Search - special

 
 
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.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 23, 2024

For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani

The superstar was the center of attention for almost a full calendar year during a season straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Stefan Kaufmann, former president and CEO of Olympus
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2024

Ten months sought for ex-Olympus CEO Kaufmann over drugs

Stefan Kaufmann said that the allegations against him are all true, in the first hearing of his lay-judge trial at the Tokyo District Court.
People look at flowers and candles left as a tribute for the victims of the "Alter Markt" Christmas market on Monday, after a man drove a car into the crowd through an emergency exit route on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 24, 2024

Germany probing possible security lapses after Christmas market attack

Saudi Arabia had given Germany warnings about the suspect as far back as 2023, which German authorities investigated but found vague.
Then U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz runs up the East Capitol stairs as the deadline to avert a partial government shutdown approaches on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 30, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Matt Gaetz found to have paid for sex and drugs, and obstructed U.S. Congress

Matt Gaetz was found to have paid $90,000 to 12 women, a substantial portion of which the panel found was likely for either sexual activity or drug use.
Singapore's central business district in January 2023. The city-state’s supportive digital-asset environment has been credited with making it a "safe, long-term choice” for a regional hub.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 24, 2024

Singapore pulls ahead of Hong Kong in race to be crypto hub

The Southeast Asian city-state doled out 13 cryptocurrency licenses in 2024 to a range of operators, more than double its awards in 2023.
Han Duck-soo, South Korean Prime Minister, gives a speech during an event in Seoul on May 22.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

South Korean opposition seeks to impeach acting president Han

The exact timing of the impeachment proposal against Han will be decided after an internal party review, report says.
A North Korean soldier watches his South Korean counterparts at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone. South Korea's political crisis, with President Yoon's impeachment, threatens U.S. influence while boosting opportunities for China and North Korea to expand their influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Beijing and Pyongyang will exploit South Korea's turmoil

The geopolitical landscape in the region may soon become less friendly to the U.S.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 22, 2023.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Under Cambodia’s new leader, room for dissent narrows

While Prime Minister Hun Manet has often spoken of the need for independent media and civil society in Cambodia, his government has moved in the opposite direction.
David Nemecek
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2024

The star dealmakers remaking the rules of corporate debt

The world of liability management is a small, aggressive and, thus far, male-dominated corner of corporate finance.
Volunteers place eelgrass seeds on slabs of agar gel with tweezers during an event in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, on Nov. 9.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Seagrass bed restoration work spreads in Miyagi Prefecture

Seagrass and seaweed beds are capturing global attention as they absorb carbon dioxide.
The government will raise adjustment allowances for public school teachers, paid instead of overtime, for the first time since the special measures law on salaries of public school teachers came into force in 1972.
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2024

Japan decides on 10% boost to teacher allowances

The hike, expected to start in January 2026, would be the first since the law came into force in 1972.
A full house at Dolphins Arena takes in a bout featuring Takarafuji during the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in July.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Dec 25, 2024

New Nagoya arena won't ease sumo's ticket crunch

A shiny new arena in Nagoya will seat 17,000 but capacity won't be nearly that high for sumo, meaning there's no relief on the horizon for ticket-hungry fans.
Katsumi Arase (left), head of the Central Council for Education, receives from State Minister of Education Arata Takebe a consultation document asking the panel to consider ways to give schools more discretion in setting their curriculum, at the education ministry on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2024

Japan eyes more discretion for schools in upcoming curriculum revision

A government panel has been tasked with considering ways to give schools more flexibility in determining class hours and content as part of the next curriculum revamp.
Hindu pilgrims take a dip along the banks of Sangam, ahead of the <i>maha</i> Kumbh Mela festival in the city of Prayagraj on Sunday. Beside India's holy rivers, a makeshift city is being built for a Hindu religious festival expected to be so vast it will be seen from space.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 26, 2024

India readies for 400 million pilgrims at mammoth festival

The Kumbh Mela, a millennia-old festival, is held once every 12 years at the site where the holy Ganges, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers meet.
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.
Smoke rises after Israeli strikes near Sanaa airport, in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

Israel hits Houthis in Yemen in response to slow escalation

Among targets hit Thursday included military infrastructure at the Sanaa International Airport and in the Hezyaz and Ras Kanatib power stations.
South Korea's ruling People Power Party lawmakers (bottom) argue to National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (second right top) during the plenary session for the impeachment vote of acting president Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

South Korea's parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo

The move plunged the country deeper into political chaos, as the Constitutional Court also said it would swiftly trial suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump filed a brief on Friday urging the Supreme Court to pause a law that would ban TikTok the day before his Jan. 20 inauguration if it is not sold by its Chinese owner ByteDance.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 28, 2024

Trump asks Supreme Court to pause law threatening TikTok ban

Trump said the court should give him time after his Jan. 20 inauguration to "seek a negotiated resolution” of the dispute over the social media platform.
Discussions on greater rights for same-sex couples have not deepened at the national level despite recent court rulings saying that said Japan's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 28, 2024

Tokyo ward mayors call for greater rights for same-sex couples

Among the wards, Setagaya and Nakano launched initiatives in November to register the relationships of same-sex couples in the same way as for common-law couples.
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.
A work boat dropping sand on the seafloor for ground improvement work off Henoko, Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture, on Saturday.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2024

Ground improvement work begins in Okinawa's Henoko

The work is part of the project to build a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Ginowan, Okinawa.
Elon Musk walks through Capitol Hill on the day of a meeting with Senate Republican Leader-elect John Thune in Washington on Dec. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2024

Trump sides with Musk in rightwing row over worker visas

Trump's calls to slash immigration were central to his election victory but Big Tech says the U.S. produces too few highly skilled graduates.
Firefighters on Monday inspect the wreckage of a Jeju Air plane that crashed at Muan International Airport in Muan, South Korea, a day earlier.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2024

South Korea orders air safety probe after worst-ever crash kills 179

Acting President Choi Sang-mok ordered an emergency safety inspection of the country's entire airline operation system as authorities hunted for clues to the crash's cause.
Climate demonstrators protest against investments in fossil fuels during the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington on Oct. 21.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 30, 2024

After a year of hard climate talks, ‘minilateralism’ is an alternative

Global environmental agreements have never been simple, but a variety of factors, such as political polarization, make countries less willing to compromise.
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira share a laugh ahead of talks in Tokyo in June 1979.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

Jimmy Carter's surprising connection to Japan: his Christian faith

The former U.S. president, who died Sunday, bonded with his counterpart, Prime Minister Masayoshi Ohira, over their shared faith.
At 60, the shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan, with only one system ever sold overseas.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 1, 2025

Japan’s go-slow approach to selling high-speed rail globally

The shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan as competitors from Europe and China sell their own high-speed trains in an increasing number of countries.
Ipswich Town's Omari Hutchinson (right) scores his team's second goal in a clash against Chelsea in Ipswich on Monday.
SOCCER
Dec 31, 2024

Chelsea's title hopes rocked by shock defeat to Ipswich

Chelsea's second successive defeat after their Boxing Day loss against Fulham left it without a win in its last three matches.
Palestinians gather to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 4.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2024

As Gaza suffers, experts call on hunger monitor to redefine famine

Many food-security experts, aid workers and doctors say famine took hold in Gaza many months ago.
Humaira Rafaqat, a senior traffic warden, teaches women how to ride a motorcycle while wearing an abaya, during a training session as part of the Women on Wheels program organized by the traffic police department in Lahore, Pakistan, on Oct. 1.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 31, 2024

Women on Wheels: How a driving school program empowers Pakistani women

The driving program for women has become increasingly popular as car prices have soared and motorcycles offer a cheaper alternative.

Longform

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