2025

North Korea's Kim vows to 'indefinitely' bolster nuke program

Kim used a rare reported visit to two of his countries' secretive nuclear facilities to highlight Pyongyang's nuclear capabilities.
Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy in action as he tees off on the eighth during the final round of the Dubai Desert Classic on Jan. 19.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 29, 2025

Rory McIlroy continues 'pivotal' year at Pebble Beach

Not only does McIlroy have his first TGL experience under his belt, he also began his season with a T4 finish at the Dubai Desert Classic on the DP World Tour.
Masayoshi Son's SoftBank Group is in talks to invest as much as $25 billion in OpenAI.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 30, 2025

SoftBank in talks to invest up to $25 billion in OpenAI

SoftBank has already committed $15 billion to Project Stargate, a joint venture with OpenAI to build data centers and other AI infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Thursday about the midair crash between an American Airlines plane and a military helicopter.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2025

Trump blames diversity programs over midair collision

The crash was nation's most deadly commercial airline accident in over a decade.
Brian Hutto runs Craft Sake Shoten, a Yokohama shop he calls a hangout for 'real sake enthusiasts.'
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Feb 2, 2025

Sipping down the rabbit hole at Craft Sake Shoten

A chance encounter with sake evangelist John Gauntner led Brian Hutto to reinvent himself with sake as his new focus.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as his defense chief, Pete Hegseth, speaks about the midair crash between a passenger jet and U.S. Army helicopter on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

Trump’s Pentagon sheds no-politics image in a major reversal

In a break with his predecessors, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has become a major driver in Trump’s agenda.
In addition to the commercial benefits from Ginza Sony Park's music-centered exhibition — such as promoting Sony's artists and products — there is a real effort to put music in focus.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 1, 2025

At the new Ginza Sony Park, listening is an art form

“Sony Park Exhibition 2025” features installations created in collaboration with six music artists: Vaundy, Yoasobi, Hitsujibungaku, Creepy Nuts, Babymonster and Kensuke Ushio.
Olaf Scholz beside a Lockheed Martin F-35 jet.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2025

Germany rethinks separation of civilian and military research

The debate centers on civil clauses — widely used policies at major research institutions that restrict collaboration with the defense industry.
Trucks wait in line at the Zaragoza-Ysleta border crossing into the U.S. on Friday in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a day ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's order to impose tariffs on Mexican imports.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2025

Trump launches trade war with tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China

U.S. President Donald Trump has ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on goods from China starting Tuesday.
Supply ships that service the offshore oil rigs on Canada's east coast load cargo in in St. John's, Newfoundland, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 2, 2025

To Trump, tariffs are not a means but an end

What makes U.S. President Donald Trump’s move against Mexico, Canada and China different compared with past uses of tariffs is that he seems uninterested in pursuing deals.
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.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes