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A wall is pockmarked by bullet holes following sectarian violence in the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, on July 25.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2025

How Syrian attackers killed: One hand on the gun, another on the camera

Videos posted to social media provide some of the most detailed depictions yet of the sectarian bloodshed that erupted Syria this month.
The agriculture ministry believes the increase in rice distributed through new channels with higher transaction prices is one of the factors behind the rice price surge since last summer.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2025

Varied sales channels may have triggered rice price surge

The amount of 2024 rice shipped from producers to major buyers dealing with farmers fell by 340,000 metric tons from the previous year.
The Tomari nuclear power plant in Tomari, Hokkaido, in March 2024
JAPAN
Jul 30, 2025

Hokkaido's Tomari nuclear reactor passes safety screening

The reactor at Hokkaido Electric Power's plant is the 18th to gain approval from the Nuclear Regulation Authority since the current safety standards were adopted.
Kotoshoho celebrates winning his first Grand Sumo Tournament at IG Arena in Nagoya on Sunday.
SUMO / Inside Sumo
Jul 30, 2025

Kotoshoho's shock first Emperor's Cup could reinvigorate his career

Kotoshoho's first Grand Sumo Tournament win in Nagoya on Sunday was perhaps even more surprising than early leader Ichiyamamoto’s would have been.
The town of Severo-Kurilsk on Russia's northern Kuril Islands is hit by a tsunami on Wednesday in this image taken by a drone.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 30, 2025

Powerful quake off Russia sparks Pacific tsunami

The quake off Russia's remote Kamchatka Peninsula triggered tsunami up to 4 meters across the Pacific and sparked evacuations as far away as Hawaii.
A Magic Bot Z1 by Magiclab is displayed at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference at the Shanghai World Expo and Convention Center on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 30, 2025

China’s AI strategy relies on frenzy and frenemies

China’s current AI frenzy represents the best and worst of classic capitalism: The competition propels innovation at a rapid clip, but not all of the companies will survive.
Rugby World Cup Australia Managing Director Chris Stanley (far left), Rugby Australia Chief Executive Phil Waugh (next left), former Wallabies captain Michael Hooper (center left), Chairman of World Rugby Brett Robinson (center right), World Rugby CEO Alan Gilpin (next right) and former Australia sevens player Chloe Dalton (far right) pose with the Webb Ellis Cup at the launch of ticketing for the 2027 Rugby World Cup at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Australia on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jul 30, 2025

'Most accessible ever' tickets planned for Australia's 2027 Rugby World Cup

More than a million tickets for every stage will be priced at under A$100.
“Memory of Lines” is Chiharu Shiota’s second art installation on Teshima as part of the Setouchi Triennale.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 30, 2025

Artist Chiharu Shiota weaves a hidden marvel on Teshima

The artist cherished for her red-thread installations creates a new work in one of Japan’s famed art islands.
Waves slam into a sea wall off Waikiki Beach after authorities downgraded earlier tsunami warnings following an earthquake off Russia’s Far Eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Wedenesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 31, 2025

Tsunami danger has Chile to U.S. on alert after Russia quake

Aftershocks will likely continue for months and there is no way to predict if there will be another massive shake.
A container ship approaches the Busan Port Terminal in Busan, South Korea, on July 23. Seoul's trade agreement with the U.S. brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 31, 2025

U.S. sets South Korea tariff rate at 15% with energy and shipbuilding investment

The agreement brings one of the world’s biggest exporters into Washington’s emerging trade framework just a day before the deadline.
Canadian-born Jesse Cunningham came to Japan to teach in the JET Programme, and later found opportunities to learn traditional blacksmithing in Kochi Prefecture.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Aug 4, 2025

The international artists supporting Japan’s craft legacy

From Kochi to Kamakura, non-Japanese craftspeople are training with local artisans and carving out a niche for themselves.
Mika Horii (left) and Jane Su record an episode of “Over the Sun” at TBS Broadcasting Center in Tokyo’s Akasaka area. The show draws 1.5 million monthly plays.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jul 31, 2025

'Over the Sun': A podcast for Japanese women who’ve lived a little

In their hit podcast “Over the Sun,” hosts Jane Su and Mika Horii turn everyday chats into a cultural phenomenon.
In “Stigmatized Properties: Possession,” Yahiro Kuwata (Shota Watanabe, left) is a steel worker from Fukuoka who moves to Tokyo to become a TV personality and ends up renting a haunted apartment.
CULTURE / Film
Jul 31, 2025

'Stigmatized Properties: Possession': Layered lead faces ghosts and show business

In the sequel to his 2020 haunted apartments horror, Hideo Nakata creates goose-pimply moments of terror with common paranormal phenomena.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives at a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 31, 2025

Ishiba’s time as LDP chief and PM might not be over just yet

The lack of obvious successors who can unite the party and raise public support, coupled with a cautious opposition, puts him in a stronger position than expected.
A Palestinian flag is seen held outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2025

Could the Palestinians gain full membership at the United Nations?

The Palestinian Authority, which represents the Palestinian people, is not a full member and has no vote in the 193-member General Assembly.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok in Tokyo on May 22.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2025

Japan’s strategic blind spot in the heart of Europe

Central Europe may hold the key to increased strategic autonomy without the geopolitical baggage of the superpowers.
Nippon Steel had pledged to ensure that more than half of members of the U.S. Steel board are American citizens.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 31, 2025

Nippon Steel names three American directors to U.S. Steel board

The move fulfills a pledge that the Japanese steelmaker made under a national security agreement reached with the U.S. government.
Max Verstappen said it was always clear that he would stay at Red Bull next season.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Aug 1, 2025

Max Verstappen shuts down rumors by committing to Red Bull for 2026

Verstappen has fallen into third place, 81 points behind series leader Oscar Piastri of McLaren, in the drivers' championship this year.
The Manzanillo seaport in Mexico. U.S. President Donald Trump gave Mexico a 90-day reprieve from higher tariffs of 30% on many goods to provide more time to negotiate a broader trade pact.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025

Trump hits dozens of nations with steep tariffs

The U.S. president set rates including a 35% duty on many goods from Canada, 50% for Brazil, 25% for India, 20% for Taiwan and 39% for Switzerland.
Fuji Media Holdings announced Thursday that it expects a consolidated operating loss of ¥12 billion for fiscal 2025, which would mark its first full-year loss since becoming a holding company in 2008.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2025

Fuji Media expects first annual operating loss since 2008

It expects a consolidated operating loss of ¥12 billion for the fiscal year ending March 2026 on a slower-than-expected recovery in advertising revenue.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
WORLD
Aug 1, 2025

After deadly strikes on Kyiv, Zelenskyy urges allies to seek Russia 'regime change'

The overnight strikes reduced part of a nine-story apartment block in Kyiv's western suburbs to rubble and wounded at least 150 people in the capital.
Canada's Summer McIntosh competes in the women's 200-meter butterfly final during the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in Singapore on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Swimming
Aug 1, 2025

Summer McIntosh and Leon Marchand outpace rivals at world championships

McIntosh earned her third individual gold medal of the meet.
Tokyo Electron is seeing slower-than-expected recovery in demand from producers of logic chips.
BUSINESS / Companies
Aug 1, 2025

Tokyo Electron cuts outlook on canceled logic chip tool orders

The Tokyo-based company now sees operating income of ¥570 billion in the year to March, down from a previous forecast of ¥727 billion.
Emissions rise from a smokestack at the Conesville Power Plant in Conesville, Ohio.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Aug 1, 2025

How Trump-vetted scientists are trying to shred the climate consensus

A new report is part of an effort by the Trump administration to try to end the U.S. government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases.
The Twins traded Carlos Correa to the Astros ahead of the trade deadline on Thursday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Aug 1, 2025

Carlos Correa headed back to Astros in blockbuster MLB trade

Correa, who waived his no-trade clause, told MLB.com that he and the Twins had agreed it was time for him to move on.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025

Japan’s Kato voices concern with yen at weakest since March

Kato’s comments came after the yen slid past the 150 level against the dollar on Thursday, following the BOJ’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.
LIFE / Travel
Aug 1, 2025

Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?

If you’re set on visiting Okinawa’s newest theme park, the biggest threat isn’t dinosaurs — it’s long lines and a remote location.
Meguro Hiiragi's fish-shaped "taiyaki" pastry comes with a thin and crisp batter that sheaths a piquant adzuki bean paste.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Top 5
Aug 1, 2025

In Tokyo, fish-shaped ‘taiyaki’ treats offer a sea of options

Part waffle, part pancake, the iconic pastries showcase the creativity of their bakers by flaunting a variety of fillings that range from adzuki bean paste to cream cheese.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has been talking up Japan's successful tariff negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 1, 2025

U.S. sets Aug. 7 as start date for Japan's 15% 'reciprocal' tariff

The focus is now on unfinished business as auto duties go unmentioned.
A notice board at a station in Tokyo announces suspended shinkansen services due to a tsunami warning after a strong quake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday. 
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2025

A troubling reminder of Japan's vulnerability to natural disasters

There is considerable work to be done. Multiple studies and surveys of municipalities show that they are not prepared for a big incident.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’