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Locals gather to help in the search effort after a landslide that hit in Papua New Guinea's Enga province on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 26, 2024

More than 670 estimated dead in Papua New Guinea landslide: U.N.

The unforgiving terrain, damaged roads and an outbreak of tribal violence nearby have seriously hamstrung efforts to get help into the disaster zone.
Richard Grenell speaks at a Donald Trump rally in Florence, Arizona, on Jan. 15, 2022.  Grenell has a good chance of landing a top foreign policy job in a second Trump administration — if not as secretary of state, which requires Senate confirmation, then perhaps as national security adviser, which does not.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2024

He threw ‘spaghetti at the wall’ for Trump. Now he’s after a top job.

If Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency, Richard Grenell hopes to be secretary of state. But his work raises questions, even from his former boss.
Yasutomo Suzuki (second from right) celebrates in the city of Shizuoka on Sunday after being elected governor of Shizuoka Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 27, 2024

Opposition-backed Yasutomo Suzuki wins Shizuoka gubernatorial vote

Suzuki’s victory could pave the way for restarting the maglev train line project that had been delayed due to opposition from his predecessor.
Volunteers from a neighborhood committee stand watch on a street in Beijing on April 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 27, 2024

Xi Jinping’s recipe for total control: An army of eyes and ears

The goal is no longer just to address specific threats, but to embed the Chinese Communist Party so deeply in daily life that no trouble can even arise.
French President Emmanuel Macron gives a speech during the European Youth Festival "Fete de l'Europe" (Festival of Europe) in front of the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) in Dresden, eastern Germany, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2024

Macron calls far-right rise an 'ill wind' for Europe

French President Emmanuel Macron's trip comes two weeks ahead of European Union elections, in which polls are indicating his centrist coalition is trailing the far right.
A man looks on as Palestinians inspect a tent camp damaged in an Israeli strike during an Israeli military operation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2024

U.S. says latest Rafah deaths won't change its Israel policy

Recent deaths in Rafah have tested U.S. President Joe Biden's promise to withhold weapons from Israel if it put displaced persons there at risk.
Those who will be employed as teachers in Japan after completing graduate school will be exempt from repaying scholarship loans.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2024

Japan to waive graduate scholarship loan repayments for teachers

The policy will apply to those who pass the recruitment examinations in the current fiscal year ending in March 2025.
This handout photo taken on May 28 shows locals digging at the site of a landslide at Yambali village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2024

'A mountain fell on them,' says rescue worker at PNG landslide site

Rescue officials say chances of finding survivors are slim.
Rohingya refugees sit in a refugee camp in Bangladesh's southeastern Cox's Bazar district on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2024

Rohingya forced to fight alongside Myanmar army tormentors

Militant Rohingya groups in Bangladesh have forcibly recruited hundreds of young Rohingya men and boys to battle the Arakan Army.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024

Iran’s succession crisis is a legitimacy crisis

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
Why does it feel like we’re in a ceaseless cycle of seasonal prep?
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 31, 2024

Help! I'm stuck in Japan's endless cycle of seasonal prep

Rainy season is here, and so are all the preparations for your home and clothes. Why does living in Japan feel like an endless cycle of gearing up for the weather?
Junichiro “John” Imaeda (middle row center) decided to start Ajate, a band that infuses traditional Japanese festival music with Afrobeat, after spending three months traveling around Ghana and Burkina Faso to absorb the music of West Africa.
CULTURE / Music
May 31, 2024

Ajate's joyous blend of Afrobeat and Japanese festival music

The nine-piece project brings together sounds from disparate lands to celebrate connectivity and community.
Yumi Oshida and Truffle enjoy walks together through their neighborhood whenever they can.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jun 3, 2024

Truffle is settling in at his own pace

Despite losing a pet, it wasn’t long before Yumi Oshida started wondering whether she should open up her home to another furry companion — thankfully for Truffle, she did.
Keidanren Chairman Masakazu Tokura speaks during an interview in Tokyo on May 23.
BUSINESS
May 31, 2024

Keidanren to propose policy on foreign workers

The association will draw up a medium-term vision of the economy and society called "Future Design 2040."
This untitled work was completed and installed in 1994 by a prominent Nigerian artist named Sunday Jack Akpan.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Jun 3, 2024

How a cache of African art found a home in western Tokyo

When I first encountered these statues, I was just minding my business headed for Tachikawa Station. I was struck dumb, paralyzed damn near mid-step.
Palestinians walk and inspect the damage after Israeli forces withdrew from Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Hamas responds positively to Biden's new Gaza truce proposal

"It's time for this war to end and for the day after to begin," said Biden, who is under election-year pressure to stop the conflict, now in its eighth month.
South Korea's first openly gay legislator, Cha Hae-young
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jun 1, 2024

'We exist': South Korea's first LGBTQ councilor tackles inclusion

Cha Hae-young was elected to the Mapo district council on June 1, 2022 — the same day as Seoul's annual LGBTQ Pride march.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell speaks to journalists after welcoming Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Kyun, at his Iron Bell farm in Washington, Virginia, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan, U.S. and South Korea officials slam recent North Korean launches

The three officials also shared concerns about deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, including arms transfers from the former to the latter.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara delivers a speech during the Shangri-La Dialogue regional security conference in Singapore on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan defense minister warns of ‘simultaneous crises’ in Asia and beyond

Defense chief Minoru Kihara said Tokyo is “ready to lead the way” in preserving and strengthening a free and open international, rules-based order.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 2, 2024

Zelenskyy pillories China over reluctance to use sway to end Ukraine war

The Ukrainian president also implored Asian leaders to attend a peace conference slated for later this month in Switzerland.
Pedestrians holding umbrellas during a downpour in Tokyo in June 2023
JAPAN / Science & Health / OUR PLANET
Jun 2, 2024

The growing link between extreme rain and respiratory health in Japan

Researchers have found a strong association between respiratory mortality and severe downpours of the kind being made worse by climate change.
Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel would give it greater access to the profitable U.S. market and further its long-term financial goals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 3, 2024

Nippon Steel's Mori hints at selling some assets to aid U.S. Steel deal

The firm's vice chairman plans to return to the United States this week for more talks over the proposed acquisition.
Hyappu Ishikawa (left) attends to children at the "Karafuru" Japanese language school in Nishio, Aichi Prefecture, in April.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2024

How one Japanese city supports foreign students through community education

In the city of Nishio, public and private sectors collaborate with schools to support foreign students in Japanese language education and raise their school enrollment rates.
A self-driving vehicle travels along a public road in Eiheiji, Fukui Prefecture, on May 25.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2024

Self-driving gets off to bumpy start in Fukui town

In the year since the service began in Eiheiji, financial and technical problems have emerged.
Fans cheer after Japan's men's volleyball team qualified for the Paris Olympics on Oct. 7 at Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo.
MORE SPORTS / Volleyball
Jun 4, 2024

Japanese volleyball’s fastest growing fan base — female superfans

More than 80% of the fans at men’s domestic competitions are said to be women in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Locals dig during search-and-rescue efforts at the site of a landslide at Yambali village in the region of Maip Mulitaka in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province on May 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 4, 2024

'High likelihood' of more landslides at Papua New Guinea disaster site

Locals' continued recovery efforts could provoke another landslide in the area, and relocating them should be "non-negotiable," government experts said.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki says the city is holding off on inviting Israeli representative to this year's peace ceremony.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2024

Nagasaki holds off inviting Israel to peace ceremony

Worries that protests could disrupt the memorial for atomic bomb victims are partly behind the decision, according to the mayor.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin leaves a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2024

China is winning the communications competition

It's a mistake for the U.S. to take for granted that the world sees it as “the good guy” in its competition with China.
China’s defense minister, Dong Jun, addresses the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday. Beijing says it has a long commitment to regional peace and stability. The problem is its actions speak louder than words.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2024

Great powers talk past each other in Singapore gathering

Beijing says it has a long commitment to regional and global peace and stability. The problem is that China's actions speak louder than words.
The Iranian flag flutters in front of the International Atomic Energy Agency's headquarters in Vienna in June 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2024

Iran censured by atomic watchdog as date for end of sanctions draws closer

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have reported that Iran hasn’t helped them resolve a probe into uranium particles at undeclared locations.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan