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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.
An Israeli soldier walks on the Israeli side of the border with the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2024

Israel says part of Hamas 'dismantled' as war enters fourth month

The Israeli military's claims come amid mounting fears that the conflict could spread into neighboring Lebanon.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken gestures as he arrives in Tel Aviv on Monday as part of his weeklong trip aimed at calming tensions across the Middle East.
WORLD / Society
Jan 9, 2024

Blinken arrives in Israel as it says Gaza war to continue through 2024

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due to meet Israeli leaders on Tuesday in his quest to prevent the Gaza Strip conflict from growing into a regional conflagration as the Israeli military said its fight against Hamas will rage all year.
A Joshua Tree is seen as the York fire burns in the distance in the Mojave National Preserve on July 30, 2023. The year of 2023 was the hottest on record, with the increase in Earth's surface temperature nearly crossing the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2024

2023 declared hottest recorded year as Earth nears key limit

Climate change intensified heatwaves, droughts and wildfires across the planet, and pushed the global thermometer 1.48 C above the preindustrial benchmark.
Rory McIlroy speaks during a news conference in Boston in November.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jan 10, 2024

Rory McIlroy has 'dream scenario' for a new world tour

The star golfer would like to see golf take a more global approach by tapping into markets like Japan and Australia.
A worker guides drilling pipes on the Gazprom PJSC Chayandinskoye oil, gas and condensate field in Russia's Sakha Republic.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 10, 2024

Russia’s oil drilling boom proves Moscow’s resilience to Western sanctions

In the first 11 months of 2023, Russia's drilling was on track to beat the post-Soviet record.
A Palestinian girl who survived an Israeli strike is carried by her father next to the bodies of their relatives who were killed in the strike in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

Israel to face Gaza genocide charges at International Court of Justice

A case brought by South Africa in December claims Israel's war against Hamas militants in Gaza violates the 1948 Genocide Convention.
Visitors walk through the gas chamber during a tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri, in 2013.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 11, 2024

U.S. judge allows first nitrogen-gas execution to proceed

U.S. states have found it increasingly difficult to obtain barbiturates used in lethal-injection execution protocols, in part because of a European ban.
Roberta Wilson-Garrett, who has Parkinson's disease, poses with her GyroGlove, made by GyroGear, which uses a gyroscope to help stabilize tremors before this week's Consumer Electronics Show on Jan. 8 in Las Vegas.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 12, 2024

High tech glove stymies Parkinson's disease tremors

GyroGear has built the world's most advanced hand stabilizer, with strategic partners that include Taiwanese technology group Foxconn, according to founder Dr. Faii Ong.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2024

North Korea set to send new class of missiles to Russia, Seoul says

By sending more weapons of greater sophistication, Kim is likely receiving substantial aid that keeps his sanctions-hit economy afloat as well as technology from Russia.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators take part in the March on Washington for Gaza rally in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 14, 2024

U.N. says Gaza war 'staining humanity' on eve of 100th day

In Israel, concern grew for hostages held in Gaza as they approach their 100th day in captivity.
A Ukrainian soldier with the 68th Brigade in a trench that is about 500 yards from a Russian position, in the Luhansk region of Ukraine, on Tuesday. After a Ukrainian summer counteroffensive in the south that fell far short of objectives, and with Russian troops currently on the attack and Western military aid less assured than in the past, the country’s prospects are looking bleak.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 14, 2024

Russia regains upper hand in Ukraine’s east as Kyiv’s troops struggle

Ukrainians are weary, short of ammunition and outnumbered, and their prospects look bleak.
People walk outside a polling station in Uxbridge, Britain, on July 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 16, 2024

Millions more overseas Brits now eligible to vote in U.K. elections

The expansion in the electorate follows a change in the law scrapping a previous curb on U.K. citizens voting if they had lived overseas for over 15 years.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past