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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint news conference with the European Commission president in Brussels on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 18, 2025

Trump’s peace-deal demands leave Ukraine's Zelenskyy with only bad options

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy faces an existential dilemma as he travels to Washington for talks with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul (left) and Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya attend a joint press event at the Iikura Guest House in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 18, 2025

Top Japanese and German diplomats vow to boost economic security cooperation

Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and his German counterpart, Johann Wadephul, have agreed to strengthen supply chains for semiconductors and critical minerals.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, amid negotiations to end Russia's war in Ukraine, in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 19, 2025

Trump pushes Putin-Zelenskyy meeting after talks with both

The move suggested that the leaders of Ukraine and top European nations had succeeded in convincing Trump to maintain their approach to possible talks with the Russian president.
An Israeli tank maneuvers on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Aug 19, 2025

Hamas agrees to Gaza truce deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar

The proposal would see Hamas release half of the hostages it still holds in return for the freeing of Palestinian prisoners and a partial withdrawal of Israeli troops.
China’s massive scale, strong education system and competitive local governance have enabled it to reach the technological frontier and dominate high-tech manufacturing despite its low per capita gross domestic product.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2025

Demystifying the manufacturing success of China

The obvious question is how a country with such low per capita GDP has managed to reach the technological frontier in so many sectors.
Omar Garcia Harfuch has earned respect from rank-and-file military and security forces by showing up, gun-in-hand, on the front lines, one source said.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 19, 2025

Battle-tested cop is Mexico's hope to tame cartels and placate Trump

Garcia Harfuch has earned praise for helping deliver on Sheinbaum's vision of increased cooperation with the U.S.
Local residents carry their belongings out of a heavily damaged residential building following a Russian strike in the town of Bilozerske, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Aug. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

U.S. and European planners start to craft Ukraine security guarantee options

One option being considered is sending European forces to Ukraine but putting the U.S. in charge of their command and control.
The sun sets over Gaza on Tuesday, as seen from the Israeli side of the border between Gaza and Israel. Mediators Egypt and Qatar have been pushing proposals to restart indirect talks between the sides on a U.S.-backed ceasefire plan.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Israel weighs Hamas offer of 60-day Gaza truce and hostage release

Efforts to pause the fighting gained new momentum over the past week after Israel announced plans to seize control of Gaza City at the heart of the Palestinian enclave.
Israeli women take part in a protest demanding the end of the war in the Gaza Strip near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, close to the Israeli border with Gaza, on Aug. 10.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

As Netanyahu expands Gaza war, some reservists grow more disillusioned

They accuse the government — the most far-right administration in Israel's history — of perpetuating the war for political reasons.
Two suspects arrested over the killing of two Japanese last week are held in restraints in Manila on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 20, 2025

Japanese man suspected of ordering double murder in Manila

The latest suspect is believed to have hired two men in the Philippines to kill the two Japanese nationals, possibly over a financial dispute.
A training session at Shikoroyama stable in June 2016. Sumo training sessions are increasingly simulated or the preserve of group tours.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Aug 20, 2025

Is sumo becoming a victim of its own popularity?

In 2025, fans and tourists alike are all too often getting an experience that pales in comparison to what was previously possible.
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.
Sho Tsuboi said the opportunity to drive a Formula One car at Fuji Speedway was a dream come true.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 21, 2025

Sho Tsuboi realizes ‘dream’ with Haas F1 test at Fuji Speedway

An impressive performance, which also coincides with Toyota’s modest return to F1, could signal the start of something more substantial.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) talks with the main commanders of the Korean People's Army's overseas operations units that participated in the war alongside Russia, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

North Korea has 'undeclared' ICBM base near China border: report

The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their launchers.
A Ukrainian service member throws a grenade during training in the Donbas region, Ukraine, in April. Russia controls about 88% of the Donbas region, according to U.S. estimates and open-source data.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Putin demands Ukraine give up Donbas, not join NATO and no Western troops: sources

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly dismissed the idea of withdrawing from internationally recognized Ukrainian land as part of a deal.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a news conference following their meeting to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Doubts grow on Ukraine security plan as Russia demands role

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow should have a say in security arrangements for Ukraine, which could also involve Beijing.
Democratic Texas Rep. Gene Wu speaks at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday. State officials are redrawing congressional maps to benefit Republicans.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Americans worry democracy is in danger amid gerrymandering fights, poll finds

As Texas Republicans redraw the state's congressional maps to benefit their party, California Democrats threaten to respond in kind.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance makes excellent use of stages dripping with atmosphere to punch up the feel of its tight combat mechanics.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Aug 25, 2025

Sega's ninja-themed Shinobi series is back from the dead

The long-running series hasn’t had a console release since 2003, but the new title is nearly enjoyable enough to make the wait worth it.
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hand with Russian President Vladimir Putin, as they meet to negotiate for an end to the war in Ukraine, at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, last week.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 22, 2025

Was Trump’s Russia-Ukraine summit doomed from the beginning?

Negotiations are doomed to fail if you neglect both reality and standard practices that must never be ignored.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and  Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shake hands at joint press announcement after summit talks in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025

At meeting rich in symbolism, Ishiba and South Korea's Lee agree to steadily build ties

In the two countries' first joint document in 17 years, the leaders agreed to work together "to advance future-oriented and mutually beneficial common interests."
Sergio Gor
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 23, 2025

Trump nominates Sergio Gor to be next U.S. ambassador to India

Sergio Gor, who is currently the director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, would also serve as a special envoy for South and Central Asian affairs.
Director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Jeffrey Kruse (left) testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2025

In latest purge, Hegseth removes head of Pentagon intel agency and others

The move appeared to be the latest attempt to penalize current and former military, intelligence and law enforcement officials whose views have been seen as at odds with Trump.
Former White House national security adviser John Bolton arrives at his house following its search by the FBI in Bethesda, Maryland, on Friday.
WORLD
Aug 23, 2025

FBI raids home of outspoken Trump critic John Bolton

U.S. President Donald Trump, asked about the FBI searches, said he was "not a fan" of his former aide but did not know about the law enforcement operation ahead of time.
A combination image released Sunday shows firing tests of anti-aircraft missiles and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un flanked by Korean People's Army officers at unknown locations.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 24, 2025

North Korea test-fires two new air-defense missiles

Pyongyang did not offer any detailed description of the new missiles, only that their "operation and reaction mode is based on unique and special technology."
Hours before talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung has signaled that reaching a deal with Washington on its demand to have U.S. forces in South Korea play a larger role in countering China will prove difficult.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 25, 2025

Lee signals resistance to shifting U.S. Forces Korea’s focus to China

President Lee Jae Myung’s remarks come just hours before he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in talks that are expected to be dominated by defense and security issues.
The previous award ceremony
ESG CONSORTIUM
Aug 25, 2025

Yamagata film festival to gather documentaries from around world

This year’s YIDFF International Competition received 1,318 entries from 129 countries. Fifteen of them will be screened during the festival, competing for five awards.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung attend a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

'Peacemaker’ Trump says he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim this year

The U.S. president said “big progress” was possible, during a summit with South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung in Washington that also focused on defense and trade issues.
Liverpool's Rio Ngumoha celebrates in front of the Newcastle fans after scoring the third goal at St. James' Park in Newcastle, England on Monday.
SOCCER
Aug 26, 2025

Liverpool relies on 16-year-old Ngumoha to overcome 10-man Newcastle fightback

The Magpies battled back only to be denied by teenage sensation Ngumoha, who became the youngest goalscorer in Liverpool's history.
An employee at a wholesaler puts a price tag on a package of sea urchins from Hokkaido at Tsukiji Outer Market in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025

Warming seas add to food inflation woes as urchin rice bowls hit ¥18,000

Policymakers have mostly blamed rising food prices on the weak yen's upward pressure on import costs, but the effects of global warming now also loom as a risk.
Indian National Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi addresses the media in front of a screen showing India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) and Home Minister Amit Shah at the party headquarters in New Delhi on Aug. 7, ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the Indian state of Bihar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

India's election commission faces claim of vote-rigging ahead of state poll

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said his party lost dozens of seats in the 2024 parliamentary elections as voter rolls were manipulated to favor the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

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