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PVV leader Geert Wilders' far-right, anti-Islam party has won a stunning victory in the Dutch election, a political bombshell that will resound in Europe and around the world.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders scores shock election victory

The influx of refugees since the Russia-Ukraine war, and the spiraling cost of food and energy, has fueled support for far-right groups across Europe.
The European Union finds itself at a crossroads of balancing national borders, economic autonomy and liberal values.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 23, 2023

The geopolitics of EU enlargement

The European bloc appears to be moving toward radical reinvention.
Police patrol the Champs Elysees in Paris last month amid security concerns following a deadly knife attack in northern France.
WORLD
Nov 25, 2023

Gaza war raises risk of Islamist extremism in Europe

Intelligence in five European countries including Britain, Germany and France said they are increasing surveillance of Islamist militants.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. The central bank incurred record valuation losses on its government bond holdings in the first half of the current fiscal year due to rising long-term interest rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 29, 2023

BOJ’s paper loss on bond holdings balloons to record $71 billion

The loss isn’t likely to deter Ueda from paring back stimulus if the bank’s inflation goal is achieved. Still, it’s an indication of the challenges ahead.
A young boy (Tsukao Oga) struggles to survive in a war-ravaged city in “Shadow of Fire.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2023

The human costs of war linger in ‘Shadow of Fire’

While the film’s message about the lasting traumas of war is at times overt, newcomer Tsukao Oga centers the drama with an unsentimental performance.
A psychopathic lawyer (Kazuya Kamenashi) finds himself targeted by a serial killer — and decides to fight back — in Takashi Miike’s “Lumberjack the Monster.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 30, 2023

‘Lumberjack the Monster’ will talk you to death

Takashi Miike’s film about a psychopath battling a serial killer fails to deliver on its schlocky potential.
Members of the German national soccer team train in Vienna on Nov. 20.
SOCCER
Dec 1, 2023

Germany hosts Euro 2024 draw as contenders wait to learn fate

Saturday's draw marks the start of the real countdown to the European Championship for the 20 nations who have so far qualified alongside hosts Germany.
JAPAN
Dec 1, 2023

U.S. Osprey crash rekindles safety concerns in Japan

The unique aircraft has had its share of incidents, but still has a relatively safe record compared to other military aircraft.
Damaged houses following the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas gunmen in southern Israel.
WORLD
Dec 2, 2023

Israel's most wanted: The three Hamas leaders it aims to kill

Sources familiar with Israel's thinking have said that the offensive in Gaza was unlikely to stop until three top Hamas commanders are dead or captured.
Yuri Kondo (center), the plaintiff of a dual nationality case, speaks during a news conference Wednesday in the city of Fukuoka after the Fukuoka District Court handed down a ruling on her case.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2023

Fukuoka court rules ban on dual nationality is constitutional

The court rejected an argument by a Japan-born plaintiff, who lost her citizenship after naturalizing as an American, that the law undermines her rights.
The day after the Fukuoka District Court dismissed her lawsuit questioning the constitutionality of Japan's dual nationality law, Yuri Kondo, 76, was in high spirits as she drove to see family and friends.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 8, 2023

Japan-born U.S. national Yuri Kondo continues dual citizenship fight

The dismissal of her lawsuit over the dual nationality ban has implications for tens of thousands of people, and Kondo says she'll keep fighting for them.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a ceremony to present medals to soldiers in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 9, 2023

Putin, bidding to cement his legacy, will seek re-election

In the absence of genuine political opposition, Putin is all but assured of winning another six-year term that will prolong his authoritarian grip.
Local men survey the damage after an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, on Dec. 1.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

While Palestinians suffer, Hamas reaps the benefits

Gaining prestige among Palestinians while poisoning Israel’s relations with the Arab world, the group has put the Palestinian issue back on the agenda.
SUMO
Dec 18, 2023

Sumo stablemaster Shikoroyama dies at 60

Shikoroyama made his professional sumo debut from the Izutsu stable, then headed by his father, in 1979.
In Toshiba, JIP takes on a sprawling company far bigger and more complex than any it acquired before.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2023

In buying Toshiba, JIP takes on corporate Japan's toughest job

While the fund has quietly built up a track record by carving out businesses from big manufacturers, Toshiba is more complex than any it acquired before.
Police officers stand guard outside the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 14. The ruling party is currently trying to contain a funding scandal that threatens the future of the Kishida administration. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2023

'Strategic Communication' is a missing link in Japan's crisis management

From gaffes to governance, lessons in "strategic communications" for Japanese politicians.
JAXA’s Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) spacecraft is expected to land on the lunar surface in early 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2023

One small step for a JAXA spacecraft, one giant leap for exploration

In 2024, we can look forward to the arrival on the moon of JAXA's SLIM spacecraft. Its groundbreaking accuracy could further propel space exploration.
A designer at work at Vietnamese internet firm VNG in Ho Chi Minh City
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 24, 2023

'Beyond our borders': Vietnam tech firm VNG takes on world best

Beyond gaming, VNG also dabbles in fintech and AI, with a mission to show the world what Vietnam and its engineers are capable of.
The yuan's stealthy climb in global payments could see it pose a challenge to the U.S. dollar's dominance.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2023

The yuan is finally showing some muscle in international trade

The yuan's stealthy climb in global payments could see it pose a challenge to the U.S. dollar's dominance.
Veteran politician Alan Leong in the now-empty headquarters of the Civic Party, once the city's second largest opposition party, in Hong Kong. Six lapel pins bearing the Civic Party's founding date are all Hong Kong veteran politician Alan Leong kept when the once-prominent opposition group cleared its headquarters and shuttered its doors days before the new year.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 28, 2023

Hong Kong's former second-largest opposition party shuts down

Since China imposed its security law, the Civic Party has seen members jailed, elected politicians unseated and a former lawmaker listed as a fugitive.
Queen Margrethe II of Denmark waves to onlookers on Sept. 1, 2023. Europe's longest-serving monarch said on Sunday that she would abdicate on Jan. 14 and pass the baton to her son Crown Prince Frederik.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

From Edward VIII to Emperor Akihito: Famous abdications

From love to failing health, people have relinquished the throne for a variety of reasons.
Oscar Pistorius, a South African Olympic and Paralympic sprinter, arrives at a courthouse in Pretoria in October 2014.
SPORTS
Jan 5, 2024

Oscar Pistorius, Olympian convicted of murder, set for release

Pistorius was granted parole in November on the basis that he had served half of a 15-year sentence for murder.
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2024

Japan warns of strong quakes over next month as number of missing triples

While the likelihood of another quake occurring with the same magnitude as the one on New Year's Day has decreased, seismic activity continues.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jan 15, 2024

All ¥500 coins that glitter are not gold

Twenty years on and the ¥2,000 note can almost certainly still be described as a “novelty" — what if the new ¥500 coin is destined for the same fate?
EDITORIALS
Jan 12, 2024

Futenma moves forward, but local concerns must be addressed

Originally planned to have been finished by now, the base project is now anticipated to take over nine years to complete.
A Post Office sign at a branch in a local convenience store near Ascot, England, on Friday. The Post Office scandal, where some 980 U.K. Post Office workers were wrongfully convicted of theft and false accounting, was triggered by faults in a Fujitsu computer system called Horizon that was used by U.K. Post Offices and inaccurately reported shortfalls in their accounts, resulting in private prosecutions of innocent branch managers for theft.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 13, 2024

It took a TV show to bring justice in U.K.’s Post Office scandal

After a two-decade struggle, it was a TV drama that finally prompted the government to promise a swift end to the saga in favor of the victims.
Tanaka takes part in a signing ceremony for the Japan-Uruguay Investment Agreement with Uruguay's Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs Luis Porto in 2015.
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Jan 23, 2024

Why positivity is an asset in a career of PR and diplomacy

Keiko Tanaka went from an office at Nissan to the ambassador's residence in Uruguay.
Locals in the Cook Islands are cynical about the growing attention fixed on their small country, with many saying they don't necessarily trust either superpower to do the right thing by them.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 19, 2024

U.S.-China fight for one Pacific nation mirrors a regional battle

The success of Beijing’s strategy in the Pacific was reinforced just this week when Nauru became the latest island nation to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Taiwan's election results reflect the democratic aspirations of its citizens but is a cause for disappointment in Beijing.
EDITORIALS
Jan 19, 2024

The winner of Taiwan's election was democracy

The biggest disappointment was felt in Beijing, where inducements, threats and warnings failed to sway Taiwan’s voters.
Past warnings of a housing-market crash in China have never been borne out. But unless the government takes concerted action, this time may well be different.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2024

Fixing China’s real estate sector

Housing dreams to economic nightmares, the perils of China's real estate boom.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo