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The 90-day truce in the U.S.-China trade war was a huge relief for small businesses and millions of workers on both sides of the Pacific.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2025

Trump and Xi tone down a senseless trade war

It was a huge relief for small businesses and millions of workers on both sides of the Pacific.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and French President Emmanuel Macron at the AI Action Summit in Paris in February. The mood at the event was largely optimistic despite growing evidence that chatbots like OpenAI's ChatGPT are being used by malicious actors.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2025

How much will we risk in the name of AI?

AI safety breaches are a very present danger. Evidence shows that leading chatbots are perpetuating Kremlin talking points, while many leaders tout optimism rather than concern.
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025

Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years

Heat stress can raise the risks of stillbirths, miscarriages, preterm births and low-weight births, as well as congenital abnormalities for the babies.
Japan ranked 14th out of 36 developed countries in the latest child well-being survey, improving from 20th place in the previous survey released in 2020, a report by a UNICEF research institute showed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 14, 2025

Japan ranks 14th in UNICEF child well-being survey

Top positions in the latest overall rankings were held by the Netherlands, Denmark and other European countries.
Panasonic may be poised to benefit from having factories in the U.S. as Tesla and others seek to reduce their reliance on Chinese battery-makers.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 14, 2025

Panasonic CEO says battery plans align with slower EV demand

The supplier of lithium-ion batteries to Tesla is getting ready to start production at a second U.S.-based factory in Kansas, but has frozen plans for a third plant.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) watches as U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 14, 2025

Trump meets Syrian president and urges him to establish ties with Israel

Trump urged Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on April 7.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2025

Bypassed by Trump, Israel dismayed but silent

Israel has maintained a diplomatic silence this week even as their assumptions about their standing with the U.S. were shaken by Trump's moves.
A Pakistan Ranger stands guard at the Pakistan-India joint check post at Wagah border, near Lahore, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 15, 2025

Pakistan and India shift to war of words after shooting stops

"Mr. Modi, if you take this route again, you will get a devastating answer,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said.
From around spring 2027, people will be able to pick up over-the-counter drugs from convenience stores without pharmacists in Japan.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Over-the-counter drugs to be made available at convenience stores

The move will require consumers to listen to explanations from pharmacists online before purchases.
Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in New York on Wednesday
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025

Uber to launch self-driving mobility service in Japan

The U.S. ride-hailing service provider plans to introduce autonomous rides in Japan once partner firms are ready, an executive said.
NTT said last week it will take its data service unit NTT Data Group private. That followed its acquisition of its mobile service arm, NTT Docomo, in 2020.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2025

Listed subsidiaries get the ax in Japan after investor pressure

The trend stems from pressure on firm to cater to shareholders in response to activist campaigns, demands from the stock exchange and hostile takeovers.
Rakuten Group's stock dropped after the Japanese e-commerce firm reported a 19th straight quarterly loss, fueling concerns about the financial drag from its ailing mobile business.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025

Rakuten Group shares sink on worse-than-expected quarterly loss

The stock plunged as much as 10% in Tokyo on Thursday, its biggest intraday drop since April 7.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the government will do all it can to raise wages, particularly for small and midsize businesses, which account for 70% of employment in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025

Japan to target 1% real wage gains within the next five years

The goal is based on the premise that stable and sustainable 2% inflation is in place.
U.S. President Donald Trump (center), Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani (right) and Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg attend a signing ceremony in Doha on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 15, 2025

Qatar Airways orders 160 Boeing twin-aisle jets during Trump visit

The deal for Boeing 777X and 787 planes with GE Aerospace engines was worth $96 billion, according to the White House.
Farmers load a truck with vegetables in San Ignacio, El Salvador, in May 2020.
WORLD
May 15, 2025

World hunger monitor faces 'large gap' after U.S. aid cuts

USAID cuts have significantly affected humanitarian organizations around the world that were working on life-saving programs.
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen speaks during a news conference ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on March 13.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 15, 2025

FIA reduces penalty for swearing after driver backlash

Competitors in Formula One and rallying have been at loggerheads with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem over a crackdown on bad language during events.
George Simion gestures while attending a presidential debate in Bucharest on May 8.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2025

MAGA goes east: Romania's presidential frontrunner rides hard-right wave

George Simion, a nationalist who campaigns to "Make Romania Great Again," opposes military aid to Ukraine and is critical of the EU's leadership.
Tokyo police arrested five people on suspicion of buying some 2,800 boxes of heated tobacco products, worth about ¥1.64 million, at a convenience store using the Apple Pay iD contactless payment service over 167 times from Nov. 8 to 10 last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 15, 2025

Five arrested for alleged credit card fraud over tobacco purchases

Offline payment, whose inappropriate use is unstoppable when smartphone signals are cut, was used for the crime.
Over 30 years, U.S.-China trade talks have largely failed because Beijing prioritizes protecting its political system, making only symbolic concessions, while Washington struggles to win lasting changes.
COMMENTARY / World
May 15, 2025

The U.S. will never win a trade war with China

For sure, the 90-day truce is merely temporary relief. As long as negotiations continue as they are, the U.S. will not be able to win a trade war with China
With Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition in crisis, the opposition divided and the Democratic Party for the People gaining momentum, Japan’s upcoming Upper House election could trigger a major political realignment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2025

Elections are fast approaching, and none of the big parties are ready

With Ishiba in place, the fear that the LDP could next lose its current majority in the Upper House in July is pervasive.
SeaForest CEO Sam Elsom at the company's headquarters in Triabunna, Tasmania, on March 26
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
May 15, 2025

Australian seaweed farm tackles livestock burps to combat climate change

While far less abundant in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, methane is about 80 times more potent over a 20-year timescale at warming the planet.
Japan's Shohei Ohtani carries the Japanese flag onto the field before the start of the World Baseball Classic final against the United States in Miami on March 21, 2023.
BASEBALL
May 15, 2025

Historian Rob Fitts discovers earliest ever reference to baseball in Japan

The widely held belief is that American Horace Wilson introduced the sport to Japan in 1872. Fitts' discovery revises the timeline to 1869.
Morgan Stanley analysts estimate the top five makers of hearing aids hold roughly 99% of the global market, which they predict will be worth over $14 billion by next year rising from about $12 billion in 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 15, 2025

Trump’s tariffs spare Europe-dominated hearing aid industry

An ecosystem developed over more than a century has given three Danish companies and a Swiss rival a quasi-monopoly on the market for devices that help people hear better.
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the Presidential Palace in Ankara on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025

Peace breakthrough unlikely as Putin declines to meet Zelenskyy in Turkey

Hopes were further dented by U.S. President Donald Trump saying there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (right) speaks during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on May 6.
SOCCER
May 16, 2025

FIFA president says international fans will be welcome at World Cup in U.S.

The world will be welcomed to the United States for the 2026 World Cup and this year's Club World Cup, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said on Thursday, days after a meeting with officials from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.
Walking along Osaka's Kanjosen brings you closer to a different side of the city that the head-in-the-clouds Expo 2025 misses.
LIFE / Travel
May 17, 2025

Fighting Osaka Expo fatigue? Walk the 21-km Loop Line for a cure.

Officially completed in 1961, the Osaka Kanjosen runs through the city’s most famous and less touristed neighborhoods alike.
Buildings destroyed during the war in Harasta, on the outskirts of Damascus, Syria.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2025

Trump’s pledge to lift Syrian sanctions faces a complex road

The move was seen as a highlight of Trump’s trip to the Arabian Peninsula this week, but actual implementation will be a protracted and thorny challenge.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe shakes hands with U.S. President Donald Trump as first lady Melania Trump and Akie Abe look on while on board the Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Kaga, stationed at the Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 28, 2019.
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

SDF activities expand 10 years after key security legislation

Japan has enhanced cooperation with the United States and other friendly nations in the face of challenges such as China's maritime expansion.
Japan is considering adding three more sectors, including distribution warehouse management, to its program to grant residency status to foreign workers with what are being called "specified skills."
JAPAN
May 16, 2025

Japan eyes three more sectors for foreign workers program

The three sectors — distribution warehouse management, services supplying sheets and towels to hotels, and resource recycling — are struggling to secure workers.
Yields in Japan’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are now rising rapidly after years of moving at a glacial pace.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 16, 2025

Japan’s steep bond curve divides investors and challenges economy

Yields in the country’s $7.8 trillion government debt market are shifting higher at breakneck speed after years of moving at a glacial pace.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years