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South Korean President Lee Jae-myung waves with his his wife, Kim Hye-gyeong, following his inauguration ceremony at the National Assembly in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 4, 2025

South Korea’s Lee pledges to heal deep wounds as ‘president for everyone’

Lee Jae-myung, in his inauguration speech, said his government would continue his predecessor’s policy of strengthening cooperation with Japan.
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.
Aryna Sabalenka plays a backhand return to China's Zheng Qinwen during their quarterfinal women's singles match at the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jun 4, 2025

Swiatek and Sabalenka set up French Open semifinal as Alcaraz sweeps through

World number five Swiatek has been struggling for her best form and has not reached a final since winning the French Open title last year.
The planned wheelchair basketball venue for the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games is seen in a digital artist's rendering released on Tuesday.
PARALYMPICS
Jun 4, 2025

LA28 unveils venue plan for largest ever Paralympics

The Paralympics will seek to take advantage of the city's vast network of existing sports venues when it hosts the event for the first time.
Travel advisories, declining visitor numbers from key countries and stricter border enforcement by the Trump administration have cast doubt on tourism gains for Los Angeles, which is hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup and also the 2028 Olympics.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

Is LA throwing a world cup party no one will attend?

At a time when the U.S. should be preparing to roll out the welcome mat to the world, President Trump’s erratic immigration policies and rhetoric are scaring tourists away.
French President Emmanuel Macron gives the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2025

The 'Macron Doctrine' goes to Asia: Autonomy with partners, steady on China

Macron affirmed that "France is a friend and ally of the United States, and a friend that cooperates — even if we sometimes disagree and compete — with China”.
The streets of Dalian, China, in 2017. A business dispute is believed to be behind the killing of two Japanese nationals in the city on May 23, according to local authorities.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 4, 2025

Suspect in Dalian murder of Japanese nationals identified

The suspect, a 42-year-old Chinese man with the surname Yuan and a long-term resident of Japan, is believed to have had a business dispute with the victims.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic