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China’s expanding military presence and frequent exercises around Taiwan and Japan require Tokyo to strengthen the country’s defenses and diplomatic efforts against Beijing’s aggression.
EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2025

A belligerent China hones its tools of intimidation

Recent exercises underscore the ability of the People’s Liberation Army to project power ever farther from the country’s shores.
A man holding a baby wades through a flooded road following heavy rainfall in Zhengzhou, China, in July 2021.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jun 13, 2025

Natural disasters may be shaping babies’ brains

The findings signal how new generations of children may be marked by climate crises that occur before they were born.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato speaks to reporters during the Group of Seven finance ministers meeting in Banff, Alberta, last month.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 13, 2025

Finance chief Kato says talks with market players key for bond issuance

Kato’s comments come as the ministry is scheduled to hold a meeting with primary dealers on June 20.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on April 7. Netanyahu is playing a risky game by launching a war against Iran that may not stop its nuclear program and could trigger a wider conflict beyond Israel’s control.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025

Netanyahu’s big gamble risks a quicker Iranian bomb

Whether the air strikes can indeed succeed is a very big "if.” It’s more likely that Israel can do no more than delay Iran’s nuclear program.
The oceans have absorbed most anthropogenic heat and carbon dioxide emissions since the start of industrialization. But their capacity to do so is not unlimited.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025

The ocean is not just a carbon sink

Reducing the value of three-quarters of our planet to the singular role of carbon sink overlooks the ocean’s vast contributions to food security, cultural identity and economics.
Hong Kong Island and Victoria Harbor on May 19. New raids show Hong Kong’s clampdown on dissent is still expanding.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

China security office flexes new power with Hong Kong probe

Raids have shown the clampdown on dissent is still expanding, five years after Chinese President Xi Jinping imposed a security law on the city.
People lay flowers and candles at a makeshift memorial site in front of a school in Graz, southeastern Austria, on Thursday, a day after 11 people died in a school shooting.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / ANALYSIS
Jun 16, 2025

Killings at European schools fan concern U.S. problem is spreading

The spate of school shootings is increasing momentum for tougher gun and security laws as well as more policing of social media.
Africa’s "blue economy" (oceans and waterways) is vital for global trade, climate resilience and food security, and remains deeply underfunded despite its multibillion-dollar potential.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 16, 2025

Scaling investment for Africa’s sustainable 'blue economy'

Spanning more than 30,000 kilometers of coastline, Africa’s "blue economy" does $300 billion worth of business each year.
Japan faces a growing crisis of social isolation, with over 1.4 million people — many middle-aged — living reclusive lifestyles, and experts say only long-term, trust-based community support can reverse the trend.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2025

Japan needs to rethink how it helps hikikomori

While hikikomori, the Japanese term for acute social withdrawal, often brings to mind young recluses in dark bedrooms, the reality is broader.
Nihonbashi bridge, long overshadowed — literally — by an elevated expressway, is at the center of a multidecade project to relocate the highway underground in hopes of restoring the scenery around the historically significant bridge.
JAPAN
Jun 17, 2025

Tokyo moves to restore open skies over historic Nihonbashi bridge

The elevated expressway is set to be completely removed in fiscal 2040 under a project expected to cost ¥320 billion ($2.2 billion).
Dodgers starting pitcher Roki Sasaki looks on from the dugout during a game against the Los Angeles Angels at Dodger Stadium on May 18.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jun 17, 2025

Dodgers' Roki Sasaki may not return this season

Sasaki, 23, landed on the 15-day injured list on May 13 with an impingement in his right shoulder.
New Zealand's Ardie Savea in action against Ireland at Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Nov. 8
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Jun 17, 2025

All Black Savea to skip Super Rugby for Japan sabbatical in 2026

Moana Pasifika coach Tana Umaga said Savea, who was the inaugural Super Rugby Pacific Player of the Year this season, would be welcomed back with open arms in 2027.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te had pledged in April to address unspecified concerns from Washington about export controls.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 18, 2025

U.S.-China tech fight widens after Taiwan blacklists Huawei

The move is the first time Taipei has used its blacklist against major Chinese firms.
Workers pack bathroom fittings in a factory of the Taiwanese-owned LCM Group in Kunshan, China, on June 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 18, 2025

Taiwan's entrepreneurs in China feel heat from cross-strait tensions

Safety fears have led many Taiwanese manufacturers to turn to less politically sensitive locales such as Vietnam and Thailand.
Shibuya’s iconic scramble crossing has helped put the district on the map globally.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2025

Shibuya, Tokyo's coolest ward, offers startups a leg up in Japan

It's offering international entrepreneurs free space, a good address and a wide range of support services.
People take a selfie in front of the presidential residence of the Blue House in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 19, 2025

Visitors rush to see South Korea's Blue House before presidential return

Public access to some buildings at the Blue House will be restricted from mid-July as the new president moves in.
Nippon Steel Chairman and CEO Eiji Hashimoto leaves a news conference, at which he discussed the acquisition of United States Steel, on Thursday
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 19, 2025

Nippon Steel completes U.S. Steel acquisition after 18-month slog

The firm now owns all the stock of the American steel-maker, other than a "golden share" that gives the U.S. government a degree of control
England's Lucy Bronze says its not just players who receive negative comments on social media.
SOCCER
Jun 19, 2025

England women to avoid 'awful' social media during European Championship

Chelsea forward Lauren James said the abuse never really stops.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un attend a state reception in Pyongyang on June 19, 2024.
WORLD
Jun 19, 2025

Russian ties do little for Iran while boosting North Korea

Iran has little to show for its relationship with Moscow as it continues to be pummeled by waves of Israeli attacks.
Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” (forest bathing) is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Jun 21, 2025

The science of shinrin-yoku: Why forest bathing feels good

Science suggests that three days of “shinrin-yoku” forest bathing is enough to boost immunity for an entire month.
Norway's central bank in Oslo. The krone slid roughly 1% against the dollar and the euro after a rate cut.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jun 20, 2025

Oil, war and tariffs tear up global markets' central bank roadmap

Monetary policy uncertainty is one more headwind for markets to navigate against a backdrop of geopolitical and trade risks.
The government aims to promote a drastic review of its rice policy by understanding farmers' medium- and long-term plans on planting areas and others.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Japan to survey farmers on rice production intentions

By understanding farmers' medium- and long-term plans on planting areas and others, the government aims to promote a drastic review of its rice policy.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 31.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025

Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard’ and spend 5% of GDP on defense

Both allies had been mum on whether the U.S. would press Japan specifically to hit the 5% target amid political sensitivities over the issue.
Japan sees liquefied natural gas as vital to energy security.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 20, 2025

Japan seeks gas past 2050, with AI and data centers set to lift demand

The government expects a boom in artificial intelligence, data centers and semiconductor chip-making factories to revive power demand.
In Tokyo, at least 562 people have been taken to the hospital for suspected heatstroke so far this month.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 20, 2025

What happened to the rainy season?

The mercury has climbed across much of Japan in recent days, but the seasonal rain front is expected to return early next week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a speech at a reception hosted by the South Korean Embassy in Tokyo on Thursday to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 20, 2025

Ishiba calls for expanding Japan-South Korea exchanges

The prime minister said he had very good discussions with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung when they met in Canada on Tuesday.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo on March 30.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 21, 2025

Japan scraps ‘two-plus-two’ meeting with U.S. over defense spending demand, report says

The talks’ cancellation reportedly came after the U.S. asked Japan to hike its defense budget to 3.5% of gross domestic product.
A school and surrounding soy fields in an area of the Amazon where soybean farming is expanding, in Belterra, Brazil, in October.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jun 22, 2025

A corporate deal that protected the Amazon from soy farming starts to show cracks 

Many are taking advantage of a loophole in the Amazon Soy Moratorium, a voluntary agreement signed by the world's top grain traders in 2006.
A person who contracted HIV after losing access to Pre-exposure Prophylaxis, works out at a gym in Awka, Nigeria, on June 1.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 22, 2025

Trump aid cuts deal a blow to HIV prevention in Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic.
Satellite image shows the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, in Bushehr Province, Iran, on May 26.
WORLD
Jun 23, 2025

What are the nuclear contamination risks from attacks on Iran?

President Donald Trump said Iran's main nuclear sites had been "obliterated" in military strikes overnight, including on the deeply buried Fordo facility.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers