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Motorcycles on display at the Honda pavilion at the Bangkok International Motor Show in Bangkok in March 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025

Honda’s motorcycle business is the gem in a messy Nissan union

Two-wheelers accounted for about 16% of Honda’s sales last fiscal year but an outsized 40% of its operating profit.
A farm laborer stands next to sacks filled with harvested potatoes at a field in Subhri village, in the northern state of Haryana, India, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 3, 2025

In first budget of third term, Modi puts short-term tax cuts above deep reforms

But the year's top economic policy event passed up a chance to go big on reforms needed to reignite rapid growth — once the envy of the world at more than 8%.
An Iranian couple sits in a park facing the Milad Tower in Tehran on Dec. 27.
ENVIRONMENT
Feb 3, 2025

Vanishing mountains: Winter air pollution smothers Iran

Iran's capital Tehran frequently ranks among the world's most polluted cities, says Swiss-based air quality monitoring company IQAir.
Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent announces the end of the MLB lockout on March 19, 1990.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 3, 2025

Fay Vincent, who tangled with owners as MLB Commissioner, dies at 86

Vincent served as commissioner just shy of three years after replacing A. Bartlett Giamatti, who held the office only five months before dying of a heart attack on Sept. 1, 1989.
Cows graze in a deforested pasture in Brazil's Amazon located in the municipality of Itapua do Oeste, Rondonia state, Brazil, in 2020.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Feb 3, 2025

Brazil's carbon trade takes off, but agribusiness escapes scrutiny

The regulation is still expected to bring legal security and foster carbon projects that protect the Amazon against pressure from the agribusiness sector.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son (right) and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at an event on Monday to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 3, 2025

SoftBank forms joint venture with OpenAI in enterprise play

SoftBank and OpenAI said that the joint venture will help large Japanese enterprises in the adoption and training of Cristal intelligence in order to improve their businesses.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2025

Trump's tariff reversal shows how he's wielding bombast on trade

The U.S. leader has pledged to remake the global economy with tariffs. So far, it’s been more Art of the Deal than a revolution.
Marcus Rashford joined Manchester United at the age of 7 and emerged from the youth academy as a teenage prodigy in 2016, but recent years have been marked by controversy.
SOCCER
Feb 4, 2025

Once Manchester United's golden boy, Marcus Rashford's run ends in divorce

Rashford appeared to have the world at his feet when he signed a new five-year contract with United in July 2023, but the relationship recently soured.
Home plate umpire Pat Hoberg calls an out during a game between the Padres and Giants in April 2023.
BASEBALL
Feb 4, 2025

MLB umpire fired for violating league gambling rules

The league said in a statement a decision to dismiss Hoberg made in May 2024 had been upheld following a lengthy appeals process.
Honorary IOC member Chiharu Igaya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Jan. 20.
OLYMPICS
Feb 4, 2025

Honorary IOC member urges organization to address climate change

Some studies have suggested that the number of possible candidates to host a Winter Games will fall to 10 by 2040 due to the effects of global warming.
Roki Sasaki pitches in a game against the Czech Republic during the World Baseball Classic in Tokyo on March 11, 2023, the 12th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake.
BASEBALL
Feb 4, 2025

Roki Sasaki's road to glory was paved by ache of a tragedy

Long before he became a pitching phenom and signed a deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Roki Sasaki's life was marked by tragedy.
Mizuho’s sustainability report for 2024
ESG CONSORTIUM
Feb 4, 2025

Mizuho report aims to spur action to move into alternative energy

To achieve carbon neutrality in an increasingly uncertain world, Japanese companies should focus on innovations for alternative energy and shift their business models toward building a carbon-neutral economy, Mizuho Financial Group says in a recent report.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (left) speaks during an executive order signing ceremony with U.S. President Donald Trump and Howard Lutnick, chief executive officer of Cantor Fitzgerald and U.S. commerce secretary nominee, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2025

Trump orders creation of U.S. sovereign wealth fund and says it could buy TikTok

The text of the executive order was sparse on details, and simply directed the Treasury and Commerce Departments to submit a plan for such a fund within 90 days.
The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai on Jan. 20. China's Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for U.S. coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2025

China hits back with tariffs on U.S. goods after Trump imposes new levies

Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, but there was no such reprieve for China.
Petra Kvitova plays a forehand return against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki during the US Open tennis tournament on Aug. 30, 2023.
TENNIS
Feb 4, 2025

Kvitova to make comeback this month after maternity break

The former world No. 2 last played in October 2023 and won titles in Miami and Berlin that year.
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough has shaken assumptions about China’s innovation, highlighted weaknesses in U.S. tech restrictions, and reinforced China’s push for self-sufficiency despite export controls.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2025

DeepSeek forces a rethink of China’s ability to innovate

The Trump administration hasn’t outlined a policy toward technology flows yet, but it ordered a review of export controls on day one.
China said on Tuesday it would impose tariffs on imports of U.S. energy, vehicles and equipment, firing a return salvo in an escalating trade war between the world's two biggest economies.
BUSINESS / Economy / EXPLAINER
Feb 4, 2025

Where things stand in China-U.S. trade tensions

China has made good on its threats to retaliate in the escalating trade war with the United States, imposing tariffs on American imports of energy, cars and machinery parts.
Cargo containers await loading onto ships at the port of Tianjin, China, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 5, 2025

Xi’s careful reply to Trump tariffs shows China has more to lose

The shift reflects both Xi’s success at diversifying imports away from the U.S. since Trump’s first term, as well as China’s more precarious economic situation.
Talks by Honda and Nissan to create the world’s third-largest carmaker have gone haltingly since the plans were first announced in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Nissan shares plunge, Honda's rise as end to merger talks reported

Shares in Nissan slid more than 4% before trade was suspended by the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the Nikkei report.
Slovenian basketball player Luka Doncic (center) holds up a jersey as he stands alongside Lakers head coach JJ Redick (right) and general manager Rob Pelinka during a press conference introducing Doncic as the newest member of the Lakers at the UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo, California on Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 5, 2025

Doncic hungry for titles after shock Lakers trade

Doncic said the prospect of playing alongside LeBron James for arguably the NBA's most iconic franchise represented a "dream come true."
Next Generation Technology Group acquires companies in need of future leadership with competitive technologies and high margins, said Eiichi Arai, the Tokyo-based firm’s CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Tokyo’s first listing of the year soars in trading debut

The shares climbed as much as 58% to ¥3,165 in early trading in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Tigers players toss manager Yoshio Yoshida into the air after the club clinched its first Japan Series title, on Nov. 11, 1985.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 5, 2025

Hanshin Tigers legend Yoshio Yoshida dies at 91

During his 17-year playing career, Yoshida appeared in 2,007 games and recorded 1,864 hits. But he was perhaps most notable for leading the Tigers to the 1985 Japan Series.
Toyota is investing in increased capacity for electric vehicles and has unveiled plans to establish a subsidiary in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Toyota raises annual profit guidance despite quarterly income drop

The automaker now expects a profit of ¥4.7 trillion ($31 billion) for the fiscal year ending March, up from its previous forecast of ¥4.3 trillion.
DeepSeek's impressive AI breakthroughs have sparked global attention but face mounting U.S. scrutiny, with potential bans unlikely to stop its open-source technology from spreading worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

DeepSeek’s breakthroughs are too big for the U.S. to ban

The national security concerns behind the U.S. push to ban TikTok are even more pronounced when it comes to generative AI.
U.S. President Donald Trump's imposed and since paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico, coupled with his broad levies on China — and possibly others soon — pose risks of economic retaliation, supply chain disruptions and long-term damage to U.S. influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

The tariff man is making a risky bet

The optimal tariff argument ignores the substantial risks that Trump is taking. A generalized trade war will make everyone worse off.
Homes destroyed by wildfire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles earlier this month. Insured losses caused by this and other fires raging in the area in recent weeks have been valued at over $30 billion.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

Fossil fuel insurance is still way too cheap

Despite mounting losses from climate-induced disasters, insurers continue underwriting fossil fuels. Raising the cost of such policies would help cut emissions and benefit many.
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura (second from left) hands a letter regarding the 2025 Osaka Expo to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 5, 2025

Same-day ticket sales under consideration for Osaka Expo

As of Jan. 29, the number of advance tickets sold stood at some 7.66 million — about the half of the target number.
Ditching the U.S.' normal trade relations designation for China could lead to an automatic jump in levies, at rates that could far exceed what Trump has so far slapped on China.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Feb 6, 2025

Trump's China focus increases odds of end to special trading status

The Permanent Normal Trade Relations designation was was extended to China in 2000.
Japan's Kaori Sakamoto celebrates after finishing in third place at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in Grenoble, France on Dec. 7, 2024.
OLYMPICS / Winter Sports
Feb 6, 2025

Olympics on horizon as China hosts Asian Winter Games

The Games crucially come just a year ahead of the Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
Kuaishou Technology has attracted tens of millions of younger viewers who habitually scroll screens for new stories and trending videos.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025

Mini dramas have supplanted movies in China. Is the U.S. next?

Professionally produced series for the web, mini dramas have clear storylines and big cliffhangers, with episodes running just 60 to 90 seconds each.

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