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People carry a portable shrine at Sensoji temple during the Sanja Festival in May. The festival is one of the three largest in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language
Jul 5, 2025

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?

Fireworks and festivals are part of the traditional Japanese summer, but what do people associate with the season these days?
Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 5, 2025

Powell's silence on his future complicates Trump Fed chair search

The Fed chief has repeatedly declined to say whether he will step down when his four-year term as chair expires in May, or remain on the Fed board.
The flooded Guadalupe River in Kerrville, Texas, on Friday.
WORLD
Jul 5, 2025

At least 24 dead in Texas flash flooding, with two dozen young campers missing

Among the missing were 23 to 25 people listed as unaccounted for at an all-girls Christian summer camp located on the banks of the rain-engorged Guadalupe River.
Children play video games on their mobile phones at an internet cafe in Demoso township in Myanmar's eastern Karenni state.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 5, 2025

Making connections in Myanmar's fractured state

Four years of civil war between Myanmar's military and its myriad opponents have shattered communications networks.
A swimmer dives in into the River Seine in Paris on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 5, 2025

'Childhood dream': Seine reopens to Paris swimmers after centurylong ban

The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Debris is piled up following flash flooding in Kerrville, Texas, on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2025

Search for missing girls continues as Texas flood toll rises to at least 50

The flooding began Friday — the start of the fourth of July holiday weekend — as months' worth of rain fell in a matter of hours.
Israeli people look toward smoke rising in the Gaza Strip, as they sit at a viewing point on the Israeli side of the border on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Israel agrees to Gaza truce talks

Ahead of the negotiations, the Israeli prime minister said Hamas' proposals for changes to a draft U.S.-backed ceasefire deal were "unacceptable."
Xu Pengcheng (right), model Mao Yi and Nono walk along a corridor inside an abandoned hotel in Shanghai on May 24.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2025

China's abandoned buildings draw urban explorers despite risks

Urban exploration is growing in popularity in China, where a yearslong property sector crisis has left many cities dotted with empty buildings.
Private companies are rushing into risky, profit-driven geoengineering projects to fight climate change without clear regulations, raising fears of dangerous unintended consequences.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

Geoengineering’s risks need to be studied more

With for-profit organizations already releasing chemicals into the oceans, it’s important for scientists with no financial stake in this industry to collect data.
Members from Texas Game Wardens of the Law Enforcement Divison works following flash flooding, in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday.
WORLD
Jul 7, 2025

Searchers scour Texas flood zone for dozens missing as 78 confirmed dead

Search teams plodded through mud-laden riverbanks and flew aircraft over the flood-stricken landscape of central Texas for a fourth day on Monday, looking for dozens of people still missing from a disaster that has claimed at least 78 lives.
The Culver City Express Car Wash remains closed after a raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained many of its workers in Culver City, California, on June 11.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2025

Immigration raids derail Los Angeles economy as workers go into hiding

Few places in the U.S. are feeling the shock as acutely as Los Angeles, a longtime sanctuary city and home to one of the nation’s largest migrant labor forces.
A drone view shows part of a fence, put in place by Israeli authorities, in Sinjil, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 5.
WORLD
Jul 7, 2025

West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in

The fence around Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is a stark example of barriers that have become an overwhelming feature of daily life.
People hold candles as they take part in a vigil for the victims of the floods over Fourth of July weekend, at Travis Park, in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 8, 2025

Hopes fade for missing Texas flood victims as death toll hovers around 100

Hopes dimmed of finding survivors among dozens still missing from the disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives.
Palestinians collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

Proposal outlines large-scale 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' for Palestinians in Gaza

One source said the plan, which calls the camps "large-scale" and "voluntary" places for the Gazan population, was recently discussed in the White House.
Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been recruiting top artificial intelligence engineers for the company’s new superintelligence division.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025

Apple loses top AI models executive to Meta’s hiring spree

The departure of Ruoming Pang marks another setback in the iPhone maker’s struggling efforts in the emerging space.
A satellite image shows an overview of new rare-earth mines in Myanmar's Shan state on May 6.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

China risks global heavy rare-earth supply to stop Myanmar rebel victory

China has threatened to halt buying the minerals mined in KIA-controlled territory unless the Kachin Independence Army stops trying to seize full control of a key town.
Tobias Bieker settled in Osaka in 2018 and started "Unpacking Japan" as a side project with ZenGroup five years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2025

Tobias Bieker: ‘A good interviewer helps the guest shine’

The host of the "Unpacking Japan" podcast offers his take on Osaka life, Japanese jazz and writing fiction.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi (center) during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Tuesday. Bondi had assured Fox News she had a client list of financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein on her desk in remarks endorsed by the White House.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Trump faces MAGA meltdown over Epstein reversal

The shutting down of conspiracy theories surrounding a purported client list of the notorious sex offender has sparked backlash from the U.S. president's support base.
Political parties have pledged to reduce social security premiums and raise salaries for medical and nursing care workers in their campaigning for the upcoming Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Premiums and wages at heart of social security debate ahead of Upper House vote

Social security premiums in Japan grew from ¥26.7 trillion in fiscal 2000 to ¥40.7 trillion in fiscal 2022.
Alan Bates, a former branch manager who led the fight for justice, has said the compensation process has "turned into quasi-kangaroo courts."
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

U.K. post office scandal may have caused 13 suicides: inquiry

The Post Office wrongfully prosecuted around 1,000 subpostmasters — self-employed branch managers — between 1999 and 2015.
Speculation about Xi Jinping losing his grip on power misreads China’s digital authoritarianism, which uses algorithmic control and emotional scripting to absorb dissent and reinforce the Chinese Communist Party’s power in the information age.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2025

Online dissent in China doesn’t mean Xi is on his way out

Don’t be fooled by viral posts. The CCP allows and even encourages certain forms of online dissent — all part of its digital authoritarianism.
Search and rescue crews look through piles of debris in Kerrville, Texas, on Sunday following a flash flood.
WORLD
Jul 10, 2025

Rescuers search for 160 missing Texas flood victims

Officials say no one has been found alive since July 4, when the flash flood arrived in the predawn hours.
Rare earth magnets in Baotou, China. India is planning to spur local production of rare-earth magnets to cut its reliance on China.
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2025

India plans to kickstart rare-earth magnet output to cut China reliance

China's tightening of export controls on rare earths amid a trade war with the U.S. has disrupted supply chains for global carmakers, including those operating in India.
A Beijing store selling merchandise based on the "boys’ love" genre of graphic novels on June 16
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jul 10, 2025

China detains female writers of 'boys' love' content in porn crackdown

The detentions since March have triggered debate on social media about the limits of free speech and the apparent sexist nature of the crackdown.
Meta hired Ruoming Pang, who ran Apple’s AI models team, with a pay package in the hundreds of millions over a several-year period, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 10, 2025

Meta poached Apple’s Pang with pay package of over $200 million

Apple didn’t try to match Meta's offer to engineer Ruoming Pang as it far exceeded pay at the company for leaders other than CEO Tim Cook.
A member of the Nepalese army airlifts people stranded during the flood at Bhote Koshi River in Nepal on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 10, 2025

Tibetan glacial lake drainage triggered deadly flood in Nepal, climate body says

At least 19 people are still missing in Nepal following the flood.
Police officers stand guard as people take part in a protest against the arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu as part of a corruption investigation, in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality building in Istanbul on March 26.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2025

Hundreds of Erdogan opponents detained in claimed corruption crackdown

The probe has targeted only municipalities run by the main opposition Republican People's Party, the party of modern Turkey's secularist founder.
A police officer at the site of a Russian airstrike which hit a residential building in Kyiv on Thursday
WORLD
Jul 11, 2025

Trump says U.S. to supply weapons to Ukraine via NATO

The U.S. president also said that he would make a "major statement" on Russia on Monday, though he declined to elaborate.
Racing Bulls team principal Laurent Mekies speaks with Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda ahead of practice for the Miami Grand Prix on May 2. Mekies was named Red Bull team principal on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Jul 11, 2025

Laurent Mekies gets started new Red Bull team principal

Max Verstappen's future with the team remains uncertain, despite a contract until 2028, with Mercedes and Aston Martin keen to secure his services.
The ruling is far from the last word in the legal battle over U.S. President Donald Trump's order, which he signed in January on his first day back in office.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 11, 2025

Judge blocks Trump's birthright citizenship order after Supreme Court ruling

The judge made use of an exception to overcome the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling that restricted the ability of judges to block policies nationwide.

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