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Warriors guard Stephen Curry (left) celebrates with Jimmy Butler during a game against the Rockets in Houston on April 20.
BASKETBALL / NBA
May 16, 2025

Stephen Curry excited about Warriors' future despite playoff exit

Curry is hoping the summer will provide some much-needed recovery time.
Brazilian real and a U.S. dollar notes are seen in this illustration taken on Dec. 18, 2024
BUSINESS / Markets
May 20, 2025

Dollar set for more weakness as 'Brand USA' falls further out of favor

Investors see the currency losing more of its luster as the greenback comes back to earth from lofty valuations.
U.S. President Donald Trump (left) announces the Golden Dome missile defense shield next to U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2025

Trump selects $175B Golden Dome defense shield design and appoints leader

U.S. Space Force Gen. Michael Guetlein will be the lead program manager for an effort widely viewed as the keystone to Trump's military planning.
Elon Musk boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 21
BUSINESS / Tech
May 21, 2025

Musk commits to Tesla CEO role and plans political pullback

"If I see a reason to do political spending in the future, I will do it,” Musk said. "I do not currently see a reason.”
The Harvard University shield "VERITAS" sits above a campus entrance gate at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
May 24, 2025

Long advantageous, Harvard's China ties become a political liability

The ties have yielded major financial gifts, influence in international affairs and global prestige for the school.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy West Point in West Point, New York, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Trump 'on brand' with anti-woke rant at army officer graduation

The U.S. president's speech at the West Point Military Academy veered between attacks on transgender people and DEI policies to slamming his predecessors.
Takahiro Mori, executive vice president of Japan's biggest steelmaker Nippon Steel, speaks about its strategy in its headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 28, 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 26, 2025

Garage meets and sleepless flights: How Nippon Steel's negotiator stuck at U.S. merger

With Biden's incoming successor Donald Trump also voicing opposition to the planned purchase, the outlook was bleak.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center) arrives at Argentina’s Ministry of Health to meet with Argentinian Health Minister Mario Lugones in Buenos Aires on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 28, 2025

RFK Jr. says COVID-19 shot isn’t recommended for healthy kids

The decision reverses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s earlier stance that everyone six months of age and older get vaccinated.
Demonstrators hold signs during a protest in support of international students at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 28, 2025

Japanese universities urged to open doors to students blocked from Harvard

The education ministry has asked universities nationwide to support students affected by the White House's push against foreign enrollments at Harvard.
People hold up signs during a rally in support of international students at the Harvard University campus in Boston on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025

Halt of U.S. visa process puts Japanese students' futures in question

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has confirmed that the embassy and U.S. consulate offices in Japan have suspended scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants.
The defense chiefs of “the Squad” grouping, which brings together Japan, Australia, the U.S. and the Philippines, meet Saturday in Singapore for talks on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security summit.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 31, 2025

‘Squad’ defense chiefs meet with eye on countering China

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth called the grouping the most “strategically positioned to manifest deterrence" amid “an unprecedented military buildup by China.”
Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on March 17. Grynkewich is expected to be the U.S. nominee for the positions of both Supreme Allied Commander Europe and U.S. European Command.
WORLD
Jun 1, 2025

America's next top general in Europe will also lead NATO forces

Since taking office in January, Trump's administration has pressured Europe to ramp up its own defense spending.
Australian defense chief Richard Marles speaks during the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 2, 2025

U.S demands Australia increase defense spending to 3.5% of GDP

Officials in Tokyo are closely watching how U.S.-Australia defense spending talks unfold, with U.S. President Donald Trump thought to be pushing Japan to also spend more.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Saturday. Musk has dubbed Trump's sweeping tax and spending bill as a "disgusting abomination."
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Trump's 'big, beautiful bill?' Musk calls it a 'disgusting abomination.'

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO says the U.S. president's sweeping tax and spending bill will increase the federal deficit.
Kenji Yanobe’s spacesuited cats are the main characters of “Ship’s Cat Island,” the inaugural exhibition at Hyper Museum Hanno in Saitama Prefecture.
CULTURE / Art
Jun 7, 2025

What can Kenji Yanobe’s cosmic cats teach us about humanity?

