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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Academy of Defense Sciences in Pyongyang in this image released Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

North Korea's Kim admits failure, but vows to continue building spy satellites

The satellite-carrying rocket had self-destructed Tuesday "due to an abnormality in the first-stage engine," the North Korean leader said.
Protestors rally against capital punishment in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington in June 2022.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 29, 2024

Number of executions in 2023 highest in nearly a decade, Amnesty says

The 1,153 known executions that took place last year were the most recorded by the global rights monitor since 2015.
Naomi Osaka plays a forehand return to Lucia Bronzetti during their women's singles match on Day 1 of the French Open tennis tournament in Paris on Sunday.
TENNIS
May 29, 2024

Osaka 'really excited to face' Swiatek at French Open

Osaka will be a big underdog against Swiatek in the pair's first ever meeting on clay.
A euro symbol sculpture at the European Central Bank headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. Some investors are betting on the chance that European currencies will gain further against the yen.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 29, 2024

Yen nears record low versus euro on carry and interest rate outlook

The Japanese currency has weakened 1.5% against the euro this month and is approaching its previous record low of ¥171.56 reached on April 29.
Seiji Adachi, member of the policy board at the Bank of Japan
BUSINESS / Economy
May 29, 2024

BOJ policymaker hints of rate hike if yen fall has big impact on inflation

While short-term currency moves alone would not trigger a policy shift, the central bank could raise interest rates if excessive yen falls persist.
Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota's chief technology officer, speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2024

Toyota bets on alternate-fuel engines in an electric future

The carmaker said its making progress on developing smaller, more efficient engines that can work with EV manufacturing platforms.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra greets his supporters after landing at Bangkok's Don Mueang Airport last August. He will be prosecuted for insulting the monarchy, the attorney general's office said on Wednesday, over comments he made while in self-exile in 2015.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 29, 2024

Former Thai PM Thaksin will be indicted in royal insult case

The move creates fresh legal risk for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the head of the political dynasty that controls the country’s ruling party.
Those who will be employed as teachers in Japan after completing graduate school will be exempt from repaying scholarship loans.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2024

Japan to waive graduate scholarship loan repayments for teachers

The policy will apply to those who pass the recruitment examinations in the current fiscal year ending in March 2025.
The North Korean flag flutters at the North Korea consular office in Dandong, China, in 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 29, 2024

Rare spat shows China and North Korea still at odds on nuclear weapons

Pyongyang condemned China, Japan and South Korea on Monday for discussing denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
This handout photo taken on May 28 shows locals digging at the site of a landslide at Yambali village in the region of Maip Mulitaka, in Papua New Guinea's Enga Province.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 29, 2024

'A mountain fell on them,' says rescue worker at PNG landslide site

Rescue officials say chances of finding survivors are slim.
Plaintiffs and lawyers march to the Supreme Court to attend a hearing on lawsuits against the government over forced sterilization carried out under a now-defunct eugenic law, on Wednesday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 29, 2024

Victims of forced sterilization speak of their suffering at Supreme Court

They are seeking compensation from the government over their forced sterilization due to their disabilities under a now-defunct eugenic law.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni ahead of her meeting with Mohammed Mustafa, Palestinian Authority prime minister, at the Chigi Palace in Rome on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 29, 2024

Once ostracized, Italy's Meloni is now center stage in Europe

If Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni backs center-right European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term, expect the Italian leader's influence to grow.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike attends the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly on Wednesday. Koike, who is coming to the end of her second term as governor, did not formally announce her intent to run for July's gubernatorial election on Wednesday despite indications that she might.
JAPAN / Politics
May 29, 2024

Tokyo Gov. Koike keeps guessing game going on candidacy declaration

Despite indications that she might make a formal announcement on Wednesday, the 71-year-old incumbent made no mention of the July gubernatorial election.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
COMMENTARY / World
May 29, 2024

Iran’s succession crisis is a legitimacy crisis

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death has sparked a crisis of legitimacy for the regime amid speculation about Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's succession plans.
Israeli armored personnel carriers (APCs) near Israel's border with Gaza in southern Israel on Wednesday
WORLD
May 30, 2024

Israel seizes Gaza's border with Egypt and continues raids into Rafah

The border with Egypt along the southern edge was the Gaza Strip's only land border that Israel had not directly controlled.
A mourner holds a picture of the late Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, as she prays during a vigil to pay tribute to him and other officials who were killed in a helicopter crash, at the Iranian Ambassador's residence in Jakarta, Indonesia, on May 22.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

U.S. to boycott U.N. tribute to Iran leader killed in helicopter crash

The U.N. General Assembly traditionally meets to pay tribute to any world leader who was a sitting head of state at the time of their death.
Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand's former prime minister, arrives at Don Mueang airport in Bangkok after returning from a self-imposed exile on Aug. 22, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2024

Thailand heads for fresh political turmoil as Thaksin indictment looms

The political instability can potentially delay a parliamentary approval for the 2025 budget and cause further damage to the nation’s fragile financial markets.
Many condo complexes are facing challenges in securing sufficient reserve funds for extensive repair projects.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 30, 2024

Land ministry sets standards for condo repair reserve funds

Large-scale condo repairs typically occur roughly every 15 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, something he said could trigger a global conflict.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a 'demonstrative' nuclear explosion

The idea was suggested as a way to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia.
Palestinians search for food among burnt debris in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on an area designated for displaced people, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024

Israel sees seven more months of fighting to defeat Hamas

The comments will do little to raise the spirits of mediators like the U.S. and Qatar, who want Israel and Hamas to hammer out a cease-fire deal.
Farm minister Tetsushi Sakamoto stands as an amendment on Japan's farm policies clears parliament on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2024

Japan enacts revised 'constitution' for farm policies

The revised law newly underscores the necessity of ensuring food security at a time when supply chains are being destabilized.
Entrepreneur Lee Hee-tae at his office in Seoul. Lee had planned South Korea's largest sex festival in April, but the two-day event was banned by authorities following a backlash by local rights groups.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
May 30, 2024

Pervert or pioneer? The entrepreneur trying to get South Korea into porn

The South Korean adult content industry produces around 2,000 adult movies a year, compared with Tokyo's 2,000 a day $36.5-billion-dollar behemoth.
The room where a meeting between the bereaved relatives and Kozo Iizuka took place.
JAPAN
May 30, 2024

Bereaved relatives meet perpetrator of 2019 Ikebukuro car crash

After the visit, Takuya Matsunaga, who lost his wife and daughter, said that he hopes the perpetrator's words can provide "hints" on how similar incidents can be prevented.
England's Jos Buttler plays a reverse sweep during the second T20 match against Pakistan in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
May 30, 2024

England will not use disrupted preparation as excuse at T20 World Cup

Mark Wood said his side is strong enough to cope with the curtailed preparations.
Why does it feel like we’re in a ceaseless cycle of seasonal prep?
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
May 31, 2024

Help! I'm stuck in Japan's endless cycle of seasonal prep

Rainy season is here, and so are all the preparations for your home and clothes. Why does living in Japan feel like an endless cycle of gearing up for the weather?
As the world marks World No Tobacco Day on Friday, debate is growing over passive smoking in one crucial space that remains unregulated: private homes.
JAPAN / Science & Health
May 30, 2024

In Japan, neighborly debates light up over secondhand smoke

Passive smoking has become a concern because many people live in multiunit apartment buildings or small houses with little space between them.
Toyota's global sales, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino, fell 4.5% last month from a year earlier to 835,788 vehicles.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2024

Toyota sales and output fall on Prius recall and dip in China

Global sales, including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu Motor and Hino Motors, fell 4.5% last month from a year earlier.
A worker installs a barrier to block the sight of Mount Fuji in the town of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, on May 21.
JAPAN
May 30, 2024

Town to replace Mount Fuji barrier after holes found: local media

The barrier was put up last week in a popular viewing spot in the town of Fujikawaguchiko.
A Donald Trump campaign event at Crotona Park in the Bronx borough of New York City on May 23.
WORLD / Politics
May 31, 2024

Unfazed Republican donors focus on Trump's polling, not guilty verdict

Many conservative donors already viewed the New York hush-money cash as political persecution.
Yuka Saso hits her tee shot on the first hole during the opening round of the U.S. Women's Open in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
May 31, 2024

Yuka Saso on top at U.S. Women's Open after first round

Saso's search for a second U.S. Women's Open title got a boost on the first day of the tournament.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight