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Naomi Osaka pumps her fist during a match at the Australian Open in January. On Sunday, the former world No. 1 earned her first title since becoming a mother.
TENNIS
May 5, 2025

Osaka wins first WTA title since becoming a mother

The win at a smaller WTA 125 event was also the Japanese star's first-ever title on clay.
People watch as Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett is seen on a screen speaking at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting, in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 5, 2025

Warren Buffett successor inherits giant cash pile and many questions

Buffett, the 94-year-old architect and face of Berkshire Hathaway, built the firm from humble beginnings into one of the world’s most valuable enterprises.
Naoya Inoue (right) throws a punch during his bout with Ramon Cardenas on Sunday in Las Vegas. "The Monster" marked his return to the U.S. with a win despite being knocked down for just the second time in his career.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
May 5, 2025

'Monster' Inoue survives rare knockdown to stop Cardenas in eighth

Inoue recovered from second-round trouble to improve to 30-0 as he took part in his first fight abroad since 2021.
The imperial family attends a spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 5, 2025

Imperial Household Agency’s YouTube channel surpasses 100,000 subscribers

Launched on April 1, the channel surpassed 100,000 subscribers in just a week.
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar on the border with Thailand-Myanmar after a multinational crackdown on the compounds run by criminal gangs, operated by the Karen National Army in Myawaddy, Myanmar, on Feb. 26.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.S. puts sanctions on Myanmar warlord and militia linked to online scams

Saw Chit Thu is a central figure in a network of illicit and highly lucrative internet scam operations targeting Americans, the U.S. Treasury says.
Italy's Jannik Sinner serves during a training session in Rome on Monday ahead of his return to tennis at the Italian Open.
TENNIS
May 6, 2025

Sinner happy to return after doping ban but keeping expectations low for Italian Open

The three-time Grand Slam champion, who has not played since January, will now hope to leave the doping saga behind him and build momentum for the French Open.
Japan's Rui Hachimura walks off the court after being disqualified for a second unsportsmanlike foul against France at the Paris Olympics in July last year.
BASKETBALL / B. League
May 6, 2025

Basketball bust-ups threaten ambitious Japan's hoop dreams

A row involving star player Rui Hachimura and disagreements over the domestic league's direction mean the path ahead is full of hurdles.
Tigers slugger Teruaki Sato knocks in a run during Hanshin's win over the Swallows at Koshien Stadium on Friday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 6, 2025

Confident Hanshin slugger Teruaki Sato taking game to next level

Even with everything Sato, a three-time All-Star, has already accomplished, his start this year has some wondering if he has finally put everything together.
The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal and learned about the recycling of the rare metals contained in them last November.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 6, 2025

Disposal questions arise as student learning devices need replacing in Japan

The Osaka city board of education organized classes in which elementary school students disassembled devices slated for disposal.
A new U.S. FDA policy requiring full placebo-controlled trials for updated vaccines, pushed by Commissioner Marty Makary (right) and U.S. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center), is seen as a backdoor effort to sideline COVID-19 boosters and undermine broader vaccine development.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2025

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine scrutiny is alarming

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the FDA, intends to set new regulatory standards vaccine manufacturers couldn’t possibly meet.
Indian paramilitary personnel stand guard along a road in Srinagar on Wednesday after New Delhi launched missile strikes on archrival Pakistan in a major escalation between the nuclear-armed neighbors.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 7, 2025

India strikes Pakistan over Kashmir tourist killings

Islamabad said it had shot down five Indian fighter jets in the worst fighting in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed enemies.
Police outside Todaimae Station on the Namboku Line on Wednesday evening after a knife attack at the station  
JAPAN
May 8, 2025

Man held after two injured in Tokyo Metro knife attack

The suspect remained silent during interrogation after being arrested at the scene, investigative sources have said.
The consumption and investing habits of the world's richest 10% consume and invest has substantially increased the risk of deadly heat waves and drought around the world, according to new research.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 8, 2025

World's richest 10% caused two-thirds of global warming, study finds

How the rich consume and invest has substantially increased the risk of deadly heat waves and drought.
A makeshift tent camp near a railway track, following a strong earthquake in Amarapura township, Myanmar, on April 4
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 8, 2025

Health care crisis follows Myanmar quake as junta drives medics underground

After medics took a prominent role in the anti-junta movement that emerged after the coup, the military administration has sought to root out opponents to its rule.
Veterans in France. For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 8, 2025

Europe's costly military pensions complicate defense buildup

For over a dozen NATO members, pensions make up a large — and largely overlooked — chunk of their defense budgets.
Urgent diplomacy and restraint are needed to prevent further escalation between India and Pakistan, as both sides risk being pulled into a dangerous conflict with potential global consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

Can India and Pakistan step back from the brink?

India and Pakistan on many occasions have been on the brink of major conflict, yet have successfully climbed down.
Tokyo-based satellite maker Axelspace's initial public offering is expected to be approved by the Tokyo Stock Exchange later this month, people with knowledge of the matter said.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2025

Axelspace is latest Japan space startup to seek IPO, sources say

If successful, it would be the fifth such listing of a Japanese spacecraft venture over the last two years.
The Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets. India and Pakistan aircraft engaged in a dogfight on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 9, 2025

Global militaries to study India-Pakistan fighter jet battle

This week's dogfight is a rare opportunity for militaries to study the performance of pilots, fighter jets and air-to-air missiles in active combat.
The Tokyo High Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The court also upheld the Tokyo District Court's sentence of 18 months in jail, suspended for three years, for Kenichiro Yokomizo, the former president of a Hakuhodo group firm.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 9, 2025

Hakuhodo's appeal dismissed in Tokyo Games bid-rigging case

It is the first high court ruling in a series of bid-rigging cases related to the Tokyo Games, held in 2021.
The Tokyo District Court on Friday handed suspended prison sentences to Keito Hosomichi, 27, and his 58-year-old father, Masato, after finding them guilty of violating the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 9, 2025

Former Tokyo Stock Exchange employee and father convicted of insider trading

Keito Hosomichi, 27, passed along confidential corporate information to his father, who then profited by investing in the shares of three companies.
A security guard stands outside a branch of Yes Bank in New Delhi last August.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 10, 2025

Japan's SMBC to buy stake in India's Yes Bank

The Sumitomo Mitsui deal marks the biggest foreign investment in India’s banking sector, and is the latest move by Japanese lenders to expand in the country.
Ras Baraka (center), mayor of Newark and New Jersey Democratic candidate for governor, prepares to address the media outside the Homeland Security Investigations Newark field office where he was detained following his arrest outside a U.S. immigration detention center, in Newark, New Jersey, on Friday.
WORLD
May 10, 2025

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka freed after arrest at ICE detention center

The private detention facility is expected to play a key role in U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for mass deportations.
Myanmar military chief Min Aung Hlaing leaves Red Square after the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 11, 2025

Myanmar junta chief meets China's Xi for first time

Beijing has long been eyeing Myanmar's resource-rich northern Shan state — now under rebel control — for infrastructure investment under its Belt and Road initiative.
Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Corbin Burnes (39) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, on Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
May 11, 2025

Diamondbacks' Corbin Burnes silences Dodgers with seven scoreless

Shohei Ohtani and Max Muncy singled and walked for the Dodgers, who were shut out for the third time this season.
A median estimate of economists shows Japan's gross domestic product likely shrank by 0.3% in the January-March quarter on an annualized basis.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

Japan’s sputtering economy likely stalled before Trump’s tariffs

Gross domestic product adjusted for inflation shrank by 0.3% in the first quarter on an annualized basis, according to economists.
A gauge of confidence among store managers, taxi drivers and others who interact directly with Japanese consumers dropped 2.5 points to 42.6 in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

Japan’s merchants’ mood hits worst in three years on tariff woes

A gauge of confidence among store managers, taxi drivers and others who interact directly with Japanese consumers dropped 2.5 points to 42.6 in April.
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.
Sinovac, a Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, is administered in Bangkok in 2021. The recent U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization has further opened the field for Beijing to assert its role in global health, including through vaccine diplomacy.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2025

If China triumphs, America has itself to blame

While Trump's policies bite at home, Beijing is stepping in to fill the void left by the U.S. retreat from global leadership in areas ranging from trade and investment to health.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enter the White House in Washington on April 7.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2025

Trump casts Netanyahu adrift with shifts on Iran, Houthis and Gaza

The freeing of the last living U.S. citizen held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip is another sign the U.S. president is starting to make unilateral decisions.
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.

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