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A signed picture by photographer Joe Rosenthal of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Iwo Jima is shown as part of a display at the new National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Virginia, in November 2006.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

‘DEI’ purge prompts Pentagon to remove webpage on Iwo Jima flag-raiser

The Pentagon said that the page and others, which were removed under the Trump administration’s wide-ranging crackdown on diversity measures, were being restored.
The crew of NASA's SpaceX Crew-9 mission, including NASA astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov, pose for a photo aboard the International Space Station on Feb. 26.
WORLD / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2025

What happens to the human body in deep space?

Bone and muscle deterioration, radiation exposure and vision impairment are just a few of the challenges space travelers face.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waits for a session of the House of Councillors Budget Committee to begin in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Mar 19, 2025

What's the fuss over Ishiba's gift vouchers?

The prime minister's standing has worsened following reports that he handed out gift vouchers worth ¥100,000 ($668) each to rookie lawmakers from his party.
A soldier stands guard at a railway station in the Sibi district of southwestern Balochistan province, Pakistan, on March 12 as part of a security operation after militants hijacked a passenger train the previous day.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025

Pakistan’s economy is back. But so is terrorism.

The disconnect between the grim drumbeat of terror attacks on the country’s margins and the positive economic news from its heartland is startling.
Elon Musk and President Donald Trump's assertion that U.S. aid cuts to programs including PEPFAR and USAID in Africa aren't causing harm is not true. Children and others are already dying as a result.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2025

Musk says aid cuts haven’t killed anyone. That's not true.

In South Sudan, one of the world’s poorest countries, the efforts by Musk and U.S. President Donald Trump are already leading children to die.
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description

The lastest scandal comes amid broader concerns over the LDP's misuse of political funds, further damaging Prime Minister Ishiba’s reputation.
A former judge has admitted to buying shares using undisclosed information about tender offers while he was seconded to the Financial Services Agency last year.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Mar 19, 2025

Former judge admits to insider trading

Soichiro Sato, 32, used information obtained while on secondment at the Financial Services Agency to buy company shares.
Tourists visit a park in front of the Imperial Palace amid snowfall in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 19, 2025

Japan's record snow in February attributed to global warming

The Meteorological Agency said global warming contributed to the record snowfall in northern and eastern Japan last month.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw takes part in a sumo demonstration in Tokyo on Friday.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Mar 19, 2025

Japan’s twin obsessions meet as MLB visits sumo’s heartland

Sumo is often referred to as Japan’s national sport but it’s baseball that is the country’s one true obsession. This week, those two sports are intersecting in Tokyo.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting in Moscow on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 20, 2025

Putin advances strategic aims while ceding little to Trump

The agreement to a narrow ceasefire in which Russia and Ukraine would stop attacking each other's energy facilities gives Moscow an edge against Kyiv.
Women's March Tokyo, a demonstration march against sexual violence and discrimination against women, is held on International Women's Day in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward on March 8.
JAPAN
Mar 20, 2025

Women remain underrepresented in Japan's news industry

Correcting the gender gap is an urgent issue in the industry, with such a change expected to bring women's perspectives to newsrooms.
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida gave gift vouchers to lawmakers from the Liberal Democratic Party while he was in office, according to party sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 20, 2025

Kishida among several ex-PMs who gave gift vouchers to LDP lawmakers

The revelation emerges as Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba comes under fire for distributing gift certificates worth ¥100,000 ($674) each to rookie LDP lawmakers.
Hong Kong's Secretary for Security Chris Tang
BUSINESS
Mar 20, 2025

Hong Kong aims to safeguard key facilities with new cybersecurity law

The law, set to take effect in 2026, aims to safeguard the security of computer systems vital to the functioning of critical infrastructure.
Some critics of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba call him weak and indecisive, saying his leadership has led to policy blunders that may make his grip on power increasingly untenable.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 20, 2025

Prime Minister Ishiba’s struggles put his leadership in jeopardy

With the world as turbulent as it is, the country cannot continue with such a weak and indecisive leader.
Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” is the CEO and founder of tech company Cover Corporation, which runs Hololive, an industry-leading virtual YouTuber talent agency.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 21, 2025

Virtual idols, real fans: Hololive’s bet on the future of pop

Hololive CEO Motoaki Tanigo, whom fans affectionately refer to as “Yagoo,” has global ambitions for his virtual YouTuber sensations.
France has expressed concern after U.S. border agents read the contents of a visiting French space scientist's smartphone and deported him after accusing him of "hateful" messages against U.S. policy.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

U.S. denies entry to French scientist over 'hateful' messages

France has expressed concern over the incident, in which U.S. border agents read the contents of the scientist's smartphone before deporting him.
Saffron was found without food or water in a home where his owner had passed away.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Mar 21, 2025

A shy cat looking for a new start

After being rescued from tough circumstances, Saffron is gradually coming out of his shell again.
President Donald Trump said the United States will sign a minerals and natural resources deal with Ukraine soon.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

Trump says U.S. will sign Ukraine minerals deal soon

The U.S. president made the comments at a White House event after signing an order to increase U.S. production of critical minerals.
Lyft envisions a hybrid future where human drivers will complement autonomous vehicle fleets, especially during periods of peak demand.
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 21, 2025

Lyft to offer driverless ride-hails ‘as soon as this summer’

The company sees its human drivers transitioning to other work such as fleet management as autonomous rides become more ubiquitous.
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, occupied by Russian forces and seen from across the Dnipro River, in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 21, 2025

Financial folly or pressure tactic? Trump eyes Ukraine's occupied nuclear plant

The vast plant is beset with problems and it would be years before there is even a hope of it making a return on investment.
Katsuya Okada (left), former secretary-general of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, and Li Shulei, head of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China's Central Committee, in Beijing on Thursday
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 21, 2025

During visit to Beijing, CDP delegates affirm importance of Japan-China ties

Former CDP Secretary-General Katsuya Okada has called for stepping up interaction between "high-level" Japanese and Chinese politicians.
Kirsty Coventry speaks during a news conference after being elected as IOC president on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Mar 21, 2025

Kirsty Coventry hopes to speak with Donald Trump about 2028 LA Games

Coventry, who is Zimbabwe's sports minister, as well as Africa's most decorated Olympian, said both the IOC and the United States wanted successful Olympics in 2028.
Eddie Jordan sits on the pitwall of the Montmelo circuit near Barcelona, Spain, during a practice on April 26, 2002.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Mar 21, 2025

Eddie Jordan was Formula One's 'rock 'n' roll' extrovert

The charismatic boss died of cancer on Thursday at the age of 76
Celtics guard Jaylen Brown celebrates with the Larry O’Brien Trophy after Game 5 of the NBA Finals on June 17, 2024.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Mar 21, 2025

Reigning NBA champion Celtics agree to record-breaking $6.1 billion sale

The sale, which is still pending approval from the NBA Board of Governors, would break the record for most expensive sports team purchase in North America.
Climate change mitigation demands collective action from all levels of society, not just billionaires with private jets, as systemic change is necessary for meaningful progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 21, 2025

Billionaire’s private jet angst won’t save the world

Data center emissions in the U.S. already rival those of the domestic airline industry and are growing far quicker.
Shunbaisai Hokuei's tetraptych from the series "108 Heroes of the Theater Suikoden"
CULTURE / Books
Mar 22, 2025

Osaka’s kabuki fan culture fueled an elusive figure of the ukiyo-e scene

In his new book, John Fiorillo partly lifts the veil on Shunbaisai Hokuei, who dominated the ukiyo-e art world in the Kamigata region during the early 19th century. 
Midwife Tabita dos Santos Moraes prepares cassava flour in Tefe in Brazil's Amazonas state last October. Tabita's great-grandmother taught midwifery to her aunts, who taught her mother, who taught her, starting at the age of 15.
ENVIRONMENT
Mar 21, 2025

In the remote Amazon, midwives care for women stranded by drought

Years of extreme droughts in the Amazon rainforest have made river journeys to and from remote communities perilous.
A sign at Tokyo's Haneda Airport shows users the way to the monorail in four different languages.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Mar 22, 2025

Can we make it official? Language in the age of Trump.

The United States made English its main language, but in Japan things seem to be heading in a different way.
An employee works at a production line of 155 mm artillery shells at the plant of German company Rheinmetall, which produces weapons and ammunition for tanks and artillery.
BUSINESS
Mar 22, 2025

Europe is short of gunpowder and TNT when it needs them most

European governments dug into their munitions stockpiles to arm Ukraine, exposing how shallow their reserves were.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba at the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention in Tokyo on March 9.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 22, 2025

Ishiba appears ready to speak before Diet ethics panel over gift vouchers

Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the CDP, and Yuichiro Tamaki, head of the DPP, have called on Ishiba to give explanations before a parliamentary ethics panel.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo