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Ukrainian servicemen play with dogs at their position on a front line in the nation's Zaporizhzhia region on Feb. 21.

WORLD / Politics

Europe's nightmare is here: They have to fight Putin without the U.S.

By Alberto Nardelli

The European Union is aiming to follow up with an emergency package of €20 billion ($21 billion) in military aid for Ukraine at an emergency summit in Brussels.

Trump’s clash with Zelenskyy leaves Moscow both thrilled and wary

Ukrainian servicemen play with dogs at their position on a front line in the nation's Zaporizhzhia region on Feb. 21.

Smoke is seen rising from the mountains of the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, on Friday. Authorities said the wildfire kept spreading, burning 1,800 hectares by Sunday morning.

JAPAN

Thousands flee after Japan's biggest wildfire in decades

There were about 1,300 wildfires across Japan in 2023, concentrated in the February to April period when the air dries out and winds pick up.

Hidetaka Ishii, an official at the Chiba Municipal Government, says close coordination with private-sector operators is key for regional decarbonization efforts.

ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET

Japan’s climate heroes show potential and limits of local initiatives

By Tomoko Otake

Chiba and others show the potential for local areas to accelerate the energy transition, as well as the challenges of building locally driven, carbon-free energy models.

The rapid collapse of the plan to take Seven & I private reflects how personal egos and domestic competitiveness ultimately outweighed the nationalistic desire to fend off Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard, whose pursuit of the Japanese retailer emerged last August.

BUSINESS / Companies

Seven & I and Nissan deal fallout leaves Japan companies vulnerable

The collapse of the deals means the companies are potentially even more vulnerable to foreign takeovers.

Chef Kentaro Mura’s favorite way of serving snow crab is as shabu-shabu: The legs are lightly blanched in dashi, then the meat is removed and served with a generous scoop of crab tomalley.

LIFE / Food & Drink / Destination Restaurants

Toyama’s finest seafood underpins Ebitei Bekkan’s return to greatness

By Robbie Swinnerton

Since reopening two years ago, this ‘kaiseki’ restaurant has been making up for lost time with a culinary flair that presents Toyama’s seafood tradition in a contemporary guise.

Chef Kentaro Mura’s favorite way of serving snow crab is as shabu-shabu: The legs are lightly blanched in dashi, then the meat is removed and served with a generous scoop of crab tomalley.

The government will raise the out-of-pocket expense cap for expensive medical treatments this August as planned, but will reconsider plans for further increases, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told parliament on Friday.

Japan to reconsider medical expense cap hike plan: Ishiba

The expense ceiling hike is slated to be conducted in three stages from this year to 2027.

AIREC, an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven humanoid robot, demonstrates a maneuver for changing diapers or preventing bedsores in Tokyo.

AI robots may hold key to nursing Japan's aging population

By Kiyoshi Takenaka

Japan is the world's most advanced aging society with a falling birth rate, dwindling working-age population and restrictive immigration policies.

Famed Japanese TV host Monta Mino dies at 80

Nippon Ishin vows to push ruling bloc into minority in Upper House

Japanese firms start job fair for 2026 graduates

Japan battles biggest wildfire in decades

China signals renewed tech sector support, but concerns linger

By Peter CATTERALL

Analysts increasingly see signs that Beijing is warming to its tech sector again, as domestic economic woes and a trade war with the U.S. loom larger.

Bic Camera paid ¥557 million less than originally agreed to 51 contract makers of its private-label products including home appliances between July 2023 and August 2024, according to the Fair Trade Commission.

Japan FTC urges Bic Camera to pay subcontractors in full

Bic Camera is believed to have begun underpaying subcontractors in 2020, when it began selling items under its own name.

Government to help regional firms hire urban workers for side jobs

Fujitsu to withdraw from ATM production

China urged to think big, go hard on reviving battered consumption

By Kevin Yao

Teleperformance uses AI to ‘neutralize’ Indian accents among staff

By Benoit Berthelot

U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office in Washington on Tuesday. The U.S. president just signed another executive order on Saturday designating English as the official language of the United States.

Trump designates English as official language of U.S.

The White House published an executive order by Trump which says it is "long past time" that English is declared as the nation's official language.

Palestinians break their fast by eating the Iftar meals during the holy month of Ramadan, near the rubble of buildings, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.

Israel agrees on U.S. plan for temporary ceasefire in Gaza, PM's office says

The U.S. proposal came after a realization that more time is needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire.

In first, private U.S. spaceship lands upright on moon

Alleged Chinese spies gave Philippine city and police cash and motorbikes

By Poppy McPherson and Mikhail Flores

'Total panic' as USAID cuts jobs from Syria to Haiti

By Nita Bhalla, Bukola Adebayo, Rohullah Talaash and Joseph Guyler Delva

Pope Francis remains stable, has not had new breathing crisis, Vatican says

By Crispian Balmer

Suns forward Kevin Durant drives to the basket against the Pelicans' Trey Murphy III during a game in New Orleans on Thursday.

Kevin Durant uses unique and meticulous pregame routine to get into zone

By Doug Haller

Golden State’s Stephen Curry is perhaps best known for his pregame shooting routine, but Durant’s is also legendary.

Lydia Ko adds 'Asia's Major' to trophy haul with Singapore crown

MLB's Rob Manfred reviewing petition to reinstate Pete Rose

Tadese Takele wins Tokyo Marathon

Manchester City survives scare from Plymouth in FA Cup

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy departs following a contentious meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Friday. Plans to sign a critical minerals deal between the two nations were scrapped after the talks quickly devolved into a fiery exchange over U.S. support for Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Trump’s Oval Office clash with Zelenskyy was a win for Putin

Andreas Kluth

Nobody in Ukraine, or any other country formerly under Moscow’s boot, believes that Putin will honor the terms of a ceasefire without credible guarantees.

What’s missing from Australia's gender equality strategy?

By Grant Wyeth

Amazon wants to turn 'James Bond' into slop

By Jason Bailey

A U.S. war with Japan? Only in ‘Captain America.’

By Gearoid Reidy

Firing top generals makes the U.S. less secure

By James Stavridis

Nauru is selling citizenship to fund its retreat from rising seas as other climate finance runs dry.

Nauru sells citizenship to fund climate change mitigation

By Laura Chung

The island nation of around 13,000 residents is planning a mass inland relocation as creeping seas start to eat away at its fertile coastal fringe.

Turning waste into wealth with insect-based biotech

By Angelyn Labadan

Japan adopts bill obliging firms' participation in emissions trading

Trump creates uncertainty for world’s most cited climate report

By Eric Roston and Sheryl Tian Tong Lee

Nations at odds over major U.N. climate science report

By Kelly Macnamara

Taiwanese comic artist Rishiazao and interpreter Yun-wen Huang greet an attendee at the 2025 Angouleme International Comics Festival in France.

Taiwan comics on the rise: Local storytellers, global aspirations

By Mike Fu

A supportive ecosystem and eager audiences — both domestic and global — are boosting the soft power of illustrated narratives from Taiwan.

South Korean fans soak up nostalgia with vintage Japanese superheroes

By Kang Jin-kyu

‘Demon City’: Live-action manga adaptation is ultra-violent — and ultra-dull

By James Hadfield

Actor Gene Hackman and wife found dead alongside dog at home

Oscar-nominated documentaries put Japan under the microscope

By Mark Schilling

Chef Kentaro Mura’s favorite way of serving snow crab is as shabu-shabu: The legs are lightly blanched in dashi, then the meat is removed and served with a generous scoop of crab tomalley.

Toyama’s finest seafood underpins Ebitei Bekkan’s return to greatness

By Robbie Swinnerton

Since reopening two years ago, this ‘kaiseki’ restaurant has been making up for lost time with a culinary flair that presents Toyama’s seafood tradition in a contemporary guise.

A French shepherd’s pie that's Japanese on the inside

By Simon Daly

Brats, rebels and rascals: Finding the right word for mischievous kids

By Yuko Tamura

Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha

By Cat Kerr

Cold with a chance of kimchi meatballs

By Simon Daly

David Moreton, a former professor at Tokushima University, originally came to Japan as a missionary in 1988. He is now one of the world’s foremost experts on the Shikoku 88-Temple Pilgrimage.

How a Canadian missionary found spiritual transformation in Shikoku

By Suzanne Kamata

David Moreton has devoted decades to researching southern Japan’s famed 88-temple pilgrimage, established by influential monk Kobo Daishi.

Mike Sunda: ‘Creative production comes with a bigger responsibility than ever before’

By Mike Fu

Black History Month in 2025: The boundaries between 'us' and 'them'

By Baye McNeil

John Davis: ‘At its core, indie is about creative freedom’

By Gendel Gento

Home away from home: My first time at a Tet festival in Japan

By Nguyen Bao Anh

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The building of new high-rise residential buildings has some alarmed that they could empty and fall into disrepair as Japan's population shrinks.

The high cost of letting Japan's condos crumble

By Tomoko Otake

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