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A Lower House committee on political reform deliberates on a revision of the political funds law on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Bill to abolish funds for political activities clears Lower House

The bill will put a stop to the disbursement of such funds, criticized for their lack of transparency, by parties to their lawmakers.
A demonstrator reacts after lawmakers passed a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

South Korea’s ‘hurry hurry’ culture helps bring down a president

The swiftness of Yoon Suk Yeol's fall gestures at the country's culture of taking a head-on approach to solving conflict.
Miyagino (left), or former yokozuna Hakuho, alongside a young medalist at the Hakuho Cup in February 2023
SUMO
Dec 18, 2024

Amateur sumo world caught by surprise as Hakuho Cup set to go ahead

It was widely assumed that the tourney would be put on hiatus in the wake of an abuse scandal that resulted in the shuttering of Hakuho's Miyagino stable.
The neon lights of a casino are reflected on a bus window as a passenger looks on, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to mark the 25th anniversary of Macao’s handover, in Macao, China, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2024

Macao's civil society 'falls silent' after 25 years of Chinese rule

Public protests in Macao are just a memory after Beijing launched sweeping measures that ousted opposition lawmakers and chilled free speech.
Tokyo Comic Con took place at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Dec. 6, 7 and 8.
CULTURE
Dec 18, 2024

Comic cons are far more than just cosplay

The conventions allow fans of comics to meet their heroes — both actors and authors — with manga and anime playing an increasingly bigger role each year.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe says athlete welfare is at the top of the organization's priority list.
MORE SPORTS / Athletics
Dec 19, 2024

World Athletics uses AI to protect 25 athletes targeted by cyberbullies

World Athletics recently unveiled findings of a four-year report analyzing online abuse in the sport.
The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Cerespo executive Yoshiji Kamata to 22 months in prison, suspended for four years.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 19, 2024

Tokyo court fines event company for Olympics bid-rigging

A judge found that Cerespo conspired to decide in advance which companies would win contracts related to test events for the Tokyo Games.
Tsuyako Shimabukuro (front, second from left), head of the Eguchi community association in the town of Chatan, Okinawa Prefecture, and other community leaders discuss their efforts along with members of the prefectural association of families of missing persons with dementia.
JAPAN / Society / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Dec 30, 2024

Okinawa communities battle a rise in missing elderly with dementia

In the prefecture, 118 such cases were reported to the police last year.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at the Presidential Office in Seoul on Dec. 12.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Allies cheered Yoon's foreign policy despite domestic discord

Yoon's political implosion likely heralds the return of the political left, which is less inclined to be as unabashedly supportive of the U.S. and Japan.
Lewis Hamilton greets fans during a farewell event with Mercedes in Kuala Lumpur, on Dec. 10.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 19, 2024

Ferrari boss noncommittal about when Lewis Hamilton will make debut

Ferrari fans are eager for a first glimpse of the seven-time world champion driving for their team since his move from Mercedes.
Fire trucks gather around a building in Sapporo’s Susukino entertainment district on Nov. 26.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Sapporo arson suspect dies in hospital

Police still intend to submit the arson case to prosecutors and are committed to piecing together the events that led to the blaze.
A police cordon is set up on Thursday near the scene where a couple was fatally stabbed a day earlier in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

77-year-old man arrested in connection with fatal stabbings and arson in Chiba

Investigators believe the suspect might have harbored resentment toward the deceased couple, which could have led to the attack on Wednesday.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaks to reporters following the passage of spending legislation to avert a government shutdown, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

U.S. Congress passes bill to avert shutdown

After weeks of tense negotiations that went down to the wire, U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to fund federal agencies through mid-March.
North Korean special forces soldiers march and shout slogans during a military parade marking the 105th birth anniversary of the country's founding father, Kim Il Sung, in Pyongyang in April 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

North Korea aiding Russia where it needs it most, Canadian general says

Pyongyang's provision of troops as well as weapons and munitions that Moscow can't produce fast enough carries a symbolic element.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng at an event welcoming pandas to the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8. American intelligence agencies have warned of influence operations targeting city halls and statehouses. But what's in it for Beijing?
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

As China seeks influence, it has a cuddly way into city hall: pandas

Records and interviews show that Beijing has used pandas as leverage to shape policy on Taiwan and to cultivate relationships with local U.S. politicians.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Japan Sergiy Korsunsky delivers a speech during a handover ceremony of Self-Defense Force vehicles to Ukraine, at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, in May last year.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

Zelenskyy to replace Ukraine ambassador to Japan

Sergiy Korsunsky played a key role in galvanizing Tokyo’s support for Kyiv amid Russia’s ongoing invasion.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, casts his vote during an impeachment vote against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly in Seoul  Dec.14.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2024

A race to the Blue House or the jail house

Since the end of martial law in 1987, there have been eight democratically elected presidents — and all but two of those have either been impeached or imprisoned.
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 23, 2024

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?

Inbound tourism to Japan reached a record high in 2024, but managing the crowds and ensuring sustainability remain a challenge.
Bernhard Langer and son Jason Langer at the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Dec 23, 2024

Team Langer beats Team Woods in PNC Championship playoff

The day will perhaps best be remembered for Charlie Woods' first-ever hole-in-one.
Here we go again, a Christmas marked by legal battles, evolving traditions, commercial influence, and debates over greetings.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

There is no war on Christmas. There are many.

As usual, our holiday cornucopia overfloweth with litigation.
Supporters of the French far-right National Rally party wave French flags on Dec. 15. In Europe this year, the far right made gains in several legislatures, including that of France.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Democracy heads into 2025 bloodied but unbowed

Overall, there were no attempts this year to prevent a peaceful transfer of power, but autocracies grew more repressive.
Novak Djokovic plays in an exhibition match in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1.
TENNIS
Dec 25, 2024

Djokovic has sights set on more glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud

As doubts grew over Djokovic's motivation and ability to take down the new guard after a disappointing 2024, he stunned the tennis world by hiring Murray to coach him.
Christians take selfies after a Christmas Eve Mass at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, on Tuesday, ahead of the 20th anniversary of a magnitude 9.1 earthquake that struck the coast of Sumatra on Dec. 26, 2004, triggering a huge tsunami across the Indian Ocean.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 25, 2024

Blogs to Bluesky: Social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami

In two decades, the online social media landscape has experienced a vast change, allowing information — as well as rumor and misinformation — to flow in real time.
Japanese actor Hiroyuki Sanada attends the red carpet event for FX's "Shogun" at the Academy theater in Los Angeles in February.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 25, 2024

Demand for Japanese content booms after 'Shogun' success

With interest coming from overseas producers, Japan-based companies are trying to help creators get their stories told.
Africa’s growing resource nationalism is prompting governments to renegotiate mining deals, aiming for a larger share of profits from mineral resources and reducing the revenues for multinational companies.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

Africans demand a bigger share of their natural resources wealth

Multinational companies should hurry to find sustainable ways in which they can share risk and revenue with governments, as they do elsewhere.
A disinformation graphic spread via Telegram before a Russian offensive in Ukraine's Kharkiv region. The Kremlin has deployed its sophisticated propaganda machinery to justify its offensive in Ukraine, and China is learning from Russian influence tactics.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 25, 2024

China is taking a page from Russia’s disinformation playbook

Russian and Chinese influence operations are increasingly similar and complementary, showing how the two regimes are collaborating to dominate the information space.
Han Duck-soo, South Korea's prime minister and acting president, speaks during a news conference after lawmakers passed a motion to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul, South Korea, on Dec. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

Impeachment looms for South Korea's acting president

The Constitutional Court meets Friday for its first hearing on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law.
Cats sit on steps at Grazing Plains Farm in Newton, Kansas, in May. Researchers are keeping a close eye on the mounting cases of bird flu infections in cats.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 28, 2024

New bird flu mutation discovered in U.S. as cat infections cause alarm

Several experts cautioned that it was too early to determine whether these changes would make the virus more transmissible or more severe in people.
Keisuke Oma closes his eyes as he talks about memories with his family, in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 7
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2024

One year after Ishikawa quake, a mourning father tries to persevere

As Keisuke Oma tries to cope with losing his wife and three children, he finds comfort in the family motto: "If we try, we can certainly do it."
A poster depicting the characters of "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" in Tokyo's Shibuya Station in 2023.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 28, 2024

Sony's Crunchyroll finds its early lead in anime under attack

Netflix, Walt Disney and Amazon are all digging into their deep pockets to license shows, making it more expensive for anime-steaming site to compete.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.