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A farmer cuts down cocoa pods from a tree on his farm in Azaguie, Cote d'Ivoire.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 17, 2025

High cocoa prices drive smuggling surge, alarming traders

Cote d'Ivoire is the world's largest cocoa producer, but much higher prices in neighboring countries create an arbitrage that some can't resist exploiting.
Firefighters at the site of Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

Trump administration disbands group focused on pressuring Russia, sources say

The effort lost steam as it became clear to participants that Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow.
A family looks at a model and an introduction video of the first Taiwan domestically made submarine on display at a Panshih-class fast combat support ship in Keelung, Taiwan, in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2025

Taiwan completes first sea trial for domestically made submarine in defense milestone

Taiwan has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of a project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises.
Bicycle riders will be fined for minor traffic violations starting on April 1.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025

Japan to fine riders ¥12,000 for using mobile phones while cycling

Fines between ¥3,000 ($20) and ¥12,000 will be imposed for 113 types of traffic violations.
Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa fails to stop a Maximiliano Meza header during River Plate's 3-1 win at the Club World Cup on Tuesday in Seattle.
SOCCER
Jun 18, 2025

River Plate eases past Urawa at Club World Cup

Under 12,000 fans attended the clash, but those who were there, many traveling from Japan and Argentina, created a vibrant atmosphere at both ends of the stadium.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Moscow in March. If U.S. President Donald Trump's Ukraine envoy meets Lukashenko, he would be the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the authoritarian state in years.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Trump's Ukraine envoy to meet Belarus leader Alexander Lukashenko

Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg in private has portrayed the trip as a step that could help jump-start peace talks aimed at ending Russia's war against Ukraine.
U.S. President Donald Trump is granting a third reprieve to TikTok from enforcement of a congressionally mandated ban that was supposed to take effect in January.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2025

Trump to extend TikTok sale deadline for third time, White House says

The U.S. president will extend the June 19 deadline for 90 days.
A minivehicle that crashed head-on with another vehicle in the Enasan Tunnel in Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, on June 11 after being driven the wrong way on the Chuo Expressway
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 18, 2025

Wrong-way driving on expressways proves a persistent problem in Japan

Around 200 cases of wrong-way driving on expressways are reported each year.
Israeli military vehicles maneuver in Gaza, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jun 18, 2025

Israeli tanks kill 59 people in Gaza crowd trying to get food aid, medics say

Palestinian medics said at least 59 people were killed and 221 wounded in the incident, at least 20 of them in critical condition.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te had pledged in April to address unspecified concerns from Washington about export controls.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2025

U.S.-China tech fight widens after Taiwan blacklists Huawei

The move is the first time Taipei has used its blacklist against major Chinese firms.
Shareholders arrive at Toyota's annual shareholders' meeting on June 12 in the city of Toyota, Aichi Prefecture.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2025

Record demands from activist investors driving focus on governance and efficiency

The country’s jammed annual general meeting season matters more than ever this year as investors seek signs that Japanese stocks can get out of a rut.
Citing challenges such as a declining workforce and rising costs, four major newspapers will discontinue their Saturday evening editions from August, in a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan.
JAPAN / Media
Jun 18, 2025

Four newspapers in Japan to cease Saturday evening editions from August

The announcements mark a shift away from a publishing tradition that has endured for decades in Japan, where evening newspapers had been a staple of the media landscape.
A dead sea star in 2015. About 5 billion sea stars died from a disease outbreak, likely including this one.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 18, 2025

Marine heat waves are spreading around the world

Some unusual ocean events have become so intense that scientists have coined a new term: super marine heat waves.
A video from the National Police Agency aimed at educating people about the illegality of online casinos is shown at a movie theater in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025

Japan revises law to ban online casino ads as it cracks down on offshore gambling

The revised law makes gambling on overseas sites explicitly illegal, allowing internet service providers and social media platforms to remove content more proactively.
Workers pack bathroom fittings in a factory of the Taiwanese-owned LCM Group in Kunshan, China, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Taiwan's entrepreneurs in China feel heat from cross-strait tensions

Safety fears have led many Taiwanese manufacturers to turn to less politically sensitive locales such as Vietnam and Thailand.
Mitsubishi Motors is raising prices on some of its models, including the gasoline version of Outlander Sport sold in the U.S. market.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 18, 2025

Mitsubishi Motors raises U.S. prices as tariffs roil carmakers

The new prices will affect vehicles delivered after Wednesday and won’t be applied to cars currently on display in showrooms.
Shibuya’s iconic scramble crossing has helped put the district on the map globally.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2025

Shibuya, Tokyo's coolest ward, offers startups a leg up in Japan

It's offering international entrepreneurs free space, a good address and a wide range of support services.
Jeremy Allaire, chief executive officer of Circle Internet Financial (center) celebrates during the company's initial public offering on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on June 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025

A digital dollar is a trade war weapon, and Europe may be a primary target

Stablecoins could serve to entrench the existing tech and monetary order dominated by the U.S., as 95% of them are dollar-denominated. The euro commands less than 1%.
Eight banks have entered into an agreement with the National Police Agency to share information on suspicious accounts as part of efforts to combat special fraud schemes.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025

Major banks team up with police to combat special fraud

Under a new agreement, the banks will send information on suspicious accounts directly to the police instead of channeling it through the Financial Services Agency.
Students' opinions are being sought on a planned system for checking whether teachers have sexual crime records.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 18, 2025

Government to seek students' opinions for sexual abuse prevention

Around 12 students will be selected by lottery from volunteers to participate in the upcoming session.
Israeli air defense systems intercept Iranian missiles over the Israeli city of Tel Aviv early on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Trump wraps situation room meeting as Iran plan remains mystery

The White House offered few clues about whether Trump had decided to join Israel's offensive aimed at destroying Tehran’s nuclear program.
A Nippon Steel facility in Kashima, Ibaraki prefecture on Dec. 6, 2024
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Nippon Steel closes acquisition of U.S. Steel to end 18-month saga

The controversial deal weathered two presidential administrations, union opposition, an expensive lobbying campaign and two U.S. security panel reviews.
Foreign nationals applying for U.S. student and exchange visitor visas will now be asked to set their social media profiles to public so that they can be reviewed.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

U.S. orders social media vetting for student visa applicants

The move steps up measures to restrict foreign nationals’ entry to American campuses over national security concerns.
The anti-interventionist part of the Republican Party is watching with alarm as U.S. President Donald Trump has gone from seeking a peaceful diplomatic settlement with Iran to possibly having the United States support Israel's military campaign.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Trump faces uproar from MAGA base over possible Iran strike

Some of Trump's biggest Republican allies are in the unusual position of being at odds with a president who largely shares their isolationist tendencies.
Panthers left wing A.J. Greer lifts the Stanley Cup after the team's win over the Oilers in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in Sunrise, Florida, on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Jun 19, 2025

Panthers damage Stanley Cup shortly after winning title

Damage to the Stanley Cup is far from new for the 132-year-old piece of hardware
Social activists and artists remove graffiti from the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles on June 10, after days of protests against federal immigration sweeps.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025

Japanese American museum criticizes Trump order

U.S. authorities issued orders to put up notices for exhibitions, movies and others that are deemed to disparage U.S. history.
People take a selfie in front of the presidential residence of the Blue House in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Visitors rush to see South Korea's Blue House before presidential return

Public access to some buildings at the Blue House will be restricted from mid-July as the new president moves in.
David Sacks, White House artificial intelligence and crypto czar, said the U.S. should be concerned that Huawei Technologies is moving fast to catch up to its rivals outside China.
BUSINESS
Jun 19, 2025

China adept at evading chip curbs, Trump adviser David Sacks says

DeepSeek’s breakthrough artificial intelligence model earlier this year demonstrated how China could still advance even with export controls in place, Sacks said.
Unicharm and Toyota Tsusho will together launch a company called Sofy East Africa in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in December to manufacture and sell sanitary products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Unicharm and Toyota Tsusho to set up sanitary goods joint venture in Kenya

The two companies aim to launch the new company, Sofy East Africa, in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi in December.
Many Japanese firms are delisting their shares from the Tokyo Stock Exchange under the  bourse’s broad push to make the market more appealing for foreign investors by ensuring that listed companies offer high shareholder returns.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Japan firms exit Tokyo exchange at record pace in delisting rush

If firms continue to exit the TSE at this pace, the figure for 2025 will exceed last year’s annual record of 94 companies.

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