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American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024

Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.

Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks during an interview at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Tokyo on June 3.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2024

Koike’s governorship shaped by slogans and questions over follow-through

The Tokyo gubernatorial election is seen as hers to lose, but how did she become Japan's most famous female politician and what has she actually achieved?
Hu Youping
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 29, 2024

Chinese woman who tried to stop attack that injured Japanese dies

The woman, a guide for a Japanese school bus, was slashed as she tried to keep a knife-wielding man from boarding the bus, which was filled with children.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks down as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with his predecessor and current Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, at CNN's studios in Atlanta on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Here’s what it would take to replace Biden as nominee

Democrats have ways to replace Joe Biden on the presidential ticket — but doing so without their standard-bearer’s acquiescence would be a daunting task.
Carlos Alcaraz takes part in a practice session at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Thursday ahead of the start of Wimbledon.
TENNIS
Jun 29, 2024

Young guns Alcaraz and Sinner ready to fire as Wimbledon prepares for new era

If Djokovic struggles in his return from injury, all eyes would then be on Alcaraz and Sinner as they usher in a new era at Wimbledon.
Then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds a sniper rifle next to outgoing Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa during the National Police chief handover ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City, in metro Manila, in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Years later, Philippines reckons with Duterte’s brutal drug war

The violence unleashed by the former Philippine leader is finally getting a look, including from the International Criminal Court.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with steelworkers at United Steel Workers headquarters in Pittsburgh in April.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Biden and Trump battle for blue-collar voters as steel merger looms over vote

Just how many rank-and-file workers ignore union chiefs and vote for Donald Trump could have a decisive impact in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.
An employee works on a laptop next to a drone at SD Guthrie's Sungai Linau estate in Selangor, Malaysia, on June 6.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 29, 2024

Robots are stepping into one of Asia’s dirtiest farm jobs

With global stockpiles of palm oil set for the first back-to-back decline in more than 40 years, Malaysia is pushing for automation to boost production.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako visit Merton College at the University of Oxford in Oxford, England, on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2024

Imperial couple wrap up visit to U.K. after trip down memory lane

Their formal state visit concluded Thursday with a goodbye from King Charles and Queen Camilla, but they squeezed in a trip to Oxford before flying home.
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves tour a Morrisons supermarket during a Labour general election campaign event in Wiltshire, England, on June 19.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 29, 2024

Revolt against Starmer’s Labour by long-time backers puts star candidates at risk

There’s little prospect the trend will cost Labour the election, but some of the party's leading lights could lose their seats.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks back before boarding Air Force One at Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, New York, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2024

Biden asks donors to stick with him after disastrous debate

The U.S. president repeated that he wouldn’t be running "if I didn’t believe I could win” as he seeks to rebuild momentum in his campaign against Donald Trump.
India's Virat Kohli celebrates after his side won the T20 World Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jun 30, 2024

Virat Kohli leads India to T20 World Cup triumph over South Africa

Kohli, who later announced his retirement from T20 internationals, steadied the India innings with his fine 76 taking the team to a strong 176-7.
Iranian presidential candidate Masoud Pezeshkian, a reformist, waves at supporters during a campaign event at a stadium in Tehran on June 23.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2024

Reformist to face ultraconservative in Iran presidency runoff

The poll had been scheduled to take place in 2025 but was brought forward by the death of ultraconservative president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash last month.
Alternative for Germany party co-leader Alice Weidel speaks at a party convention in Essen, Germany, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

German far-right leader sees Le Pen victory in France as a model

"I look at the result in France with admiration and respect,” said Alice Weidel, the co-leader of the AfD party.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's new flagship H3 rocket is launched from Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 1, 2024

Japan successfully puts advanced satellite into orbit using H3 rocket

The agency’s third H3 rocket launch was carrying the high-resolution Daichi-4 Earth observation satellite, which cost around ¥32 billion to develop.
Inside the TikTok office in Singapore in 2023
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 1, 2024

China’s AI startups head to Singapore in a bid for global growth

Singapore offers many Chinese artificial intelligence startup companies better access to global investors and customers than China does.
U.S. President Joe Biden takes a call as he walks from Marine One to Air Force One with first lady Jill Biden and granddaughters Natalie Biden and Finnegan Biden in Burlington County, New Jersey, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Top Democrats rule out replacing Biden amid calls for him to quit 2024 race

A post-debate CBS poll showed a 10-point jump in the number of Democrats who believe Biden should not be running for president, up to 46%.
Masayoshi Tani on June 12 visits his house in the Fukami district of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, which was destroyed and isolated by the Jan. 1 earthquake.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024

Temporary housing brings relief to Noto quake survivors, but fears remain

The uncertainty of whether they can return to their original homes and rebuild takes a toll on survivors, many of whom who are elderly and living on pensions.
Naoki Ogi (second from left), head of a committee set up by the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido, to reinvestigate the death of a 14-year-old junior high school girl reports the results to Asahikawa Mayor Hirosuke Imazu (left) in Asahikawa on Sunday.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 1, 2024

Reinvestigation finds Hokkaido girl's suicide caused by bullying

The reinvestigation committee said the girl, who was found frozen at a park in Asahikawa in March 2021, developed post-traumatic stress disorder from the bullying.
Samples of newly designed yen banknotes at the National Printing Bureau's Tokyo plant on June 19
BUSINESS / EXPLAINER
Jul 1, 2024

What you need to know about Japan's new banknotes

The last time the country redesigned its banknotes was 20 years ago.
Hyundai Wia robotic arms on the production line at the Kia plant in Gwangmyeong, South Korea, on Jan. 3
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2024

How one of the world's strongest car unions is dealing with EV job losses

Hyundai Motor and Kia’s moves toward electrification are provoking anxiety in South Korea’s highly active and organized labor movement.
A firefighter looks on as smoke rises during a wildfire in Keratea, near Athens, on Sunday.
WORLD
Jul 1, 2024

Greece fights wildfires in the 'most difficult day of the year'

Greece faces a tough wildfire season ahead after its warmest winter and earliest heat wave on record.
Canada Day is held on July 1 to mark Canada’s founding in 1867. This year, the country celebrates its 157th anniversary among resounding successes and tough challenges at home and abroad.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2024

Canada at 157: Lots to celebrate, but also to rethink

At 157, Canada is stable and prosperous, but cracks are starting to form. Its citizens think politicians are out of touch and the country holds little sway abroad.
Actors Judge Reinhold and Eddie Murphy attend the premiere of "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F" at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, California, last month.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 2, 2024

Eddie Murphy's 'every man' hero returns in 'Beverly Hills Cop' sequel

Forty years after the original, the iconic 1980s franchise revists Axel Foley and his pals while serving old-school action.
Hanako and Taro Nomura, who are suing the government over forced sterilization, show their late daughter's birth register issued by a temple, in their living room in a city in Osaka Prefecture. For years, the couple wondered why they could not conceive after the death of their firstborn.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2024

Seeking justice, deaf couple confronts issue of forced sterilization

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will rule on lawsuits against the government filed by the Nomuras and others who were sterilized under a now-defunct eugenics law.
An aerial view of a burnt area in the Amazon rainforest near the Lago do Cunia Extractive Reserve, on the border of the states of Rondonia and Amazonas, northern Brazil, on Aug. 31, 2022. Brazil recorded 13,489 fire outbreaks in the Amazon in the first half of this year, according to satellite data available on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 2, 2024

Brazil's Amazon sees worst 6 months of wildfires in 20 years

They were caused by a historic drought that struck the world's largest tropical rainforest last year, experts say.
Supporters of the far-right National Rally wave French flags at the party's headquarters following voting during the first round of legislative elections in Henin-Beaumont, France, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

French left and Macron race to prevent far-right takeover

Analysts say the most likely outcome of the snap election is a hung parliament that could lead to months of political paralysis and chaos.
A Chinese worker organizes plastic doll heads after painting them at a toy factory in Xietang, Zhejiang Province, China, in 2015.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 2, 2024

China’s plastics boom is set to create another trade headache

Parts of the country’s sprawling petrochemicals sector are running at as little as half capacity as producers cut back.
Security officers escort Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan as he appeared before the Islamabad High Court, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 12, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

Pakistani prime minister's detention is unlawful, U.N. group says

Former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been in jail since last August and was convicted in some cases ahead of a national election in February.
Shogi star Sota Fujii holds a board with his new title "eisei Kisei" after a match in Nagoya on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024

Shogi star Fujii becomes youngest winner of 'Eisei' status

Fujii gained the eisei Kisei status at the age of 21 years and 11 months by winning the title for five straight years, starting with his first win in July 2020.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb