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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.
Palestinians break their fast by eating the Iftar meals during the holy month of Ramadan, near the rubble of buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 2, 2025

Israel agrees on U.S. plan for temporary ceasefire in Gaza, PM's office says

The U.S. proposal came after a realization that more time is needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire.
Pete Rose acknowledges the crowd during a ceremony before the Phillies' game against the Nationals in Philadelphia on Aug. 7, 2022.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 2, 2025

Donald Trump to issue 'complete pardon' of former MLB great Pete Rose

Trump made the declaration late Friday on his Truth Social account. It wasn't exactly clear what the pardon would cover.
Nuns pose for a photo in the rain in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Saturday, ahead of a prayer service as Pope Francis continues his hospitalization.
WORLD
Mar 2, 2025

Pope Francis remains stable, has not had new breathing crisis, Vatican says

The 88-year-old pontiff suffered a constriction of his respiratory airways on Friday, akin to an asthma attack, renewing concerns over his well-being.
The logo of Deepseek is seen during the Global Developer Conference, organized by the Shanghai AI Industry Association on Feb. 21. A simple handshake between President Xi Jinping and once-shunned entrepreneur Jack Ma sent Chinese tech stocks booming in recent weeks as it was interpreted as the latest sign the sector is being brought in from the cold — though experts advise caution.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 2, 2025

China signals renewed tech sector support, but concerns linger

Analysts increasingly see signs that Beijing is warming to its tech sector again, as domestic economic woes and a trade war with the U.S. loom larger.
Ethiopia's Tadese Takele wins the the Tokyo Marathon on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Mar 2, 2025

Tadese Takele wins Tokyo Marathon

Ethiopia's Deresa Geleta was second in 2:03:51, with Kenya's Vincent Kipkemoi Ngetich third in 2:04.
Former Reds great Pete Rose speaks during a ceremony for the unveiling of his bronze statue at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on June 17, 2017.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 2, 2025

MLB's Rob Manfred reviewing petition to reinstate Pete Rose

The report comes one day after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would pardon Rose.

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