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China frequently shifts between warming and freezing relations with Japan, driven by its domestic issues, often using softer rhetoric while masking aggressive actions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 14, 2025

Are China-Japan relations truly 'warming,' or is this just fool’s gold again?

As the trade war between the U.S. and China heats up, Beijing is turning to its familiar playbook, using softer language to court American allies and partners while offering things like greater cooperation and more dialogue — part of its ongoing divide-and-conquer strategy.
U.S. Steel workers rally outside the company's headquarters in Pittsburgh in support of the takeover by Japan's Nippon Steel back in September.
EDITORIALS
Feb 14, 2025

The Nippon Steel deal’s lessons for the world

Former U.S. President Joe Biden’s stiff opposition to the deal may have created space, if not impetus, for President Donald Trump to resurrect the acquisition.
The Trump administration has fired scores of the Centers for Disease Control's "disease detectives," the researchers are hired annually through a competitive process that each year whittles down hundreds of applicants — including doctors, nurses, scientists and more — to a class of a few dozen.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 15, 2025

Trump admin fires CDC 'disease detectives' as bird flu fears rise

Established in 1951, the Epidemic Intelligence Service is a two-year post-doctoral training program whose officers have been on the front line of investigating outbreaks.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during family photo session with other leaders and attendees at the Group of 20 summit in the city of Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Feb 15, 2025

Saudis spearhead Arab scramble for alternative to Trump's Gaza plan

Draft ideas will be discussed at a meeting in Riyadh this month of countries including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
The Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki watches the ball in the top of the third inning against Oakland Athletics during their baseball game at the Major League Baseball Japan Opening Series in Tokyo in March 2019.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 15, 2025

Ichiro to donate personal collection to Hall of Fame

Suzuki wants "to follow in the footsteps of Hank Aaron and Tom Seaver," two players who pledged their entire collections to Cooperstown, said a former Hall of Fame official.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani pitches during a bullpen session at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 16, 2025

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani throws first bullpen session of spring

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has said Ohtani could face live hitters in March and could be in the team's rotation sometime in May.
Officers from the Austrian State Criminal Police are seen near a cordoned off area after a knife attack near the main square in the city center of Villach, in southern Austria, on Saturday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025

Syrian arrested after deadly stabbing attack in Austria

Syrian asylum seeker was arrested after a teenager was stabbed to death and five other people were wounded in southern Austria on Saturday.
Steelworks of South Korea's largest steelmaker POSCO are seen over a residential area in Pohang on Feb. 13. Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea's steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington's new tariffs on the port city's largest export.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Feb 16, 2025

Trump tariffs loom large in South Korea's 'steel city'

South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13% of its total steel imports.
The National Police Agency has been warning people that gambling on online casinos is illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 16, 2025

Police investigate comedians over alleged online casino gambling

Officials warn that online casinos are illegal in Japan even if they are operating legally overseas, but the number accused of using them continues to rise.
Dodgers right-hander Shohei Ohtani is expected to return to the mound in May.
BASEBALL / MLB
Feb 16, 2025

Dodgers president envisions 5-man rotation until Shohei Ohtani returns

Andrew Friedman told reporters on Friday that five off days in April, combined with the Dodgers' depth in rotation candidates, can make the altered plan work.
Tokyo Koon stands at the forefront of tackling the so-called 2025 issue, also known as the “Magnetic Tape Alert.”
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Feb 17, 2025

The race to save 20th-century history

Analog recordings are at risk of disappearing as old tech breaks down and spare parts run out.
The construction site for an underground station at the Stuttgart 21 railway and urban development project in Stuttgart, Germany, in November 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Late trains, old bridges, no signal: Germany's infrastructure woes

Germany's reputation for efficiency no longer holds true, critics contend.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (left) speaks to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the 61st Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Ukraine, Europe will be part of 'real' peace talks with Russia, says Rubio

America's top diplomat plays down European concerns of being cut out of this week's talks between Washington and Moscow to end Russia-Ukraine war.
Co-leader and main candidate of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel is seen on a screen as she takes part in a TV debate in Berlin on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Anger, fear, nostalgia: Why German voters back far-right AfD

All other parties have pledged to isolate it behind a "firewall" of noncooperation.
Screens display web pages of the Chinese artificial intelligence chatbot DeepSeek. South Korean authorities said on Monday that DeepSeek would not be available on local app stores, pending a review of the Chinese AI startup's handling of user data.
WORLD
Feb 17, 2025

Chatbot vs. national security? Why DeepSeek is raising concerns

Governments from Rome to Seoul are cracking down on the chatbot, saying they need to prevent potential leaks of sensitive information.
A government-hired hunter holds up a captured iguana in Pingtung County, Taiwan, on Feb. 10. Taiwan's iguana population has exploded since the spikey-backed giant lizards were introduced more than 20 years ago as exotic pets. Many escaped or were dumped by their owners and have bred rapidly in the warm climate of southern Taiwan, invading neighborhoods and ravaging farmers' crops.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 17, 2025

Taiwan bounty hunters kill invading iguanas as numbers soar

Taiwan began culling iguanas nearly 10 years ago and this year's target has been set at more than 100,000.
UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima in Addis Ababa on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2025

Trump's aid freeze could cause millions more AIDS deaths: U.N. agency

Deaths could increase tenfold to 6.3 million in five years, according to UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima.
A Delta Air Lines plane sits upside down at Toronto Pearson Airport in Toronto, Ontario, on Monday.
WORLD
Feb 18, 2025

Delta plane flips upside down in Toronto crash, injuring 18

Three people on flight DL4819 from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport suffered critical injuries, among them a child.
Japan’s robo-adviser market, estimated to be worth around ¥3 trillion, has massive room for growth, says the CEO of robo-adviser Folio Holdings.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2025

SBI-backed Japan robo-adviser Folio targets swing to profit and IPO

Japan’s robo-adviser market is estimated to be worth around $19.8 billion.
Members of Taiwan's armed forces, riding on a M60A3 tank, participate in a drill as part of a demonstration for the media to show combat readiness, at a military base in Taitung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Taiwan considering multibillion dollar arms purchase from U.S., sources say

Taipei is hoping to win support from the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump as China continues to apply military pressure on the island.
Kodai Furutani, the assistant chief priest at Ryugasan Unmon Temple in Annaka, Gunma Prefecture, is working to become an interfaith chaplain.
JAPAN
Feb 18, 2025

Monk in chaplain training urges people to face death and live life

There is a deep-seated idea in Japan that a monk being seen at a hospital is a bad omen, as their presence reminds patients and medical staff of death.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba receives fruit from tangerine farmers of Shizuoka Prefecture in Tokyo on Jan. 22. The government's new regional revitalization plan focuses on convincing younger workers to choose a career and life somewhere other than a major urban center such as Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 18, 2025

Can Ishiba's 'joyful Japan' policy revitalize the nation's rural regions?

The prime minister may be taking cues from the mistakes of past efforts, but ultimately, even the best rural revitalization plan is tough to realize in practice.
America's leading spokesperson on matters of public health, the surgeon general, has issued an advisory linking alcohol consumption to cancer, urging greater awareness and policy changes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

It's time to rethink how safe alcohol is

Raising awareness about the risks is key to helping people make decisions about drinking.
Canada faces a tough decision on how to respond to U.S. President Donald Trump's economic threats, particularly regarding energy exports, with options ranging from strategic energy cuts to export taxes.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 18, 2025

Weaponizing Canadian oil would rattle Trump

Reducing crude output has the potential to inflict real pain on U.S. refiners and consumers.
Manchester City's Omar Marmoush with manager Pep Guardiola after being substituted during a Premier League match against Newcastle United in Manchester on Saturday.
SOCCER
Feb 18, 2025

Manchester City's fresh faces offer hope of Madrid miracle

City blew a late 2-1 lead in the first leg of the playoff tie last week at home to lose 3-2 to the holders.
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.
Newly manufactured cars ready for shipping. U.S. President Donald Trump said he is likely to impose new 25% tariffs on imported cars, semiconductors and pharmaceuticals in the coming months.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 19, 2025

Trump floats 25% tariffs on U.S. auto, drug and chip imports

The U.S. president has also threatened other streams of tariffs, all part of an effort to reconfigure the country's trading relationships across the globe.
A Ukrainian serviceman in Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Nov. 29
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2025

European forces would struggle to guarantee Ukraine peace without U.S.

Deterrence in the form of U.S. medium-range missiles and ultimately nuclear weapons will remain crucial, experts say.
Nihon Hidankyo co-chair Toshiyuki Mimaki (left) meets Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito (right) in Kitahiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, in December.
JAPAN
Feb 19, 2025

Japan not to attend meeting on nuclear ban treaty for third time

The decision may draw criticism from many members of the public and Komeito, with both calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
A gasoline blend containing bioethanol is sold at a gas station in Illinois in December. The United States and Brazil are keen to expand exports of bioethanol to Japan.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 19, 2025

With 2050 net-zero goal on horizon, momentum builds for biofuel in Japan

Experts hope the increasing push for use of biofuels in gasoline-powered vehicles may help shift public awareness on environmental issues.

Longform

Pedestrians commute through Shibuya Station in central Tokyo, an area that is almost never devoid of people.
As the rest of Japan shrinks, Tokyo grows