Search - question

 
 
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto (left) and Nippon Steel Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori. The Japanese company is still undecided about a civil suit filed against a U.S. competitor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Nippon Steel drops lawsuit against U.S. government after acquiring U.S. Steel

The Japanese company had challenged the legality of U.S. President Joe Biden's rejection of the acquisition.
An elephant walks through the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2025

Humans adapted to diverse habitats before trekking out of Africa

Homo sapiens acquired an adaptability useful for tackling the wide range of conditions awaiting beyond the continent.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan won’t fixate on July 9 in U.S. trade talks, says Akazawa

Tokyo's top trade negotiator deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
Members of an inspection team check the apparent remains of a ballistic missile in northern Israel on Wednesday following the attacks by Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025

It will take democracy and regime change to end Iran’s nuclear threat

Thanks to Khamenei, Iran has spent almost four decades on a path to war with Israel, which he calls a “cancer” in the region that must be annihilated.
By pioneering stem cell therapies, Japan is not only treating disease but also seeking to rejuvenate a nation grappling with aging and decline.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Japan is helping lead the way in regenerative medicine

In pristine labs across Japan, scientists are tinkering with the architecture of regeneration.
Kaori Sakamoto earned the silver medal at the world championships in Boston on March 28. Sakamoto is a three-time world champion.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jun 20, 2025

Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto to retire after 2026 Winter Olympics

Sakamoto, who won bronze at the 2022 Winter Olympics, missed out on a fourth straight world title in March when she finished runner-up to American Alysa Liu.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa has said that his U.S. counterparts are open to an extension of the July 9 deadline for countries that are making an effort toward a deal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan hopes good-faith negotiations will buy it some time in U.S. tariff talks

U.S negotiators have said that the July 9 deadline is flexible and that extensions might be granted.
Economic losses in Japan stemming from workers' mental or physical disorders, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2025

Annual economic losses from workers' health issues reach ¥7.6 trillion

The losses, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press as workers install a large flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 21, 2025

Deal, not bombs, seen as only way to end Iranian nuclear threat

For U.S. President Donald Trump, a deal would avoid dragging the U.S. into another regional war or driving up inflation-generating oil prices.
A group of scientists have found an astonishing diversity of microorganisms in tiny pools of melted ice in Antarctica, suggesting that life could have ridden out several ice ages in similar ponds.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2025

How did life survive 'Snowball Earth'? In ponds, study suggests.

A group of scientists have found an astonishing diversity of microorganisms in tiny pools of melted ice in Antarctica.
Military personnel secure the perimeter around the World Forum hosting the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2025

Can NATO keep Trump on-message about Russia threat?

When leaders from NATO's 32 countries gather for a summit in The Hague, most want to send a clear message: Russia is the main threat to their alliance.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 22, 2025

Strikes on Iran mark Trump's biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to deliver military strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites is fraught with risks and unknowns.
A family travels by motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families, and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2025

Vietnam has far bigger worries than its baby bust

Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
Carlos Alzaraz celebrates after winning the Queen's Club title in London on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jun 23, 2025

Queen's Club champion Carlos Alcaraz feeling 'great' on grass ahead of Wimbledon

The 22-year-old has extended his career-best winning streak to 18 matches, putting him in the perfect position to defend his Wimbledon title.
Rice paddies in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Rice is a major crop for Hokkaido, with the region having produced 562,400 tons of it last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 30, 2025

U.S. import pressure raises concerns for Hokkaido agriculture

The U.S. is nudging Japan to import more rice, soybeans, and maize — vital crops that support Hokkaido's economy.
Taiyo Holdings Chief Executive Officer Eiji Sato
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Japan activist clout shown in shareholder rejection of Taiyo CEO

Voting out a company’s CEO candidate, something that doesn’t happen often in Japan, is another sign of how activist investors are pushing to change company policies.
A WE League Cup championship match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina and INAC Kobe takes place on Dec. 29 in Tokyo. A healthy increase in gross revenue has highlighted the WE League’s newfound growth potential.
SOCCER
Jun 24, 2025

WE League finally sowing seeds of growth under new stewardship

Yoshikazu Nonomura, who took the helm a year ago, oversaw improved attendance and financial numbers during his first season as chairman.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte addresses a press conference a day prior to a meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in The Hague on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2025

Flatterer-in-chief: How NATO's Rutte worked to win over Trump

Diplomats say Rutte is one of only a handful of European leaders Trump willingly picks up the phone to and that the two text each other.
AI is not only transforming the applications we use; it is also reshaping the very process of software development, threatening to render much of today’s tech sector obsolete.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025

How artificial intelligence will disrupt Big Tech

AI is already starting to cannibalize established giants and also to reshape the profession of software engineering.
While a trained beekeeper can quickly look at frames in a hive assess their health, AI can do it even faster.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 24, 2025

How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse

Beewise’s units help cut down on losses by providing a near-constant stream of information on colony health in real time and give beekeepers the ability to respond.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for an address to the nation, as Vice President JD Vance (from left) Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth trail him in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jun 24, 2025

Trump’s Middle East moves raise questions over Indo-Pacific focus

The U.S. military strikes on Iran are being seen as a bad omen for Washington placing its attention more on the Indo-Pacific.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and his OpenAI counterpart, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in early February. The SoftBank founder is now proposing his most ambitious venture yet — a $1 trillion AI and robotics hub in Arizona.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2025

The magical thinking of Masa Son

The race to lead the world in AI-enabled robots is still in the early stages, but many signs point to China coming out on top.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference during the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

NATO's Trump flattery buys time but dodges tough questions

Sooner or later, NATO will have to deal with tough topics of vital importance to it, such as the war in Ukraine, Russia strategy and a likely drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe.
Cooper Flagg (right) shakes hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being taken by the Dallas Mavericks with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 26, 2025

Mavericks take Cooper Flagg with top pick in NBA draft

The 18-year-old Flagg, a consensus pick as the top college player as a freshman at Duke last season, is the second-youngest player taken first overall.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said at a news conference Monday that there are "various arguments from the viewpoint of international law" regarding U.S. strikes on nuclear facilities in Iran.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

U.S. strikes against Iran create dilemma for Japan

After criticizing Israel's attacks on Iran, Japan would have been accused of adopting a double standard if it did not decry the U.S.' actions.
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in the operations of tech giants such as Google, only for the Labour government to say its need to grow the economy meant tough regulation was now out.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 26, 2025

U.K. politics blunts antitrust action against Google

Britain's Competition and Markets Authority spent years setting up a regime to intervene in tech giants' operations, only for the Labour government to say tough regulation was out.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a news conference during the 2025 NATO Summit in The Hague on Wednesday. He expressed anger and threatened to sue over media reports claiming the U.S. strike on Iran delayed its nuclear program by only a few months.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2025

Airstrikes won’t end Iran’s nuclear ambitions — diplomacy might

The consensus of the U.S. intelligence community earlier this year was that Iran was up to three years away from being able to deliver a nuclear weapon to a target of its choosing.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2025

Trump says he'd consider bombing Iran again and drops sanctions relief plan

Trump reacted sternly to Khamanei's first remarks after a 12-day conflict with Israel that ended with the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites.
U.S. President Donald Trump has lauded as a major victory a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a case involving birthright citizenship that curbs the ability of judges to impede his policies nationwide.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2025

U.S. top court in birthright case limits judges' power to block Trump policies

Federal judges have taken steps including issuing numerous nationwide orders impeding Trump's aggressive use of executive action to advance his agenda.
Security personnel keep watch outside the Wuhan Institute of Virology during the visit by the World Health Organization team tasked with investigating the origins of COVID-19, in Wuhan, China, in February 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 28, 2025

WHO says all COVID-19 origin theories still open, after inconclusive study

The global catastrophe killed an estimated 20 million people, according to the WHO, while shredding economies and crippling health systems.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight