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An ANA Boeing 787 Dreamliner undergoes maintenance in ANA's hanger at Haneda Airport.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2025

ANA to buy at least 77 jets from Boeing, Airbus and Embraer

The purchase underscores ANA’s ambitions to exceed its pre-pandemic fleet size by 2030 and capitalize on the boom in global air travel demand.
The weak yen is often cited as one reason why many Japanese don't go abroad.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 25, 2025

Only 17% of Japanese people own passports, Foreign Ministry says

Around 3.7 million passports were issued domestically in 2024, a 8.8% increase from the year before but down 15.2% from prepandemic numbers in 2019.
Toshihiro Suzuki (left), president of Suzuki Motor, and Hisashi Takeuchi, managing director of Maruti Suzuki India, during an event in New Delhi on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 25, 2025

Suzuki Motor unit opens first new India plant in eight years

India’s largest carmaker by sales had last opened a new factory in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2017.
A supporter of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol waves a flag showing a picture of Yoon during a rally near the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Tuesday, as Yoon attended his final impeachment hearing.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

Yoon accused in final impeachment hearing of seeking 'dictatorship'

In his own closing statement before the Constitutional Court, the South Korean president defended his decisions as lawful and necessary to protect the country.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (center) takes questions during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

White House takes control of picking media who cover Trump

The move came amid an escalating battle between the White House and the Associated Press news agency, which Trump has barred from presidential events.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa at a news conference following the Group of 20 foreign ministers' meeting in Johannesburg on Feb. 20
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 26, 2025

Japan's soft power may hold key to African development as U.S. cuts aid

Businesses linked to Japanese food and anime, for example, may play an important role in investments to Africa from Japan.
Elon Musk holds up a chainsaw onstage during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

Musk's new ultimatum spurs fresh confusion among U.S. government workers

President Donald Trump said workers who did not respond would be "sort of semi-fired," adding to the uncertainty.
Canada's Liberal Party leadership candidates gather for a debate ahead of the March 9 vote to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Montreal on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

U.S. threats mean Canada must bolster military, candidates say

The four candidates sparred over how fast Canada can realistically roll out the billions of dollars needed to reach the NATO threshold of 2% GDP.
A sample of a wafer is seen at the Semicon Taiwan 2022 exhibition in Taipei in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

China says Taiwan seeking to give away chip industry to U.S.

U.S. media has said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has been in talks for a stake in Intel.
The People's Liberation Army Navy's Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang, part of a flotilla sailing inside Australia's exclusive economic zone on Wednesday, is seen at an undisclosed location in this image taken on Feb. 11.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 26, 2025

'Provocative' Chinese warship near Australia puts Japan on notice

Canberra surmised that China's military moves were intended to “shape the responses of those in the region and observe and learn from our reactions.”
The Taiwanese Coast Guard detains Togolese-registered, Chinese-crewed cargo ship Hongtai in Penghu, Taiwan, on Tuesday after a subsea telecoms cable was severed off the islands.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

China says Taiwan 'manipulating' undersea cable cutting incident

Taiwan's coast guard said it detained a China-linked cargo ship on Tuesday after a cable to the Penghu Islands was disconnected.
Jose Ando purposefully wrote his Akutagawa Prize-winning novel “Dtopia” to be accessible to an audience beyond Japan and to spark conversations about race, gender and the effects of modern entertainment.
CULTURE / Books
Feb 27, 2025

Jose Ando's rapid rise from first pages to the Akutagawa Prize

Just three years after dedicating himself to writing, the author won Japan's top literary award for his novel "Dtopia," which offers a fresh perspective on identity and diversity.
Thousands of mourners, carrying flags and orange balloons, joined a funeral procession on Wednesday for Shiri Bibas and her two sons, who were among the hostages taken by Palestinian militants in Gaza in October 2023 and who died during their captivity.
WORLD
Feb 27, 2025

Hamas releases bodies of hostages; Israel frees Palestinian prisoners

After days of impasse, Egyptian mediators secured the handover of the bodies of the four hostages.
Volker Turk, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, addresses the Human Rights Council at the U.N. in Geneva on Feb. 29, 2024.
WORLD
Feb 27, 2025

Israel disregards human rights and Hamas broke international law, U.N. says

The U.N. Human Rights Chief called for all violations to be investigated independently, a move which the European Union supported.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a statement on defense spending at Downing Street in London on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Starmer tries to buy Ukraine time with Trump security pitch

The British prime minister's main objective is to secure an American "backstop” for any truce between Russia and Ukraine.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach speaks during the opening of an executive board meeting at the Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, in December 2024.
OLYMPICS
Feb 27, 2025

IOC President Thomas Bach to resign as member after tenure as leader ends

The 71-year-old, who joined the IOC in 1991, could have remained a member until the age of 80.
Japanese nominal wages rose at the fastest pace in nearly three decades according to data out this month, and GDP figures showed Japan’s economy outperformed forecasts.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 27, 2025

Yen traders raise focus on Japanese data as economy shifts gears

The news marks a mindset change since the Bank of Japan ended its negative-rates policy last March.
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the White House on Monday. The French leader has been forced to appease Trump knowing Europe is unprepared to defend itself without U.S. support.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2025

America is turning its alliances into a protection racket

Trump has no compunction in using his leverage as a global security provider for extortion of allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s populism and polarization will challenge American democracy, but constitutional limits, congressional dynamics and enduring pluralism will sustain it.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 27, 2025

American democracy will weather the Trumpist storm

Despite Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, his populist nature makes constitutional collapse unlikely so long as pluralism in society endures.
People walk along a bridge with the Kremlin and Saint Basil's Cathedral seen in the background, in Moscow on Feb. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

The 'new silent ones': Opponents lie low in Russia

Since the start of the offensive three years ago, Moscow has cracked down on any public dissent of what it calls the "special military operation."
Multinational victims of scam centers, who were trafficked into working in Myanmar and were sent to Thailand, queue for food at a shelter as they wait for their embassies to pick them up, in Tak province, Thailand, on Feb. 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2025

'Contemplated suicide': Ethiopians recount horror of Southeast Asia scam centers

The complexes have flourished across the region, often staffed by foreigners who are made to swindle people in what analysts say is a multibillion-dollar industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 28, 2025

Trump dodges plea from Britain's Starmer for Ukraine security guarantee

Britain's prime minister had argued that there could be no long-term peace in Ukraine without firm U.S. security guarantees.
Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas as other climate finance runs dry.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 28, 2025

Nauru sells citizenship to fund climate change mitigation

The island nation of around 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as creeping seas start to eat away at its fertile coastal fringe.
A screen shows news footage of plane debris at the site where a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737-800 plane crashed in the Chinese city of Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, in March 2022.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 28, 2025

Air safety reporting under scrutiny as crashes lie unresolved

Almost half of 268 accidents involving fatalities or major damage between 2018 and the end of 2023 lack a final report.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton participates in Formula One preseason testing in Sakhir, Bahrain, on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Feb 28, 2025

Lewis Hamilton 'really enjoying' driving Ferrari during testing

The seven-time world champion was second overall on the day but only 0.031 seconds slower than Carlos Sainz.
A model wears items that are part of Takashi Murakami's collaboration with MLB.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 28, 2025

Famed artist Takashi Murakami partners with MLB for Tokyo Series

The new collection includes t-shirts and sweatshirts adorned with Murakami’s signature style, along with hats, baseballs and gloves.
China's recent naval exercises near Australia and New Zealand, though legal, highlight Beijing’s growing reach and willingness to test other nations' responses.
EDITORIALS
Feb 28, 2025

China pushes the military envelope with power projections

This week, Chinese ships conducted military exercises, including live-fire drills, in waters near Australia and New Zealand. While legal, the moves expose its hypocrisy.
People take photos of the Shinjuku Alta building on Friday evening.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 28, 2025

Shinjuku Alta closes its doors after 45 years

The shopping complex near the JR Shinjuku Station served as a de facto meeting point for many in one of Tokyo’s busiest entertainment districts.
Some 230 million people globally thought to be affected by long COVID. The effects range from mild to disabling, and there are no proven diagnostic tests or treatments.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2025

'Going mad': Lack of data plagues Asia's long COVID patients

Some 230 million people are thought to be affected by long COVID — defined as symptoms persisting for three months or more after the initial infection.
Monta Mino, who hosted many television shows in Japan, died in the early hours of Saturday. He was 80.
JAPAN
Mar 1, 2025

Famed Japanese TV host Monta Mino dies at 80

Mino, whose real name was Norio Minorikawa, joined Nippon Cultural Broadcasting in 1967.

Longform

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