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Designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union following a session of the German lower house of parliament to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Germany's Friedrich Merz faces new vote for chancellor after surprise loss

The initial shock defeat dealt a heavy blow to Merz, who has vowed to restore stability in Berlin after half a year of political turmoil.
Smoke billows up at Sanaa Airport in Yemen after Israeli military warplanes struck the Houthi rebel-held capital on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025

U.S. and Yemen's Houthis agree to ceasefire

The deal comes after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would end attacks against the Houthis after the rebels agreed to stop harassing ships.
With the U.S. Capitol in the background, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks to reporters after his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025

Carney stresses Canada will never be for sale in first meeting with Trump

Overall, Carney termed the meeting as constructive, and said the two sides would start serious talks on a new relationship.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a FIFA Task Force meeting in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
SOCCER / World cup
May 7, 2025

Trump vows 'seamless' experience for 2026 World Cup fans

The World Tourism Forum Institute has said a mix of stringent U.S. immigration policies and global political tensions could "significantly affect" international arrivals.
Workers set up scaffolding at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on April 28 ahead of the conclave.
WORLD
May 7, 2025

Michelangelo meets James Bond: How Sistine Chapel conclave is kept secret

Various security measures are in place to prevent the transmitting of information, and cardinals will be in a protective envelope at all times.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 7, 2025

Trade barriers to China's AI market a 'tremendous loss,' NVidia CEO says

Jensen Huang has argued that tightening restrictions on his company that limit access to China, the biggest market for semiconductors, will hurt U.S. national security.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida speaks during a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 7, 2025

Ex-PM Kishida and Malaysian leader affirm cooperation

They also exchanged views on U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff measures, said Kishida, who visited Malaysia as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's special envoy.
In a world where capital and rich individuals can cross borders freely, only international cooperation can ensure that multinational corporations and the superrich are fairly taxed.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2025

America is becoming the world’s largest tax haven

Trump is turning the U.S. into a tax haven by weakening enforcement, deregulating crypto and abandoning international tax cooperation, favoring secrecy and the ultrarich.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony before their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2025

Xi meets Putin in Moscow as Ukraine reports truce violations

Xi told Putin that Beijing stood alongside Russia in the face of "hegemonic bullying" — a nod to the two countries' anti-U.S. stance.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025

Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival

Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets and MiG-29 fighter jets fly above Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2025

Putin's order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters into force

It was not immediately clear whether either side was observing the ceasefire.
Alpine's Flavio Briatore (right) and Jack Doohan are seen before qualifying at the Miami Grand Prix on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 8, 2025

Alpine dealing with major shakeup as winds of change blow again

Pierre Gasly is now working with his fourth team boss at the Enstone factory.
Urgent diplomacy and restraint are needed to prevent further escalation between India and Pakistan, as both sides risk being pulled into a dangerous conflict with potential global consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

Can India and Pakistan step back from the brink?

India and Pakistan on many occasions have been on the brink of major conflict, yet have successfully climbed down.
Pakistan spent decades backing the Taliban as a tool to control Afghanistan and gain “strategic depth” against India. Now it has a monster it cannot control.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

The Pakistan-Taliban divorce gets messy

With Afghanistan now serving not as a strategic asset for Pakistan, but as a grave liability, India must wait and watch how this drama on its western flank plays out.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a phone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump from a Jaguar Land Rover automobile manufacturing plant in the West Midlandson, U.K., on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2025

Starmer gets diplomatic win he needs, if not the economic boost

The framework the two leaders unveiled goes some way to reversing the worst impacts on the U.K. of U.S. tariffs.
Hoshoryu (right) practices against Kotozakura at Ryogoku Kokugikan on May 2.
SUMO
May 9, 2025

Hoshoryu dominates rivals in practice, but real test awaits at May Basho

Sumo is a sport where practice results are unreliable if taken as a predictor of future success.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s top tariff negotiator, speaks to the press on Friday. Japan and the United States are still discussing what to negotiate.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025

Japan stuck at starting line in tariff talks with U.S. as U.K. inks deals

The U.S. has warned that comparing Japan with the U.K. was apples and oranges, and that getting over the line with many countries will be a slow and arduous process.
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.
Shinzo Abe, then the Chief Cabinet Secretary, shakes hands with former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage during a symposium in Tokyo in July 2006.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 9, 2025

Remembering two titans in Japan-U.S. relations

Their good humor, unflagging optimism and commitment to building a stronger Japan-U.S. alliance continues to shape that partnership.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with North Korean servicemen on Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025

Putin hails troops in Ukraine as allies attend WWII parade

President Vladimir Putin vowed on Friday that Russia would win in Ukraine as the Soviet Union had in World War II.
French President Emmanuel Macron (center), British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left) and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz hold a trilateral meeting on board a train to Ukraine on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025

Europe in talks with U.S. over ultimatum to end war in Ukraine

The plans aren’t yet final, and moving forward still hinges on the U.S., which has called for a monthlong unconditional truce.
Varda Ben Baruch, grandmother of hostage Edan Alexander, points at the portrait of her grandson at Kibbutz Nir Oz, in southern Israel on April 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

Hamas says it will release Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander

Israeli officials said that their offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized.
The larger-than-life hairstyles of Japan's Showa Era are unmistakable — and they're making a comeback.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 12, 2025

Sculpted waves, sleek updos: Showa hairstyles are back in fashion

Television reruns and social media content showcasing Showa idols may be the driving force behind the revival of retro styles.
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.
Keegan Bradley chips onto the 18th green during the second round of the Truist Championship in Philadelphia on Friday.
MORE SPORTS
May 12, 2025

U.S. players thinking about Ryder Cup as major season heats up

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley has become a fan favorite, especially after the Netflix series "Full Swing" documented how he was left off the 2023 Ryder Cup team.
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator

The ministry summoned Japan Airport Terminal president Kazuhito Tanaka over misconduct related to a massage chair business in a terminal at Haneda Airport.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping joins Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders at a ceremony at the Kremlin’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

Beijing talks peace in Ukraine while aiding Putin’s war

China benefits strategically as long as the war stays within Ukraine, the nuclear risk remains low and its “unlimited partner,” Russia, does not lose.
The Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue that was returned to the Kannonji Temple in Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, on Monday
JAPAN
May 12, 2025

Stolen Buddha statue returned to Japanese temple after 12 years

A ritual was held at Kannoji Temple on the island of Tsushima to mark the return of the Kanzeon Bodhisattva statue after more than 12 years.
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.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump walk during the G20 leaders summit in Osaka on June 28, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025

Putin and Trump to skip Ukraine's peace talks that Russian leader proposed

The absence of the Russian and U.S. presidents lowers the expectations for a major breakthrough in the war Russia started in February 2022.

Longform

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