ANA President and CEO Koji Shibata speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on April 30. Many major Japanese companies, namely electronics makers, enjoyed rosy earnings in the year ended in March thanks to significant artificial intelligence-linked investment worldwide, but they are looking ahead with caution amid high costs for fuel and materials spurred by the war in Iran. Chipmaker Kioxia saw its group net profit double from the previous year to an all-time high of ¥554.4 billion ($3.48 billion). President and CEO Hiroo Ota described the financial performance as a "historic feat." Kioxia benefited from rising demand for memory chips amid a rush to build more data centers due to the growing use of AI.

Japan's startup story is just beginning, venture capitalist says Japan's startup moment may soon arrive given significant government support, the rise of corporate venture capital and a changing mindset about internationalization, according to Anis Uzzaman, founder and CEO of Pegasus Tech Ventures. "Overall, I would say Japan is now at a turning point," Uzzaman said. San Jose, California's Pegasus Tech Ventures has invested in a number of major U.S. tech companies, including SpaceX, Airbnb and Robinhood, and also in major artificial intelligence companies, such as OpenAI and Anthropic. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

The building that houses Recruit Holdings' headquarters in Tokyo. Investors have shown confidence in Recruit's HR Technology unit, where Indeed is leveraging AI to improve matching and raising average revenue from each job posting even as hiring demand remains soft. Recruit Holdings shares climbed the most on record after the Japanese owner of Indeed.com The stock jumped as much as 19%, its biggest intraday increase since the company went public in 2014, even as the Topix index fell, after issuing an outlook for ¥787 billion ($5 billion) in operating profit on ¥4 trillion in sales for the fiscal year to March 2027. That exceeds analysts' average projection for ¥723 billion and ¥3.9 trillion, respectively.

Shares are up more than 300% this year for the Tokyo-based company. Kioxia Holdings' shares were untraded in a glut of buy orders Monday morning after the supplier of storage for artificial intelligence data centers reported soaring profit and gave an outlook that trounced expectations. The Tokyo-based company said it expects to earn an operating profit of ¥1.3 trillion ($8.2 billion) during the June quarter, above the record profit it earned for the full year ended March. Its quarterly profit also surged past expectations, surpassing that of Toyota's, making Kioxia one of Japan's most profitable businesses. Kioxia's shares are up more than 300% this year.

Cuba says U.S. fabricating pretext for conflict after report on drone purchase Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez speaks during a news conference in Havana in October 2025. HAVANA - Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez accused the U.S. on Sunday of fabricating a fraudulent case to justify economic sanctions and potential military intervention. The minister's comments followed a report by Axios the same day citing classified intelligence, which said Cuba had acquired more than 300 military drones. Cuba neither threatens nor desires war, Rodriguez said in a post on social media, adding that the country prepares itself to confront external aggression in the exercise of the right to legitimate self-defense recognized by the U.N. Charter. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

U.S. and Iran far from Hormuz deal as Trump says clock is ticking A ship remains anchored in the Strait of Hormuz near Larak Island, Iran, on Saturday. The U.S. and Iran remained far apart Sunday on a deal to end weeks of war and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz, as a drone attack sparked a fire at a United Arab Emirates nuclear plant, spotlighting the risks of a fragile ceasefire. U.S. President Donald Trump made clear his patience is wearing thin, posting on social media Sunday that For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won't be anything left of them. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!" Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency said the U.S. had set five main conditions for a peace deal, including the removal of uranium used by Iran's nuclear program to the U.S.; no U.S. reparations to Tehran and the unfreezing of less than a quarter of Iran's suspended assets. Fars didn't give a source for the information, and the U.S. hasn't publicly commented on such stipulations.

Russian rescuers work in a heavily damaged house following an air attack at an undisclosed location in the Moscow region. Moscow - A huge wave of almost 600 Ukrainian drones attacked Russia overnight, killing three people in the Moscow region and one in the Belgorod region, authorities said on Sunday. Air defenses shot down 556 drones overnight across the country, Russia's defence ministry said, with another 30 drones neutralized after dawn in one of the largest Ukrainian barrages of the conflict so far. These interceptions -- far above the few dozen more often reported -- took place across 14 Russian regions, as well as the Crimean Peninsula annexed from Ukraine and the Black and Azov seas, the ministry added, with the region around the capital among the worst-hit. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

India stands out as one of the biggest losers as the artificial intelligence trade reshapes global investment flows. In a stark shift, the country's stock market is on the verge of dropping out of the world's five biggest for the first time in three years. Without the AI-driven rallies powering Taiwan and South Korea, there's a growing risk that India falls further behind rather than regaining lost ground. The rationale goes far beyond Indian equities being relatively expensive or corporate earnings slowing. Global investors, who not long pushed India close to rivaling China in emerging-market portfolios, are now chasing themes the country's market largely lacks: chip manufacturing, computing infrastructure and AI models. While India has talent, demand and digital scale, few of its corporate champions are directly linked to that buildout.

Ukraine's bet on drone swarms. Lyiv, Ukraine - Hundreds of AI-controlled robots operating in unison, talking to each other to autonomously attack targets -- a dystopian vision of the future of war that Ukraine's defense industry wants to make a reality. Four years into the Russian invasion, the idea -- known as drone swarms -- is one of the hottest topics in military tech in a country that describes itself as the world-leader in drone warfare. There is a huge interest, military expert Yury Fedorenko told a recent Drone Autonomy conference, held in an undisclosed location in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.

Students at one of Russia's leading engineering universities are getting a lucrative offer: ditch their studies for a year, fly drones for the military and earn more than 5 million rubles ($68,275) in pay as well as free tuition on their return. Pamphlets distributed at Bauman Moscow State Technical University promise students who sign up for the unmanned systems forces will fly drones from far behind the front lines, but still qualify for combat veteran status. It's part of a broader push across Russia to recruit university and college students, using lavish signing bonuses, academic leave and even outright coercion to convince young men to join the fight. At least 270 institutions are actively promoting military contracts, according to the independent magazine Groza, which specializes in higher education and student issues. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.