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Himeji Castle in Hyogo Prefecture. The mayor of Himeji has suggested that foreign tourists pay four times more to enter the castle than the current ¥1,000 entrance fee.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Japan really should charge tourists four times more

The suggestion by a Kansai mayor that foreign visitors pay more for tourist attractions doesn't go far enough. The government should establish a nationwide policy.
Ground Self-Defense Force personnel take part in a joint amphibious landing exercise with Philippine and U.S. troops in San Antonio, in the Philippines' Zambales province, in October 2018.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 8, 2024

Japan and Philippines ink key military pact in defense ties upgrade

The agreement — Tokyo's first with a Southeast Asian nation — will facilitate mutual military visits.
Tibetans participate in a protest march held to mark the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, India, on March 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Exiled Tibetans fear a future without the Dalai Lama, now 89

The Dalai Lama has said he will clarify questions about succession — including if and where he will be reincarnated — around his 90th birthday.
A news reporter interviews people in the village where preacher Suraj Pal Singh Jatav grew up, in Bahadurnagar, in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jul 8, 2024

'Miracles' and hope: Stampede spotlights India's craze for godmen

Gurus in India are often called godmen, and their patrons have included international celebrities like the Beatles.
An Israeli soldier during a ground operations in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Netanyahu says Gaza deal must let Israel resume fighting until war goals met

A plan introduced by U.S. President Joe Biden in May and mediated by Qatar and Egypt, aims to end the war and free around 120 Israeli hostages in Gaza.
Emma Raducanu serves against Lulu Sun during their match at Wimbledon on Sunday in London.
TENNIS
Jul 8, 2024

Emma Raducanu 'stands by decision' to withdraw from mixed doubles with Andy Murray

Raducanu was scheduled to play with Murray, a former Wimbledon champion, on Saturday, but opted to pull out of the tie due to a stiff wrist.
The Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani was named to the NL All-Star team for the first time after being named to the AL squad three times.
BASEBALL
Jul 8, 2024

Shohei Ohtani and Shota Imanaga make All-Star team as MLB reveals rosters

Ohtani is an All-Star for the fourth time, while Imanaga was chosen in his first MLB season.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands among other leaders as he attends a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Plenary Session at the NATO summit in Watford, near London on Dec. 4, 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

Elephant in room at NATO: Would Trump blow it up?

This week's Washington summit aims to "Trump-proof" NATO by expanding its role, especially in supporting Ukraine.
Samsung workers chant slogans during a walkout outside the company’s semiconductor plant in Hwaseong, South Korea, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 8, 2024

Samsung union steps up pressure over pay with three-day strike

The union has spent weeks preparing for the walkout, after negotiations over pay and vacation time collapsed last month.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force conduct drills in Shizuoka Prefecture in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024

Japan SDF hiring falls far short of target in fiscal 2023

The number of Self-Defense Forces personnel hired in fiscal 2023 totaled 9,959, only 51% of the Defense Ministry's target.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria Starmer, greet Labour campaigners and activists at No. 10 Downing Street, following the results of the election in London on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 8, 2024

Investors put U.K. election winner Labour on credibility watch

U.K. markets that have struggled since 2016's Brexit vote and the chaos wreaked by former Prime Minister Liz Truss' 2022 mini-budget.
Japanese troops during an amphibious landing exercise on Tokunoshima island, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan is letting go of old assumptions about the reliability of the rules-based international order and is making efforts to boost its military capabilities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

As militaries are rebuilt, are we turning American?

Some countries stopped investing in their militaries and defense under the illusion that the rules-based order would prevail. Now, they're facing tough, new realities.
How policymakers have responded to past economic crises, such as the 2008-09 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, will shape their preparedness in dealing with future recessions. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 8, 2024

Policy lessons from recent economic crises

Eventually, the world will face another recession. How will policymakers use the lessons learned from the 2008-09 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic to respond?
Keegan Bradley hits from the bunker on the seventh green during the final round of the U.S. Open golf tournament.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jul 9, 2024

Bradley named U.S. 2025 Ryder Cup captain after Woods snub

Keegan Bradley has played in just two Ryder Cups with a lone appearance in the Presidents Cup.
Rescuers work at Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital, which was hit by Russian missile strikes in Kyiv on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2024

Russian missiles kill 36 and hit a children's hospital, Ukraine says

The Ukrainian government proclaimed a day of mourning after one of the worst air attacks of the war.
U.S. President Joe Biden looks at his watch as he stands on the balcony during an Independence Day celebration on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

Biden tells wavering Democrats he will not abandon campaign

President Joe Biden faces a critical week as he tries to shore up a campaign that has been on defense since a shaky June 27 debate.
A man watches a large screen showing news coverage of Chinese President Xi Jinping meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Beijing on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

Orban’s shuttle diplomacy angers EU and whiplashes allies

The Hungarian prime minister made trips to Moscow and Beijing after his country took over the EU's rotating presidency on July 1.
A gas leak from the Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark, on Sept. 27, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2024

NATO supports work to back up internet by rerouting it to space

The initiative comes amid intensifying fears that Russia or China could mine, sever or otherwise tamper with undersea cables.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an event in New Orleans on Saturday. Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate Harris as the party's future, rather than sidelining her for her perceived unpopularity.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 9, 2024

Kamala Harris is Democrats’ future, no matter what

Whether with Harris as presidential nominee or No. 2 on Biden's tickets, Democrats should do what they should have done long ago: Elevate rather than sideline the VP.
People wait for treatment at a make-shift emergency clinic serving people displaced by conflict from Singa, Sennar, and Dinder, at a former technical education school building in Kassala in eastern Sudan on Saturday.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2024

No oil, no food: Damaged pipeline piles misery on South Sudan

The damaged pipeline, vital for South Sudan's crude oil exports, accounted for about 90% of the country's GDP.
Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku, Tokyo. According to data recently published by Mercer, Tokyo fell 30 places from 2023 and is now the 49th most expensive city in the world, just ahead of Houston.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2024

Tokyo is cheaper to live in than San Juan, according to global survey

The capital fell a full 30 places from 2023. It was No. 3 in 2020 and No. 1 as recently as 2012.
Suzu General Hospital suffered a significant loss in the last fiscal year due to a decline in the number of patients.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 9, 2024

Public hospitals in quake-hit Okunoto area bleed red ink

The area in Ishikawa Prefecture was hit especially hard by the 7.6 magnitude quake that shook the peninsula on Jan. 1.
U.S. President Joe Biden awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at a 75th anniversary celebratory event for the alliance on Tuesday, the opening day of its summit in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

NATO offers Ukraine more air defense systems as summit kicks off

The move came as fresh assessments indicate the conflict with Russia is headed toward an indefinite stalemate.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump shake hands during a bilateral meeting at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

U.S. intelligence official indicates Russia prefers Trump as election victor

The U.S. has not seen Russia shift on its preference from previous U.S. presidential elections on who it prefers to win this year.
Russian President Vladimir Putin decorates Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called during a ceremony following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

Global ‘outcast’ Putin meeting a lot of world leaders

In just two months since he began his fifth presidential term in May, Putin has held more than 20 meetings with world leaders.
Russia's Daniil Medvedev hits a forehand during his Wimbledon quarterfinal against Jannik Sinner on Tuesday.
TENNIS
Jul 10, 2024

Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev set up Wimbledon semifinal repeat

Alcaraz battled back from a set down to defeat Tommy Paul, while Medvedev stunned world No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
A truck drives along India's Tezpur-Tawang highway, which runs to the Chinese border, in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Plans for the hydropower stations in the state are expected to be announced in the 2024/2025 federal budget that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government will unveil on July 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 10, 2024

India races to build power plants in region claimed by China, sources say

The construction of 12 hydropower stations in the northeastern Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh could raise tensions with Beijing that lays claims to the region.
World Anti-Doping Age President Witold Banka speaks during an event in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2023.
OLYMPICS
Jul 10, 2024

Independent probe clears WADA of favoritism in Chinese swimmers case

WADA President Witold Banka was in fighting form after the executive board had met and endorsed the report that cleared his agency.
A meeting on judicial issues facing Pacific island countries was held in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2024

Japan to help Pacific island nations promote rule of law

The ministry has been supporting Southeast Asian countries in improving their judicial systems since the 1990s.
Ground Self-Defense Force members participate in a seminar to prevent harassment at Camp Asaka in Tokyo in April.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 10, 2024

Spate of scandals threaten to tarnish Defense Ministry and SDF’s reputation

The emergence of multiple scandals is the latest challenge for the Defense Ministry as it seeks to strengthen Japan’s defense capabilities.

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