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Tatsunori Ibayashi, a Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker who was removed from his post as Lower House finance committee chair, reacts after a motion of dismissal against him cleared the chamber on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

In a first, Lower House opposition parties unite to dismiss finance committee chair

Yukihiko Akutsu, a Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker, was chosen hours later to replace the chair in an election in the Lower House.
Israeli air defense systems intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Trump wraps situation room meeting as Iran plan remains mystery

The White House offered few clues about whether Trump had decided to join Israel's offensive aimed at destroying Tehran’s nuclear program.
The anti-interventionist part of the Republican Party is watching with alarm as U.S. President Donald Trump has gone from seeking a peaceful diplomatic settlement with Iran to possibly having the United States support Israel's military campaign.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Trump faces uproar from MAGA base over possible Iran strike

Some of Trump's biggest Republican allies are in the unusual position of being at odds with a president who largely shares their isolationist tendencies.
Pakistani army chief Asim Munir
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Pakistan army chief discusses Israel-Iran conflict with Trump

The meeting came as the capital was fixated on speculation that the U.S. may join Israel’s attacks aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear program.
A U.S. military plane takes off at the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture in August 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden

On June 23, Japan’s southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II.
A Disaster Medical Assistance Team commander (Shun Oguri, right) and a health ministry official (Tori Matsuzaka) work together to respond to Japan’s first brush with COVID-19 in “Frontline — Yokohama Bay.”
CULTURE / Film
Jun 19, 2025

‘Frontline — Yokohama Bay’ revisits nation’s first pandemic struggles

Part docudrama, part recognition of unsung crisis responders, “Frontline — Yokohama Bay” looks back at the ship that warned a nation: COVID-19 is here.
Social activists and artists remove graffiti from the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on June 10, after days of protests against federal immigration sweeps.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Japanese American museum criticizes Trump order

U.S. authorities issued orders to put up notices for exhibitions, movies and others that are deemed to disparage U.S. history.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings will cut July electricity bills for standard households by ¥616 from the previous month to ¥8,236.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Tepco to cut household electricity bills in July

Nine other major power suppliers and four major city gas providers are also likely to considerably reduce their rates.
People take a selfie in front of the presidential residence of the Blue House in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Visitors rush to see South Korea's Blue House before presidential return

Public access to some buildings at the Blue House will be restricted from mid-July as the new president moves in.
The Financial Services Agency headquarters in Tokyo. The regulator has called on regional banks to disclose the amount and market value of their high-yield loans backed by government bonds.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Regulator to ramp up scrutiny of banks’ repackaged JGBs

A senior official at the Financial Services Agency called on lenders to disclose the amount and market value of their holdings, sources said.
KG Motors CEO Kazunari Kusunoki with the ultra compact electric vehicle Mibot
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2025

This $7,000 single-seat electric car has become a hit in Japan

In the rural suburbs of Hiroshima, a Japanese startup is trying to kick-start the nation’s electric vehicle market with the smallest, cheapest car it can possibly make.
WhatsApp interactions involving 11 industry executives from ad agencies operating in India form part of a confidential dossier compiled by India's antitrust watchdog that chronicles how global advertising companies coordinated to rig prices in the world's most populous nation.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Dossier of WhatsApp chats shows how ad agencies aligned to fix prices in India

Firms agreed to cooperate on pricing, including not to undercut each other, colluded to deny business to agencies that didn't comply, and discussed financial terms.
Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” (forest bathing) is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2025

The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good

Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” forest bathing is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
Mourners attend a funeral for those killed in Israeli strikes, in Qazvin, Iran, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 20, 2025

Israel-Iran air war enters second week as Europe pushes diplomacy

The role of the United States remains uncertain. The White House said on Thursday President Trump would decide in the next two weeks whether to get involved in the war.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February. U.S. intelligence consistently showed Israel might go ahead with an attack on Iran with or without U.S. support.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025

How Trump, a self-proclaimed 'peacemaker,' embraced Israel's campaign against Iran

No epiphany is seen to have tipped the scales for U.S. President Donald Trump so much as a lack of diplomatic progress, a push from Israelis and hawkish ally appeals wore him down.
Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister, during a news conference in Bangkok, on Thursday. Thailand's government faces collapse after a leaked phone call unleashed fresh political turmoil.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 20, 2025

Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand's prime minister, under siege

After less than a year in office, Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has her back to the wall — and little room left to maneuver.
Takeshi Yamaguchi, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa Prefecture, speaks during an online interview on June 3.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Okinawa remains at mercy of armed forces, says expert

The prefecture hosts many U.S. military bases, following its occupation by U.S. armed forces after Japan's defeat in the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of World War II.
A visitor looks into North Korea from South Korea's Odusan Unification Observatory in Paju on June 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 20, 2025

Rights abuses continue in North Korea a decade after probe, says U.N.

A U.N official said he is still surprised by the continued prevalence of executions, forced labour and reports of starvation in the authoritarian country.
Auckland City's Adam Mitchell reacts during his team's match against Bayern Munich in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 15.
SOCCER
Jun 20, 2025

Club World Cup is both blessing and curse for amateur club Auckland City

Auckland City lost 10-0 against European giant Bayern Munich at the Club World Cup.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya speaks to reporters at the Foreign Ministry on Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Japanese nationals flee Iran and Israel amid conflict

According to the Foreign Ministry, some 1,000 Japanese citizens are still in Israel and about 220 are in Iran.
Japan sees liquefied natural gas as vital to energy security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Japan seeks gas past 2050, with AI and data centers set to lift demand

The government expects a boom in artificial intelligence, data centers and semiconductor chip-making factories to revive power demand.
In Tokyo, at least 562 people have been taken to the hospital for suspected heatstroke so far this month.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 20, 2025

What happened to the rainy season?

The mercury has climbed across much of Japan in recent days, but the seasonal rain front is expected to return early next week.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son at Donald Trump's resort in Florida in December last year
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Masayoshi Son pitches $1 trillion U.S. AI hub to TSMC and Trump team

Son envisions a version of the vast manufacturing hub of China’s Shenzhen that would bring back high-tech manufacturing to the U.S.
A missile launched from Iran is intercepted by Israeli defenses on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2025

Israel says it killed veteran Iran commander as both sides attack

Saeed Izadi, who led the Palestine Corps of the Quds Force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' overseas arm, was killed in a strike.
Russian President Vladimir Putin applauds during a plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2025

Putin says 'the whole of Ukraine is ours' — in theory

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that advancing Russian forces could take the Ukrainian city of Sumy as Moscow looks to carve out a buffer zone along the border.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance (second left) speaks during a tour of a Federal Mobile Command Center at the Federal Building in Los Angeles on Friday.
WORLD
Jun 21, 2025

Vance, in LA, lambasts Newsom and says troops need to stay

The U.S. vice president accused Democratic state and city leaders of encouraging immigrants to cross the U.S. border illegally.
A demonstrator holds a poster depicting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a rally in solidarity with Tehran, in Sidon, Lebanon, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 21, 2025

If Iran's supreme leader falls, what would replace him?

Analysts say Israel is taking a gamble given there is no guarantee new rulers would be any less hard-line.
Candles and flowers adorn a memorial outside the Minnesota State Capitol following the killing of Democratic state assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark, in St. Paul on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2025

Two days of terror: How the Minnesota shooter evaded police and got caught

The suspect had an imperfect disguise, but it was enough to evade police for two days in the state's largest-ever manhunt.
People sit outside pitched tents as they take shelter at a bus station in Tel Aviv on Saturday amid fears of an Iranian missile attack.
WORLD
Jun 22, 2025

Iran threatens 'more devastating' response to Israel's attacks

Israel said on Saturday it had killed three more Iranian commanders in its unprecedented offensive.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation alongside U.S. Vice President JD Vance (left), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (second right) and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the White House in Washington on Saturday, following U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 22, 2025

U.S. attacks three nuclear sites in Iran, widening Mideast conflict

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more attacks if Tehran doesn’t capitulate, pulling the U.S. directly into the conflict despite promises to avoid new wars.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years