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Shinji Ishimaru announces details of his new regional party at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 15, 2025

With new regional party, Shinji Ishimaru touts rebirth

The former mayor of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture aims to field candidates in July's Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election.
In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, a person close to the company said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 15, 2025

Over half a million ‘TikTok refugees’ flock to China's RedNote app

In only two days, more than 700,000 new users have reportedly joined Xiaohongshu, a popular networking app known for lifestyle content and product recommendations.
Nine-year-old Paprika loves food and is sure to bring a smile to your face.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jan 16, 2025

Always happy, always smiling

Paprika, sure to bring smiles, is looking for a new home.
Israeli soldiers stand on a tank, ahead of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, as seen from the Israeli side of the border with Gaza, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 17, 2025

How Qatar gambled on a Gaza truce, and won

The wealthy peninsula, bordered by oil giant Saudi Arabia, took the strategic decision to play deal-maker decades ago.
Hideki Matsuyama won the Genesis Invitational at Riveria Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California, on Feb. 18, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jan 17, 2025

Tiger Woods-hosted PGA Tour event to be relocated due to LA wildfires

The PGA Tour event that Tiger Woods was scheduled to host in Southern California next month will be played at an alternate venue due to the massive wildfires that have ravaged parts of Los Angeles, the Tour said on Thursday.
Children pray for the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake during an early morning ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the quake, in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 17, 2025

30th anniversary of Hanshin quake marked with desire to pass on lessons

Hyogo Prefecture is also calling on the central government to pick Kansai as the base of a new disaster relief agency currently in the works.
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen with her mother Merav at an undisclosed location in Israel on Sunday after a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal in the war between Israel and Hamas was implemented.
WORLD
Jan 20, 2025

Israel and Hamas swap hostages and prisoners as ceasefire starts

The six-week truce aims for the gradual release of 33 of the almost 100 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and of around 1,000 Palestinians in prison in Israel.
Economists, legal experts and business leaders concur that incoming U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to implement fresh tariffs — whether directly aimed at Japan or not — could hurt the country's export-reliant machinery and automobiles industries while shattering the global economy.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jan 20, 2025

Japanese firms weigh fallout from Trump tariff pledges

Additional tariffs — whether directly aimed at Japan or not — could hurt its export-reliant machinery and automobiles industries while shattering the global economy.
A keen fisherman from Tokyo (Masaki Suda) moves to a tight-knit community in Miyagi Prefecture during the COVID-19 pandemic in “Sunset Sunrise.”
CULTURE / Film
Jan 21, 2025

‘Sunset Sunrise’: Rom-com finds pathos in peak pandemic setting

Yoshiyuki Kishi’s film delivers a deliciously uplifting story with humor and heart in a tight-knit community impacted by disasters.
International law and norms are eroding, especially due to the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, as multilateral security systems break down and powerful nations prioritize their own interests over global stability.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 20, 2025

To avoid collective ruin requires renewed global cooperation

Alarmingly, geopolitical tensions are deepening just as humanity faces existential threats demanding urgent international cooperation.
Donald Trump pardoned Jan. 6 participants, while Joe Biden granted clemency to family members and officials to avoid potential prosecutions, highlighting the personalization and politicization of U.S. presidential pardon power.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025

Trump seriously abused his pardon power. Biden also indulged.

A torrent of U.S. reprieves signals democratic decline and the rise of a monarchical presidency.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses medical staff and media during a visit to a hospital in Epsom, England, on on Jan. 6.
COMMENTARY
Jan 22, 2025

There's a target on the back of Britain's NHS

The scale of the improvement Starmer is targeting has been achieved before, under a previous Labour government in 2007.
Thai actors Apiwat "Porsch" Apiwatsayree (right) and Sappanyoo "Arm" Panatkool pose for pictures in front of a Thai national flag after registering their same-sex marriage at the Phra Nakhon district office in Bangkok on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 23, 2025

Hundreds to wed as Thai same-sex marriage law comes into force

Thursday's milestone makes Thailand the first Southeast Asian country to allow equal marriage, and the biggest place in Asia to recognize such unions.
The day care room for younger children at a multipurpose facility on Tonaki Island, Okinawa Prefecture, has never been used since its establishment in 2019.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Feb 3, 2025

The harsh reality of migration outflow on Okinawa’s least populated island

Since Tonaki Island established its only day care center in 2019, not a single child has set foot inside.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2025

Trump alarms scientists by muzzling U.S. health agencies

The move could delay essential information and slow funding for potentially life-saving initiatives.
Though he comes from a troubled home, Bach is a sweet fellow who loves to play.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jan 24, 2025

Bach the bobtail will warm your lap and heart

This tuxedo cat loves to play with toys, but is just as happy taking it easy.
Musashi Winery is known for its 'shōkōshi' wines.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jan 26, 2025

Where to begin when it comes to Japanese wine

Buying your first Japanese wine? Let your own palate lead the way.
U.S. President Donald Trump throws pens to the crowd after signing executive orders during the inaugural parade inside Capital One Arena in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Trump fires 17 inspectors general in late-night purge

The firings of the internal watchdogs who monitor federal agencies capped a week of dramatic shake-ups of the federal bureaucracy with a focus on loyalty to the president.
Naoya Inoue throws a punch against Kim Ye-joon during their world super bantamweight title bout in Tokyo on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 25, 2025

After racking up another KO, 'Monster' Inoue set for bright lights of Las Vegas

There may also be a big payday in Saudi Arabia on the horizon as Inoue takes his thrilling style overseas after a long run of bouts on home soil.
Ayumi Matsuki, a priestess at Yoshiwara Shrine, shows off some "o-mamori" charms. She says visitors to the shrine have increased since the NHK drama “Unbound” began airing this month.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Jan 26, 2025

Tracing Tsutaya Juzaburo, Edo’s media maverick

Discover the hometown of the Yoshiwara publisher who helped shape Japan’s artistic legacy and inspired NHK’s latest period drama.
A pipe for transporting carbon dioxide to removal equipment at a carbon capture and storage (CCS) test site in Tomakomai, Hokkaido.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jan 26, 2025

How Japan is looking deep underground to solve its carbon problem

Japan is investing billions of yen to get carbon capture and storage off the ground, but the technology is dogged by high costs and uncertainty.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection security agents guide detained migrants to board a U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft for a removal flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Colombia caves on deportations after tariff threat tit-for-tat with Trump

Trump's threatened punitive action appeared aimed at making an example of Colombia, after the Latin American nation initially refused U.S. military deportation flights.
Smoke rises as the Border 2 Fire burns in Chula Vista, California, on Friday in this screen grab obtained from a social media video.
WORLD
Jan 27, 2025

Fire-ravaged Los Angeles braces for toxic rain runoff

The rain will also bring cleaner air and improve fire-fighting conditions, but overall, it will make things worse.
Google's logo is seen outside the Google Bay View facility in Mountain View, California, on Aug. 13.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 27, 2025

Google pushes global agenda to educate workers and lawmakers about AI

A key priority, one executive said, comes in building out educational programs to train the workforce on AI.
Constitutional Democratic Party head Yoshihiko Noda (right) at a plenary session in the Lower House in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Constitutional Democratic Party head grills Ishiba on diplomacy with Trump

The CDP leader raised concerns about the United States' decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization and the Paris agreement on climate change.
Katsumi Murakami, a Lawson convenience store owner in Kobe, talks about his experience in the 1995 earthquake and how convenience stores can serve a lifeline in times of disaster.
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2025

Convenience stores' importance grew after Kobe earthquake, one owner says

The owner recalled handing out food from his Lawson convenience store following the 1995 earthquake and ensuring it was open for business three months later.
Berlin's landmark Brandenburg Gate is illuminated with the inscription "WeRemember" on Saturday as part of the remembrance ceremonies for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the German Nazi concentration and extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025

Auschwitz survivors warn of rising antisemitism at 80th anniversary of camp's liberation

More than 1.1 million people, mostly Jews, perished in gas chambers or from starvation, cold and disease at Auschwitz.
The Tiffany & Co. store on Fifth Avenue in New York in 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 28, 2025

Tiffany workers mock forced 'joy' that exacerbated staff exits

When Tiffany & Co. executives were looking for ways to boost staff morale, they rolled out an internal social app called "Tiffany Joy.” It didn’t take long to turn into a chore.
Bushfires in Little Desert National Park in the Australian state of Victoria. Firefighters were scrambling Tuesday to control the blaze tearing through rural southeastern Australia, as stranded locals were warned it was "too late to leave" if they had not already fled.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 28, 2025

Fast-moving fires torch national parks in southeast Australia

Hotter temperatures are fueling increasingly severe natural disasters across Australia, researchers have found.
A woman walks past a mural adorning a family clinic in Nairobi in 2017.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025

Trump 2.0 instills fear in African abortion activists

Trump has reinstated an anti-abortion pact that cuts off U.S. funds to foreign charities that provide or promote abortions.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight