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For centuries, artisans have unraveled strands of the fibrous bark of "shuro" trees to create a medley of everyday objects. Designer Kazuki Nagasawa is now transforming the traditional material into ethereal contemporary pieces.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 9, 2025

Kazuki Nagasawa's sustainable designs are rooted in tradition

The recent SaloneSatellite Award-winner transforms a humble bark, long used by artisans to craft everyday objects, into ethereal works of contemporary design.
A pullback by some of Asia's richest families from U.S. assets marks a rapid change from just a few months ago, when many in region’s business elite cheered U.S. President Donald Trump’s election win, sending share prices at banks and major tech firms to record highs.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025

Asia’s superrich rapidly scale back U.S. exposure amid trade war

The pullback marks a rapid change from just a few months ago, when many in the region’s business elite cheered the election win of U.S. President Donald Trump.
American faithful celebrate after Pope Leo XIV appeared at the central balcony of the Vatican's St. Peter’s Basilica following his election on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2025

The new American pope can take Catholics in three directions

Americans (and Donald Trump) may want to stake their claims on him, but he now belongs to a much bigger organization.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV waves on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2025

Heads of hibakusha groups urge Pope Leo to promote abolition of nukes

They expressed hopes that the new pontiff will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis, who visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019.
Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
May 12, 2025

What comes after 100?

The number of Japanese centenarians is on the rise, providing new models for how to live in a super-aging society.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend a news conference after trade talks with China, in Geneva on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

U.S. and China agree to lower tariffs in 90-day cooling-off period

The temporary move will give the world’s two largest economies three more months to resolve their differences.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping joins Russian President Vladimir Putin and other foreign leaders at a ceremony at the Kremlin’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Moscow on Friday to mark the 80th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

Beijing talks peace in Ukraine while aiding Putin’s war

China benefits strategically as long as the war stays within Ukraine, the nuclear risk remains low and its “unlimited partner,” Russia, does not lose.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer (left), U.S. President Joe Biden (second from left), German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (second from right) and French President Emmanuel Macron prepare to take a family photo during their "Quad" meeting in Berlin on Oct. 18. Leaders in the West have tried to revive the old order, but Donald Trump’s return to power shows they need a new way of looking at the world.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

Europe after the end of the liberal international order

We were wrong to think that we had secured a golden age of peace at the end of the Cold War. In reality, there was violence everywhere.
Yi Liu (right), one of 10 directors involved in Taiwanese television series "Zero Day," works on post-production with colorist Liang Yu Fang in Taipei on March 5.
CULTURE / Film
May 13, 2025

Taiwanese war drama 'wake-up call' to Chinese invasion threat

The on-screen chaos of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan is the basis of a new Taiwanese television series called "Zero Day."
India's air conditioner market is set to grow from the current 14 million units to 30 million units in terms of volume by 2030, driven by hotter summers and rising disposable incomes.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 13, 2025

Indians buy 14 million air conditioners a year, and need many more

A record 14 million AC units were sold in India last year, with a ninefold increase in residential ownership forecast by midcentury.
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 14, 2025

Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia

The recent conflict is challenging long-held perceptions of Chinese weapons' inferiority to Western arms and sparking concern in places wary of Beijing.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as first lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe look on while on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Kaga, stationed at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 28, 2019.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

SDF activities expand 10 years after key security legislation

Japan has enhanced cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations in the face of challenges such as China's maritime expansion.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino addresses the FIFA Congress in Luque, Paraguay, on Thursday.
SOCCER
May 16, 2025

Gianni Infantino's late arrival for FIFA Congress triggers backlash from UEFA

The FIFA Congress opened more than two hours later than planned after Infantino's flight landed late in Paraguay.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaks in the Oval Office after President Donald Trump announced a trade deal with the U.K. on May 8. The agreement is far from a win for London, which has chosen deference over strength in dealing with Washington's bullishness.
COMMENTARY / World
May 16, 2025

Lessons from the U.S.-U.K. trade deal: Don’t appease a bully

The tariff agreement signed between London and Washington does little to boost the U.K. economy and, despite appearances, is a diplomatic defeat for Prime Minister Starmer.
The U.S. economy has shifted from strong growth to heightened recession risk and uncertainty due to President Trump’s aggressive trade tariffs and budget cuts, leaving Congress to reclaim control over policy to avoid worsening economic disruption and global instability.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2025

Only the U.S. Congress can end Trump's economic uncertainty

There is no chance of reining in the disruption and destruction unless the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress reclaims its constitutional authority over trade policy.
Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and kabuki actor Nakamura Shido II first performed together in 2016. This month, they’re reviving the show for the Osaka World Expo.
CULTURE / Stage
May 17, 2025

Traditional performing arts are plugging into modern audiences

Noh and kabuki are getting an image update by teaming up with pop culture figures such as Vocaloid idol Hatsune Miku and DJ Ken Ishii.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver a speech marking his 100th day in office at Macomb County Community College Sports Expo Center in Warren, Michigan, on April 29.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
May 18, 2025

Trump’s deals cast China both as foe and prize, blurring signals

Pick through the details of recent U.S. trade negotiations and an outline of Donald Trump’s vision for the global economy starts to come into focus. As do its contradictions.
The rush to electrify everything is reshaping energy, but without addressing demand, grid and supply risks, the green transition may falter.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2025

It’s electricity realism, not climate denialism

Electrifying everything comes with plenty of risks of its own.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 7.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 19, 2025

U.S. Treasury chief to focus on imbalances at G7 finance meeting

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will seek to refocus the group on addressing trade imbalances and nonmarket economic practices.
A Rheinmetall  Leopard 2 tank production line in Unterluess, Germany. The country's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army, marking a sharp departure from post–Cold War pacifism and sparking economic optimism rather than fear.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2025

German rearmament is a welcome 'war dividend'

Merz’s planned arms buildup means the definitive end to the "peace dividend” that the Western world had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
China’s Made in China 2025 program set an ambitious agenda, and a decade later, initial assessments conclude it had mixed success but maintain its goals will shape Chinese policy for years to come.
COMMENTARY / World
May 20, 2025

Ten years of Made in China 2025 sees mixed success

MIC2025 set an ambitious agenda, and a decade later, early reviews say it has had mixed success but maintain that its goals will shape Chinese policy for years to come.
NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Larson during the NASCAR All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, North Carolina on Sunday
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 21, 2025

'True racer' Kyle Larson gears up for Indy-Charlotte Double

For the second year in a row, Kyle Larson will attempt one of the rarest feats in all of sports.
Poland's Iga Swiatek in action during her round of 32 match against Danielle Collins of the U.S. at the Italian Open in Rome on May 10.
TENNIS
May 21, 2025

Contenders lining up, eyeing Swiatek's French Open crown

Jasmine Paolini became the eighth different player to reach a WTA 1000 final this season at last week's Italian Open.
It was reported that Malaysia would deploy 3,000 units of Huawei’s primary AI offering by 2026.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025

Malaysia downplays Huawei deal as U.S. checks China’s AI reach

The move underscores the Asian nation’s delicate position in the U.S.-Chinese AI race.
Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev poses after winning the men's 50-meter freestyle final at the European championships in Belgrade on June 23, 2024.
MORE SPORTS
May 22, 2025

Enhanced Games, where athletes can use banned substances, to start in 2026

The Enhanced Games operate under the principle that banning performance-enhancing drugs in major competition does not protect athletes but rather stifles their performance.
Not only is the drawing of each frame an important part of the manga-making process, translation has increasingly demanded more attention as the art form gains popularity overseas.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 23, 2025

Manga translators walk a fine line between meaning and mayhem

Manga translators face linguistic puzzles, cultural minefields and online backlash — all for the love of a perfectly written speech bubble.
Swimmer Andriy Govorov speaks during a news conference about the Enhanced Games in Las Vegas on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
May 23, 2025

Anti-doping bodies speak out against drug-fueled Enhanced Games

WADA, the global anti-doping watchdog, condemned plans for the event as "dangerous."
Paraguayan President Santiago Pena speaks during an interview with The Japan Times in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 23, 2025

As Taiwan looks to boost ‘unofficial ties,’ Paraguay’s leader offers facilitator role

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena stressed his government is “more than willing to support and be a strong ally” to Taiwan.

Longform

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