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U.S. President Donald Trump (left), who had stormy exchanges earlier with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, described their call on Wednesday as "fantastic.”
WORLD / Politics
Mar 20, 2025

Trump and Zelenskyy pledge in phone call to work for end to war in Ukraine

Describing the move as a step toward fully ending Ukraine's war with Russia, the Ukrainian president said his country is "ready to implement it."
Visitors at Myoko Suginohara Ski Resort in Myoko, Niigata Prefecture, on March 5
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Myoko ski resort area feels trepidation as foreign money pours in

Many locals fear Myoko could go the way of Niseko.
Melanie Joly, Canada's foreign minister, speaks during a news conference in Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada, last week.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Mar 20, 2025

Canada condemns China’s execution of four Canadians on drug charges

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa defended Beijing’s strict penalties on drug-related crimes.
U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 20, 2025

Powell downplays growing risks, sees tariff impact as transitory

His use of the word "transitory” was surprising because the Fed employed the same word when inflation exploded following the onset of COVID-19.
The film to beat for the Niigata International Animation Film Festival’s top prize seems to be Kiyotaka Oshiyama’s “Look Back,” one of the two Japanese features in competition.
CULTURE / Film
Mar 20, 2025

Indie films vie for views at Niigata animation festival

From Satoshi Kon tributes to indie gems, this year's Niigata International Animation Film Festival continues its dedication to feature-length animation.
Some critics of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba call him weak and indecisive, saying his leadership has led to policy blunders that may make his grip on power increasingly untenable.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025

Prime Minister Ishiba’s struggles put his leadership in jeopardy

With the world as turbulent as it is, the country cannot continue with such a weak and indecisive leader.
Behind Mixue’s growth is an army of franchisees. The company barely manages any stores itself. Rather, almost all of its revenue came from selling store supplies.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025

How to make billions selling $1 lemonade

Behind Mixue’s growth is an army of franchisees. The company barely manages any stores itself. Rather, almost all of its revenue came from selling store supplies.
Shizue Takahashi offers flowers and pays tribute to the victims of the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin gas attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult during a memorial service at Kasumigaseki Station on Thursday. Her husband, Kazumasa, who was working as an assistant stationmaster at Kasumigaseki Station, was killed in the attack.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Tokyo subway sarin gas attack remembered 30 years on

Many survivors of the attack by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult still suffer from physical aftereffects and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Elsie, a 45 year-old aid worker, who uses a pseudonym to protect her anonymity, used to spend her days wandering the narrow streets of Msogwaba township, near the South African city of Mbombela, to visit hundreds of children living with HIV.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 20, 2025

U.S. aid cuts threaten South Africa's young HIV patients

Around 13% of South Africa's population live with HIV, and about 640,000 children were orphaned by the virus in 2023.
Russians queue to apply for visas at the Japanese Embassy in Moscow on March 4.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Cherry blossoms and free visas draw Russians to Japan

The number of Russians holidaying in Japan is set to double this year from around 100,000 in 2024, helped by a strengthening ruble.
Newly-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry during her first news conference in Costa Navarino, Greece, on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 21, 2025

Kirsty Coventry enjoys 'extraordinary moment' as she becomes IOC's first female leader

The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe is also the youngest person to hold the most powerful position in sports governance.
A college student (Mizuki Yamashita, right) falls hopelessly in love with a stoic yet kindhearted high school student (Ryuto Sakuma) in “My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999.”
CULTURE / Film
Mar 21, 2025

‘My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999’ shows that even stoic gamers can fall in love

Yuka Yasukawa’s sweet rom-com with feather-light comedy offers more than a pastel-hued romantic fantasy.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds up a signed executive order to shut down the Department of Education.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

Trump signs order aimed at dismantling U.S. Department of Education

With a new executive order, Trump weakens federal oversight of education, taking the first step toward shutting down the department.
Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann (center) poses for a picture with U.S. hostage envoy Adam Boehler (second from left), former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad (second from right) and Qatari diplomats in Kabul on Thursday, ahead of their departure to Doha.
WORLD
Mar 21, 2025

Taliban releases American airline mechanic from detention

Delta Airlines mechanic George Glezmann was freed after more than two years in captivity in Afghanistan, in a deal brokered by Qatar.
Saffron was found without food or water in a home where his owner had passed away.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Mar 21, 2025

A shy cat looking for a new start

After being rescued from tough circumstances, Saffron is gradually coming out of his shell again.
A worker arranges cases of avocados at a packaging facility in Mexico on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will follow through next month on twice-delayed plans to impose 25% levies on goods from Mexico as well as Canada.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 21, 2025

Trump trade upheaval leaves foreign central banks guessing

The stagflationary direction noted of the U.S. outlook has central banks across the globe parsing what the fallout may mean for them.
The AI management shift has been months in the making and predates Apple announcing the Siri delays.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 21, 2025

Apple shuffles AI executive ranks in bid to turn around Siri

The company is undergoing a rare shake-up of its executive ranks, aiming to get its artificial intelligence efforts back on track.
Ukrainian troops fire a mortar toward Russian troops at a front line near the town of Chasiv Yar, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

EU leaders vow to continue backing Ukraine, but make no concrete pledge

European Union leaders said on Thursday that they will continue to support Ukraine, but they did not immediately endorse a call by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to provide at least €5 billion ($5.42 billion) for artillery ammunition purchases.
Sachiko Asakawa (left) and her brother Kazuo Asakawa at a news conference in Tokyo in November 2009
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025

Man recalls effects of Tokyo subway sarin attack on sister

Kazuo Asakawa's sister, Sachiko Asakawa, died in 2020 at the age of 56 after suffering severe aftereffects from the attack.
JNTO Delhi office head Ryo Bunno (fourth from left), exchanges views with major local travel agencies at a travel trade show held in Mumbai on Jan. 30.
JAPAN
Mar 21, 2025

India to showcase space prowess at Osaka Expo

Some Indian officials say Japan isn’t doing enough to drum up excitement for the expo.
A maternal handbook used by Heba Jibril in northern Gaza
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025

In Gaza, Japan-backed maternal handbooks a vital source for child care

The health handbooks provide crucial information for women at a time when medical facilities are closed and digital information is scarce.
Novelist Genki Kawamura wrote in the dedication to his “One Hundred Flowers” novel that his grandmother’s memories “bloomed like a hundred flowers” at the close of her life.
CULTURE / Books
Mar 22, 2025

'One Hundred Flowers': A moving exploration of loss, love and living with dementia

Author Genki Kawamura drew inspiration from his grandmother's experiences to thoughtfully portray a woman suffering from dementia in his novel.
Baseball legend Jackie Robinson speaks at an Urban League dinner at the Tammy Brook Country Club in Cresskill, New Jersey, on May 21, 1969.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 21, 2025

Jackie Robinson’s legacy vanishes, then reappears on Pentagon site

The brief biography describes Robinson’s childhood in California, his time in a segregated Army unit during World War II and his role in breaking baseball’s color barrier.
Orix Buffaloes pitcher Taisuke Yamaoka speaks to reporters in the city of Osaka on Friday for the first time since he was reported to have participated in a poker tournament run by a foreign casino website.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 21, 2025

Cabinet approves strategy to battle illegal online casinos

A National Policy Agency survey released earlier this month showed that nearly 3.37 million Japanese are estimated to have used overseas online casinos to illegally gamble.
The Pentagon's disbandment of the Office of Net Assessment ends a key institution that provided long-term strategic analysis, leaving the U.S. vulnerable to future geopolitical challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025

A sad day for U.S. strategic analysis as the Office of Net Assessment is disbanded

While most focused on the military, ONA was the only group to conclude that winning the Cold War relied on economic means, not troop numbers.
More companies are offering tailored solutions for the unique health and wellness needs of men.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 21, 2025

'Mentech' starts gaining traction in Japan

Inspired by products and services catering specifically to women, mentech aims to provide tailored solutions to meet the health and wellness needs of men.
A sign at Tokyo's Haneda Airport shows users the way to the monorail in four different languages.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 22, 2025

Can we make it official? Language in the age of Trump.

The United States made English its main language, but in Japan things seem to be heading in a different way.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left), Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (center) and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul pose for the cameras during a trilateral meeting in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2025

Japan, China and South Korea agree to promote peace and cooperation

The talks come as U.S. trade tariffs loom over the region, and as concerns mount over North Korea's weapons tests.
Others in the running to buy TikTok are Microsoft, Oracle and a group that includes Internet personality MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 22, 2025

AI startup Perplexity confirms interest to buy TikTok

Perplexity in a blog post laid out a vision for integrating its AI-powered internet search capabilities with the popular video-snippet sharing app.
Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews ash and smoke, as seen from Eputobi village in East Flores, East Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 22, 2025

Flights canceled and thousands evacuated after Indonesia volcano eruption

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-meter twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores, erupted for 11 minutes and nine seconds late Thursday.

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