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Bollywood faced a challenging year in 2024, with box-office collections dropping significantly, leading to concerns about a return to lawlessness in Mumbai.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

Bollywood’s dark past is threatening to return

When everything starts bombing for Bollywood, things take a sinister turn in Mumbai.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Trump says U.S. should control Gaza, sparking rebukes and ridicule

The proposal, at odds with Mideast reality and America’s fraught history in the region, quickly drew sharp opposition from Saudi Arabia.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has urged U.S. partners and allied nations to follow his country's example and increase military expenditure and preparedness.
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2025

Poland’s top diplomat calls on U.S. allies to spend more on defense

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski touts the example of Warsaw whose defense spending is set to rise to 4.7% of gross domestic product this year.
Suns forward Kevin Durant drives to the basket against the Pelicans' Trey Murphy III during a game in New Orleans on Thursday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 2, 2025

Kevin Durant uses unique and meticulous pregame routine to get into zone

Golden State’s Stephen Curry is perhaps best known for his pregame shooting routine, but Durant’s is also legendary.
IPC President Andrew Parsons poses for photos before a news conference at the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee headquarters in Milan, Italy.
PARALYMPICS
Mar 7, 2025

IPC chief tasks sports with setting own rules for transgender athletes

The Olympic Games and the Paralympics currently allow transgender athletes to compete.
Many in Japan are increasingly concerned that under the Trump administration's shifting policies, the U.S. may no longer be a reliable ally, raising fears of a weakened security partnership amid rising threats from China and Russia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2025

Japan reels from — and steels for — U.S. policy shifts

“What Japan has learned from the Ukraine war is that the era where we could rely entirely on the U.S. is over.”
A protest called "America, wake up" is held in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on March 8, days after U.S. President Donald Trump paused American military and intelligence support for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 14, 2025

Ukraine needs U.S. weapons — but it needs intelligence more

The problem is that, on issue after issue, Trump changes course on a whim.
A Haas F1 car on display in the fan zone at Suzuka Circuit on Saturday as Toyota marks a soft return to Formula One.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 7, 2025

Toyota's synergy with Haas fuels automaker's modest return to Formula One

Toyota’s decision to partner with the American team immediately left observers wondering if it might have its eyes on more, such as an engine deal or a full-blown Toyota team.
Digital artist Polygon1993 revels in the physicality of nostalgic technology, making art out of materials such as miniature CDs, holographic prints layered with plexiglass shards and a giant custom-made floppy disk.
CULTURE / Art
Apr 8, 2025

Online art scene eager to go offline, at least for the moment

From Beeple exhibiting a physical version of an NFT artwork to Polygon1993’s custom-made giant floppy disk, digital media artists are bringing their work into the physical world.
People visit the Osaka Expo on the first day it opened to the public, in the city of Osaka on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2025

Osaka Expo throws open its doors as mega-event kicks off

A steady rain failed to dampen the spirits of organizers and expo early-birds as 160 countries, regions and organizations showed off their best tech and culture.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks with U.S. President Donald Trump at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican on Saturday.
WORLD
Apr 26, 2025

Trump and Zelenskyy meet one-on-one in Vatican basilica to seek Ukraine peace

The meeting, their first since an angry encounter in Washington in February, comes at a critical time in negotiations aimed at bringing an end to the war in Ukraine.
A view of Koror, Palau’s main town, on April 10
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2025

Inside the U.S. battle with China over a Pacific island paradise

Palau is again on the frontline as China and the United States and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the Labor Party's election night event in Sydney on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 4, 2025

Trump backlash helps Australia’s leader to historic reelection

For the second time in a week, voters in a prominent U.S. ally angered by President Donald Trump punished conservatives and reelected a left-leaning incumbent.
Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
May 5, 2025

A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan

How one artist is using history, culture and community spirit to revive a fading samurai legacy — and possibly reshape rural Japan’s future.
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 13, 2025

Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands

Going forward, experts say, this will make the Chinese side confident that they have leverage over the U.S. in any negotiations.
Kyoto's gaming landscape is dominated by Nintendo's headquarters, but a contingent of foreign-born indie developers is also working in the gaming giant's shadow.
LIFE / Digital
May 17, 2025

