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The border between the two Koreas is seen from an observatory inside the Demilitarized Zone.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2024

Warning shots fired as North Korean troops cross border again

More than 20 North Korean soldiers who were on maintenance work crossed the line Tuesday and moved back north after the shots were fired.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Amur Oblast region of Far East Russia on Sept. 13 .
COMMENTARY
Jun 18, 2024

Worry more about Putin’s visit than Kim’s dung balloons

Russia and North Korea, heavily sanctioned, have much to gain from each other and little to lose, reducing the leverage that the U.S. and its allies have over them.
Shibuya Mayor Ken Hasebe (second from right) and Aikasa founder Shoji Marukawa (second from left) hold rental umbrellas during a media briefing on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024

Shibuya launches initiative to set up 150 new umbrella-sharing stands

The initiative envisions a reduction of 76.1 tons in carbon dioxide emissions and 29.1 tons in waste per year.
Naomi Osaka in action during her second-round match against Iga Swiatek at the French Open in Paris on May 29
TENNIS
Jun 19, 2024

Osaka among four Grand Slam winners granted Wimbledon wildcard

The 26-year-old will be playing in the main draw of Wimbledon for the first time in five years.
Atarashii Gakko! released its third album, “AG! Calling,” on June 7. The group is currently touring Asia with songs from the new release featured in its set
CULTURE / Music
Jun 21, 2024

Atarashii Gakko! schools crowds overseas on just how bananas J-pop can get

With appearances at major festivals, on U.S. television and new album "AG! Calling," this sailor-suited rapping four-piece is on quite a roll.
Beijing’s response to the European Union's proposed tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles looks more like the targeted playbook it deployed against Australia a few years ago. The government and state media are already publicly identifying specific products that could get taxed.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2024

China eyes trade war targets across Europe for counterstrikes

Among the possible targets: brandy, pork, wine, dairy products and cars.
Film director Hirokazu Kore-eda (left) and actor Lily Franky arrive for a photocall to promote the Official Selection feature film "Shoplifters" at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain in September 2018.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese film startup aims to change industry working conditions

K2 Pictures is seeking to raise the money from domestic and foreign investors.
The Oku knife "hooks or wraps elegantly along the edge of a plate or board," designer Kathleen Reilly says.
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 22, 2024

A playfully subversive knife from a rising Scottish design star

The Scottish artist fuses East and West in a new knife design crafted in and inspired by Niigata Prefecture’s Tsubame-Sanjo.
Japan is considering a system to let foreign visitors who are exempted from obtaining short-stay visa declare online their information such as purpose of stay before entering the country.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2024

Japan to launch online travel authorization system for visitors

The system's introduction aims to prevent illegal stays.
The administration of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday approved this year's honebuto economic and fiscal policy guidelines.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 21, 2024

Japanese government restores 2025 primary budget surplus target

In its economic blueprint, the Kishida administration has pledged a balanced budget other than interest payments by fiscal 2025.
Renho announces her campaign pledges for the Tokyo gubernatorial election, in the capital on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 21, 2024

The campaigners that Tokyo hopeful Renho doesn't want you to know about

The candidate for governor has kept quiet about Japanese Communist Party activities in support of her — ties that could alienate some voters.
The holding lot of the Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corporation-Volkswagen joint venture in Shanghai in April 2023. As the European Union moves to impose tariffs on Chinese cars, Germany, with an auto industry deeply enmeshed with China, is stuck in the middle.
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2024

Germany hopes to head off a trade war with China

China’s EV exports threaten European automakers, but companies like Volkswagen have extensive operations in China and fear retaliatory actions by Beijing.
Amy Yang walks off the green on the 15th hole during the third round of the Women's PGA Championship in Sammamish, Washington, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 23, 2024

Eyeing first major, Amy Yang grabs two-shot lead at Women's PGA

Miyu Yamashita of Japan and Lauren Hartlage are tied for second heading into the final round of the major tournament.
Seaweed in the ocean off Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture. Local residents aim to restore seagrass and seaweed beds suffering from marine desertification, and their project has also been certified to receive "blue carbon" credits.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET
Jun 23, 2024

Japan looks to 'blue carbon' to cut emissions — and restore its coasts

The nation's net zero goal has driven interest in these ecosystems, but verifying the amount of carbon stored by seaweed presents a challenge.
Families of those killed in Boeing 737 Max 8 plane crashes hold up pictures of their deceased loved ones as the planemaker's CEO Dave Calhoun testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Investigations Subcommittee hearing on the safety culture at Boeing, on Capitol Hill in Washington on June 18.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2024

U.S. prosecutors recommend DOJ criminally charge Boeing as deadline looms

They concluded the planemaker had violated a settlement related to two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019 involving its 737 MAX jet, source say.
In his 14 years as prime minister, Viktor Orban has become expert in playing hardball with Brussels and has repeatedly wielded his veto to get more EU funds.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Will Hungary hijack the EU during its presidency?

Officials and diplomats fret that one major victim of Hungary's six months in charge will be EU support for Ukraine as it battles Russia's invading forces.
People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police," in Tehran on Sept. 21, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

For Iran's youth, legacy of 2022 clashes shapes presidential race

Contrasting views of the worth of the election have underscored the division in Iran between supporters and opponents of the 45-year-old Islamic Republic.
A wind farm in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. For Japan's future energy roadmap to center on clean sources, the government should reform the institutions overseeing energy policy to avoid vested interests from slowing the transition down.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2024

It’s time for Japan to set up a climate change agency

The government is currently reviewing Japan's Strategic Energy Plan. But who's shaping this key document for the future? It's mostly older men with vested interests.
People await the arrival of the Dalai Lama in New York on Sunday. The Tibetan spiritual leader is in the U.S. to undergo knee surgery.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2024

China must not choose the next Dalai Lama

The 14th Dalai Lama, who is in the U.S. to undergo knee surgery, should leave instructions to choose his successor, therefore delegitimizing any Beijing-anointed figure.
LINE, the app at the center of a tug-of-war for control. Line was introduced in Japan in 2011 by Naver, the operator of South Korea’s leading search engine.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 24, 2024

Japan and South Korea are fighting over an app at a tense time

Leaders on both the Japanese and South Korean sides appear determined to prevent the quarrel over Line from escalating.
Croatia midfielder Luka Modric during a UEFA Euro 2024 Group B soccer match against Italy in Leipzig, Germany, on Monday
SOCCER
Jun 25, 2024

Croatia's Modric wants to carry on despite Euro 2024 disappointment

The player has taken part in 178 internationals since his debut in 2006.
France forward Kylian Mbappe fights for the ball with Polish midfielder Pawel Dawidowicz (right) during a group stage match on Tuesday in Dortmund, Germany.
SOCCER
Jun 26, 2024

Mbappe's return fails to mask France shortcomings at Euro 2024

The French are through to the last 16 after emerging unbeaten from the first round, but a draw with Poland meant they finished second in Group D behind Austria.
Israeli police detain a protester as they they try to disperse ultra-Orthodox Jews blocking a highway during a protest against changes to the laws on the military draft from which the ultra-Orthodox community has traditionally been exempt, in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 26, 2024

Israel top court rules ultra-Orthodox men must serve in army

The decision on the politically charged issue comes as calls grow for ultra-Orthodox men, historically exempt from mandatory service, to enlist.
Kentaro Kitagawa
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 26, 2024

Former top Osaka prosecutor arrested for alleged sex crime

The high prosecutor's office did not reveal whether Kitagawa admitted to the allegation.
North Korea's claimed successful separation and guidance control test of individual mobile warheads is seen in this image released Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 27, 2024

In a first, North Korea claims successful multiple-warhead missile test

Such a capability would potentially allow Pyongyang to use a single missile to drop nuclear warheads on a broad swath of targets.
U.S. journalist Evan Gershkovich, who has been accused of espionage, looks out from inside a glass defendants' cage prior to a hearing in Yekaterinburg's Sverdlovsk Regional Court on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jun 27, 2024

Russia opens secret trial of U.S. reporter accused of espionage

The Wall Street Journal's Evan Gershkovich, 32, faces up to 20 years in prison on an espionage charge that he, his employer and the U.S. State Department vehemently deny.
An altar is decorated with a portrait of Aum Shinrikyo founder Chizuo Matsumoto at an Aleph facility in Tokyo this month.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 27, 2024

Japan authorities remain on alert over Aum successor group

Aleph, which has most of the roughly 1,650 worshippers of Aum Shinrikyo's three successor groups, continues to worship the teachings of cult leader Chizuo Matsumoto.
Yuta Orisaka strips things back on his latest album, “Jumon,” though it still features a few explosive moments.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 28, 2024

Yuta Orisaka's folk style is far more than a throwback

The singer-songwriter wanted to make songs his grandmother could enjoy, but that doesn't mean he'll skimp on the electronic touches.
Belgium fans cheer before their team's match against Ukraine at Euro 2024 in Stuttgart, Germany, on Wednesday.
SOCCER
Jun 28, 2024

Fans take center stage at Euro 2024 in Germany

Three years after the soulless experience of Euro 2020, played amid sparse crowds and restricted travel due to COVID-19, Germany is hosting a soccer festival at Euro 2024 as fans from across the continent take over the country.
Prospective candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election include digital minister Taro Kono (left) and former LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2024

Potential candidates in LDP presidential election come into view

Digital minister Taro Kono and former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba appear ready to run in September.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat