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Hideo Shimizu, 95, says he cannot forget seeing the prisoners' bloody wills scribbled on the walls of prison cells at Unit 731 in 1945.
JAPAN / History
Aug 13, 2025

The indelible memory of being a part of Unit 731

For 95-year-old Hideo Shimizu, the 4½ months he spent with the biological and chemical warfare unit of the now-defunct Imperial Japanese Army were just like yesterday.
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
JAPAN / History
Aug 13, 2025

Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare

In a dusty box, a Nagano man finds proof his father served in Nanjing, China, with Unit 1644, part of Japan’s covert biological weapons network during World War II.
Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in north Gaza on Tuesday
WORLD
Aug 14, 2025

Israel pounds Gaza City, with 123 dead in last 24 hours

The 24-hour death toll was the worst in a week and added to the massive fatalities from the nearly two-year war.
T-shirts with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump are displayed for sale at a gift shop in central Moscow, Russia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

Trump and Putin: A strained relationship

The upcoming meeting between the two leaders in Alaska comes amid tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine and fruitless talks to end the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the White House in Washington on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

After serving as bulwark for 80 years, Japan's U.S. ties continue to evolve

Under the U.S. security alliance, Japan has contained potential expansion of the Soviet communist bloc and China's hegemonic ambitions since the end of World War II.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies over the island of Okinawa in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025

Precautionary Osprey landings signal safety, not alarm

Two precautionary V-22 Osprey landings in northern Honshu demonstrated the aircraft’s safety and its role in enhancing Japan’s rapid-deployment and island-defense capabilities.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is considering issuing a formal statement on the 80th anniversary of WWII’s end. There is no shortage of opposition to the idea in his own party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025

Why Ishiba shouldn’t issue a WWII 80th anniversary statement

I’m not saying Japan shouldn’t have apologized, but rather that Japan has sincerely worked to resolve international issues, especially in the past 30 years.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at a news conference regarding the E1 settlement scheme, near the Israeli settlement of Maale Adumim in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 15, 2025

Far-right Israeli minister announces plan to 'bury' idea of Palestinian state

The Palestinian government, allies and campaign groups have condemned the plan to divide the West Bank and cut it off from East Jerusalem, calling it illegal.
People flee from a village after renewed fighting between Myanmar's military and an ethnic minority armed group, in Pauktaw Township in western Rakhine State in November 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 15, 2025

Desperate Myanmar villagers scavenge for food as hunger bites

As the military fights an ethnic armed group, it has blockaded Rakhine State — throttling supplies to its estimated population of 2.5 million.
People watch a cockfight in Bulacan province, north of Manila. Cockfighting has long been a national obsession in the Philippines, tracing its lineage to well before the first Spanish arrived in the 1500s.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Aug 15, 2025

Online cockfighting thrives in Philippines despite ban and murders

Authorities estimate cockfight bettors are fueling an industry that generates millions of dollars in revenue each week.
Former U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps testifies before Congress during a hearing on anti-doping measures in Washington on June 25.
MORE SPORTS / Swimming
Aug 15, 2025

U.S. legend Michael Phelps slams USA Swimming and calls for overhaul

Phelps traced his frustrations back through his competitive career, saying he often felt that his voice went unheard.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., speaks during a news conference at the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington on July 29.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 16, 2025

Draft of Trump’s health blueprint avoids industry crackdown

The draft was dated Aug. 11, but could still see changes before it’s finalized, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Liverpool fans hold up cards to create a mosaic as they pay tribute to late Portuguese forward Diogo Jota, on Friday at Anfield.
SOCCER
Aug 16, 2025

Liverpool strikes late to beat Bournemouth as Jota remembered in Premier League opener

It was an emotional night as Anfield remembered Diogo Jota, who was killed alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car accident last month at the age of 28.
Villagers pan for gold in Bombana district of Indonesia's Southeast Sulawesi province in 2009.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 19, 2025

Indonesia grapples with small-scale illegal gold mining

Local authorities face the challenge of encouraging villagers to keep to less-destructive ways of making money, such as sustainable agriculture.
Born in 2012, Lynx has a striking appearance with his golden eyes and steel-gray coat.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Aug 20, 2025

Handsome cat looking for brighter days ahead

Lynx, born in 2012, may seem shy at first, but has proven himself to be a sweet cat full of affection.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025

Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms

There is a growing willingness to loosen the country’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
A building in Kawasaki housing Toshiba's new headquarters
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2025

Japanese manufacturers moving headquarters out of central Tokyo

Toshiba, Fujitsu and other major manufacturers are moving elsewhere in response to the spread of remote work.
Muddied prospectors pan for gold in Manica province, Mozambique, near the Zimbabwe border, in 2010.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Aug 20, 2025

Mozambique's illegal miners reap risky rewards but land suffers

Rivers around mining sites are polluted, and mercury has seeped into the soil, creating a nightmare for farmers.
Texas State Rep. Nicole Collier has chosen to remain at the House until Wednesday, after Democratic lawmakers who had left the state to prevent Republicans from redrawing Texas’s 38 congressional districts returned to the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Texas lawmaker prepares for second night of redistricting protest in state Capitol

Democratic state Rep. Nicole Collier is pushing back in a redistricting battle as President Donald Trump seeks to keep Republican control of Congress.
Seri Yanai and Daniel Wishes founded the shadow puppetry company Mochinosha in 2012 when they were students at the London School of Puppetry.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Aug 22, 2025

Seri Yanai: ‘We mix modern and analog to create something new’

The co-founder of Mochinosha, a shadow puppetry company based in Saitama Prefecture, talks about her journey to the stage and her artistic inspirations.
People take photos in front of a large portrait of Chinese President Xi Jinping during a government-organized tour at Potala Palace Square in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, China, on March 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Xi pushes for mega-dam and rail links to boost Tibet development

The Yarlung Tsangpo hydropower project is set to become one of the biggest infrastructure projects in history.
Six-year-old Pooja shows her indigenous face tattoos at the Jogi Colony in Umerkot, a Hindu-majority district of Pakistan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 21, 2025

City girls snub traditional Hindu face tattoos in Pakistan

The practice stretches back centuries in the Hindu villages that dot Pakistan's southern border with India.
A commuter uses a portable fan on an underground train at rush hour during a heat wave in the City of London financial district.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 21, 2025

As temperatures soar in London, regulations, not costs, put cooling beyond reach

The British capital has seen a surge in demand for air-conditioning units in high-end homes as climate change raises summer temperatures.
Summer Sonic’s 2025 lineup demonstrated its strength, showcasing the latest in J-pop, including “new kawaii” act Fruits Zipper.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 22, 2025

Alicia Keys closed Summer Sonic, but J-pop owned it

Summer Sonic 2025 showcased Japan’s pop power: Mrs. Green Apple, Hikaru Utada and rising stars outshone the festival’s headliners.
A girl uses her smartphone as she walks her dog in Moscow on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Online behavior under scrutiny as Russia hunts 'extremists'

Internet users who search for web pages, books, artwork or music albums that the authorities deem extremist will be fined under new legislation.
Vanitha Anand Bhat, 43, who works with her husband, Raya Anand Bhat, 48, pours coconut oil into a plastic bottle inside their small coconut mill in Kochi, India, on July 23.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 21, 2025

Humble coconut oil turns into a luxury on rising demand, shrinking output

Output across major producer nations, from India to Southeast Asia, has been disrupted by lower rainfall and extended heat, as well as pests and disease.
Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
JAPAN / History / Longform
Aug 22, 2025

From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past

One man’s experience traces the capital's arc from wartime devastation to modern megacity in a story of resilience and reinvention.
A military drill in Taiwan. Taipei has ramped up investment in military equipment and weapons over the past decade in response to intensifying pressure from China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Taiwan president ups defense spending target to 5% of GDP

The move comes as China has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
Members of the student club Neo at Shuri High School receive words of gratitude from Haebaru Junior High School students after their workshop on June 6. They are Mei Nakazato (far left), Nanoka Hirata (second left), Yuzuyu Oyakawa (center), Hinano Yagi (second right) and Honomi Taira.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Aug 25, 2025

Okinawa high school students bring new approach to peace education

A high school group that held a workshop for junior high school students aims to bring a new approach to peace education by turning “passive learning” into something more personal.
Ann Burroughs, head of the Japanese American National Museum, called it "inconceivable" for the United States to be "building concentration camps, denying the lessons learned 80 years ago."
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2025

Japanese American museum blasts Trump's use of internment camp to detain people

The Trump administration set up an immigration detention center within the grounds of an army base that was used during World War II as an internment camp for Japanese Americans.

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