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After falling behind despite helping pioneer the technology, Japan has the foundation to lead in artificial intelligence — if it seizes the moment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 25, 2025

Japan urgently needs an AI vibe shift

Citizens’ embrace of AI also remains surprisingly low. Just 9% of consumers say they have used generative AI.
Increased reliance on AI and digital technology is weakening cognitive skills, such as critical thinking and problem-solving, as people depend more on machines for tasks that once required mental effort.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2025

‘Use it or lose it’ — a grim mantra for the AI age

In sum, “excessive dependence on AI without concurrent cultivation of fundamental cognitive skills may lead to underutilization and subsequent loss of cognitive abilities.”
Denver Nuggets' Serbian center Nikola Jokic (left) looks to pass the ball away from Milwaukee Bucks' Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo in the third quarter at Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee on Feb 27.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 26, 2025

NBA to review European league proposal this week

Sports business news website Sportico said league owners will consider a plan that includes eight to 10 franchises, including up to four teams who already play in the EuroLeague.
Giants ace Shosei Togo is expected to get the start on opening day.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 26, 2025

Big-spending Giants aim to hold off BayStars and Tigers in competitive Central League

The Giants spent big as the club aims to win its first Japan Series title since 2012. But can the BayStars or Tigers spoil the Kyojin's fun?
Danish, Greenlandic and U.S. flags fly at the Danish armed forces' Arctic Command in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 14.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2025

U.S. visit puts 'unacceptable pressure' on Greenland: Denmark

The visit comes at a time of flux, with Greenland's political parties still negotiating a new coalition government after a March 11 general election.
Nissan is set to roll out a number of new and refreshed models in fiscal 2025 and 2026 as it seeks to halt its financial free fall.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 26, 2025

Nissan’s next CEO says it needs partners and he’s open to Honda

Ivan Espinosa, who currently serves as Nissan’s chief planning officer, takes the helm at a critical time for the company.
Stocks slid Wednesday following an initial report that Trump planned to make an auto tariff announcement.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 27, 2025

Trump says he’ll hit auto imports with 25% tariff in trade fight

The move comes ahead of an even broader announcement of so-called reciprocal tariffs expected April 2.
A member of a medical team takes a patient's blood pressure during an HIV clinic day in Kampala, Uganda, on Feb. 17.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2025

Trump’s foreign aid retreat guts funding for HIV treatments

The withdrawal is risking lives globally and threatening to unravel decades of progress made toward ending AIDS as a public health threat.
Volunteers and locals help to clean the mud off a street following heavy rains in Paiporta, near Valencia, Spain, on Nov. 5, 2024.
WORLD / Society
Mar 27, 2025

EU tells public to hold 72 hours of emergency supplies

A new strategy unveiled by the bloc calls for preparing for risks including natural disasters, cyber attacks and geopolitical crises.
“The Wakey Show” is NHK’s first new daily children’s program in three years, and it carries on the station’s storied past in youth-centric educational entertainment.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 27, 2025

Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’

Broadcaster NHK's first new daily children’s show in years puts puppets and positivity up front.
The Hawks' Ryoya Kurihara fields a ball during spring camp in Miyazaki on March 7.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 27, 2025

Incumbent Hawks face fresh challenge from rising Fighters in Pacific League

Flamboyant manager Tsuyoshi Shinjo and his up-and-coming Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters may finally be ready to pose a challenge for the favored Hawks.
Tesla has been boasting this week about its U.S. credentials, saying in a post on X that its models "are the most American-made cars.”
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 28, 2025

Musk’s Tesla one of the only winners from Trump’s car tariffs

The U.S. president insists that there’s no conflict of interest despite the Tesla chief executive’s prominent role in his administration.
Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson prior to a practice session at least year's Qatar Grand Prix.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 28, 2025

Tsunoda and Lawson both have plenty to prove after swap

For Tsunoda the task at Red Bull is clear: Score substantial points toward the constructors' championship and support Verstappen's bid for a fifth successive drivers' title.
Japan's ancient capital is now home to 16 two-Michelin-starred restaurants, while nearby Osaka claims 11.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Mar 28, 2025

Michelin awards stars to 172 restaurants in Kyoto and Osaka

Ten restaurants join the two-starred rank, while Milpa earns Japan’s first-ever star for Mexican cuisine.
U.S. President Donald Trump's deal-focused approach to diplomacy may prevent a hostile China-Russia-North Korea-Iran alliance, but weakens U.S. global leadership.
COMMENTARY
Mar 27, 2025

The art of the deal meets a four-power axis

Trump's deal-focused approach may prevent a hostile China-Russia-North Korea-Iran alliance but weakens U.S. global leadership.
BYD's Neta S is presented at the 2025 Bangkok International Motor Show on Monday. China, led by BYD, has become the global EV leader, while other countries, including Japan, struggle to keep up with the shift toward electric vehicles.
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2025

In the EV race, China's BYD is leading the pack

BYD’s strong performance reflects its dominance in China’s domestic auto market, the world’s largest and most competitive for electric vehicles.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance tours the U.S. military's Pituffik Space Base in Greenland on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 29, 2025

Vance accuses Denmark of not keeping Greenland safe from Russia and China

He suggested the territory would come to see the benefit of partnering with the U.S., in remarks the Danish prime minister called unfair.
Conservative Party of Canada leader Pierre Poilievre speaks at a rally in Surrey, British Columbia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2025

Trump drama drowns out Canadian Conservatives’ election message

Trump has drowned out the debate on domestic issues with his barrage of tariffs and proclamations that the country should be the 51st U.S. state.
Christian worshippers take part in a Good Friday procession as they carry a cross with a Jesus statue in the town of Klayaa, in southern Lebanon, on March 29, 2024.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2025

Can the Jesus of history support the Christ of faith?

I would not expect a non-Christian writer to simply embrace the thesis that events in the New Testament did mostly happen as related.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a nuclear-powered submarine in Murmansk, Russia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2025

Trump threatens Russia oil penalties, citing anger at Putin

The U.S. president also raised the threat of bombing Iran until it signs a deal that renounces nuclear weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference in 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 31, 2025

Netanyahu offers Hamas leaders Gaza exit but demands group disarm

Hamas has expressed a willingness to relinquish Gaza's administration, but has warned its weapons are a "red line."
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Mar 31, 2025

Who among the opposition would join the ruling coalition?

Concerns over the stability of the LDP-Komeito minority government are fueling talk of a possible new arrangement, and maybe even a new prime minister.
Anxieties about inflation, debt and the U.S. dollar’s stability — combined with high gold prices — are fueling renewed skepticism, raising the possibility of a Fort Knox audit to confirm if America's gold is still there.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2025

What’s fueling America's gold bar conspiracy

The U.S. is right where it needs to be for Trump and Musk to tap into a decades-old fear about the country’s precious bullion stored in Fort Knox.
Empty shelves with "Buy Canadian Instead" signs are seen in the American Whiskey section of the BC Liquor in Vancouver, British Columbia, on March 10.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 1, 2025

As ‘Buy Canadian’ grows, more U.S. firms say retailers turning away products

A dramatic reshuffling of Canada's retail shelves illustrates the impact of patriotic consumerism in the country.
Chinese officials have shared articles on social media accusing Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's (center) CK Hutchison Holdings of acting "in concert with U.S. hegemony” over its $22.8 billion sale of 43 ports around the world, including two in the Panama Canal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 1, 2025

Xi showdown with Li Ka-shing threatens China’s pro-business push

Derailing the deal could give credence to claims that CK Hutchison is ultimately controlled by Beijing — a perception with implications for private Chinese firms worldwide.
The Japan Institute for Health Security will be responsible for information analysis, research and crisis response related to infectious diseases.
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2025

Japanese version of U.S. CDC launched for future pandemics

The institute will be responsible for information analysis, research and crisis response related to infectious diseases.
A dog lies on the street as a man walks pushing a baby stroller in Matera, Italy, in 2021.
WORLD / Society
Apr 1, 2025

Italy's demographic crisis worsens as births hit record low

Italy's ever-falling birth rate is considered a national emergency, but no one has so far been able to halt the drop.
A drone view shows a coffee plantation in Guaxupe, Brazil, on Feb. 17.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 1, 2025

Brazil's coffee farmers turn to costly irrigation to quench global demand for the brew

Most farms in the western part of Bahia — a new frontier for coffee growing in Brazil — are now irrigated.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt holds a press briefing, as headlines from articles on U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs are displayed, at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 2, 2025

White House says Trump to go ahead with tariffs as nervous world awaits trade war

White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said reciprocal tariffs on countries that impose duties on U.S. goods would take effect immediately after Trump announces them.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan