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The general secretary of Vietnam's Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, in February 2021. Trong died on Friday at age 80, state media said.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 19, 2024

Vietnam's most powerful Communist Party leader dies

For months, Trong had appeared frail at public events or missed them outright and on Thursday his duties as party chief were taken over by President To Lam.
“Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman” incorporates six Murakami short stories from three books into a single intertwined narrative that centers on a trio of lonely Tokyoites.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Jul 20, 2024

'Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman' is an immersive journey into Murakami's world

Pierre Foldes' beautiful adaptation of six Haruki Murakami stories features one of the author's most memorable characters, who injects the film with self-aware humor.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within "one or two weeks."
WORLD / Politics
Jul 20, 2024

Iran capable of producing fissile material in 'one or two weeks,' Blinken says

News of Iran's capabilities follows the recent election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has said his goal is to "get Iran out of its isolation."
An aerial view on Monday of the Butler Farm Show grounds in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a gunman attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump during a campaign rally on July 13.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jul 20, 2024

From honor student to the gunman who tried to kill Donald Trump

Thomas Crooks was a brainy and quiet young man who built computers and won honors at school, impressing his teachers. Then he became a would-be assassin.
Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump wears a flesh-colored bandage on his ear as he holds a campaign rally for the first time with his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 21, 2024

Bullet that hit Trump's ear left 2-cm wound, ex-White House doctor says

Former White House physician Ronny Jackson, now a hard-line right-wing lawmaker from Texas, offers one of the first detailed accounts of the Trump's injury.
Tokyo prosecutors raid the Noboribetsu, Hokkaido office of Lower House member Manabu Horii on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2024

Lawmaker Horii may have used kickbacks to pay funeral money

Politicians are prohibited from giving donations to voters in their districts except as consolation at funerals that they themselves attend.
Tsutomu Shirosaki, former member of the Japanese Red Army
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2024

Ex-Japan Red Army prisoner, 76, chokes on food and dies

Tsutomu Shirosaki was serving time for his involvement in the 1986 terrorist attack on the Japanese Embassy in Jakarta.
Mai Yamamoto drives to the basket during an Olympic tune-up game against New Zealand in Tokyo on July 4.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Jul 22, 2024

Akatsuki Japan believes it can 'surprise the world' in Paris

Women's basketball team will be looking to replicate its inspiring Olympic run in Tokyo and make waves in Paris.
Officials of the Tokyo Public Prosecutor's Office raid the office of Lower House member Manabu Horii in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 22, 2024

Lawmaker Horii knew funeral money handouts were illegal: sources

Prosecutors raided Horii's offices in Tokyo and Hokkaido as well as his home, on suspicion of violating the public offices election law.
Xander Schauffele of the U.S celebrates with the Claret Jug trophy after winning The 152nd British Open in Troon, Scotland, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jul 22, 2024

Schauffele finds inner calm to win British Open and collect second major

The 30-year-old Californian delivered a faultless, zen-like six-under-par final round.
Foreign exchange rates are shown in a shop window in Tehran. Iran's newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian, faces the tough challenge of reviving Iran's beleaguered, sanctions-hit economy.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2024

Iran’s economy needs a new deal with the West, badly

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran's new president, inherits high inflation and deteriorating public services. His only way out is cutting a deal with the West to lift sanctions.
Homes are surrounded by flood waters after Hurricane Beryl made landfall in Sargent, Texas, on July 8.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 22, 2024

The great climate change wealth transfer is here

Fossil fuel profits are sky-high, as are the costs of climate change. By subsidizing oil and gas while putting tariffs on green tech, governments are making things worst.
Attendees inspect a Lamborghini Revuelto high performance electrified vehicle on the opening day of the Geneva International Motor Show Qatar 2023, in Doha on Oct. 6, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 22, 2024

In the world of luxury cars, hybrids are the sexiest new thing

Engineers insist the technology is as much about getting more performance out of existing combustion engines as it is about going green.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the media after his meeting with President Droupadi Murmu, to stake claim to form the new government at the Presidential Palace in New Delhi on June 7.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

India's budget reflects new power realities of Modi's fickle coalition

Modi has been forced to rely on allies to run a government for the first time in his career.
Members of the State Duma, the lower house of Russian parliament, attend a plenary session in Moscow on July 10.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 24, 2024

Russian MPs vote to broaden 'undesirable organizations' law

One of the bill's authors said that British, German and Japanese organizations could fall under the new legislation.
Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018, before being dethroned by Singapore on the 2024 list.
BUSINESS
Jul 24, 2024

Japan loses top spot on strongest passport list to Singapore

Japan had the strongest passport for six years running from 2018.
Norwegian and Australian players take part in a practice session ahead of the opening of the Paris Olympics at Eiffel Tower Stadium in Paris on Wednesday.
OLYMPICS
Jul 25, 2024

After joyless silence in Tokyo, Paris is ready to get the Olympic party started

No COVID-19 testing, no bubbles and no more locking out the fans. Paris marks a return to normal for an event that, like many, was brought to its knees by the pandemic.
Masanori Matsugawa, mayor of Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Jul 26, 2024

Ginowan mayor dies on official trip to Tokyo

The 70-year-old mayor was found dead in his hotel room after failing to turn up at the hotel's lobby at a prearranged time.
Rim Nakamura, who is attempting to win Japan's first Olympic gold medal in cycling, will be one of the top Japanese athletes to watch at the Paris Games.
OLYMPICS
Jul 26, 2024

The Japanese Olympians looking to shine in Paris

Team Japan is looking to build on the momentum from three years ago in Tokyo, where the nation earned a record medal haul.
South Korean and U.S. soldiers conduct a joint river-crossing exercise in Yeoncheon, South Korea, in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 28, 2024

South Korea reports leak from its military intelligence command

The military said in a brief statement that it planned to "deal sternly with” those responsible for the leak.
Railway workers and French police officers inspect the scene of an attack on the country's high-speed railway network on Friday.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2024

More trains, but few answers, after railway sabotage in France

While rail workers are claiming success, a key question still remains: Who did this and why?
South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (left to right), Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pose for a photo at the Defense Ministry Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 28, 2024

U.S., Japan and South Korea ink deal to 'institutionalize' security ties

The move — just months before the U.S. presidential election — is seen as part of a bid to make the trilateral relationship more difficult to reverse.
Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, gives a presidential decree to Iran's new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, during an endorsement ceremony in Tehran on Sunday.
WORLD
Jul 28, 2024

Iran's Khamenei formally grants Pezeshkian presidential powers

Pezeshkian, 69, won a runoff race on July 5 against the ultraconservative Saeed Jalili to replace president Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash in May.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (left) on Sunday delivers a speech during the official presidential endorsement ceremony of President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian (right).
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Iran’s supreme leader hints at improving ties with West

Iran’s supreme leader indicated that his country is open to easing diplomatic engagement with the West.
Nicolas Maduro speaks to members of the media after casting a ballot in Caracas on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 29, 2024

Venezuela opposition rejects Maduro election win

Venezuela’s political opposition has vehemently rejected the electoral authority’s ruling that Nicolas Maduro was reelected as the nation’s president, calling on the military to intervene. The U.S. and some Latin American neighbors also raised concerns about the official result.
Human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) virions (spherical in appearance) bud from a cultured human lymphocytes in this scanning electron microscopic image obtained from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2019.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Cured HIV patients 'living proof' of hope in fight against virus

Only seven people are considered to have been effectively cured of HIV after receiving a stem cell transplant.
Students in Bangladesh have faced a crackdown against protests demanding an end to the quota system for public jobs. Despite a scaling back of the system, more needs to be done to address their woes.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 29, 2024

An Arab Spring for Bangladesh?

Student protests in Bangladesh against the quota system for public jobs could help restore democracy by bringing down Prime Minister Hasina's violent rule.
French fans cheer on their team during an Olympic rugby sevens match on Sunday. Fans are back in force at the Games and providing a lively atmosphere for the competition after COVID-19 forced the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics to be mostly played without spectators.
OLYMPICS
Jul 29, 2024

The Olympic roar is back in Paris after two pandemic-hit Games

The sights and sounds of the Olympics have returned to normal this year, with fans able to attend the Games without restrictions for the first time since 2018.
A man cools himself in a water mist spray in Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Multiple regions topped 40 degrees Celsius for the first time this year on Monday.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jul 29, 2024

Multiple places in Japan see mercury top 40 C for first time this year

Notable readings include a peak of 41 degrees Celsius in Sano, Tochigi Prefecture, as well as 40.2 C in the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture.
Inscriptions on a disaster monument in Miyako, Iwate Prefecture (left), can be seen clearly when illuminated using a smartphone app "Hikari Takuhon" developed by researcher Hideyuki Uesugi.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 30, 2024

Number of natural disaster monuments on state map increasing in Japan

Stone monuments inscribed with descriptions of the damage caused by past natural disasters and lessons from forerunners have been erected since ancient times.

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