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Daiki Hashimoto takes part in a training session in Tokyo on June 21.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 27, 2024

Japan men's gymnastics team sets sights on China for team gold

Three years ago, the Russians beat Japan by 0.103 points — a sliver of a number that etched itself into the minds of Japan's gymnasts.
A campaign event of reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian less than a week ahead of a presidential election called after Ebrahim Raisi’s death
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 27, 2024

Iran’s election could bring lasting peace

The upcoming election in Iran is more consequential than it's being given credit for. A triumph of the only reformist candidate, Masoud Pezeshkian, would be momentous.
Civil servants listen to the national anthem before the polls open as they wait for voters at a polling station for the Mongolian parliamentary elections in Sergelen sum in Tuv province, Mongolia, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 28, 2024

Mongolians vote as anger grows over corruption and economy

Analysts expect the ruling Mongolian People's Party to retain its majority.
Cardboard beds at an evacuation shelter in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Jan. 31
JAPAN / Society
Jun 28, 2024

Japan calls for beds to be set up as soon as evacuation centers open

Some evacuation centers did not use temporary beds following the Noto Peninsula earthquake due to difficulties changing the facility layouts.
American sprinter Noah Lyles poses with a "Yu-Gi-Oh!" card after winning at the U.S. Olympic track-and-field finals on Sunday. The image went viral, once again showing the popularity of Japanese cultural exports like manga.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 28, 2024

Blackstone sees billions in manga. You should too.

Investment firm Blackstone's move to buy manga platform Mecha Comics, betting on the strength of Japan's soft power, looks further ahead than other players have.
Carlos Alcaraz takes part in a practice session at the All England Lawn Tennis Club in London on Thursday ahead of the start of Wimbledon.
TENNIS
Jun 29, 2024

Young guns Alcaraz and Sinner ready to fire as Wimbledon prepares for new era

If Djokovic struggles in his return from injury, all eyes would then be on Alcaraz and Sinner as they usher in a new era at Wimbledon.
Then-Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte holds a sniper rifle next to outgoing Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Bato Dela Rosa during the National Police chief handover ceremony in Camp Crame, Quezon City, in metro Manila, in April 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Years later, Philippines reckons with Duterte’s brutal drug war

The violence unleashed by the former Philippine leader is finally getting a look, including from the International Criminal Court.
Tour guide and history buff Rory Dent left his job at a U.K.-based tour operator to move to Japan and start his own business.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Jun 30, 2024

Guiding Japan through the challenges of overtourism

With the number of overseas tourists breaking records, guides and tour operators are seeing their businesses flourish.
Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an EU-Japan trade summit in Brussels in 2019. Abe was an early believer in the need for Japan to strengthen relations with Europe based on shared values and interests.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 1, 2024

Strong Europe-Japan relations are a legacy of Shinzo Abe

Late former Prime Minister Abe was an early believer in the need for Japan to strengthen its relationship with Europe based on shared values and mutual interests.
Rodrigo Duterte is being investigated by the International Criminal Court over his signature "war on drugs" campaign, where thousands were gunned down in what authorities called vigilante killings during his 2016-22 presidency.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 1, 2024

Duterte's senate election bid poses threat to former ally Marcos

The political challenges by the Duterte family could upset the Philippine president's hopes of consolidating power so he can groom a potential successor for 2028.
Lakers forward Rui Hachimura will be a key part of Japan's Olympic ambitions this summer.
BASKETBALL
Jul 1, 2024

Japan’s basketball stars set sights on glory at Paris Games

Some think Akatsuki Japan is sending the best team it has ever assembled to the Olympics.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2024

Japanese business executive detained in Myanmar

The military regime said an Aeon Orange executive and local supermarket officials allegedly sold rice at prices higher than levels set by authorities.
Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Chesapeake, Virginia, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

U.S. Supreme Court finds Trump has broad immunity from prosecution

The Supreme Court ruling gave Donald Trump much of what he sought but stopped short of allowing absolute immunity for all official acts.
Peruvian political scion Keiko Fujimori is accused of allegedly having led a criminal enterprise that laundered some $17 million to fund her presidential campaigns in 2011 and 2016.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2024

Peru puts political scion Keiko Fujimori on trial for money laundering

Prosecutors are seeking a jail term of up to 30 years for the daughter of the country's disgraced former President Alberto Fujimori.
Supporters listen as President Joe Biden speaks at a reelection campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Friday, one day after his debate with former President Donald Trump.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2024

The road to a crisis: How Democrats let Biden glide to renomination

Many fear U.S. President Joe Biden will lose to former President Donald Trump and drag Democrats to devastating defeats in congressional and state elections.
Renesas Electronics CEO Hidetoshi Shibata
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Ex-banker behind chipmaker Renesas targets $100 billion value

Renesas’ push coincides with an aggressive campaign by Japan to turn the world’s fourth-largest economy into a chip powerhouse.
R-Shitei (left) and DJ Matsunaga have scored the biggest hit of the year so far in Japan with “Bling-Bang-Bang-Born.” The track is inspired by the Jersey club style of music, right down to the squeaky chair sample.
CULTURE / Music
Jul 3, 2024

Is Creepy Nuts' catchy, rapid-fire 'Bling-Bang-Bang-Born' the song of the year?

The fast-paced ode to a style called Jersey club is everywhere in Tokyo, and it may just be the rap duo's key to international success.
Astana Qazaqstan Team's Mark Cavendish celebrates as he wins Stage 5 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, giving him the most career stage wins in the history of the event.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jul 4, 2024

Cycling's comeback king Cavendish to carry on doing the thing he loves

Now 39 and in his 15th Tour de France, Cavendish has overcome injuries, illnesses and years in the wilderness to shine as brightly as anyone could expect.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that former President Donald Trump has some immunity from election interference charges, though most of the charges are likely to stand.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

Hold up, Trump is still in serious legal trouble

Most of the election interference case against Trump stems from 'unofficial' acts not shielded from prosecution by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on presidential immunity.
Workers collect detritus after the Britain's Glastonbury Festival on Monday.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 4, 2024

Music festivals seek greener footprint

The world's top 1,000 DJs took 51,000 flights in 2019, equivalent to 35,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, according to climate group Clean Scene.
An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer will win 410 seats in Britain's general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House in London on July 4, 2024. Labour is set for a landslide win in U.K. election, exit polls showed.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

U.K.'s Labour set to sweep into power with huge majority, exit poll shows

The result would give Labour a majority of 170 and would bring the curtain down on 14 years of increasingly tumultuous Conservative-led government.
A monitor in Tokyo shows Japan's two major stock indexes hitting new highs on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

Investors hunt for Trump-win trades in Japan's stock market

The Topix index gained almost 30% in dollar terms in the year after the 2016 U.S. presidential election that Trump won, beating the S&P 500 and the MSCI World index.
Philippine Coast Guard personnel prepare rubber fenders after China Coast Guard vessels blocked their way to a resupply mission at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 6, 2024

Philippines turned down U.S. help amid South China Sea tensions

The U.S., a treaty ally, has offered support but Manila prefers to handle operations on its own, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Romeo Brawner said.
France forward Kylian Mbappe during his team's quarterfinal win over Portugal on Friday.
SOCCER
Jul 7, 2024

Winning is all that matters at Euro 2024 for Mbappe's minimalist France

Mbappe is surrounded by other world-class attackers, but his penalty in a group-stage match is the only goal scored by a French player at Euro 2024.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks during a news conference following his first Cabinet meeting on Saturday in London.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 7, 2024

Britain’s new leader is about to get a crash course in statecraft

Some experts say the shift to Labour was less about ideology and more about fatigue with the Tories and a distrust of political institutions in general.
An aerial view shows the BRP Sierra Madre on the contested Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea on March 9, 2023. On Saturday, Manila accused China of intimidation over its anchoring of its largest coast guard vessel in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 8, 2024

China anchors 'monster ship' in South China Sea: Philippine coast guard

The anchoring of the 165-meter Chinese coast guard vessel in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone is “intimidation,” Manila says.
Lee Yi-yang, former vice president of Taiwan's Examination Yuan, is expected to be named as the next de facto ambassador to Japan.
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2024

Taiwan to name Lee as de facto ambassador to Japan

Lee worked as a news reporter and Taipei City Council member before becoming a DPP secretary-general and interior minister under Chen's administration.
Asami Yoshida (center) practices with Japan at the National Training Center in Tokyo in January.
OLYMPICS / Basketball
Jul 8, 2024

Asami Yoshida bringing experience and swagger to Akatsuki Japan for Paris Olympics

The veteran point guard was Japan's captain at the 2016 Olympics.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 8, 2024

Koike eases to victory but Ishimaru's performance signals shift in Tokyo

Koike saw off a tougher challenge than in previous votes, with Ishimaru pointing to a path forward for lesser-known candidates.
The government aims to increase the number of foreign students in Japan to 400,000 by 2033, despite a recent Justice Ministry ordinance that puts in place tougher rules on accepting overseas applicants.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 8, 2024

Can Japan boost its foreign student count to 400,000?

The government recently tightened rules for accepting overseas applicants, though it hasn't lost sight of its lofty goal of increasing foreign student numbers.

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