In Nintendo’s backyard, foreign indie game devs are thriving

“Of course, we’re all in the shadow of Nintendo, but we’re also here because of Nintendo,” says one British indie game developer.
A female Osaka prosecutor in her 50s speaks about how she was sexually assaulted, at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 21, 2025

Female prosecutor says she experienced secondary victimization in rape case

The prosecutor said the prosecutors office where she worked turned a blind eye after she reported the case, and slanderous comments about her spread at work.
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.
Iga Swiatek celebrates after winning her fourth-round French Open match against Elena Rybakina at Roland Garros, Paris on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jun 2, 2025

Alcaraz and Swiatek pass tough French Open tests

Swiatek is aiming to become the first woman to win four straight Roland Garros crowns since Suzanne Lenglen 102 years ago.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba offers a flower during a ceremony to pay respects to unidentified war dead from World War II at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on May 26.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025

Ishiba faces political and diplomatic quandary ahead of WWII anniversary

There is fierce opposition among conservatives to any form of official reflection on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II.
Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton (center) reaches for the ball against the Thunder during the second quarter of Game 1 of the 2025 NBA Finals in Oklahoma City on Thursday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 6, 2025

Haliburton's last-second shot lifts Pacers over Thunder in Game 1

Haliburton gave the Pacers their only lead of the game on a dramatic 21-foot jump shot with 0.3 of a second remaining.
Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament in Caledon, Ontario on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 11, 2025

Rory McIlroy eyes U.S. Open form after Masters triumph

Since claiming his first Masters title in dramatic fashion in April, McIlroy's form has fallen off precipitously.
After decades of dominance by foreign wrestlers, last month Onosato became just the second Japanese this century to be named to sumo's highest rank of <i>yokozuna</i>.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

The national sport of Japan wrestles with a generational change

As one legend departs, another star is rising. In a new era, sumo is grappling with its future.
Foreign nationals applying for U.S. student and exchange visitor visas will now be asked to set their social media profiles to public so that they can be reviewed.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

U.S. orders social media vetting for student visa applicants

The move steps up measures to restrict foreign nationals’ entry to American campuses over national security concerns.
An Iranian daily newspaper displays an image of a damaged building in Israel on Sunday. Israel’s attack on Iran’s nuclear program has raised tensions, exposed divisions and put pressure on the U.S. to decide on its next move.
EDITORIALS
Jun 20, 2025

Chasing peace with Iran as the Middle East smolders

Iran’s nuclear program is a danger, but so too is a wider war in the Middle East.
Chinese President Xi Jinping described relations with Iran as "strategic" in a 2023 meeting with then-president Ebrahim Raisi, and backed Tehran in its fight against "bullying."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2025

China helpless as Middle East war craters regional leverage

Analysts say Beijing's ties with Tehran are central to its efforts to ensure a regional counterbalance against both the U.S. and Israel.
China is preparing to counter the rising threat of U.S.-backed digital dollars by leveraging its powerful e-commerce firms and Hong Kong’s crypto-friendly financial system to promote stablecoins tied to local currencies.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025

China is more than ready for U.S. stablecoins

E-commerce prowess and Hong Kong’s financial chops can ward off the threat from digital dollars.
A crop field in Oxnard, California, on June 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 1, 2025

Immigration raids leave crops unharvested and California farms at risk

In the vast agricultural lands north of Los Angeles, farmers and field supervisors have said that ICE raids have led a majority of workers to stop showing up.
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra waves after Thailand's Constitutional Court suspended her from duty pending a case seeking her dismissal, at the Government House in Bangkok on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 2, 2025

Thai leader’s suspension deals new blow to battered economy

Thailand is mired in slow growth, with households burdened by debt, a budget bill outstanding and the threat of U.S. tariffs weighing down expectations.
U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson (right) poses with U.S. Rep. John Rutherford on the day of a vote on final passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping spending and tax bill, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Republicans and Democrats look at how to use Trump's tax-cut bill in 2026 elections

Democrats view the cuts to Medicaid and food assistance in U.S. President Donald Trump's bill as ready ammunition for their future campaign.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight