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Workers operate sewing machines at a Thai Son S.P.  garment factory in Binh Thuan province, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 10. For more than 70 years, many emerging nations, especially in Asia, have become the low-cost manufacturer to the U.S., the world’s biggest consumer.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 5, 2025

Global factories struggle to overcome Trump tariffs and uncertainty

Purchasing manager indexes across Asia, along with revised numbers in Europe, showed new or persisting contractions in factory activity in April.
An Israeli soldier walks near tanks deployed at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2025

Israel prepares to scale up pressure on Gaza ahead of Trump visit

The new ground operations will likely involve taking control of additional territory while stopping short of a full siege.
The United Nations General Assembly Building in New York in 2015. An internal U.N. document shows the U.S. is opposing draft reforms of the world's financial system intended to help developing countries.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.N. document shows U.S. seeks to weaken global development finance efforts

It opposes draft reforms of the world's financial system intended to help developing countries, including around taxation, credit ratings and fossil fuel subsidies.
U.S. citizen Chrishan Wright from New York after an interview in Lisbon on April 9
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Fearing Trump's policies, some Americans start new lives in Europe

Relocation firms said there has been a spike in interest since Trump returned to the White House, with clients expressing concern over policy and social issues.
Kashmiri children sit on a bench at a marketplace as an Indian paramilitary soldier keeps guard along a street in Srinagar in Indian-controlled Kashmir on Sunday. Tensions between the nuclear-armed archrivals have soared since India accused Pakistan of backing a shooting that killed 26 civilians on the Indian side of the disputed territory on April 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 6, 2025

With militaries upgraded, risks multiply in any potential India-Pakistan conflict

Pakistan says India plans a military incursion after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for a deadly attack on domestic tourists in Indian Kashmir last month.
The U.S. dollar struggled to make headway as an unprecedented two-day surge in its Taiwanese counterpart spilled over to other regional peers.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 6, 2025

Dollar under pressure as Asian counterparts charge higher

The Taiwan dollar on Monday surged to a three-year high of 29.59 per dollar, having leapt 8% in two days.
A new U.S. FDA policy requiring full placebo-controlled trials for updated vaccines, pushed by Commissioner Marty Makary (right) and U.S. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center), is seen as a backdoor effort to sideline COVID-19 boosters and undermine broader vaccine development.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2025

RFK Jr.’s new vaccine scrutiny is alarming

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who oversees the FDA, intends to set new regulatory standards vaccine manufacturers couldn’t possibly meet.
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that Catholics, who have criticized an artificial intelligence-generated image of him dressed in white papal vestments, were not offended, and said that anyone who was "can’t take a joke.”
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Trump calls AI pope image a joke, but experts say it’s no laughing matter

For many Catholics, the image of the U.S. president dressed as God's representative on Earth was offensive.
Land at an address identified on the U.S. entity list, in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, on Oct. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 6, 2025

U.S. blacklist on China is riddled with errors and outdated details

Five former U.S. officials acknowledged difficulties in evaluating possible cases of mistaken identity and updating information on the entity list, due in part to limited staffing.
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.
Japan's Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa speaks to the press upon his arrival at Haneda Airport on April 18. He has said that all tariffs need to be reconsidered by the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 7, 2025

U.S. and Japan remain far apart on tariffs

While both sides have said they will aim for a deal as soon as possible, they have also indicated that they aren't in a rush for a swift settlement.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that at this point, it isn't clear if the economy will continue its steady pace of growth, or wilt under mounting uncertainty and a possible coming spike in inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 8, 2025

Fed sees rising risks to economy as it leaves rates unchanged

With so much uncertainty over Trump's tariff moves, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said "It's really not at all clear what it is we should do."
The Indian Air Force's Rafale fighter jets. India and Pakistan aircraft engaged in a dogfight on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 9, 2025

Global militaries to study India-Pakistan fighter jet battle

This week's dogfight is a rare opportunity for militaries to study the performance of pilots, fighter jets and air-to-air missiles in active combat.
According to earnings reports released by Thursday, net profit is forecast to fall 47.7% to ¥250 billion at Nippon Yusen K.K., 60% to ¥170 billion at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines and 67.3% to ¥100 billion at Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 9, 2025

Three major Japan shipping firms expect sharp falls in profit

The companies are projecting a drop in the transport of autos and other goods due to U.S. tariff measures.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (second right) and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer (left) meet with Japan’s economic revitalization minister, Ryosei Akazawa, in Washington on May 1. In an attempt to ease trade tensions, Bessent and Greer will meet with a Chinese team in Switzerland from Saturday. 
EDITORIALS
May 9, 2025

A moment of hope for U.S-China trade frictions

The U.S. and China will meet in Switzerland to discuss trade tensions, but deep mistrust and structural issues are hurdles they will have to overcome to make progress.
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV waves on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican on Thursday.
JAPAN / Society
May 9, 2025

Heads of hibakusha groups urge Pope Leo to promote abolition of nukes

They expressed hopes that the new pontiff will follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis, who visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 2019.
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers remarks during a news conference at alliance headquarters in Brussels on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 10, 2025

NATO chief said to seek defense spending at 5% of GDP by 2032

U.S. President Donald Trump has demanded that NATO allies ramp up their military spending to 5% of GDP, a level that not even the United States currently hits.
An Indian villager stands over the debris of his house that was destroyed by overnight Pakistani artillery shelling in Jammu on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
May 10, 2025

Outside mediation now crucial for Pakistan and India

With the risk of dangerous escalation between India and Pakistan the highest in decades, only international mediation can stop a spiral into all-out conflict, analysts say.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization and the U.S. president's son, looks over the proposed plan ahead of the signing ceremony with Qatar's Diar and Dar Global in Doha on April 30.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2025

As Trump family's Gulf empire grows, rulers seek influence, arms and tech

Ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's Gulf visit next week, his son Eric was promoting his crypto firm in Dubai, while Don Jr prepared to talk about "Monetizing MAGA" in Doha.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a Lower House committee meeting on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 11, 2025

Ishiba vows Japan will stand its ground, demanding U.S. lift auto tariffs

The U.S. is an important market for the Japanese automobile industry, accounting for about 20% of its total car exports in terms of volume and about 30% in terms of value.
Yantian port in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China. Investors are cautiously optimistic that U.S.-China trade talks underway in Switzerland will ease tensions and market volatility, though few expect a major breakthrough amid deep-rooted disputes and high tariffs.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 11, 2025

Wary investors hope U.S.-China talks cool high-stakes trade war

The highly anticipated meeting in Switzerland could mark one of the biggest developments since U.S. President Donald Trump launched sweeping tariffs on April 2.
Pope Leo XIV, in his first public appearance after he was elected, on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

World Catholics see the first American pope as hardly American

The new pope, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, has signaled that his identity will defy easy categorization.
An electric vehicle factory in Ningbo, China, on April 9, 2024. For years, Xi Jinping, the leader of China, has planned to make the world dependent on its exports and know-how, but the strategy has costs for his own country.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

This is the trade conflict Xi Jinping has been waiting for

A willingness to weaponize the supply chain may be one of the starkest examples of how Xi is redefining China’s relationship with the world.
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent attend a news conference after trade talks with China, in Geneva on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 12, 2025

U.S. and China agree to lower tariffs in 90-day cooling-off period

The temporary move will give the world’s two largest economies three more months to resolve their differences.
White South Africans rally outside the U.S. embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, on Feb. 15. Dozens of Afrikaners who claim discrimination in their home country left Johannesburg on Sunday. Their departure for the U.S. comes as the Trump administration has halted virtually all refugee admissions.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2025

First white South Africans board plane for U.S. under Trump refugee plan

South African authorities say the Trump administration has waded into a domestic political issue it does not understand.
Capsules of Takeda Pharmaceutical's Prevacid heartburn drug. The company's share price dropped by over 5% on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced a plan to order a cut in U.S. prescription drug costs.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 12, 2025

Asian pharma stocks tumble on Trump signal to cut U.S. drug prices

The U.S. president's social media post put pressure on drug-related stocks on worries their profits will take a hit if they have to reduce prices in the U.S.
The Taiwanese military conducts its first High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) live-fire test launch at the Jiupeng base in Taiwan's Pingtung County on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 13, 2025

Taiwan conducts first live-fire HIMARS test in signal to China

Supplying Taiwan with a system that proved devastatingly effective in Ukraine’s efforts to defend against the Russian invasion was once politically sensitive in Washington.
Damascus seen from Mount Qasioun on Jan. 7
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2025

Syria makes bid to meet Trump, hoping for sanctions relief and reset with Israel

Syria has struggled to implement conditions set out by Washington for relief from U.S. sanctions, while Israel has escalated air strikes and occupied Syrian territory.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Saudi investment forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Trump says U.S. to lift Syria sanctions as he secures $600 billion Saudi deal

Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. arms — part of a decadeslong arrangement where the kingdom delivers oil and the superpower provides security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds a news conference in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Zelenskyy insists on face-to-face talks with Putin in Istanbul

The planned talks have become the main focus of peace efforts led by U.S. President Donald Trump, who is sending his secretary of state has also offered to attend.

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