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German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers a speech in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025

After courting and criticizing Trump from afar, Merz now set to meet U.S. leader

Past meetings between the two countries’ leaders have often been formalities to reinforce their unshakable postwar partnership. This time is different.
A Tirtir store in Seoul on May 23
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 5, 2025

South Korean beauty brands bet boom in U.S. demand outlasts tariff pain

The startups are expanding their bricks-and-mortar presence in the world's biggest consumer market, confident their mass appeal will offset tariff costs.
Sakie Yokota, mother of a North Korean abduction victim, said she feels "great loneliness" after the death of her husband, whom she described as a "serious person."
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2025

Mother of North Korean abductee urges government to have sense of mission over issue

Her husband, Shigeru, died in 2020 at the age of 87 without being able to see his abducted daughter again.
The election of Lee Jae-myung signals South Korea’s leftward shift on energy policy, but despite his ambitious renewable plans, deep-rooted regulatory, financial and geographic challenges threaten to stall progress unless reforms are swift and systemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

South Korea's new president has a chance to clean up

Years of inertia and obstruction of the transition have left the country with a system plagued by high costs and the lowest renewable penetration among developed economies.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war

Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
The trouble between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk started brewing days ago, when Musk denounced Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2025

Trump and Musk trade barbs on social media as alliance crumbles

Within hours of Trump criticizing Musk in the Oval Office, the once-close relationship had disintegrated in full public view.
Lee Sang-il’s “Kokuho,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year, follows the life of an "onnagata," a male kabuki actor who plays female roles, from his childhood as the son of a yakuza boss in 1960s Nagasaki to his official designation as a living national treasure.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

'Kokuho' illuminates the high price of becoming a national treasure

Director Lee Sang-il turns a long-held vision into reality with his sumptuously shot film that reveals the dedication, sacrifice — and loneliness — behind kabuki greatness.
Venezuelan migrants arrive after being deported from the United States, at Simon Bolivar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on April 23.
WORLD
Jun 6, 2025

Dismay and disbelief as Trump bans visitors from a dozen countries

Trump said the countries subject to the most severe restrictions were determined to harbor a "large-scale presence of terrorists."
Tesla’s shares dropped 14% on Thursday in New York, erasing about $150 billion from the electric vehicle maker’s market value.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 6, 2025

Tesla plunges after conflict between Musk and Trump spills into open

The electric vehicle maker's shares dropped 14% on Thursday in New York, the stock’s biggest decline since March 10.
Reports claim that children with unusual names were being bullied at school and facing difficulties finding jobs.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 6, 2025

What’s in a name? With new guidelines, the Japanese government wants to know.

Japan now requires official furigana for names in the family register, aiming to limit overly creative "kira-kira" readings.
Iryna Mudra (center), the deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration, and others prepare for a photo shoot at an international peace conference at The Hague, Netherlands, in April last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2025

Ukraine hits out at Europe's payout from frozen Russian cash

Compensating private investors before victims of war sends the wrong signal, says Iryna Mudra, a deputy head of Ukraine's presidential administration.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to the media as he inspects a warehouse storing stockpiled rice in Kanagawa Prefecture on May 30.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 6, 2025

From ridicule to redemption: Rice crisis returns Koizumi to the spotlight

The lawmaker, sometimes said to be long on image and short on substance, has won praise for bringing down the price of rice.
The IMF and World Bank's Spring Meetings 2025 in Washington on April 25. At this year's meetings, central bankers expressed alarm over the Trump administration's push toward privatizing money through dollar-pegged stablecoins.
COMMENTARY / World
May 30, 2025

Trump wants big tech to own the dollar

At this year’s IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings, central bankers were alarmed by the U.S. push toward privatizing money through dollar-pegged stablecoins.
The BOJ holds its next policy meeting on June 16-17, when the board is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate unchanged.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025

Pressure mounts for Japan to adjust bond sales as soon as July

The BOJ holds its next policy meeting on June 16-17, when the board is widely expected to keep the benchmark rate unchanged.
Vice president of events and exhibitions for Studio Ghibli, Kenichi Yoda (right), and director and Ghibli Park creative development manager, Goro Miyazaki (left), pose at the 77th edition of the Cannes Film Festival before receiving an Honorary Palme d'Or.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 6, 2025

Studio Ghibli marks 40 years, but future looks uncertain

A look into the legacy of the beloved anime studio.
Chinese premier Li Qiang during an ASEAN-China summit in Kuala Lumpur on May 27.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 6, 2025

China seeks improved ties with Canada amid rising trade tensions

China is willing to work with Canada to put ties on a healthy and stable path, Premier Li Qiang told Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in a phone call.
A Homeland Security vehicle is parked in front of the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building, housing the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, where Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who was deported from Maryland to El Salvador by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, faces criminal charges, in Nashville, Tennessee, on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 7, 2025

Wrongly deported Salvadoran migrant arrested on return to U.S.

Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States from El Salvador and charged with trafficking undocumented migrants, Attorney General Pam Bondi said.
Palestinian children gather at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2025

U.S. mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation

The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to Gaza, according to people familiar with the matter.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a forum in Tokyo on May 29.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 7, 2025

Ishiba and Lee might have first meeting at G7 summit

New South Korean leader Lee Jae-myung will attend the G7 summit in Canada for three days starting June 15, and could meet Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk speak in the Oval Office before departing the White House in March.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2025

Republican lawmakers try to dodge Trump-Musk crossfire

Their buddy-movie dynamic evaporated this week as Musk and Trump openly feuded over a sweeping tax-cut and spending bill.
Fire and smoke rise in the city after a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 8, 2025

U.S. says Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over and to expect more strikes

The Kremlin denies the full impact of Kyiv's drone attack but Russian military bloggers cite serious damage, including to planes that carry nuclear weapons.
Akihiro Okuda, a superintendent at Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department, talks about his experience supporting the survivors and bereaved families of a deadly stabbing rampage in Tokyo's Akihabara district 17 years ago.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 8, 2025

Police officer recounts fatal rampage in Akihabara 17 years on

After the incident, Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department established the first task force dedicated to supporting the survivors and bereaved families of crime victims.
Akihiko Ogino, president and CEO of Daiwa Securities Group, says Japan should press ahead with diversity initiatives as he attends the Tokyo Pride parade in the capital's Shibuya area on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2025

Top banker vows loyalty to DEI at Tokyo Pride Parade as Trump’s pushback rages

Few Japanese executives have spoken out on U.S. backlash to DEI, though many firms seem to be quietly maintaining their initiatives.
Former Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yukio Edano speaks at a meeting of the party in the city of Miyazaki on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2025

DPP eager to discuss no-confidence motion with CDP

"I would like to hear the CDP's thoughts and strategy regarding whether it will or will not submit a no-confidence motion," Tamaki said at a news conference.
St. Louis Cardinals shortstop Masyn Winn slides safely past Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Will Smith and scores during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 8, 2025

Dodgers need more offense to avoid sweep at Cardinals

The Dodgers, who have lost five of their last seven games, will turn to veteran left-hander Clayton Kershaw (0-0, 5.17 ERA) to finish the series.
A portrait of legendary Japanese baseball star Shigeo Nagashima is displayed at his funeral in Tokyo on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Jun 8, 2025

Mourners pay tribute to Japanese baseball legend Nagashima at funeral

Nagashima, nicknamed "Mr. Professional Baseball" for his commanding performances and presence, served as Giants manager after retiring as a player.
A tunnel near a major hospital in southern Gaza that leads to a tiny room where the Israeli military says a top Hamas militant commander was killed in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, on Sunday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Israel says body of Sinwar's brother was found in tunnel under Gaza hospital

A small group of foreign reporters was given a tour of the tunnel uncovered beneath the European Hospital in Khan Younis by the Israeli forces.
Visitors at the Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka on Friday
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2025

Osaka Expo sees strong ticket sales

If the current pace continues, total cumulative sales may reach 18.4 million, the level that makes the operation of the six-month Osaka Expo profitable.
An industrial park in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, China. Nomura Holdings plans to shut its branch in the province by the end of the year, according to sources.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 9, 2025

Nomura to shut branch in China as it scales back wealth business

The company’s brokerage subsidiary plans to shut its branch in Zhejiang province by the end of the year.
Swedish climate advocate Greta Thunberg speaks together with part of the crew of the ship Madleen, before departure for the Gaza Strip, in Catania, Italy, on June 1.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Israel blocks Greta Thunberg’s ship from reaching Gaza, group says

The vessel was intercepted about 200 kilometers from Gaza, according to coordinates provided by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition.

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Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji