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Sakie Yokota, mother of a North Korean abduction victim, said she feels "great loneliness" after the death of her husband, whom she described as a "serious person."
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2025

Mother of North Korean abductee urges government to have sense of mission over issue

Her husband, Shigeru, died in 2020 at the age of 87 without being able to see his abducted daughter again.
The election of Lee Jae-myung signals South Korea’s leftward shift on energy policy, but despite his ambitious renewable plans, deep-rooted regulatory, financial and geographic challenges threaten to stall progress unless reforms are swift and systemic.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025

South Korea's new president has a chance to clean up

Years of inertia and obstruction of the transition have left the country with a system plagued by high costs and the lowest renewable penetration among developed economies.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates her victory over Iga Swiatek during their women's singles semi-final match on day 12 of the French Open tennis tournament on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the Roland-Garros Complex in Paris on Thursday.
TENNIS
Jun 6, 2025

Sabalenka downs holder Swiatek to set up French Open final with Gauff

The Belarusian will face 2022 finalist Gauff in Saturday's showcase match after the American crushed French hopes with a straight-sets victory over wild card Lois Boisson.
Former Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a pass during the first quarter against the Miami Dolphins at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on Jan. 5.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jun 6, 2025

Four-time NFL MVP Rodgers agrees to deal with Steelers

The Steelers lacked a veteran signal caller after Russell Wilson was signed by the New York Giants, but in Rodgers have landed a future Hall of Fame quarterback.
Descendents of the original "Gonin Byakushō" families are the only vendors allowed inside the gates of Kotohira Shrine, where they sell "kamiyoame," a golden-hued, yuzu-flavored candy meant for good fortune.
LIFE / Travel
Jun 7, 2025

At a mountainside shrine, yuzu candy made by imperial decree

Located in the mountains of western Kagawa Prefecture, Kotohira has yet to suffer — or benefit — from Japan’s overtourism rush.
The Eggplant, Trang Pepper and Mole dish encapsulates Igniv Bangkok's philosophy of weaving Thai ingredients into its creative Swiss food.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 8, 2025

With Igniv Bangkok, the Thai capital’s fine dining scene gets a boost

The progressive Swiss restaurant is emblematic of the city’s evolution toward a diverse gourmet destination that includes choices from modern German to creative Japanese.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 summit in Osaka in June 2019.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 7, 2025

Xi bets Trump detente leads to future wins on chips and tariffs

The Chinese leader hopes for tangible wins in the weeks and months ahead, including tariff reductions, an easing of export controls and a generally more civil tone.
The Taiwanese coast guard conducts its annual drill in southern Taiwan, simulating the seizure of a ferry by 'international terrorists,’ in collaboration with Taiwan's military to board and take back control of the boat and evacuate casualties, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 8, 2025

Taiwan's coast guard and military drill to better face China's 'gray zone' threat

Taipei has repeatedly complained about Chinese activities such as undersea cable cutting and sand dredging around the island, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation.
A woman walks past campaign posters calling to vote in a referendum in downtown Rome on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025

Italy holds referendum on citizenship and workers' rights

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and her coalition partners encouraged voters to boycott the referendum.
Chinese tour groups visit a waterfront promenade in Hong Kong on May 5.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 9, 2025

Can big stars bring higher-spending tourists back to Hong Kong?

Hong Kong, which once billed itself as Asia’s World City, is now seeking to brand itself as the region’s events capital.
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara (right) and the eldest son of late Shizuo Aishima, a former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 9, 2025

Ohkawara president asks Tokyo police not to appeal damages suit ruling

Masaaki Okawara was arrested in 2020 for allegedly exporting a spray dryer that could be repurposed for weapons production, but indictments were withdrawn the following year.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (L) and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (R) shake hands as they pose for a photo during trade discussions at the Lancaster House in London on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2025

U.S.-China trade and minerals talks in London set to extend to second day

Washington and Beijing are trying to revive a temporary truce struck in Geneva that had briefly lowered trade tensions and calmed markets.
Japanese pension funds are moving to appoint chief investment officers with expertise to improve risk management and help make more effective market deals.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025

Japanese pension funds holding $400 billion hire their first CIOs

Until recently, senior administrators often with limited experience doing deals in financial markets were responsible for making investment decisions.
Of the 1,830 children who got into a traffic accident between 2020 and 2024, 613, or 33.5%, ran out into the street, according to a government report.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025

Dart-out cases common among schoolchildren's traffic accidents in Japan

Of the 1,830 children who got into such accidents while walking between 2020 and 2024, 613, or 33.5%, ran out into the street.
Members of law enforcement detain people as protests against federal immigration sweeps continue, in downtown Los Angeles, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Unrestrained Trump turns to military in second-term power play

Trump’s moves to deploy troops to Los Angeles and hold a parade on the Army’s 250th birthday fulfills his goal of using the military for a show of power.
Police officers stand as children are evacuated from the school, following a deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 10, 2025

Gunman kills at least nine in attack on Austrian secondary school

Police did not publicly identify the killer, but Austrian media cited unconfirmed reports saying he was a former pupil.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick speaks to members of the media at Lancaster House in London on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 11, 2025

U.S. and China officials agree on plan to ramp down trade tensions

Officials on both sides expressed optimism but the framework must now be approved by leaders in Washington and Beijing.
People gather to light candles in the main square following a deadly school shooting in Graz, Austria, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Former student kills 10 people and himself in shooting at Austrian school

Austria's Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said another dozen people had been injured but gave no further details about the victims.
June is Pride Month, which means it’s the perfect time to get acquainted with how sexual minorities have been represented in Japanese fiction if you’re not familiar with these narratives already.
CULTURE / Books
Jun 11, 2025

Pride and prose: Novels that illuminate queer lives in Japan

From Yukio Mishima and Haruki Murakami to Li Kotomi and Akira Otani, dive into Japanese fiction’s LGBTQ+ narratives in honor of Pride Month.
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara (center, left) and the eldest son (center, right) of Shizuo Aishima, a late former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on Monday in the capital's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Central and Tokyo governments won't appeal ruling in Ohkawara case

The ruling, which also ordered the governments to pay a total of ¥166 million in damages, is set to become final Thursday.
Under the new law, the Science Council of Japan will be positioned as a "representative organization for Japanese scientists at home and abroad," and the government will provide necessary financial support.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2025

Japan enacts law to turn Science Council into special entity

The new law for the council, which represents the country's scientific community, will come into effect in October 2026.
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies before a Senate Committee on Appropriations hearing on the Department of Health and Human Services budget in Washington on May 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 12, 2025

Kennedy replaces fired U.S. CDC vaccine panel members

His appointments include several who have advocated against vaccines.
Members of the media report from Los Angeles Street where Waymo cars were burned yesterday, after the California National Guard was deployed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a response to protests against federal immigration sweeps, in downtown Los Angeles on Monday.
WORLD
Jun 12, 2025

Journalists among the injured in LA as ICE protests grow violent

The Los Angeles Press Club said it was aware of 20 injuries to journalists during the protests, including at least five that required medical attention.
Research showed that amounts of tau protein accumulation, a factor leading to dementia, were larger among people diagnosed at age 40 or more with mood disorders compared with healthy individuals of the same age group.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 13, 2025

Middle- to old-age depression may be tied to dementia

A study has found that abnormal tau protein causing dementia accumulates in the brains of middle- to old-age patients with mood disorders, such as depression, at a higher rate.
The Trump administration's decision to ban The Associated Press from the White House press pool over a style guide dispute is part of a long and troubling history of presidents retaliating against journalists who displease them.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 13, 2025

Presidents have been treating journalists badly since Lincoln

Indeed, long before there existed a White House press corps, presidential peevishness led to the punishment of newspapers.
People in Tehran protest Israeli attacks on Iran on Friday. Iran’s supreme leader and government are facing what many regard as an existential moment as they try to decide how to respond to Israel’s ongoing attacks on its military hierarchy, air defenses and nuclear program.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 14, 2025

Israeli strikes back Iran's leadership into a corner

Iran's leaders, humiliated and increasingly preoccupied with their own survival, cannot afford to appear weak in the face of Israeli military pressure, officials say.
A production line at a plate rolling mill is seen at Nippon Steel's East Nippon Works Kimitsu Area plant in Kimitsu, Chiba Prefecture, last month.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jun 14, 2025

Debt to decarbonization: challenges for Nippon Steel

The Japanese giant faces numerous headwinds going forward, including onerous U.S. trade tariffs and lackluster global demand.
A vehicle believed to belong the suspected gunman, who was impersonating law enforcement, is towed away from the home of the late State Rep. Melissa Hortman in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota on Saturday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 15, 2025

Authorities hunt suspect in deadly shooting of Minnesota Democratic lawmakers

The shootings by a gunman posing as a police officer killed a senior Democratic state assemblywoman and her husband and wounded a second lawmaker and his spouse.
An aerial view of SoFi Staidum in the weeks leading up to its hosting of the Super Bowl, in January 2022.
SOCCER
Jun 15, 2025

PSG inspired by Los Angeles as it sets out to build new stadium

Paris Saint-Germain is drawing inspiration from the success of new state-of-the-art venues in Los Angeles as the club begins the process of building a new stadium for the team.
Bullet holes mark the front door of Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman, who was shot alongside his wife, Yvette, in what is believed to be an attack by 57-year-old suspect Vance Luther Boelter, who is also the lead suspect in the shooting deaths of senior Democratic state Assemblywoman Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in Champlin, Minnesota.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 16, 2025

Suspect in custody after shooting Minnesota lawmakers while posing as officer

The suspected shooter, Vance Luther Boelter, 57, Boelter was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of second-degree attempted murder.

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