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CIA director John Ratcliffe departs after a briefing with members of Congress in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2025

Trump’s CIA backs 2016 assessment that Putin wanted him to win

The latest findings put CIA director John Ratcliffe in a bind with Trump, who has called Russian election interference "a total hoax” and blasted the original conclusions.
The rise of China’s DeepSeek-R1, a low-cost, high-performance open-source AI model, has challenged the belief that only nations with vast computational resources can lead in artificial intelligence, signaling a shift in global AI power dynamics.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 3, 2025

A ‘Sputnik’ moment in the global AI race

Much remains uncertain about DeepSeek’s LLM and its capabilities should not be overestimated — but its release nevertheless has sparked intense discussion.
Once a way to transport lumber from the mountains to the coast, log rafting is now Kitayama's biggest attraction.
LIFE / Travel
Jul 7, 2025

A tiny mountain hamlet keeps traditional log rafting afloat

Log rafting was once a means of transporting timber, but now it’s the tourist draw of a tiny Wakayama village.
The exhibition of Fujimoto’s architecture surveys his career to date, as well as looks ahead as shown in his proposal of a future floating city designed in collaboration with data scientist Hiroaki Miyata.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 4, 2025

The future is bright inside the visionary mind of architect Sou Fujimoto

From a model of the Grand Ring you can walk through to a futuristic city design, the architect’s exhibition at Mori Art Museum is an invitation to engage with architecture.
The government has already decided to provide more than ¥1.7 trillion to Rapidus.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2025

Japan eyes 'golden share' as condition for aid to Rapidus

In addition to granting the government a golden share and some voting rights, companies that receive government aid will also be required to raise funds from the private sector.
People carry a portable shrine at Sensoji temple during the Sanja Festival in May. The festival is one of the three largest in Tokyo.
LIFE / Language
Jul 5, 2025

What’s the first thing you think of when you think of a Japanese summer?

Fireworks and festivals are part of the traditional Japanese summer, but what do people associate with the season these days?
A Xiaomi SU7 sedan in Beijing. Regulators have been finalizing new safety rules for driver-assistance systems as Beijing sharpens scrutiny of the technology following an accident involving a Xiaomi SU7 sedan in March.
BUSINESS / Tech / ANALYSIS
Jul 5, 2025

China urges caution — and speed — on assisted-driving technology

Driver-assistance systems are seen by industry analysts as the next big battleground in China's hypercompetitive car market.
Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Cashing in on his comeback, Trump rescues frail finances

Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Jul 6, 2025

Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste

Some scholars and activists are raising concerns that Indigenous voices are not being heard amid the debate over whether to host nuclear waste storage facilities.
Every year, an amount equivalent to roughly 15% of the world's economy flows through Visa's networks, and bad actors are constantly trying to siphon off some of that.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 7, 2025

Visa's 24/7 war room takes on global cybercriminals

The payments giant has invested $12 billion over the past five years building artificial intelligence-powered cyber fraud detection capabilities.
Merchant ships in the southern Red Sea. The resumption of attacks by Houthi militants could once again deter more owners and crews against going through the Red Sea.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

Two killed in Houthi attack on cargo ship in Red Sea

The return of Houthi attacks could once again deter more ship owners and crews against going through the Red Sea to cut shipping time.
Emperor Naruhito (left) visits a special education school in Iruma, Saitama Prefecture, in May and looks at a student attending to a customer at a cafe inside the school.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 9, 2025

Boosting support for parents of children with disabilities in Japan

Businesses and local governments are taking steps to support parents after care programs for their disabled children are discontinued at a certain age.
“Giselle” lead Yuriko Kajiya (center), performing with Connor Walsh as Albrecht, is one of six Japanese dancers at Houston Ballet.
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 9, 2025

Japanese dancers find a home abroad at Houston Ballet

Returning to Japan for the American ballet company's first international tour since 2022, several dancers speak about why they moved overseas.
A V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor transport aircraft arrives at the Ground Self-Defense Force's new camp in the city of Saga on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 9, 2025

GSDF begins Osprey deployment to new camp in southwestern Japan

The deployment of the tilt-rotor aircraft from Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture to the new camp in Saga is scheduled to be completed by mid-August.
Palestinians remove belongings from their homes threatened with demolition, during the ongoing Israeli military operation in Tulkarm camp, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on July 2.
WORLD
Jul 9, 2025

'Ghost camp': Israeli operations in West Bank push wave of Palestinians from their homes

"They kicked us out six months ago and we are still out. When you go back you try to bring anything you can, but in two hours with only our hands, you cannot bring many things."
The Liberia-flagged bulk carrier Eternity C sinks after it was attacked by the Houthis.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 10, 2025

Two cargo ships sink after deadly Houthi attacks in Red Sea

If attacks worsen, the violence could boost oil prices, freight rates and insurance costs as it snarls supply chains.
Speculation about Xi Jinping losing his grip on power misreads China’s digital authoritarianism, which uses algorithmic control and emotional scripting to absorb dissent and reinforce the Chinese Communist Party’s power in the information age.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2025

Online dissent in China doesn’t mean Xi is on his way out

Don’t be fooled by viral posts. The CCP allows and even encourages certain forms of online dissent — all part of its digital authoritarianism.
Surveillance cameras are seen in front of a Chinese flag near a shopping area in Shanghai in 2021. Beijing has stepped up espionage warnings in recent years amid worsening relations with the United States and other Western nations.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 10, 2025

China says it foiled foreign spying plots, including 'honeytrap'

Beijing did not name the countries alleged to be behind the plots.
The museum's curators selected a wide array of works from the archives for the milestone exhibitions. Among other photos, Nobuyoshi Araki's work from the series "Winter Journey" (1990) was included in the "Continuity and Change" exhibition that concluded in June.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2025

Rare vintage shots and first-time shows at TOP’s 30th anniversary

The 2025 schedule includes two exhibitions showcasing the museum’s permanent collection and three solo shows that focus on the work of Takano Ryudai, Luigi Ghirri and Pedro Costa.
Nakagin Capsule Tower architect Kisho Kurokawa in front of the structure two years after its completion in 1972.
CULTURE / Art
Jul 11, 2025

The many lives of Nakagin Capsule Tower on display at New York’s MoMA

“The Many Lives of the Nakagin Capsule Tower” showcases the 50-year history of the building through nearly 45 pieces of contextual material and one of the capsules on display.
Crown Prince Akishino and his family visit a photo exhibition on the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum in the capital's Meguro Ward on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 11, 2025

Japan's crown prince and his family visit Hiroshima atomic bombing exhibition

Two videos and about 160 pictures on display show the devastation from the nuclear attack, which took place on Aug. 6, 1945, in the closing days of World War II.
Members of the Indian Army's engineering arm prepare to remove the wreckage of an Air India aircraft in Ahmedabad on June 14.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 11, 2025

Air India crash report to offer peek into last seconds

Investigators have revealed very few details since the Air India accident, which killed all but one of the 242 individuals on board and more than 30 people on the ground.
Evgeniya Mayboroda sits in the defendant's dock during the announcement of the verdict in her case at the municipal court of Shakhty, Rostov Oblast, Russia, on Jan. 29, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

The strange case of Evgeniya Mayboroda, Russia's rebel retiree

The 72-year-old's transformation from fan to critic says much about the state of today's Russia under Vladimir Putin.
Debris at the crash site of Air India flight AI 171 in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12
WORLD
Jul 13, 2025

Air India crash points to cockpit confusion as fuel flow cut out

Investigators hope to answer one central question: Why and by whom were two fuel switches in the cockpit moved to a cut-off position.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un greets Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during a meeting in Wonsan, North Korea, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 14, 2025

Ukraine denies North Korea planning to send 30,000 more troops to Russia

Kyiv's military intelligence agency said Pyongyang will instead send 6,000 personnel for reconstruction operations in batches of 1,500 to 3,000 personnel this month and next.
Riot police officers demonstrate their actions during a recruitment event held by Tokyo's Metropolitan Police Department on Saturday.
JAPAN
Jul 14, 2025

Tokyo police hold recruitment event to attract applicants

Police officers from about 50 different sections were on hand to talk with participants and answer questions.
The central bank will probably weigh increasing its key price forecast from 2.2% for this fiscal year after food inflation proved stronger than expected.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 14, 2025

BOJ may raise price outlook as food inflation beats expectations, sources say

The yen briefly strengthened against the dollar following the report, while Japan’s bond futures dipped.
A member of the media records U.S. President Donald Trump speaking during a news conference in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 15, 2025

U.S. Justice Department unit defending Trump policies loses two-thirds of staff

Sixty-nine of roughly 110 lawyers in the branch that defends against challenges to key policies have left the unit since Trump's election in November or have plans to leave.
Hiroe Kawashimo enjoys regular walks in the city of Hiroshima.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Hiroshima
Jul 28, 2025

Woman with disabilities from atomic bombing recalls mother's dedication

The daughter of a woman exposed to radiation from the Hiroshima atomic bombing has been frail since childhood and constantly in and out of hospitals.
Firefighters work to tackle a wildfire spread at Les Pennes-Mirabeau, near Marseille, southern France, on July 8
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / EXPLAINER
Jul 15, 2025

How climate change is fueling wildfires in Europe

Wildfires have burnt 227,000 hectares of land since the beginning of the year — more than double the average for this time of year over the past two decades.

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’