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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.
Denso is expanding its agricultural business and hopes to become a key supplier of industrialized greenhouses capable of producing food in any climate.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 26, 2025

Denso in talks to buy Temasek-backed seed supplier for $500 million

A purchase would align with Denso’s ambition to become a key supplier of industrialized greenhouses capable of producing food in any climate.
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a supermarket to check the prices of rice on Friday in Koto.
JAPAN
May 26, 2025

Bags of rice at half price will hit stores by early June, Koizumi says

With necessary costs added on, a 5-kilogram bag of rice is set to cost ¥2,160 at retailers in June.
A broker in the city of Osaka displays a sign for religious corporation deals.
JAPAN / Regional voices: Chubu
Jun 9, 2025

Religious corporation sales rising in Japan amid tax evasion concerns

There are increasing concerns that buyers may exploit the tax privileges granted to religious corporations.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz takes part in a discussion during the opening of the 'Re:publica 25' digital conference in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025

Ukraine's key allies no longer limiting range of weapons, Germany's Merz says

Kyiv has long pleaded for authorization to hit targets within Russian territory — and to hit weaponry used in attacks on Ukraine.
Naomi Osaka during her women's singles match against Paula Badosa at the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Monday
TENNIS
May 27, 2025

Osaka despondent after French Open first-round exit

The player won a lower-level title on clay earlier this month and is back in the top 50 but is still fighting to return to the sport's upper echelons.
A photo provided by a witness shows the scene of an explosion in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 27, 2025

Gas explosion injures 10 at Tokyo construction site, prompting evacuation

Police said workers had been driving piles into the ground for a new condominium when they likely struck an underground gas pipe, triggering the explosion.
A member of Pakistan armed forces takes a selfie at the International Defense Exhibition and Seminar in Karachi in November.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 27, 2025

India and Pakistan's drone battles mark new arms race in Asia

The South Asian powers are now locked in a drones arms race, according to security officials, industry executives and analysts in both countries.
The leaders of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party-Komeito bloc hold up a document on their agreement to reform the pension system in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2025

Coalition clears last hurdle of parliamentary session with pension bill

The agreement largely revolves around a plan to boost funding for the basic pension program, which provides coverage to all residents in Japan age 20 to 60.
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Israel's actions in the territory as "no longer comprehensible."
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025

Germany shifts tone on Israel over 'incomprehensible' Gaza carnage

The message reflects a broader shift in public opinion but also a greater willingness from top-ranking German politicians to criticize Israel's conduct.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio buttons his jacket at the start of a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

U.S. suspends student visa processing as Trump ramps up social media vetting

A U.S. diplomatic cable has ordered embassies and consulates not to allow "any additional student or exchange visa ... appointment capacity until further guidance is issued."
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria on May 4.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades.
A total 37 million people in Southeast Asia suffered from cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.7 million died from it, according to new research.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
May 28, 2025

Southeast Asia sees near 150% rise in heart disease, study shows

A total 37 million people in the region suffered from cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.7 million died from it.
A Skechers store in Times Square in New York. The company has announced plans to sell to investment firm 3G Capital in a take-private deal for about $9.4 billion.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Retailers pummeled by Trump's trade war entertain more 'take-private' offers

Such companies have been hard-hit by rapidly shifting tariff announcements and are frustrated with an inability to provide earnings guidance.
A view of the site of the chemical plant explosion in Gaomi, Shandong province, China, on Wednesday
ASIA PACIFIC
May 28, 2025

Residents pick up the pieces one day after deadly China chemical blast

Local officials have not yet released the results of air quality tests as emergency services continued to tend to the site.
Workers assemble a Nissan Juke at the production line at Nissan's factory in Sunderland, England, in November 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Nissan seeks to raise $7 billion with backing from U.K. government

The struggling automaker plans to issue debt and sell assets to raise funds for keeping its operations on track, according to internal documents.
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.
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
BUSINESS / Markets
May 28, 2025

Weak 40-year bond sale keeps pressure on Japan to tweak issuance

The 40-year yield rose 5 basis points following the sale, to 3.335% as of 4:20 p.m. in Tokyo, while the 30-year rate jumped 7 basis points.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
May 28, 2025

Ueda to monitor risk of high long-term bond yields affecting shorter-term rates

The comments come at a time of heightened concern about volatility at the long end of the bond market.
Members of Spanish Guardia Civil, supported by Europol, arrest a man (right) during an operation against drug trafficking in Mijas, near Malaga, in June 2024.
WORLD
May 28, 2025

Sun, sand and suspects: Spain tackles fugitives seeking a haven

Criminals from around the globe flock to Spain, but police stress that their chances of evading justice are slim.
Rock band Mrs. Green Apple performed an emotional rendition of hit song “Darling” on the final night of the Music Awards Japan.
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2025

Songs, stars and strategy: Japan debuts its newest awards ceremony

From viral hits to legacy tributes, Japan's 'answer to the Grammys' delivers a celebration of J-pop's past and present at its inaugural event in Kyoto.
AI hallucinations — when generative models fabricate information — are becoming more frequent, harder to detect and increasingly dangerous as we embed the technology deeper into society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

AI hallucinations? What could go wrong?

The notion that we can’t ensure that AI will produce accurate information is, uh, “disturbing” if we intend to integrate that product so deeply into our daily lives.
The Chinese Communist Party has significantly expanded its global influence operations by using tactics like election interference, disinformation, elite capture and pressure on the diaspora to sway politics and policies in democracies worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

Is Beijing engineering election wins for 'soft on China' politicians?

Beijing legally requires all citizens to support Communist Party policies and views ethnic Chinese everywhere as instruments for advancing its global goals.
An employee of Nissan Motor works on a Leaf electric car on an assembly line at its Oppama plant in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
May 29, 2025

Factory that symbolized Nissan's rise may become victim of its decline

Nissan faces a mountain of debt repayment and is scrambling to upgrade its aging lineup of vehicles, but hasn't said which of its 17 plants will be closed.
Products affected by the U.S. order to stop shipping goods to China without a license include design software and chemicals for semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 29, 2025

U.S. curbs chip design software, chemicals and other shipments to China

The new restrictions appear aimed at choke points to prevent China from getting products necessary for key sectors.
Atsuko Okatsuka tries out some of the jokes from her new special, “Father,”  at the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya in January.
CULTURE / Stage
May 30, 2025

Atsuko Okatsuka brings big 'dad' energy to new special

The comedian’s upcoming special, titled “Father,” blends whimsical comedy and family drama — just in time for Father's Day.
The Hotaruan Royal Garden Suite, a renovated traditional "minka" home, will host the second iteration of the Minka Preservation Society's MinkaMeets event.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 31, 2025

Traditional home experts to gather at MinkaMeets event

Roof thatching expert Haruo Nishio is one of several experts scheduled to speak at the June 7-8 event.
Smoke billows in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2025

U.S. says Israel accepts Gaza ceasefire plan; Hamas cool to it

A senior Hamas official says the plan does not contain commitments to end the war, withdraw Israeli troops or admit aid as the group has demanded.
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2025

Trump aims at Chinese students and tech in threat to truce with Xi

Just weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a "total reset” with China following a trade truce in Geneva, tensions are rising again between the world’s biggest economies.
73% of sports organizations in Japan have not made consultation desks available for LGBTQ  and other sexual minorities, as well as people seeking advice on gender identity and sexual orientation, according to a survey led by Pride House Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

No LGBTQ+ help desks for 73% of sports groups in Japan

The survey was conducted in March and April on efforts to protect sexual minorities and secure diversity.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan