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Sam Altman, chief executive of OpenAI, speaks at a White House event with President Donald Trump, left; Softbank chief executive Masayoshi Son, third from left; and Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle, at the White House on Jan. 21.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 9, 2025

How Sam Altman sidestepped Elon Musk to win over Donald Trump

After helping President Trump get elected, Elon Musk was poised to dominate the nation’s AI policies. But someone got there before him.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Ishiba says Trump didn't push defense spending hike or discuss tariffs

Ishiba also echoed Trump's pledge to help mediate a move by Japan’s Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel rather than purchasing the American company.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's visit to the U.S. for talks with Donald Trump yielded moderate success, highlighting the strategic focus of the American presidents second administration.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 9, 2025

So far, so good for Ishiba — at least for now

It's safe to say, Ishiba’s visit to the U.S. went well. But we mustn't become complacent.
Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump, at the G20 leaders summit in Osaka in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

Trump's plan for U.S. to own Gaza provokes rebuke from Middle East

Trump's idea to take over and redevelop Gaza faces mounting opposition, with Jordan's King Abdullah calling it a dangerous plan that could destabilize the region.
Israeli military vehicles drive past destruction in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel on Jan. 26.
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2025

Investors return to new-look Middle East, but Trump causes some concern

President Donald Trump's proposal that the U.S. take over Gaza may have thrown a curveball into the mix, but recent events in the Middle East have fed hopes of a reset.
U.S. President Donald Trump receives a status report on Hurricane Dorian in the Oval Office in September 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 10, 2025

Trump keeps up his ‘Sharpiegate’ attack on science

The nomination of Neil Jacobs to run NOAA highlights U.S. President Trump’s loyalty-over-expertise approach to leadership.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters that U.S. Steel would remain American.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 10, 2025

Nippon Steel goes quiet after U.S. Steel deal seemingly nixed for good

Comments over the weekend by U.S. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba point to the U.S. steelmaker remaining American.
SoftBank Group Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son announces  the Stargate Project, an artificial intelligence venture with OpenAI, during a news conference in Tokyo on Feb. 3.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 11, 2025

SoftBank eyes debt-heavy financing for $500 billion AI push

SoftBank and OpenAI’s push to build out tens of gigawatts of datacenter capacity has the potential to be the biggest rollout of computing power ever.
Billionaire Elon Musk's bid is likely to ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the future of the ChatGPT maker at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 11, 2025

Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI

The move was another salvo in billionaire Elon Musk's fight to block the AI startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

South Korea's Yoon blames 'malicious' opposition for martial law bid

The suspended president told the Constitutional Court that their refusal to applaud him or shake his hand exposed their plans to "destroy" his government.
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.
Saitama Gov. Motohiro Ono on Tuesday announces the decision to apply the disaster relief law to the city of Yashio in Saitama Prefecture, where a cave-in occurred that trapped a truck and its driver.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2025

Truck cab confirmed in sewer pipe at Saitama sinkhole site

The company that owns the truck that fell in identified through drone footage that the metal object was a part of the vehicle.
Netflix series “Asura,” directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, is a remake of a classic TV drama (known as “Like Asura” in English), created by Kuniko Mukoda and broadcast by NHK between 1979 and 1980.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Feb 12, 2025

The different faces of ‘Asura’ through the generations

While Hirokazu Kore-eda’s new series meticulously remakes a classic NHK drama, this reinterpretation tweaks the story to give its female characters more agency.
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.
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone (left) tries to get a shot away in front of Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid during the second period at Rogers Place, Edmonton, Canada on Dec. 14, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Feb 12, 2025

Canada and Sweden ready to drop puck on anticipated 4 Nations Face-Off

Not since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey have the NHL's brightest stars lined up against each other to compete for their countries.
The International Criminal Court is pursuing arrest warrants for Taliban leaders accused of human rights abuses against Afghan women and girls, but legal and political obstacles complicate the process.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

The long road to justice for Afghan women

Afghan women and girls need every bit of global support they can get to push back against the Taliban’s unhinged misogyny.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol attends a hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

South Korea's Yoon back in court for impeachment hearing

Yoon was detained last month on insurrection charges, becoming the first sitting South Korean head of state to be arrested.
Following weeks of talks after Nissan Motor President Makoto Uchida and Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe's December announcement of a possible merger, the two automakers confirmed on Thursday that the deal is officially off.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 13, 2025

Honda and Nissan cancel megamerger after weeks of negotiations

The automakers failed to find the common ground needed to reach an agreement, though they still intend to work together in other areas.
Vissel's Daiju Sasaki (right) and Sanfrecce's Sho Sasaki jump for a ball during their Super Cup match on Feb. 8.
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 13, 2025

Vissel hoping for J. League three-peat as rivals aim to spoil party

Sanfrecce Hiroshima has come back stronger and is one of the clubs that can spoil Vissel's bid for a three-peat.
While AI has added increased uncertainty over what is and isn't true, misinformation has been around for a while.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 14, 2025

How to tell if what you're hearing is true (or just sounds like it is)

Some Japanese grammatical terms signal uncertainty, and that is when you need phrases to help you get to the truth of the matter.
U.S. President Donald Trump with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in November 2017. For Xi, the concerns about Trump provide an opportunity to thwart a broader convergence between America and its allies.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Trump gives Xi chance to court U.S. allies and repair global image

For Xi, the concerns about the U.S. president provide an opportunity to thwart a broader convergence between America and its allies.
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.
The monkish aristocrat Yoshida no Kenko extolled the virtues of asymmetry, imperfection and ephemerality in his famed essay collection “Tsurezuregusa.”
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Feb 15, 2025

‘The most precious thing in life is its uncertainty’

A man of leisure from 700 years ago extols the virtues of asymmetry, imperfection and ephemerality.
Researchers work around Chang'e-5 lunar return capsule carrying moon samples next to a Chinese national flag, after it landed in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec. 17, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

China builds space alliances in Africa as Trump cuts foreign aid

Beijing has access to data and images collected from the space technology, and Chinese personnel maintain a long-term presence in the facilities it builds in Africa.
The structure that covers the remains of the damaged reactor 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is seen damaged on Friday.
WORLD
Feb 14, 2025

Russian drone 'struck' Chernobyl cover, but no radiation increase detected: Zelenskyy

Ukraine said Russia launched more than 100 drones across the country overnight targeting northern regions of the country where the Chernobyl power plant lies.
Talks on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. taking a controlling stake in Intel's factories at the request of Trump administration officials are in very early stages, and the exact structure of a potential partnership hasn’t been established. But the intended result would have the world’s largest made-to-order chipmaker fully operating Intel’s U.S. semiconductor factories.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 15, 2025

TSMC considers running Intel’s U.S. factories after Trump team request

Trump officials raised the idea of a deal between the two companies in recent meetings with the Taiwanese chipmaker, and TSMC was receptive.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2025

Vance attack on Europe overshadows Ukraine talks at security conference

The U.S. vice president said what worried him most about Europe was an alleged censoring of free speech and "out-of-control" immigration.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks during the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 15, 2025

China will have to hit back at U.S. ‘bullying,’ Beijing's top diplomat says

Still, Foreign Minister Wang Yi sought to take a broader view of relations, expressing confidence that the two countries will remain engaged long into the future.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reacts during the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 16, 2025

Zelenskyy says draft U.S. minerals deal 'does not protect' Ukraine

The negotiations illustrate the pitfalls Zelenskyy faces as he seeks to win Donald Trump's backing and secure post-war security guarantees.
Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (97) and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Moritz Seider (53) battle along the boards for a loose puck during a game in  Edmonton, Alberta, on Jan. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2025

The NHL could’ve had a good year if not for tariffs

In 2016, the league denied an expansion franchise to Quebec, citing the "state and volatility of the Canadian dollar.”

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan