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Sara Errani (left) and Andrea Vavassori playing Donald Young and Taylor Townsend in the mixed doubles final on Day 11 of the 2024 U.S. Open tennis tournament.
TENNIS
Feb 12, 2025

Fury as U.S. Open chiefs announce mixed doubles revamp

In a dramatic move that was greeted with criticism, U.S. Open organizers said the mixed doubles event would take place over two days of competition with an amended rulebook.
A YPG fighter holds a notebook with an image of Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan, in Al Hasakah, Syria, on Dec. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2025

Turkey seeks historic peace with Kurds in a shifting Middle East

For the Turkish president, a peace deal would potentially win him enough support to change the constitution and extend his more than two decades in power.
Construction workers in Pasadena, California, on Tuesday. The U.S. could lose millions of workers in the construction industry if President Donald Trump carries through on his campaign of mass deportations, with workers in agriculture, bars and restaurants also at risk.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 12, 2025

Trump deportations send construction workers 'back to the shadows'

Such a response could worsen a labor shortage that already threatens to delay homebuilding and exacerbate a housing affordability crisis.
The International Criminal Court is pursuing arrest warrants for Taliban leaders accused of human rights abuses against Afghan women and girls, but legal and political obstacles complicate the process.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

The long road to justice for Afghan women

Afghan women and girls need every bit of global support they can get to push back against the Taliban’s unhinged misogyny.
Business input in the European Union's AI Act creation has been limited, leading to unresolved issues and uncertainties that could hinder sectors like finance and health care.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

Europe’s CEOs must speak up on AI regulation

In the case of the EU’s AI Act, a lack of business participation in the drafting process has already left critical implementation details unresolved.
Japanese companies face mounting pressure as U.S.-China tensions grow, forcing them to navigate security concerns, economic dependencies and shifting trade policies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 12, 2025

For Japanese firms, the China dilemma is set to intensify

“America First” and “Make America Great Again” are simple slogans that can be fitted to any outcome. All that ultimately matters is the final say of the president.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

In U.S. policy reversal, Trump and Putin agree to Ukraine talks

Trump's move blindsided European allies, who feared the more conciliatory American stance amounted to a giveaway to the Russian leader.
A hapless rakugo comic storyteller, Tamon Saito (Tomizo Nobe, left), strikes up an unlikely relationship with a young comedian (Nagiko Tsuji) who wants to rip off his routine in “Laugh, Everyone!”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2025

'Laugh, Everyone!’: A wonky but endearing double act

Taichi Suzuki’s comedian buddy movie walks a fine line between funny and bleak.
Cargo ships full of shipping containers are seen at the port of Oakland, California, on Feb. 3 as trade tensions escalate over U.S. tariffs
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 13, 2025

Trump says he will sign reciprocal tariffs order soon, as trade war fears mount

Trump's latest round of market-rattling tariffs comes as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is due to visit the White House on Thursday.
German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union party leader Friedrich Merz speaks during a campaign event ahead of the upcoming 2025 general election, in Neubrandenburg, Germany, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

Russian-linked bots sow fear and distrust ahead of German vote: researchers

The bot networks' messaging seemed designed to help the second-placed, Russia-friendly Alternative for Germany.
Ispace CEO Takeshi Hakamada says the company believes joint lunar missions between United States and Japan will remain on course after the leaders of the two countries met last week.
BUSINESS
Feb 13, 2025

Ispace upbeat as Trump keeps Artemis lunar missions with Japan

Launched last month, Ispace's Resilience lander will approach the moon in about three months for the company's second lunar touchdown.
Oil pump jacks in the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia, on June 4, 2023
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

Russia braces for oil output cuts as sanctions and drones hit

The level of complexity involved in refining and selling Russian oil is said to be becoming too much, with everyone "waiting for this war to be over."
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani warms up during spring training in Glendale, Arizona, Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 13, 2025

Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani expected to throw first bullpen session this weekend

Ohtani underwent Tommy John surgery in September 2023 while still with the Los Angeles Angels. He was unable to pitch in 2024.
A "biohybrid" robot hand developed by a research team from the University of Tokyo and Waseda University
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 13, 2025

Japanese research team develops world’s largest 'biohybrid' robot hand

Lack of nutrients, necrosis and muscle fiber alignment issues have limited the scale of previous "biohybrid" systems.
Japan has effectively exited deflation, but Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s reluctance to acknowledge it reflects outdated economic fears rather than current reality.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 13, 2025

It’s time for Japan to admit victory over deflation

The last time prices declined was in July 2021, the same month the Tokyo Olympic Games took place.
Xuan, a Vietnamese migrant, speaks during an interview in London.
WORLD
Feb 13, 2025

'Trapped': Vietnamese slavery victim's ordeal on U.K. dope farm

Vietnamese migrants are among the most exposed to modern slavery, with more than 1,000 presumed victims reported to British authorities in 2023.
Analysts warn that the emergence of DeepSeek’s low-cost, open-source large language models might cool the artificial intelligence frenzy and thus cap SoftBank's investment performance.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Bears circle SoftBank as DeepSeek clouds outlook for Stargate

DeepSeek’s low-cost AI model is begging the question of whether such massive spending on Stargate is even necessary.
Migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France disembark from Border Force vessel 'Typhoon' after it arrived at the Marina in Dover, southeast England, on Feb. 9.
WORLD
Feb 14, 2025

Britain wants to smash the gangs — but what gangs?

Experts say a bill against smuggling gangs and anti-smuggling laws across Europe will not stem migration and often target the wrong people.
Washington plans to renegotiate some aspects of its CHIPS Act after assessing and changing current requirements, according to the sources.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

Trump prepares to change U.S. CHIPS Act conditions, sources say

The extent of the possible changes, and how they would affect agreements already finalized, was not immediately clear.
People rally outside the USAID building in Washington on Feb. 3.
WORLD
Feb 14, 2025

Judge orders U.S. to restore funds for foreign aid programs

The order temporarily blocks the Trump administration from canceling foreign aid contracts and awards that were in place before Trump took office on Jan. 20.
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant in Braddock, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 14, 2025

Nippon Steel wants 100% of U.S. Steel, not a minority stake, report says

Last week, the deal appeared effectively dead after a meeting between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sydney-based Minotaur Capital outperformed the global stock market in its first six months while slashing research costs by using AI.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 14, 2025

Hedge fund startup that replaced analysts with AI beats the market

Minotaur Capital, which has no analysts on staff, returned 13.7% in the six months ending January versus 6.7% for the MSCI All-Country World Index.
Volunteer Nhoun Niyok shows villagers how to use a mosquito net to prevent malaria in Cambodia's northeastern Mondulkiri province on Jan. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Feb 14, 2025

Cambodia nears Khmer Rouge survivor's dream of eradicating malaria

The hope is for zero cases this year — a remarkable turnaround for a country that was formerly an epicenter of multi-drug resistant strains.
The 50th ASEAN-Japan commemorative summit was held in Tokyo in December 2023. Japan has strong relations with ASEAN member countries and should continue leveraging this position to pursue its Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 14, 2025

Why ASEAN is crucial to a Free and Open Indo-Pacific

Tokyo understands ASEAN's centrality to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific vision better than Washington does and should continue leading in defending this regional order.
Talks on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. taking a controlling stake in Intel's factories at the request of Trump administration officials are in very early stages, and the exact structure of a potential partnership hasn’t been established. But the intended result would have the world’s largest made-to-order chipmaker fully operating Intel’s U.S. semiconductor factories.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 15, 2025

TSMC considers running Intel’s U.S. factories after Trump team request

Trump officials raised the idea of a deal between the two companies in recent meetings with the Taiwanese chipmaker, and TSMC was receptive.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks at the Munich Security Conference in the German city on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2025

Vance attack on Europe overshadows Ukraine talks at security conference

The U.S. vice president said what worried him most about Europe was an alleged censoring of free speech and "out-of-control" immigration.
Ukrainian soldiers from the Shkval Special Forces Assault Battalion during training exercises in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine on Thursday
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Trump team makes confused start to Ukraine diplomacy

This was a disorienting week for those anxious over how the new Trump administration will fulfill Donald Trump's vow to end the Ukraine war.
The Trump administration has fired scores of the Centers for Disease Control's "disease detectives," the researchers are hired annually through a competitive process that each year whittles down hundreds of applicants — including doctors, nurses, scientists and more — to a class of a few dozen.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 15, 2025

Trump admin fires CDC 'disease detectives' as bird flu fears rise

Established in 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service is a two-year post-doctoral training program whose officers have been on the front line of investigating outbreaks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a video conference with the Sevastopol governor in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Putin assembles team of heavyweights to negotiate Ukraine deal

U.S. President Donald Trump’s team by contrast lacks the same depth of background on Ukraine and has little experience negotiating directly with Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during family photo session with other leaders and attendees at the Group of 20 summit in the city of Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Saudis spearhead Arab scramble for alternative to Trump's Gaza plan

Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years