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Palestinians who were emprisoned by Israel are welcomed by family and friends upon their arrival in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.
WORLD
Feb 2, 2025

Netanyahu to begin talks on second phase of Gaza truce

A date for formal talks involving mediators and delegations from Hamas and Israel has not been set, with the 42-day first phase due to end next month.
Donald Trump, then the Republican nominee for U.S. president, meets with Ukrainian Persident Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Sept. 27 last year.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2025

U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy

Volodymyr Zelenskyy's five-year term was supposed to end in 2024 but polls cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022.
Many attribute the far right’s recent global rise to “anti-incumbency” bias, but this overlooks how the COVID-19 crisis fostered division and distrust, turning voters against their governments. 
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 2, 2025

Confronting the pandemic’s toxic political legacy

Libertarian resentment over past restrictions and mandates is one thing; an abiding distrust of scientists is quite another.
A member of the former rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham stands guard near an image of Assad at the fourth division headquarters in Damascus on Jan. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 3, 2025

Digital discord: Online disinformation sows discontent in Syria

There are fears online disinformation is derailing the transition of power after Sunni Islamist rebels defeated Assad in December.
The Old Yokohama District Court
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 3, 2025

Woman pleads guilty over involvement in fatal ‘shady’ burglary

A group of suspects are accused of breaking into the home of Hiroharu Goto, 75, in Yokohama’s Aoba Ward, killing him and stealing about ¥200,000 in cash.
Baseball commissioner Fay Vincent announces the end of the MLB lockout on March 19, 1990.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 3, 2025

Fay Vincent, who tangled with owners as MLB Commissioner, dies at 86

Vincent served as commissioner just shy of three years after replacing A. Bartlett Giamatti, who held the office only five months before dying of a heart attack on Sept. 1, 1989.
The Jackson State marching band performs at halftime of their game against South Carolina State at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Dec. 14, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 3, 2025

Dynamic Black marching bands are Super Bowl stalwarts

At least 13 Super Bowl halftime shows have included HBCU marching bands.
Norwegian soldiers and U.S. Marines work together during a military exercise in Finnmark, Norway, on March 10, 2024.
WORLD
Feb 3, 2025

NATO scrambles for drones that can survive the Arctic

Governments in the world's far north are seeking to overcome the challenge of flying drones in cold, icy weather as the region comes into the geopolitical spotlight.
Construction workers near a sinkhole in Yashio, Saitama Prefecture, on Monday
JAPAN / Society / EXPLAINER
Feb 3, 2025

Why it's taking so long to reach the driver trapped in a Saitama sinkhole

The biggest challenge for the operation, now in its seventh day, is that the sinkhole continues to expand, complicating the rescue efforts.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order during a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2025

Trump's tariff reversal shows how he's wielding bombast on trade

The U.S. leader has pledged to remake the global economy with tariffs. So far, it’s been more Art of the Deal than a revolution.
Nippon Steel and United States Steel said in an opening brief Monday that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States violated their due process rights last year by allowing "virtually no substantive engagement” with the companies.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 4, 2025

Nippon Steel and U.S. Steel blast Biden's 'sham' merger block

While Biden is no longer in office, President Donald Trump has expressed his own opposition to the deal.
According to the National Police Agency, 99% of speech venues during last year’s House of Representatives election had baggage inspections carried out.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 4, 2025

Election speech sites step up security after failed 2023 Kishida attack

The National Police Agency has applied greater pressure on speech organizers to enforce security measures following the 2023 failed attack on former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
Justice Minister Keisuke Suzuki speaks to reporters Tuesday about the idea of revising the companies law to fully allow businesses to hold online-only shareholders' meetings.
BUSINESS
Feb 4, 2025

Japan to allow firms to hold online-only shareholder meetings

Online-only shareholders' meetings are currently permitted only in exceptional cases under the industrial competitiveness enhancement law.
The Yangshan Deepwater Port in Shanghai on Jan. 20. China's Finance Ministry said it would impose levies of 15% for U.S. coal and LNG and 10% for crude oil, farm equipment and some autos.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 4, 2025

China hits back with tariffs on U.S. goods after Trump imposes new levies

Trump on Monday suspended his threat of 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada at the last minute, but there was no such reprieve for China.
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough has shaken assumptions about China’s innovation, highlighted weaknesses in U.S. tech restrictions, and reinforced China’s push for self-sufficiency despite export controls.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 4, 2025

DeepSeek forces a rethink of China’s ability to innovate

The Trump administration hasn’t outlined a policy toward technology flows yet, but it ordered a review of export controls on day one.
A gas flare on an Iranian oil production platform in 2005
WORLD / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Trump reimposes 'maximum pressure' on Iran that aims for zero oil exports

Trump said he was open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to the Iranian leader.
Talks by Honda and Nissan to create the world’s third-largest carmaker have gone haltingly since the plans were first announced in December.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Nissan shares plunge, Honda's rise as end to merger talks reported

Shares in Nissan slid more than 4% before trade was suspended by the Tokyo Stock Exchange following the Nikkei report.
Morocco's Achraf Dari celebrates scoring a goal against Croatia in the third-place World Cup match at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, Qatar on December 17, 2022.
SOCCER
Feb 5, 2025

African football may have platform for historic World Cup success

Benjamin Balkin thinks Eyeball, the digital platform he co-founded in 2020, could be the determining factor in enabling an African World Cup champion.
Google's vow to not use AI for weapons or surveillance have been removed from its guidelines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 5, 2025

Google pledge against using AI for weapons vanishes

The revised principles were posted just weeks after Google chief executive Sundar Pichai attended the inauguration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Founded in Hangzhou only 20 months ago, DeepSeek’s technology made waves in January with a new mobile app featuring its reasoning AI chatbot.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 5, 2025

Australia bans DeepSeek from government tech, citing security

A threat assessment by the country’s intelligence agencies found the technology posed an unacceptable risk.
Japan remains mum on a position taken by U.S. President Donald Trump to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America."
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 5, 2025

Japan noncommittal on Trump's renaming of Gulf of Mexico

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says the government will continue to monitor related developments, but avoided confirming which name it will actually follow.
Talks between Nissan and Honda have been complicated by growing differences, sources have said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025

Nissan looking for new partner as Honda deal looks set to collapse

The two carmakers plan to issue a formal announcement on the fate of their business integration talks in mid-February.
SoftBank Group is in talks to acquire Ampere Computing, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 6, 2025

SoftBank nears deal to acquire chip designer Ampere

SoftBank is discussing a deal that could value the Oracle-backed chip designer at about $6.5 billion, including debt.
The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has raided locations related to a former Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank division manager on suspicion of violating the financial instruments and exchange law.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 6, 2025

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank worker's insider trading likely lasted years

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission has raided locations related to the former employee.
Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally surged in French legislative elections last year. Despite social media being a key megaphone for political campaigning, issues like voter dissatisfaction still play a determinant role in electoral outcomes.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 5, 2025

Social media alone didn’t decide last year’s elections

Last year's record number of elections around the world hold some important lessons. One is that social media wasn't the key determinant of outcomes that many made it out to be.
Manchester City's Erling Haaland (center of three) looks dejected after Thomas Partey scores Arsenal's second goal on Sunday.
SOCCER
Feb 6, 2025

Manchester City’s troubles spread from Premier League to politics

After years of dominance, this season Man City is regularly losing matches. But it is events off the pitch that risk undoing one of the world's biggest soccer clubs.
Investigators pursue a criminal case in the town of Oshima in Tokyo in January.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 6, 2025

Concern over crime grows in Japan as cases rise for third straight year

The most drastic increase was seen in the number of fraud cases, which numbered 57,324 — up 24.6% from the previous year and with a total of ¥307.5 billion in damages recorded.
Demonstrators rally during a protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and the actions he has taken in the first weeks of his presidency, in Washington, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 7, 2025

U.S. judge blocks Trump buyout program as 60,000 sign up to quit

The Trump administration is pressuring workers to leave their jobs in an unprecedented drive to overhaul the federal government.
Far from making America great again, Donald Trump’s actions since assuming the presidency are giving a giant boost to China’s attempts at world leadership.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 7, 2025

‘America First’ in action

Far from making America great again, Trump is giving a giant boost to China’s claims to world leadership.
Dig Shibuya 2025 spotlights tech in art and high-tech experiences such as “Around the Corner,” an interactive piece by the Hong Kong-based technology-driven artist group XRT (extended reality art).
CULTURE / Art
Feb 7, 2025

Shibuya becomes the canvas for tech-infused art during Dig 2025

Now in its sophomore year, the Dig Shibuya digital art festival runs from Feb. 8 to 11, with activities and exhibitions popping up across Tokyo’s trendiest neighborhood.

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