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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.
A Palestinian youth moves containers of water past destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on May 28.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2024

Israel pushes back against Gaza ceasefire Biden has outlined

Hamas said it welcomed any proposal "based on a permanent ceasefire" as well as "a total withdrawal from the Gaza Strip."
French forward Kylian Mbappe waits for the arrival of the French president at the team's training camp ahead of the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament, in Clairefontaine-en-Yvelines, France, on Monday.
SOCCER
Jun 4, 2024

'Superstar' Mbappe makes 'dream' move to Real Madrid

The player is set to earn €35 million a season, according to reports in Spain.
Thailand is the latest nation to consider competing for a pie of the global casino industry, which IBIS World estimates generated $263.3 billion in revenue last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 5, 2024

Thailand plans bill to legalize casinos, spokesman says

Any opening of casinos will be in line with its recent embrace of a more liberal landscape to revive its tourism industry.
Energy companies are increasingly calling for greater use of nuclear power as geopolitical tensions raise the risk of energy supply disruptions and power price hikes.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2024

In Japan, energy security fears put nuclear back in favor for 2040 plan

The Japanese government wants to lock in greater use of nuclear energy, along with wind and solar power, to secure stable energy supply.
After a teenage girl loses her parents, she grapples with her new reality under an aunt’s guardianship in “Worlds Apart.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2024

‘Worlds Apart’ explores family, loss and unconventional ideas of love

A 15-year-old girl is orphaned when her parents die right before her eyes.
An individual said to be a key member of a group involved in the laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activities — 41-year-old Ryohei Fujii — has been arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police in connection with the scheme.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 5, 2024

Osaka police looks to freeze 1,300 accounts in money laundering bust

Typically, such police requests are made on an individual basis, but in this case the police have taken the unusual step of requesting a blanket freeze.
Christina Griffin-Jones was a big part of a historically strong U.S. women's team at the 2023 Sumo World Championships.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jun 5, 2024

American sumo organization becomes battleground in fight for equality

At the heart of the fight is growing opposition to a longtime federation trustee who has not been shy about expressing his homophobic views.
Demonstrators hold Fatah flags during a protest in support of the people of the Gaza Strip in Hebron, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Oct. 27, 2023.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2024

Hamas signals post-war ambition in talks with Palestinian rival Fatah

The meetings highlight that the Islamist militant group is likely to retain influence in the Gaza Strip after its war with Israel.
President Joe Biden boards Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Tuesday, en route to Paris for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in France.
WORLD
Jun 5, 2024

Traveling to Europe, Biden will find both solidarity and isolation

Critics of Biden said he has no one to blame for his diplomatic challenges in Europe but himself for an inconsistent approach to international crises.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with senior editors from international news agencies at Lakhta Centre business tower in St. Petersburg on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2024

Putin says West wrong to think Russia would never use nuclear weapons

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow's nuclear doctrine allows the use of such weapons if the country's territorial integrity or sovereignty was threatened.
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.
The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket with Boeing's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft launched from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Wednesday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024

Boeing carries NASA astronauts to orbit in ‘milestone’ Starliner flight

The long-awaited flight of the vehicle is the latest step in NASA’s efforts to rely more heavily on the private sector for its human spaceflight program.
A study has found that the share of people with high blood pressure increases as income decreases.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 6, 2024

Lower-income people more likely to have high blood pressure: study

The tendency seems to stem from alcohol consumption, obesity and lack of exercise.
A British officer looks at illuminated graves at the Bayeux War Cemetery in northwestern France on Wednesday ahead of D-Day commemorations marking the 80th anniversary of the Allies' landings in Normandy on June 6, 1944, during World War II.
WORLD
Jun 6, 2024

World leaders, veterans commemorate D-Day's 80th anniversary in Normandy

With the numbers of veterans, many age 100 or more, fast dwindling, this is likely to be the last major ceremony in Normandy honoring them in their presence.
Yayoi Kusama’s “Pumpkin,” once the victim of high waves that dragged it into the sea, sits at the end of a pier on the south side of Naoshima.
PODCAST / deep dive
Jun 6, 2024

The sweaty pleasure of Japan’s inconvenient art

This week, writer Thu-Huong Ha is our tour guide into the world of Japan’s inconvenient art movement.
Amid low approval ratings since the Liberal Democratic Party slush funds scandal came to light, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is making the political funding bill's passage his No. 1 priority for the current session of parliament.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2024

LDP's political funding bill clears Lower House

The bill's passage marks a watershed moment in a monthslong debate sparked by a slush funds scandal that engulfed the ruling party.
Yuki Tsunoda is set to spend his fifth season in Formula One with RB.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jun 7, 2024

Yuki Tsunoda expected to remain with RB next season

Tsunoda missed out on landing a seat at Red Bull when the team chose to extend the contract of Sergio Perez instead.
Takayuki Midorikawa stands in front of Ueda Junior High School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jun 17, 2024

Fukushima schools open up to revising old rules

The prefecture has recently made some moves to accommodate a little more diversity in the classroom.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group will sell their Toyota shareholdings over an extended period of time lasting a few years, sources said.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 7, 2024

Two of Japan's top banks to divest ¥1.3 trillion in Toyota shareholdings

Mitsubishi UFJ and Sumitomo Mitsui will sell in stages and take advantage of Toyota’s plan to buy back its own shares.
Kyoto University's Center for iPS Cell Research
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 7, 2024

Japan team makes immune-controlling cells from human iPS cells

The team expects that the method can make it possible to mass produce the cells, known for their effectiveness in suppressing rejection in transplantation medicine.
People wait for the main act to begin at Summer Sonic, which holds simultaneous music festivals for those in Tokyo and Osaka.
CULTURE / Music / Longform
Jun 9, 2024

Can Japan's summer music festivals adapt to a post-pandemic reality?

Soaring temperatures, the cheap yen and a dearth of headline options may require reshaping the outdoor concert formula.
Myo Kyaw Kyaw, 38, a member of Myanmar's persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority who is seeking refugee status in Japan, speaks during an interview on May 29.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 9, 2024

Japan's revised immigration law sparks deportation worries

The revised immigration law allows the deportation of individuals who have applied for refugee status three times even while their applications are being processed.
French President Emmanuel Macron during U.S. President Joe Biden's visit to the Elysee Palace in Paris on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2024

Macron and Scholz get trounced by far-right in EU elections

Far-right parties made gains that could sway the European Parliament to take a harder line on migration and upset work to protect the environment.
Israeli Minister Benny Gantz addresses the media after his ultimatum to withdraw his centrist party from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's emergency government expired, in Ramat Gan, Israel, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2024

Gantz quits Israel government while U.S.-Saudi deal moves forward

The treaty would commit the U.S. to helping defend Riyadh as part of a deal aimed at encouraging Saudi-Israel diplomatic ties, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Asia Peace March is held in observance of Human Rights Day in Tokyo in December 2021. This year, as Japan sits on key U.N. bodies, the government can show leadership in tackling human rights issues in Asia.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 7, 2024

Japan can aid in preventing human rights slide in Asia

As a stable democracy and big development donor, Japan should lead in tackling human rights abuses in countries like China, North Korea and Myanmar, and across Asia.
The BJP’s failure to secure even a simple majority has damaged Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s reputation not only in the eyes of Indian voters, but also within his own party.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2024

The Indian election’s winners and losers

The BJP’s failure to secure even a simple majority has damaged Modi’s reputation not only in the eyes of Indian voters, but also within his own party.
Bill May (rear, second from left) poses with the rest of the U.S. team after earning silver at the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka on July 17, 2023.
OLYMPICS
Jun 10, 2024

No men chosen to compete in artistic swimming at Olympics in Paris

World Aquatics said it was very disappointed that there would be no men in the Olympic competition.
Alternative for Germany party co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla react to results after the polls closed in the European Parliament elections, in Berlin on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2024

In EU elections, the center holds, but far right still wreaks havoc

Balloting indicates that the prevailing winds have grown chill for some of Europe’s political establishment.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield votes during a U.N. Security Council vote on a U.S.-drafted resolution backing a proposal outlined by U.S.President Joe Biden for a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 11, 2024

U.N. Security Council backs Israel-Hamas cease-fire plan

Hamas has welcomed the adoption of the U.S.-drafted resolution, saying in a statement that it is ready to cooperate with mediators.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building