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Coils of rolled steel sit in an industrial yard in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 12, 2025

U.S.-Canada trade war heats up as Trump doubles metals tariffs, then backs off

The switch came after a Canadian official also backed off his own plans for a 25% surcharge on electricity.
A Bloomberg survey said almost three quarters of Bank of Japan watchers who responded said that U.S. tariffs could exert enough of a drag on Japan’s economy to delay the central bank’s rate hike path.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 12, 2025

BOJ watchers see gradual rate hikes with higher terminal rate

Economists now anticipate the terminal rate to be 1.25%, up from 1% in the previous survey.
U.S. President Donald Trump is often portrayed as a master dealmaker, but his approach tends to be erratic, his business record includes notable failures and his style leans more toward performance than strategic negotiation.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 11, 2025

Trump’s dealmaking is all about him

From effectively ending the war in Ukraine to setting tariffs, the president’s negotiating skills are coming up short.
Voters believe they are active participants in democracies, but the real power is concentrated in the hands of the few.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025

Social media and playing at democracy

Voters believe they are active participants in democracies, but the real power is concentrated in the hands of the few.
Men carry a large poster of the Democrats Party (Demokraatit) past a polling station in Nuuk, Greenland, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2025

Greenland to get new government to lead independence process

Trump's threats to take over the resource-rich Arctic island have shined an unprecedented global spotlight on Greenlandic politics.
Sources say a hui suo — a private club, which in Japan caters mainly to Chinese businesspeople — will soon open on the upper floors of the Moutai Building in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 16, 2025

Private clubs quietly open in Tokyo for free-spending Chinese businesspeople

With the economy weak in China and opportunities harder to come by there, more wealthy individuals have been flocking to Japan.
The level of intraparty animosity between the KMT and DPP is so high that brawls have repeatedly broken out in parliament as the government and opposition try to block each other from physically participating in voting on bills.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 13, 2025

Taiwan’s DPP and KMT lock horns amid specter of recall votes

Recall votes could potentially alter the balance of power in the Legislative Yuan in favor of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attends an Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 13, 2025

How Upper House pressure led to Ishiba's stunning reversal on medical cost caps

An unprecedented second amendment to Japan's budget shows opposition in the Lower House is not the only external pressure to which the government is exposed.
George Glass, U.S. President Donald Trump's nominee to be ambassador to Japan, speaks during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing in Washington on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 14, 2025

Trump's ambassador pick to press Japan to spend more to host U.S. troops

The remarks by George Glass were the latest volley from the Trump administration to target Japan, following comments by other nominees.
The International Olympic Committee's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland
OLYMPICS
Mar 14, 2025

Olympians make climate plea to IOC presidential candidates

Seven candidates are vying to replace Thomas Bach as president in a ballot of IOC members at Costa Navarino, Greece, on March 20.
Kyoko Watanabe made a home for herself in Ishinomaki after moving there to participate in disaster relief efforts following 3/11, and now operates a business focused on the creative reuse of <i>akiya</i> (abandoned houses).
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Mar 17, 2025

From abandoned houses to ‘creative communities’: An Ishinomaki entrepreneur's vision for rural Japan

Kyoko Watanabe moved to Miyagi Prefecture to help with disaster relief efforts following 3/11. She ended up building a company and a vision for revitalizing rural Japan.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's reversal over medical co-payments late last week and the revelation he gave gift vouchers to lawmakers have weakened his political standing.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 14, 2025

Ishiba on shaky ground over budget and gift vouchers

Recent fumbles have given Ishiba's opponents within the LDP a golden opportunity to attack him.
U.S. President Donald Trump has invoked powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — a law once used to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II — in a proclamation targeting Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang also designated as a foreign terrorist organization.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2025

Judge halts Trump’s wartime powers plan to speed deportations

Trump invoked powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 — a law once used to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
Lando Norris celebrates on the podium after he won the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 16, 2025

Norris holds off Verstappen to win wild Australian Grand Prix

McLaren's Lando Norris swept to victory in a wet and wild Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, holding off defending champion Max Verstappen in a white-knuckle finish.
Salvadoran police officers escort alleged members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua recently deported by the U.S. government to be imprisoned in the Terrorism Confinement Center prison, as part of an agreement with the Salvadoran government, at the El Salvador International Airport in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, in this image released on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

U.S. flies alleged gang members to El Salvador despite court block

Legal experts called the move the most radical test of America's system of checks and balances since the Civil War.
This combination picture shows candidates for the presidency of the IOC (from top left) Sebastian Coe, Kirsty Coventry, Johan Eliasch, Prince Feisal al-Hussein of Jordan, David Lappartient, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Morinari Watanabe speaking during a press conference following a presentation before fellow IOC members, in Lausanne on Jan. 30.
OLYMPICS
Mar 17, 2025

Heavyweight seven eye finish line in race to succeed Olympics chief

Surprises from the electorate of 100-plus IOC members cannot be ruled out in the battle to become the most powerful figure in sport governance.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Russian leader Vladimir Putin at the Group of 20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, in July 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

Trump says he will speak with Putin on Tuesday about ending war in Ukraine

The U.S. president said Moscow, Kyiv and Washington were already talking about "dividing up certain assets," as he seeks Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal.
A migrant worker from Myanmar walks through a local market in Mae Sot, Thailand, on Feb. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 17, 2025

War of words: Myanmar migrants face disinformation in Thailand

Analysts say some Thai authorities deliberately reinforce the nationalistic ideologies that drive xenophobia in the country — which was invaded by Burma in the 18th century.
A Russian service member walks past destroyed buildings in the town of Sudzha, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, Russia, in this still image from video released on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 18, 2025

Trump and Putin to discuss power plants, land in talks to end Ukraine war

Trump has been trying to win Putin's support for a 30-day ceasefire proposal that Ukraine accepted last week.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump's attack on DEI is making waves at international companies in Europe, Asia and beyond — but quietly, many businesses are standing firm on diversity initiatives.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Mar 18, 2025

Trump has companies in Europe and Asia walking a DEI tightrope

Outside of the United States, many businesses are quietly standing firm on diversity initiatives.
A supporter of former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds a placard during a prayer rally in Manila on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 18, 2025

'Bring him home': Philippines migrant workers grapple with Duterte fallout

Despite ICC charges of a systemic attack on civilians in his war on drugs, the ex-Philippine president "understood the everyday life of overseas Filipinos," experts say.
Shohei Ohtani gets a kiss from his dog Decoy at a game in August 2024. The Japanese slugger-pitcher’s return to his country to kick off the Major League Baseball season has sparked immense excitement, highlighting his unparalleled career and symbolic role as a national hero.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Superstar Shohei Ohtani for prime minister

He’s unavoidable in Japan: His face adorns ads for cosmetics, mattresses, English conversation schools and, most recently, convenience store rice balls.
U.S. President Donald Trump reviews troops aboard the USS Wasp in Yokosuka, Japan, in May 2019. The shifting global security landscape has sparked discussions in many countries, including Japan, about developing nuclear weapons in response to changing U.S. commitments.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 18, 2025

Changing U.S. commitments spark nuclear armament debates, including in Japan

Given Japan's unique history in 1945, it will take more than fear or harsh rhetoric to push the country into considering the development of nuclear weapons.
Gonzalo Gallegos, director of communications for the U.S. Institute of Peace, carries a box out of the building in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

Elon Musk’s team evicts officials at the U.S. Institute of Peace

Officials say that as the institute is a congressionally chartered nonprofit, not part of the executive branch, Trump and Musk do not have authority to gut its operations.
Japan's shipments abroad have advanced in the first two months of this year, as Japanese companies brace for the rollout of higher tariffs in the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s exports rose more quickly in February ahead of Trump tariffs

Global trade flows face potential major disruptions as the U.S. continues to escalate its tariff campaign, targeting nations where Japanese carmakers have manufacturing bases.
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description

The lastest scandal comes amid broader concerns over the LDP's misuse of political funds, further damaging Prime Minister Ishiba’s reputation.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left), who had stormy exchanges earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described their call on Wednesday as "fantastic.”
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2025

Trump and Zelenskyy pledge in phone call to work for end to war in Ukraine

Describing the move as a step toward fully ending Ukraine's war with Russia, the Ukrainian president said his country is "ready to implement it."
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 20, 2025

Powell downplays growing risks, sees tariff impact as transitory

His use of the word "transitory” was surprising because the Fed employed the same word when inflation exploded following the onset of COVID-19.
Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” is the CEO and founder of tech company Cover Corporation, which runs Hololive, an industry-leading virtual YouTuber talent agency.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2025

Virtual idols, real fans: Hololive’s bet on the future of pop

Hololive CEO Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” has global ambitions for his virtual YouTuber sensations.
A worker arranges cases of avocados at a packaging facility in Mexico on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will follow through next month on twice-delayed plans to impose 25% levies on goods from Mexico as well as Canada.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2025

Trump trade upheaval leaves foreign central banks guessing

The stagflationary direction noted of the U.S. outlook has central banks across the globe parsing what the fallout may mean for them.

Longform

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