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Director Wim Wenders served as president of the competition jury at this year's Tokyo International Film Festival. Wenders' "Perfect Days," which opened the festival and features Koji Yakusho as a toilet cleaner in Tokyo, is Japan’s nominee for the Academy Awards’ best international feature film category.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 11, 2023

'Perfect Days' and '(Ab)normal Desire' turn heads at Tokyo International Film Festival

Wim Wenders' film opened the event, while Yoshiyuki Kishi’s multilayered drama made a splash, taking both the Audience Award and the best director prize.
Japanese saxophonists Wataru Hirai (left) and Kenta Igarashi won prizes in the eighth International Adolphe Sax Competition held in Dinant, Belgium.
JAPAN
Nov 12, 2023

Two Japanese win prizes in international sax competition in Belgium

Hirai, 23, from Hyogo Prefecture, took fourth place while Igarashi, 21, from Gunma Prefecture, came in fifth in the prestigious competition.
People carry posters and chant slogans on Saturday during a demonstration in Tel Aviv calling for the release of Israeli hostages taken by Palestinian militants that are currently being held in the Gaza Strip.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023

Friends and relatives fight to keep spotlight on Israeli hostages

Many of the hostages' loved ones have traveled to Western capitals to make their cause heard among diplomats and the international media.
The curtain is closing on the Lee dynasty's leadership of Singapore. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced his resignation, which could come next year, and the handing of power to deputy Lawrence Wong.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 10, 2023

Singapore contemplates the end of the Lee political era

Prime minister Lee Hsien Loong has announced his resignation, marking the end of his dynasty's leadership and a new chapter in Singapore's politics.
A giant panda at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington during one of its last days on American soil. Pandas Tian Tian, Mei Xiang and Xiao Qi Ji were returned to China on Nov. 8 upon Beijing's request.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 14, 2023

Pandas don’t play diplomatic hard ball like China does

Panda diplomacy is endangered, with the forced return of three bears from Washington to China an exercise in "dumb power."
Rory McIlroy lines up his putt during the Ryder Cup in Rome on Oct. 1. The popular golfer has made no secret that the PGA Tour's secret talks with Saudi Arabia had blindsided and stung him.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Nov 15, 2023

Rory McIlroy resigns from PGA Tour board

The decision by one of golf's most popular athletes is a particularly public blow to the tour and its board.
Armando Aroca, environmentalist, former guerrilla and current nursery manager of the Common Community Multi Active Cooperative (COMUCCOM) farm, points to a mural with the image of murdered environmentalist Jorge Santofimio in Puerto Guzman, Colombia, on June 27.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 16, 2023

How the murders of activists hurt Colombian ecological preservation

Conservationists are targeted as their work poses a threat to illegal activities
Kyrgyz male labor migrants wait to depart for work in Russia at the office of a company organizing passenger transportation on Oct. 17.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 16, 2023

Pressured amid war effort, Central Asia migrants leave Russia

Moscow is offering incentives for migrants to work in places like Mariupol, while enlistment offices seek to entice them into the Russian army.
Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, on Sunday.
TENNIS
Nov 20, 2023

Novak Djokovic hungry for more after seventh ATP Finals triumph

Djokovic has no intention of slowing down after capping another incredible year with his record-breaking seventh ATP Finals victory on Sunday.
Pacific Investment Management headquarters in Newport Beach, California. The bond giant says it has started building a long yen position.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2023

Pimco is buying yen to prepare for tighter BOJ monetary policy

The bond giant started building a long yen position when Japan’s currency weakened past ¥140 per dollar a few months ago.
Steve Jobs, Apple's former chief executive, speaks at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco on June 6, 2011. Sam Altman, the most prominent promoter of artificial intelligence, learned that it’s hard to be a visionary founder like the Apple legend.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 21, 2023

The long shadow of Steve Jobs looms over the turmoil at OpenAI

The sudden firing and bid to reinstate OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has deepened the parallels to Jobs, who was marginalized by the board of Apple in 1985.
Afghan refugees sit with their belongings near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border on Nov. 20.
WORLD
Nov 22, 2023

Afghans driven from Pakistan rebuilding lives from 'zero'

Many have lived decades, if not their whole lives, outside their country, with no one left in their homeland to return to.
“Blue Giant,” a feature-length anime movie that centers on young men in Tokyo who aspire to become jazz stars, was so successful in Japan and overseas that director Yuzuru Tachikawa was given an even bigger budget to re-edit the film for a second screening in theaters across Japan.
CULTURE / Film / CULTURE SMASH
Nov 23, 2023

Sleeper hit anime 'Blue Giant' gets an encore

The surprise success of the big-budget feature about jazz warranted a re-edited version and a second life in theaters.
Shareholders arrive to attend Toshiba's extraordinary shareholders meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 22, 2023

Toshiba shareholders approve plan to go private next month

The decision will allow a consortium led by JIP to buy all of Toshiba's remaining shares, marking the end of its decadeslong history as a public firm.
Cormorant fishing master Youichiro Adachi (left) holds the leashes tied to the necks and bodies of cormorants on the Nagara River in Oze, Gifu Prefecture, on Sept. 8.
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 30, 2023

Environmental change threatens Japan's cormorant fishing legacy

The method of fishing was once common in Japan, and a version of it has also been practiced in China
Images of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel, in Tel Aviv on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

No Gaza hostage release pause in fighting before Friday, Israel says

The starting time of the truce and release of hostages captured by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack on Israel is yet to be officially announced.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech in Budapest on Nov. 18, after he was re-elected leader at the congress of the governing right-wing Fidesz party.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

Inside Viktor Orban’s $1 billion academy for future nationalists

The academy has become a training ground for the next generation of Orban disciples to ensure the nationalist forces are replenished.
A pyrotechnic display takes place at Lusail Stadium on Dec. 18, 2022.
SOCCER
Nov 23, 2023

Qatar still reaping benefits of World Cup one year later

The World Cup has raised Qatar's profile in the Middle East.
Bengals quarterback Jake Browning passes against the Ravens in the third quarter of their game at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium on Nov. 16.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Nov 23, 2023

Bengals and Steelers in transition heading into division showdown

Two teams undergoing significant midseason changes and turmoil will collide when when the Cincinnati Bengals host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.
An Israeli volunteer helps farmers from Kibbutz Beeri, Israel — near the border with Gaza — to pick avocados from their land on Nov. 15.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 24, 2023

Thousands of Sri Lankan workers to depart for Israel despite war

The Sri Lankan workers will join some 9,000 compatriots already in Israel, working in farming and care for the elderly.
Kashmiri journalists protest against internet blockade put by India's government in Srinagar in October 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

Internet out: India deploys shutdowns in name of security

Some blackouts last hours, others days. Some stretch for months.
Blue Bottle Studio Kyoto's tasting sessions combine excellent coffees, curated music and a technical display of barista-ship.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Nov 26, 2023

Blue Bottle Kyoto gives coffee the 'kaiseki' treatment

The menu unfolds with each course crafted to present a different facet of coffee culture.
Protests in Shinjuku, Tokyo, last November, echoed demonstrations in several major Chinese cities that called for an end to Chinese President Xi Jinping's draconian “zero-COVID” policy.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 28, 2023

Chinese intellectuals increasingly attracted to Tokyo

An increase in anti-Asian hate crimes in the U.S. following the COVID-19 pandemic has driven some graduates to Japan.
Hang Dara, an electrician-turned-fisherman, passes the two active coal-fired power plants in Sihanoukville’s Steung Hav district.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Nov 26, 2023

Cambodia's big bet on the dirtiest fossil fuel faces major delays

Large projects are facing long delays amid uncertainty over foreign funding.
Israeli soldiers walk during a raid at the Balata camp for Palestinian refugees, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Nov 27, 2023

The West Bank is being reshaped along with Gaza post-Oct. 7

Hamas' attack has aggravated the long-standing conflict over the land between Israel and the Jordan River that forms the other Palestinian territory.
Bryan Robson leads the Manchester United team out for a UEFA Champions League fixture against Galatasaray at the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul in November 1993.
SOCCER
Nov 28, 2023

Welcome back to 'hell': Man Utd braced for Galatasaray cauldron

The fixture will being back painful memories for United players and fans who ran the gauntlet of hate in Istanbul back in 1993.
All Blacks captain Sam Cane poses in his new Suntory Sungoliath uniform at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chofu, Tokyo, on Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 28, 2023

All Blacks captain Cane looks 'to evolve' game during Japan stint

Cane is one of several All Blacks moving to Japan for the new domestic season, which kicks off on Dec. 9.
A visitor to an American college fair at a Marriott Hotel in Beijing poses for a souvenir photo next to an eagle mascot on Sept. 23. Students have been traveling between China and the U.S. for generations, propelled by ambition, curiosity and a belief that their time abroad could help them better their and their countries’ futures.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Can U.S.-China student exchanges survive geopolitics?

Official rhetoric belies obstacles both governments have continued to erect, driven by the same nationalism and concerns about national security.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak addresses a news conference during an artificial intelligence safety summit in Milton Keynes, England, on Nov. 2.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

Foreign policy and defense concerns in the age of AI

Researchers warn of the potential 'signaling risks' artificial intelligence poses to global politics and military conflict.
Sultan Al Jaber strongly denied reports that he used his position as COP president to pitch new oil and gas investments to governments.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023

COP28 president denies using climate talks to push oil deals

The allegations against Sultan Al Jaber have fanned long-running suspicions over the wisdom of a petrostate hosting the climate talks.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan