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JAPAN
Jan 17, 2023

Japan weighs linking benefits recipients' bank info with My Number

Under a proposed law revision, authorities will ask people whose account info is already known to public bodies for benefit payments whether they want to link the two.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 17, 2023

German defense minister quits at crunch moment for Ukraine aid

Christine Lambrecht resigned on Monday after months of heavy criticism over Berlin's stuttering response to the war in Ukraine as well as a series of gaffes.
McLaren's Lando Norris leaves the pits during the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit in Mogyorod, Hungary, on Aug. 3.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 28, 2025

McLaren in driver's seat as Formula One heads to Max Verstappen's backyard

McLaren's championship leader Oscar Piastri and teammate Lando Norris, nine points behind after 14 of 24 races, have finished the last four races 1-2.
U.S. military personnel stand guard in front of the New Grand Hotel where Gen. Douglas MacArthur stayed circa September 1945 in Yokohama.
JAPAN / History / Perspectives
Sep 1, 2025

How the Allied Occupation changed Japan: A love story

A wartime GI and a Japanese civilian fell in love during the Occupation, embodying the peace built after Japan’s surrender.
The special investigation squad of the Tokyo District Public Prosecutor's Office searches the office of Upper House lawmaker Akira Ishii in the city of Toride, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Aug 29, 2025

Nippon Ishin lawmaker's alleged fraud likely totals ¥8 million

Akira Ishii is suspected of receiving salaries for a state-paid public secretary who actually did not work for him.
Emergency service workers at the site a Russian airstrike on a residential building in Kyiv on Thursday
WORLD
Aug 29, 2025

Russian missiles pound Ukraine, damaging EU and British offices

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the strike was Moscow's answer to diplomatic efforts to end its war.
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker is pushing back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to deploy National Guard troops in Chicago, calling them unconstitutional and illegal, and emphasizing that policing should remain under local control.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 28, 2025

Can Illinois’ governor keep the National Guard out of Chicago?

"Don’t come to Chicago,” JB Pritzker warned. "You are neither wanted here nor needed here.” Should Trump take action, he said, "we’ll see you in court.”
Brand-new toilet paper and other items are displayed at secondhand goods store PX in the city of Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture, on Aug. 19.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 2, 2025

Tokyo police ensure mountain of lost and found items don't go to waste

The Metropolitan Police Department received some 4.756 million lost items last year — a record number.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese leader Xi Jinping attend the BRICS Summit plenary session in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 23.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 2, 2025

Realism and realpolitik rule Indian foreign policy

A decade from now, there is likely to be heated debate in the United States over “who lost India,” an accounting that may rival the “who lost China?”
Ferrari's Charles Leclerc after he crashed out of the Dutch Grand Prix on Sunday in Zandvoort
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Sep 4, 2025

Ferrari to celebrate past glory at home race amid present woes

Ferrari has yet to win this year and the home return comes hot on the heels of both cars crashing out in the Netherlands last weekend.
Jannik Sinner hits a forehand during his quarterfinal win over Lorenzo Musetti on Wednesday at the U.S. Open.
TENNIS
Sep 4, 2025

Sinner swats aside Musetti to set up U.S. Open semifinal with Auger-Aliassime

The world No. 1, who also won the Australian Open earlier this year, extended his hard-court winning streak to 26 matches.
A blood moon is seen during a partial eclipse in the sky over Lake George near Canberra on March 14.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Sep 5, 2025

Japan to experience blood moon lunar eclipse on Monday

The full lunar eclipse, which is set to occur in the early hours, will be Japan’s first since November 2022.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles (left) and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong (second from left) pose with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya (second from right) and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 5, 2025

After China’s military parade, Japan and Australia agree to elevate defense ties

The countries’ top diplomats and defense chiefs committed to deepening collective deterrence amid shared concerns over the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region.
U.S. President Donald Trump visits the USS Wasp aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, in May 2019 during his first term as president. Trump is expected to demand that Japan boost its host-nation support spending for U.S. military when the current plan expires in March 2027.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 7, 2025

Japan braces for Trump push on U.S. troop funding

The financial support covers the salaries of workers at U.S. military bases, utilities costs and facility maintenance expenses.
China, led by firms like BYD and CATL, dominates green tech, which is forcing the EU to choose between defensive policies or collaboration on clean trade and investment to advance climate goals.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 7, 2025

Can Europe and China forge a climate connection?

Europe should forge a shared competitiveness agenda with China, which would allow it to use its strengths.
Azamat Iskaliyev, accused of the murder of his ex-girlfriend, stands in a courtroom cage as he is sentenced to 19.5 years in jail, in Saratov, Russia, on July 9.
WORLD / Society
Sep 9, 2025

Heroes and villains: Russia braces for eventual return of its enormous army

Verstka, an independent Russian media outlet, calculated in October last year that almost 500 civilians had become victims of veterans returning from fighting in Ukraine.
More than two dozen FBI employees have been forced out or fired since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Sep 11, 2025

In lawsuit, three former FBI leaders say they were fired for insufficient loyalty

The lawsuit alleges that FBI Director Kash Patel said he had been ordered to fire anyone who had worked on a criminal investigation against U.S. President Donald Trump.
Emperor Naruhito, Empress Masako and their daughter, Princess Aiko, offer flowers at a monument marking the hypocenter of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki in Nagasaki Peace Park on Friday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2025

Emperor Naruhito and family pay their respects in Nagasaki

The family is slated to meet with people living in a special elderly nursing home for atomic bomb survivors on Saturday.
False social media stories about Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba planning mass immigration obscure Japan’s real and growing reliance on foreign labor.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 12, 2025

Japan needs an immigration debate, not social media myths

There’s no mass immigration from the Global South into Japan, though you might not know that if you primarily consume your news on social media.
The RAF Red Arrows perform a flyover at Windsor Castle in the U.K. on Wednesday.
WORLD
Sep 18, 2025

Apple and Citi CEOs join Trump and King Charles at state dinner

The guest list of the event nodded to the work that Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer face as they attempt to bring the special relationship back onto stronger footing.
Organizers of the World Athletics Championships said over 500,000 tickets had been sold and that they are expecting to end the event in front of large crowds this weekend.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 18, 2025

World Athletics stars relish Tokyo atmosphere after COVID-hit Olympics

For many athletes competing at the world championships in Tokyo this week who also competed at the COVID-hit Summer Games, the experience has been like night and day.
Yasuhiro Tsuyuki, former commissioner-general of Japan's National Police Agency, speaks during an interview on Aug. 12 in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 21, 2025

Ex-police chief pins hopes on new 'tokuryū' measures

Conventional methods do not work against such groups because they recruit using encrypted social media apps, making it difficult to identify the ringleaders.
Yuki Joseph Nakajima after placing sixth in the men's 400-meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo on Thursday
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Sep 22, 2025

World championships bring few medals but win big with the crowds

Japan is now looking ahead to the Asian Games in Nagoya in 2026, the next world championships in Beijing in 2027 and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Originally from Brisbane, Australia, Linda Joyce moved to rural Tochigi Prefecture in 2024 for a career shift from teaching to hospitality and sustainable tourism.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Sep 25, 2025

Linda Joyce: ‘We hope people recognize the benefits of exploring rural areas’

Former teacher Linda Joyce shifted careers to the tourism industry in 2024 and now works at a historic property in rural Tochigi Prefecture.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on April 7
WORLD / Politics
Sep 29, 2025

Netanyahu to meet Trump as U.S. intensifies Gaza ceasefire push

The talks come as Israel intensifies its offensive on Gaza City with the aim of eliminating Hamas’ remaining military strongholds.
Nippon Ishin leader Hirofumi Yoshimura speaks to reporters at party headquarters in Osaka on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 30, 2025

Nippon Ishin draws up outline for secondary capital plan

The team defined the secondary capital as an economic center comparable to the Tokyo area that can function as the capital in the event that Tokyo becomes unable to do so.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greet each other during a meeting of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2025

Trump and Hegseth advance militaristic noise over nuance

For countries that study U.S. actions closely, this week’s spectacle was anything but reassuring.
Vietnam's Communist Party General Secretary To Lam (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 14, 2025

From menacing to 'cool': How views on China have shifted in Vietnam

Social media appears to be playing a crucial role in the changing mood in Vietnam — and in particular TikTok, which is popular among the young.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) shakes hands with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa during a meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 16, 2025

Syrian leader seeks reset in Russia relations in Putin meeting

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa was expected to push for Moscow to extradite Bashar Assad, who fled there after being toppled.
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, on Thursday.
WORLD
Oct 17, 2025

Trump says if Hamas keeps killing, there is ‘no choice but to go in’

Trump’s warning came after Hamas said it could not produce the bodies of additional hostages without special machinery, with Israel accusing the group of not trying hard enough.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building