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Israel's military operates in the Gaza Strip during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, in this handout picture released on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

Pressure grows on Israel to prolong cease-fire in war with Hamas

The halt in fighting is "critically needed” for additional aid to get into the territory and for more captives to be freed, U.S. President Joe Biden said.
New Zealand's new Prime Minister Christopher Luxon takes an oath during the swearing-in of the new government in Wellington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

New Zealand's new leader doesn't drink and loves country music

At 53, Christopher Luxon has completed a rapid political ascent four years after leaving one of the country's top executive roles.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023

Netanyahu's two-front war against Hamas and politics

The Israeli prime minister is conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival.
Max Verstappen of Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium with the trophy after winning the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Nov 28, 2023

Room for improvement for Red Bull? Rivals hope not

Red Bull will hope to defend its titles in 2024, when there will be a record 24 races, with an even better car.
A man walks through the Central Business District on a rainy day, in Beijing.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 28, 2023

West's de-risking starts to bite China's prospects

China is outwardly confident about growth despite a global economic slowdown
A soldier stands near a car destroyed in a strike by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in Kibbutz Manara in northern Israel near the Lebanon border on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2023

In Israel's north, troops brace for long standoff with Hezbollah

Until a truce with Hamas went into effect in the Gaza Strip to the south on Friday, the Israel-Lebanon border saw near-daily exchanges of fire.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida answers questions during an Upper House budget committee meeting on Monday.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2023

Japan discloses extra ¥84 billion needed for Osaka Expo

Ministers told a parliamentary meeting that the government would need to pay more, partly to build the Japan pavilion at the expo venue.
As technology and politics increasingly force society to determine truth from fiction, Merriam-Webster's dictionary has selected the word "authentic" as word of the year.
WORLD / Society
Nov 28, 2023

Merriam-Webster crowns 'authentic' as word of the year

The winner beat "deepfake," "rizz" and "coronation" for honors as the word that most often sent people to the dictionary.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference at May’s Group of Seven summit in Hiroshima.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2023

Canada's path to pragmatic Indo-Pacific engagement

As part of Canada’s Indo-Pacific pivot, we have already seen its relations and cooperation with Japan deepen.
Argentine President-elect Javier Milei and his delegation arrive for meetings at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Argentina's Javier Milei seeks foreign policy reset on U.S. trip

The president-elect is also aiming to lead his nation's economy out of crisis.
Warren Buffett (left), CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and vice chairman Charlie Munger attend a shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, in May 2019. Munger died on Tuesday at the age of 99, according to U.S. media reports.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2023

After Munger's death, Berkshire Hathaway succession in focus

Berkshire has had a succession plan since at least 2006 when Buffett, then 75, told shareholders the company would be prepared for his departure.
A wind farm near near Golmud, Qinghai province, China
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 29, 2023

The promise of China’s sustainable-development path

As of this month, China has (since 2017) approved 572 “ecological civilization construction demonstration zones.”
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.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger listens to a question at the China Development Forum in Beijing in 2015.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2023

Henry Kissinger, controversial American diplomat, dies at 100

While many hailed Kissinger for his brilliance and broad experience, others branded him a war criminal for his support for anti-communist dictatorships.
Pages from a new Otaku Dictionary catalog the lexicons of Japan’s various subcultures.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 30, 2023

A problematic otaku dictionary and the Japanese approach to sitting

An “Otaku Dictionary” has Japan’s subcultures upset at an attempt to define them.
Snow guns make snow ahead of a test event for the Beijing Winter Olympics in Zhangjiakou, China, in December 2021.
OLYMPICS
Nov 30, 2023

Global warming casts cloud over Winter Olympics future

The warming of the planet is highly likely to further reduce the places capable of guaranteeing suitable conditions for a Winter Games.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 1, 2023

Japan high court revokes welfare benefit cuts

The plaintiffs argued that there was an error in the method for calculating the price index used as the basis for the reductions.
Gen Nakatani, then-special adviser to the prime minister for international human rights, speaks at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva in March 2022
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 1, 2023

