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August 21, 2025
 

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A common house mosquito in the eastern suburbs of Paris on Aug. 12. A record number of outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses have been reported in Europe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2025
Record number of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in Europe: health agency
Climate change is causing longer and more intense transmission seasons for mosquito-borne diseases in Europe.
A building where, according to Syrian security forces and residents, U.S. forces took part in a predawn raid that targeted a member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official and a Syrian security source said, in Atmeh, Syria, on Wednesday
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025
Senior IS member killed in U.S. military operation in Syria, official says
It was the second known raid in northern Syria by U.S. troops since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December.
Investigators from the Hyogo Prefectural Police examine an area near an apartment building where a 24-year-old woman was fatally stabbed in Kobe on Wednesday evening.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2025
24-year-old woman fatally stabbed in Kobe apartment building
Police are treating the case as a homicide and are searching for the suspect, believed to be in his 20s or 30s.
Novak Djokovic in action with Olga Danilovic during their round of 16 mixed doubles match against Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev at the U.S. Open on Tuesday
TENNIS
Aug 21, 2025
Aging Djokovic out to turn back time in push for U.S. Open glory
Djokovic has placed all his chips on New York in what many see as his last realistic shot at Grand Slam glory.
Britain's Keely Hodgkinson after winning the women's 800m final in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Aug 21, 2025
Seville leaves Lyles trailing in Lausanne as Hodgkinson wins again
Seville stormed to victory over Lyles in London last month, and it was almost a carbon copy performance in Switzerland.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shake hands during a joint news conference following their meeting at the Chigi Palace in Rome on May 13.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
Meloni offers plan to aid Ukraine in a day if Russia resumes war
The Italian prime minister is pushing for a proposal that amounts to a NATO-like collective defense clause, but doesn’t come with actual membership in the alliance.
Two Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force members killed during a training exercise in Oita Prefecture on Sunday died from electrocution caused by lightning, the GSDF confirmed Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 21, 2025
GSDF confirms two sergeants who died during drills were killed by lightning
According to the Oita Meteorological Office, a lightning warning was in effect throughout the prefecture from early morning to night on the day they died.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Aug. 15. Trump says Putin has agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
Trump touts his diplomatic record, but the results are mixed
Although the U.S. president has sought to broker peace in conflicts around the world, he's struggled to secure firm settlements.
People take photos in front of a large portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a government-organized tour at Potala Palace Square in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on March 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
Xi pushes for mega-dam, rail links to boost Tibet development
The Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project is set to become one of the biggest infrastructure projects in history.
A Shein distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, on April 8. Shein and other e-commerce sites originating from China are believed to have taken advantage of duty exemption systems of other countries to export goods of modest value in small lots.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2025
Duty exemptions for low-value imports face review amid exploitation
An expert panel at the government's Tax Commission has noted that overseas sellers of inexpensive goods effectively exploit tax exemption systems for small-ticket item imports.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs is recommending replacing the government’s long-standing Kunrei system with more widely used Hepburn-style spellings.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2025
Japan to revise romanization rules for first time in 70 years
The change is expected to be approved within the current fiscal year, then gradually rolled out in school textbooks and other materials.
Investigators escort suspects extradited from Cambodia after arresting them on suspicion of attempted fraud, on Wednesday at Chubu Centrair International Airport in the city of Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 21, 2025
Aichi police arrest 29 Japanese extradited from Cambodia over phone scams
The suspects allegedly posed as police officers when calling victims in the Kanto region to swindle them of cash.
Hiroyoshi Takizawa looks at pictures from his days in wartime Manchuria as a child during an interview in Nagano in June.
JAPAN
Aug 21, 2025
A life upended by Japan's wartime policy of mass suicide
Hiroyoshi Takizawa's life in Manchuria was comfortable at first. But when the Soviet Union invaded, his father, fearing the worst, chose mass suicide.
An Israeli tank on the Israeli side of the border with Gaza on Wednesday. Israel's military called up tens of thousands of reservists in preparation for the expected assault on Gaza City, as the Israeli government considered a new truce proposal.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025
Israel says it has taken first steps of military operation in Gaza City
Troops were already operating on the outskirts of Gaza City, and Hamas was now a "battered and bruised" guerrilla force, Israel's military spokesperson said.
People wade through a flooded street after heavy rainfall in Karachi on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 21, 2025
Pakistan's financial capital Karachi hit by torrential rain and flooding
The monsoon has brought havoc across Pakistan in recent days with the death toll from floods that hit the mountainous northwest on Friday rising to 385.
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops near a front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
Russia says talks on Ukraine's security without Moscow are a 'road to nowhere'
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sounded the warning to the West as it scrambles to work out guarantees for Kyiv's future protection.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby visits BlackSea Technology facilities to view a drone test in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025
The U.S. Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.
A recent naval test designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats ended in failure due to software glitches and human error.
Currently, there are guidelines on the number of toilets at public restrooms set by the health ministry and recommended by academics, respectively.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025
Government aims to shorten long lines at women's restrooms
In the year from April, the infrastructure ministry will compile advanced solutions to congestion in women's rooms already in place at train stations and commercial facilities.
As tsunami is expected to reach some areas within minutes after a Nankai Trough megaquake, the government is asking municipalities to designate areas where advance evacuation is necessary.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025
Megaquake alert would urge 520,000 people to evacuate
The figure exceeds the total number of evacuees after the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, which came to about 470,000.
Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya to visit Central Asia from Aug. 24
Iwaya will meet with Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu and Uzbek Foreign Minister Bakhtiyor Saidov respectively to boost bilateral ties with Japan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chiese President Xi Jinping in 2016. Modi has said he’s looking forward to meeting Xi during a visit China later this month — his first trip to the country in seven years.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 20, 2025
Modi hails China ties as Washington takes swipe at India's 'richest families'
New Delhi has been recalibrating its foreign policy more toward China and other BRICS group members after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to boost tariffs.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) and African leaders prior to the opening of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2025
Ishiba unveils new regional economic initiative as TICAD 9 conference begins
The initiative is designed to enhance economic ties between the African continent and regions linking it with India.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that a document on his country's trade deal with Japan is being prepared.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 20, 2025
Lutnick: Japan’s $550 billion will be directed by Trump
The U.S. commerce secretary said the funds promised by Tokyo in the course of tariff talks will be deployed to benefit the United States.
JICA to designate four Japanese cities as 'hometowns' for African nations
The Japanese flag (left) with the flag of the African Union
103-year-old remembers Soviet attack right after WWII
Shoichi Takahashi holds a photo of himself when he was younger, in Otaru, Hokkaido, on May 17.
Schools get students involved in revision of unreasonable ‘black rules’
At Yawata Junior High School in Nagoya, there are no more rules on clothing and hairstyles. Students are free to wear either the school's uniform or clothes of their own choosing.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Japanese man suspected of ordering double murder in Manila
Two suspects arrested over the killing of two Japanese last week are held in restraints in Manila on Tuesday.
Tokyo crowned No.1 'workation' spot
Workations were a burgeoning trend in the corporate world for years before the COVID-19 pandemic turbocharged it.
Candidates preparing to make final pitches for Sawamura Award
Hawks pitcher Livan Moinelo has a 1.13 ERA in 19 starts this season.
Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
In Paris, chefs Chizuko Kimura and Kei Kobayashi make their mark
Chef Kei Kobayashi is France's only Japanese chef with three Michelin stars.
In preserving Japanese hospitality, ‘details are everything’
Beniya Mukayu, a traditional "ryokan" inn located in Ishikawa Prefecture, considers itself at "the heart of onsen towns, local residents, farmers, fishermen, sake brewers and artisans" — all of which need new, sustainable methods of serving visitors to survive into the future.

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One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers
By Tomoko Otake