Maboroshi Hakurankai, or Phantom Exhibition, is a display of creepy, salacious and off-beat art in Ito city, south of Tokyo. The private exhibition has clowns, vintage toys and mannequins. It’s a perfect stop for anyone interested in the quirkier aspects of Japanese culture.

Some U.S. states are scrapping investments in Chinese companies amid tensions between countries with the world’s largest economies. Indiana, Florida and Missouri all have taken actions requiring their public retirement systems to divest from certain Chinese companies.

Ukraine’s foreign minister says he is seeking “common ground” in talks with his Chinese counterpart on ending his country’s war with Russia.

Federal authorities have indicted a North Korean military intelligence operative in a conspiracy to hack into American medical centers, military bases and even NASA. The grand jury indictment announced Thursday in Kansas City accuses Rim Jong Hyok of ransomware attacks and other hacks on targets in the U.S., China, Taiwan and South Korea.

Ethnic armed groups in Myanmar are claiming to have captured two strategically important towns in the northeast. Their fall would be the biggest in a series of setbacks suffered by Myanmar’s military government this year.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Thursday that the Defense Department has been tracking cooperation between Russia and China but spotting military aircraft from the two countries flying together near Alaska was new.

Bangladesh is crawling back to normalcy after more than a week of chaos triggered by student protests over a quota system in government jobs.

China has issued a rare compliment to the administration of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for his order banning widespread and Chinese-run online gaming operations. Marcos has accused some of them of venturing into crimes, including financial scams, human trafficking, kidnappings, torture and murder.

Some residents of Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo were left without air conditioning for nearly two days of peak summer heat after a powerful storm swept through the area.

Japan’s total population declined for the 15th straight year in 2023, dropping by more than a half-million people as the population ages and births remain low.