Kishida’s puzzling decision to ax his human rights adviser

Why did the prime minister eliminate the post of special adviser on human rights from the Cabinet and what does this mean for Tokyo's foreign policy?
Former U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledges the crowd during halftime of a game between the South Carolina Gamecocks and Clemson Tigers at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, South Carolina, on Nov. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 2, 2023

Trump denied immunity against U.S. election subversion charges

In the ruling, a federal judge said the office of the president doesn’t come with a "lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”
The floor is painted red for the NBA In-Season Tournament game between the Chicago Bulls and Brooklyn Nets on Nov. 3.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Dec 3, 2023

The NBA’s new in-season cup is bringing in viewers

Modeled after cup competitions in European football, the tourney is meant to add some spice to a sometimes bland stretch of the NBA calendar.
The Bulls' court is painted red for their NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Nets at the United Center in Chicago on Nov. 3.
BASKETBALL
Dec 4, 2023

New in-season tournament delivering early returns for NBA

The NBA In-season Tournament was established to add spice to the early part of the season.
An aerial view shows the Eiffel tower by the River Seine in Paris. A plan to hold the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics on the river looks set to go ahead, even after a deadly attack in the French capital at the weekend.
OLYMPICS
Dec 5, 2023

'No Plan B': France set on Olympics river opening despite attack

Media reports have indicated grave concern within the security forces that the opening ceremony could be vulnerable to attack.
The MP Materials rare earth open-pit mine in Mountain Pass, California, in January 2020. Western startups are focusing their attention on the process of refining rare earths — some of them pivoting from mining — that China has spent the past 30 years mastering.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023

Western startups seek to break China's grip on rare earths refining

The companies are looking for faster, cleaner and cheaper ways to process the minerals that are critical for billions of electronic devices.
Eiko Takeuchi talks about a traffic jam during last winter’s heavy snow along National Route 8 in Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture, on Sept. 18.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Tohoku
Dec 11, 2023

Evacuation plans for nuclear incidents called into question

Effectiveness of preparations as a “last line of defense” to save residents in the event of a nuclear disaster are in doubt.
Tomo Kasajima (left) and Asami Shibuya rehearse a scene in Natsuka Kusano’s striking sophomore feature, “Domains.”
CULTURE / Film
Dec 7, 2023

‘Domains’: Hypnotic and truly original

Natsuka Kusano’s experimental, multilayered drama breaks down a tragic event and probes how performances are constructed.
Practioners of Judaism pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Nov. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023

Unraveling the new roots of modern antisemitism

Whereas antisemitism reproaches Jews for being rootless, Zionism tries to correct this supposed failure.
American pop singer Caroline Polachek, who lived in Tokyo from the age of 1 through 7, held her first gig as a solo headliner in Japan at Toyosu Pit in November.
CULTURE / Music
Dec 7, 2023

A heady Tokyo homecoming for Caroline Polachek

The U.S. indie pop singer returns to her childhood home for her first solo gig in Japan and builds out her musical universe with maximalist emotions.
Sailors sit on a truck at the Cambodian Ream Naval Base in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 7, 2023

U.S. monitoring reports of Chinese warships at Cambodian base

Radio Free Asia reported on Tuesday that Chinese warships had arrived at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base.
Few could have predicted what artificial-intelligence proponents are dreaming up these days.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 7, 2023

Wall Street quants see mixed results from chatbots amid AI boom

As AI tools get more sophisticated, companies are updating their presentations to incorporate a positive vocal tone and upbeat sentences, research shows.
A pharmacist holds a box of Novo Nordisk A/S Wegovy brand semaglutide medication.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 7, 2023

Can Wegovy fight alcoholism? For Big Pharma, this isn’t a priority

Reluctance underscores reasons why no new treatment has been approved for alcoholism in nearly 20 years.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan