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Kei Nishikori hits a return against France's Alexandre Muller during the Hong Kong Open final on Sunday. Muller won the match to earn his first ATP Tour title.
TENNIS
Jan 6, 2025

Kei Nishikori comes up short against Alexandre Muller in Hong Kong Open final

Nishikori, 35, who reached the U.S. Open final in 2014, raced through the first set at Victoria Park in just 33 minutes but ran out of steam.
A patch of the Islamic State group is seen on a fighter's uniform in Damascus on Dec. 27, 2024.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 6, 2025

The quiet financier: Islamic State group's elusive strongman

Abdul Qadir Mumin may already be running the group's general directorate of provinces from Somalia, even if he lacks an official title.
China's Zheng Qinwen competes at the WTA Finals in Riyadh in November.
TENNIS
Jan 8, 2025

Zheng looks to emulate Li's Australian Open success

The achievements of Li Na gave rise to predictions of Chinese superstardom in women's tennis. Ten years later, Zheng Qinwen appears ready to follow in her footsteps.
Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after winning the Brisbane International final on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 9, 2025

Aryna Sabalenka set to take center stage again at Australian Open

Sabalenka has reached at least the semifinals in nine of her last 12 Grand Slams.
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart testifies before U.S. Congress during an anti-doping hearing on June 24, 2024.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 9, 2025

U.S. withholds payment to WADA amid dispute over Chinese doping tests

The move to hold back 2024 WADA dues comes in the wake of WADA's controversial handling of positive doping tests by 23 Chinese swimmers who were later allowed to compete.
Rahm Emanuel professes that the biggest thing he has brought to the U.S.-Japan relationship might be a fresh injection of vitality.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 9, 2025

Emanuel leaves reform legacy amid historic shifts in U.S.-Japan alliance

The departing U.S. ambassador arguably oversaw the most consequential shift in the U.S.-Japan alliance in decades.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest in Caracas on Thursday ahead of the Friday inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 10, 2025

A two-hour arrest rocks Venezuela as Maduro targets opposition

The arrest of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado marks a significant escalation by Nicolas Maduro, who was declared the winner of last year's election without evidence.
China's Zheng Qinwen reacts after winning the first set of her first round match at the Australian Open in Melbourne on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 12, 2025

Rusty Zheng into second round as Grand Slam tennis returns to Melbourne

The fans were sent scurrying for cover inside the first hour when a dramatic thunderstorm swept across the area.
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins runs with the ball after making a reception during the third quarter of Houston's win over Los Angeles on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 12, 2025

Texans devour Chargers as Ravens run over Steelers in wild-card games

After throwing just three interceptions in 504 passing attempts during the regular season, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was picked off four times in the loss.
Rescue workers search a flooded area during the aftermath of Typhoon Hagibis, which caused severe floods at the Chikuma River, in the city of Nagano in October 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Jan 12, 2025

Disaster-hardened Japan faces enormous costs from climate change

The total cost in climate damages for the country through 2050 could amount to ¥952 trillion if more ambitious action isn't taken.
Kei Nishikori hits a return against Brazil's Thiago Monteiro during their first round clash at the Australian Open on Sunday.
TENNIS
Jan 12, 2025

Nishikori rolls back the years in five-set Melbourne epic

The 35-year-old, who reached a career-high No. 4 in the world and was a U.S. Open finalist a decade ago, was on the brink of defeat at John Cain Arena against Thiago Monteiro.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala Yousafzai leaves the podium after delivering a speech during an international summit in Islamabad on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 13, 2025

Malala Yousafzai tells Muslim leaders not to 'legitimize' Taliban

The Nobel Peace Prize winner was speaking at a two-day conference that brought together ministers and education officials from dozens of Muslim-majority countries.
Lantoko, a company operated by Taiwan native Ping-Fang Lan, offers drift ice walking tours and other exhilarating experiences in and around Shiretoko National Park.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 13, 2025

Due north: Foreign-born guides introduce Hokkaido’s unique charms

With adventure tourism on the rise in Hokkaido, a new generation of foreign-born guides is eager to greet travelers.
Tyson Fury during a heavyweight world title fight against Oleksandr Usyk in Riyadh on Dec. 22
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 14, 2025

Is retirement really the end of the road for Tyson Fury?

Fury has previously announced his exit on a number of occasions, most recently in April 2022.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin attend a ceremony to mark the completion of the undersea part of the TurkStream gas pipeline, in Istanbul on Nov. 19, 2018.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

Russia accuses Ukraine of ‘energy terrorism’ over alleged pipeline strike

Kyiv has not commented on the allegation that it sent attack drones against a gas compressor station at Russian village on the Black Sea coast.
Epidurals during childbirth have long been uncommon in Japan, though they have been growing more popular in recent years.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 14, 2025

Tokyo plans to subsidize epidurals, but are hospitals ready?

If all goes to plan, Tokyo will be the first to offer prefecture-level financial support for epidurals.
Young Tibetan monks sit on a scooter as they arrive to take part in a protest march held to mark the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule, in the northern hill town of Dharamsala, India, on March 10, 2024.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 14, 2025

How China is erasing Tibetan culture, one child at a time

Education, especially in minority areas, is a politically sensitive topic. Tibetans who oppose the boarding schools risk imprisonment if they protest.
A map of the hypocentral region of an anticipated Nankai Trough earthquake
JAPAN / Science & Health
Jan 16, 2025

Possibility of Nankai Trough megaquake now 80%, government panel reports

Last year, the likelihood of an earthquake in the zone had been projected at “between 70% and 80%.”
Alberto "Beto" Carrasco" (center) and his compatriots in Namnam Space
COMMUNITY / Issues / The Foreign Element
Jan 20, 2025

Namnam reborn: A queer, anarchist space resettles in Tokyo's Koenji

After previous incarnations in Shinjuku Ni-chome and Kawasaki, Namnam is bringing art, music and camaraderie to a new neighborhood.
Asylum seekers line up before crossing to the U.S. for appointments at El Chaparral crossing port in Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico, on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2025

Gangs cash in on desperation of U.S.-bound migrants

As President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office next week, gangs are using threats and extortion to exploit migrants trying to arrive in time.
Eugene Kangawa's Atelier iii is a space where visitors are invited to engage directly with the artist’s evolving practice.
CULTURE / Art
Jan 18, 2025

Eugene Kangawa’s art space embraces impermanence

The artist’s Atelier iii studio resists spectacle and asks visitors to slow down and commit to being present.
Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone gives a news conference on the eve of the UEFA Champions League football match between Club Atletico de Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid on Jan. 20.
SOCCER
Jan 21, 2025

Atletico targeting Champions League final, says Simeone

Atletico Madrid is the only team to reach three Champions League finals without winning the trophy.
A reproduction experiment was conducted by placing two gas stoves side by side and heating large iron plates (top photo). The canister on the left stove overheated and ruptured (bottom photo).
JAPAN
Jan 21, 2025

Warnings issued for portable stoves as winter usage increases

The most common issue was improper canister placement leading to overheating and rupture, resulting in fatalities, burns and property damage.
Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year after the government expanded the scope of the Nippon Individual Savings Account system.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025

Japan’s love of foreign stocks risks pushing the yen even lower

Investment trusts that cater to Japanese individuals bought a net ¥10.4 trillion of overseas equities and funds last year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Ishiba stresses regional revitalization in policy speech

The relocation of industrial, state and academic institutions to regions outside of Tokyo will begin with government agencies.
Rodgers (right) was a longtime managing editor of Kyoto Journal and, alongside colleagues like Susan Pavloska (left) and John Einarsen (center), helped make it one of Japan’s leading English-language publications.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Jan 27, 2025

Ken Rodgers, a fixture of the Kyoto literary scene, dies at 72

Hailing from Australia, Rodgers made a home and community for himself in Japan’s ancient capital across more than four decades.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Japan's young government officials to help municipalities as side gig

The measure, part of regional revitalization efforts by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, aims to help municipalities struggling with a lack of personnel.
People line up to use an ATM  in the separatist-controlled city of Donetsk, Ukraine, days after Russian President Vladimir Putin authorized the full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Western financial sanctions have weighed on the Russian ruble, which has sunk from 34 to the dollar in 2013 to around 100 today.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 27, 2025

Putin’s war is fueling Russian stagflation

For a normal country, a budget deficit of 2% of GDP would be of no concern. But Russia is not a normal country.
Economic coercion has become a prominent tool in global geopolitics, with both China and the U.S. relying on it to pursue their policy goals, and more so with Donald Trump now in office.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 28, 2025

When big countries wave their big economic sticks

There is no agreed definition of economic coercion under international law; like pornography, we know it when we see it.
Hideko Hakamata (second from left), Iwao Hakamata's sister, in the city of Shizuoka on Sept. 26 following a Shizuoka District Court retrial verdict finding Iwao Hakamata not guilty
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 30, 2025

Hakamata seeks ¥217 million in state compensation after acquittal

Under the criminal compensation law, those found not guilty in a retrial can claim compensation of up to ¥12,500 per day.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami