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Sen. Cory Booker, a Democrat from New Jersey, speaks to reporters after surpassing the record for the longest Senate speech at the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD
Apr 2, 2025

Cory Booker condemns Trump’s policies in longest senate speech on record

Cheers broke out in the chamber when the senator passed Strom Thurmond's record for longest speech.
Declining birth rates in China are driven by a myriad of causes, such as a shrinking childbearing-age population, lifestyle changes, the one-child policy’s lasting effects, an oversupply of men and high youth unemployment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 30, 2025

Why China’s marriage crisis matters

According to China’s 2020 census, 61% of babies are born to women aged 20 to 30. But the number of women in this cohort dropped from 111 million in 2012 to 73 million in 2024.
People line up for food aid in Sagaing, Myanmar, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 3, 2025

Myanmar quake toll tops 3,000 as weather poses threat for rescuers

Rains will add to the challenges faced by aid and rescue groups, which have called for access to all affected areas despite the strife of civil war.
Michael Johnson (center) believes Grand Slam Track will be a landmark moment for track and field.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Apr 3, 2025

Michael Johnson's ambitious Grand Slam Track series prepares for first event

The circuit gets under way in Kingston on Friday.
Rescue teams from China and Belarus coordinate at the site of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 3, 2025

With U.S. absent, China steps in for earthquake-hit Myanmar

The American absence shows how U.S. President Donald Trump's moves to slash the size of the government has hobbled its ability to act during disasters.
Anti-Yoon protesters react after the Constitutional Court's verdict on the impeachment of South Korea President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 4, 2025

South Korea upholds Yoon impeachment, prompting snap election within 60 days

The move, while deepening a divide in South Korea between conservative and progressive voters, could also have broad implications for relations with neighboring Japan.
Unexploded U.S. military ordnance found in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 24
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2025

Unexploded ordnance still haunts Okinawa 80 years after WWII battle

Despite decades of clearance efforts, roughly 1,900 metric tons of deadly remnants are estimated to remain buried beneath the land.
Momoka Matsui and her co-worker Saki Matsumoto take photos of acrylic stand figure models of their favorite idols with cakes and teas, which they ordered at a Tokyo cafe where Matsui’s favorite boy band stopped by.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 5, 2025

Can Japan's take on fandom help drive spending?

The explosion of "oshikatsu" (supporting favored celebrities or characters), which entered the mainstream during the pandemic, has economists and the Bank of Japan taking note.
Tokyo Humanities Cafe was launched in 2017 by Laurence Williams (left) and Alex Watson, professors at Sophia and Meiji Universities, respectively.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Apr 7, 2025

Tokyo Humanities Cafe feeds hungry minds

A free quarterly event invites everyone to explore what it means to be human.
Since April marks the start of a new fiscal period in Japan, there is a good chance you’ll be meeting new colleagues this month.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Apr 5, 2025

Meeting new colleagues and introducing yourself in Japanese

Get off on the right foot at work or school with a few set phrases that are easy to memorize.
An activist holds a picture of Myanmar's junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, during a protest against his visit to Thailand and attending the 6th BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 5, 2025

Myanmar junta chief meets foreign leaders; U.N. says military choking aid

The U.N. said his military was limiting humanitarian aid following the earthquake that killed over 3,100 people amid civil war.
National Security Agency Director Gen. Timothy Haugh testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on worldwide threats, on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 25.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Democrats slam Trump's dismissal of NSA chief

Far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer is reported to have pushed for the dismissal of NSA chief Timothy Haugh.
A doctor administers COVID-19 vaccinations to members of the Latino community in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, in August 2021.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2025

As U.S. ditches diversity in clinical trials, all eyes on Europe

The United States once led the world in running clinical trials that aimed to look like the nation at large.
The inner monologue has proven extremely difficult to study because it relies on people being able to describe how they think — and it turns out we are unreliable narrators.
WORLD / Science & Health
Apr 5, 2025

'I don't have a voice in my head': Life with no inner monologue

The inner monologue has proven extremely difficult to study because it relies on people being able to describe how they think.
Protesters hold up signs during a demonstration against U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday. Scores of protests were held across the country the same day.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2025

Tens of thousands in U.S. turn out to protest against Trump policies

Some 1,200 demonstrations nationwide formed one of the largest single days of protest against President Donald Trump since he was sworn in.
People embrace at the site of a deadly Russian missile strike on a residential area, where multiple children and adults were killed, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, on Saturday.
WORLD
Apr 6, 2025

Zelenskyy slams 'weak' U.S. response to Russian strike on his hometown

The missile strike on his hometown killed 18 people, including nine children.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet (center) walks past honor guards during the inauguration ceremony for the the modernized Ream Naval Base in Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 6, 2025

Cambodia hails opening of naval base renovated by China

The U.S. has said the base could give Beijing a key strategic position in the Gulf of Thailand near the disputed South China Sea.
A rescue worker walks past construction equipment being used to clear rubble at the site of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 6, 2025

Rains add to challenge for Myanmar quake relief as toll tops 3,470

The death toll from the powerful quake that hit on March 28 rose to 3,471, state media reported, with 4,671 people injured and another 214 still missing.
As the 80th anniversary of the end of the Pacific War approaches, the U.S.-Japan alliance faces a new turning point, with both Japan Society and the International House of Japan ready to play crucial roles in strengthening cultural and diplomatic ties amid global geopolitical shifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 6, 2025

How the U.S. and Japan can keep partnering for the future

Today, we are at another turning point. The world confronts another major season of geopolitical changes — not seen since the 1950s or the 1920s.
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Longform
Apr 7, 2025

Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it

Outdated government policy, changing diets and even an earthquake scare have had an impact on the national food staple.
Ozgur Ozel, leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), has been thrust into the limelight in the few weeks since the jailing of Istanbul Mayor Ozgur Ozel, a member of his party seen as the only politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Ozgur Ozel: From low-key opposition to face of Turkey protests

Until now the relatively low-profile head of the country's main opposition party, Ozel has been thrust into the limelight, both at home and abroad.
Afghan refugees walk through a refugee camp in Islamabad on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

'No one to return to': Afghans fear Pakistan deportation

Islamabad announced at the start of March that 800,000 Afghan Citizen Cards would be canceled.
President Donald Trump outside the White House in Washington on Thursday. The 22nd Amendment is clear: President Trump has to give up his office after his second term. But his refusal to accept that underscores how far he is willing to consider going to consolidate power.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 7, 2025

Trump's third term talk defies constitution and tests democracy

The fact that Trump has inserted the idea into the national conversation illustrates the uncertainty about the future of America’s constitutional system.
To sustain growth, emerging and developing economies must boost productivity, increase labor-force participation (especially among women) and build stronger social support systems.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 7, 2025

Emerging economies must get rich before they get old

To sustain growth, emerging economies must boost productivity, increase labor-force participation — especially among women — and build stronger social support systems.
Carlos Alcaraz hits a shot during a match in Doha in February.
TENNIS
Apr 7, 2025

Carlos Alcaraz admits to struggling under pressure to reclaim top ranking

The 21-year-old Spaniard added that staying at world No. 3 has not come as a shock to him.
The Tokyo Detention Center in the capital's Katsushika Ward
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 13, 2025

Death penalty under renewed scrutiny in Japan

The punishment has broad public support in Japan, despite international criticism over how it is carried out.
A Haas F1 car on display in the fan zone at Suzuka Circuit on Saturday as Toyota marks a soft return to Formula One.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Apr 7, 2025

Toyota's synergy with Haas fuels automaker's modest return to Formula One

Toyota’s decision to partner with the American team immediately left observers wondering if it might have its eyes on more, such as an engine deal or a full-blown Toyota team.
A woman walks past campaign posters depicting Watson candidates Dr. Ziad Basyouny, an independent, and Tony Bourke, of Labor, in Lakemba, Australia, on March 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Bringing the war home: Gaza threatens to reshape an Australian election

The ruling Labor party, which has a razor-thin majority, is vulnerable in several seats where pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel voters make up a large proportion of the electorate.
Toyota is considering transferring some production in the key Tokai region, which is expected to be hit hard in a Nankai Trough earthquake, to the Tohoku and Kyushu regions.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Apr 8, 2025

Japanese makers rush to mitigate possible Nankai Trough earthquake damage

The government is calling on manufacturers to diversify their production bases and suppliers to mitigate the risks.
Rohingya refugees wait at the World Food Program (WFP) distribution center to purchase grocery items at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on March 15.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2025

Trump administration food aid cuts put millions at risk, aid sources say

The U.N. World Food Programme warned that the termination of U.S. funding for emergency food assistance "could amount to a death sentence" for millions.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan