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Players from Team China compete during the Arena of Valor final at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sept. 26, 2023
SOCCER
Jul 23, 2025

China's top soccer body to form esports team after World Cup flop

While China languishes at 94th in FIFA's world rankings, two places below tiny Luxembourg to the dismay of its vast fanbase, the country's esports sector is booming.
An activist holds a portrait of Josef Stalin during a rally in Moscow on April 22, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

Stalin makes a comeback in Putin’s wartime crackdown on dissent

The Kremlin is reviving Soviet-era practices of censorship and prison sentences to suppress dissent and present Russian society as united behind Putin and the war.
A police officer wears a neck cooler in Tokyo's Chuo Ward on July 10.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025

Tokyo police embrace cooling gear to protect officers from extreme heat


The number of days when temperatures in Tokyo exceed 35 degrees Celsius continues to rise each year, prompting the need to protect police officers.
Palestinians, mostly children, attempt to receive a hot meal at a charity kitchen in the Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Jul 23, 2025

More than 100 aid groups warn of 'mass starvation' spreading across Gaza

Israel is facing mounting international pressure over the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory.
Atomic bomb survivor Masaki Hironaka reads as he sits among paintings by students made during an annual project to preserve the testimonies of survivors to keep the memories of the bombing in 1945 relevant for younger generations, at Motomachi High School in the city of Hiroshima, on May 29.
JAPAN
Jul 23, 2025

Hiroshima teens describe World War II atomic bombing horror through art

A high school in Hiroshima showed 15 new artworks that depicted the atomic bombing, such as a horror-stricken girl surrounded by an inferno.
Argentina's Lionel Messi is presented with the World Cup trophy by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamil bin Hamad Al Thani and FIFA president Gianni Infantino at Lusail Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022.
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2025

Qatar bids to host 2036 Olympic Games in Doha

Should it be chosen, Qatar would become the first country in the Middle East to host the Olympic Games.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding the Golden Dome missile defense shield in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 20.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025

Trump's Golden Dome looks for alternatives to Musk's SpaceX

The shift comes amid a deteriorating relationship between the U.S. president and the billionaire entrepreneur.
Paul Watson, founder of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd, speaks in Bordeaux, France, on March 25. Interpol has removed Watson from its wanted list.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 23, 2025

Interpol removes anti-whaling activist Paul Watson from wanted list

Interpol based its decision on new developments, including Denmark's refusal to extradite him to Japan where there is an arrest warrant for him.
McKinsey’s 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, published Wednesday, says that the use of “sovereign AI” is a trend gaining significant global traction, including in Japan.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 23, 2025

Japan leans into homegrown AI amid rising competition

Japan is among the countries aiming to develop localized artificial intelligence models to target national priorities.
An external view of the Centenary Pool, which will be redeveloped to host the aquatics during the 2032 Olympics, at Spring Hill, Brisbane on Monday
OLYMPICS
Jul 23, 2025

Brisbane 2032 Olympics on track seven years out but with little wiggle room

The opening ceremony of Australia's third Summer Games will take place exactly seven years from Wednesday.
Former Kings center Jonas Valanciunas (left) drives to the basket against Cavaliers forward Evan Mobley during the first half at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio on April 6.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 23, 2025

Jonas Valanciunas sets record straight: He will play for Nuggets

Denver acquired Valanciunas from the Sacramento Kings earlier this month but the 33-year-old Lithuanian center was more interested in playing overseas for Greek team Panathinaikos.
Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu (left) welcomes United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres on the tarmac of Port Vila's international airport, on May 18, 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

Vanuatu calls upcoming ICJ ruling a 'game-changer' for climate justice

Vanuatu's climate change minister says he hopes the International Court of Justice will say it is the "legal obligation of states to address climate change."
U.S. President Donald Trump, who is unable to satisfy his supporters’ demands for answers he can’t deliver, is now trapped by the very Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy he once promoted.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2025

Trump can’t put the Epstein genie back in the bottle

Trump now finds himself in the unusual position of trying to stuff the Epstein genie back into a bottle that he helped uncork.
Marine biologist Teina Rongo on his boat passing the research vessel MV Anuanua Moana in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on June 12. Mining exploration has left many Cook Islanders such as Rongo fearing deep-sea mining could taint their precious ocean forever.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

The Pacific island nation that wants to mine the ocean floor

Research vessels roam the seas around the Cook Islands in search of deposits of battery metals, rare earths and critical minerals.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas attends a meeting in Brussels on July 14.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 23, 2025

China singled out at EU-Japan summit

The two sides reiterated their opposition to “any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion” in the East and South China seas.
A video screen shows images related to the Jeffrey Epstein files at Times Square in New York on Wednesday. Some Donald Trump supporters for years have fanned conspiracy theories about Epstein's clients and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2025

Trump was told he is in Epstein files, Wall Street Journal reports

The disclosure about U.S. President Donald Trump's appearance in the Justice Department's records on the case could deepen the political crisis surrounding his administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after signing executive orders in Washington on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 24, 2025

Trump says Tokyo agreed to buy U.S. defense gear, but questions remain

Touting the surprise trade agreement with Japan, the U.S. president claimed that Tokyo agreed to buy billions of dollars in defense equipment.
A drone is seen exploding in the sky during a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on July 4. An internal document from weapons-maker IEMZ Kupol showed it signed a contract with the Russian defense ministry to produce more than 6,000 attack drones this year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2025

Shipped as 'cooling units,' Chinese engines power Russian drones used in Ukraine

The covert shipments of engines have allowed Russian weapons-maker IEMZ Kupol to increase its production of an attack drone despite U.S. and EU sanctions.
A Nigerian health official administers an mpox vaccination at Federal Medical Center in Abuja, Nigeria, on Nov. 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2025

800,000 U.S. taxpayer-funded vaccine doses may expire, lawmakers say

A letter said 220,000 doses could be viable if the State Department begins shipping them immediately.
President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Yuji Iwasawa (center) and other members issue an advisory opinion on nations' legal obligations to address climate change, at The Hague on Wednesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 24, 2025

Top U.N. court says treaties compel wealthy nations to curb global warming

The International Court of Justice said countries must address the "urgent and existential threat" of climate change.
An image of the simulation technology developed by Fujitsu
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 24, 2025

Fujitsu and Nagoya University develop AI-based tech to spread ride-hailing

The new technology will be offered to local governments struggling to secure means of transportation for elderly residents and business operators facing a shortage of drivers.
Oita Prefectural Kusu Miyama High School in the town of Kusu, Oita Prefecture
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Aug 4, 2025

Two Oita towns to launch program to nurture aspiring local teachers

As the towns are facing population decline, there are few young aspiring teachers there.
As U.S. tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from levies.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 24, 2025

Firms in Japan likely to log lower profits amid tariff and political uncertainty

While tariffs caused global uncertainty, Japanese carmakers in particular have been losing momentum as the industry faced pressure from the levies.
In recent years, Fuji Rock has had fewer blockbuster performers and showcased more top-selling Japanese acts and international musicians' first-time performances in Japan.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 24, 2025

Behind the scenes: Inside Fuji Rock’s strategy for staying on top

With younger fans, more diverse acts and rising global interest, Fuji Rock — one of Asia’s biggest music festivals — is seeing its strongest turnout in years.
Government Pension Investment Fund President Kazuto Uchida says there is no need to change the fund's portfolio even after a trade deal was reached between Japan and the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 25, 2025

Japan’s top pension fund keeps strategy amid volatility

As it seeks to ride out the turmoil, the Government Pension Investment Fund aims to enhance portfolio rebalancing with futures and analyze correlations between different assets.
The diffusion index on living conditions in Japan is at its lowest level in nearly 16 years.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 24, 2025

Japan might be in a technical recession already

GDP appears to have declined for a second consecutive quarter, while wages remain stagnant and consumer sentiment weak.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani is greeted by teammate Andy Pages after his first-inning home run on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jul 24, 2025

Ohtani extends homer streak to five in Dodgers win

The home run was Ohtani's National League-leading 37th of the season.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick at the White House on April 2.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 23, 2025

Trump’s tariffs undermine America's security, business and credibility

Donald Trump may have given up on free trade, but the American people have not.
In Junglia’s Dinosaur Safari attraction during a media preview on Thursday, a casual drive through a habitat for the prehistoric creatures goes haywire when several Tyrannosaurus rexes break out of containment.
JAPAN
Jul 24, 2025

Junglia, Japan’s newest theme park, opens in northern Okinawa

Open from July 25, the new Junglia theme park turns an old golf course into 22 dinosaur- and adventure sports-themed attractions.
Debris from an Angara Airlines An-24 passenger aircraft at the crash site near Tynda, in Russia's Amur Region, on Thursday
WORLD
Jul 25, 2025

Soviet-era passenger plane crashes in Russia's far east, killing all 48 on board

The crash is likely to raise new questions about the viability of continuing to fly such old planes in far-flung corners of Russia.

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