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Israeli people look toward smoke rising in the Gaza Strip, as they sit at a viewing point on the Israeli side of the border on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Israel agrees to Gaza truce talks

Ahead of the negotiations, the Israeli prime minister said Hamas' proposals for changes to a draft U.S.-backed ceasefire deal were "unacceptable."
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe scores his team's third goal during its win over Borussia Dortmund at the Club World Cup on Saturday in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
SOCCER
Jul 6, 2025

Mbappe on target as Real Madrid downs Dortmund to reach Club World Cup semis

Mbappe, who did not play during the group stage due to illness, will hope to be at full fitness when Real takes on Paris Saint-Germain, his old club.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese Premier Li Qiang pose for a picture after a bilateral meeting Saturday ahead of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 6, 2025

BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs

The summit's impact will be depleted by the absence of Vladimir Putin as well as Xi Jinping, who is skipping the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 6, 2025

Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste

Some scholars and activists are raising concerns that Indigenous voices are not being heard amid the debate over whether to host nuclear waste storage facilities.
Residential buildings under construction in Shanghai in July 2022. The Chinese government risks long-term decline by repeating Japan’s policy mistakes in handling its real estate and demographic crises.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 6, 2025

China’s housing crisis is worse than it seems

Chinese policymakers — who are facing an even more severe housing and demographic crisis than Japan —are at risk of making the same mistakes.
Former South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives at the Seoul High Prosecutor's Office to attend questioning as part of a probe into his botched attempt to declare martial law, in Seoul on June 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

South Korea investigators seek to arrest former president Yoon again

The detention warrant request was made on the grounds former President Yoon Suk Yeol might be a flight risk and might interfere with witnesses, local media said.
China announces new restrictions on government purchases and imports of high-value EU medical devices in retaliation for Brussels' procurement curbs and EV tariffs, as trade tensions escalate.
WORLD
Jul 6, 2025

China retaliates to EU ban with import restrictions on medical devices

Tensions have been rising, with the European Union imposing tariffs on China-built electric vehicles and Beijing slapping duties on imported brandy from the bloc.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Abukuma-class destroyer Chikuma (front) and the Australian Navy's Hobart-class guided-missile destroyer Brisbane sail in formation during a military exercise in the Pacific Ocean in November 2023.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

Japan eyes used warship transfer to Philippines in bid to counter China

Sending the Abukuma-class vessels to Manila would mark Tokyo’s first export of an entire major naval platform in decades.
People gather outside a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

Israel's Netanyahu says he believes Trump can help seal ceasefire deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached this week, which could lead to the release of "quite a few hostages."
A screen displays news on U.S. President Donald Trump on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (on June 27.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2025

Investors head into Trump tariff deadline benumbed and blase

The 90-day pause on the U.S. president's "Liberation Day" tariffs expire Wednesday.
A person wears a mask depicting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on the back of the head during the Budapest Pride March on June 28.
WORLD / Society
Jul 7, 2025

Inside Budapest Pride: How organizers defied Orban's ban

The team behind the parade in Budapest went offline, meeting in private behind closed doors with everyone leaving their laptops and phones outside.
Despite perceptions of Russian weakness after Israel’s attack on Iran, that conflict has helped Vladimir Putin by diverting U.S. resources, eroding support for Ukraine and possibly setting the stage for the war to shift in his favor.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2025

The U.S. bombing of Iran was a win for Putin

The possibility of another war in the Middle East has sucked attention, energy and resources away from Ukraine.
The U.S. and the world will become unhealthier and vast numbers of children may die now that Donald Trump’s health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has pulled funding from the global vaccine program GAVI. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 7, 2025

RFK Jr. is playing with babies’ lives

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s cut to U.S. funding for GAVI risks lives globally and damages America’s international standing.
A drone view shows part of a fence, put in place by Israeli authorities, in Sinjil, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 5.
WORLD
Jul 7, 2025

West Bank town becomes 'big prison' as Israel fences it in

The fence around Sinjil, a Palestinian town in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, is a stark example of barriers that have become an overwhelming feature of daily life.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 7, 2025

Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll

In their campaign promises, parties are offering different solutions to problems caused by the record number here to visit, work and invest in real estate.
A Lawson convenience store in Yachiyo, Chiba Prefecture. A new service from the company comes amid the rise in inbound tourists, making hotels and inns harder to book and more expensive.
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2025

Lawson to let visitors use larger parking lots as paid car campsites

The convenience store operator hopes to capitalize on demand from out-of-town visitors in places where overnight accommodations are limited.
Japanese households are struggling to keep up with price increases as salary growth lags.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 7, 2025

Real wages fall for fifth straight month in May

The 2.9% decline was the biggest fall in inflation-adjusted pay in Japan in almost two years.
Maria Tyabut shows off the food stored in her new Chinese-made refrigerator while her husband Sergei Duzhikov holds their 8-month-old daughter, Yekaterina, at their apartment in the Moscow suburb of Mytishchi on June 17.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 7, 2025

Sanctions? No big deal, say middle-class Russian couple

They drive a Chinese car, vacation in Venezuela and buy "Camembert" cheese made in Russia.
Lei Jun introduces the Xiaomi YU7 sport utility vehicle during a launch event in Beijing on June 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 7, 2025

Xiaomi founder’s bold EV bet is paying off where Apple’s failed

The tech firm's success in the EV space has burnished founder Lei Jun’s reputation, making it one of the most valuable companies in China.
People hold candles as they take part in a vigil for the victims of the floods over Fourth of July weekend, at Travis Park, in San Antonio, Texas, on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 8, 2025

Hopes fade for missing Texas flood victims as death toll hovers around 100

Hopes dimmed of finding survivors among dozens still missing from the disaster that has claimed at least 96 lives.
A video by the National Police Agency warns about fake scams.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025

Scams involving police impersonation surge

Victims lost over ¥30 billion to such fraud cases in the first five months of 2025.
Ukrainian firefighter and rescue workers carry a victim of a Russian airstrike that hit an apartment building in Karamtorsk, Ukraine, on June 22.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

U.S. to send 'more weapons' to Ukraine, Trump says

Trump's came after Washington said last week that it was halting some weapons shipments to Kyiv, leaving Ukrainian officials scrambling for clarity.
An English conversation test paper and bubble answer sheet. A Chinese graduate student from Kyoto University is suspected of having attempted to use a small microphone under a mask to tell other takers of a popular English-language proficiency test the correct answers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 8, 2025

Over 800 people found to be involved in TOEIC cheating scheme

For those identified as having cheated, their scores have been nullified and their accounts for the exam have been suspended.
A concept model of the Global Combat Air Program (GCAP) fighter jet is displayed during the DSEI Japan forum in the city of Chiba in May.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2025

Japan, U.K. and Italy open to Saudis joining next-gen fighter program

The three partners have tacitly agreed to such a move — but only once the project is underway and all outstanding points have been cleared.
Tobias Bieker settled in Osaka in 2018 and started "Unpacking Japan" as a side project with ZenGroup five years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2025

Tobias Bieker: ‘A good interviewer helps the guest shine’

The host of the "Unpacking Japan" podcast offers his take on Osaka life, Japanese jazz and writing fiction.
Vast improvements in AI-generated video is shaking the foundations of the creative industry.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 8, 2025

AI video becomes more convincing, rattling creative industry

To measure the progress of AI video, you need only look at Will Smith eating spaghetti.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embrace at the G20 Leaders' Summit In Rio De Janeiro in 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Brazil’s Lula hosts Modi in bid to turn India into a major trade partner

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is desperate to finally crack the code on a relationship that has never fully taken off thanks to a litany of incompatibilities.
Emperor Naruhito (left) visits a special education school in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, in May and looks at a student attending to a customer at a cafe inside the school.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 9, 2025

Boosting support for parents of children with disabilities in Japan

Businesses and local governments are taking steps to support parents after care programs for their disabled children are discontinued at a certain age.
Nuggets center Nikola Jokic drives to the basket against the Thunder during a playoff game on May 13.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 9, 2025

Nuggets' Nikola Jokic reportedly to wait until next summer for contract talks

A three-time MVP, Jokic is eligible for a three-year, $206.4 million contract extension, but could wait and sign a max deal next summer.
Reservists receive training ahead of the annual Han Kuang military exercises in Taoyuan, Taiwan, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Taiwan simulates attacks on military command in annual war games

Over the next 10 days, the Han Kuang drills will expand to assess Taiwan's combat readiness against a full-scale attempt to seize the island.

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