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Now-U.S. President Donald Trump during a interview at his private club Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, on March, 4, 2024. Trump’s first four years in the White House were filled with falsehoods, and now he and those around him are using false claims to justify their policy changes.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 25, 2025

In his second term, Trump fuels a ‘machinery’ of misinformation

The president and his advisers have ushered the United States into a new era of post-truth politics, where facts are contested and fictions used to pursue policy goals.
A resident films a wildfire devastating a mountain in Uiseong, South Korea, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 25, 2025

South Korea struggles to contain deadly wildfires

More than a dozen different blazes broke out over the weekend, with the safety minister reporting thousands of hectares burned and four people killed.
Pigeons — and their droppings — can be extremely difficult to manage once they settle in.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
Mar 25, 2025

A new year, a new home and new unexpected guests: pigeons

They might seem harmless at first, but their droppings pose serious health risks to humans and the birds can be extremely difficult to manage once they settle in.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding global trade, there are some bright spots — namely, the booming trade in services, where the United States is leading the way.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 23, 2025

America’s big trade win

American workers are reaping the rewards. Services exports directly generated 4.1 million jobs in America in 2022, according to the U.S. International Trade Administration.
Beniko, a former sex worker-turned professional photographer, browses though her new photo book in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, on Feb. 10. The 52-year-old has set out to visually document Japan's pleasure districts.
JAPAN / Society
Mar 30, 2025

Former sex worker records Tokyo's red-light history

"I can't make up for lost time, but I want to document the sex industry as part of history," says Beniko.
Futures markets for computing power, driven by increasing demand from AI and other sectors, could help stabilize price volatility and create new investment opportunities, similar to how oil futures manage fluctuations in the energy market.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025

Computing power is going the way of oil in markets

One of the purposes of futures markets is to draw financial investors into the production process of commodities.
Currently, banks voluntarily set the upper limit on cash withdrawals from ATMs at ¥500,000 per day, with no legal regulations.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2025

Japan eyes ¥300,000 limit on daily ATM use for elderly

Currently, banks voluntarily set the upper limit on cash withdrawals from ATMs at ¥500,000 per day, with no legal regulations.
A helicopter drops water as they prepare for the possibility of a wildfire advancing towards Gounsa Temple in Uiseong, South Korea, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 26, 2025

Death toll in South Korea wildfires rises to 16

The casualties included four people who were trying to escape the fire but their vehicle was overturned.
A protestor waves a Turkish flag in front of riot police during a rally in Istanbul in support of its arrested mayor on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2025

Turkey protesters fill streets, defying crackdown

The demonstrations erupted after the arrest of the mayor of Istanbul Ekrem Imamoglu, the main political rival of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Tatsuo Hashida (second from right), head of a group representing victims who suffered from having given large donations to the Unification Church in Kochi Prefecture, speaks during a news conference in Kochi on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 26, 2025

Unification Church victims voice joy over stripping of group's legal status

The Tokyo District Court stripped the controversial group of its religious corporation status on Tuesday.
Ispace's Resilience lunar lander at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Tsukuba Space Center in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, in September
JAPAN / FOCUS
Mar 26, 2025

Japanese startups driving space development

Not only large companies but also emerging businesses are hurrying to conduct lunar exploration and commercialize transportation services using rockets.
Danish, Greenlandic and U.S. flags fly at the Danish armed forces' Arctic Command in Nuuk, Greenland, on March 14.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 26, 2025

U.S. visit puts 'unacceptable pressure' on Greenland: Denmark

The visit comes at a time of flux, with Greenland's political parties still negotiating a new coalition government after a March 11 general election.
Residents of Zamami, Okinawa Prefecture, attend a memorial ceremony on Wednesday, the 80th anniversary of the U.S. military's landing on the Kerama Islands during World War II.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025

Victims of Okinawa battle remembered on 80th anniversary of U.S. landing

Over 200,000 people, including civilians, were killed in ground battles on islands in Okinawa.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (bottom center) and other Trump administration officials mishandled security by discussing a military strike on a commercially available messaging app, exposing vulnerabilities and raising questions about poor judgment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2025

U.S. allies get a Signal chat’s worth of red flags

In the short term, that may have few real consequences. Although insulting, the administration’s assessment of Europe’s weak military capabilities is correct.
Students in South Korea sit the annual College Scholastic Ability Test. There is huge pressure on this exam, which determines young people's university choices and, in turn, their job and even marital prospects, leading to a heavy mental health burden.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2025

Entrance exam wars: A pressure cooker for South Korean youth

South Korea comes to a standstill on the day of the national university entrance exam. But so does students' possibility to determine their future paths beyond a mere test score.
Liu Zhenya and her daughter are escorted by police and immigration officers at Songshan Airport in Taipei on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 26, 2025

Chinese influencer forced to leave Taiwan for supporting invasion

Taiwan authorities ordered Liu Zhenya to leave because she posted videos supporting the idea of a Chinese military takeover.
Women and babies at the Zamzam displacement camp, close to al-Fashir in North Darfur, Sudan, in January 2024
WORLD / Society
Mar 26, 2025

Sudan's RSF squeezing relief supplies as famine spreads, aid workers say

The move puts hundreds of thousands of people in the western region of Darfur at greater risk of starvation.
A mars rock is packed before transport from the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo to Osaka, where it will be displayed at the 2025 World Exposition, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2025

Mars rock transported from Tokyo for Osaka Expo

The rock will be shown at the government's Japan Pavilion at the expo.
A wildfire burns on a hillside in Andong, South Korea, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 27, 2025

South Korea wildfires 'largest on record,' disaster chief says

More than a dozen fires broke out over the weekend, scorching wide swathes of the southeast, as the death toll rose to 26.
Iwao Hakamata, a wrongfully convicted death-row inmate who was acquitted last year through a retrial, and his sister Hideko after a news conference in Tokyo in November 2019. Hakamata won compensation from Japan this week.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Mar 27, 2025

Ex-judge fights Japan's 'unopenable door' retrial system

Hiroaki Murayama wants Japan's outdated retrial system to be fixed so that there will "be no more (Iwao) Hakamatas."
A member of a medical team takes a patient's blood pressure during an HIV clinic day in Kampala, Uganda, on Feb. 17.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 27, 2025

Trump’s foreign aid retreat guts funding for HIV treatments

The withdrawal is risking lives globally and threatening to unravel decades of progress made toward ending AIDS as a public health threat.
“The Wakey Show” is NHK’s first new daily children’s program in three years, and it carries on the station’s storied past in youth-centric educational entertainment.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Mar 27, 2025

Rise and shine with ‘The Wakey Show’

Broadcaster NHK's first new daily children’s show in years puts puppets and positivity up front.
OpenAI is close to finalizing a $40 billion funding round led by SoftBank Group, sources say.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2025

OpenAI close to finalizing $40 billion SoftBank-led funding

The artificial intelligence developer’s funding round would be the largest of all time, according to data compiled by research firm PitchBook.
Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing's CK Hutchison has entered into a deal with a BlackRock-led consortium to sell ports in Panama and elsewhere, putting his conglomerate’s flagship entity in the crosshairs of U.S.-China tensions.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 27, 2025

China pauses new deals with Li Ka-Shing family after Panama ports plan

The directive was issued to state-owned enterprises last week at the behest of senior Chinese officials.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pose for photos before their joint news conference at the Akasaka Palace state guest house in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 27, 2025

Brazilian leader's Tokyo visit lifts ties to new heights

The two leaders have adopted a five-year action plan and a flurry of agreements as the countries mark their 130th anniversary year of diplomatic relations.
Palestinians protest against the Hamas militant group in northern Gaza on Wednesday.
WORLD
Mar 28, 2025

Militants warn against helping Israel with Gaza protests

Hundreds of Palestinians have rallied in recent days in north and central Gaza, some chanting "Hamas out," in a rare show of opposition to the group.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 28, 2025

Myanmar junta chief to make rare trip abroad to Bangkok

Since seizing power in a February 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing has mostly only traveled to close allies Russia and China.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference on Thursday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 28, 2025

Japan unveils evacuation plan for Taiwan contingency

Under the plan, Fukuoka Prefecture will host the most evacuees, with 47,400 people.
While car production helped transform Germany, Italy and France after World War II, its influence in East Asia has been even more profound.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Mar 28, 2025

U.S. auto tariffs take aim at pillar of East Asian economies

Automakers form the nucleus of vast networks of group companies that impact almost every facet of working life in Japan and South Korea.
Shogo Yamaguchi shares his love of traditional Japanese culture with an audience of nearly 2 million YouTube subscribers.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Mar 29, 2025

Shogo Yamaguchi: ‘Traditional culture thrives in a peaceful society’

The Kyoto-based content creator shares travel tips and reminisces on the path that led him to where he is today.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?