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A demonstrator carrying the Israeli flag walks past a portrait of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during an anti-government protest in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on June 7.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2025

Netanyahu vows to uproot Hamas as ceasefire proposals are discussed

The Israeli leader had yet to comment on U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that Israel had backed a plan for a 60-day truce in its offensive against Hamas.
Cases of cancer patients and doctors having conversations about where the patient wanted to spend his or her last days came to 52.9% in 2021, up from 35.7% in the previous survey.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 3, 2025

About half of people who died from cancer discussed last days with doctors

About 60% of cancer patients were able to spend their last days at places where they wished to be, a report has shown.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event hosted by America250 in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 4, 2025

Trump extends his political power with 'big, beautiful' win in U.S. Congress

With its narrow passage of U.S. President Donald Trump's self-styled "big, beautiful bill," Congress has delivered a victory that will further extend his power.
Children look at smoldering debris at Mustafa Hafez school, which sheltered Palestinians displaced by the war, following an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jul 4, 2025

Gazans reel from Israeli strike on school-turned-shelter

Many Gazans have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks that the military says target Hamas militants hiding among civilians.
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.
Shuhei Nakata, president of Nakata Kogei — a wooden-hanger maker in Toyooka, Hyogo Prefecture — says a revised work evaluation system and a strict policy against workplace harassment has helped to attract women to the company.
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Jul 14, 2025

Fukushima looks to local initiatives to combat population decline

The measures will bring the area in line with other parts of Japan that are proactively trying to retain residents.
A house in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, after it collapsed due to the Noto earthquake, in January 2024.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 5, 2025

Debates on disaster management lacking steam ahead of Upper House vote

References to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's project to establish a disaster management agency are scarce among political parties.
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a howitzer toward Russian troops at a position in the front line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, in February.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2025

Russian use of chemical weapons against Ukraine 'widespread,' Dutch defense minister says

Russia has been dropping a choking agent from drones to drive Ukrainian soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, according to the intelligence.
Israeli people look toward smoke rising in the Gaza Strip, as they sit at a viewing point on the Israeli side of the border on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Israel agrees to Gaza truce talks

Ahead of the negotiations, the Israeli prime minister said Hamas' proposals for changes to a draft U.S.-backed ceasefire deal were "unacceptable."
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Chinese Premier Li Qiang pose for a picture after a bilateral meeting Saturday ahead of the BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro on July 5.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 6, 2025

BRICS nations voice 'serious concerns' over Trump tariffs

The summit's impact will be depleted by the absence of Vladimir Putin as well as Xi Jinping, who is skipping the meeting for the first time in his 12 years as president.
One of Aigen's solar-powered autonomous AI Element robots demonstrates how it can hammer down on specified targets at Bowles Farm in Los Banos, California, on June 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 6, 2025

AI robots fill in for weed killers and farm hands

Weeds are becoming immune to herbicides, but a shortage of laborers often leaves chemicals as the only viable option.
People gather outside a building that was hit by Israeli bombardment in the Nuseirat camp for Palestinian refugees in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2025

Israel's Netanyahu says he believes Trump can help seal ceasefire deal

U.S. President Donald Trump said he believed a hostage release and ceasefire deal could be reached this week, which could lead to the release of "quite a few hostages."
The Culver City Express Car Wash remains closed after a raid by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detained many of its workers in Culver City, California, on June 11.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2025

Immigration raids derail Los Angeles economy as workers go into hiding

Few places in the U.S. are feeling the shock as acutely as Los Angeles, a longtime sanctuary city and home to one of the nation’s largest migrant labor forces.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a campaign speech next to a Liberal Democratic Party candidate for the Upper House (top center left) in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 7, 2025

Foreign nationals' presence in Japan emerges as key issue in Upper House poll

In their campaign promises, parties are offering different solutions to problems caused by the record number here to visit, work and invest in real estate.
Ukrainian Oleksandr Belyba, a 33-year-old car mechanic, works in a repair shop run by his childhood friend from Ukraine, in Warsaw on June 24.
WORLD
Jul 7, 2025

Contrary to political rhetoric, Ukrainian refugees boosting Poland's economy

Ukrainian refugees "generated 2.7% of Poland's gross domestic product (GDP)," according to a recent report by Deloitte and UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency.
Palestinians collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

Proposal outlines large-scale 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' for Palestinians in Gaza

One source said the plan, which calls the camps "large-scale" and "voluntary" places for the Gazan population, was recently discussed in the White House.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a bilateral dinner held by U.S. President Donald Trump (not visible), at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

On visit to White House, Netanyahu says he nominated Trump for Nobel Peace Prize

The move underscores how foreign leaders understand the best way to get what they want from the U.S. president is to shower him with praise.
Anti-government protesters display Bangladesh's national flag as they storm Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka on Aug. 5, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

After the revolution, Bangladesh warms to China as India fumes

One year since protests ousted Bangladesh's PM, a geopolitical realignment risks intensifying polarization — and fears of external interference — ahead of elections next year.
Tobias Bieker settled in Osaka in 2018 and started "Unpacking Japan" as a side project with ZenGroup five years ago.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Jul 11, 2025

Tobias Bieker: ‘A good interviewer helps the guest shine’

The host of the "Unpacking Japan" podcast offers his take on Osaka life, Japanese jazz and writing fiction.
Two specimens of the Japanese beetle have been detected for the first time in France.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Jul 9, 2025

France worries about Japanese beetles after finding two

The insects threaten plum trees, apple trees, vines, corn, soy, green beans and asparagus, among other cultivated plants.
The U.S. Supreme Court said the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was "likely to succeed" in its argument that his directives were legally within his power.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 9, 2025

Supreme Court clears the way for Trump to pursue mass federal layoffs

The decision is the latest win for U.S. President Donald Trump's broader efforts to consolidate power in the executive branch.
A public school teacher leads the class during the first day of in-person classes, at a school flooded due to high tide, in Macabebe, Pampanga province, Philippines, in August 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 10, 2025

Philippines struggling to ready underfunded schools for climate hazards

Teachers want the government to do more than tweak the school calendar, and also invest in infrastructure that will make schools resilient to heat and storms.
Hiroshi Moriyama (left), secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party and also head of a suprapartisan group of Japanese lawmakers promoting Japan-China friendship, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held talks in Osaka on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2025

China to resume Japanese beef imports

China banned Japanese beef imports after the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001.
Amanda Anisimova celebrates after winning a point against Aryna Sabalenka during their semifinal match at Wimbledon in London on Thursday.
TENNIS
Jul 11, 2025

Amanda Anisimova proves doubters wrong by reaching Wimbledon final

Anisimova, seeded 13th, stunned world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win in a bruising semifinal.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Fo'an speaks at the China Development Forum 2024 in Beijing in March 2024.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 11, 2025

Can China become a defender of free trade?

The trillion-dollar question is: Does Beijing’s rhetoric match reality and how sincere is China when it claims to be a “defender” of free trade?
Businesses who cater to fandoms gathered at Tokyo Lifestyle Week for the second annual Oshikatsu — Merch Collection Expo, a trade show devoted to fandom goods.
CULTURE / Music / Sound Off
Jul 12, 2025

Music idol and anime fandom merch is big business

Over 100 booths showed off the latest in acrylic stands, binoculars and cheering items such as glow sticks and flags at the second Oshikatsu — Merch Expo.
A woman looks on as Palestinians inspect destroyed tents at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Friday.
WORLD
Jul 12, 2025

U.N. says hundreds killed in recent weeks while seeking aid in Gaza

The violence came as negotiators from Israel and Hamas were locked in indirect talks in Qatar to try to agree on a temporary ceasefire.
Brothers Andrii Tupkalenko, 8, and Maksym Tupkalenko, 6, two of the last children left in their front-line village, pose for a photo with toy guns, their favorite toys, in Kalynove, Kharkiv region, Ukraine.
WORLD / Society
Jul 12, 2025

Childhood shaped by war for two Ukrainian brothers

The war in Ukraine is reshaping the fabric of ravaged frontier communities and leaving unseen as well as visible injuries on their youngest.
Women represent 26% of the AI workforce, according to a UNESCO report, and men hold 80% of tenured faculty positions at university AI departments globally.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 12, 2025

Tech's diversity crisis is baking bias into AI systems

Built-in viewpoints and bias, unintentionally imbued by its creators, can make the fast-growing digital tool risky to use.
Poland's Iga Swiatek kisses with the winner's trophy, the Venus Rosewater Dish, on the thirteenth day of the 2025 Wimbledon Championships on Saturday.
TENNIS
Jul 13, 2025

Unforgiving Swiatek crushes Anisimova 6-0 6-0 to win maiden Wimbledon crown

Already a U.S. Open champion and a four-times French Open winner, Swiatek becomes the youngest woman since Serena Williams in 2002 to lift major titles on all three surfaces.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight