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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's new plan to restrict updated COVID-19 vaccines to high-risk groups has sparked confusion and criticism, with experts warning it could limit public access and bypass established advisory channels.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2025

The FDA’s new COVID-19 vaccine policy is clear as mud

The U.S. health agency's promises of transparency and choice for COVID-19 vaccines fall short in its first big test. 
Members of the Iranian delegation leave the Omani Embassy, where the fifth round of U.S.-Iran talks took place, in Rome on Friday.
WORLD
May 26, 2025

Iran rejects push to suspend uranium enrichment to reach U.S. deal

The issue of enrichment has come into focus in recent weeks, with Iran staunchly defending its right to enrich uranium as part of what it says is a civilian nuclear program.
Representatives of bereaved families lay flowers at a memorial service held at Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
May 27, 2025

Remains of 368 Japanese war dead laid to rest in National Cemetery

The number of people laid to rest at the Chidorigafuchi National Cemetery now totals 371,008, including some who died after the war as detainees in Siberia.
Participants crouch and take cover inside the Toei Subway Higashi-Nakano Station as part of a civil protection drill simulating the launch of a ballistic missile, held on Jan. 15 in Tokyo's Nakano Ward.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 27, 2025

Hurdles remain for securing missile shelters in Japan

Government carries out first large-scale survey to identify more potential evacuation sites.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Visitors at the EdgeCortix booth during the AI Expo Tokyo event in Tokyo in May 2023
BUSINESS / Companies
May 28, 2025

Japan backs AI chip startup EdgeCortix in boost to defense tech

The startup secured government subsidies of ¥3 billion to develop energy-efficient AI chiplets for commercialization in 2027.
Seven & I hopes to focus more on its 7-Eleven convenience stores.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 28, 2025

Seven & I’s move away from banking leaves market wondering

7-Eleven's ATMs are an important part of the convenience store operator's business.
Rock band Mrs. Green Apple performed an emotional rendition of hit song “Darling” on the final night of the Music Awards Japan.
CULTURE / Music
May 29, 2025

Songs, stars and strategy: Japan debuts its newest awards ceremony

From viral hits to legacy tributes, Japan's 'answer to the Grammys' delivers a celebration of J-pop's past and present at its inaugural event in Kyoto.
AI hallucinations — when generative models fabricate information — are becoming more frequent, harder to detect and increasingly dangerous as we embed the technology deeper into society.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

AI hallucinations? What could go wrong?

The notion that we can’t ensure that AI will produce accurate information is, uh, “disturbing” if we intend to integrate that product so deeply into our daily lives.
The Chinese Communist Party has significantly expanded its global influence operations by using tactics like election interference, disinformation, elite capture and pressure on the diaspora to sway politics and policies in democracies worldwide.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2025

Is Beijing engineering election wins for 'soft on China' politicians?

Beijing legally requires all citizens to support Communist Party policies and views ethnic Chinese everywhere as instruments for advancing its global goals.
Charisma was overweight when she arrived at ARK, but has slimmed down to 8 kilograms.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
May 29, 2025

This charming Shiba enjoys life’s simple pleasures

Charisma loves soft toys, snoozing in her favorite spot and getting a nice massage.
Displaced Palestinians carry bags of food aid after storming a World Food Program warehouse in the central Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 29, 2025

Deadly break-in at U.N. warehouse as aid trickles into Gaza

The World Food Program appealed for an immediate scale-up of food aid "to reassure people that they will not starve."
U.S. Steel Edgar Thompson Works in Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Economy
May 29, 2025

Trump’s Nippon Steel bid support boosts Japan’s trade talk hopes

The apparent breakthrough raises the possibility that Japan could get some new traction in its bid to get tariffs on autos and other exports removed.
Agrolend CEO Andre Glezer (second from right), JICA Brazil Office chief Akihiro Miyazaki (far left) and others on Wednesday in Sao Paulo
BUSINESS / Companies
May 29, 2025

JICA signs deal to invest in Brazilian farming fintech firm

JICA hopes the investment will help ensure stable food procurement by Japan, which imports such crops as soybeans and corns from the South American agricultural giant.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by an Iris Ohyama subsidiary in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
May 29, 2025

Stockpiled rice shipped within three days and set to hit shelves next week

The rapid shipment is in sharp contrast with previous arrangements using auctions, under which it took months to sell and ship 310,000 metric tons of rice in phases.
As humidity rises in the rainy season, it’s a good idea to get some moisture absorbers and place them around the home.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 30, 2025

How to talk about change in Japanese — one forecast at a time

Use the changing seasons as a springboard to learn how Japanese expresses cause-and-effect shifts.
Harvard University students wearing graduation gowns walk through Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 30, 2025

Judge blocks Trump ban on Harvard's international students

The ruling is a victory for the Ivy League school that is entangled in multiple battles with the administration.
The Hotaruan Royal Garden Suite, a renovated traditional "minka" home, will host the second iteration of the Minka Preservation Society's MinkaMeets event.
LIFE / Style & Design
May 31, 2025

Traditional home experts to gather at MinkaMeets event

Roof thatching expert Haruo Nishio is one of several experts scheduled to speak at the June 7-8 event.
The Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 30, 2025

Trump aims at Chinese students and tech in threat to truce with Xi

Just weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump declared a "total reset” with China following a trade truce in Geneva, tensions are rising again between the world’s biggest economies.
73% of sports organizations in Japan have not made consultation desks available for LGBTQ  and other sexual minorities, as well as people seeking advice on gender identity and sexual orientation, according to a survey led by Pride House Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

No LGBTQ+ help desks for 73% of sports groups in Japan

The survey was conducted in March and April on efforts to protect sexual minorities and secure diversity.
Stockpiled rice arrives Thursday at a rice-milling factory operated by a subsidiary of household appliance company Iris Ohyama in the town of Watari, Miyagi Prefecture.
JAPAN / Politics
May 30, 2025

Some retailers hesitant to buy stockpiled rice on quality concerns

Smaller shops in Japan are worried that older batches might not taste as good, which could cause customers to take their business elsewhere.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton is seen before the Monaco Grand Prix on May 25.
MORE SPORTS
May 30, 2025

Lewis Hamilton labels rumors of friction with Ferrari engineer as 'noise'

Hamilton said he and Riccardo Adami were learning more and more about each other and adapting the way they worked.
A government white paper on agriculture attributed the recent rice price hikes partly to some producers boosting direct sales to consumers and sales to nonconventional buyers.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025

Government blames rice price surges on procurement route changes

Rice prices at retailers soared because wholesalers had to buy at relatively high prices to supplement shortfalls, a white paper concluded.
The Trump administration's escalating campaign against Harvard — cutting billions in funding, blocking foreign students, and threatening its independence — marks an unprecedented attack on U.S. higher education.
EDITORIALS
May 30, 2025

U.S. soft power is a casualty in Trump’s war on Harvard

The fight against Harvard will do extensive and potentially irreparable injury. It is an extraordinary act of self-harm.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, is in Washington again for a fourth round of high-level negotiations with the United States.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 30, 2025

Tariff talks with U.S. a mix of slow progress, ever-present uncertainty 

Japan's chief negotiator is back in Washington for another round of high-level negotiations.
The Bayan Obo mine containing rare earth minerals, in Inner Mongolia, China.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 31, 2025

Carmakers warn China's rare-earth curbs could halt production

Auto executives are sounding the alarm on an impending shortage of rare-earth magnets from China that could force the closure of factories within weeks.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji