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Latest News

U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 18, 2025
Powell rallies Fed colleagues as economic and political risks grow
The decision to cut rates was nearly unanimous, with the lone dissent coming from Fed Gov. Stephen Miran, a close ally of U.S. President Donald Trump.
The RAF Red Arrows perform a flyover at Windsor Castle in the U.K. on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2025
Apple and Citi CEOs join Trump and King Charles at state dinner
The guest list of the event nodded to the work that Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer face as they attempt to bring the special relationship back onto stronger footing.
Smoke billows skyward during an Israeli strike on the besieged Palestinian territory on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2025
Israel opens new route out of Gaza City as death toll passes 65,000
Many of those sheltering in the city are reluctant to follow Israel's orders to move south because of dangers along the way and fear of permanent displacement.
Stocks in Tokyo have been rallying for months on political and trade hopes and in anticipation of a rate cut on the United States.
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 18, 2025
Nikkei 225 ekes out record in choppy trade following Fed rate cut overnight
U.S. stocks hit all-time highs on Wednesday in New York.
China's cyberspace regulator told companies this week to stop testing a Nvidia chip that can be repurposed for artificial intelligence applications.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 18, 2025
China tells companies to stop buying Nvidia’s repurposed AI chip
The move marks Beijing’s latest step to wean the country off Nvidia hardware and boost domestic alternatives.
Sebastien Lecornu became France's fifth prime minister last week.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 18, 2025
Tax the rich or fall: French prime minister faces budget ultimatum
Sebastien Lecornu, who last week became France's fifth prime minister, is racing to draft a budget that is due to be sent to lawmakers by Oct. 7.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 18, 2025
After Fed rate cut, Powell says jobs market no longer very solid
Chair Jerome Powell pointed to growing signs of weakness in the labor market to explain why officials decided it was time to cut rates.
Katie Moon competes in the women's pole vault final during the World Athletics Championships at Tokyo's National Stadium on Wednesday. The American won the gold medal.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 17, 2025
Katie Moon beats fellow American Sandi Morris for gold in pole vault final in Tokyo
Moon cleared 4.90 meters to claim gold.
Race walker Hayato Katsuki earned bronze for Japan on the opening day of the World Athletics Championships on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 17, 2025
Four days in and still plenty to fight for, says Japan’s team leader at worlds
Race walker Hayato Katsuki has Japan's only medal so far.
A person lays flowers at the grave of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny while marking the first anniversary of his death, at a cemetery in Moscow on Feb. 16.
WORLD
Sep 17, 2025
Yulia Navalnaya says foreign tests show her husband was poisoned
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny died suddenly at the age of 47 on Feb. 16, 2024, in a Russian prison in the Arctic Circle.
The CCGS Naalak Nappaaluk, an oceanographic science vessel and summer-rated icebreaker, under construction at Seaspan Shipyards
WORLD
Sep 17, 2025
Nations aiming for Arctic power can’t get enough of these ships
Thawing of the top of the world from climate change has stirred a global competition to forge new, previously unnavigable shipping routes.
An underground sewer facility in Tokyo in June 2017
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2025
300 kilometers of Japan's sewers need rapid action
The nationwide survey of sewer pipes that have been in place for 30 years or more was conducted by visual inspections and using drones.
Han Hak-ja, the leader of the Unification Church, arrives at the special prosecutors' office for questioning over allegations, which she has denied, that she instructed the church to bribe the wife of ousted President Yoon Suk Yeol and a politician close to him, in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 17, 2025
Unification Church head questioned in probe on South Korea's ex-first lady
Han Hak-ja was quizzed over her alleged involvement in bribing Kim Keon Hee, wife of ousted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Tourists walk through a traditional alleyway near Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in August.
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2025
Foreign visitors to Japan hit record 3.42 million in August
The tally was pushed higher by visitors from mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States.
Save the Children Japan domestic program chief Sonoko Kawakami speaks at a news conference in Tokyo in July. A survey conducted by the group in June has found that over 90% of low-income households with children face food insecurity.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 17, 2025
Over 90% of low-income families in Japan struggling to feed children
A survey conducted by Save the Children Japan has found that single-parent households were among those facing the most dire food insecurity.
India's parliament has passed a sweeping bill banning online gambling, after government figures showed companies had stripped $2.3 billion annually from 450 million people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Sep 17, 2025
India's gaming fans eye illegal sites after gambling ban
India's parliament last month passed a sweeping law banning online gambling.
Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani flips his bat after smacking his 50th home run of the season on Tuesday in Los Angeles.
BASEBALL / MLB
Sep 17, 2025
Ohtani's no-hit start and 50th HR aren't enough for Dodgers
Ohtani went deep in the eighth inning to become the sixth player with consecutive seasons of at least 50 home runs.
U.S. and Chinese officials have agreed on a framework to keep ByteDance’s TikTok app running in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 17, 2025
TikTok lives: U.S. and China in deal for app to keep operating in United States
The agreement requires TikTok's American assets to be transferred to U.S. owners from China's ByteDance, potentially resolving a saga that has lingered for nearly a year.
Papua New Guinean Prime Minister James Marape
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2025
Japan to give disaster-relief machinery to Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea is among eight countries to which Japan plans to provide defense equipment in fiscal 2025 under its official security assistance program.
New Nissan vehicles at a dealership in Concord, California
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 17, 2025
Nissan to shut design studios in U.S. and Brazil and downsize London and Japan operations
The Japanese automaker said the restructuring, which will be completed by the end of fiscal 2025, is aimed at streamlining its design operations.
Yasuhiko Ito speaks of his experience as an internee under the Soviet Union after World War II, in the city of Fukuoka in April, prior to his death in May at the age of 100.
JAPAN / History
Sep 17, 2025
Former Japanese internee in Ukraine pained by Russian invasion
After World War II, Yasuhiko Ito was taken as a disarmed soldier of the Imperial Japanese Army by the former Soviet Union to Ukraine for forced labor.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 17, 2025
Japan won't recognize Palestinian state given U.S. ties: media report
Recent reports said the U.S. had prompted Japan to forgo the recognition through diplomatic channels, while France had urged the opposite.
A high-end property in the fashionable Daikanyama district in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Sep 17, 2025
Wealthy foreign nationals picking up ultimate souvenir — a condo in Tokyo
Regardless of their motivations, foreign property buyers in Japan have come under the magnifying glass.

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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’