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A participant writes during a New Year calligraphy contest in Tokyo on Jan. 5, 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023

Japan to propose nation's calligraphy for UNESCO heritage list

In response to a Cultural Affairs Council recommendation, the government will submit a proposal to the U.N. body by next March.
Men warm up around a fire outside one of the tents housing Palestinians displaced by the conflict in Gaza on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

U.S. vows to keep arming Israel amid calls for Gaza cease-fire

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's military response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas has now killed more than 19,400 people.
Today in Russia, a robust consumer world carries on, helping Russian President Vladimir Putin maintain a sense of normalcy despite a war that has proved longer, deadlier and costlier than he predicted.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

How Putin turned a Western boycott into a bonanza

If companies want to leave Russia, the president is setting the terms — in ways that benefit his government, his elites and his war.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Reno, Nevada, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

Diplomats gird for 'doomsday' as prospect of Trump presidency looms

If he were to win a second term, Trump is likely to install loyalists — meaning his whims and isolationist policies would be easier to enact than before.
An Israeli soldier exits what Israel says is the largest Hamas tunnel it has discovered so far in Gaza, located a few hundred meters from the Erez border crossing, during an escorted tour by the military for international journalists on Dec. 15.
WORLD
Dec 21, 2023

Israel says uncovered tunnel network used by Hamas leadership

Israel's military described "tunnels that connects terrorist hideouts, bureaus, and residential apartments belonging to Hamas's senior leadership."
A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in this photo released Nov. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Saudi Arabia holds back as U.S. Red Sea task force tests ties

Riyadh's priorities include extricating itself from both a messy war in Yemen and a destructive feud with the Houthis' principal backer, Iran.
A woman lights a candle in front of the Charles University main building following a shooting at one of the university's buildings in Prague on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 22, 2023

Gunman kills 14 in attack at Prague university

The gunman is also suspected in the killings of another man and his 2-month-old daughter who were found shot dead last week.
Displaced Palestinians gather in the yard of Gaza's Shifa hospital on Dec. 10.
WORLD / Society
Dec 22, 2023

No functional hospitals left in northern Gaza, WHO says

Of Gaza's original 36 hospitals, only nine are now partially functional, all of them in the south.
A Houthi fighter stands on the Galaxy Leader cargo ship in the Red Sea in a photo released Nov. 20.
WORLD
Dec 23, 2023

U.S. says Red Sea patrol will be able to thwart Houthi attacks

The force will patrol "the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden to respond to and assist as necessary commercial vessels,” Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said.
The SKS Doyles crude oil tanker sails through the Suez Canal on Thursday.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2023

Iran dismisses U.S. intelligence tying it to Red Sea attacks

The White House said that Iran was "deeply involved” in the planning of the Houthi attacks and has supplied weapons, financial support and training.
Russian conscripts watch a tank demonstration in Moscow in August 2022. Despite its bravado in public, the Kremlin has indicated its interest in striking a deal to halt the war so long as it could still declare victory.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2023

Putin quietly signals he is open to a ceasefire in Ukraine

The repeated interest in cutting a deal exemplifies how opportunism and improvisation have defined his approach to the war behind closed doors.
A flare falls over Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 25, 2023

Palestinians feel 'no joy' as Israel bombs Gaza on Christmas

Festivities were effectively scrapped in the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, with few worshippers or tourists on the usually packed streets.
A group of 19 host club owners in Kabukicho who own most of the host clubs in the area have pledged to ban the pay-later system by April and prohibit entry to those under 20 years old from January.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 26, 2023

How Japan's host clubs trap young women under mountains of debt

False promises of love — and even marriage — lead to huge bills for some as young as 18, who are often then coaxed into sex work to make repayments.
A Ukrainian serviceman holds a anti-aircraft weapon as they scan for possible air targets, onboard a boat as it patrols the northwestern part of the Black Sea.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Stalled on land, Ukraine scores 'victory' against Russia in Black Sea

Despite Russia's threats of strikes and its supposed naval superiority, Ukraine's efforts have managed to keep a maritime corridor for food exports open.
A Palestinian child cries next to his mother after they were rushed to a hospital following an Israeli strike in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 13. Fighting erupted after Hamas conducted a coordianated attack against Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians. More than 20,000 people in Gaza have died in the  conflict, according to the enclave’s health ministry.
WORLD
Dec 27, 2023

Images of 2023: World

Images of 2023: From war in the Gaza Strip and in Ukraine to concerns in Asia over North Korea and China, conflict took center stage in 2023.
Iraqi security forces' stationed in Baghdad's Tahrir Square following U.S. air strikes on Tuesday
WORLD
Dec 27, 2023

Houthi attacks and U.S. strikes raise risk of wider Middle East war

The number of nonstate groups and the unpredictability of actions by Israel and Iran makes it difficult to forecast when incidents might escalate.
Relatives mourn a loved one killed during Israeli bombardment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
Dec 28, 2023

Gaza deaths soar in Israel-Hamas war as WHO warns of 'acute hunger'

Explosions lit up the sky over the Khan Yunis — a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained control over Gaza's north.
A woman points at a Glock handgun during the annual National Rifle Association convention in Dallas in 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 28, 2023

Gaston Glock, inventor of cult guns, dies at 94

His gun, wielded by police and outlaws alike, certainly made its mark worldwide, matched by few other weapons.
Containers of Danish shipping and logistics company Maersk are seen in Copenhagen in September.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

U.S. sinks three ships and kills 10 after Houthi Red Sea attack

The naval battle occurred Sunday as the attackers sought to board the Singapore-flagged Maersk Hangzhou, Maersk and U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives in the country amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

The U.S. and Israel: An embrace shows signs of strain after Oct. 7

No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
Devotees of Afro-Brazilian religions carry offerings to the sea as part of an annual rite in Rio de Janeiro on Dec. 29, 2023.
WORLD / Society
Jan 2, 2024

How to start the new year? Keep the sea goddess happy.

Followers of Afro-Brazilian religions have been displaced by New Year’s revelers. But they still find ways to make their offerings to the ocean.
Yuki Kondo-Shah beside the U.S. Embassy where she works in London on Dec. 22. As U.S.-China tensions rise, national security employees with ties to Asia say U.S. counterintelligence officers wrongly regard them as potential spies and unfairly ban them from jobs.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Asian American officials cite unfair treatment in China tensions

Federal employees say they are being blocked from jobs for security reasons because of their ties to Asia, even distant ones.
People gather at the site of an explosion in what security sources say is an Israeli drone strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Gaza war spreads to Beirut with killing of Hamas deputy leader

Lebanese and Palestinian security sources said Israel was behind the drone strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason steams through the Atlantic Ocean. Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the Red Sea takes the projection of Iranian power in the region to another level but it is unlikely to want direct confrontation — its old frigate is no match for the U.S.-led maritime task force patrolling the waters off Yemen.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Iran’s Red Sea power play raises fears of trade disruption

Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the region emboldens Yemen's Houthis, who are attacking vessels headed to or owned by firms in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Netanyahu boxed in by fierce pressure over war, politics and budget

Whether his government will survive 2024 is a renewed topic of debate that will now play out against the backdrop of war.
People gather near a body lying on the ground at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Iran vows revenge after blasts kill nearly 100 at commander's memorial

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions at the cemetery where Qassem Soleimani, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, is buried.
Yemenis chant slogans and wave Palestinian flags during a march in solidarity with the people of Gaza, in Yemen's Houthi-controlled capital Sanaa on Dec.15, 2023. The Houthis have been firing on ships allegedly linked to Israel in the Red Sea in avowed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

U.S., allies warn Houthis of 'consequences' of ship attacks

Warning comes as freight rates spike due to re-routing of vessels around Africa to avoid the Red Sea, where the Iran-backed militant group is active.
North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and missile launchers that were used in recent attacks on Ukraine. "This is a significant and concerning escalation," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said during a briefing.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2024

Russia used North Korean missiles for Ukraine attacks, U.S. says

Russia is also looking to obtain missiles from its ally Iran as it runs short of arms nearly two years into its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Boeing's 737 Max 9 under construction at the company's production facility in Renton, Washington, in 2017.
WORLD
Jan 6, 2024

Alaska Air grounds Boeing 737 Max 9 fleet after fuselage blowout

The airline is taking the "precautionary step” to temporarily ground the fleet of 65 planes until completion of full maintenance and inspection.
Voters cast ballots for the U.S. presidential election at a polling station in Portland, Maine, on Nov. 3, 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Trump ballot removals reflect efforts of liberal-funded groups

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and Free Speech for People have been catalysts for the yearslong campaign.

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan