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Pete Hegseth, U.S. secretary of defense nominee for President-elect Donald Trump, arrives for a meeting with Sen. Chuck Grassley, on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2025

With hearings imminent, partisan fight escalates over Trump Cabinet

Democrats are demanding that Republicans slow consideration of picks for the new administration until they can review background checks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrives for a meeting in Rome on Friday.
WORLD
Jan 12, 2025

Ukraine questioning two captured North Korean soldiers

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he would provide media access to the prisoners of war because "the world needs to know what is happening."
Nissan's Oliver Rowland competes at the Portland E-Prix in June 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 12, 2025

Oliver Rowland earns Formula E triumph for Nissan in Mexico City

Starting from fourth, Rowland put in an outstanding performance to secure the Japanese manufacturer's 20th win.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken shakes hands with Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya during a working lunch at a hotel in Tokyo last week.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 13, 2025

'Quad' foreign ministers eye meeting in Washington on Jan. 21

The ministerial meeting will underscore that the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is attaching importance to collaboration among the four nations.
The mascot character of the Osaka Expo promotes the event at Tokyo's Haneda Airport last week.
JAPAN
Jan 13, 2025

Osaka Expo kicks off pavilion reservation lottery amid sales concerns

Winning the lottery guarantees entry to popular pavilions, and this benefit is being promoted to help boost ticket sales, which have struggled to gain momentum.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's provocative rhetoric targeting Panama, Greenland and Canada underscores his preference for bold power plays over traditional rules-based diplomacy.
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2025

Trump’s trash talk revives the worst of world politics

Trump's provocative rhetoric targeting Panama, Greenland and Canada underscores his preference for bold power plays over traditional rules-based diplomacy.
A mirror reflects a collapsed house in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 10, nearly one year after a major earthquake struck nearby on New Year's Day in 2024.
JAPAN / Explainer
Jan 14, 2025

Miyazaki quake falls short of triggering Nankai Trough megaquake advisory

Though Monday's temblor struck a similar area to one in August that sparked the first advisory, no such alert was issued.
A soldier stands near the scene where a vehicle drove into a crowd on Jan. 1 in New Orleans.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 15, 2025

Law enforcement prepared for Super Bowl in New Orleans after attack, official says

Tens of thousands of football fans are set to descend on the city next month, with the Super Bowl on Feb. 9, capping a weeklong celebration.
Former MUFG Bank employee Yukari Imamura, a suspect in the theft of gold ingots worth ¥260 million, leaves the Nerima Police Station in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 15, 2025

Ex-MUFG Bank employee arrested over theft of 20 kg gold deposits

At least 60 clients have been victims of the safe deposit box thefts, with the total damage expected to exceed ¥1 billion.
Lawson and FamilyMart enjoyed net profit increases in the March-November 2024 period, while Seven & I Holdings suffered a sharp deterioration in its bottom line, according to their latest earnings reports.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 16, 2025

Lawson and FamilyMart enjoy net profit growth in March-November

FamilyMart's net profit went up 62.4% to ¥80 billion because of special profit from a realignment of Chinese operations.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with President-elect Donald Trump at the White House in Washington in November last year.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jan 16, 2025

Biden to hand unfinished agenda to Trump for a chaotic Middle East

Joe Biden's Middle East record is likely to be remembered not so much for how conflicts ended on his watch, but mainly for how they unfolded.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers his farewell address to the nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 16, 2025

Biden warns U.S. faces oligarchy as Trump looms over legacy

In a final Oval Office speech, Biden urged Americans to join together but quickly warned about a dangerous concentration of wealth in the U.S.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is hoping to lead his team to an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 16, 2025

Chiefs set to begin quest for three-peat with matchup against Texans

Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is 6-0 during the divisional round in his career.
Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has expressed ambitions to build an "everything app," and adding TikTok to X, formerly Twitter, could bring him closer to that vision.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2025

Elon Musk won’t save TikTok

A Musk takeover of TikTok remains far from a done deal. It would require a wildly complex spinoff and it’s not immediately clear how he would fund a purchase.
People stand as the U.S. Capitol is seen behind the frozen Capitol reflecting pool on Friday after it was announced that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration is being moved indoors due to dangerously cold temperatures expected on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

Trump inauguration moved indoors due to extreme cold

The move could undercut the Republican's hopes for a grandiose spectacle to kick off his second term.
Participants gather for unified university entrance examinations Saturday in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward. Exams were being held at 651 venues across the country, with the number of applicants increasing by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 18, 2025

Unified university entrance exams begin in Japan

The number of applicants increased by about 3,200 from the previous year to some 495,100.
U.S. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington in August 2022, after returning from a trip to Kentucky.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

How Biden’s inner circle protected a faltering president

“Your biggest issue is the perception of age,” Mike Donilon, the president’s longtime strategist, told him in 2022, according to people who heard him.
Pro-Yoon Suk Yeol protesters participate in a rally outside a court in Seoul on Saturday where Yoon made an appearance before a judge.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 18, 2025

Yoon defends himself in court against longer detention

The president spoke before the judge for about 40 minutes in the first session and about five minutes in final remarks, according to local media.
Former Israeli hostage Romi Gonen with her mother Merav at an undisclosed location in Israel on Sunday after a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal in the war between Israel and Hamas was implemented.
WORLD
Jan 20, 2025

Israel and Hamas swap hostages and prisoners as ceasefire starts

The six-week truce aims for the gradual release of 33 of the almost 100 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, and of around 1,000 Palestinians in prison in Israel.
Russia shipped 2.96 million barrels a day of crude in the four weeks to Jan. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 20, 2025

Where the U.S. has squeezed Russia’s oil flows the hardest

The latest U.S. sanctions on oil tankers hauling Russian petroleum look set to cause severe disruption across the nation’s export machine.
Experts in Japan emphasize the importance of supplementing a new legal framework with expanded opportunities for drug education targeted at young people.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 21, 2025

Many in Japan advocate for drug education to combat cannabis abuse

More than 80% of cannabis-related cases detected in Osaka in 2023 involved people in their 20s or younger, according to the Osaka prefectural police department.
A giant 1000 Indonesian rupiah coin display inside the headquarters of Bank Indonesia in Jakarta
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 19, 2025

Indonesia is the latest country to risk a 'Japanification' tag

With markets sniffing out fiscal vulnerabilities in many countries, this would be an inopportune time to lose discipline.
TikTok CEO Shou Chew (center) and Donald Trump's nominee to be the director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard (right), attend the presidential inauguration in Washington on Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 22, 2025

How Trump's TikTok ban reprieve could work

While a U.S. president can't legally suspend a law aimed at banning TikTok, Trump can use prosecutorial discretion, following a long line of past executives.
“The Elephant Man” and “Twin Peaks” director David Lynch became a favorite among Japanese moviegoers who flocked to new arthouse cinemas (known as “mini theaters”) popping up around the country in the 1980s and ’90s.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Jan 23, 2025

How 'Twin Peaks' turned David Lynch into Japan's favorite weirdo

The director’s work thrived in the early days of arthouse “mini theaters,” and cherry pies and canned coffee fueled the nation's "Twin Peaks" mania.
Lewis Hamilton drives a Ferrari F1 car around the Fiorano circuit during testing in Fiorano Modenese, Italy, on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Jan 23, 2025

Lewis Hamilton calls first laps in Ferrari car 'one of the best feelings'

The 40-year-old Briton shocked the paddock last February when he announced he was departing for the iconic Italian team after 12 highly successful years with Mercedes.
South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol arrives to attend the fourth hearing of his impeachment trial over his short-lived imposition of martial law, at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

South Korea investigators seek Yoon indictment for insurrection and abuse of power

Yoon Suk Yeol, impeached and suspended from power on Dec. 14, has been incarcerated since last week.
National Police Agency Commissioner-General Yasuhiro Tsuyuki speaks during a news conference on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 23, 2025

Japan police agency sets rules for fake IDs in undercover yami baito probes

Investigations involving the use of fake IDs will target crimes such as robbery, special fraud, investment fraud and romance fraud.
Afghan citizens, who are in the process for resettlement in the U.S., attend an English class on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Society
Jan 24, 2025

Afghans awaiting U.S. resettlement feel betrayal after Trump order

Some feel betrayed, with many — including those who fled Taliban rule in Afghanistan — having already spent years in limbo.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is pressured by Bills defensive end Greg Rousseau during a game between the two rival teams earlier this season in Orchard Park, New York.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 24, 2025

Rivals Bills and Chiefs clash again with Super Bowl on the line

The rivalry between the Chiefs and the Bills may not have the long history of the great divisional clashes, but its intensity is fueled by the high stakes in their recent meetings.
The government aims to reduce the average monthly overtime of teachers to 30 hours over the five years through the fiscal year beginning April 2029, down from the current 47 hours.
JAPAN
Jan 24, 2025

Japan weighs obligatory programs to cut teacher overtime

Education boards would be required to report on the current work hours of teachers and detail measures to improve their working styles.

Longform

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