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Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attends the BRICS Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Rio de Janeiro on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

At BRICS meeting, China vows to stand firm against ‘bully’ Trump

On Tuesday, China’s Foreign Minister warned BRICS nations not to cave to U.S. tariffs, urging resistance to pressure amid growing trade tensions.
Amazon packages at a distribution center in Washington
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025

Amazon denies tariff label pivot after Trump called to complain

The administration’s broadsides against Amazon on Tuesday highlighted the potential political risk for companies if they decide to break out the cost of tariffs for customers.
Indian military personnel stand guard near a border crossing near Amritsar on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 1, 2025

U.S. urges India and Pakistan to de-escalate amid fears of clash

Relations between the longtime adversaries have rapidly deteriorated in the wake of last week's attack in Kashmir.
A drone view shows detainees forming the letters SOS with their bodies in the courtyard at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility, where Venezuelans at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling are held, in Anson, Texas, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2025

Abrego Garcia judge says U.S. must give answers on his return

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ruled Wednesday that the government must answer questions on its efforts to bring Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States.
An Indian paramilitary trooper stands guard along a street in Srinagar on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2025

India renews call for ‘justice’ after U.S. urges de-escalation

Relations between India and Pakistan have rapidly deteriorated in the wake of an attack last week that India and the U.S. have called an act of terrorism.
An open-pit mine in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on April 23. The financial payoff from the deal may take a decade or longer to materialize.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 2, 2025

U.S. and Ukraine may wait decade or more to see revenue from minerals deal

While the financial benefits from the deal are uncertain, officials in Ukraine believe it will help shore up U.S. support for Kyiv.
People take part in the European Defense Tech Hub hackathon in Amsterdam on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

Mission before money: How Europe's defense startups are luring AI talent

A sense of patriotism stirred by the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's upending of security alliances is a motivation for many.
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) relies on federal funds for about 16% of its overall budget, the broadcaster’s president and CEO, Paula Kerger, told U.S. House lawmakers in March.
WORLD
May 2, 2025

Trump signs executive order to end federal funding of NPR and PBS

The order requires the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease direct funding for NPR and PBS to the maximum extent allowed by law.
U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peters Square in Vatican City on April 26.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2025

Trump posts AI-generated photo of himself as pope, drawing internet outrage

The U.S. president, who is not a Catholic, posted the image less than a week after attending the funeral of Pope Francis, who died at 88 last month.
A solar panel on display at a home improvement center in Bangkok
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 4, 2025

U.S. solar tariffs could drive Asia transition boom

China makes eight out of every 10 solar panels globally, and controls 80% of every stage of the manufacturing process.
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.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes