Search - world

 
 
Firefighters battle forest fires in the Turkmen mountains in the Rabiah area of Syria's western Latakia's governorate on May 11.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 21, 2025

Fires drive tropical forest loss to 'red alert' record high

The world lost 67,000 square kilometers of precious primary tropical forest last year, an area double the size of Belgium or Taiwan.
China’s prolonged real estate slump has pushed housing construction back to early 2000s levels, sharply cutting cement production and offering a rare climate reprieve from one of the world’s biggest sources of carbon emissions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

China’s building crash is rewinding 22 years of growth

The real estate slump may be bad for the economy, but it’s good for the planet — cement is one of the most polluting substances on Earth.
Author Kazuo Ishiguro (left) and director Kei Ishikawa pose during a photocall for the film “Toi Yamanamino Hikari” ("A Pale View of Hills") at the 78th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.
CULTURE / Film
May 21, 2025

Adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's first novel premieres at Cannes

The author says that adapting the novel — which he wrote when he was 25 — was different from bringing his other books to the big screen.
Boxing great Manny Pacquiao will come out of retirement to face Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight championship in Las Vegas on July 19.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 22, 2025

Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement to face Mario Barrios for WBC title

Pacquiao is the only boxer to win world championships in eight weight divisions.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in deliberations on pension system reform in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Ishiba’s comparison of Japan’s finances to Greece’s during a tax debate drew backlash for spooking markets and misrepresenting the country’s debt situation.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 22, 2025

Ishiba's Greece debt comparison risks deeper crisis

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s comparison of Japan’s finances to Greece’s during a tax debate drew backlash for spooking markets and misrepresenting the country’s debt situation.
Tottenham's Son Heung-min celebrates with the trophy after the Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain, on Thursday.
SOCCER
May 22, 2025

Tottenham captain Son Heung-min realizes dream as club wins Europa League

Son joined the club 10 years ago but had not won any silverware.
Lindsey Vonn skis during a World Cup event in Kvitfjell, Norway, on March 2.
OLYMPICS
May 22, 2025

Lindsey Vonn feeling 'amazing' ahead of bid to make U.S. Olympic team at age 40

Vonn said a partial knee replacement last year helped her overall fitness and enabled her to seek a spot on the U.S. ski team for the Milano Cortina Olympics in February 2026.
A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025

How efficiency can transform sustainable development

In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
Drawn to tea ceremony while volunteering at a Japanese garden in Phoenix, Arizona, Michele Laudig (right) came to learn a “common language of movement and ritual” that brought her into new communities in New York City and Tokyo.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 26, 2025

A moving meditation: Finding serenity in tea ceremony across space and time

After an American writer ventured into the world of tea ceremony, its lessons transformed her relationship to Japan and brought her into communities bonded by movement and ritual.
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates after defeating Jannik Sinner in the Italian Open final in Rome on Sunday.
TENNIS
May 23, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz to open French Open title defense against Kei Nishikori

Naomi Osaka will face No. 10 seed Paula Badosa in the first round.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2025

Ishiba and Guterres agree to deepen Japan-U.N. cooperation

Ishiba stressed the importance of the role played by the United Nations at a time when the international community faces a host of challenges.
An employee of Kyowa Industrial walks next to the company's factory in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025

Tariff crossfire hits Toyota, Nissan and Ford suppliers in Japan

Thousands of small and midsize makers of auto parts in Japan, including suppliers for Toyota and Nissan, are facing a crisis as U.S. tariffs threaten their bottom lines.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines President and CEO Takeshi Hashimoto speaks during an interview in Tokyo in April.
BUSINESS
May 23, 2025

Japanese gas tanker giant sees difficulty buying Chinese vessels

Washington has issued a flurry of measures since President Donald Trump took office aimed at curbing China’s maritime dominance and reviving its own flagging shipbuilding industry.
U.S. President Donald Trump points as he boards Air Force One en route to New Jersey, at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2025

Trump announces Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel ‘partnership’ deal

Media reports said the agreement signaled the approval of a takeover of the iconic American company by the Japanese steelmaker.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025

Are microplastics hurting our fertility?

While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
The U.S. military’s longstanding dominance is eroding as China exploits its vulnerabilities with cheaper, faster and smarter warfare, demanding urgent American reinvention in energy, logistics and artificial intelligence.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2025

America’s hard power must get harder — quickly

Aircraft carriers and fighter jets look a lot less stealthy in a world of limitless drones and autonomous submarines.
The container terminal at Bremerhaven port in Bremerhaven, Germany, on April 22
BUSINESS
May 26, 2025

Europe’s shipping bottlenecks expected to persist into July

"Port delays are stretching transit times, disrupting inventory planning and pushing shippers to carry extra stock," said maritime consultancy Drewry.
Rafael Nadal waves to the crowd at Roland Garros during a ceremony honoring his career at the French Open on Sunday in Paris.
TENNIS
May 26, 2025

Roland Garros pays tribute to 'King of Clay' Rafael Nadal at French Open

Nadal dominated the French Open after winning in his debut as a teenager in 2005, lifting the trophy a record-breaking 14 times.
Construction equipment sits idle in a park near Shiba Toshogu shrine in Tokyo's Minato Ward. While Japan has a history of treating its trees with reverence, green coverage is said to be lacking in most of the major cities.
ENVIRONMENT / Earth science / Longform
May 26, 2025

Do Japan's trees no longer occupy the sacred space they used to?

Trees have long occupied a sacred place in Japanese culture. In the fast pace of the 21st century, however, they're increasingly losing out to progress.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new plan to restrict updated COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk groups has sparked confusion and criticism, with experts warning it could limit public access and bypass established advisory channels.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2025

The FDA’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy is clear as mud

The U.S. health agency's promises of transparency and choice for COVID-19 vaccines fall short in its first big test. 
Jack Ma attends his company Alibaba Group's initial public offering at the New York Stock Exchange in September 2014. After a long absence from the public sphere, Ma recently attended a government-led private enterprises symposium in Beijing.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 26, 2025

Harnessing China’s tech giants: The case of Jack Ma

Alibaba founder Jack Ma's rehabilitation into public life signals China's intention to steer its tech entrepreneurs to do business with broader national interests in mind.
A United States Steel plant in River Rouge, Michigan. The guessing game continues as to what a "partnership" between Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel, as announced by U.S. President Donald Trump, actually entails.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025

Even Nippon Steel is unsure about what a ‘partnership’ with U.S. Steel means

U.S. President Donald Trump's plan for the steelmakers has left the markets guessing and the participants keen to remain mum.
Takahiro Mori, executive vice president of Japan's biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel, speaks about its strategy in its headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 28, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 26, 2025

Garage meets and sleepless flights: How Nippon Steel's negotiator stuck at U.S. merger

With Biden's incoming successor Donald Trump also voicing opposition to the planned purchase, the outlook was bleak.
Honduran Foreign Minister Eduardo Enrique Reina (left) and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi before their meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on May 14
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025

Developing nations face 'tidal wave' of China debt, report finds

The poorest 75 countries are set to make "record high debt repayments" to China in 2025 of a combined $22 billion.
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates scoring the first goal against Villarreal at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, Spain on May 18.
SOCCER
May 28, 2025

Teenage Barca star Lamine Yamal signs new contract to 2031

The 17-year-old winger is already one of the club's key players and helped it land a domestic treble of La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.
US Coco Gauff reacts after a point during her women's singles match against Australia's Olivia Gadecki on day 3 of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Tuesday.
TENNIS
May 28, 2025

Gauff finds groove after forgetting rackets as Medvedev exits

Gauff forgot to take her rackets to the court but reminded her rivals of her French Open title ambitions with a commanding first-round win.
People ride outdoor escalators as they visit the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka on May 21.
JAPAN / Society
May 28, 2025

Japan's 2025 Osaka Expo draws 5 million visitors in first six weeks

More than 160 countries, regions and organizations are participating in the event.
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster is launched on its ninth test at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2025

SpaceX's Starship spins out of control

SpaceX's Starship rocket roared into space from Texas on Tuesday but spun out of control about halfway through its flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals, bringing fresh engineering hurdles to CEO Elon Musk's increasingly turbulent Mars rocket program.
German and U.S. soldiers participate in Allied Spirit 24, a multinational training exercise, in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. Reforger, NATO’s massive Cold War-era exercise to rush U.S. troops to Europe, was shelved after the Soviet collapse. But with Vladimir Putin attacking neighbors, maybe it’s time to revive it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 28, 2025

How can Europe deter Putin? Revive the ‘Reforger.’

The massive Cold War military exercise put a stop to Soviet aggression then, and it could do the same with Russia now.
Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the third round of the French Open by defeating Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in Paris on Wednesday.
TENNIS
May 29, 2025

Reigning champions Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek advance at French Open

Alcaraz defeated Fabian Marozsan 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

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