The spacesuited felines will be familiar to those who have visited the Nakanoshima Museum of Art in Osaka or Tokyo’s Ginza Six shopping complex last year.
Demonstrators deploy a giant banner reading "We the People," the first three words of the U.S. Constitution's preamble, during a "No Kings" rally in Los Angeles on Saturday, on the same day as President Donald Trump's military parade in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

As Trump celebrates army’s founding, his critics take to the streets

U.S. President Donald Trump held a military parade the same day that hundreds of protests took place, in what amounted to a split-screen show of force.
Rare earths from Australia's Mount Weld mine. Japanese companies have a supply agreement with a company that sources rare earths from the mine.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2025

Japan and the U.S. face challenges in economic security discussions

In their trade negotiations, the subject is much discussed, especially as rare earths become an issue.
Members of the California National Guard stand outside a federal building in downtown Los Angeles on June 8. California Democrats have unified against the Trump administration’s use of federal troops to quell unrest and its deportation campaign, but the stance may backfire for the party nationally.
COMMENTARY
Jun 16, 2025

ICE protests in LA are forcing a tough choice on Democrats

As the rightward shift among voters in the last election made abundantly clear, the state’s politics don’t always translate to other parts of America.
A Palestinian carries a sack of aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

U.S. to give $30 million to Gaza aid operation despite violence concerns

This is the first known U.S. government financial contribution to the group, which uses private U.S. military and logistics firms to bring aid into Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 28, 2025

They voted for Trump. Most still back him — but not on everything

A group of 20 Trump voters were asked to share their thoughts on the president's performance so far. The results were a mixed bag.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan’s chief tariff negotiator, leaves for Washington on Thursday for his seventh round of trade talks with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 1, 2025

Japan-U.S. trade negotiations stall as Trump fumes 

The two sides remain far apart, and no new talks are scheduled.
Liu Jianchao, head of the Communist Party's international department, speaks during an event in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Top Chinese official says war with U.S. unimaginable in tone tweak

China is adopting a less confrontational tone with the U.S. days after confirming details of a trade framework with Washington.
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2025

Powell's silence on his future complicates Trump Fed chair search

The Fed chief has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May, or remain on the Fed board.
A sample of gallium (Ga)
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2025

How U.S. buyers of critical minerals bypass China's export ban

Trade data illustrate a re-routing of U.S. shipments via third countries — an issue Chinese officials have acknowledged.
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama says she is stepping back from traditional politics to focus on cultural influence through her podcast, reflecting a broader trend of Black women redefining political engagement.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2025

Michelle Obama is quitting politics. Or is she?

Her misgivings about politics and the spotlight that she and her husband commanded in the White House as historic figures have only grown in recent years.
U.S. soldiers man a checkpoint on a road outside Tikrit, Iraq, in November 2003. Airstrikes alone won’t truly eliminate Iran’s nuclear program — only a costly ground invasion like the one that took down Saddam Hussein could do that.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2025

What will it take to end Iran's nuke program? An army.

Trump’s claim that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program was widely disputed, with current estimates saying it was severely damaged and set back by 12 to 24 months.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a news conference in London on July 10 after wrapping up a joint military visit.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025

France and U.K. tighten nuclear ties amid questions over U.S. commitment

While France and the U.K. are taking a positive step for European security, the announcement is both more and less than it seems.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a press briefing following phone calls with U.S. President Donald Trump on May 19.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 17, 2025

Zelenskyy aims to woo public and Trump with fresh-faced Ukraine cabinet

Zelenskyy's choice of a young economist well-known in Washington reflects the importance of repairing relations with Trump after a disastrous White House visit in February.
In an era of fierce technological and geopolitical competition, especially in AI, true scale combining size, efficiency and cooperation with allies has become an urgent strategic necessity the U.S. and the West must master to counter China’s growing advantages.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2025

The AI arms race with China demands scale. The West must think bigger.

The race to create scale is critical amid the sizzling geopolitical competition over leadership in new technologies.
Audrey Strauss, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, speaks during an news conference announcing charges against Ghislaine Maxwell for her role in the sexual exploitation and abuse of minor girls by Jeffrey Epstein.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 25, 2025

Amid Epstein furor, Ghislaine Maxwell seeks relief from U.S. Supreme Court

The justices, now on their summer recess, are expected in late September to consider whether to take up an appeal by the jailed British socialite.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’