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Russian President Vladimir Putin holds a Security Council meeting via videoconference in Moscow on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 29, 2024

Russia's Putin apologizes to Azerbaijan over 'tragic' airliner crash

Four sources with knowledge of the preliminary findings of Azerbaijan's investigation said that Russian air defenses had mistakenly shot the airliner down.
Bashar Assad's fall offers a chance to rebuild Syria, but the history of Middle East stabilization is littered with failure, making the coming months crucial.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 26, 2024

Rebuilding Syria after the ouster of the dictator Assad

Hope must be tempered by caution. Across the Middle East, the removal of strongmen has generally produced violent chaos.
Firefighters on Monday inspect the wreckage of a Jeju Air plane that crashed at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, a day earlier.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2024

South Korea orders air safety probe after worst-ever crash kills 179

Acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation system as authorities hunted for clues to the crash's cause.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter's surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith

The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
OnlyFans CEO Keily Blair gestures during the Axios BFD event in New York on Oct. 12, 2023.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 30, 2024

How OnlyFans turned into a global empire bent on redefining porn

For all its ambition and influence, the inner workings of OnlyFans remain opaque.
An undated photo of a poster in a window promoting shows at Lincoln Center by Shen Yun, which in its 2023-2024 season performed more than 800 times on five continents, in New York. Over the past decade, the dance group Shen Yun Performing Arts has made money at a staggering rate in large part by getting followers of the Falun Gong religious movement to work for free and pay its bills.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

How Shen Yun tapped religious fervor to make $266 million

Shen Yun’s success flows in part from its ability to pack venues worldwide — while exploiting young, low-paid performers with little regard for their health or well-being.
Police officers investigate the scene after 15 people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 3, 2025

New Orleans attack shows enduring influence of Islamic State group

Since 2019, when then-U.S. President Donald Trump declared the group’s so-called caliphate had been defeated, Islamic State has "metastasized” elsewhere.
Abdur Rahim Jabbar, half-brother of the man accused of the New Orleans truck attack, sits in the garage of their house in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025

Investigators seek clues to New Orleans attacker's path to radicalization

It is still unclear what contact Shamsud-Din Jabbar might have had with overseas extremist groups.
Tonoike Sake Brewery has been gearing their brewery toward tourism since the late 1980s, attempting to lure tourists to the town of Mashiko.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 3, 2025

Traveling for sake's sake: The emergence of brewery tourism in Japan

While sake consumption has declined in Japan, breweries across the nation are taking advantage of a rise in overseas interest to promote themselves as tourist destinations.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Nomura Holdings Inc. and SBI Holdings Inc. are among at least 20 companies that have invested in X&KSK Fund, which is set up by former national soccer star Keisuke Honda.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Soccer star Honda’s venture capital AI fund raises $98 million

Keisuke Honda, who has scored goals in three World Cups, seeks to create a so-called decacorn in Japan — a closely held company with a market value of more than $10 billion.
Donald Trump, then the U.S. Republican presidential nominee, awaits the start of proceedings in his criminal trial at the New York State Supreme Court in New York on May 2. The New York judge who oversaw Trump’s hush-money trial scheduled his sentencing for Jan. 10. Trump is expected to appeal his conviction.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

Judge upholds Trump’s conviction but signals no jail time

The New York judge who oversaw President-elect Donald Trump’s hush-money trial scheduled his sentencing for Jan. 10. Trump is expected to appeal his conviction.
Kei Nishikori hits a return to China's Shang Juncheng during their semifinal match at the Hong Kong Open on Saturday.
TENNIS
Jan 5, 2025

Resurgent Nishikori reaches first ATP final in six years

A wildcard at the tournament, Nishikori beat third-seeded Russian Karen Khachanov, Britain's Cam Norrie and Denis Shapovalov on the way to the last four.
Britain's Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage speaks during a news conference in London on Nov. 28.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Musk turns on U.K.'s Farage, saying he should quit as Reform party chief

The Tesla CEO, a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, said the Reform U.K. party leader "doesn’t have what it takes."
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.

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped