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Israeli military vehicles maneuver in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 18, 2025

Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say

Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition.
Exports measured by value dropped 1.7% in May from a year earlier, suggesting exporters may be absorbing the tariff shock by cutting prices, as export volume rose 1.8%.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 18, 2025

Japan’s export drop raises recession risks as U.S. tariffs bite

The drop in exports and the larger trade deficit add to concerns that Japan’s economy could shrink again in the second quarter.
European Council President Antَnio Costa (from left to right), Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. President Donald Trump and leader Minister Keir Starmer pose for a family photo during the Group of Seven summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 18, 2025

Asia overshadowed as G7 struggles with crises and lack of unity

Mentions of China's growing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific were conspicuously absent from the statements that emerged from the latest summit.
Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle Internet Financial (center) celebrates during the company's initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025

A digital dollar is a trade war weapon, and Europe may be a primary target

Stablecoins could serve to entrench the existing tech and monetary order dominated by the U.S., as 95% of them are dollar-denominated. The euro commands less than 1%.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako greet upon their arrival at Hiroshima Airport on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Japan's emperor and empress arrive in Hiroshima

Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako traveled to the city to commemorate the victims of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombing.
Upper House lawmaker Hirofumi Yanagase in his office on June 9. Last month in parliament, he urged the criteria for naturalization to be revised.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025

Calls to make naturalization more difficult emerge in parliament talks

Naturalization requires applicants to have lived in Japan for at least five consecutive years, or half of the duration required for permanent residency.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto (left) and Nippon Steel Vice Chairman and Executive Vice President Takahiro Mori. The Japanese company is still undecided about a civil suit filed against a U.S. competitor.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Nippon Steel drops lawsuit against U.S. government after acquiring U.S. Steel

The Japanese company had challenged the legality of U.S. President Joe Biden's rejection of the acquisition.
An elephant walks through the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 20, 2025

Humans adapted to diverse habitats before trekking out of Africa

Homo sapiens acquired an adaptability useful for tackling the wide range of conditions awaiting beyond the continent.
Economic Revitalization Minister Ryosei Akazawa deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan won’t fixate on July 9 in U.S. trade talks, says Akazawa

Tokyo's top trade negotiator deflected a question over whether Japan will seek an extension of the deadline for the across-the-board tariffs.
Members of an inspection team check the apparent remains of a ballistic missile in northern Israel on Wednesday following the attacks by Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025

It will take democracy and regime change to end Iran’s nuclear threat

Thanks to Khamenei, Iran has spent almost four decades on a path to war with Israel, which he calls a “cancer” in the region that must be annihilated.
By pioneering stem cell therapies, Japan is not only treating disease but also seeking to rejuvenate a nation grappling with aging and decline.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2025

Japan is helping lead the way in regenerative medicine

In pristine labs across Japan, scientists are tinkering with the architecture of regeneration.
Kaori Sakamoto earned the silver medal at the world championships in Boston on March 28. Sakamoto is a three-time world champion.
MORE SPORTS / Figure skating
Jun 20, 2025

Three-time world champion Kaori Sakamoto to retire after 2026 Winter Olympics

Sakamoto, who won bronze at the 2022 Winter Olympics, missed out on a fourth straight world title in March when she finished runner-up to American Alysa Liu.
Chief tariff negotiator Ryosei Akazawa has said that his U.S. counterparts are open to an extension of the July 9 deadline for countries that are making an effort toward a deal.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 20, 2025

Japan hopes good-faith negotiations will buy it some time in U.S. tariff talks

U.S negotiators have said that the July 9 deadline is flexible and that extensions might be granted.
Economic losses in Japan stemming from workers' mental or physical disorders, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2025

Annual economic losses from workers' health issues reach ¥7.6 trillion

The losses, linked to lower labor productivity, represent about 1% of the country's nominal gross domestic product for 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press as workers install a large flag pole on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 21, 2025

Deal, not bombs, seen as only way to end Iranian nuclear threat

For U.S. President Donald Trump, a deal would avoid dragging the U.S. into another regional war or driving up inflation-generating oil prices.
A group of scientists have found an astonishing diversity of microorganisms in tiny pools of melted ice in Antarctica, suggesting that life could have ridden out several ice ages in similar ponds.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 21, 2025

How did life survive 'Snowball Earth'? In ponds, study suggests.

