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Komeito leader Natsuo Yamaguchi holds a news conference at the Diet on July 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 17, 2024

Speculation rising over possible end to Yamaguchi's Komeito reign

Natsuo Yamaguchi, 72, is currently serving his eighth term as Komeito chief.
The Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors Association says AI-assisted online search services offered by Google and Microsoft is highly likely to not only infringe news organizations' copyrights but damage their trustworthiness.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024

Japan news media association demands consent and accuracy from generative AI

Without regulation, generative AI will erode media content, harming democracy and national culture, according to the association.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) speaks to the press next to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin on June 11.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2024

Germany says it will halve its military aid for Ukraine

German aid to Ukraine will be cut to €4 billion ($4.35 billion) in 2025 from around €8 billion in 2024.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2024

U.K.'s Starmer to use forum to advocate EU reset and Ukraine support

A one-day meeting of more than 40 nations provides British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with an opportunity to push for closer defense cooperation.
Saga Indonesia Dreams players speak with Yuji Fukuhara, who set up the unique Kyushu-based club, during a training session last month in Takeo, Saga Prefecture.
BASEBALL
Jul 18, 2024

Kyushu team nurturing 'baseball evangelists' to spread game in Asia

Kyushu club hopes its players, mostly hailing from parts of Asia where baseball is not popular, will help promote the sport in other parts of the continent.
Indian Ambassador Sibi George says one of his main tasks in his post is to boost Japanese public and private investments the South Asian powerhouse.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2024

India’s envoy in Japan calls for boosted supply chain and defense cooperation

The ambassador’s remarks come after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi pledged to continue prioritizing ties with Japan.
France's Sarah Leonie Cysique battles Uzbekistan's Shukurjon Aminova at the Paris Grand Slam at Accor Arena on Feb. 2.
OLYMPICS / Judo
Jul 18, 2024

How France embraced judo and became a martial arts powerhouse

The country has embraced the Japanese martial art to the point where it may be more popular in France than in Japan.
The police reported two sexual crime cases to the U.S. military, but the prefectural government was not aware of the incidents.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2024

U.S. forces-linked sex crimes in Kanagawa went unreported to prefectural government

The police reported both cases to the U.S. military, but the prefectural government was not aware of the incidents.
Maritime Self-Defense Chief of Staff Adm. Ryo Sakai (center) following a news conference in Tokyo on July 12
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024

Poor understanding of the law behind mishandling of secrets in MSDF

The scandal has prompted the Defense Ministry to dole out mass punishments and led to the resignation of a top officer.
Prince Hisahito (right) visits a biotope at Tamagawa University in Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, along with his father Crown Prince Akishino (center) in April.
JAPAN
Jul 19, 2024

Prince Hisahito to stay off palace events until next spring

The prince's coming-of-age ceremony will be held after his graduation from the University of Tsukuba's high school in March next year.
The Nishiki market in Kyoto. June’s inflation report shows extraordinary jumps in the prices of some items favored by households, including cabbage (27.6%), potatoes (28.5%) and tomatoes (15.6%).
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2024

Households struggle as Japan’s inflation rises near U.S. levels

Consumer prices in Japan rose 2.8% on the year in June, close to the 3.0% in the United States.
U.S. President Joe Biden takes part in a conversation with former U.S. President Barack Obama and late-night talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel during a star-studded campaign fundraiser at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on June 15.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

Biden fundraisers on hold as July donations plummet, sources say

The move comes even as the Democratic Party planned to accelerate his nomination and he vowed to continue in the 2024 race.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within "one or two weeks."
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

Iran capable of producing fissile material in 'one or two weeks,' Blinken says

News of Iran's capabilities follows the recent election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has said his goal is to "get Iran out of its isolation."
An aerial view on Monday of the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

From honor student to the gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump

Thomas Crooks was a brainy and quiet young man who built computers and won honors at school, impressing his teachers. Then he became a would-be assassin.
Ichiro Aisawa, a Lower House lawmaker with the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, speaks to reporters at LDP headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

LDP plans to launch leadership election board next week

The party is considering launching on July 26 the administration committee for its presidential election expected to take place in September.
Japan defender Hikaru Kitagawa (13) competes in the SheBelieves Cup in Columbus, Ohio, in April. Kitagawa is among the eight from JFA Academy Fukushima who will represent Japan at the Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS
Jul 21, 2024

Soccer players from Fukushima academy vow to give back in Paris

Eight players who trained at JFA Academy Fukushima have been selected for the men's and women's squads representing Japan in the 2024 Summer Olympics.
Data has shown that Western pension funds may inadvertently be helping Russian President Vladimir Putin as Moscow looks to ramp up liquefied natural gas exports to replenish Kremlin coffers and fund its war in Ukraine.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 21, 2024

How U.S. pension funds help Putin’s gas gambit

The case spotlights the opacity of the global finance and how hard it remains to sever Moscow from a key revenue source even two years after the Ukraine invasion.
Secret Service officers surround U.S. former President Donald Trump, the Republican  presidential candidate, as he attends the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2024

Secret Service says it denied earlier Trump requests for more federal resources

The denied requests for additional resources were not specifically for the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where the former president survived an assassination attempt.
Tsutomu Shirosaki, former member of the Japanese Red Army
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2024

Ex-Japan Red Army prisoner, 76, chokes on food and dies

Tsutomu Shirosaki was serving time for his involvement in the 1986 terrorist attack on the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.
U.S. President Joe Biden attends a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he visits Israel amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Tel Aviv on Oct. 18, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2024

A confident Netanyahu takes his message to a weakened Biden

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House is seen by many as a sign of U.S. President Joe Biden’s declining ability to impose his will on the world.
Fireworks during Irumagawa Tanabata Festival in Sayama, Saitama Prefecture in July 2023
JAPAN / Society
Jul 22, 2024

Many summer fireworks festivals in Japan canceled due to complaints

Property damage caused by debris, and littering and trespassing by those looking for a better view are among the reasons for the cancellations.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks to board Marine One at Hagerstown Regional Airport, in Hagerstown, Maryland, on June 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2024

Inside the weekend when Biden decided to withdraw

U.S. President Joe Biden did not tell most of his staff until a minute before making his announcement to the world on social media on Sunday.
People visit the Xpeng booth during the 20th Shanghai International Automobile Industry Exhibition on April 19, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024

Volkswagen and Xpeng deepen software collaboration across EVs in China

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng said that it has entered into a technical collaboration agreement with Volkswagen.
U.S. soldiers during a handover ceremony of Taji military base from U.S.-led coalition troops to Iraqi security forces, in the base north of Baghdad on August 23, 2020
WORLD
Jul 23, 2024

Iraq eyes drawdown of U.S.-led forces starting September, sources say

The U.S. currently has around 2,500 troops in Iraq at the head of a more than 80-member coalition that was formed in 2014.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi says a Japanese man in his 20s died last month fighting for Russia against Ukraine.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2024

Tokyo announces death of Japanese man in Russian military

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi has urged Japanese people again to refrain from traveling to Ukraine and Russian regions bordering Ukraine.
U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle enters a House of Representatives Oversight Committee hearing on the security lapses that allowed an attempted assassination of Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

Secret Service director resigns following Trump shooting

Kimberly Cheatle is stepping down after taking responsibility for security failures at a campaign rally where the former president was shot.
Honoka Hayashi in action during a match against Great Britain at the Tokyo Olympics, in Sapporo on July 24, 2021. Hayashi’s clinical passing, acute understanding of the game and high work-rate make her an embodiment of Nadeshiko soccer principles.
OLYMPICS
Jul 24, 2024

Nadeshiko Japan’s Honoka Hayashi ready to settle the score at Paris Games

Lauded for her intricate passing and soccer intelligence, Hayashi has adjusted her game to fit the demanding nature of elite leagues over the course of her career.
Demonstrators rally to demand a big hike in minimum wages in Tokyo last week.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2024

Japan’s minimum wage set for record ¥50 hike in major boost

While the sharp increase will be a big boost for workers, smaller firms already struggling financially will be put under further stress.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel aboard a helicopter conduct an aerial survey off Manila on Thursday, after the oil tanker MT Terra Nova capsized.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 25, 2024

Tanker capsizes off Philippines, with one crew missing amid oil spill

The ship was carrying 1,494 metric tons of industrial fuel.
Flames and smoke rise from a burning wildfire, as seen from a highway in Jasper, Alberta, Canada, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 26, 2024

Wildfire roars through a Canadian town popular with tourists

The town is in the heart of Jasper National Park, which is one of Canada’s premier tourist destinations, receiving about 2.5 million visitors each year.

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