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Russian President Vladimir Putin and Vietnam President To Lam during a reception in Hanoi on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 23, 2024

Putin came to Asia to disrupt, and he succeeded

After stops in Pyongyang, North Korea, and Hanoi, Vietnam, last week that were draped in communist red, Putin left behind a redrawn map of risk in Asia.
An Afghan woman carries empty containers to fetch water in Balkh province, Afghanistan, in August 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

U.N.-led Doha meeting with Taliban sparks outcry over women's rights

The U.N. has been seeking a unified, international approach to dealing with the Taliban, who have cracked down on women's rights since returning to power.
Japan's men's and women's gymnastics teams pose for photos during a news conference to announce the team's uniforms for the 2024 Games.
OLYMPICS / Gymnastics
Jun 24, 2024

Leotard vs. unitard debate in gymnastics still raging ahead of Paris Olympics

The German gymnastics team took a stand against sexualization in the sport in 2021, but heading into Paris, the leotard is still very much in vogue in Japan and abroad.
Former Hong Kong media tycoon Jimmy Lai in 2020
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 24, 2024

Hong Kong top court hears Jimmy Lai appeal as scrutiny mounts

Any conviction of Lai risks further inflaming ties between China and the U.S. and U.K., which are among countries that have called for his release.
Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, greets supporters at the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters during election night in New Delhi, India on June 4.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 24, 2024

Some of Modi’s agenda could disappear in India’s fractured Parliament

A new Parliament taking office in India may give some hint of whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s domestic policies are now in doubt.
Kyosuke Matsuyama (right) competes against France's Erwann Le Pechoux during the men's team foil semifinals at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jun 24, 2024

Japanese fencers heading to Paris Games with plenty of confidence

The men's national team is aiming to secure its first medal in three Olympics in the foil event, a category considered by many to be a Japanese specialty.
The U.S. will no longer view itself through the lens of exceptionalism, regardless of whether Donald Trump or Joe Biden wins the next election.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 24, 2024

American exceptionalism is dead no matter who wins the election

The U.S. will no longer view itself through the lens of exceptionalism regardless of the presidential election's outcome, focusing instead on its narrow self-interests.
The government has a provisional target of keeping PFAS levels in tap water at 50 nanograms or lower per liter.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jun 24, 2024

Government instigates nationwide survey on PFAS in Japan's tap water

Some 12,000 water providers have been given until the end of September to report on potential water contamination with PFAS.
Katie Ledecky competes in the women's 400 freestyle swim during preliminaries for the Olympic Swimming Trials in Indianapolis, Indiana, on June 15.
OLYMPICS
Jun 25, 2024

Dressel and Ledecky lead U.S. Olympic swim team with eyes on Australia

The intense nine days of the U.S. trials concluded Sunday and produced a team of 46 swimmers.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris greets her audience before discussing reproductive rights on the second anniversary of Roe v. Wade being overturned, in Phoenix on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024

Harris and the Democrats aim at Trump on abortion ruling anniversary

Since the 2022 ruling, more than 20 Republican-led states in the U.S. have imposed abortion restrictions.
The investigation into the Chinese telcos is the latest effort by Washington to prevent Beijing from exploiting Chinese firms' access to U.S. data to harm U.S. companies, Americans or its national security as part of a deepening tech war between the geopolitical rivals.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 25, 2024

U.S. probing Chinese telcos over internet and cloud risks

Their cloud services and routing of wholesale U.S. internet traffic raise concerns that they could exploit access to American data by providing it to Beijing.
Seibu's Ginjiro Sumitani (back left) meets with participants in a program to inspire seriously ill children, at the Belluna Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, on May 26.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 25, 2024

Lions catcher Sumitani remains committed to inspiring ill children

The sight of happy children "reminds me that I should do my best," says Ginjiro Sumitani.
The Eiffel Tower is seen from the water of the River Seine
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 25, 2024

River Seine's water quality in doubt as Paris counts down to Olympics

Heavy rain in May and June has caused major pollution problems in the river.
A billboard with a picture of the presidential candidates is displayed on a street in Tehran on June 17.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024

Iran’s presidential election dominated by Khamenei loyalists

The next president will likely be closely involved in the eventual process of choosing a successor to Iran's supreme leader.
Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya celebrates after winning gold in the women's Olympic marathon in Sapporo in August 2021.
OLYMPICS
Jun 26, 2024

At Paris Olympics, women athletes finally reach parity

When the event was revived by French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, he saw it as a celebration of gentlemanly athleticism "with female applause as its reward."
A volunteer hoping to join the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attends basic training at an undisclosed location in the Kyiv region, Ukraine, on Jan. 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2024

Trump reviews peace talks ultimatum plan for Ukraine and Russia

The proposal would mark a big shift in the U.S. position on the war and would face opposition from European allies.
This screen grab taken from video posted on the WikiLeaks X account on Tuesday shows WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange looking out the window of a private jet as he flies from London to Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands after reaching a plea deal with the U.S. authorities.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2024

Assange walks free, but plea deal sets a chilling precedent

The Committee to Protect Journalists says the prosecution had grave implications for journalists and press freedom worldwide.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about student debt in Madison, Wisconsin, in April.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2024

How Trump and Biden might attack each other at their first 2024 debate

Immigration, the economy, democracy and abortion rights: Here are the main ways each candidate is likely to slam the other at Thursday’s high-stakes confrontation.
Reactors Nos. 3 and 4 of the Oi nuclear power plant in Oi, Fukui Prefecture
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2024

Japan's nuclear watchdog OKs extension of Kansai Electric's Oi plant

It is the first time for the nuclear regulator to approve a long-term facility management plan based on the green transformation law.
Monitors show the rate of the yen against the U.S. dollar at a foreign exchange brokerage in Tokyo on Monday. Traders are falling out of step with the Bank of Japan, expecting hawkish steps that are instead met with a cautious approach.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 24, 2024

Traders are out of step with the BOJ’s Ueda

Time and time again, traders predict that the Bank of Japan will take bold next steps, but these rarely come. That's because Gov. Ueda is, most of all, cautious.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki speaks to reporters on Tuesday at the prefectural government office.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 26, 2024

Foreign Ministry delayed telling Okinawa about U.S. airman's alleged sex crime

The delay in informing the prefectural government could further strain the relationship between Okinawa and Tokyo.
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.
Tadej Pogacar (left) rides behind rival Jonas Vingegaard and Vingegaard's teammate Sepp Kuss during the Tour de France in July last year.
MORE SPORTS / Cycling
Jun 27, 2024

Tour de France favorite Pogacar says he has 'never felt so good on a bike'

The Slovenian is seeking to become the first cyclist since Marco Pantani in 1998 to win both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France in the same season.
Nannalin "Fleur" Pornprasertsom, 14, surveys bleached corals during her coral conservation and citizen science course at Black Turtle Dive, around Koh Tao island in the southern Thai province of Surat Thani, on June 14.
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 27, 2024

Divers become conservationists as corals bleach all over the world

Coral bleaching has been recorded in more than 60 countries since early 2023.
Lawyer and activist Rozkar Ibrahim walks past a headstone marked with the word 'grave of life' in an area reserved for the victims of femicide and honor killings, at the Siwan cemetery in Sulaimaniyah, the autonomous Kurdistan region's second city, on May 17.
WORLD
Jun 27, 2024

Murdered and forgotten: Iraqi victims of gender-based violence

Domestic violence and femicide have long plagued Iraq's conservative society.
U.S. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump participate in the first presidential debate of 2024 at CNN's studios in Atlanta on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 28, 2024

At first debate, Biden stumbles amid Trump's barrage of falsehoods

The two men traded barbs on a host of issues as they each sought to shake up what opinion polls show has been a virtually tied race for months.
The Olympic rings are seen outside of the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March.
OLYMPICS
Jun 28, 2024

IOC invites 39 athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete as neutrals at Olympics

Twenty-two Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes were invited to compete at the Paris Olympics as neutrals.
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.
Japan’s Coco Yoshizawa participates in a Paris 2024 Olympic qualifier. This summer’s Olympics will be the first in which half of athletes are female.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2024

Paris Olympics’ gender equality boast has an asterisk

Paris 2024 will be the first Olympics where half of all athletes are female. But the gender gap remains wide among the ranks of coaches and needs to be tackled.
The door of a polling station is closed after the end of voting Saturday in Tehran, in a snap presidential election to choose a successor to Ebrahim Raisi following his death in a helicopter crash.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2024

Sole moderate candidate leads Iran presidential vote amid low turnout

With over 3.8 million ballots from Friday's election counted so far, Massoud Pezeshkian won over 1,595,000 votes.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?