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The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to make the cost of base service fees in water utility bills free during the summer, hoping the financial support will allow residents to turn on their air conditioners and protect themselves against heatstroke.
JAPAN / Society
May 20, 2025

Tokyo to cover cost of base service fees for water utilities through summer

By lowering utility fees, the metropolitan government hopes to give residents a sense of security that they can accommodate other necessary expenses.
Kimihiro Matsuzaki prepares dishes at his half-century-old restaurant, Yanagi, in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jun 2, 2025

Profitable Fukushima companies closing due to lack of successors

According to Teikoku Databank, more than a third of the companies that went out of business in the prefecture in 2024 were in the black.
Agriculture minister Taku Eto (left), who resigned on Wednesday, and former Environment Minister Shinjiro Koizumi
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2025

Shinjiro Koizumi takes farm ministry reins after predecessor's rice gaffe

Taku Eto resigned from the post after coming under fire for bragging about how much rice his supporters give him.
Military vehicles drive their way from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border into the Gaza Strip, as seen from Israel on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 21, 2025

Airstrikes kill dozens in Gaza as international criticism of Israel grows

The war, now in its 20th month, has left Gaza in ruins and its population facing a worsening hunger crisis.
Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate for South Korea's Democratic Party, gestures during an election campaign rally in Seoul on Monday. Officials in Tokyo are closely watching Lee’s remarks for hints of how bilateral relations could shift if he is elected.
JAPAN / Politics
May 21, 2025

South Korean presidential front-runner says he's not hostile toward Japan

Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung has in recent months sought to highlight a more centrist agenda ahead of the presidential election.
Born and raised in Japan, Joshua Thomson has been making videos on YouTube and Instagram to poke fun at stereotypes and challenge assumptions about — or from — Japanese society.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 23, 2025

Joshua Thomson: ‘Comedy is a pill that’s easier to swallow’

The bilingual YouTuber talks about his hybrid cultural heritage and his aspirations in the entertainment industry.
SoftBank Group’s investments in AI will be financed through a loan in which Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and JPMorgan Chase serve as lead underwriters, highlighting the Japanese tech investor's ability to secure funding for its outsize ambitions.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 21, 2025

SoftBank taps Mizuho, SMBC and JPMorgan to lead $15 billion loan

The move is a sign of the Japanese tech investor’s ability to secure financing for its outsize ambitions.
The focus of the election in Tokyo next month will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
JAPAN
May 21, 2025

More than 270 candidates to run in Tokyo assembly election

The focus of the election will be whether the Liberal Democratic Party can remain the biggest force in the 127-seat assembly.
U.S. President Donald Trump hands papers to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2025

Trump accuses South Africa of white genocide in Oval Office meeting

The carefully choreographed onslaught against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa was reminiscent of his February ambush of Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 22, 2025

Israel open to 'temporary ceasefire' in Gaza to free hostages, Netanyahu says

The remarks come as international pressure intensified over Israel's renewed offensive and aid blockade in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Jony Ive, left, is collaborating with OpenAI’s Sam Altman as part of a nearly $6.5 billion deal.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2025

OpenAI to buy AI startup from Apple veteran Jony Ive in $6.5 billion deal

The purchase — the largest in OpenAI’s history — will provide the company with a dedicated unit for developing AI-powered devices.
Thai film "A Useful Ghost" won top prize in the Critics' Week sidebar section of the Cannes film festival.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 22, 2025

LGBTQ Thai ghost story wins prize in Cannes

Film director Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke says he hoped his LGBTQ story could touch more on politics.
Erich Schreiber, born in Colonia Dignidad, poses for a picture on his bike near Parral, Maule Province, Chile on April 15.
WORLD / Society
May 22, 2025

Chile weighs future of charming German village with dark past

The Chilean state wants to turn the former home of a brutal cult into a memorial for the victims of the country's 1973-1990 dictatorship.
A man draped in the Israeli flag gestures as Metropolitan Police officers secure the area outside the Capital Jewish Museum following a shooting that left two people dead in Washington early Thursday morning.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 22, 2025

Two Israeli embassy staffers shot and killed outside Jewish museum in Washington

The gunman shouted "free Palestine," authorities said, with U.S. and Israeli leaders expressing shock and outrage over the killings.
A demonstration is held in Malawi as part of government efforts to pilot test the use of drones for humanitarian purposes, with assistance from UNICEF. As this and other technologies become more accessible, we must ensure their use advances sustainable development.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025

How efficiency can transform sustainable development

In our haste to improve efficiency, we can't ignore the interests of humanity. Democratizing access to AI and other technologies is a fundamental step in this direction.
The U.S. debt crisis can’t be fixed without reforming entitlements, and that means Americans must retire later and pay more in taxes.
COMMENTARY / World
May 22, 2025

To fix the U.S. debt problem, Americans must retire later

The House’s proposed $3.7 trillion tax bill isn’t what sparked that Moody’s downgrade — it was the runaway growth of entitlement spending.
A candlelight vigil is held in Lafayette Square in Washington on Thursday following the fatal shooting of two employees of the Israeli Embassy.
WORLD
May 23, 2025

Israeli embassy staffers killed in U.S. aspired to Middle East bridge-building

The staffers were shot as they left an annual event for young Jewish diplomats, this year focusing on resolving humanitarian crises in the Middle East.
Palestinian workers pack bread in a bakery that returned to operations after being closed due to a flour shortage, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD
May 23, 2025

Some flour reaches Gaza as blockade eases, with aid groups calling for more

Israel imposed the blockade on all supplies in March, saying Hamas was seizing deliveries for its fighters — a charge the group denies.
Team Penske driver Will Power climbs into his car during practice for the Indianapolis 500 on Monday in Indianapolis, Indiana.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
May 23, 2025

Team Penske ready to move past scandal and focus on Indy 500

Team Penske fired three senior executives days before the Indy 500 after an illegally modified spec part was found on two of the team's cars.
Ukrainian prisoner of war Oleksandr embraces his wife, Olena, as he returns after a swap, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, at an undisclosed location in Ukraine on Friday.
WORLD
May 24, 2025

Ukraine and Russia exchange 390 prisoners in first stage of swap

The two sides began a major prisoner exchange Friday, which if completed would be the biggest swap since Moscow invaded more than three years ago.
Visitors walk along Nakamise-dori as they visit Sensoji temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district in March.
JAPAN
May 24, 2025

Travelers avoid trips to Japan over viral comic book’s quake prediction

Ryo Tatsuki, whom some claim predicted Japan’s 2011 earthquake, gives July 2025 as the date of the impending event in a 1999 graphic novel.
Mervat Hijazi washes clothes inside the tent they took shelter in after being displaced in Gaza City.
WORLD / Society
May 24, 2025

Diary of a Gazan family's descent toward starvation

The family's plight is a snapshot of the misery plaguing the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.
Migrants wait to disembark from the port of Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, in July 2024.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 24, 2025

Boat driver arrests up as EU eyes tighter smuggling laws

NGO's argue that the focus should shift from pursuing boat drivers to prosecuting criminal organizations.
Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa (right) meets with Tom Barrack, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and a special envoy to Syria, in Istanbul on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Syria reboots interior ministry as Damascus seeks to reassure West

Keen to reboot and rebuild nearly 14 years after a devastating civil war began, the new authorities have hailed Washington's lifting of U.S. sanctions.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to deliver the commencement address at the graduation ceremony at the U.S. Military Academy West Point in West Point, New York, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2025

Trump 'on brand' with anti-woke rant at army officer graduation

The U.S. president's speech at the West Point Military Academy veered between attacks on transgender people and DEI policies to slamming his predecessors.
Rescuers transport a covered body in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip on Friday.
WORLD
May 25, 2025

Rescuers say nine children of Gaza doctor couple killed in Israeli strike

Israel has recently stepped up its campaign in Gaza drawing international criticism and calls to allow in more supplies after it eased a total aid blockade imposed on March 2.
Posters, flowers, and letters are placed at a memorial honoring victims of police violence in George Floyd Square in Minneapolis on May 18.
WORLD / Society
May 25, 2025

George Floyd's uncertain legacy is marked five years on

Americans on Sunday mark five years since George Floyd was killed by a U.S. police officer, as President Donald Trump backtracks on reforms designed to tackle racism.
Modern pentathlete Ayumu Saito competes in the laser run at nationals in 2022.
MORE SPORTS / Modern Pentathlon
May 25, 2025

2028 Olympic hopeful giving modern pentathlon some time in the sun in Japan

As modern pentathlon takes on a Japanese flavor with a "Sasuke"-inspired event, Ayumu Saito is working to raise the sport’s profile in Japan.
People watch as smoke billows following an Israeli strike in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Israeli military aims to take over 75% of Gaza within two months

The Israeli military already controls about 40% of Gaza.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrive for a "Coalition of the Willing" news conference at St. Mary's Palace in Kyiv on May 10.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2025

How can Europe maintain a supply of weapons for Ukraine? Buy American

Such a move would force the U.S. president to pick between his desire to avoid antagonizing his Russian counterpart against his wish to bring in more cash.

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’