A group of scientists have found an astonishing diversity of microorganisms in tiny pools of melted ice in Antarctica.
Military personnel secure the perimeter around the World Forum hosting the upcoming NATO summit in The Hague on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2025

Can NATO keep Trump on-message about Russia threat?

When leaders from NATO's 32 countries gather for a summit in The Hague, most want to send a clear message: Russia is the main threat to their alliance.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a meeting in the Situation Room at the White House in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 22, 2025

Strikes on Iran mark Trump's biggest, and riskiest, foreign policy gamble

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to deliver military strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites is fraught with risks and unknowns.
A family travels by motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City. Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families, and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2025

Vietnam has far bigger worries than its baby bust

Vietnam is grappling with two significant challenges: a declining birth rate, prompting policy shifts to encourage larger families and the economic threat of U.S. tariffs.
Carlos Alzaraz celebrates after winning the Queen's Club title in London on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jun 23, 2025

Queen's Club champion Carlos Alcaraz feeling 'great' on grass ahead of Wimbledon

The 22-year-old has extended his career-best winning streak to 18 matches, putting him in the perfect position to defend his Wimbledon title.
Rice paddies in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Rice is a major crop for Hokkaido, with the region having produced 562,400 tons of it last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 30, 2025

U.S. import pressure raises concerns for Hokkaido agriculture

The U.S. is nudging Japan to import more rice, soybeans, and maize — vital crops that support Hokkaido's economy.
Taiyo Holdings Chief Executive Officer Eiji Sato
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 23, 2025

Japan activist clout shown in shareholder rejection of Taiyo CEO

Voting out a company’s CEO candidate, something that doesn’t happen often in Japan, is another sign of how activist investors are pushing to change company policies.
A WE League Cup championship match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima Regina and INAC Kobe takes place on Dec. 29 in Tokyo. A healthy increase in gross revenue has highlighted the WE League’s newfound growth potential.
SOCCER
Jun 24, 2025

WE League finally sowing seeds of growth under new stewardship

Yoshikazu Nonomura, who took the helm a year ago, oversaw improved attendance and financial numbers during his first season as chairman.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte addresses a press conference a day prior to a meeting of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in The Hague on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2025

Flatterer-in-chief: How NATO's Rutte worked to win over Trump

Diplomats say Rutte is one of only a handful of European leaders Trump willingly picks up the phone to and that the two text each other.
AI is not only transforming the applications we use; it is also reshaping the very process of software development, threatening to render much of today’s tech sector obsolete.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025

How artificial intelligence will disrupt Big Tech

AI is already starting to cannibalize established giants and also to reshape the profession of software engineering.
While a trained beekeeper can quickly look at frames in a hive assess their health, AI can do it even faster.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jun 24, 2025

How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse

Beewise’s units help cut down on losses by providing a near-constant stream of information on colony health in real time and give beekeepers the ability to respond.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives for an address to the nation, as Vice President JD Vance (from left) Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth trail him in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Jun 24, 2025

Trump’s Middle East moves raise questions over Indo-Pacific focus

The U.S. military strikes on Iran are being seen as a bad omen for Washington placing its attention more on the Indo-Pacific.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son and his OpenAI counterpart, Sam Altman, attend an event to pitch AI for businesses in Tokyo in early February. The SoftBank founder is now proposing his most ambitious venture yet — a $1 trillion AI and robotics hub in Arizona.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2025

The magical thinking of Masa Son

The race to lead the world in AI-enabled robots is still in the early stages, but many signs point to China coming out on top.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a news conference during the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

NATO's Trump flattery buys time but dodges tough questions

Sooner or later, NATO will have to deal with tough topics of vital importance to it, such as the war in Ukraine, Russia strategy and a likely drawdown of U.S. troops in Europe.
Cooper Flagg (right) shakes hands with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver after being taken by the Dallas Mavericks with the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft on Wednesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jun 26, 2025

Mavericks take Cooper Flagg with top pick in NBA draft

The 18-year-old Flagg, a consensus pick as the top college player as a freshman at Duke last season, is the second-youngest player taken first overall.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan