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A manhole card and a manhole cover featuring characters from "Sailor Moon," on Feb. 10. The cards were handed out by Tokyo's Minato Ward, where the series is set.
JAPAN
May 4, 2025

Manhole cover designs recognized as tourism assets in Japan

The initiative to create specially designed manhole covers began as a public relations campaign to improve the image of the sewage industry.
People gather to protest outside the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) headquarters after the Elon Musk-led "department of government efficiency" (DOGE) was charged with oversight of OPM, in Washington on Feb. 2.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

100 days of DOGE: lots of chaos, not so much efficiency

"DOGE is not a serious exercise," said Jessica Riedl, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a fiscally conservative think tank that supports streamlining government.
A Doctors Without Borders nurse conducts a malaria test on a young Sudanese refugee suffering from malnutrition, at the group's hospital at the Touloum refugee camp in the Wadi Fira province, Chad, on April 11.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

U.S. aid cuts create 'perfect storm' for malaria in Africa

Experts warn that U.S. funding cuts could lead to an upsurge in the disease across Africa and beyond.
John Phelan at a Senate confirmation hearing for U.S. secretary of the navy in Washington in February
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

U.S. secretary of the navy weighs ‘dual-use’ shipbuilding with Japan

Washington’s idea appears to be aimed at attracting investment from allies to strengthen the U.S. shipbuilding industry and start closing the gap with Beijing.
Apartments in the district of Miyazato in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, where many students live
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
May 12, 2025

Rents soar in northern Okinawa ahead of Junglia theme park opening

While large-scale hiring may help to revitalize the area, it is also creating a housing supply shortage, affecting students and others who are moving in.
Despite China’s 30-year propaganda campaign that peace would be ensured if cross-strait disputes were settled internally, Beijing’s actual behaviors suggest otherwise.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2025

Placating China won't prevent it from invading Taiwan

Many Taiwanese misperceive China’s rational logic behind potential invasion risks, influenced by Beijing’s propaganda and exacerbated by Taiwan's current political landscape.
Rows of coffee and tea plants at the Tianyuzhuang coffee plantation in Pu'er, in China's southwest Yunnan province, on April 1.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 28, 2025

Chinese tea hub branches into coffee as tastes change

For centuries, Pu'er in Yunnan province has given its name to a type of richly fermented tea, but growers are increasingly branching out into a historic rival.
People line up outside a polling station to vote in Canada's federal election, in Toronto on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

Canada votes as Trump renews U.S. takeover push

Trump put himself into Canadian politics again with a social media post saying Canada would face "ZERO TARIFFS" if it "becomes the cherished 51st state."
A man places a lit candle at a vigil at 41st and Fraser street in Vancouver on Sunday, a day after a car drove into a crowd during the Lapu Lapu Festival, killing at least 11. The suspect in the attack has been charged with murder.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2025

Filipino 'caring culture' hit hard by Canada truck-ramming that killed 11

Many have carved out their place in Canada by raising other people's children while others tend to the elderly or have found careers as medical technicians.
U.S. President Donald Trump faces the enormous challenge of implementing the cavalcade of executive orders he has enacted.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

‘Welcome to the Thunderdome’: Inside the dizzying start of Trump 2.0

The administration's breakneck speed is both one of the administration’s most effective tools and most glaring vulnerabilities.
Sony is considering spinning off its semiconductor unit, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2025

Sony weighs chip spinoff that Dan Loeb called for years ago

The chip business makes industry-leading image sensors that go into cameras inside Apple and Xiaomi phones.
Christophe Lemaire rides Admire Daytona, who was bred in Japan, during the UAE Derby at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on April 5.
MORE SPORTS / Horse Racing
Apr 29, 2025

Could this be Japan’s year at the Kentucky Derby?

Japan has made great strides in thoroughbred racing, and many feel it is no longer a question of "if" a Japanese horse will win the event but "when."
Palestinian girls look at the rubble after Israeli strikes in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2025

Amnesty accuses Israel of 'live-streamed genocide' in Gaza

In its annual report, Amnesty charged that Israel had acted with "specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide."
Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "every effort to treat the injured" at a restaurant fire in northeastern China that killed 22 people.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 29, 2025

Northeast China restaurant fire kills 22: state media

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for "every effort to treat the injured" at a restaurant fire in northeastern China that killed 22 people.
A drone view shows the car market in Sarmada town, Idlib, Syria, on March 17.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2025

A tale of two Syrias: Free-market opening sows resentment of new rulers

Bashar Assad's mismanagement helped push the country of 24 million into an economic tailspin, amid Western sanctions and brutal civil war.
Indian tourists wearing traditional Kashmiri dress pose for a photograph in Pahalgam south of Srinagar on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2025

Kashmir's youth worry about future as recent attack hits tourism

More than half of the tourist destinations in the region have been closed from Tuesday as part of broader measures taken after the attack.
Men load solar panels on a rickshaw at a market in Karachi, Pakistan, on March 26.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2025

Pakistan's solar revolution leaves its middle class behind

Solar made up over 14% of Pakistan's power supply last year, up from 4% in 2021.
Tetsuya Yamaguchi at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on April 8
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 30, 2025

How a Japanese fraud group ran scams from Southeast Asia

Police suspect that Tetsuya Yamaguchi, who was arrested on April 8 after being deported from Thailand, was involved in fraud totaling at least ¥3 billion ($21.1 million).
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers speak to reporters in parliament on Wednesday after submitting a bill in the Lower House to allow married couples to retain different surnames.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 30, 2025

CDP submits bill proposal on separate surnames, but challenges remain

Japan remains the only country in the world that forces couples to use one surname after marriage.
Public transportation ridership across the U.S. hasn’t yet returned to its pre-COVID peak.
WORLD
Apr 30, 2025

A $6 billion shortfall has U.S. mass transit facing a death spiral

The Trump administration is drastically reining in federal spending, creating fear of job losses that could again decimate ridership.
Tapple, one of Japan's most popular dating apps, has launched the nation's first feature to verify a user's single status via their My Number card.
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2025

Single, or not? Japanese dating app launches relationship verification system

With Tapple boasting over 20 million users, worries about dishonest relationship statuses were common.
Spectators gather during a parade to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the fall of Saigon, in Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Apr 30, 2025

Vietnam's Generation Z captivated by 50-year-old military victory

Communist Vietnam's tightly-controlled state media has pumped out a barrage of positive messaging about the anniversary.
Police officers work on-site a day after a deadly shooting at Vaksala Square in Uppsala, Sweden, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 1, 2025

Sweden arrests teen after triple killing

Swedish police have arrested a teen suspect after three youths between the ages of 15 to 20 were killed in a shooting at a hair salon on Tuesday.
People observe smoke from wildfires in Neve Ilan, Israel, on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 1, 2025

Israel's Netanyahu warns wildfires could reach Jerusalem

The wildfires have injured several people, and the military has deployed troops to help firefighters.
Indian paramilitary troopers stand guard in Srinagar, in India-administered Jammu and Kahsmir, on Wednesday following a terrorist attack near the Kashmiri mountain resort of Pahalgam. According to Pakistani officials, New Delhi is preparing a military response.
COMMENTARY / World
May 1, 2025

India-Pakistan ties on the brink after Kashmir attack

New Delhi has downgraded ties with Pakistan in response to the Kashmir terror attack. But what could really bite is the suspension of a water treaty and possible military action.
Environment Minister Keiichiro Asao attends a memorial service for Minamata disease victims in Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture on Thursday.
JAPAN
May 1, 2025

Victims mourned 69 years after Minamata disease recognition

There were 2,284 certified patients of Minamata disease in Kumamoto Prefecture and neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture as of the end of March.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

Trump ousts White House national security adviser Waltz, replacing him with Rubio

Waltz was blamed for adding the editor of The Atlantic to a private thread describing details of an imminent U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen.
People take part in the European Defense Tech Hub hackathon in Amsterdam on March 28.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025

Mission before money: How Europe's defense startups are luring AI talent

A sense of patriotism stirred by the war in Ukraine and U.S. President Donald Trump's upending of security alliances is a motivation for many.
Hiroshi Matsumoto, a professor at the University of Osaka who has performed autopsies on bodies suspected to have been involved in criminal cases, believes it's of the utmost importance to nurture people who can do such work.
JAPAN
May 2, 2025

Osaka institute nurtures forensic pathologists amid a low autopsy rate

Even though the number of forensic pathologists is on the rise, there were only 173 such people nationwide as of April last year, with nine prefectures having just one each.
“‘Future of life,’ by Ishiguro,” the World Expo pavilion by roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro, displays humanlike androids.
LIFE / Travel
May 2, 2025

Want to see the future at the Osaka Expo? Get in line.

Androids and lab-grown heart cells: A dispatch from the world fair.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’