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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) on Sunday delivers a speech during the official presidential endorsement ceremony of President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian (right).
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Iran’s supreme leader hints at improving ties with West

Iran’s supreme leader indicated that his country is open to easing diplomatic engagement with the West.
A screen shows news coverage of Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni meeting with China's Premier Li Qiang in Beijing on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Italy's Meloni vows to 'relaunch' cooperation with China

Rome seeks to improve trade ties with Beijing after exiting the Belt and Road infrastructure investment plan last year.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) attends a ceremony with military veterans to mark the 71st anniversary of the end of the Korean War in Pyongyang on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

North Korea may stage nuclear test near U.S. election, South Korea warns

Pyongyang has a habit of timing its provocations to coincide with major political events.
Japan's Koki Kano (left) in action with Yannick Borel of France in the men's epee individual final on Sunday in Paris
OLYMPICS / Fencing
Jul 29, 2024

Koki Kano: A gymnast-turned-fencer — and now a two-time Olympic gold medalist

Koki Kano, who was training as a gymnast, found inspiration from watching Olympic fencing on TV as a young boy.
Demonstrators hold a rally in Tbilisi, Georgia, in May against a bill labeling organizations that receive foreign funding as spies. The passing of the so-called Russia law has been a setback for Georgia's democracy.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 29, 2024

Democracy is on tenuous ground this ‘election year’

From former Soviet countries to India and even the U.S., democracies are backsliding and authoritarianism is gaining ground, with far-reaching global implications.
Ursula von der Leyen has been president of the European Commission since 2019.
WORLD / Society
Jul 29, 2024

Global backsliding on gender parity puts EU ambitions at risk

Political expediency and institutional hurdles have complicated EU efforts to meet wide-ranging gender-parity goals.
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar (left) speaks with Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa (center left) as Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (center right) is greeted by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken (right) after the four delivered remarks to the media after their "Quad" ministerial meeting at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

'Quad' top diplomats decry situation in South China Sea

The top diplomats from Japan, Australia, India and the U.S. also pledged to boost maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Japan's Yuto Horigome competes in the Olympic men's street skateboarding final at La Concorde in Paris on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 30, 2024

Japan's 'savage' Horigome retains Olympic street skateboarding crown

His compatriot Sora Shirai just missed out on the medals, coming in fourth.
Team Japan celebrates after winning gold in the men's team gymnastics event at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jul 30, 2024

Japan rallies past China to win gold in men's team gymnastics

Hashimoto completed the comeback in the team event with a golden performance on the horizontal barJapan passed China in the final rotation to win gold.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in Austin, Texas, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Biden proposes ways to rein in 'extreme' Supreme Court

Immediate opposition voiced by Republicans in Congress to the proposals means they have little chance of enactment.
Skateboarding women's street gold medalist Coco Yoshizawa (left) alongside silver medalist and compatriot Liz Akama in Paris on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Skateboarding
Jul 30, 2024

A star is born as teen Coco Yoshizawa basks in the glow of skateboarding gold

Yoshizawa has been receiving congratulatory messages from all corners after her golden performance on Sunday in Paris.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is stepping up efforts to position himself as a peacemaker in regards to Russia’s war in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

China seizes chance to play peacemaker in Ukraine before U.S. vote

Xi is looking to forge a bigger diplomatic role at a time when Kyiv and the broader European region are bracing for a dramatic shift in foreign policy from the U.S.
Samsung has won the long-awaited approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia for a version of its high-bandwidth HBM3 memory chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Samsung begins closing gap in making AI memory chips for Nvidia

The advances that include winning approval from artificial-intelligence giant Nvidia come after months of stumbles for Samsung.
Trees burn during the Park Fire near Chico, California.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 30, 2024

Massive California wildfire hints at bleak outlook for 2024

Two wet winters in a row covered the state in newly-grown grass and brush, then summer arrived with dry air and back-to-back heat waves, turning vegetation to fuel.
Christa Deguchi of Canada (right) battles South Korea’s Huh Mi-mi in the finals of the women's under-57 kg judo competition at the Paris Olympics on Monday.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 30, 2024

Japan-born Christa Deguchi claims Olympic gold for Canada in women's judo

Born and raised in Nagano Prefecture to a Canadian father and Japanese mother, Deguchi excelled for Japan before switching her representation to Canada.
Toyota's global sales declined 4.7% in the first half of this year compared to the same period the year before.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 30, 2024

Toyota first-half sales fell even as hybrids and EVs gained in U.S.

Toyota’s global output — including that of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors — dropped 9.8% versus the first six months of 2023 to about 5 million units.
Bronze medalists Kazuma Tomoto, Toshiyuki Tanaka, Yoshiaki Oiwa and Ryuzo Kitajima celebrate on the podium with their medals Monday in Versailles.
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2024

Japan earns first equestrian medal in 92 years

The last time Japan won an equestrian medal was in the 1932 Los Angeles Games, when Col. Takeichi Nishi won gold.
Upper House lawmaker Muneo Suzuki speaks to reporters in Moscow on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Pro-Moscow lawmaker Muneo Suzuki visits Russia again

The Upper House member defied the central government by flying to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.
Upper House lawmaker Megumi Hirose enters her house in Tokyo after it was raided on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 30, 2024

Tokyo prosecutors raid LDP lawmaker's home on suspicion of salary fraud

Megumi Hirose, 58, is suspected of providing one of her secretaries with a state-paid salary even though they reportedly did no real work.
Two people in Tokyo walk past a poster meant to evoke a cooling feeling the summer heat.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 31, 2024

Sunscreen bans, UV-cuts and the language of summer skincare in Japan

Get to know Japanese terms for products that will help you protect your skin in the scorching sun.
Medalists in the mixed doubles Olympic table tennis competition take a selfie on the podium on Tuesday in Paris.
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2024

North-South Korea Olympic podium selfie goes viral

After South Korea won bronze and North Korea silver in the mixed doubles table tennis, South Korea's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony.
Kuninori Matsuda, Japanese ambassador to Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Kyiv on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Japanese ambassador to Ukraine urges continuing of aid

Kuninori Matsuda said that Japan should not feel that it has no direct stake in the conflict, as Ukrainian aid helps protect the international order.
Former President Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, speaks at a campaign rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday. Trump, in an interview broadcast Monday night, repeated his recent assertion that Christians will never have to vote again if they vote for him this November, and brushed aside multiple requests to walk back or clarify the statement.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2024

Trump again says Christians ‘won’t have to vote anymore’ if they vote for him

Such comment were especially striking given his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and his shattering of other democratic norms.
Toyota Motor has been issued a correction order for the first time.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2024

Toyota Motor receives correction order from transport ministry

The ministry found indications of additional misconduct, such as falsifying test results.
An excavator digs next to a damaged building after several landslides hit the southern state of Kerala, India, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 1, 2024

Hopes of finding survivors fade in India's Kerala following landslides

India's weather department has forecast more heavy rain over the next 24 hours for the area.
Japan midfielder Yui Hasegawa is challenged by Nigeria's Rasheedat Ajibade during their Olympic group stage match on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Aug 1, 2024

Japan to face U.S. in women's soccer after both nations advance

Japan finished second in its group after beating Nigeria 3-1 in Nantes, with Maika Hamano, Mina Tanaka and Hikaru Kitagawa scoring goals.
Takashi Yuki (left) directs and stars in “Dito” as an aging boxer living in Manila who is reunited with his 17-year-old daughter (Momoko Tanabe, right).
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2024

‘Dito’ aims for authenticity rather than originality

Takashi Yuki’s Philippines-set boxing drama can be corny and it tends to telegraph its punches, but there’s also no denying its charms.
Talented radio announcer Nobutaka Wada (Go Morita) becomes conscience-stricken about pushing the Japanese government’s propaganda during World War II in “The Voices at War.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 1, 2024

‘The Voices at War’ shines light on wartime radio announcers

The NHK film holds up a smudged mirror to the role its predecessor, Radio Japan, and its employees played in serving as government mouthpieces during World War II.
Katie Ledecky with her first gold medal of the Paris Games and eight overall.
OLYMPICS
Aug 1, 2024

Ledecky admits it is 'not getting easier' after another Olympic masterclass

The 27-year-old was untouchable, surging home in an Olympic record and more than 10 seconds ahead of France's Anastasiia Kirpichnikova in second.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said Israel will not be invited to the city's annual peace ceremony this year.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2024

Israel is not invited to Japan's Nagasaki peace ceremony

Nagasaki sent a letter to the Israeli embassy last month calling for an "immediate cease-fire."

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