Search - new

 
 
Newly appointed Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko attends a session of Ukrainian parliament in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 18, 2025

Ukraine reshuffles Cabinet with wartime economy struggling

The reshuffle reflects Ukraine’s effort to spend more on its war effort and to strengthen sometimes strained relations with the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Pham Thi Bich Hau (fifth from left) began translating and interpreting for the Vietnamese community in Japan in 2013, when she was working for a trainee management organization. She went on to found the Vietnam Women's Union in Japan, organizing activities like the Tet festival pictured here.
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jul 21, 2025

The mothers holding up Japan's Vietnamese community

Online support groups and in-person events are helping Vietnamese women from all walks of life manage motherhood abroad.
Members of Syrian security forces stand on a road as vehicles transporting other Syrian security forces make their way out of the predominantly Druze city of Sweida, Syria, on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

U.S. does not support Israel's Syria strikes as al-Sharaa vows to protect Druze

Israel launched airstrikes in Damascus on Wednesday, saying it aimed to protect Syrian Druze, a part of a minority that also has followers in Lebanon and Israel.
Sega's first brick-and-mortar store in Japan is an example of how the country's video game industry is thinking of its digital products as tangible experiences.
LIFE / Digital
Jul 18, 2025

Sega’s first Japan store signals ‘immersive entertainment’ push

Opened on July 18 in the Shibuya Parco building, the video game company’s brick-and-mortar venture hints at a broader trend in Japan’s gaming landscape.
A migrant is detained by federal officers at a U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, in New York City, on June 11.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

'A trap' — Asylum seekers arrested after attending U.S. court hearings

Homeland Security agents have adopted the tactic of waiting outside immigration courts nationwide and arresting migrants as they leave at the end of mandatory asylum hearings.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague on June 25. Zelenskyy said his latest talks with Trump focused on a deal that would help each country bolster its aerial technology.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

Zelenskyy says he and Trump are considering a drone 'mega-deal'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said drones were the key tool that has allowed his country to fight off Russia's invasion for more than three years.
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in freefall during a practice flight across the English Channel between Dover and Calais on July 30, 2003
MORE SPORTS
Jul 18, 2025

Pioneering skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies while paragliding in Italy

The Austrian made headlines around the world in October 2012 when he jumped from a balloon 38 km above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier.
Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, in Beijing on Thursday
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 18, 2025

Trump’s U-turn on Nvidia spurs talk of grand bargain with China

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration wanted Chinese developers "addicted” to American technology.
Bucks point guard Damian Lillard shoots the ball past Trail Blazers shooting guard Shaedon Sharpe during the second half at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon on Jan 28.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Jul 18, 2025

Deal being finalized to return Damian Lillard to Trail Blazers

Lillard, who turned 35 on Tuesday, saw his season come to an abrupt end on April 27 after a torn left Achilles tendon knocked him out of the rest of the playoffs.
Just 17% of Americans approve of U.S. President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffery Epstein case, a weaker rating than the president received on any other issue in the poll.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025

Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed, poll finds

Close to two-thirds of Republicans surveyed think the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is hiding details on Jeffrey Epstein's business.
A woman holding a child listens to a stump speech in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on June 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2025

Parties vow measures to tackle falling birth rate

Last year, Japan recorded fewer than 700,000 births for the first time.
Analysts say the failure of Alimentation Couche-Tard’s attempt to acquire the operator of 7-Eleven stores runs counter to the broader trend in Japan's investing landscape.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

Couche-Tard’s failed bid for Seven and I sparks debate over foreign acquisitions

Couche-Tard's acquisition failure is seen as running counter to the broader trend in the investing landscape in Japan.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito is accompanied by Empress Emerita Michiko as he leaves the University of Tokyo Hospital on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 18, 2025

Emperor emeritus diagnosed with another heart disorder

In 2022, the emperor emeritus was diagnosed with right heart failure caused by tricuspid valve insufficiency.
Tadej Pogacar (right) and Jonas Vingegaard in action during Stage 12 of the Tour de France on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jul 18, 2025

Vingegaard and team get a taste of their own medicine on the Tour

Vingegaard was left shattered by Pogacar's brutal attack in the climb up to Hautacam in the 12th stage, leaving the two-time champion 3:31 behind his rival in the standings.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake

Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
Members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces stand in formation during a review at Camp Asaka in October 2018. The government’s latest Defense White Paper warns of growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2025

Japan must be ready for an increasingly dangerous world

If there is a complaint to be issued against this year’s Defense White Paper, it is its reluctance to fully address the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a rice farm in Ibaraki Prefecture on July 9. Inflation is eating into household budgets, and higher prices are causing much concern among the Japanese public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025

In Japanese politics, rice is the 'third rail'

If inexperienced politicians inadvertently damage Japan’s food security, voters will send them packing.
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025

Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big

Bonds, stocks and the yen could be destabilized if spendthrift parties gain influence.
While Seven & I shares are higher than they were before Couche-Tard’s interest became public in August 2024, they fell after the proposal was withdrawn this week and are down by more than a fifth this year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025

7-Eleven operator risks becoming buyout target again if turnaround fails

Seven & I Holdings remains a buyout target in the eyes of some investors, who say new suitors may emerge unless the operator of 7-Eleven turns around its business.
A man takes part in Tokyo’s Sanja Matsuri by helping to carry a "mikoshi" (portable shrine). Many Japanese festivals are open to foreign residents and tourists to participate in.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 19, 2025

Dancers, festivals and one very useful Japanese grammar point

From Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri to Tokyo’s Sumida fireworks, Japan’s summer festivals offer history, spectacle — and a chance to learn some vocabulary.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 19, 2025

Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeking $10 billion

The newspaper said that Trump in 2003 sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday greeting that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
Men work at a makeshift oil refinery site in the town of Marchmarin, in Syria's Idlib province, in December 2015.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 19, 2025

U.S. firms to develop Syria energy master plan after Trump lifts sanctions

The partnership is aimed at rebuilding the country's energy infrastructure after it was shattered by 14 years of civil war.
Visitors play Hades 2, an upcoming independent game for Nintendo's Switch 2, during the BitSummit indie gaming expo in the city of Kyoto on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025

Indie game studios battle for piece of Switch 2 success

With Nintendo game sales long dominated by in-house franchises, it can be hard for outsiders to break through.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, waves to voters from atop an election campaign van during a rally Friday in Yokohama for Sunday's Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025

Ishiba's future in balance as polls hint at rout in Upper House election

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba likes the nitty gritty of policy, cigarettes and making models, but his dream job as Japanese leader could go up in smoke this weekend.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as  president of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025

Japan's minority government faces election snub as economic storm brews

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's LDP and its partner Komeito are forecast to lose their majority in a repeat of last year's Lower House election.
Women and children arrange their containers as they line up at a standpipe, where incomplete water connections caused by USAID funding cuts to the NGO Mercy Corps have led to ongoing water shortages, in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, on June 16.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025

Trump's funding cut stalls water projects, increasing risks for millions

The White House's decision to slash nearly all U.S. foreign aid projects has created new hazards for some of the people they were designed to benefit.
WNBA All-Stars Caitlin Clark (right) and Kelsey Plum prior to the All-Star Game in Indianapolis on Saturday.
BASKETBALL
Jul 20, 2025

Clark urges more pay for WNBA players as labor talks intensify

Commissioner Cathy Engelbert struck a positive tone with reporters, saying she felt a recent meeting with players had been productive.
Tribal and bedouin fighters cross Walga town as they mobilize amid clashes with Druze gunmen, near the predominantly Druze city of Sweida in southern Syria on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2025

Syria believed it had green light from U.S. and Israel to deploy troops to Sweida

Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops and on Damascus on Wednesday in an escalation that took the Islamist-led leadership by surprise.
A Dole Food Company worker rakes coffee cherries for them to dry at the company's Waialua coffee and cocoa farm on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii, in November 2011.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 20, 2025

Trump tariffs spell trouble for Hawaii’s few coffee farmers

Coffee is more popular in the U.S. than even bottled water, with two-thirds of Americans drinking it every day.
Yukihiro Kaneko, a Panasonic research officer, shows a perovskite panel, through which the background can been seen, during an interview in Tokyo.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2025

Japan sees bright future for ultrathin and flexible solar panels

The government is offering generous incentives in order to reach Japan's target of having renewable energy cover up to 50% of electricity demand by 2040.

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’