Search - 2018

 
 
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order on tariffs on aluminum imports in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 11, 2025

Trump sets 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, heightening trade war

The move would fulfill what the most extreme trade protectionists have sought for years.
Researchers work around Chang'e-5 lunar return capsule carrying moon samples next to a Chinese national flag, after it landed in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, on Dec. 17, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 14, 2025

China builds space alliances in Africa as Trump cuts foreign aid

Beijing has access to data and images collected from the space technology, and Chinese personnel maintain a long-term presence in the facilities it builds in Africa.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Xi’s embrace of China tech CEOs spurs hope of big economic shift

Developing national tech champions is core to Beijing’s plan for boosting the economy as it deflates a bubble in the property market.
Akwasi Frimpong competes during a skeleton heat at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, on Feb. 15, 2018.
OLYMPICS / Skeleton
Mar 6, 2025

Skeleton racer Akwasi Frimpong wants to open doors for more African athletes

The 39-year-old broke barriers in 2018 when he and Nigerian Simidele Adeagbo became the first African skeleton racers to compete at an Olympics.
Globally, women are severely underrepresented among leading roles in cinema, with female directors accounting for just over 10% of the industry in Japan. Achieving gender equality on-set would have far-reaching consequences for the whole of society.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 7, 2025

Without women behind the camera, equality stays out of the frame

Cinema isn't only about what stories are told, but who tells them. Overcoming severe underrepresentation, women are reshaping the film industry and cultural narratives.
JX Advanced Metals plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 19.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 10, 2025

JX Metals raises $3 billion in Japan's biggest IPO since SoftBank

The semiconductor materials supplier, whose clients include Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and Intel, plans to list on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on March 19.
Rolled steel is stored at a Hyundai Steel plant in Dangjin, South Korea, in 2011.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 13, 2025

South Korean steelmakers eye U.S. investments as Trump tariffs kick in

Posco and Hyundai Steel say investments in operations in the U.S. are among their options. Meanwhile, European steel mills warn of a flood of surplus metal.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei looks on during a meeting with students in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 15, 2025

Despite tough talk, economic woes may force Iran to bargain with Trump

Behind the defiant rhetoric of Iran's leaders in public, there is a pragmatic willingness within Tehran to strike a deal with Washington.
Jalen Brunson of the Knicks during an NBA All-Star Game event in San Francisco on Feb. 16.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 16, 2025

To get big in China, NBA stars enlist social media surrogates

The trend comes as recently fraught ties between the NBA and China thaw.
Lindsey Vonn celebrates on the podium after finishing second in a women's super-G event in Sun Valley, Idaho.
MORE SPORTS / Alpine skiing
Mar 24, 2025

Lindsey Vonn gets confidence boost from first podium finish since comeback

Vonn had not managed a World Cup podium since 2018.
Brooklyn Kura's Catskills, a "junmai daiginjō" (sake with rice polished down to at least 50%), is made with water from the New York region of the same name.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 28, 2025

New York's Brooklyn Kura becomes first U.S. sake exporter to Japan

The brewer’s initial exports are “relatively small,” but it hopes drinkers in Japan are "open to trying" American-made sake.
Honda Racing President Koji Watanabe says the carmaker's development on the next generation of Formula One engines is proceeding as planned ahead of sweeping regulation changes in 2026.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 5, 2025

Honda looks toward its F1 future as Red Bull partnership nears end

Honda Racing President Koji Watanabe discusses the carmaker's past and future in Formula One as its Red Bull partnership draws to a close.
Soybeans are harvested near Stuttgart, Arkansas in October 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Apr 6, 2025

'Anxious' U.S. farmers see tariffs as threatening earnings

U.S. farmers hoping for a profit this year instead find themselves facing lower crop prices — and the prospect of ceding more ground in foreign markets.
A flag outside United Nations headquarters in New York.
WORLD
Apr 10, 2025

U.N. may get first female chief as Latin bloc unites

Latin American and Caribbean nations are working to back a single candidate — likely a woman — for U.N. chief as Antonio Guterres prepares to step down.
Facing a new round of U.S. tariffs, China may devalue the yuan — possibly by as much as 20% — if fiscal stimulus falls short, risking a global currency war as it fights to meet its growth target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2025

When will China start to devalue the yuan?

One way to think about China’s currency policy is its fiscal stance. Unless Beijing brings out the stimulus bazooka, devaluing the yuan might be the most expedient option.
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta, departs federal court in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 17, 2025

Meta saw TikTok as ‘highly urgent’ threat, Zuckerberg says at trial

Zuckerberg was composed, but occasionally evasive, when challenged to explain past messages indicating a concerted effort to muscle out competitors.
Of the 721,000 childbirths reported in 2024 in Japan, 13.8% involved the use of an epidural, according to the Japan Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Apr 22, 2025

Cases of epidural use in labor rise in Japan alongside concerns

More demand for epidurals may place a strain on the nation's anesthesiologists, who are already facing staffing shortages.
Participants in Chinese hacking competitions are required to report their findings to the government first, according to a 2018 regulation.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2025

Chinese hacking competitions fuel the country’s broad cyber ambitions

Chinese hacking contests now serve national security, with vulnerabilities passed to the state, not fixed by tech makers.
Carlos Ghosn, then president and CEO of Nissan Motor and Renault, delivers a speech during an opening ceremony of a Nissan car factory in St. Petersburg in June 2009.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2025

Nissan is dying and taking globalization with it

Nissan is a Japanese business in name only: Despite accounting for 45% of jobs and about 35% of manufacturing assets, just 16% of sales are at home.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander brings the ball up the court against the Nuggets during their Western Conference semifinal series in Denver on May 15.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 22, 2025

Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wins NBA MVP

Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the second player from Canada to earn the honor, joining two-time winner Steve Nash.
Lee Sang-il’s “Kokuho,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year, follows the life of an "onnagata," a male kabuki actor who plays female roles, from his childhood as the son of a yakuza boss in 1960s Nagasaki to his official designation as a living national treasure.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

'Kokuho' illuminates the high price of becoming a national treasure

Director Lee Sang-il turns a long-held vision into reality with his sumptuously shot film that reveals the dedication, sacrifice — and loneliness — behind kabuki greatness.
Vice president of events and exhibitions for Studio Ghibli, Kenichi Yoda (right), and director and Ghibli Park creative development manager, Goro Miyazaki (left), pose at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival before receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

A look into the legacy of the beloved anime studio.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (center) speaks at a news conference in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on June 6.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2025

Group of Seven tries to avoid Trump conflict by scrapping joint communique

Agreeing on a final communique is usually a ritual for leaders gathered at meetings such as the G7 summit.
Kimiko Nishimoto poses next to a picture of her on a sliding window at her house in the city of Kumamoto in January 2018.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 13, 2025

Japan's 400,000-follower 'Insta-gran' dies age 97

Dubbed the "selfie queen" by Japanese media, Kimiko Nishimoto's posts showed her in various candid poses.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announces the launch of a targeted military operation against Iran in a video statement on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2025

After years of waiting, Israel's Netanyahu finally makes his move on Iran

Iran once ridiculed Netanyahu as the boy who cried wolf for his constant warnings about Tehran's nuclear program, and his repeated threats to shut it down.
Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the European Union all have something at stake at the Group of Seven Leaders’ Summit in Alberta, Canada.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

G7 leaders prepare for delicate dance with Trump at summit in Canada

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is seeking a trade deal with Trump on the sidelines of the summit, which would be a coup ahead of elections next month.
Novak Djokovic takes part in an exhibition in London on Friday ahead of the start of Wimbledon.
TENNIS
Jun 29, 2025

Wimbledon offers Djokovic 'best chance' to make Grand Slam history

Djokovic is dreaming of putting an exclamation point on his incredible career by becoming the most successful singles player in tennis history.
Roger Federer salutes the crowd prior to an exhibition match in Shanghai last October.
TENNIS
Jun 29, 2025

Roger Federer's long-term deals make him a tennis billionaire

Federer, who won 20 Grand Slams between 2003 and 2018, amassed $130.6 million in prize money during a 24-year playing career, but made far more off the court.
Evgeniya Mayboroda sits in the defendant's dock during the announcement of the verdict in her case at the municipal court of Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree

The 72-year-old's transformation from fan to critic says much about the state of today's Russia under Vladimir Putin.
Since the Sino-U.S. trade conflict began in 2018, China has used it to strengthen self-reliance, sharpen its strategies and turn Donald Trump’s tariffs into fuel for its long-term global resilience. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 17, 2025

China is winning Donald Trump’s trade war

While China does not want a trade war or to decouple, it is willing to risk a trade war that the United States may lose — and it would rather decouple than kowtow to Trump.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?