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Donald Trump has halted most U.S. government-funded aid globally for 90 days, while moving to dismantle USAID, which he accused of being run "by a bunch of radical lunatics."
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 11, 2025

U.S aid freeze risks handing influence to China in Beijing's backyard

Trump has halted most U.S. government-funded aid globally for 90 days, while moving to dismantle USAID, which he accused of being run "by a bunch of radical lunatics."
A worker walks in front of rolls of steel at a steel company in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 12, 2025

Canada, Mexico and EU slam 'unjustified' Trump steel tariffs

The European Union and Canada vowed to firmly retaliate against the tariffs.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders, including two official proclamations that will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from all countries globally, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2025

Japan asks for exemption from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs

Officials in Tokyo said the government will closely examine the impact of U.S. measures on Japanese companies and will take necessary actions.
Labor unions at major Japanese automakers submitted their wage hike requests on Wednesday, but it is uncertain whether the strong pay hike momentum seen in last year's labor-management talks can be maintained.
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2025

Japanese auto unions submit wage hike demands

Negotiations are expected to intensify toward March 12, when many major companies will give their answers to their labor unions.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen at the ¥153 level against the dollar on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 12, 2025

Yen underperforms major currencies on Trump tariff uncertainties

Japan’s currency has dropped to ¥153.73 against the dollar, its weakest level in a week and lagging all major peers.
The U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson conducts routine operations in the South China Sea last August. The vessel, along with survey ship USNS Bowditch, carried out a “routine” transit through the Taiwan Strait from Monday to Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 12, 2025

U.S. warship sails through Taiwan Strait for first time since Trump inauguration

China's military said the move had "sent the wrong signals" and "increased security risks” in the strategic waterway.
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.
Volatility in the Vision Fund’s quarterly performance consistently dogs SoftBank, which has embarked on a project with OpenAI to invest $500 billion on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025

SoftBank swings to a loss ahead of big Stargate AI bet

The Tokyo-based company reported a net loss of ¥369.2 billion ($2.4 billion) for the fiscal third quarter amid volatility in its Vision Fund unit.
Employees assemble D-Max trucks on an assembly line at Isuzu's Samrong Plant in Samut Prakan Province, Thailand, in March.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 12, 2025

Isuzu to build car plant in South Carolina as Trump tariffs loom

Isuzu plans to have the site up and running by 2027, aiming to employ more than 700 workers there by 2028 and produce 50,000 vehicles annually by 2030.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki addresses a meeting of the Legislative Council held at the ministry on Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2025

Japan eyes measures to empower firms with details of de facto shareholders

Shareholder lists compiled by companies currently display only the names of trust banks and other nominal shareholders, making it difficult to identify de facto shareholders.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that Nippon Steel has agreed to make a big investment in the U.S. company instead of acquiring it, and has voiced his intention to meet with the leader of Nippon Steel as early as this week.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025

Nippon Steel exec heads to U.S. to prepare for talks with Trump

Nippon Steel may be forced to significantly revise its plans as Trump has said that the Japanese company will not take a majority stake in U.S. Steel.
German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz speaks during a campaign event ahead of the upcoming 2025 general election, in Neubrandenburg, Germany, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

Russian-linked bots sow fear and distrust ahead of German vote: researchers

The bot networks' messaging seemed designed to help the second-placed, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany.
The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 4.2% in January from a year earlier, the Bank of Japan reported Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2025

Corporate goods prices rise 4.2% from year earlier, backing case for rate hikes

The gain, led by agricultural products such as rice, was bigger than the consensus estimate of 4% and compared with a revised 3.9% advance a month earlier.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada says the company believes joint lunar missions between United States and Japan will remain on course after the leaders of the two countries met last week.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025

Ispace upbeat as Trump keeps Artemis lunar missions with Japan

Launched last month, Ispace's Resilience lander will approach the moon in about three months for the company's second lunar touchdown.
Susan Holt, New Brunswick’s premier, speaks during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025

Canada’s 13 premiers descend on Washington to play the China card

For the first time, all 13 of the country’s premiers were in Washington together, lobbying Republican lawmakers against President Donald Trump’s proposed import taxes.
Artificial intelligence is fast becoming 'a new tool in the toolkit of scammers' preying on individuals looking for love online.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Feb 14, 2025

Got a digital crush this Valentine's? Beware of scams, says Meta.

At a Feb. 12 briefing, Meta outlined a recently disrupted romance scam that originated in Cambodia and targeted people in Chinese and Japanese languages.
Nissan Chief Executive Officer Makoto Uchida during a news conference at the company’s global headquarters in Yokohama on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Honda and Nissan parting leaves both with unresolved problems

One needs scale to compete on the global stage, the other a lifeline to stay afloat.
Howard Lutnick (right), chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and U.S. commerce secretary nominee for U.S. President Donald Trump, watches as Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 14, 2025

Trump moves to impose reciprocal tariffs as soon as April

Fresh import taxes would be customized for each country, meant to offset not just their own levies on U.S. goods, but also other factors that act to limit U.S. trade.
Vehicles bound for shipment at a port in Yokohama. Last year, auto and auto parts made up a third of Japan’s shipments to the United States.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Japan begins talks with U.S. to sound out Trump tariff specifics

Trump has singled out Japan and South Korea as nations he believes are taking advantage of the U.S., according to a White House official.
Mary Jean Burke, first executive vice president of the American Federation of Government Employees National VA Council, speaks during a rally against U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, outside the Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Thousands fired in U.S. government as Trump and Musk purge workers

Termination emails have been sent in the past 48 hours to workers across the government, mostly recently hired employees still on probation.
Analysts warn that the emergence of DeepSeek’s low-cost, open-source large language models might cool the artificial intelligence frenzy and thus cap SoftBank's investment performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Bears circle SoftBank as DeepSeek clouds outlook for Stargate

DeepSeek’s low-cost AI model is begging the question of whether such massive spending on Stargate is even necessary.
Migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France disembark from Border Force vessel 'Typhoon' after it arrived at the Marina in Dover, southeast England, on Feb. 9.
WORLD
Feb 14, 2025

Britain wants to smash the gangs — but what gangs?

Experts say a bill against smuggling gangs and anti-smuggling laws across Europe will not stem migration and often target the wrong people.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Japan’s biggest IPO since SoftBank seeks to raise $3 billion

The deal would exceed last year’s blockbuster share debut of subway operator Tokyo Metro.
With the ruling coalition parties holding a majority in the upper house — where a vote will be held on Monday — Friday’s approval makes it all but certain Junko Koeda will join the nine-member board, becoming the second female in the group.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Female BOJ board member’s nomination approved by Lower House

Friday’s approval makes it all but certain Junko Koeda will join the nine-member board, becoming the second female in the group.
Toyohara Kunichika experimented with established norms of composition and began spreading a single figure over three full sheets, as seen in this “Kabuki Play 'Kagamiyama Gonichi no Iwafuji'” triptych.
CULTURE / Art
Feb 15, 2025

Kunichika's vibrant ukiyo-e gets a chance to shine at anniversary exhibit

An underappreciated ukiyo-e master is the focus of the largest-ever retrospective of his work in Japan, marking the 190th anniversary of his birth.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te holds a news conference in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Taiwan’s Lai vows to lift military funding after Trump complaint

Lai said Taiwan would boost expenditure to 3% of GDP, though he didn’t indicate when that would start.
Data show that the policies of Japan’s last decade or so have served the rich better than the vast majority of the country’s households.
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2025

Assets of Japan’s wealthiest jump to a record $3 trillion

Between 2011 and 2023, the wealth of Japan’s rich more than doubled and super rich tripled.
Donald Trump’s demand for Ukrainian resources in exchange for aid may be unseemly, but Europe should accept it as the price of keeping the U.S. engaged in Ukraine and Europe's defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2025

Trump’s resource grab in Ukraine is a price worth paying

Europe shouldn’t complain. This is a cost of its defense failures.
China frequently shifts between warming and freezing relations with Japan, driven by its domestic issues, often using softer rhetoric while masking aggressive actions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025

Are China-Japan relations truly 'warming,' or is this just fool’s gold again?

As the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up, Beijing is turning to its familiar playbook, using softer language to court American allies and partners while offering things like greater cooperation and more dialogue — part of its ongoing divide-and-conquer strategy.
U.S. Steel workers rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh in support of the takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel back in September.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2025

The Nippon Steel deal’s lessons for the world

Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s stiff opposition to the deal may have created space, if not impetus, for President Donald Trump to resurrect the acquisition.

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