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Hanako and Taro Nomura, who are suing the government over forced sterilization, show their late daughter's birth register issued by a temple, in their living room in a city in Osaka Prefecture. For years, the couple wondered why they could not conceive after the death of their firstborn.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 2, 2024

Seeking justice, deaf couple confronts issue of forced sterilization

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will rule on lawsuits against the government filed by the Nomuras and others who were sterilized under a now-defunct eugenics law.
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.
Yohei Kono, leader of a Japanese delegation to promote economic ties with China (left), speaks with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing on Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2024

Japan group shows concerns about safety of Japanese in China

The delegation leader asked China to identify whether the Suzhou knife attack last week specifically targeted Japanese nationals.
Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis, walk after the Israeli army ordered they evacuate their neighborhoods in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD
Jul 2, 2024

Palestinian militants fire into Israel as tanks advance in Gaza

The attack showed Palestinian militants still have rocket capabilities almost nine months into the war.
Each week Neha Mankani comes by boat ambulance to Baba, an old fishing settlement near Karachi, and reportedly one of the world's most crowded islands with some 6,500 people crammed into 0.15 square kilometers.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 2, 2024

Midwife on the front line of climate change on Pakistan's islands

Climate change is swelling the surrounding seas off the megacity of Karachi and baking the land with rising temperatures.
Palestinian lightweight boxer Wassim Abu Sal ahead of a training session at a gym in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on June 22
OLYMPICS / Boxing
Jul 2, 2024

First Palestinian Olympic boxer fights hurdles before history

For Waseem Abu Sal, traveling abroad to train or compete comes with its own difficulties.
"Khaing," a former teacher with the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), sits in a restaurant where she works after fleeing from Myanmar to Thailand to avoid conscription by Myanmar's military junta, in Bangkok on June 4.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 2, 2024

'Can't go back': Myanmar conscription exiles struggle in Thailand

Myanmar's junta says it wants to enlist 5,000 people a month aged between 18 and 35, but details are vague.
Honda has already announced plans to buy back up to ¥300 billion of its shares during the current financial year, a move that could help absorb some of the impact from the sale.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 2, 2024

Major Japanese insurers to offload $3.1 billion of Honda shares, sources say

The sale of shares of a high-profile company is the latest sign that the unwinding of cross-shareholding is gaining pace in Japan.
Palestinians, who fled the eastern part of Khan Younis after they were ordered by the Israeli army to evacuate their neighborhoods, ride on a vehicle loaded with belongings in the southern Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Israel's next headache: Who will run postwar Gaza?

Fearing Hamas, powerful local families in Gaza are refusing to talk to Israel about any postwar plans.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets agency employees after a press conference on extreme weather at the D.C. Emergency Operations Center in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Biden to meet with governors and sit for an interview to calm backlash

The hope is to counter brewing discontent among leading Democratic donors, aides and elected officials over U.S. President Joe Biden's debate performance.
Marine Le Pen speaks during the first round of legislative elections in Henin-Beaumont on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 3, 2024

Le Pen faces uphill battle to get majority in French election

Those against the National Rally are removing certain third-placed candidates from the next round of voting in France to avoid splitting the vote.
Mizuho Financial Group is seeking to develop its business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 3, 2024

Mizuho hires ex-OTPP executive Karen Frank as senior adviser for EMEA business

Her appointment will likely be announced in the coming days, sources said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
People protest in Tokyo on Tuesday against sexual abuse cases by U.S. servicemen stationed in Okinawa Prefecture and the fact that the central government failed to quickly inform local officials of the cases.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 3, 2024

More sexual offense cases disclosed involving U.S. servicemen in Okinawa

The three other cases occurred in February and August last year and in January this year, with all of them being dismissed.
Several examples of rare and expensive fruits at Melissa’s Produce in Los Angeles on May 22.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2024

The world of luxury fruit: Does a $156 melon taste sweeter?

The United States is developing an appetite for luxury fruits long known in countries like Japan and South Korea.
The right-wing slogan “Make Europe Great Again” — a play on Donald Trump’s campaign slogan — is gaining prominence in European politics.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 3, 2024

‘Make Europe Great Again’ is becoming 'MEGA.' Should Japan worry?

The right-wing "Make Europe Great Again" movement is gaining traction, but Japan shouldn't put it in the same box as its more problematic cousin, MAGA, in the U.S.
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.
MUFG has been seeking to build its presence in India, and has been involved in negotiations for a minority stake in HDFC Bank’s consumer lending unit.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2024

MUFG's talks for stake in India consumer lender said to hit snag

MUFG has been seeking to build its presence in India.
Israeli tanks operate near the Israel-Gaza border on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 4, 2024

Gaza cease-fire efforts show signs of revival as Israel pounds enclave

Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been trying for months to secure a truce in Gaza, but their efforts have repeatedly failed.
A Palestinian man carries a child following an Israeli strike near a U.N.-run school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jul 4, 2024

Nine in 10 Gaza residents displaced since war began, U.N. says

The head of the United Nations' OCHA agency in the Palestinian territories said that around 1.9 million people are thought to be displaced in Gaza.
People walk through the Petionville street market in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on May 2. Unable to work, Haitian families depend on food rations and hygiene kits brought in by nongovernmental organizations.
WORLD / Society
Jul 4, 2024

Camping in schools, hungry Haiti families ask: When will normality return?

Five million people in Haiti, nearly half its population, are struggling to feed themselves due to conflict.
Russia isn’t a theocracy but Orthodox Christianity, the state religion, has become all-encompassing, with President Vladimir Putin claiming to have a divine mission.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 4, 2024

The demigods of populism

By claiming to represent the will of the divine, populist leaders like Putin, Modi, Erdogan — and even Trump — stake an otherworldly claim to political power.
Pedestrians shelter themselves from the sun using parasols as they cross a street in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on Thursday. The temperature in Tokyo hit 35 degrees Celsius just after noon on Thursday, the first time so far this year.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2024

Mercury hits 39.3 degrees Celsius in Shizuoka

Many cities experienced 35 degree weather, resulting in heatstroke alerts being issued for several regions across Japan.
After losing her family to a plane accident, Suzie (played by Rashida Jones) receives a posthumous gift from her husband in the form of a robot named Sunny (voiced by Joanna Sotomura).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jul 5, 2024

Rashida Jones uncovers an AI-fueled mystery in the AppleTV+ series 'Sunny'

Set in Kyoto, the story about a woman dealing with grief and an unexpected robot companion is a departure from the actor's comedic repertoire.
Senior member of the Indian National Congress, Shashi Tharoor, says that Narendra Modi and his BJP party seemed "shaken” by a fiery parliamentary speech by opposition leader Rahul Gandhi.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

Modi’s BJP ‘shaken’ by stronger opposition, says Congress leader

The comments come one month after India’s election results showed the Congress-led opposition alliance delivering a surprise setback to the BJP.
Tens of thousands of young people have fled Myanmar since the military junta introduced conscription, rights groups say, to shore up its depleted ranks.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 5, 2024

'No safe place': Women flee conscription risk and hardship in Myanmar

Following the military junta's conscription, some have risked their lives to trek through jungles and ford rivers to escape.
The People's Bank of China building in Beijing on May 29
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 5, 2024

China's central bank readies bonds to sell by tapping major banks

The bank said it has hundreds of billions of yuan worth of medium- and long-term bonds at its disposal to borrow.
Presidential candidate Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian holds up a banner during a campaign event in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024

Iran voters face stark choice in competitive presidential runoff

Deciding the next Iranian president may hinge on how many Iranians who sat out the vote in the general election participate in the runoff.
Circulators on display at a Bic Camera store in Tokyo's Ikebukuro district on June 26
JAPAN / Society
Jul 5, 2024

Japan companies beat drum for heat-beating goods

Sales of air conditioners, fans, and circulators are rising with the mercury, as high electricity prices make energy-saving products increasingly popular.
OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap speaks at a news conference on the opening of the Japan office in Tokyo in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 5, 2024

Japanese companies lag in AI adoption, white paper says

The white paper also urged action against fake online ads.
Housed in ARK’s shelter in western Japan, Jade waits day after day for someone to come along and give her a proper home.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jul 8, 2024

Jade knows the love you take equals the love you make

Jade's search for someone to return the love she wants to show people is such a contrast to her initial shyness that it might seem out of character at first.

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A man offers prayers at Hebikubo Shrine in Tokyo's Shinagawa Ward. The shrine is one of several across the country dedicated to the snake.
Shed your skin and reinvent yourself in the Year of the Snake