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Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 17, 2023

Key takeaways from Japan-U.S. talks worth noting

The fact that Japan and the U.S. do not require continuous renegotiation of their standing agreements is an important one, and shows the strength of the alliance.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2023

Ukraine missile toll rises to 40 as Russia denies attack

Emergency services gave the new toll specifying that three children were among those dead, and that 29 people were still unaccounted for.
U.S. soldiers man a checkpoint on a road outside Tikrit, Iraq, in November 2003. Airstrikes alone won’t truly eliminate Iran’s nuclear program — only a costly ground invasion like the one that took down Saddam Hussein could do that.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 14, 2025

What will it take to end Iran's nuke program? An army.

Trump’s claim that the U.S. “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program was widely disputed, with current estimates saying it was severely damaged and set back by 12 to 24 months.
Workers on the production line of a toy factory in Shenzhen, China
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 15, 2025

China’s economy expands 5.2% as exports propel growth

The world’s second-largest economy has powered ahead despite a 24% slump in shipments to the U.S. in the second quarter.
The working conditions cited by prosecutors shed light on the differences in wealth between people purchasing luxury goods and many of those making them.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 15, 2025

LVMH’s Loro Piana faces court oversight in Italy labor probe

In some factories, working hours mostly exceeded the 8-hour legal standard, employees slept on shop floors and were paid a fraction of Italy’s legal minimum, prosecutors said.
Scientists say a recently published study could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions. The research may lead to new therapies that target calorie-burning mechanisms.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 15, 2025

Japanese scientists discover clue to why women burn more fat than men

Scientists say their findings could help explain why women are typically less prone to weight-related conditions and may lead to new therapies.
Then-Prime Minister Fumio Kishida holds a news conference in Tokyo in December 2023 where he addressed the political fundraising scandal and announced plans to replace several implicated ministers.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 15, 2025

Cost of living trumps corruption as Japan heads to the polls

A recent NHK poll asked that question to prospective voters, and the majority answered “measures to deal with rising prices” and “social security and the declining birthrate.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a Victory Day parade in Moscow in May. Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's threat of tariffs, Putin believes Russia's economy and its military are strong enough to weather any new Western measures over the war in Ukraine.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 15, 2025

Putin, unfazed by Trump, will fight on and could take more of Ukraine

Three Russian sources familiar with top-level Kremlin thinking said the Russian leader will not stop the war under pressure from the West.
Mahatma Gandhi led the Indian independence movement with an unshakable faith in nonviolence that arguably dovetailed with Zen philosophy in some respects.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jul 19, 2025

Gandhi’s philosophy of nonviolence — and Zen?

The Indian nationalist’s beliefs hewed close to certain aspects of Zen thought, particularly his fearlessness in the face of death.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime is supplying up to 40% of Russia’s ammunition, along with other military equipment, for Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, according to Ukraine's intelligence service.
WORLD
Jul 13, 2025

Ukraine spy chief says 40% of Russian ammunition is North Korean

Kim Jong Un’s regime is also sending other weapons to Russia, including ballistic missiles and artillery systems.
Daniel Martindale, a U.S. citizen who helped Russia from inside Ukraine, after receiving a Russian passport, in Moscow.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 16, 2025

U.S. citizen who helped Russia from inside Ukraine granted Russian passport by Putin

Daniel Martindale grew to love Russia when he lived there in 2018, studying the language and teaching English in the Pacific port city of Vladivostok.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron hold a news conference in London on July 10 after wrapping up a joint military visit.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025

France and U.K. tighten nuclear ties amid questions over U.S. commitment

While France and the U.K. are taking a positive step for European security, the announcement is both more and less than it seems.
Seven & I has sought to make a case for remaining independent and has enacted changes such as appointing a new CEO.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 17, 2025

Couche-Tard abandons $46 billion bid to acquire 7-Eleven operator

Seven & I stock, up more than 25% since Couche-Tard’s interest became public 11 months ago, will likely decline due to the withdrawn proposal.
The Tigers' Tarik Skubal pitches for the American League during the MLB All-Star Game in Atlanta on Tuesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 17, 2025

Tigers focused on getting back to playoffs and contending for World Series

At 59-38, Detroit owns the majors' best record and sent six All-Stars to Atlanta.
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 19, 2025

Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo

Located near Higashinakano Station, Pao Compound is an eclectic mix of restaurants, event spaces and an affinity for cultural exploration.
Just 17% of Americans approve of U.S. President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffery Epstein case, a weaker rating than the president received on any other issue in the poll.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed, poll finds

Close to two-thirds of Republicans surveyed think the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is hiding details on Jeffrey Epstein's business.
Tribal and bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilize amid clashes with Druze gunmen, near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2025

Syria believed it had green light from U.S. and Israel to deploy troops to Sweida

Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops and on Damascus on Wednesday in an escalation that took the Islamist-led leadership by surprise.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a campaign event in Yokohama on July 6. Japan faces deep structural challenges but lacks bold political vision and leaders willing to take risks for transformative change.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 20, 2025

Performative ‘elections’ expose a sad lack of vision

Political parties jostle for position and trade barbs but offer no clear plan for Japan’s growing structural challenges.
A man sits in a boat on the waters of the Brahmaputra river near the international border between India and Bangladesh in the northeastern state of Assam, India, in 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 21, 2025

China starts construction on world's largest hydropower dam in Tibet

The project is part of China's push to expand renewable energy and reduce carbon emissions.
Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the Democratic Party for the People, in Tokyo on Sunday. Smaller conservative parties such as the DPP gained in the election at the weekend, at the expense of the Liberal Democratic Party.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2025

Conservatives win big in Japan — just not the Liberal Democratic Party

Sunday's election marks the first time the once-proud party has lost a majority in both houses since its foundation in 1955.
Tim Wellens celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win Stage 15 of the Tour de France in Carcassonne, France, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jul 21, 2025

Tim Wellens wins Stage 15 as Team UAE continues to dominate Tour de France

Team UAE rider Tadej Pogacar held on to the overall lead.
Venus Williams hits a volley as partner Hailey Baptiste looks on in their women's doubles match against Eugenie Bouchard and Clervie Ngounoue on Day 1 of the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington on Monday.
TENNIS
Jul 22, 2025

Venus Williams returns with doubles win at DC Open

The 45-year-old American joined compatriot Hailey Baptiste to defeat Canada's Eugenie Bouchard and U.S. teen Clervie Ngounoue.
An armored truck transports Russia's Geran unmanned combat aerial vehicles before a military parade on Victory Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025

Russian TV shows teenagers making arms at 'world's biggest drone factory'

The suicide drones are used by Russia to attack Ukraine.
Members of the Taliban carrying flags participate in a rally to mark the third anniversary of the fall of Kabul, in Kabul on Aug. 14, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025

Trump vowed to save Afghans, but UAE had already sent some evacuees back, cable shows

The United Arab Emirates, a close security partner of the United States, agreed in 2021 to temporarily house several thousand Afghans evacuated from Kabul.
Malaysian businessman and fugitive Low Taek Jho, better known as Jho Low, in 2014. Low is wanted in connection with the multibillion-dollar collapse of 1MDB, a Malaysian wealth fund.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 22, 2025

Malaysia looks into claim 1MDB fugitive Jho Low is in China

Low is wanted in connection with the multibillion dollar collapse of the Malaysian wealth fund formally known as 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
An Amazon Web Services data center in Ashburn, Virginia
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025

AI should run on 100% renewable energy by 2030, U.N. chief says

A typical AI data center consumes as much power as 100,000 homes, according to the U.N., and the largest centers now being built will use 20 times that.
A worker places blank guitar picks into a tray at D'Addario's production facility in Farmingdale, New York, on July 10.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 23, 2025

Inside a U.S. guitar string-maker's strategy to navigate the trade war

While the company makes nearly all their music accessories in the U.S., their supply chain and distribution are global, with their biggest foreign market being Japan.
An external view of the Centenary Pool, which will be redeveloped to host the aquatics during the 2032 Olympics, at Spring Hill, Brisbane on Monday
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2025

Brisbane 2032 Olympics on track seven years out but with little wiggle room

The opening ceremony of Australia's third Summer Games will take place exactly seven years from Wednesday.
Norwegian Nobel Committee chair Jorgen Frydnes (right) lays flowers at the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims in the city of Hiroshima on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025

Nobel committee chair visits Hiroshima

Last year, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, also known as Nihon Hidankyo, won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Tomonobu Kojima arrives at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in February 2023 after being deported from the Philippines.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2025

Senior member of 'Luffy' crime ring gets 20 years in prison

Tomonobu Kojima, 47, was the first of the four indicted members of the group, whose members went by the nickname "Luffy," to receive a court ruling.

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