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Batsman Daryl Mitchell said New Zealand is proud of the way it plays cricket.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Nov 17, 2023

New Zealand pushes back at criticism over helping opponent

New Zealand batsman Daryl Mitchell said the Black Caps are proud of the way they play cricket.
Heavily destroyed buildings at the border between Israel and Gaza on Friday amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 17, 2023

Japanese Red Cross nurse speaks of resilience of colleagues in Gaza

While Sachiko Kawase evacuated to the south of Gaza and eventually to Egypt, several of her colleagues have stayed behind to provide emergency aid.
JAPAN / Society
Nov 18, 2023

Former Soka Gakkai leader Daisaku Ikeda dies at 95

The former president of the lay Buddhist group, one of the largest religious groups in Japan, died of old age on Wednesday at his home in Tokyo.
Children with their parents pray in a temporary church at a camp for internally displaced people in Demoso township in Myanmar's Kayah state.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 20, 2023

Myanmar's displaced pray and teach under deadly skies

The junta has battered Kayah with airstrikes from its Russian and Chinese-built jets, and more than 100,000 people are now displaced in the state.
BASEBALL
Nov 20, 2023

Hirokazu Ibata passes first test with Samurai Japan

Japan went through the Asia Professional Baseball Championship with a 4-0 record.
A redacted online resume of a North Korean IT worker is shown in this screenshot obtained on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 21, 2023

North Koreans use fake names to land remote IT work for cash

Landing a job outside North Korea to secretly earn hard currency for the country demands highly-developed strategies to convince Western firms.
Hamas fighters take part in a military parade in Gaza in July to mark the anniversary of the 2014 war with Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2023

Israel's historical role in the rise of Hamas

The complicated relationship between Israel and Hamas with the the "Frankenstein" Jewish state help create
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.
Heidrun Holzfeind documents urban and rural scenes, such as two policemen on bicycles nonchalantly rolling down a street, in her video piece "The 49th Year." The footage is presented alongside incarcerated New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata’s writings about Japan’s highly supervised society in the exhibition "News from K."
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2023

'News From K' captures the oppression of landscape

Letters from prison by New Left group leader Toshihiko Kamata reveal a sense of limbo in Heidrun Holzfeind’s new work.
Filmmaker and teacher Karl Neubert says he enjoys working with vintage lenses because they can capture a more cinematic look.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Nov 25, 2023

Karl Neubert: 'The joy a student finds in their debut film is a constant source of pride'

Filmmaker and teacher Karl Neubert discusses his role as an educator to the next generation of artists and how 30 years in Japan has shaped his work.
People wave Israeli flags as helicopter carrying hostages released as part of a deal between Israel and Palestinian Islamist group Hamas arrives at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2023

Hamas to free new wave of hostages in Gaza truce

More captives are expected to be freed following the release of 24 hostages during the first day of a planned four-day truce Friday.
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.
Red Bull's Max Verstappen greets the fans after he put his car on pole for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS
Nov 26, 2023

Verstappen on pole as Tsunoda qualifies sixth

Red Bull have won 20 of the 21 races so far, another F1 record, and Verstappen has won in Abu Dhabi each of the past three years.
North Korean soldiers rebuild a guard post on the North side of the Demilitarized zone dividing the two Koreas in this undated handout photo released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2023

North Korea vows more satellites and beefs up military on border

The warning came as the North's troops were reported to be restoring some demolished guard posts on the border with South Korea.
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 person walks past a COP28 sign in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 1.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 28, 2023

Biggest climate talks ever confront global chaos and record heat

Greenhouse gas emissions are still rising, and promises to cut pollution remain insufficient to take the risk of unmanageable warming off the table.
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.
Israeli freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (center), 85, takes part in a protest with her family members outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Her husband Oded is reportedly still held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Medics and relatives offer insights into Gaza hostage conditions

Palestinian militant groups have released more than 50 Israeli women and children, with more than 160 other hostages still detained.
 England's fly-half and captain Owen Farrell helped lead the team to a third-place finish at the Rugby World Cup.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 30, 2023

England's Farrell to skip Six Nations to prioritize mental health

Farrell has won 112 caps since making his international debut in 2012 and is England's all-time leading points scorer with 1,237.
Vintage bicycle enthusiast and property manager Eric Knight shipped his high-wheeler from his home in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, to Japan for the cross-country trip.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Dec 4, 2023

32 days, one big wheel: Duo re-creates historic trans-Japan trip

The pair were inspired by pioneering cyclist Thomas Stevens (1854-1935), who traveled the same route through Japan in 1886 on a high-wheeler.
Big Japanese banks are now training a generation of professional front-line staff who have little experience with rising interest rates.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2023

Staff at Japan's banks scramble to adjust to rising interest rates

Many younger employees have no expertise in dealing with the vagaries of a traditional inflationary environment.
Janos Cegledy sits in a park in Tokyo's Nerima Ward. The pianist says Japan suits him, “There is a certain civility and politeness here which you don’t find anywhere else.”
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Longform
Dec 11, 2023

The extraordinary life of a Holocaust survivor living in Japan

Janos Cegledy tours schools, telling his story. If the students ever meet a Holocaust denier, he says, they can reply, "I met someone who was there."
Sunday's turnout of 27.5% is even lower than in 1999, when only 35.8% of voters cast their vote.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Hong Kong 'patriots only' election falls flat with record low turnout

The slide comes after Beijing imposed a national security law used to clamp down on dissent and overhauled the system to shut out democrats.
Parents take their children for infusion treatment at a hospital in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Friday.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 12, 2023

China’s battle with child pneumonia shows risks of drug resistance

In China nearly 80% of child cases of mycoplasma pneumoniae are resistant to macrolides, compared with under 10% elsewhere.
Seihan Mori, chief priest of Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, writes "zei" (taxes), which was chosen on Tuesday as the kanji of the year.
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2023

Talk of taxes spurs choice for Japan’s kanji of the year

The choice came as tax hikes and cuts were heavily covered in the news and discussed among policymakers.
Mena Kato, Microsoft's new director of Japan partnerships for Xbox, during an interview in Tokyo on Nov. 29
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2023

Microsoft taps PlayStation veteran to champion Xbox in Japan

Mena Kato is counting on her dealmaking skills, Microsoft’s global reach and local connections to make the Xbox a relevant player.
Since starting out as a venue for short, silly lip-syncing videos, TikTok has emerged as an incubator for consumer trends, with millions of people trying on clothes and reviewing products.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 13, 2023

TikTok Shop sees early success, taking aim at giant Amazon

In a sign of how seriously Amazon is taking TikTok, the company cut deals with Pinterest, Meta and Snapchat to let users shop without leaving those apps.
Palestinian children hold pots as they queue to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, amid shortages in food supplies, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Thursday.
WORLD / Society
Dec 15, 2023

Desperation grows among families in Gaza as aid deliveries falter

The Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip has made it almost impossible for aid convoys to move around.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel during an EU summit in Kyiv on Feb. 3.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 15, 2023

EU grants Ukraine membership talks but can't agree on financial aid

The move comes at a critical time for Ukraine, with its counteroffensive against Russian forces having failed to make major gains.
One Japanese idiom goes, "the drawn dragon is missing an eye." It means that something lacks that crucial finishing touch.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jan 4, 2024

The Year of the Dragon has arrived along with a slew of idioms

Japanese sayings that involve dragons tend to invoke the powerful characteristics of the mythical creature.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?