Search - world

 
 
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2025

Japan to donate $550 million to Gavi vaccine alliance over five years

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba will announce the pledge at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development, set to begin in Yokohama on Wednesday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with Yury Slyusar, acting governor of the Rostov region, in Moscow on Monday. Putin is wanted by the International Criminal Court for allegedly unlawfully deporting Ukrainian children.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Switzerland and Austria say they would host ICC-wanted Putin for peace talks

Both countries have indicated they would give the Russian leader immunity in order to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy at a neutral location.
National Guard troops keep watch outside Washington's Union Station on Tuesday. U.S. President Donald Trump has deployed the National Guard and ordered an increased federal law enforcement presence in the capital, which he has characterized as overrun with violence and homelessness.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

More Republican governors send National Guard to Washington, backing Trump

The U.S. president has characterized Washington as overrun with violence and homelessness, accusing the city of using fake data to "create a false illusion of safety."
Left: Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani attends a regional forum in Mecca earlier this year. Right: Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer attends a special session of the Knesset in Jerusalem, in 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Syrian and Israeli diplomats met in Paris to discuss 'de-escalation,' report says

The attempt at diplomacy comes amid tensions as Israel has occupied territory and hit targets across Syria.
The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History
WORLD / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Trump targets the Smithsonian again, saying it focuses too much on how bad slavery was

Civil rights advocates say Trump is undoing decades of social progress and undermining the acknowledgment of critical phases of American history.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (center) and African leaders prior to the opening of the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Wednesday
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2025

Ishiba unveils new regional economic initiative as TICAD 9 conference begins

The initiative is designed to enhance economic ties between the African continent and regions linking it with India.
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.
A Ukrainian serviceman fires a self-propelled howitzer toward Russian troops near a front line in the Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Russia says talks on Ukraine's security without Moscow are a 'road to nowhere'

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov sounded the warning to the West as it scrambles to work out guarantees for Kyiv's future protection.
A tourist enjoys the Ras Hankorab beach in the Red Sea Wadi Al-Gemal protectorate in southern Egypt. The local environment is under threat amid development projects.
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 21, 2025

Tourism deal puts one of Egypt's last wild shores at risk

The shadowy contract, which allows for the construction of a resort on one of the country's last undisturbed Red Sea beaches, was halted but not permanently canceled.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby visits BlackSea Technology facilities to view a drone test in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025

The U.S. Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.

A recent naval test designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats ended in failure due to software glitches and human error.
A Shein distribution center in Whitestown, Indiana, on April 8. Shein and other e-commerce sites originating from China are believed to have taken advantage of duty exemption systems of other countries to export goods of modest value in small lots.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 21, 2025

Duty exemptions for low-value imports face review amid exploitation

An expert panel at the government's Tax Commission has noted that overseas sellers of inexpensive goods effectively exploit tax exemption systems for small-ticket item imports.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Russian President Vladimir Putin at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska on Aug. 15. Trump says Putin has agreed to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Trump touts his diplomatic record, but the results are mixed

Although the U.S. president has sought to broker peace in conflicts around the world, he's struggled to secure firm settlements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left) and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni shake hands during a joint news conference following their meeting at the Chigi Palace in Rome on May 13.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Meloni offers plan to aid Ukraine in a day if Russia resumes war

The Italian prime minister is pushing for a proposal that amounts to a NATO-like collective defense clause, but doesn’t come with actual membership in the alliance.
A building where, according to Syrian security forces and residents, U.S. forces took part in a predawn raid that targeted a member of the Islamic State group, a U.S. official and a Syrian security source said, in Atmeh, Syria, on Wednesday
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025

Senior IS member killed in U.S. military operation in Syria, official says

It was the second known raid in northern Syria by U.S. troops since former President Bashar Assad was ousted in December.
A common house mosquito in the eastern suburbs of Paris on Aug. 12. A record number of outbreaks of mosquito-borne illnesses have been reported in Europe.
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2025

Record number of mosquito-borne disease outbreaks in Europe: health agency

Climate change is causing longer and more intense transmission seasons for mosquito-borne diseases in Europe.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba shakes hands with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis in Alberta, Canada, on June 17.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 21, 2025

Can Ishiba and South Korea’s Lee keep the hatchet buried?

The South Korean leader's unprecedented visit Saturday will highlight to what extent he has put his hard-line Japan views in the rearview mirror.
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.
Gable Steveson of the United States poses with his gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Aug. 6, 2021.
OLYMPICS / Wrestling
Aug 21, 2025

Olympic champion wrestler Steveson set for MMA debut

Steveson won a gold medal in the super heavyweight category at the Tokyo Olympics four years ago.
An illustration of a colony of the Bordetella pertussis bacterium that causes pertussis, or whooping cough. As of Aug. 10, there were 64,467 cases reported this year, according to the latest data from the Japan Institute for Health Security.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Aug 21, 2025

Infectious diseases to watch for in Japan this summer amid surge of cases

Experts believe a recent surge in infections is due to relaxed hygiene measures, drug-resistant bacteria and lowered immunity levels amid extreme heat.
A girl uses her smartphone as she walks her dog in Moscow on July 30.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

Online behavior under scrutiny as Russia hunts 'extremists'

Internet users who search for web pages, books, artwork or music albums that the authorities deem extremist will be fined under new legislation.
Vanitha Anand Bhat, 43, who works with her husband, Raya Anand Bhat, 48, pours coconut oil into a plastic bottle inside their small coconut mill in Kochi, India, on July 23.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 21, 2025

Humble coconut oil turns into a luxury on rising demand, shrinking output

Output across major producer nations, from India to Southeast Asia, has been disrupted by lower rainfall and extended heat, as well as pests and disease.
Artistically talented 14-year-old Sosuke (Konosuke Harada) finds himself pulled into deeper currents in his coastal town in “Seaside Serendipity.”
CULTURE / Film
Aug 22, 2025

‘Seaside Serendipity’: A pastel-soaked reverie on youthful creativity

Satoko Yokohama’s film blends watercolor whimsy, bohemian houseguests and a school newspaper scoop gone too far into a youth-skewed summer tale.
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.
A pop-up advertisement for the newly opened Chiikawa Park in Tokyo's Ikebukuro neighborhood demonstrates how the country is chockful of cute characters — to the detriment of trends like Labubu.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 23, 2025

Character-crazed Japan has little appetite for Labubu

The monster dolls may be driving fans wild elsewhere, but Japan has long had plenty of its own domestically produced characters that know exactly what consumers want.
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.
Displaced Palestinian women fleeing the northern Gaza Strip ride with their belongings as they head south, in Gaza City, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 22, 2025

Netanyahu says Israel to resume Gaza negotiations to end war and free hostages

The statement is the Israeli prime minister's first response to a temporary ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar that Hamas has accepted.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks with the media at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in May.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 22, 2025

In huge win for Trump, court throws out half-billion-dollar fraud penalty

The deeply divided decision by the Appellate Division in Manhattan is also a defeat for New York Attorney General Letitia James, one of Trump's biggest foes.
Nissan's popular "<i>kei</i> car" Roox is seen displayed outside the company's global headquarters in Yokohama in November.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 22, 2025

Nissan updates popular 'kei car' as it revamps aging lineup

The fourth-generation Roox, better mileage, more safety features and built-in connectivity, will go on sale by the end of the year for ¥1.6 million.
The Finance Ministry plans to set the provisional interest rate on government bonds at 2.6% for the next fiscal year, the highest level in 17 years, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 22, 2025

Japan eyes 2.6% provisional rate for government bonds in FY2026, Yomiuri says

The rate for interest payments on such bonds will be the highest in 17 years.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years