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North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the North Korean Ministry of National Defense on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the founding of the Korean People's Army, in Pyongyang in this picture released on Feb. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 14, 2024

North Korean arms trade is China’s problem too: U.S. official

Jung Pak's comments reflect long-running frustration in Washington over China’s unwillingness to help influence Pyongyang’s behavior.
People gather as rescuers search for survivors under rubble in the town of Jandaris, Syria, on Feb. 6, 2023, following an earthquake that day.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2024

Japanese students working to help Syrian people hit by 2023 quake

About 30 companies are offering support for the students' efforts.
Labor unions at Toyota and other carmakers are seeking record pay increases in this year's spring wage negotiations.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 15, 2024

Major auto firm unions request record pay hikes ahead of annual talks

Whether major automakers fully accept unions' demands for a second consecutive year is set to be in focus after the prime minister called for wage hikes.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about the aid package for Ukraine, from the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 15, 2024

Biden pushes Republicans on Ukraine aid bill amid Trump opposition

The bill would also fund U.S. troops in the Middle East, humanitarian aid in Gaza and defense companies and submarine manufacturing in the United States.
Indonesian presidential candidate Prabowo Subianto leaves from his residence to attend a gathering with supporters after polls closed in the country's presidential and legislative elections in Jakarta on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 15, 2024

Prabowo could usher in a new era in Indonesian foreign policy

As president, the ex-general is expected to seek an elevation of Indonesia’s role on the global stage while balancing ties with Washington and Beijing.
A shooting that killed one person and wounded 22 took place near Union Station in Kansas City, Missouri, on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Feb 16, 2024

Police say argument led to shooting after Chiefs' Super Bowl parade

Lisa Lopez-Galvan, a popular Kansas City radio personality, was the lone fatality.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda said Friday that the BOJ will examine the possibility of easing measures when price targets are met.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 16, 2024

BOJ's Ueda maintains pledge to review stimulus when inflation goal met

Data released on Thursday showed Japan's economy unexpectedly slipped into a recession in the final quarter of last year.
Even after getting married, Sanae (Ai Hashimoto, right) is unable to get over an ex-boyfriend whom she attempted to murder years earlier in “After the Fever.”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2024

‘After the Fever’: Tortured ex-lovers’ drama descends into theatrics

Yasutaka Watanabe’s cinematography elevates Akira Yamamoto’s otherwise exhausting film about a woman’s intense obsession with a former boyfriend.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 16, 2024

Nikkei stock index nears all-time high

The index closed at 38,487.24, up by 329.30 points and near the all-time high of 38,915 recorded in December 1989.
The PTI party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan triumphed in Pakistan's Feb. 8 elections despite not having the backing of the country's powerful military.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2024

Has Pakistan’s military finally lost its mystique?

Many Pakistani voters supported PTI, Imran Khan's party, in recent elections, showing the military that it has a rival powerhouse to contend with.
Damo Suzuki, who passed away at the age of 74 on Feb. 9, was best known as a vocalist for the German “krautrock” pioneers Can. He later launched Damo Suzuki’s Network, a live music project that took him around the world, playing with different musicians every night. 
CULTURE / Music
Feb 17, 2024

Damo Suzuki forged a path outside of mainstream pop and rock

Idiosyncratic and spontaneous, the Can vocalist was an influential figure of the “krautrock” scene.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Feb 17, 2024

Japan’s space agency successfully launches latest H3 rocket

With the H3, JAXA aims to maintain Japan’s prowess in rocket development technologies and give a jolt to related industries.
A Palestinian woman stands at al-Najar Hospital in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Friday amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Fears grow for crucial Gaza hospital after Israeli raid

Several patients had died there from a lack of oxygen at one of Gaza's main hospitals after Israeli troops raided the facility.
Residential buildings heavily damaged by  Russian military strikes in the front-line town of Avdiivka, Ukraine, last November.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 17, 2024

Ukraine troops withdraw from front-line city of Avdiivka

Capturing Avdiivka is the most significant territorial gain for Russian forces since they seized the eastern city of Bakhmut last May.
Police officers detain a woman during a gathering in memory of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, near the Wall of Grief in Moscow on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

Risking arrest, Russians mourn Navalny in small acts of protest

Bouquets at the Wall of Grief become a form of dissent in a country where such action could result in detention.
Workers unload bags of humanitarian aid that entered Gaza by truck in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 18, 2024

Netanyahu says he won’t bow to pressure to call off Rafah invasion

Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu has come under international pressure to drop a threatened incursion into Rafah.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Feb 18, 2024

Preparing for the hottest year Japan has ever seen

In 2023, summer heat persisted across Japan well into the fall. Predictions by scientists indicate 2024 could be even worse.
Nissan's Ariya electric crossover sport utility vehicle assembled by robots at the company's plant in Kaminokawa, Tochigi Prefecture
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 19, 2024

Japan carmakers forge ahead with EV investments despite slowdown

Outside of Japan, signs of a scaling back are everywhere, with the exception of China.
Romance scams are designed to exploit individuals emotionally, leading them to part with their money.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 27, 2024

Deceptive lawyer ads exploit victims of romance scams Japan

Some legal practitioners exaggerate their success records in recovering stolen funds and fail to follow through on the collection process.
Alexei Navalny, who Russian authorities say died on Friday, attends a 2019 rally in Moscow with his wife, Yulia Navalnaya (right), in memory of murdered dissident Boris Nemtsov.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 19, 2024

Navalny was too brave to be allowed to live

Alexei Navalny never stopped speaking truth to the powers of Russian despotism. His fearlessness was simply too much for the Kremlin to bear.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen delivers a speech as she visits Cafe Kyiv, in Berlin on Feb. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Von Der Leyen seeks new EU term with pivot on defense sector

Her candidacy, which was widely expected, comes as the EU faces a change in leadership with a possible surge in far-right and populist forces.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal is flanked by security personnel as he arrives at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan for a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Ukrainian PM cautions of war’s spillover as he looks to tamp down fatigue fears

Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal warned in Tokyo that a Russian victory would prompt more conflicts across the globe.
Donald Trump, who made a fortune in construction over the years, has assets he can sell to pay the $355 million financial penalty recently imposed on him in civil fraud case filed in New York, but it will strain his available cash reserves.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2024

Trump loved New York. Now it's giving him the boot.

The place that made Trump who he is has turned on him. The former president is being fined millions and banned from doing business in New York.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2024

Japan opposition fails with censure motion against education minister

The CDP's move against a Unification Church-linked minister came as the party also called for questioning over a slush funds scandal.
Japan's exports rose to a record high in January, lifted by robust shipments of cars and chipmaking equipment, marking the second straight month of growth despite concerns about slowing global demand.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 21, 2024

Export growth beats forecasts, adding to momentum for BOJ policy shift

Gains in exports are a positive sign after the economy unexpectedly fell into recession in the last quarter of 2023 due to stagnant domestic spending.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi speaks on the second day of the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

China-Europe ties worsen on Ukraine and disputes over trade

Beijing’s support for Russia has been a sticking point in relations with Europe.
Ahead of the Paris Games, authorities are conducting three preliminary investigations into possible favoritism in the awarding of around 20 contracts worth tens of millions of euros, while a fourth is scrutinizing the pay of chief organizer Tony Estanguet.
OLYMPICS
Feb 21, 2024

Paris 2024: A 'new era' of corruption-free Olympics?

Ahead of the Paris Olympics in July and August, French prosecutors are working on four probes into possible wrongdoing.
Indian farmer groups have taken to the streets this month to press their demands for debt relief and crop price guarantees.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 21, 2024

With cranes and excavators, Indian farmers march on New Delhi

Similar protests two years ago forced Narendra Modi's government to repeal a set of farm laws.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 21, 2024

Senior LDP members likely to appear before ethics committee next week

While the opposition said the willingness of additional LDP figures to answer questions was an improvement, they called for more to step up.
The Huawei Mate 60 Pro, launched in August 2023 and powered by a sophisticated chip, was seen as a symbol of the China's technological resurgence despite Washington's ongoing efforts to cripple its capacity to produce advanced semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 22, 2024

U.S. targets China chipmaking plant after Huawei Mate 60 Pro

The Biden administration seeks to cut off China's most advanced factory from more American imports after it produced a sophisticated chip for the phone.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear