Search - 2021

 
 
An injured boy receives treatment near damaged houses in the Mazar Dara village of Nurgal, a district of the Kunar Province, in Eastern Afghanistan, on Monday.
WORLD
Sep 2, 2025

With aid slashed, Afghanistan's quake comes at 'very worst moment'

The earthquake has killed more than 1,400 people and injured over 3,000, a toll that was still rising.
Structural issues — including population decline, job shortages and an insufficient social-safety net — are hampering China's consumption and demand.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 3, 2025

The fissures beneath China’s positive GDP numbers

Despite positive Chinese growth, the world’s second largest economy is plagued by a prolonged real-estate crisis and persistently high unemployment rates.
Jikai Taketomi, director of a private war museum in Kotake, Fukuoka Prefecture, talks about exhibited documents to visitors on July 25.
JAPAN
Sep 3, 2025

Private World War II museums in Japan struggle to survive

Experts warn valuable wartime documents and artifacts could be scattered or lost to the public if such museums end up closing their doors.
Former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro is seen inside his house in Brasilia while a trial against him and seven main co-defendants is held at the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2025

Brazil court shrugs off U.S. 'threats' as it mulls Bolsonaro fate

Jair Bolsonaro risks a prison sentence of 43 years if convicted of conspiring to cling to power after losing the 2022 elections to rival Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
A Taliban military helicopter carries medical and food supplies for the victims of a deadly earthquake, in Mazar Dara, Kunar province, Afghanistan, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Sep 3, 2025

Hope dwindles for survivors days after deadly Afghan quake

The earthquake killed more than 1,400 people and injured over 3,300, making it one of the deadliest in decades to hit the impoverished country.
A life-size holographic police officer, intended to prevent crime, at a park in Seoul on Aug. 28. Three people were stabbed to death Wednesday at a pizza restaurant in the South Korean capital — a rare occurrence in the city.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Sep 3, 2025

Three killed in stabbing at Seoul pizza restaurant

The attack in the city's Gwanak district was carried out by the restaurant's owner, police said.
A research team led by the University of Tokyo’s Miyuki Harada has developed artificial intelligence models that can help deliver personalized infertility treatments by predicting the number and quality of eggs that a woman has.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 3, 2025

Japan team develops AI models to help deliver personalized infertility treatment

The group study led by a University of Tokyo researcher found their models to be more accurate than the standard method of assessing ovarian function.
"Animator Skill Test Textbook” was written in concert with a test created and administered by the Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association since 2024. The test was designed to help set a baseline for those studying animation, and so that animation studios can get a better idea of applicants' current skill level.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 4, 2025

English textbook targets a skills gap in Japan’s growing anime industry

From "dōga" to “lip flap,” the Nippon Anime & Film Culture Association’s "Animator Skill Test Textbook" teaches aspiring animators how to talk like the pros.
Naomi Osaka celebrates after defeating Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova in the U.S. Open quarterfinals on Wednesday in New York.
TENNIS
Sep 4, 2025

Osaka surges into U.S. Open semifinals in straight sets

The Japanese 23rd seed, enjoying her deepest run in a Grand Slam since a 2021 victory at the Australian Open, advanced to the last four in just under two hours.
People walk along a hillside, in the aftermath of an earthquake, in the Nurgal district of Kunar province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 4, 2025

Days after quake, survivors in Afghanistan still await aid

Fearful of near-constant aftershocks, people have huddled in the open or struggled to unearth those trapped under the heaps of flattened buildings.
Rengo is mulling over a third term for its president, Tomoko Yoshino.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 4, 2025

Rengo considering third term for leader Tomoko Yoshino

Yoshino's second two-year term as president of the Japanese Trade Union Confederation is set to end in October.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, "It won’t stop with just this strike,” after the U.S. targeted a boat in the Caribbean Sea allegedly full of drugs from Venezuela.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 4, 2025

U.S. threatens more strikes on purported drug boats after attack in Caribbean

The move marked a major escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump’s crackdown on narcotics traffickers following deployment of U.S. Navy vessels off the Venezuelan coast.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attend a party executive meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025

Seeking Upper House majority, LDP eyes support from independents

The 121-strong ruling coalition needs just three more seats for a majority in the chamber.
The No. 2 field at the Hanazono Rugby Stadium complex in Higashiosaka, Osaka Prefecture. The field is slated to be upgraded into a 5,000-seat stadium but has faced lengthy construction delays.
MORE SPORTS
Sep 4, 2025

Upgrades for Osaka's Hanazono Rugby Stadium still mired in delays

The planned upgrades, featuring the construction of a new stadium by FC Osaka, is a condition for the third-tier J. League club to use Hanazono as its home ground.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, during a Senate Finance Committee hearing in Washington on Thursday
WORLD / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2025

U.S. senators pit Kennedy against Trump on vaccine policy

Half a dozen heated exchanges during a combative three-hour Senate hearing focused on his decision to fire Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Susan Monarez.
The Pentagon, near Washington. U.S. President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order to rename the Department of Defense the "Department of War."
WORLD / Politics
Sep 5, 2025

Trump to rename Department of Defense the 'Department of War,' official says

The name change will be costly and require updating signs and letterheads used around the world.
Palestinians displaced by the Israeli military offensive shelter in a UNRWA school, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Aug. 19.
WORLD
Sep 5, 2025

Coffee and cash: How Hamas pays its civil servants in secret

The Hamas-run government in Gaza is still paying some salaries to employees, at least in part and with delays.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby is the latest overnight success to come from the world of Japanese video games — never mind it was originally released in 2021.
LIFE / Digital / ON: GAMES
Sep 6, 2025

Racehorses, anime girls and gambling: Umamusume’s recipe for success

The latest overnight hit from Japan’s gaming world relies on a quirky mix of elements from the worlds of pop culture and sports.
“The Summer Hikaru Died” is a slow-burn horror and a coming-of-age narrative, but its thematic layers and queer undertones open conversations about friendship and belonging.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Sep 6, 2025

Dark folklore meets teenage angst in ‘The Summer Hikaru Died’

Slow-burn horror in the countryside coupled with queer undertones makes for a memorable anime adaptation.
“Swallows” examines the intersections of class and reproductive issues with a focus on its protagonist who is talked into becoming a surrogate for a wealthy couple.
CULTURE / Books
Sep 5, 2025

‘Swallows' untangles the murky ethics of selling motherhood

“Swallows” examines the intersections of class and reproductive issues with a focus on its protagonist who is talked into becoming a surrogate for a wealthy couple.
Naomi Osaka (right) and Amanda Anisimova meet at the net following their semifinal match at the U.S. Open in New York on Thursday.
TENNIS
Sep 5, 2025

Naomi Osaka inspired by performance as U.S. Open run ends in semifinals

Two-time champion Osaka was playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2021.
Itochu has raised ¥15.2 billion ($103 million) from a sale of Japan’s first so-called orange bonds to fund gender equality projects.
BASEBALL
Sep 5, 2025

Itochu sells Japan’s first orange bonds for gender equality

The Japanese trading house raised ¥15.2 billion ($103 million) from the debt sale, more than the initial plan for a ¥10 billion offering.
U.s. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June 2018. Trump approved a 2019 Navy SEAL operation to plant a listening device in North Korea, a mission that unraveled amid a series of mistakes and resulted in the SEALs killing North Korean civilians.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 6, 2025

How a top secret SEAL Team 6 mission into North Korea fell apart

The 2019 operation, greenlit by President Donald Trump, sought a strategic edge. It left unarmed North Koreans dead.
People receive aid distributed by the Aga Khan Development Network in the Dewa Gul Valley of Sawkay district in Kunar province, Afghanistan, on Friday.
WORLD
Sep 6, 2025

U.S. yet to approve any help following Afghanistan earthquake, sources say

The lack of response underscores how President Donald Trump has forfeited decades of U.S. leadership of global disaster relief.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 7, 2025

Farm minister Koizumi is believed to have urged Ishiba to quit

Koizumi has made it clear that he is against the idea of dissolving the House of Representatives for a snap election, a possibility Ishiba has hinted at.
U.S. President Donald Trump visits the USS Wasp aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in May 2019 during his first term as president. Trump is expected to demand that Japan boost its host-nation support spending for U.S. military when the current plan expires in March 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 7, 2025

Japan braces for Trump push on U.S. troop funding

The financial support covers the salaries of workers at U.S. military bases, utilities costs and facility maintenance expenses.
Sexual abuse survivor Anouska de Georgiou speaks at a news conference on Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, where she called where she called for the release of remaining files related to the Jeffrey Epstein investigations under the Epstein Files Transparency Bill.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2025

Jeffrey Epstein’s victims aren’t a hoax

Why was Jeffrey Epstein so protected? Who is still being protected? And who protected them all?
Kono Taro, Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker and former digital transformation minister, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 9, 2025

BOJ should raise rates to strengthen yen and curb inflation, says Taro Kono

The comments come days after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s decision to resign raised questions about the outlook for economic policies.
Forest manager Nuno Espirito Santo looks dejected after the match against West Ham at the City Ground in Nottingham, England on Aug. 30.
SOCCER
Sep 9, 2025

Nottingham Forest fires head coach Nuno after rift with owner

The Portuguese coach had been in charge for 21 months at the City Ground, but two weeks ago said his relationship with the club's owner had deteriorated.
Anton Felix Schindler (Yuki Yamada, left) sets out to rewrite the history of his late employer, Ludwig van Beethoven (Arata Furuta, right), in Kazuaki Seki’s “Faking Beethoven.”
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2025

'Faking Beethoven’: Comedic musical biopic forgets to have fun

Kazuaki Seki’s comedy centers on the notorious fibber who shaped a maestro’s myth.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell