Search - 2017

 
 
Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's grandson Hassan Khomeini stands next to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the 36th anniversary of the death of the leader of Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution, at Khomeini's shrine in southern Tehran on June 4.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2025

Search for successor to Iran's Khamenei hastens as tensions erupt into conflict

Israel attacked Iran and threatened to assassinate its veteran leader.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects nuclear warheads at an undisclosed location. Events in Iran are likely to reinforce Pyongyang's belief that nuclear weapons ensure regime survival, with Pakistan and Libya providing lessons on how to get them and why giving them up can be fatal.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2025

Kim Jong Un’s nuclear lessons should trouble the rest of us

Operation Rising Lion has reaffirmed the belief that nuclear weapons are essential to protect a nation from attack.
Members of the Coastal Surveillance Unit participate in a ceremony commemorating the first anniversary of the Self-Defense Forces' Yonaguni Garrison in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2017.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2025

Okinawa locals wary as SDF presence grows amid China threat

The SDF buildup has spurred concerns across the political spectrum in Okinawa, and many residents remain deeply worried over its growing presence.
Many recent video games, including Breath of the Wild and Planet of Lana, have borrowed from the pastoral aesthetic of Studio Ghibli films like “Princess Mononoke.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 25, 2025

Studio Ghibli’s majestic sensibility is drawing imitators

Forty years after the Japanese animation studio was founded, game creators are embracing its legacy of moral integrity.
A clip of fans getting rowdy to see J-pop outfit Fruits Zipper prompted criticism about the idol fandom’s dark side.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jun 26, 2025

Why are idol fans throwing hands at the racetrack?

A recent Fruits Zipper fan frenzy stirred online criticism, raising questions about the line between passion and obsession in J-pop idol culture.
A banner calling for the resolution of the issue of abductions by North Korea is displayed near the Diet building in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, on June 10.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2025

Families of Japanese abductees race against time

Negotiations between Japan and North Korea have remained at a standstill since October 2002, when five victims were repatriated.
Softbank has invested $15 million in a startup's climate monitoring stations that are designed to capture real-time data on wildfires, flooding and greenhouse gases.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 26, 2025

SoftBank backs startup building giant floating climate stations

The massive, bullet-shaped helium balloons will monitor climate data and bring connectivity to hard-to-reach areas.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2025

Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill clears first U.S. Senate hurdle

The Senate voted Saturday to begin debate on the legislation just hours after party leaders unveiled the latest version of the massive tax and spending package.
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jun 29, 2025

As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity

With hot weather and a growing population, the region is becoming a key growth market for Daikin and other players. But experts warn of a vicious cycle leading to more emissions.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2025

U.K. considers envoy for Britons held abroad

Cases like jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and imprisoned Hong Kong media mogul Jimmy Lai have highlighted the issue.
Racks of servers being tested at the new Amazon Web Services facility in New Carlisle, Indiana, on June 3
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 30, 2025

AI data-center boom could destroy Big Tech's net-zero plans

The tech sector faces a "climate strategy crisis" as its data centers demand ever more electricity and water to power growing fields, such as artificial intelligence.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons hopes the online memorial will "spur action for the total abolition of nuclear weapons."
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025

Anti-nuclear group creates online memorial for children who died in atomic bombings

The online memorial features more than 400 profiles with details of the children's lives.
This digital visualization shows the small modular nuclear reactor being developed by Rolls-Royce SMR, which is set to be the first in the U.K. A widely cited IEA report says global data center electricity demand will more than double by 2030 to 945 TWh — more than Japan’s current total usage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 1, 2025

Data centers and small reactors could change Asia’s nuclear dynamic

An estimated 402.74 million terabytes of data are created each day and storing and processing all that information creates virtual volcanoes.
A delivery driver takes a break in the shade during high temperatures in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 21, 2024.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2025

How much does a heat wave cost? Insurers and CEOs want to know.

