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A photo provided by a witness shows the scene of an explosion in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Society
May 27, 2025

Gas explosion injures 10 at Tokyo construction site, prompting evacuation

Police said workers had been driving piles into the ground for a new condominium when they likely struck an underground gas pipe, triggering the explosion.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (center), locks hands with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim (left) and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah during a group photo at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 27, 2025

As ASEAN touts unity, Philippines seeks consensus on South China Sea

Manila’s call on the 10-member bloc comes as the situation between China and the Philippines has turned particularly tense.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a meeting of the government's advisory Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy on Monday at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 27, 2025

Japan private sector backs 1% real wage growth per year over next five years

The plan was first mentioned by the government’s "new capitalism" panel earlier this month.
Donald Trump’s approval of Nippon Steel’s U.S. Steel partnership signals a key step in U.S.-Japan economic and security cooperation amid rising competition with China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2025

Nippon Steel partnership go-ahead boosts U.S.-Japan cooperation

The move is a sharp departure from Trump’s earlier, politically motivated stance opposing foreign ownership of U.S. Steel.
A Chinese J-10B fighter jet is put on display at the China International Aviation & Aerospace Exhibition in Zhuhai, China, in October 2016. The short May conflict between India and Pakistan became a live trial for Chinese arms, exposing vulnerabilities in its fighter aircraft and air defense systems.
COMMENTARY / World
May 27, 2025

Lessons from India-Pakistan war: Were China's arms overrated?

The short May conflict between India and Pakistan became a live trial for Chinese arms, exposing vulnerabilities in its fighter aircraft and air defense systems.
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Israel's actions in the territory as "no longer comprehensible."
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025

Germany shifts tone on Israel over 'incomprehensible' Gaza carnage

The message reflects a broader shift in public opinion but also a greater willingness from top-ranking German politicians to criticize Israel's conduct.
Nippon Steel headquarters in Tokyo. The U.S. government is poised to receive a so-called golden share in U.S. Steel as a condition for approving Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of the American company.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Golden share fix proposed for knotty Nippon Steel-U.S. Steel deal

The plan would give the U.S. government a veto over certain company decisions.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio buttons his jacket at the start of a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in Washington on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

U.S. suspends student visa processing as Trump ramps up social media vetting

A U.S. diplomatic cable has ordered embassies and consulates not to allow "any additional student or exchange visa ... appointment capacity until further guidance is issued."
Palestinians seeking aid gather near an aid distribution site run by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD
May 28, 2025

Palestinians rush U.S.-backed aid center despite concerns over checks

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said at one point the number of people seeking aid was so great that its team had to pull back to avoid casualties.
An Israeli military vehicle is seen near the border between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and Syria on May 4.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

Syria and Israel in direct talks focused on security, sources say

The contacts mark a significant development in ties between states that have been on opposite sides of conflict in the Middle East for decades.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at an event in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 19.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

Trump says Putin 'playing with fire' as sanctions pressure grows

Moscow has kept up attacks despite a phone call eight days ago in which U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian leader Vladimir Putin had agreed to immediately start talks.
A total 37 million people in Southeast Asia suffered from cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.7 million died from it, according to new research.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
May 28, 2025

Southeast Asia sees near 150% rise in heart disease, study shows

A total 37 million people in the region suffered from cardiovascular disease in 2021 and 1.7 million died from it.
The World Health Organization is struggling financially due to the departure of its biggest donor, the United States.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 28, 2025

WHO restructures and cuts budget after U.S. withdrawal

Hit by the withdrawal of its biggest donor, the United States, the WHO trimmed its already smaller 2026-2027 budget from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (center) arrives at Argentina’s Ministry of Health to meet with Argentinian Health Minister Mario Lugones in Buenos Aires on Monday.
WORLD / Science & Health
May 28, 2025

RFK Jr. says COVID-19 shot isn’t recommended for healthy kids

The decision reverses the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s earlier stance that everyone six months of age and older get vaccinated.
Mateusz Urbanowicz’s recent book “Imaginary Storefronts” collects his illustrations of the mundane Japanese street scenes that have given him immense inspiration.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
May 31, 2025

Mateusz Urbanowicz: ‘Miyazaki inspired me to put the audience first’

The Polish artist and animator talks about how he came to Japan and the inspiration he draws from ordinary streets and storefronts.
Peter Mandelson, British Ambassador to the U.S.
WORLD
May 28, 2025

U.K. envoy urges trans-Atlantic tech alliance, citing China threat

Ambassador Peter Mandelson warned of the consequences if China continues to get ahead in AI and other key technologies.
Ukrainian lawmakers discuss ratifying the deal with the United States about mineral resources during a session of parliament in Kyiv on May 8.
BUSINESS
May 28, 2025

Ukraine revamps minerals sector, eyeing billions in investment from U.S. deal

The country has deposits of 22 of 34 minerals deemed as critical by the European Union for industries such as defense, high-tech appliances and green energy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Icelandic President Halla Tomasdottir at the Prime Minister's Office on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2025

Ishiba and Tomasdottir agree to deepen cooperation between Japan and Iceland

The Icelandic president said Japan is Iceland's most important partner in Asia, and expressed her eagerness to collaborate on geothermal energy and gender equality.
A worker produces a turbine engine component at PBS Group, in Velka Bites, Czech Republic, on May 6.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Booming business has Europe's defense companies scrambling for workers

Arms makers are hiking wages and benefits, and even poaching from other sectors, as governments ramp up defense spending.
An election poster board set up in Tokyo's Suginami Ward on Friday
JAPAN / Politics
May 28, 2025

Tokyo installs extra-large campaign boards ahead of metropolitan assembly vote

In some areas, boards with up to 70 slots are being installed, a move also intended to prepare for the Upper House election that will follow shortly after.
Members of the Kyoto Prefectural Police department's bicycle patrol unit, known as the Be-Unit, in the city of Kyoto in April
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2025

Kyoto police deploy bicycle squad to crack down on reckless riding

The unit, launched in April last year under the traffic police force, has proven to be agile and effective.
A new law to promote the development of artificial intelligence while addressing its risks passed at an Upper House plenary meeting on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 28, 2025

Japan enacts bill to promote AI development and address its risks

The new law includes a provision to allow the government to disclose the names of malicious businesses in the event of crime using AI.
Onosato (top) poses with his stablemates after his yokozuna promotion ceremony at Nishonoseki stable in Ibaraki Prefecture on Wednesday.
SUMO
May 28, 2025

Onosato, 24, promoted to sumo grand champion in record time

Onosato also became the first Japan-born wrestler to reach the rank since 2017.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers remarks at the National Memorial Day Observance at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 28, 2025

Hegseth to face questions on U.S. commitment at top Asian defense conference

The event comes amid growing anxiety over Washington's tariff program and uncertainties about U.S. defense policy.
Onosato celebrates winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo on Sunday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
May 28, 2025

Historic rise to yokozuna just the beginning for Onosato

There is a good argument to be made that Onosato is already the most widely decorated wrestler in sumo history.
James Rosewald, co-founder of Dalton Investments, speaks during an interview at the company's office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Dalton connects with activist investor-linked fund to pressure Fuji Media

Dalton is trying to pressure Fuji Media after the broadcaster earlier this month spurned the fund’s proposal for 12 new directors, including SBI Holdings' Yoshitaka Kitao.
SpaceX's next-generation Starship spacecraft atop its Super Heavy booster is launched on its ninth test at the company's launch pad in Starbase, Texas, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 28, 2025

SpaceX's Starship spins out of control

SpaceX's Starship rocket roared into space from Texas on Tuesday but spun out of control about halfway through its flight without achieving some of its most important testing goals, bringing fresh engineering hurdles to CEO Elon Musk's increasingly turbulent Mars rocket program.
Innovative Space Carrier CEO Kojiro Hatada poses with a model of the planned spaceplane ASCA 3 at JFE Engineering’s factory in Yokohama on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Japanese reusable rocket startup ISC eyes U.S. test launch in December

Innovative Space Carrier said its ASCA 1.0 reusable launcher will conduct a 100-meter flight and landing test.
Ohkawara Kakohki CEO Masaaki Okawara (third from left) holds a sign saying "Complete victory" in Tokyo on Wednesday after the Tokyo High Court upheld a lower court ruling ordering the government to pay damages over investigations into a case against him and the company.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
May 28, 2025

Central and Tokyo governments ordered to compensate over probe

The case related to spray-dryer-maker Ohkawara Kakohki and allegations of an illegal export.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a news conference with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto at Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 28, 2025

Macron weighs recognition of Palestinian state as Gaza toll mounts

French officials are considering the move ahead of a United Nations conference France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting from June 17 to 20.

Longform

"Shake hands with Lima-chan," a statue that shares the name of the Peruvian capital looks in the direction of Peru, where a sister statue, "Sakura-chan," is located. Erected in Yokohama's Rinko Park in 1999, it commemorates Peruvian-Japanese friendship.
The journey of Peru’s Nikkei: Finding identity in Japan