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U.S. President Donald Trump makes a trade announcement as U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick (second from left), U.S. Vice President JD Vance (third from left), British Ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson (third from right),  U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (second from right) and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins (right) look on in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2025

Trump’s first trade pact offers faint glimpse of art of the deal

For global leaders puzzling over how to negotiate with Donald Trump, the U.S. president’s inaugural pact with the U.K. offers a few clues on how much ground he’s prepared to give.
Ras Baraka (center), mayor of Newark and New Jersey Democratic candidate for governor, prepares to address the media outside the Homeland Security Investigations Newark field office where he was detained following his arrest outside a U.S. immigration detention center, in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday.
WORLD
May 10, 2025

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka freed after arrest at ICE detention center

The private detention facility is expected to play a key role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
An Indian villager stands over the debris of his house that was destroyed by overnight Pakistani artillery shelling in Jammu on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2025

Outside mediation now crucial for Pakistan and India

With the risk of dangerous escalation between India and Pakistan the highest in decades, only international mediation can stop a spiral into all-out conflict, analysts say.
Indian paramilitary soldiers stand guard along a street in Srinagar on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 11, 2025

Fragile ceasefire holds between India and Pakistan as Trump offers more help

The four days of fighting was the worst in nearly three decades, with dozens killed as missiles and drones pummeled military installations.
The entrance to discount retailer Don Quijote's store in Tokyo's Shibuya district, known as Don Don Donki outside the country
BUSINESS / Companies
May 11, 2025

'Treasure hunt': Tourists boost sales at Japan's Don Quijote stores

Revenues at Don Quijote in Japan are "around 1.7 times higher than before the pandemic," said Motoki Hara, a manager at the retailer.
(L to R) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Keir Starmer of the U.K. and Poland’s Donald Tusk following a news conference at St. Mary’s Palace in Kyiv on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

Trump’s Ukraine push coming to a head with challenge to Putin

Following a weekend of hectic diplomacy, Zelenskyy said he will travel to Istanbul on May 15 where Putin has proposed direct negotiations between the two countries.
Philippine Army Brig. Gen. Michael Logico, who was involved in managing the latest iteration of the Balikatan U.S.-Philippine drills, told The Japan Times that he expects military ties with Japan to surge even further once Tokyo ratifies a key visiting-forces agreement with Manila.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Japan set for bigger role in Philippines after SDF’s debut in key drills

A top Philippine general has said he expects the Self-Defense Forces’ involvement in both bilateral and multilateral activities to grow substantially.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping joins Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders at a ceremony at the Kremlin’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

Beijing talks peace in Ukraine while aiding Putin’s war

China benefits strategically as long as the war stays within Ukraine, the nuclear risk remains low and its “unlimited partner,” Russia, does not lose.
People who fled the Zamzam camp, a refuge for the internally displaced, after it fell under RSF control gather for communal cooking in a makeshift encampment near the town of Tawila in war-torn Sudan's western Darfur region on April 13.
WORLD / Society
May 13, 2025

More than 83 million people internally displaced worldwide, report shows

Weather-related events, many intensified by climate change, triggered 99.5% of all of last year's disaster displacements.
Sakana AI CEO David Ha speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025

Japan should produce its own AI defense solutions, Sakana AI CEO says

Sakana AI CEO David Ha said that as U.S. foreign policy becomes more U.S.-centric, AI services could serve as “a bargaining chip for countries.”
Former Reds player Pete Rose speaks during a pregame ceremony in Cincinnati, Ohio, in June 2017.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 14, 2025

MLB removes Pete Rose and 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson from ban list

Commissioner Rob Manfred made the historic decision on Tuesday, potentially making the two late players eligible for election into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 14, 2025

Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia

The recent conflict is challenging long-held perceptions of Chinese weapons' inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing.
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025

Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years

Heat stress can raise the risks of stillbirths, miscarriages, preterm births and low-weight births, as well as congenital abnormalities for the babies.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on April 7.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2025

Bypassed by Trump, Israel dismayed but silent

Israel has maintained a diplomatic silence this week even as their assumptions about their standing with the U.S. were shaken by Trump's moves.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025

Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan

The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
Buildings destroyed during the war in Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025

Trump’s pledge to lift Syrian sanctions faces a complex road

The move was seen as a highlight of Trump’s trip to the Arabian Peninsula this week, but actual implementation will be a protracted and thorny challenge.
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 16, 2025

Israeli onslaught kills scores in Gaza as Trump visits Gulf

Most of the victims were killed in Khan Younis in southern Gaza in airstrikes that hit homes and tents, Palestinian medics said.
TDK will begin shipping its third iteration of silicon-anode batteries by the end of June, Chief Executive Officer Noboru Saito said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 16, 2025

IPhone supplier TDK readies batteries geared for thin AI gadgets

TDK’s battery technology is helping the world’s biggest smartphone makers slim down their gadgets without shortening battery run times.
As Japan heads into summer elections, debate over the consumption tax has intensified, with opposition parties demanding cuts to ease pressure on households and the government defending the levy as essential amid rising debt and economic uncertainty.
EDITORIALS
May 16, 2025

Don’t overreact to the consumption tax debate

Economic uncertainty in combination with rising prices are squeezing the budgets of households, businesses and the government.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech marking his 100th day in office at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center in Warren, Michigan, on April 29.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 18, 2025

Trump’s deals cast China both as foe and prize, blurring signals

Pick through the details of recent U.S. trade negotiations and an outline of Donald Trump’s vision for the global economy starts to come into focus. As do its contradictions.
Former U.S. President Joe Biden departs Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 18, 2025

Release of 2023 Biden recording renews debate on his capabilities

The four-minute audio clip comes as a book is being released alleging the White House staff covered up Biden's decline even as he was seeking reelection.
A Rheinmetall  Leopard 2 tank production line in Unterluess, Germany. The country's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army, marking a sharp departure from post–Cold War pacifism and sparking economic optimism rather than fear.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2025

German rearmament is a welcome 'war dividend'

Merz’s planned arms buildup means the definitive end to the "peace dividend” that the Western world had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Goldman Sachs’ unit in Japan, although posting lower profit last year, kept its spot as the most profitable among foreign banks in the country that close their books in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025

Goldman Sachs leads in a patchy year for foreign banks in Japan

The varied results suggest that 2024 was a tricky year for the world’s largest lenders operating in Japan, as investors adjusted to rising interest rates.
Akemi Tao talks on behalf of late hibakusha Masahiro Kunishige during an event to pass down the memories of the atomic bombing experiences at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in February.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 20, 2025

'Memory keepers' pass on Hiroshima A-bomb survivors' stories

Becoming a memory keeper requires about two years of training. Applicants study the realities of the U.S. nuclear attack and practice public speaking skills.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures during an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday. Officials in Tokyo are closely watching Lee’s remarks for hints of how bilateral relations could shift if he is elected.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2025

South Korean presidential front-runner says he's not hostile toward Japan

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has in recent months sought to highlight a more centrist agenda ahead of the presidential election.
Elon Musk boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 21
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025

Musk commits to Tesla CEO role and plans political pullback

"If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” Musk said. "I do not currently see a reason.”
Britain's King Charles inspects a guard of honor in Edinburgh, Scotland, last July. The rising cost of the British monarchy, marked by increased taxpayer funding and limited transparency, is prompting questions about whether the public is getting fair value for supporting the royals.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

A king’s ransom: The eye-watering cost of Charles III

Brits should be told how much their royals’ extravagant lifestyles are costing them.
A mock-up of Japan's state-of-the-art railgun, which is currently undergoing testing, is displayed at the three-day DSEI Japan defense exhibition in the city of Chiba on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

Railguns, missiles and lasers: Japan uses massive defense event to highlight shift

The range of products and systems being displayed at DSEI Japan in Chiba is both diverse and sophisticated, and comes amid soaring international tensions.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brings the ball up the court against the Nuggets during their Western Conference semifinal series in Denver on May 15.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 22, 2025

Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA MVP

Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the second player from Canada to earn the honor, joining two-time winner Steve Nash.
The entrance to a cave on Okinawa’s main island where a former Japanese soldier confessed to having killed a mother and child during World War II
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jun 2, 2025

How the scars of war in Okinawa are being healed by a psychologist

A clinical psychologist has formed grief care groups for survivors of war across Okinawa to help try to heal their emotional scars.

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