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Four male workers were confirmed dead after falling into a manhole in Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture, on Saturday morning, fire authorities said.
JAPAN
Aug 2, 2025

Four dead after falling into manhole in Saitama

The four, all in their 50s, fell into the manhole around 9:25 a.m. during a sewage pipe inspection.
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
CULTURE / Music
Aug 4, 2025

Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet

Thousands braved crowds and slow-moving lines, but unexpected guest appearances by Mariya Takeuchi and Atarashii Gakko! made this year’s event one of the all-time greats.
Hala Al-Masri, 17, reacts at the site of an overnight Israeli strike on an UNRWA school that was sheltering displaced people, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Aug 4, 2025

Hamas says it will allow aid to hostages if Israel meets their conditions

A video released on Saturday of emaciated hostage Evyatar David drew criticism from Western powers and horrified Israelis.
A woman adds a message to the a COVID-19 memorial wall in London in March 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Aug 4, 2025

'Long COVID' hits the U.K. economy harder than most other countries

Five years since the start of the pandemic, Britain is still dealing with a spike in public debt, 1.2 million extra people on sickness benefits and a record postwar tax burden.
Palestinians hold out pots and pans to collect free food from a charity kitchen in Gaza, the Gaza Strip, on Monday.
WORLD
Aug 5, 2025

More Gazans die seeking aid and from hunger, with burial shrouds in short supply

The United Nations says more than 1,000 people have been killed trying to receive aid in the enclave since the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began operating in May 2025.
The author’s photo of his son, Max, at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum on Aug. 6, 2022, standing before a photo of 10-year-old Yukiko Fujii taken by Mainichi Shimbun photographer Yukio Kunihira in Hiroshima on Aug. 9, 1945, three days after the U.S. atomic bombing of her city and the day of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2025

Nuclear destruction through the eyes of a 10-year-old

Still, I wasn’t sure how Max would react to the enormity of the human suffering that took place in Hiroshima.
Demonstrators protest U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on Brazilian products at a rally outside the U.S. Consulate in Sao Paulo on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 5, 2025

Trump’s tariffs defy the doomsayers — so far

Despite nearly uniform predictions of doom and disaster, the global economy has largely ignored the Trump trade revolution.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's determination to keep fighting in Ukraine is prompted by his belief that Russia is winning and by skepticism that yet more U.S. sanctions will have much of an impact on his country.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 6, 2025

Putin doubts potency of Trump's ultimatum to end the war, sources say

The Russian leader is unlikely to bow to a sanctions ultimatum expiring this Friday from U.S. President Donald Trump, sources close to the Kremlin said.
Seven & I Holdings says it will open 1,300 new international stores and add 1,000 net new outlets in Japan.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 6, 2025

Seven & I sets expansion targets to win back investor confidence

Stephen Dacus, who took over as chief executive officer earlier this year, is under pressure to deliver on a plan to streamline Seven & I around convenience stores.
South Korea's former first lady Kim Keon Hee, wife of impeached former president Yoon Suk Yeol, arrives at the special prosecutor's office in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 6, 2025

South Korea's former first lady questioned in probe over bribe allegations

Investigators are looking into issues ranging from allegations Kim Keon Hee received a luxury handbag to suspicions she was involved in a stock manipulation scheme.
Otake <i>oyakata</i> and his wrestlers at Otake stable in April 2018
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Aug 6, 2025

Fresh start for stable founded by legendary yokozuna Taiho

In a historically significant move, the Otake sumo stable will be taken over by someone without a direct connection to its founder.
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.
LIFE / Digital
Aug 6, 2025

Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness

Japan holds a special place in the heart of the Belgian photographer, who has shot portraits in various countries and cultivated a reputation for being incredibly respectful.
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 7, 2025

Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable

Under certain circumstances, overseas inheritance can pass tax-free to foreigners who are residents in the country.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 7, 2025

Trump could meet Putin over Ukraine as soon as next week, official says

Such a face-to-face meeting would be the first between a sitting U.S. and Russian president since Joe Biden met Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June 2021.
Students at the Taira First Elementary School in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, learn about the World War II "mock atomic bombs" during a special class given at the school in July.
JAPAN
Aug 7, 2025

People work to pass on stories of U.S. 'mock atomic bombs' dropped on Japan in WWII

Over 400 people were killed by 49 of what are also called "pumpkin bombs" that the U.S. dropped on Japan between July 20 and Aug. 14, 1945.
A Cardinals fan fans himself during the seventh inning of a game against the  Pirates in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 2022.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 7, 2025

Cheer with caution: Expert advises sports fans have game plan for extreme heat

The consequences of extreme heat exposure range from dehydration to heatstroke and even death.
A Chinese warship takes part in a military drill off the Chinese coast near Fuzhou, Fujian Province, across from the Taiwan-controlled Matsu Islands, China, in April 2023.  Recent Chinese military drills have seen its vessels encircle Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 8, 2025

Simulated Chinese blockade of Taiwan reveals Singapore as lifeline

Singapore's discreet and decades-old security presence inside Taiwan gives it an edge among Southeast Asian nations, which have close to a million of their nationals on the island.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks at Russian leader Vladimir Putin before posing for a family photo during the Group of 20 leaders' summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 9, 2025

Trump and Putin to meet in Alaska on Aug. 15 to discuss Ukraine peace deal

U.S. and Russian officials are working toward an agreement on territories for the two leaders' meeting, but Ukraine has rejected any agreement that cedes territory.
A protest in solidarity with children in Gaza in Berlin
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 9, 2025

As Gaza faces starvation, reluctant Germany starts to curb support for Israel

The shift reflects how Germany's support for Israel, rooted in its historical guilt over the Nazi Holocaust, is being tested like never before.
Heavy rain falls in the city of Kumamoto on Monday morning.
JAPAN
Aug 11, 2025

Millions told to evacuate as heavy rain sparks flooding and landslides in Kyushu

Footage from various communities in Kumamoto Prefecture showed houses, stores and vehicles submerged in water while surging rivers swept away vehicles and damaged roads.
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike where Al Jazeera says its journalists Anas Al Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh and three photojournalists were killed, in Gaza City on Monday.
WORLD
Aug 11, 2025

Israel kills Al Jazeera journalist it says was Hamas leader

Calling Al Sharif "one of Gaza's bravest journalists," Al Jazeera said the attack "is a desperate attempt to silence voices in anticipation of the occupation of Gaza."
Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura addresses a meeting of Osaka Ishin no Kai on July 30.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 13, 2025

Osaka governor eager to make another bid for metropolis plan

The plan, which has been rejected twice in referendums, would scrap the city of Osaka and reorganize it into special administrative districts under Osaka Prefecture.
Wakatakakage during a ring entering ceremony in February 2020
SUMO
Aug 13, 2025

Will Wakatakakage bring balance to the banzuke?

Recent performances and sumo’s need for two ōzeki should help the veteran’s promotion hopes.
Shinto priests holding traditional umbrellas walk to the main shrine for a ritual to cleanse themselves during the annual Spring Festival at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo in April 2016.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 13, 2025

Dispelling the myth of Yasukuni Shrine

The shrine has been a lightning rod — especially as it has been used by some of Japan's neighbors as a convenient means to shift attention away from their domestic issues.
The Parque da Cidade, the main venue for the COP30 summit, under construction in Belem, Brazil, on May 5.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

Lula’s plan for COP30 in Amazon risks becoming a logistical mess

With fewer than 100 days to go, Brazil is under fire from countries concerned about a shortage of hotel rooms and soaring accommodation costs.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends a news conference in Berlin on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 14, 2025

How a call from Trump ignited a frantic week of diplomacy by Ukraine

A call by Trump to Zelenskyy and other European leaders raised concern over negotiations with Putin and set off a flurry of diplomacy ahead of the Friday summit.
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Press Briefing Room at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 15, 2025

Trump will seek to squeeze Ukraine ceasefire deal out of Putin at Alaska summit

The meeting of the Russian and U.S. leaders in Alaska comes amid Ukrainian and European fears that Trump might sell Kyiv out.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a visit to the Kennedy Center in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 15, 2025

Which Donald Trump will negotiate with Putin in Alaska?

A tough negotiator or a conciliatory one — the world is waiting to see which version of Trump shows up in Anchorage on Friday.
Beniya Mukayu, a traditional "ryokan" inn located in Ishikawa Prefecture, considers itself at "the heart of onsen towns, local residents, farmers, fishermen, sake brewers and artisans" — all of which need new, sustainable methods of serving visitors to survive into the future.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 16, 2025

In preserving Japanese hospitality, ‘details are everything’

As part of a new UNESCO initiative, the elite Relais & Chateau hospitality group will empower its Japan-based members to preserve the country’s “omotenashi” culture.
Lawmakers from both chambers of Japan's parliament who are members of a league of parliamentarians promoting Yasukuni Shrine visits walk inside the shrine in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 15, 2025

Cabinet ministers Koizumi and Kato visit Yasukuni Shrine

The visits marked the sixth consecutive year a Cabinet minister has visited the war-related shrine on the anniversary.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes