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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.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance tours the U.S. military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2025

Vance accuses Denmark of not keeping Greenland safe from Russia and China

He suggested the territory would come to see the benefit of partnering with the U.S., in remarks the Danish prime minister called unfair.
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at a rally in Surrey, British Columbia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2025

Trump drama drowns out Canadian Conservatives’ election message

Trump has drowned out the debate on domestic issues with his barrage of tariffs and proclamations that the country should be the 51st U.S. state.
Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
Mar 31, 2025

The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan

A growing industry quietly erases the final traces of those who die alone, exposing deep societal fractures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Moscow in 2022. The war in Ukraine will eventually come to an end and Europe needs to come up with a unified strategy to be a formidable adversary in the Kremlin's eyes.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 4, 2025

Europe must set the terms for postwar Russia engagement now

Past trade with Russia didn't work to limit Moscow, but isolation isn't the way forward either. In an eventual postwar scenario, Europe should opt for deterrence, not dialogue.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on March 22. Top lawyers for both President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden have separately urged the U.S. Supreme Court to limit the authority of federal judges to issue nationwide injunctions that can stop a government policy in its tracks.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

As judges stymie Trump with injunctions, pressure builds on U.S. Supreme Court

The power of one judge to issue a nationwide injunction has become pivotal in the question of whether the U.S. president can quickly implement his agenda.
Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Apr 11, 2025

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

On a man-made island in Osaka Bay, Japan stages a grand vision of the future — and a quiet test of relevance.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025

Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.

Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
Former CDP executive Kenji Eda discusses a possible reduction of the consumption tax rate, in Tokyo on April 10.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 17, 2025

CDP divisions over proposed tax cut pose headache for Yoshihiko Noda

The nation’s largest opposition party is preparing for the Upper House poll in July, in which it hopes to win enough seats to make a CDP-led coalition government possible.
Christophe Lemaire rides Admire Daytona, who was bred in Japan, during the UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on April 5.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Apr 29, 2025

Could this be Japan’s year at the Kentucky Derby?

Japan has made great strides in thoroughbred racing, and many feel it is no longer a question of "if" a Japanese horse will win the event but "when."
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left), who also chairs the Japan-China Parliamentary Friendship Association, meets with Zhao Leji, the third-ranked official in the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, in Beijing on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 30, 2025

Communist China’s quiet influence on Japanese politics

China Communist Party influence operations have been embedded in the Japanese government and political structures for 75 years.
Donald Trump’s trade war and the dollar’s volatility are prompting Asia’s wealthy to reassess where they park their money, with Hong Kong and Singapore competing for capital as the U.S. loses its appeal as a financial haven.
COMMENTARY / World
May 2, 2025

Trump’s trade war shakes dollar’s haven status and opens door for Asian financial hubs

Trump’s trade policies, even if substantially reversed, have sent a loud message to the Asian affluent classes.
Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Shoji Nishida answers questions from reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025

LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida refuses to retract remarks over WWII exhibits

Nishida said that descriptions at a monument to commemorate the "Himeyuri" nursing corps who died in the Battle of Okinawa had rewritten history.
Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
May 12, 2025

What comes after 100?

The number of Japanese centenarians is on the rise, providing new models for how to live in a super-aging society.
Pope Leo XIV, in his first public appearance after he was elected, on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

World Catholics see the first American pope as hardly American

The new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has signaled that his identity will defy easy categorization.
Huntar Company CEO Jason Cheung adjusts some of the toys on display at his office in Union City, California, on May 8. His company manufactures toys in China for clients in the U.S., Canada and Europe.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 13, 2025

Tariffs crippled U.S.-owned factory in China that made toys for Walmart

Huntar Company CEO Jason Cheung says his company would survive if tariffs come down quickly. If they don't, he'd lose everything.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
Ukraine's air defenses shoot down Russian drones during a strike toward Kyiv in September 2024. Experts worry how long Ukraine can fend off the nightly attacks if Russia maintains — or escalates — its strikes.
WORLD
May 31, 2025

As Russia intensifies attacks, Ukraine air defenses under strain

Experts worry how long Ukraine can fend off the nightly attacks if Russia maintains — or escalates — its strikes.
Elon Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump during a news conference at the White House on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2025

Musk vows to stay Trump's 'friend' in bizarre black-eyed farewell

As the world's richest person bowed out of his role, Trump hailed Musk's "incredible service" and handed him a golden key to the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump smiles before speaking in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 1, 2025

Trump tariffs face threat at top court — over rulings that blocked Biden

The court’s conservative majority ruled that federal agencies can’t decide sweeping political and economic matters without clear congressional authorization.
Fuji TV in Tokyo's Minato Ward. The company has also demoted the then-head of programming for his alleged secondary harassment of the victim as he delivered cash and other consolation gifts from the TV idol to her while she was in the hospital.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 6, 2025

Fuji TV to sue former executives over their response to Nakai scandal

The company also demoted the then-head of programming for his alleged secondary harassment of the victim, a former Fuji TV announcer.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

No-confidence motion against Ishiba Cabinet could lead to double election

A double election could result in more political stability if either bloc manages to capture both chambers, or continued instability if neither holds a majority.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bill signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2025

Trump's 'peacemaker' pledge takes big hit as Israel strikes Iran

U.S. ally Israel struck dozens of Iranian targets in a dramatic attack that analysts say threatens to spiral into an all-out regional war.
Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda’s reelection garnered almost 97% of voted shares during the carmaker’s annual meeting, the company said in a statement Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2025

Toyota chair reclaims support after scandals that hurt last vote

The rebound in Toyoda’s popularity suggest tacit shareholder approval of how he handled the certification issues.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on April 7. Netanyahu is playing a risky game by launching a war against Iran that may not stop its nuclear program and could trigger a wider conflict beyond Israel’s control.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025

Netanyahu’s big gamble risks a quicker Iranian bomb

Whether the air strikes can indeed succeed is a very big "if.” It’s more likely that Israel can do no more than delay Iran’s nuclear program.
Israeli air defense systems intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Trump wraps situation room meeting as Iran plan remains mystery

The White House offered few clues about whether Trump had decided to join Israel's offensive aimed at destroying Tehran’s nuclear program.
Though Kyotoites play down their reputation for not meaning what they say, there are certain phrases you should look out for if you’re invited to a home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 20, 2025

How to get kicked out of a Kyoto home with a smile

In Kyoto, a polite offer of tea might really mean “please leave.” Learn how to decode Kansai’s indirect dialect through a few phrases.
A person who contracted HIV after losing access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, works out at a gym in Awka, Nigeria, on June 1.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 22, 2025

Trump aid cuts deal a blow to HIV prevention in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic.
Smoke rises from an Israeli attack on an oil refinery in Tehran on June 15.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 22, 2025

Trump’s airstrikes on Iran leave oil market poised for surge

A recent rise in the price of oil is expected to restart on Monday after the U.S. assault dramatically raised the stakes in a region that accounts for a third of global oil output.
Arisa Trew understands both sides of the debate around the introduction of a minimum age limit for World Skateboarding Tour events.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 23, 2025

World Skate puts brakes on skateboarding's preteen movement with new age limits

The minimum age of 11 this year will be raised one year each in 2026, 2027 and 2028 so that when the LA Olympics roll around in 2028, the minimum age will be 14.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji