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Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost waves from the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 9, 2025

Robert Prevost surprises as first U.S. pope, taking name Leo XIV

Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
A J-10C fighter jet
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 9, 2025

Pakistan hails role of Chinese jets in repelling India strikes

Hostilities between India and Pakistan have escalated since an April 22 attack that killed 26 civilians in the Indian-controlled part of the territory.
Clockwise from top left: Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi, former economic security minister Takayuki Kobayashi, Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato and Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025

Who could become Japan's next prime minister?

Regardless of the outcome of July's Upper House election, the bar will be high for anyone seeking to unseat incumbent Shigeru Ishiba.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Vietnamese President Luong Cuong in Hanoi on April 28. Ishiba’s visit to Vietnam and the Philippines highlighted Japan’s enduring Indo-Pacific strategy amid rising regional uncertainty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 8, 2025

Japan’s durable 'Free and Open Indo-Pacific' strategy brings stability

So while Ishiba’s visit to Southeast Asia may have just seemed like another round of trips during a holiday week, they were emblematic of something much more than that.
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.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda speaks during the 2025 CES event in Las Vegas in January.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2025

Akio Toyoda’s buyout plan called ‘gutsy’ by Dalton Investments

Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda’s ¥6 trillion ($41 billion) plan to buy out Toyota Industries has won over at least one of the auto supplier’s critics: Dalton Investments.
A Warren Buffett Squishmallow is displayed during a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in May 2023. Buffett’s $25 billion bet on five Japanese trading houses reflects his belief that the country’s overlooked market rewards patient investors who embrace its unique business culture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 13, 2025

Buffett’s little Japan handbook — and other lessons

The legendary investor recently revealed what inspired his interest in Tokyo’s trading houses — and offered a host of tips for would-be followers.
The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump is parked next to a 12-year old Qatari-owned Boeing 747-8 that Trump was touring in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Trump’s freebie Qatar jet is the stuff of nightmares in spyworld

"If we had built the plane, knowing it was going to a foreign government, we would probably have bugged it,” said Thad Troy, a former station chief with the CIA.
A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker is tugged toward a thermal power station in Futtsu, Chiba Prefecture, in 2017.
BUSINESS
May 14, 2025

Japan under pressure from U.S. to invest in Alaska LNG pipeline

Doubts over the pipeline's profitability and viability leaves Japan's participation in the $44 billion (nearly ¥6.7 trillion) project uncertain.
U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, including attacks on research funding, immigration and trade threaten the foundations of American economic exceptionalism, and the resulting damage may be difficult to undo.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

American exceptionalism meets its maker

The question is whether U.S. President Donald Trump’s destructive policies have now brought this economic exceptionalism to an end.
Meta’s rapid AI chatbot rollout is raising safety concerns as critics cite inappropriate responses and poor accountability despite its access to vast user data.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2025

Meta’s defense of its rogue AI sounds painfully familiar

The social media platform Meta is going on the attack instead of worrying about its users. How did that work out the last time?
Thunder forward Jalen Williams (right) and guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander celebrate after a basket during Game 5 of Oklahoma City's series with the Nuggets.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 14, 2025

Thunder storm past Nuggets late for 3-2 series lead

Down by nine with under nine minutes to go, the Thunder wound up outscoring the Nuggets 34-19 in the fourth quarter.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) watches as U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 14, 2025

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

Trump urged Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
A uranium conversion facility in Iran. The country currently enriches uranium to 60% purity — far above the 3.67% limit set in the 2015 deal but below the 90% needed for weapons-grade material.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025

Top Iran aide says nuclear deal possible for sanctions relief

An adviser to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Iran could accept far-reaching curbs on its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
With Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition in crisis, the opposition divided and the Democratic Party for the People gaining momentum, Japan’s upcoming Upper House election could trigger a major political realignment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2025

Elections are fast approaching, and none of the big parties are ready

With Ishiba in place, the fear that the LDP could next lose its current majority in the Upper House in July is pervasive.
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.
Yields in Japan’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are now rising rapidly after years of moving at a glacial pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2025

Japan’s steep bond curve divides investors and challenges economy

Yields in the country’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are shifting higher at breakneck speed after years of moving at a glacial pace.
Nadaman Sazanka-so is known for its "kaiseki" (multicourse Japanese haute cuisine), which is deftly executed by chef Takehiko Yoshida.
LIFE / Food & Drink
May 18, 2025

A Japanese dining icon gets a (minor) facelift

Less a purposeful renovation than a prudent refitting, the renewed Nadaman Sazanka-so has retained its old world charm that made it such a celebrated dining destination.
U.S. President Donald Trump will speak by phone with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Monday in an attempt to find a way out of the "BLOODBATH" in the Ukraine war, the American president said on social media.
WORLD / Politics
May 18, 2025

Trump says he will speak to Putin to end Ukraine 'bloodbath'

Kyiv said Russian negotiators have demanded Ukraine pull its troops out of all Ukrainian regions claimed by Moscow before any ceasefire deal.
An area is taped off after an explosion at the American Reproductive Centers clinic, in Palm Springs, California, on Saturday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 18, 2025

Bomb at fertility clinic in California kills one

The blast tore through downtown Palm Springs, ripping a hole in the clinic and blowing out the windows and doors of nearby buildings.
Laurent Patouillet, the CEO and president of Agnes b. Japan, says the focus of its business is to remain independent, and evolve and adapt.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 18, 2025

Agnes b. Japan CEO hopes to evolve the brand with focus on sustainability

Laurent Patouillet, who has headed the brand's Japanese operations since 2018, believes there is more that it can do to be environmentally sustainable.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gestures at the Bitcoin 2024 event in Nashville, Tennessee, last July.
WORLD / Politics
May 19, 2025

$TRUMP dinner blurs lines between profit and politics

Launched hours before his January inauguration, the $TRUMP memecoin is only one example of the Trump family's ever-expanding moves into cryptocurrency.
Sky forward Angel Reese (center) reacts after receiving a flagrant foul from Fever guard Caitlin Clark (left) during their game in Indianapolis on Saturday.
BASKETBALL
May 19, 2025

WNBA vows to investigate racial comments directed at Angel Reese during opener

The Women's National Basketball Players Association also addressed the reports of "hateful comments" in a statement Sunday, saying, "Such behavior is unacceptable in our sport."
Sakana AI Chief Operating Officer Ren Ito (left) and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group President Hironori Kamezawa in Tokyo on Friday. The companies have entered into a ¥5 billion ($34 million) deal to automate the creation of banking documents.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 19, 2025

Sakana AI and MUFG sign agreement to automate creation of banking documents

The AI Scientist, which was originally designed for automating scientific discovery, including manuscript writing and peer review, will be used.
Palestinians carry their belongings through the town of Jabalia as they flee the southward toward Gaza City on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2025

Trump plan or not, Israel is letting more Palestinians leave Gaza

The easing of restrictions parallels the Israeli government's stated goal of facilitating the resettlement of Gaza's population in other countries.
Sky forward Angel Reese (center) reacts to a flagrant foul from Fever guard Caitlin Clark (left) during a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Saturday.
BASKETBALL
May 20, 2025

Caitlin Clark and Fever players support investigation into fan behavior

A video allegedly showed a male fan sitting courtside and making high-pitched noises at a member of the opposing team.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto responds to questions from reporters on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office.
JAPAN / Politics
May 20, 2025

Ishiba won't sack farm minister over rice gaffe

The prime minister wants agriculture minister Taku Eto to focus on finding a solution for soaring rice prices.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) announces the Golden Dome missile defense shield next to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2025

Trump selects $175B Golden Dome defense shield design and appoints leader

U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein will be the lead program manager for an effort widely viewed as the keystone to Trump's military planning.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto answers reporters questions at the at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 21, 2025

Why Ishiba pulled a 180 on the gaffe-stricken farm minister

Taku Eto is the first minister to fall since the Japanese leader formed his Cabinet last October

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