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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.
Police investigators surround a white truck in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2025

FBI probes New Orleans truck ramming as IS-inspired terrorist attack

A U.S. Army veteran drove into the city's French Quarter on New Year's Day, killing 15 in what officials suspect might be a coordinated attack inspired by the Islamic State group.
Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers attempts a pass against the Rams during the second half of their game in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Dec. 22.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 2, 2025

Jets quarterback Rodgers ponders NFL future ahead of season finale

The 41-year-old Rodgers, a four-time NFL MVP, said he would make a decision about whether he'll play in 2025 before free agency in March.
Investigators inspect he remains of a Tesla Cybertruck that burned at the entrance of Trump Tower Las Vegas on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2025

Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump Las Vegas hotel, killing one

The FBI is joining the investigation of the blast, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk said "was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck."
The wreckage of the Jeju Air aircraft that went off the runway and crashed at Muan International Airport lies near a concrete structure it crashed into, in Muan, South Korea, on Dec. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 2, 2025

South Korea to send Jeju Air crash black box to U.S.

The damaged flight data recorder has been deemed unrecoverable for data extraction domestically.
Police tape and vehicles are seen on Canal Street and Bourbon Street in New Orleans, where a pickup truck barreled through a crowd on Wednesday, killing at least 15 and injuring scores others.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2025

Attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas rattle U.S. over security threats

Investigators are searching for possible links between the two events, which come less than a month before Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
A Dior store front in Rome. Despite passing audits, Dior's contractors in Italy have been accused of labor abuses.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2025

Inside luxury goods' broken audit system

Revelations of worker exploitation in Dior's Italian production chain have exposed flaws in supply chain audits and triggered judicial action.
A police officer enters a vehicle on Thursday at the location where a truck was driven into a crowd of New Year's Day revelers in New Orleans, Louisiana, a day earlier.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025

Texas man behind New Orleans attack acted alone, FBI says

The suspect, identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a 42-year-old Texan who once served in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group.
U.S. President Joe Biden decided Friday to block the proposed $14.9 billion purchase of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, with the firms blasting the decision, calling it a "clear violation of due process" and a political move, and vowing to "take all appropriate action" to protect their legal rights.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 4, 2025

Biden blocks Nippon Steel’s $14.1 billion takeover of U.S. Steel

The two firms blasted the decision, calling it a "clear violation of due process" and a political move, and saying they would "take all appropriate action" in response.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision will further burnish his climate credentials, deepening his record of fostering conservation and zero-emission energy.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

Biden to ban new oil drilling over vast stretch of U.S. Atlantic and Pacific waters

The move represents a sweeping effort to permanently protect coastal waters from fossil fuel development and the risk of oil spills.
A falconer during the Suwa Falconry Preservation Society's event in Tokyo on Friday. Falconry predates recorded history, originating, scholars believe, when nomadic herders observed birds of prey hunting and recognized their potential as partners.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 5, 2025

Tokyo falconers keep ancient traditions soaring

While a recent showcase was all about fun and education, like other sports involving animals, falconry is also serious business for competitors at the upper echelons of the sport.
Combat aircrafts from NATO countries roll on a landing strip during a fighter plane maneuver exercise at the American military's Ramstein Air Base, near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
WORLD
Jan 5, 2025

Drones, exploding parcels and sabotage: How hybrid tactics target the West

Increasingly brazen “gray zone” attacks against Europe and the U.S. have left defense officials with a dilemma: How to respond?
Hogwarts Castle at Universal Studios Hollywood in Universal City, California. There are influential American works of fantasy like “The Wizard of Oz” and “American Gods,” but they lack the cohesive, enduring impact of European counterparts such as the “Harry Potter” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” series.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025

America needs a 'Great American Fantasy'

There is a lack of a distinctly "Great American Fantasy" in literature and popular culture.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan