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A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
JAPAN
Jul 3, 2025

Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity

Authorities said there was no risk of tsunami and there have been no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
Terry Kilgore, 70, stands in his property where the yard used to be before losing his home to the Eaton Fire in January 2025, in Altadena, California.
WORLD / Society
Jul 4, 2025

Six months after LA wildfires, some adjust to new life in RVs

Many homeowners are crashing with friends and family, or renting during the rebuild, but others have chosen to live in RVs on their properties.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks during the opening segment of the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development, in Seville, Spain, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Blistering heat and empty chairs mar U.N.'s flagship development event

Two key ingredients were in less abundance at the once-a-decade International Conference on Financing for Development: money and power.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya explains his campaign promises in Tokyo on June 30 for the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 4, 2025

Japan’s Do It Yourself Party: Who we are and where we are headed

Our core philosophy is “to protect Japan’s national interests and bring about harmony in the world.”
People carry a portable shrine at Sensoji temple during the Sanja Festival in May. The festival is one of the three largest in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language
Jul 5, 2025

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?

Fireworks and festivals are part of the traditional Japanese summer, but what do people associate with the season these days?
Debris is piled up following flash flooding in Kerrville, Texas, on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2025

Search for missing girls continues as Texas flood toll rises to at least 50

The flooding began Friday — the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend — as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.
Alpecin-Deceuninck rider Jasper Philipsen crosses the line to take the first stage of the Tour de France in Lille, France, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jul 6, 2025

Philipsen wins windy Tour de France opener as Evenepoel trapped in split

Philipsen took the yellow jersey in a frantic sprint finish in the northern city of Lille, his 10th Tour de France stage win.
Xu Pengcheng (right), model Mao Yi and Nono walk along a corridor inside an abandoned hotel in Shanghai on May 24.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2025

China's abandoned buildings draw urban explorers despite risks

Urban exploration is growing in popularity in China, where a yearslong property sector crisis has left many cities dotted with empty buildings.
The Culver City Express Car Wash remains closed after a raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained many of its workers in Culver City, California, on June 11.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2025

Immigration raids derail Los Angeles economy as workers go into hiding

Few places in the U.S. are feeling the shock as acutely as Los Angeles, a longtime sanctuary city and home to one of the nation’s largest migrant labor forces.
Tobias Bieker settled in Osaka in 2018 and started "Unpacking Japan" as a side project with ZenGroup five years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2025

Tobias Bieker: ‘A good interviewer helps the guest shine’

The host of the "Unpacking Japan" podcast offers his take on Osaka life, Japanese jazz and writing fiction.
South Korean Ambassador to Japan Park Cheol-hee delivers a speech at a reception marking the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic ties between Japan and South Korea on June 19 in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

Ishiba thanks outgoing South Korean envoy

Park Cheol-hee said he hopes that cooperation will continue under the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung.
Search and rescue teams work along the shoreline as another passes by on a boat in the Guadalupe River in Center Point, Texas, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

More than 160 people still missing days after deadly Texas floods

The death toll includes at least 27 girls and counselors from a nearby youth summer camp, with more still missing.
Reservists receive training ahead of the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Taiwan simulates attacks on military command in annual war games

Over the next 10 days, the Han Kuang drills will expand to assess Taiwan's combat readiness against a full-scale attempt to seize the island.
Former U.S. first lady Michelle Obama says she is stepping back from traditional politics to focus on cultural influence through her podcast, reflecting a broader trend of Black women redefining political engagement.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2025

Michelle Obama is quitting politics. Or is she?

Her misgivings about politics and the spotlight that she and her husband commanded in the White House as historic figures have only grown in recent years.
Palestinians remove belongings from their homes threatened with demolition, during the ongoing Israeli military operation in Tulkarm camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on July 2.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

'Ghost camp': Israeli operations in West Bank push wave of Palestinians from their homes

"They kicked us out six months ago and we are still out. When you go back you try to bring anything you can, but in two hours with only our hands, you cannot bring many things."
Search and rescue crews look through piles of debris in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday following a flash flood.
WORLD
Jul 10, 2025

Rescuers search for 160 missing Texas flood victims

Officials say no one has been found alive since July 4, when the flash flood arrived in the predawn hours.
A U.S.-made M1A2T Abrams tank takes part in live-fire exercises in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 10, 2025

Taiwan shows off new U.S. Abrams tanks during annual military drills

Analysts say Taiwan's first new tanks for 24 years would need to be protected against drones in any future conflict given lessons from the Ukraine war.
A public school teacher leads the class during the first day of in-person classes, at a school flooded due to high tide, in Macabebe, Pampanga province, Philippines, in August 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 10, 2025

Philippines struggling to ready underfunded schools for climate hazards

Teachers want the government to do more than tweak the school calendar, and also invest in infrastructure that will make schools resilient to heat and storms.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (left) shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, during bilateral talks on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related meetings in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 10, 2025

Japan voices strong concern over Chinese military and rare earth moves

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, met for talks on the sidelines of Association of Southeast Asian Nations-related gatherings.
Evgeniya Mayboroda sits in the defendant's dock during the announcement of the verdict in her case at the municipal court of Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree

The 72-year-old's transformation from fan to critic says much about the state of today's Russia under Vladimir Putin.
Moomin characters take part in a ceremony for Finland’s National Day event at the World Expo in Osaka last month.
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2025

Moomins enjoy enduring popularity in Japan on their 80th anniversary

The charming characters along with their diverse cast of companions from the series have captivated Japanese audiences for generations.
Shahbaz Ali, a ride-hailing motorcycle driver who earns $8 on a good day, transports a passenger through the busy streets of Karachi, Pakistan, on June 26.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 15, 2025

When it’s this hot, ‘We are enduring, not living’

In Karachi, 17 million residents endure overlapping crises of toxic air, flooding, poor waste disposal and climate change.
Elbridge Colby (center), then-nominee to be the Pentagon's undersecretary of defense for policy, is introduced by U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left), during a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Washington in March.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 16, 2025

Pentagon No. 3 praises Japan defense report, but vows to make alliance more 'equitable'

The Pentagon's top policy official Elbridge Colby labeled the defense white paper “an important, clear-eyed strategic assessment from our close ally."
Mod's memoir “Things Become Other Things” chronicles his walking trips across the Kii Peninsula, surveying “a graceful end to a certain life cycle.”
CULTURE / Books
Jul 16, 2025

Craig Mod's life in motion in a disappearing Japan

In “Things Become Other Things,” the longtime resident of Japan captures that grace that lingers in slowly vanishing countryside towns.
Lilimi found a new home with the Fukuharas in January and settled in immediately, claiming a spot on the couple’s futon.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jul 17, 2025

Lilimi settles into a new life

In January, a couple from Tokyo with experience caring for elderly and ailing cats took in Lilimi, whose eyes had already begun deteriorating.
Shigeru Ishiba, prime minister and president of the Liberal Democratic Party, gives a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025

In uncertain times, Japan needs responsible leadership

As a responsible political party, the LDP is determined to consistently pursue policies that are accountable to future generations.
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito takes part in a debate with the heads of other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on July 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 17, 2025

Komeito hears those hit hardest by rising prices

“To stand forever with common citizens.” Our party has faithfully abided by that founding principle for over six decades
Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Jul 17, 2025

Pakistan's quiet solar rush puts pressure on national grid

Solar power more than doubled to 24% of Pakistan's energy mix in the first five months of 2025, becoming the largest source of energy production for the first time.
A student leaves the secondary school building built by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kere, in Kere's home village of Gando, Burkina Faso, on June 3, 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 17, 2025

How schools are being built for extreme heat — without air conditioning

With techniques such as cross-ventilation and materials such as clay, architects around the world are adapting schools to climate change without the use of air conditioning.
People vote during Japan's Upper House election at a polling station in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2025

Polls open for key Upper House election that could shake Japanese politics

A variety of scenarios await the country should the ruling coalition lose its majority in the Upper House — from an enlarged coalition to an opposition-led government.

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