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Resident Fahed Abu Haidar speaks to Mwaffaq Abu Shash, a Druze cleric, following deadly clashes between Sunni fighters against armed Druze residents in Jaramana, Syria, on Monday.
WORLD
May 7, 2025

Druze near Damascus resist demand to turn in arms as tensions boil

Druze residents near Syria's capital are resisting a demand by the Islamist-led government to hand in their light weapons, saying authorities have yet to address fears of new attacks by Sunni Muslim militants after days of sectarian violence.
U.S. Army Pacific commander Gen. Ronald Clark tours the force's Materiel Support Command-Korea at Camp Carroll in Waegwan, South Korea, on April 9.
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

U.S. Army looks to deploy agile new unit to Japan for exercises

The Pentagon has already established three such formations in strategic locations worldwide and is planning two more over the next two to three years.
Takeshi Hakamada, founder and CEO of Ispace, says his primary interest in space development is not to abandon Earth, but to protect it.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 7, 2025

'Big picture thinker': Ispace CEO Hakamada on reaching the moon and dreaming of starships

CEO Takeshi Hakamada envisions a distant future where humans live and work on the moon — just don't ask him to visit.
In a world where capital and rich individuals can cross borders freely, only international cooperation can ensure that multinational corporations and the superrich are fairly taxed.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2025

America is becoming the world’s largest tax haven

Trump is turning the U.S. into a tax haven by weakening enforcement, deregulating crypto and abandoning international tax cooperation, favoring secrecy and the ultrarich.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is planning to set up an online bank to lure younger customers heavily relying on smartphones.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 7, 2025

Mitsubishi UFJ to set up online bank in fiscal 2026

The major Japanese financial group aims to lure younger customers who heavily rely on smartphones.
In South Korea, where presidents are increasingly investigated, impeached or imprisoned, the judiciary has become a well-known pathway to political power.
COMMENTARY / World
May 7, 2025

Is the judiciary the weakest link in South Korea’s democracy?

It’s not unusual for lawyers to pursue personal political ambitions during their careers in democracies. But in South Korea, this has reached a level not seen elsewhere.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako arrive to greet guests at a spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Garden in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 7, 2025

Emperor's family to visit Okinawa in June

During the trip, they will pray for the more than 200,000 people who lost their lives eight decades ago in the Battle of Okinawa.
Apple Music personalities (from left) Ebro Darden, Kentaro Ochiai, Zane Lowe and Mino came together for a special recording in late April to discuss music and celebrate the newly opened Apple Music studio in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Music
May 8, 2025

With a new Shibuya studio, Apple Music bets big on Japan

Streaming numbers are up, world tours are growing, and now, Tokyo has a new studio aimed at amplifying Japan’s voice.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping during a welcoming ceremony before their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2025

Xi meets Putin in Moscow as Ukraine reports truce violations

Xi told Putin that Beijing stood alongside Russia in the face of "hegemonic bullying" — a nod to the two countries' anti-U.S. stance.
Tatsumi Onose (right), who plays the part of Commodore Matthew Perry in Shimoda's Black Ship Festival, says the historical episode the event is based on should be remembered for its positives more than its negatives.
LIFE / Travel
May 8, 2025

Celebrating Japan’s defeat at Shimoda’s Black Ship Festival

Held this year from May 16 to 18, an event to the south of Tokyo turns a historical episode of national humiliation into a plain old good time.
Russian Sukhoi Su-30SM fighter jets and MiG-29 fighter jets fly above Moscow during the general rehearsal of the Victory Day military parade on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 8, 2025

Putin's order for three-day truce with Ukraine enters into force

It was not immediately clear whether either side was observing the ceasefire.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes questions from the media at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2025

Trump administration to announce trade deal with Britain

The agreement would be the first deal announced since Trump imposed stiff tariffs on dozens of U.S. trading partners.
Akio Toyoda’s $42 billion plan to buy Toyota Industries is one of the examples in a recent wave of management buyout ambitions in Japan.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2025

Japan’s tycoon families seek buyouts to evade investor pressure

The desire to delist stems from mounting pressure public companies face from investors and the threat of being acquired.
Air pollution is one of the most pressing health issues in India, where the country's 1.4 billion people breathe air exceeding the World Health Organization's guidelines for particulate matter.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health / ANALYSIS
May 8, 2025

Indian industries swap polluted air with each other in health fix

India's 1.4 billion people breathe air exceeding the World Health Organization's guidelines for particulate matter, which can cause severe health issues.
The Osaka Expo, which opened last month, runs through mid-October.
JAPAN
May 8, 2025

Man admitted to 2025 Osaka Expo with 85-year-old ticket

Previous expos in Japan have had similar policies of giving "invitation tickets" to people holding passes for the 1940 event, expo organizers said.
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.
Teachers and students from Karachi University take part in an anti-India protest on April 28. Pakistan has warned that any attempt by India to stop water supplies from the Indus River could be seen as an "act of war."
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

New Delhi’s warning to Islamabad

Modi has thus retained strategic ambiguity, while sending a resolute message: Resource-sharing comes with conditions.
Pakistan spent decades backing the Taliban as a tool to control Afghanistan and gain “strategic depth” against India. Now it has a monster it cannot control.
COMMENTARY / World
May 8, 2025

The Pakistan-Taliban divorce gets messy

With Afghanistan now serving not as a strategic asset for Pakistan, but as a grave liability, India must wait and watch how this drama on its western flank plays out.
Liberal Democratic Party Upper House member Shoji Nishida answers questions from reporters in parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025

LDP lawmaker Shoji Nishida refuses to retract remarks over WWII exhibits

Nishida said that descriptions at a monument to commemorate the "Himeyuri" nursing corps who died in the Battle of Okinawa had rewritten history.
Two teenagers stand in front of a poster for "Jumbo" at a cinema in Bekasi, West Java.
CULTURE / Film
May 8, 2025

'Jumbo': the animated Indonesian film smashing records

A hit at home, Indonesian cinema watchers are hoping the family-friendly movie will appeal to neighboring countries and markets farther abroad.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost waves from the main central loggia balcony of the St Peter's Basilica, after the cardinals ended the conclave, in The Vatican, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 9, 2025

Robert Prevost surprises as first U.S. pope, taking name Leo XIV

Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the surprise choice to be the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping shake hands during a welcoming ceremony before their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 9, 2025

'Friends of steel': Xi and Putin pledge to stand together against U.S.

At talks in the Kremlin, the two leaders cast themselves as defenders of a new world order no longer dominated by the U.S.
Bill Gates, who pledged on Thursday to give away almost his entire personal wealth in the next two decades and said the world's poorest would receive some $200 billion via his foundation, during an interview in New York City, on Thursday
BUSINESS
May 9, 2025

Bill Gates says Musk is 'killing' world's poorest children by cutting aid

Bill Gates has pledged to give away $200 billion via his charitable foundation by 2045.
A deceased family patriarch and his grandson (Ginjiro Nishimoto, left) switch bodies in “My Edison.”
CULTURE / Film
May 9, 2025

‘My Edison’: Family-made sci-fi comedy is a real charmer

Gaku Kawasaki’s feel-good indie flick with a touch of “Freaky Friday” is a heartfelt reminder that it’s never too late to live out your dreams.
A Japanese newspaper headline includes the word "tariff" in Japanese.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 9, 2025

Trump once called it his favorite word. Now, the Japanese version is all over the news.

Learning how to talk about tariffs, imports and exports is becoming increasingly necessary in everyday conversation.
Students from a junior high school in Tokyo's Meguro Ward experience rice planting on Thursday in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture.
JAPAN
May 9, 2025

Noto region welcomes first school trip since massive quake

Officials said they hoped the students can learn by closely observing the reconstruction process.
A vehicle carrying Hideyuki Shirai, who was arrested on suspicion of abandoning the body of ex-girlfriend Asahi Okazaki at his home, leaves the Kanagawa Prefectural Police Headquarters to be sent to prosecutors, in the city of Yokohama on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 9, 2025

NPA chief urges Kanagawa police to review response to stalker case

Asahi Okazaki, 20, was found at her ex-boyfriend's home last month. Her family claims she was stalked and that the police response was inadequate.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on April 14.
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025

Hung parliament keeps Lower House Legislative Bureau busy

As each party pushes its own agenda by drafting its own bills, the workload increases for the bureau, which supports lawmakers in such matters.
Princess Kako smiles during the spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 9, 2025

Japan's Princess Kako to visit Brazil from June 4

This will be Princess Kako's fourth official visit to a foreign country, following her visit to Greece in May 2024.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan