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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers a policy speech at the Lower House of the parliament in Tokyo last November.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 23, 2025

As parliament opens, ruling coalition enters uncharted territory

For the Liberal Democratic Party, the days of pushing through bills on the back of an overwhelming majority in both chambers of parliament are over.
Takashimaya is doubling its range of baked goods with chocolate for Valentine's Day, with treats on offer including madeleines.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2025

Japan's department stores look to unorthodox Valentine's Day treats

According to a pastry shop owner, the total costs for chocolate products, including those for packing materials, "have doubled."
The crime scene where three people were attacked near JR Nagano Station on Wednesday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025

Search for suspect underway after fatal stabbing at Nagano Station

One person died in the attack, which happened around 8 p.m. Wednesday, while two others sustained injuries.
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki speaks during his introductory news conference with the team in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2025

Dodgers introduce Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki

A frenzied sweepstakes among MLB clubs officially came to an end with Sasaki's decision to join Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in LA.
Takuya Mori, a curator of Yokkaichi Municipal Museum in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, works on converting magnetic recordings kept at the museum into digital files.
JAPAN / Society / Regional voices: Chubu
Mar 3, 2025

Magnetic tapes at risk without digitization, archive groups warn

UNESCO has called for the digitization of audio and video recordings kept in academic and cultural institutions.
Workers unload equipment to set up a temporary shelter to receive migrants deported by the United States, in the El Punto area of Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua state, Mexico, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 23, 2025

Mexico builds temporary shelters to prepare for deportations from U.S.

The shelters in Ciudad Juarez will have the capacity to house thousands of people, a municipal official has said.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives to attend the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

South Korea investigators seek Yoon indictment for insurrection and abuse of power

Yoon Suk Yeol, impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, has been incarcerated since last week.
A television screen displays a news report on South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, inside a restaurant in Seoul on Dec. 28. 2024
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025

South Korea’s economy struggles to grow amid political crisis

The anemic quarterly growth figure points to an economy already in a weakened state, with the prospect of tariffs clouding the outlook for exports, a key engine of growth.
Shipping containers at an industrial port in the Keihin Industrial Zone in Kawasaki. Japanese businesses see a larger role for Japan if global trade breaks down and multilateral trade institutions become less effective without U.S. participation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 23, 2025

Japan contemplates global free-trade leadership as U.S. goes protectionist

Tokyo could find opportunity in the turmoil while avoiding direct confrontation with Washington.
On Hiroshima Prefecture's Okunoshima island where more than 1,000 rabbits roam freely, 77 carcasses of the animal have been discovered since late November.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025

On Japan's 'rabbit island,' bunnies are mysteriously dying one by one

Police have arrested a man for kicking a rabbit, which later died, as a probe continues over the deaths of more than 70 bunnies on Okunoshima island in Hiroshima Prefecture.
Imperial family members wave to well-wishers during a public appearance in Tokyo on Jan. 2.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

Parliament to resume discussions over imperial family succession this month

The two chambers of parliament plan to resume talks Jan. 31 on measures to secure a sufficient number of imperial family members.
The Food and Drug Administration headquarters in White Oak, Maryland
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 24, 2025

Trump alarms scientists by muzzling U.S. health agencies

The move could delay essential information and slow funding for potentially life-saving initiatives.
Afghan citizens, who are in the process for resettlement in the U.S., attend an English class on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 24, 2025

Afghans awaiting U.S. resettlement feel betrayal after Trump order

Some feel betrayed, with many — including those who fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan — having already spent years in limbo.
Graffiti created by French artist Big Ben Street Art depicting Donald Trump as Darth Vader from "Star Wars" in Lyon, France, on Nov. 6, 2024
WORLD / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Trump is back. But what happened to the 'Resistance'?

The U.S. has seen almost none of the mass mobilization that made opposition to Trump in 2017 the largest social movement in a half-century.
Though he comes from a troubled home, Bach is a sweet fellow who loves to play.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / ADOPT ME!
Jan 24, 2025

Bach the bobtail will warm your lap and heart

This tuxedo cat loves to play with toys, but is just as happy taking it easy.
Madison Keys celebrates after winning her Australian Open semifinal over Iga Swiatek on Thursday in Melbourne.
TENNIS
Jan 24, 2025

Only Keys stands between Sabalenka and third straight Australian Open title

Sabalenka will be the overwhelming favorite to defeat Keys and complete the "three-peat" after prevailing in four of their five previous meetings.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 24, 2025

Japan's foreign minister vows to take ties with U.S. to new heights

The minister said he will work to take the two countries' cooperation to new heights by building a strong relationship of trust with the Trump administration.
Undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue celebrates after defeating Kim Ye-joon in their title fight at Ariake Arena on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 24, 2025

Naoya 'Monster' Inoue retains undisputed title with 4th-round knockout

Promoter Bob Arum announced after the fight that Inoue will fight in Las Vegas this spring.
A woman lays a bouquet of flowers outside Shenzhen Japanese School following the murder of a 10-year-old Japanese child who was on his way to the school, in Shenzhen in September.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 24, 2025

Chinese court gives death penalty to man who killed Japanese boy

Friday’s sentence was pronounced on the same day the trial opened in an unusually quick decision.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as he meets with his "Quad" counterparts at the State Department in Washington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Rubio clashes with Chinese top diplomat on Taiwan

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio clashed with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, over Taiwan, with the top U.S. diplomat denouncing Beijing's "coercive" moves.
The start date and production levels for battery-powered Nissan cars to be manufactured at a plant in Canton, Mississippi, will depend in large part on whether U.S. President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress follow through on vows to scrap a $7,500 tax credit and other incentives for buyers and makers of EVs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 25, 2025

Nissan looks to Trump-proof North American production plans

Nissan may slow a planned ramp-up of electric vehicles made in the U.S. after halting output at a joint venture in Mexico.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for defense secretary, testifies during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill on Jan. 14 Washington. U.S. Vice President JD Vance cast the tie-breaking vote to confirm Hegseth, a former Fox News personality, as U.S. defense chief late Friday — despite allegations of alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct and other concerns about his qualifications to lead the Pentagon.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Pete Hegseth confirmed in knife-edge vote to be new U.S. defense chief

In a mostly party-line result that saw no Democrats vote for Hegseth, three Republicans — including former GOP leader Mitch McConnell — also voted no.
Anti-abortion demonstrators take part in the annual March for Life rally in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 25, 2025

Trump targets abortion access at home and abroad

Trump revoked two executive orders signed by Joe Biden protecting abortion access.
Elon Musk makes a stiff arm salute during an inaugural event for U.S. President Donald Trump at Capitol One Arena in Washington on Monday. A time when the far right is once again on the rise, the interpretation of Musk's gesture was straightforward for many — especially in Germany.
WORLD
Jan 25, 2025

‘Awkward gesture’? ‘Roman salute’? In Germany, its meaning is clear.

A gesture associated with the Nazis has a surprising history. But in Germany, there was little doubt about its meaning.
Naoya Inoue throws a punch against Kim Ye-joon during their world super bantamweight title bout in Tokyo on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Boxing
Jan 25, 2025

After racking up another KO, 'Monster' Inoue set for bright lights of Las Vegas

There may also be a big payday in Saudi Arabia on the horizon as Inoue takes his thrilling style overseas after a long run of bouts on home soil.
Canada's James Crawford celebrates on the podium after winning the Kitzbuehel World Cup downhill race on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 26, 2025

Crawford wins Kitzbuehel downhill for maiden World Cup victory; Odermatt sixth

Crawford, with just four podium places to his name in seven seasons on the circuit, laid down a near-perfect run.
The production line at Tanmiah Food’s chicken processing plant in Shaqra, Saudi Arabia
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2025

Chickens hatch across the Saudi desert in kingdom’s pivot from oil

The kingdom imports about 80% of what it eats, triggering worries about shortages in a time of rising geopolitical tensions.
The U.S. head office of TikTok in Culver City, California
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 26, 2025

White House in talks to have Oracle and U.S. investors take over TikTok

Under the deal, ByteDance would retain a stake in the company, but data collection and software updates would be overseen by Oracle.
The P4 laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in Wuhan, China, in April 2020
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025

CIA now favors China lab leak theory to explain COVID’s origins

A new analysis that began under the Biden administration is released by the C.I.A.’s new director, John Ratcliffe, who wants the agency to get “off the sidelines” in the debate.
Giant salt blocks posted on Mercari by the town of Higashiura, Aichi Prefecture
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2025

Giant rock salt posted on Mercari by Aichi town finally sold at ¥420,000

The blocks attracted a lot of media attention when the town first posted them on the app in April of last year.

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb