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The Harvard University shield "VERITAS" sits above a campus entrance gate at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, last month.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society / FOCUS
May 24, 2025

Long advantageous, Harvard's China ties become a political liability

The ties have yielded major financial gifts, influence in international affairs and global prestige for the school.
A worker sorts plastic waste for recycling at Minato Resource Recycle Center in Tokyo in 2019. Japan has been criticized by environmental groups for its strategy on plastics, which is heavily reliant on recycling instead of reduction.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
May 25, 2025

Are microplastics hurting our fertility?

While a lot remains unknown about how microplastics affect our health, scientists in Japan and around the world broadly agree there's an urgent need to reduce plastic production.
Brazil coach Carlo Ancelotti during a news conference in Rio de Janeiro on Monday
SOCCER
May 27, 2025

Ancelotti pledges to make struggling Brazil 'champion again'

The former Real Madrid manager is the first non-Brazilian in six decades to coach the record five-time World Cup winners.
German and U.S. soldiers participate in Allied Spirit 24, a multinational training exercise, in Hohenfels, Germany, in March 2024. Reforger, NATO’s massive Cold War-era exercise to rush U.S. troops to Europe, was shelved after the Soviet collapse. But with Vladimir Putin attacking neighbors, maybe it’s time to revive it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 28, 2025

How can Europe deter Putin? Revive the ‘Reforger.’

The massive Cold War military exercise put a stop to Soviet aggression then, and it could do the same with Russia now.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy walk to attend a press conference, following their talks at the Chancellery in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025

Putin's demands for peace include an end to NATO enlargement, sources say

Kyiv and European governments have accused Moscow of stalling while its troops advance in eastern Ukraine.
People hold up signs during a rally in support of international students at the Harvard University campus in Boston on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025

Halt of U.S. visa process puts Japanese students' futures in question

The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has confirmed that the embassy and U.S. consulate offices in Japan have suspended scheduling new interviews for student visa applicants.
Paris Saint-Germain players celebrate with the Champions League trophy after defeating Inter Milan in the final on Saturday in Munich.
SOCCER
Jun 1, 2025

Brilliant PSG demolishes Inter Milan to win first Champions League title

Teenager Desire Doue played a starring role in the win, scoring twice in an astonishing 5-0 victory.
U.S. President Donald Trump smiles before speaking in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 1, 2025

Trump tariffs face threat at top court — over rulings that blocked Biden

The court’s conservative majority ruled that federal agencies can’t decide sweeping political and economic matters without clear congressional authorization.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and head of the country's Security Service, Vasyl Maliuk, attend a meeting in Kyiv in this image released Sunday.
WORLD
Jun 2, 2025

Ukraine drone strikes hit nuclear bombers deep inside Russia

More than 40 Russian aircraft, including long-range bombers capable of deploying conventional and nuclear weapons, were reported to have been damaged in the operation.
Plaintiffs who filed a lawsuit seeking welfare benefit cuts to be revoked and their lawyers walk to the Supreme Court in Tokyo on May 27.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025

Welfare benefit reductions totaled about ¥300 billion between 2013 and 2018

The government decided to reduce welfare benefits during that time period based on factors such as the cost-of-living falling.
Russian delegation head and presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky speaks to the press after a meeting at Ciragan Palace during the second round of peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025

Russia sets out punitive terms at peace talks with Ukraine

The terms highlighted Moscow's refusal to compromise on its longstanding war goals despite calls by U.S. President Donald Trump to end the "bloodbath" in Ukraine.
House of Representatives speaker Fukushiro Nukaga (center-right in the front row) and others attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the new National Archives of Japan in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025

Groundbreaking ceremony held for new national archives building in Tokyo

The new facility was initially to open in fiscal 2026, but research on culturally important burial grounds and a difficult bidding process delayed it.
Police officers stand at the site of Russian missile strike in Sumy, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 4, 2025

Ukraine officials visit U.S. and accuse Russia of stalling peace efforts

Ukrainian leaders in Washington accuse Russia of stalling peace talks and dodging sanctions, while seeking stronger U.S. backing amid intensifying battlefield attacks.
Arrows lead to the tax-free counter at a branch of discount retailer Don Quijote in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 4, 2025

Is Japan ready to say goodbye to tax-free shopping?

Amid widespread abuse of Japan’s tax-free shopping system, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers are mulling over its possible abolition.
The Switch 2 is Nintendo's first new gaming console in eight years.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025

Nintendo’s Switch 2 console is finally here

The long-awaited gaming console hits shelves Thursday, with booming orders and tariffs making for a complicated debut.
The election of Lee Jae-myung signals South Korea’s leftward shift on energy policy, but despite his ambitious renewable plans, deep-rooted regulatory, financial and geographic challenges threaten to stall progress unless reforms are swift and systemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

South Korea's new president has a chance to clean up

Years of inertia and obstruction of the transition have left the country with a system plagued by high costs and the lowest renewable penetration among developed economies.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war

Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a pass during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on Jan. 5.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jun 6, 2025

Four-time NFL MVP Rodgers agrees to deal with Steelers

The Steelers lacked a veteran signal caller after Russell Wilson was signed by the New York Giants, but in Rodgers have landed a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Japan is the world's biggest market for Iqos, a heat-not-burn tobacco product marketed by its maker Philip Morris as a less harmful alternative to traditional cigarettes — a claim not backed by independent scientific research.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 6, 2025

Smoke and mirrors: How big tobacco manipulates science in Japan

In Japan, not only does the tobacco industry have close ties to government, but universities are also vulnerable to its influence. In this equation, public health loses out.
The new basic plan for promoting disaster prevention measures is expected to call for intensive efforts to develop evacuation shelters and stockpile emergency supplies to prevent earthquake-related deaths from indirect causes.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025

Japan plans to target 80% reduction of likely megaquake death toll in 10 years

The target will be included in a new basic plan for promoting disaster prevention measures, which is expected to be adopted in early July.
Nomura Holdings shuffles its leadership in its currencies and emerging markets trading business following the departure of the unit’s co-head Nagaraj Pangal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 11, 2025

Nomura shuffles leadership in trading units after second exit in nine months

The business has been suffering from a series of high-profile exits, and on one team as of January at least eight traders had left or gone on leave in the prior 12 months.
Kenji Nanba, a former manager of Nihon University’s weightlifting club, is believed to use his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Ex-Nihon University weightlifting manager allegedly forced staff to give him rides

Kenji Nanba, 63, allegedly used his authority as manager to compel staff to give him rides to and from work.
In “Dollhouse,” a grieving mother (Masami Nagasawa) finds comfort in an old doll that resembles her deceased child, until the toy starts wreaking havoc on her family.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 12, 2025

Parental grief and spiritual terror collide in ‘Dollhouse’

Previously known for feel-good comedies, Shinobu Yaguchi turns to delivering creeping unease in his mysterious film.
Brian Wilson is seen at home in Beverly Hills in 2004. Wilson, who as the leader and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys became rock’s poet laureate of surf-and-sun innocence, was also the embodiment of damaged genius through his struggles with mental illness and drugs.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Jun 12, 2025

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson dies at age 82

The band defined California beach culture for a generation, with Wilson achieving what many musicians saw as perfection in "Pet Sounds."
A Chinese J-15 fighter jet flies just to the side of a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C surveillance plane over the high seas in the Pacific Ocean on Sunday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2025

Chinese fighter jets in close encounters with MSDF patrol planes over Pacific

Chinese fighters made “abnormal approaches” to MSDF patrol aircraft over the Pacific Ocean in recent days that risked collisions, the Defense Ministry said.
Relatives of victims who died in the Air India plane crash mourn as they wait outside the postmortem room at a hospital, in Ahmedabad, India, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 12, 2025

Search for answers hastens in Air India crash that killed over 240

Questions are growing over how and why the 787-8 Dreamliner, bound for London, exploded into a huge fireball just minutes after takeoff.
India’s potential participation in the Japan-U.K.-Italy fighter jet project GCAP makes strategic sense but should be postponed until the core partners solidify the program to avoid delays, conflict and operational risk.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2025

India should join the Global Combat Air Program — but not just yet

GCAP is more than just a weapons platform. It is a statement of strategic autonomy, industrial innovation and trilateral cooperation among democracies.
An Air India 787-8 Dreamliner. Boeing's widebody 787 planes, one of the most modern passenger aircraft in service, have never had a fatal crash until Thursday's Air India incident.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 13, 2025

Air India crash is the latest test for new Boeing leadership

Public perception of the planemaker is still on shaky ground after three high-profile accidents involving its planes in recent years.
The public breakdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk highlights a familiar pattern among authoritarian leaders: They elevate allies only to discard them when their loyalty falters or their influence threatens the throne.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2025

No loyalty lasts: Why authoritarians always betray their allies

The very public and acrimonious split between U.S. President Donald Trump and his once-favorite aide, Elon Musk, would be amusing if it were not so terrifying. Their puerile public feud demonstrated just how insecure — even unhinged — the world’s most powerful person and its wealthiest really are....
A worker prepares a sign ahead of the Group of Seven summit at a satellite location in Banff, Alberta, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

Guest list for G7 summit tells of global challenges

The leaders of India, Ukraine, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea are joining at a time of global turmoil and a radical new U.S. approach to world affairs.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear