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U.S. President Donald Trump attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 11, 2025

Trump tariff pause leaves CEOs asking: What happens in 90 days?

Trump's tariff flip spurs a stock rally but sows deeper confusion for companies bracing for long-term trade fallout.
Trading indexes at the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. Bets worth millions of dollars placed on a rebound by unidentified options traders shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff pause are drawing scrutiny.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 11, 2025

Well-timed option trades ahead of Trump's tariff pause draw questions

Some unidentified options traders placed bets worth millions of dollars on a rebound minutes before the U.S. president's social media post sent the stock market rallying.
A sign outside the headquarters of JP Morgan Chase & Co in New York in 2013
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 14, 2025

JPMorgan analyst says he now tempers public comments on U.S. tariffs

Michael Cembalest, chair of market and investment strategy and a Wall Street veteran, said he had not been able to fully express his views.
The Bank of Japan will likely postpone raising interest rates due to uncertainties stemming from U.S. tariff measures that could deal a blow to Japan’s economy, a former executive director said.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2025

BOJ will likely put rate hike aside for now, ex-official says

"They will be in a wait-and-see mode for a while,” said Kenzo Yamamoto, a former executive at the Bank of Japan.
Rescue workers search the rubble of a building destroyed in the Palm Sunday missile attack in Sumy, Ukraine, on Monday.
WORLD
Apr 18, 2025

U.S. peace framework for Russia's war in Ukraine gets 'encouraging reception'

Talks in Paris were the first substantive, high-level and in-person talks on Trump's peace push that have included the Europeans.
U.S. President Donald Trump announces tariffs on several countries during a press conference on April 2.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 21, 2025

World’s economic chiefs to face Trump’s trade war in Washington

Finance chiefs want an off-ramp from the worst global trade crisis in a century. This week they’re heading toward its epicenter.
A monitor displays stock market information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 22, 2025

U.S. assets slump again as Trump sharpens attack on Fed chief

Trump called Jerome Powell a 'loser' for not cutting interest rates, underscoring questions about whether the U.S. President will try to fire Powell.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping. A high-level Japanese delegation will deliver a letter from Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to Xi this week.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 22, 2025

Ishiba pens letter to Xi as Japan aims to avoid trade crossfire

The gesture highlights Japan’s desire to balance managing its relationships with China, its largest trading partner, and with the U.S., its sole formal security ally.
Ground personnel unload weapons and other military hardware delivered by the U.S. military near Kyiv in 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

U.S. aid pullback is making Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian hacks

USAID has been gutted in the first months of Trump’s presidency by Elon Musk’s "department of government efficiency," and Trump has become increasingly impatient with Zelenskyy.
People gather to protest outside the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) headquarters after the Elon Musk-led "department of government efficiency" (DOGE) was charged with oversight of OPM, in Washington on Feb. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency

"DOGE is not a serious exercise," said Jessica Riedl, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank that supports streamlining government.
A trader works on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Monday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2025

After 100 days under Trump, investors reassess the allure of 'brand USA'

The market has seen significant rallies fueled in part by trade negotiation optimism, but investors remain concerned about the longevity and strength of any bounce-back.
U.S. President Donald Trump at his 100th day rally in Michigan on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2025

Trump bashes Powell and touts tariffs at rally marking 100 days

The president’s denunciation came even though earlier this month he said he did not plan to fire the central bank chief.
Industrial production dropped 1.1% in March compared with the previous month, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025

Japan's factory output falls in sign of frailty before tariffs

Industrial production dropped 1.1% in March compared with the previous month, the industry ministry reported Wednesday. Economists had forecast a 0.4% drop.
Public transportation ridership across the U.S. hasn’t yet returned to its pre-COVID peak.
WORLD
Apr 30, 2025

A $6 billion shortfall has U.S. mass transit facing a death spiral

The Trump administration is drastically reining in federal spending, creating fear of job losses that could again decimate ridership.
The Bank of Japan has been signaling caution in the face of uncertainty.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2025

Bank of Japan holds rates as expected but surprises with growth forecast cut

The policy board made no adjustment to the short-term policy rate, currently 0.5%, at a two-day meeting that concluded Thursday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (right) speaks during an Oval Office meeting on April 24 with President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store (not pictured) to discuss tariffs.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 4, 2025

A turning point in trade: The U.S. effort to reverse global imbalances

This large trade imbalance is also the primary driver of the U.S. current account deficit, largely due to the gap in goods trade.
With the U.S. Capitol in the background, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025

Carney stresses Canada will never be for sale in first meeting with Trump

Overall, Carney termed the meeting as constructive, and said the two sides would start serious talks on a new relationship.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at a G20 summit in Japan on June 28, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

Prospects of Saudi ties to Israel elusive as Trump seeks $1 trillion bonanza

Supporters of normalizing relations say it would bring stability and prosperity to the region, while countering Iran's influence.
Wang Chuanfu (center left), chairman and chief executive officer at BYD, waves to a humanoid robot at the Chery Automobile booth at the Shanghai Auto Show on April 24. China’s EV sector is touting big gains, but much of the hype rests on inflated range claims, shaky infrastructure and growing state support.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

Why China’s EV claims aren’t as revolutionary as they seem

Companies once treated with benign neglect by Beijing are becoming major recipients of government funding.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) watches as U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 14, 2025

Trump meets Syrian president and urges him to establish ties with Israel

Trump urged Ahmed al-Sharaa to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
The mushroom cloud caused by the Trinity nuclear test is seen on July 16, 1945. A new study, released on Thursday ahead of submission to a scientific journal for peer review, shows that the cloud and its fallout went farther than anyone in the Manhattan Project had imagined in 1945.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 22, 2023

Trinity nuclear test’s fallout reached 46 states, Canada and Mexico, study finds

The research shows that the first atomic bomb explosion’s effects had been underestimated, and could help more “downwinders” press for federal compensation.
Visitors walk past a military fence at Imjingak peace park in the border city of Paju on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2023

U.S. worries mount over soldier after silence from North Korea

U.S. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said Washington was fully mobilized in trying to contact Pyongyang, including through U.N. communications channels.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has since the start of the Ukraine invasion destroyed the norms that developed during the Cold War to prevent a nuclear arms race or the eventual use of such weapons.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 14, 2023

Russia outnumbers the U.S. 10-to-1 in tactical nukes. Now what?

Never mind that Vladimir Putin is breaking all nuclear taboos and China is beefing up its arsenal. U.S. nuclear doctrine is still fundamentally sound.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been charged with conspiring to obstruct the results of the 2020 election.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 17, 2023

Musk accused of favoring Trump in battle with DOJ over tweets

The special counsel’s office argued that Twitter was asking for "special" treatment for Trump that wouldn’t be available to other users.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis speaks to the media on Aug. 14 after a grand jury brought back indictments against former President Donald Trump and his associates over their alleged attempt to overturn Georgia’s 2020 election results.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2023

Trump’s hollow free-speech defense

The fact that Trump’s actions consisted of words does not make them constitutionally protected.
Challenges to the U.S. dollar’s vital role in the world economic and financial system are often said to be imminent, but somehow never materialize.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 23, 2023

A BRICS common currency is still a pipe dream

The greenback comprises just under 60% of global currency reserves, down from around 70% in 2000. Still that is well above any competitor.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, from left, Kazuo Ueda, governor of the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), walk the grounds at the Jackson Hole economic symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 28, 2023

At Jackson Hole, post-inflation challenges vex central bankers

The bankers stressed the need to keep interest rates high until inflation is contained, and wrestled with deep shifts that will make their jobs harder.
Then Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and U.S. President Donald Trump meet during their final debate ahead of the 2020 election, in Nashville, Tennessee, in October of that year.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 29, 2023

Trump vs. Biden: Do American voters want either?

Confidence among the American public in their leaders and in their political system continues to erode.
The Feels, a new kind of dating event for New York singles, fast-tracks intimacy by fusing mindfulness practices like meditation, unnaturally long eye contact and even feeling each other’s heartbeats.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Oct 7, 2023

Out with speed dating, in with speed intimacy

The event, known as the Feels, fast-tracks intimacy through meditation, unnaturally long eye contact and even feeling each other’s heartbeats.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?