Some believe a new market for heat insurance — driven in part by artificial intelligence and the need to cool data centers — is around the corner.
A worker stirs a vat of fermenting Thai rice and kōji mold, used for making awamori, at a distillery in Okinawa Prefecture in April 2021.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2025

Okinawa city seeks special zone status for production of local distilled spirit

The city plans to send the special zone status application jointly with the Okinawa Prefectural Government to the central government.
Cases of cancer patients and doctors having conversations about where the patient wanted to spend his or her last days came to 52.9% in 2021, up from 35.7% in the previous survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 3, 2025

About half of people who died from cancer discussed last days with doctors

About 60% of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, a report has shown.
Switzerland's Pia Sundhage is by far the most experienced coach at Euro 2025.
SOCCER
Jul 3, 2025

Euro 2025 sets new record for female coaches

The 43.75% of female coaches is a major leap from Euro 2013, where just 18.75% of teams were coached by women.
Indian security personnel stand guard as Hindu pilgrims headed to Amarnath await registration at a transit camp in Pantha Chowk on the outskirts of Srinagar on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 3, 2025

Hindu pilgrims set off to India's Amarnath, near site of deadly April attack

The attack, which killed 26 mostly Hindu tourists, escalated into the worst standoff between the nuclear-armed nations since 1999, with over 70 people killed on both sides.
Novak Djokovic hits a return against Dan Evans during their second-round match at Wimbledon in London on Thursday.
TENNIS
Jul 4, 2025

Novak Djokovic builds momentum with dominant victory at Wimbledon

Barbora Krejcikova also made it through as her title defense continued.
Karuizawa Distillers, which runs Komoro Distillery in Nagano Prefecture, has teamed up with the city of Furano and real estate developer Seibu Group to open a whisky distillery in Furano.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jul 4, 2025

Beyond the lavender fields in Furano, a whisky distillery emerges

The region has teamed up with Karuizawa Distillers and property developer Seibu Group to build a state-of-the-art facility to make single malts.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Abukuma-class destroyer Chikuma (front) and the Australian Navy's Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer Brisbane sail in formation during a military exercise in the Pacific Ocean in November 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

Japan eyes used warship transfer to Philippines in bid to counter China

Sending the Abukuma-class vessels to Manila would mark Tokyo’s first export of an entire major naval platform in decades.
A screen displays news on U.S. President Donald Trump on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (on June 27.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2025

Investors head into Trump tariff deadline benumbed and blase

The 90-day pause on the U.S. president's "Liberation Day" tariffs expire Wednesday.
Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe celebrates scoring his team's third goal during a FIFA Club World Cup 2025 quarterfinal match against Borussia Dortmund in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Saturday.
SOCCER
Jul 8, 2025

Mbappe and PSG set for Club World Cup reunion as Real Madrid eyes final

Mbappe has endured frustration at the Club World Cup, not featuring at all during the group stage due to a stomach bug.
Two specimens of the Japanese beetle have been detected for the first time in France.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jul 9, 2025

France worries about Japanese beetles after finding two

The insects threaten plum trees, apple trees, vines, corn, soy, green beans and asparagus, among other cultivated plants.
The European Parliament's censure vote against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen highlights backlash over her rightward shift and, if passed, could force a choice between centrists and nationalists.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2025

Ursula Von der Leyen faces a moment of truth

Von der Leyen’s ongoing political ambiguity has become a strategic liability at a time when Europe’s allies need clarity.
U.S. F-35 stealth fighters fly side by side with South Korean F-35s as part of a bilateral exercise over the Yellow Sea in July 2022. The U.S. Air Force is grappling with whether to prioritize air superiority or air denial in response to lessons from Ukraine and the growing threat from China.  
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025

Air superiority vs. air denial: Redefining U.S. airpower strategy

The strategic debate is centering on whether to prioritize offensive or defensive airpower. The decision will determine how U.S. air resources are allocated.
The yen-dollar exchange rate is displayed outside a securities firm in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 10, 2025

Japan unlikely to face U.S. pressure to strengthen yen, ex-top FX diplomat says

Masatsugu Asakawa was deeply involved in Japan's trade and currency negotiations with the U.S. when he was vice finance minister for international affairs.
Jannik Sinner plays a forehand return to Novak Djokovic during their Wimbledon semifinal on Friday.
TENNIS
Jul 12, 2025

Alcaraz and Sinner set to resume rivalry in Wimbledon final

Sinner demolished Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in a Centre Court masterclass on Friday to reach his first Wimbledon title match and his fifth at the Grand Slams.
Evgeniya Mayboroda sits in the defendant's dock during the announcement of the verdict in her case at the municipal court of Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree

The 72-year-old's transformation from fan to critic says much about the state of today's Russia under Vladimir Putin.
French President Emmanuel Macron underlined a permanent and organized threat from Russia that he said Europe must dissuade to ensure peace, in Paris on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 14, 2025

France’s Macron raises defense budget and says Europe under threat

The French leader said he will double the annual defense budget from when he took office in 2017 to €64 billion by 2027, instead of 2029 as previously planned.

Longform

Koichi Tagawa’s diary entry from Aug. 9, 1945, describes the day of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
The horrors of Nagasaki, in first person