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June 30, 2026
 

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HUMAN RIGHTS

The Justice Ministry setting up a study panel regarding the misuse of generative artificial intelligence comes amid a sharp rise in such cases and concerns legislation in Japan has not kept up with the rapid advancement of AI.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 17, 2026
Government to launch study panel for generative-AI misuse
With a meeting scheduled for late April, the group will examine civil liability for the unauthorized use of people’s likenesses and voices.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers have asked the Justice Ministry to amend a bill aimed at revising Japan’s retrial system.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 16, 2026
LDP members demand rewrite of bill to revise retrial system
The bill proposes a one-year limit on court proceedings initiated by prosecutors’ appeal against a retrial ruling, but party members want such appeals banned entirely.
Men sit along the seaside near an unofficial camp for displaced people in Beirut on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Apr 16, 2026
Forced displacements to soar by 4.2 million by 2027, aid group warns
The numbers do not include those affected by the war in the Middle East, the agency said.
U.S. prison populations have dropped sharply since 2008, but gaps in mental health care mean many vulnerable individuals continue to cycle through the criminal justice system instead of receiving treatment.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 15, 2026
U.S. prisons are emptier. Will psychiatric hospitals fill up?
More recent statistics on psychiatric beds in hospitals and resident patients in state psychiatric hospitals show a mostly flat trajectory through 2023.
The Gombe area of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The African country is set to receive more than 30 deportees from the United States this week, none of whom are Congolese nationals.
WORLD
Apr 15, 2026
Congo to receive first group of deportees from U.S. this week, sources say
The move is the latest example of Washington using agreements with African governments to accelerate migrant removals.
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a ceremony at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum during a two day state visit to Hanoi in 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 14, 2026
China model gains appeal in Vietnam as police expand power
The two communist neighbors have swung between conflict and cooperation over centuries, with Hanoi now leaning more openly toward Beijing.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung speaks during his new year news conference at the presidential Blue House in Seoul on Jan. 21.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 11, 2026
South Korea president clashes with Israel on rights and disinformation claims
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Saturday accused Israel of failing to “reflect” on allegations of rights abuses by its forces, after Israel decried him for amplifying social media “disinformation.”
A woman holds a handheld fan bearing the image of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's wedding photo, during an election campaign event in Tokyo on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Society
Apr 11, 2026
Debt-laden Japan should review spending on gender equality, survey finds
The results come from a taskforce, set up in an effort to emulate the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, seeking cost-cutting suggestions from the public.
The government is set to delay the submission to parliament of a bill aimed at amending the country's retrial system.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2026
Government to delay submission of retrial system reform bill
The move came as the government sees the need to take more time for coordination.
A man views a slavery exhibition at Cape Coast Castle in Ghana. On March 25, the U.N. General Assembly called the transatlantic slave trade the "gravest crime against humanity," with 123 nations voting in favor, three against and 52 abstaining.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2026
Slavery’s atrocities had many global masters
Most historians date the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade to the year 1500, when Portuguese traders sailed down the coast of Africa.
The sons of late former Ohkawara Kakohki executive Shizuo Aishima during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday after suing the state
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Apr 6, 2026
Bereaved family sues over ‘hostage justice’
It’s the latest in a series of lawsuits challenging Japan’s criminal justice system that critics say doesn’t always presume innocence and relies heavily on coerced confessions.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the first so-called "Patriots' Grand Assembly" of nationalist groups from Europe, in Budapest on March 23.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 6, 2026
Hungary’s Viktor Orban: Global ‘illiberal role-model’
The shrewd prime minister has constantly tweaked his country’s political system to rule for 16 straight years as a dominant, albeit divisive figure.
The United States has serious domestic flaws, but its freedoms, alliances and global influence distinguish it from authoritarian states, a distinction its allies must recognize and actively invest in through engagement.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2026
The Moon and the Turtle: A lesson in false equivalence
Following the United States does not mean following blindly; it means understanding that the CRINKs offer no alternative order worth living in.
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after delivering an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House on Wednesday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 3, 2026
Trump gloats on possible war crimes in Iran, but punishment distant
Experts say the near-term consequences for the U.S. president are probably none, as his administration works hard to undermine international institutions tasked with keeping norms.
Soldiers from Burkina Faso patrol on the road of Gorgadji in the Sahel region, Burkina Faso, March 2019.
WORLD
Apr 2, 2026
Burkina Faso and Mali troops kill more civilians than jihadists do, data shows
Widespread deaths of civilians at the ‌hands of ‌government forces could bolster the political legitimacy of militant groups and fuel recruitment, analysts said.
Russia approved new guidelines in February recommending that health professionals send women who do not want children to a psychotherapist, a move critics say could be damaging to their psychological health.
WORLD / Society
Apr 1, 2026
Russian women decry therapy plan to get them to have children
Russia is in the midst of a demographic crisis, with fertility rates at 1.4 children per woman.
Palestinians inspect a burned vehicle and tractor following an attack by Israeli settlers in the northern outskirts of Tayasir village near the occupied West Bank town of Tubas on March 31.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 1, 2026
Applying Israel’s death penalty law would be a ‘war crime’: U.N.
Under the new law, Palestinians in the occupied West Bank convicted by military courts of carrying out deadly attacks classified as “terrorism” will face the death penalty.
Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, speaks during a parliamentary session in Jerusalem on Monday as Israel's parliament passes a law that makes the death penalty a default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly attacks.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 31, 2026
Israel passes death penalty law for Palestinians convicted of lethal attacks
The law, which has drawn international criticism of Israel, would only apply to Israelis convicted of murder whose attacks aimed at “ending Israel’s existence.”
Gao Zhen, left, and his brother Gao Qiang, with their artwork “Mao’s Guilt” in Beijing in September 2009
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 31, 2026
The secret trial of a Chinese artist accused of mocking Mao Zedong
The trial, where the artist faces suspicion of slandering China’s heroes, will not be open to the public.
Norman Wong, the great-grandson of Wong Kim Ark, poses for a portrait in front of a mural of his late ancestor in San Francisco on March 25.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 30, 2026
In U.S. Supreme Court fight over birthright citizenship, a great-grandson hears echoes of 1898
San Francisco area resident Norman Wong, 76, worries that the principle granting citizenship by birth on U.S. soil enshrined by his ancestor’s case may be in peril.
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.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
By Alex K.T. Martin

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