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June 30, 2026
 

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been in chaos following deep staff cuts and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s overhaul of U.S. vaccine policy.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
New CDC leaders vow to boost skeleton staff left after DOGE cuts
Over the last 18 months, about a quarter of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention staff left or were cut by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
MUFG Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking and other lenders have agreed to extend the maturity of about ¥75 billion ($463 million) in loans to Godiva Japan by nine months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 30, 2026
Godiva’s Japan lenders agree on 9-month loan extension
The chocolate maker posted a net loss of about ¥30 billion for the year ended December 2025.
The ruling party lawmaker Hirofumi Nakasone said on Sunday that no one would marry Princess Aiko if she ascended the imperial throne while unmarried, prompting criticism.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2026
LDP’s Hirofumi Nakasone regrets remark on Princess Aiko
In a speech in Toyama Prefecture on Sunday, the lawmaker added that no one would marry the princess if she were to succeed to the throne while unmarried.
Andy Burnham, the British member of Parliament for Makerfield, delivers a speech at the People's History Museum in Manchester, Britain, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
Burnham vows to grow economy by taking powers out of London
The prime minister hopeful says Britain is “stuck in a rut” with output held back by a “stark imbalance in resources between national government and local government.”
Protesters are seen during a march against undocumented migrants in Soweto, South Africa, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
South African police on high alert before antimigrant protests
The demonstrations set to take place are the culmination of weeks of protests that have displaced thousands of mainly African expatriates.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center, back) looks on as Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Yechiel Leiter (left), State Department Chief of Staff Daniel Holler (center) and Lebanese Ambassador to the U.S. Nada Hamadeh sign a framework agreement at the U.S. Department of State in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
Israel-Lebanon deal may entrench stalemate rather than end war, analysts say
The security deal between Israel and Lebanon includes something few see as workable: Hezbollah’s disarmament, which no Lebanese government has the power to enforce.
An aerial view of a heavy machinery working at the site of buildings destroyed following earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, Venezuela, on Monday.
WORLD
Jun 30, 2026
Survivors decry slow aid after deadly Venezuela quakes
Miracle rescues are increasingly rare and the death toll hit more than 1,700 on Monday.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a session of the All-Belarusian People's Assembly in Minsk, Belarus, on Dec. 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
Putin’s closest ally tested as Minsk resists deeper war role
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has publicly warned Russian officials against efforts to pull his country into the conflict with Ukraine.
Signage at the lobby of the Tencent Holdings headquarters in Shenzhen, China, on April 17
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2026
Alibaba and Tencent dropped by DC lobbyists to comply with U.S. curbs
Under a new law, the Defense Department will be barred from working with any company represented by lobbyists who also work for entities blacklisted by the Pentagon.
CCTV footage shows a girl and a man at a condominium in Pattaya on Thursday morning. Thai police have arrested Australian Simon Peter Carman following the discovery of the body of a 17-year-old Thai girl inside a suitcase dumped near a railway track in Pattaya.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Jun 30, 2026
How a Thai teen’s night at a Pattaya beach ended in death
A middle-aged Australian man has been arrested following the discovery of the body of the 17-year-old girl, which was found stuffed inside a suitcase dumped near a railway track.
Vessels anchored around Qaboos Port in Muscat, Oman, on June 22.
WORLD
Jun 30, 2026
Iran ratchets up talk of controlling Hormuz ahead of new talks
That stance will add to the pressure around the next round of talks, which the U.S. has said are set to take place in Qatar on Tuesday.
Japan's Hiroki Ito (right) reacts with Ayumu Seko after the team's loss against Brazil at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 30, 2026
Japan pays price again for retreating against Brazil
Considering its World Cup debut was 1998, Japan has done incredibly well to assert itself as Asia’s preeminent soccer behemoth, but it has always missed that one final touch.
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 30, 2026
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
The market remains skeptical about the effectiveness of government efforts to prop up the yen, and pressure on the currency has been steady.
People cross a street past a billboard depicting Iran's slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei kissing the slain Islamic revolutionary guards commander Qasem Soleimani near the shrine of Imam Hussein Iraq's holy city of Karbala, displayed on the facade of a building in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 30, 2026
U.S. and Iran negotiators head to Doha, but meeting uncertain
U.S. President Donald Trump is sending his son-in-law Jared Kushner and his envoy Steve Witkoff to lead the negotiating team, according to his ​press secretary Karoline Leavitt.
Brazil's Gabriel Martinelli (right) shoots past Japan defenders Shogo Taniguchi (left) and Takehiro Tomiyasu to score in the second half of a match in the round of 32 at the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Houston on Monday.
SOCCER
Jun 30, 2026
Japan falls in gut-wrenching fashion as Brazil strikes late to win World Cup clash
Gabriel Martinelli’s winner in the 95th minute came at the end of a tense match and was the latest winning goal in normal time of a World Cup knockout game since 1966.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2026
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
The panel’s proposal urged the government to exclude lithium-ion batteries from the restrictions by introducing safety standards for batteries.
A fan watches Japan's World Cup match against Sweden on a smartphone in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 29, 2026
World Cup offers chance to find right broadcasting balance for fans in Japan
The diversification of broadcasting methods for soccer, such as online streaming, could be a potential for further growth for the sport.
A case where a mother trafficked her daughter came to light in September after the girl sought help alone from the Tokyo Regional Immigration Services Bureau.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2026
Thai mother sentenced for trafficking daughter to Tokyo sex trade
The mother entered Japan with her daughter in June last year on the pretext of sightseeing before abandoning the girl at the massage parlor, according to a court in Bangkok.
Plaintiffs head to the Tokyo District Court ahead of the first hearing in a lawsuit seeking to hold 37 judges accountable over the wrongful prosecution of a former Ohkawara Kakohki adviser, on Monday in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 29, 2026
Government vows to fight suit on bail denials for Ohkawara adviser
The state called for the suit filed by three family members of Shizuo Aishima, who died in 2021 at age 72, to be dismissed.
Yukio Tanaka, 59, is accused of shooting Takayuki Ohigashi, the Ohsho president who was 72 at the time, to death in Kyoto.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2026
Prosecutors seek life sentence over 2013 Ohsho president murder
The defendant, Yukio Tanaka, is accused of shooting Takayuki Ohigashi, the Ohsho president who was 72 at the time, to death in Kyoto.
China's Commerce Ministry building in Beijing. The ministry on Monday added 20 Japanese companies and organizations to its export control list.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 29, 2026
China blacklists more Japanese entities as row deepens
The move is the latest by Beijing to tighten restrictions on firms and entities it claims are tied to Tokyo’s “remilitarization.”
Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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