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July 05, 2026
 

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APPS

TikTok said it signed binding agreements to create a U.S. joint venture majority-owned by American investors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2025
TikTok says it signed agreements for new U.S. joint venture
CEO Shou Chew said deals with Oracle, Silver Lake and MGX have been signed, with a closing date of Jan. 22, 2026.
Members of staff greet customers at the Apple Store in Tokyo's Omotesando shopping district.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 18, 2025
Apple opens iPhones to alternative app stores in Japan
Under Apple’s new rules, Japanese developers can launch their own app marketplaces on iPhones and pay Apple as little as 5% of sales.
Under a new law, Google and Apple will have to allow third parties to run independent app stores and offer their own payment options.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 15, 2025
What will change with Japan’s first attempt at regulating Big Tech?
While a previous law urged platforms to improve business practices and regularly report their endeavors, the new bill may alter the rules of the game.
A child looks at his phone in Melbourne on Nov. 27 ahead of Australia's ban on children under 16 from using social media.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 11, 2025
Australian content creators feel sting of losing young fans to social media ban
Follower counts primarily on Instagram have dropped, creators said, while engagement patterns — likes, comments and views — have also changed.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister Anika Wells speak to the media during a visit to St. John Paul II College in Canberra, Australia, on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 11, 2025
Australian leader defends social media ban as teens brag about staying online
The rollout of the ban was always going to be bumpy but would ultimately save lives, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.
A leaflet made by the Metropolitan Police Department explains its Digi Police crime prevention app.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2025
Tokyo police app blocks incoming international calls to help combat fraud
When the new feature is enabled, the app automatically blocks international calls and calls from numbers Tokyo police know have been used for fraud.
Elon Musk's social media platform X erupted in uproar after the rollout of a feature revealing an account's location, exposing what users describe as global troll farms and influence operations on the platform.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 25, 2025
Based in the U.S. or Nigeria? Musk’s X erupts over location feature
The account location information rollout is a bid to boost transparency on a platform that tech experts say is rife with disinformation.
The U.S. government has sought to break up Meta for the past five years.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 19, 2025
Meta wins FTC antitrust trial over Instagram and WhatsApp deals
The Federal Trade Commission failed to prove Meta’s acquisitions of the apps allowed it to illegally monopolize the social networking market, a district court ruled.
A 43-year-old Tokyo Metropolitan Police inspector was arrested Wednesday for allegedly leaking investigative information to a group suspected of illegally brokering women to sex parlors and hostess bars across Japan.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 13, 2025
Police officer arrested for leaking information to illegal scout group
Daisuke Jinbo is suspected of providing the group with images showing the areas covered by cameras installed by the police.
Meta's study showed that for teens who said they often felt bad about their bodies after viewing Instagram, "eating disorder adjacent content” made up 10.5% of what they saw, while such content accounted for only 3.3% of what other teens in the study saw.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Instagram shows more ‘eating disorder adjacent’ content to vulnerable teens: Meta
The researchers at Meta said their findings did not prove Instagram was making users feel worse about their bodies, noting many could be seeking out such material.
Brian Kim (center), founder of Kakao Corp., leaves the Southern District Court in Seoul on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Billionaire Kakao founder cleared in stock manipulation case
The acquittal allows Kakao to refocus on stabilizing its sprawling businesses, which ranges from messaging and fintech to mobility and entertainment.
An Amazon Web Services Data Center known in Ashburn, Virginia, on Monday
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025
Amazon’s AWS nears recovery after outage disrupts apps and services worldwide
It was the largest internet disruption since last year’s CrowdStrike malfunction hobbled technology systems in hospitals, banks and airports.
3D printed Telegram and WhatsApp logos are placed on a computer motherboard in this illustration taken January 21, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2025
Child protection versus privacy: decision time for EU
Does protecting children justify snooping on private messages?
The "Text With Jesus" chatbot app displayed on an iPhone on Oct. 2.
WORLD / Society
Oct 8, 2025
Virtual Jesus? People of faith divided as AI enters religion
Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools are growing in number, offering counsel, comfort and spiritual guidance.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents detain a man after conducting a raid at an apartment complex in Denver, Colorado, in February.
BUSINESS
Oct 3, 2025
Apple removes ICE tracking apps after pressure by Trump administration
The apps alert users to ICE agents in their area, but the U.S. Justice Department says the apps could increase the risk of assault on agents.
A 38-year-old man in Aichi Prefecture has been arrested for allegedly fraudulently receiving refunds from a food delivery service by falsely claiming his orders never arrived.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Oct 2, 2025
Nagoya man suspected of placing 1,095 fraudulent food delivery orders
The 38-year-old is alleged to have signed up and then canceled membership for the Demae-can service repeatedly, making false claims to avoid payments totaling about ¥3.7 million.
Payments using the PayPay app will soon be possible in South Korea.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 26, 2025
SoftBank’s PayPay to become available in South Korea as company looks outward
Japan’s largest mobile payment platform decided on South Korea because it is the most popular country for people in Japan to visit.
U.S. President Donald Trump displays a signed executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2025
Trump signs order declaring TikTok sale ready and values it at $14 billion
The publication of the executive order shows Trump is making progress on the sale of TikTok’s U.S. assets.
The Apple logo at the firm's store in Paris on April 23
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 25, 2025
Apple blames EU tech law for postponed features and app marketplace risks
The Digital Markets Act, which came into force last year, requires large tech firms to open up their platforms to competitors.
Australia's regulator said it will initially focus on platforms with the greatest number of users, where there are higher risks of harm.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 24, 2025
WhatsApp and Twitch among sites that could face Australia social media ban
The head of Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has written to 16 more companies to “self-assess” whether they fall under the ban’s remit.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japanese police arrest nine over Sierra Leone-based special fraud
Japanese police have arrested nine individuals for their alleged involvement in a special fraud case using Sierra Leone as a base.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
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."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.

Podcast

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