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South Korea's Finance Minister and new acting president Choi Sang-mok speaks as he presides over a meeting of the National Security Council at the Government Complex in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

South Korea's acting President Choi to appoint two Constitutional Court justices

The move is an effort to restore stability after the impeachment of two of his predecessors this month triggered political turmoil.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace Small Hall in Tokyo on November.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2025

Emperor prays for world peace in New Year's message

Emperor Naruhito stressed the "importance of people recognizing their differences and working hand in hand to realize a peaceful world."
Pipework at a Russian gas storage facility operated by Gazprom
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2025

Russia and Ukraine end five decades of gas transit to Europe

The stoppage means central European countries that have relied on the flows will be forced to source more expensive gas elsewhere.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako attend a New Year ceremony at the Imperial Palace on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 2, 2025

Emperor wishes for peaceful year for those affected by disaster

Emperor Naruhito expressed his wish on Thursday for a peaceful year for people affected by disasters, following a strong earthquake that struck the Noto Peninsula a year ago.
Checkpoint officers at the border between Romania and Bulgaria man their stations on Dec. 31, moments before both countries join the Schengen zone.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2025

Romania and Bulgaria become full members of EU's Schengen zone

The two countries join an expanded bloc whose residents can travel without passport checks.
The strategic partnership agreement between Japan and the European Union took effect on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025

Japan-EU strategic partnership agreement takes effect

Under the deal, both sides will strengthen cooperation in a wide range of fields, including security, environment and energy, and personnel exchanges.
The Japanese icebreaker Shirase arrived at Japan's Antarctic research base on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2025

Japanese icebreaker Shirase reaches Showa Station in Antarctica

Goods and fuel will be transported to the base from the Shirase using snowmobiles following the arrival.
Police officers investigate the scene after 15 people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 3, 2025

New Orleans attack shows enduring influence of Islamic State group

Since 2019, when then-U.S. President Donald Trump declared the group’s so-called caliphate had been defeated, Islamic State has "metastasized” elsewhere.
Abdur Rahim Jabbar, half-brother of the man accused of the New Orleans truck attack, sits in the garage of their house in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025

Investigators seek clues to New Orleans attacker's path to radicalization

It is still unclear what contact Shamsud-Din Jabbar might have had with overseas extremist groups.
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp., Nomura Holdings Inc. and SBI Holdings Inc. are among at least 20 companies that have invested in X&KSK Fund, which is set up by former national soccer star Keisuke Honda.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 3, 2025

Soccer star Honda’s venture capital AI fund raises $98 million

Keisuke Honda, who has scored goals in three World Cups, seeks to create a so-called decacorn in Japan — a closely held company with a market value of more than $10 billion.
The Japan Transport Safety Board, which last month released an interim report on a deadly collision between a Japan Airlines passenger plane and a Japan Coast Guard aircraft at Haneda Airport a year ago, plans to a final report outlining measures to prevent a recurrence.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2025

Safety board to further analyze JAL jet collision at Haneda

The Japan Transport Safety Board will compile a final report that includes measures to prevent any recurrence of similar accidents.
Security personnel stand guard outside the Superdome ahead of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 3, 2025

Tragedy in New Orleans casts somber mood over Sugar Bowl

Heavy security blanketed New Orleans on Thursday as the Sugar Bowl went off without a hitch.
Ami Yuasa won the B-Girl competition during the breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Jan 3, 2025

Breaking’s big year that wasn’t

Beyond music insiders or Olympic aficionados, most would struggle to recall the winners of the inaugural breaking competition at the Games.
Then-economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura marks the opening of the carbon credit market at the Tokyo Stock Exchange in October 2023. The GX League, which includes the emissions trading system, already covers over half of Japan’s emissions.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 3, 2025

Japan poised to lead in a brighter carbon market era

The patchy, voluntary nature of carbon markets around the world is finally changing after world leaders agreed to a new system for trading emissions reductions across borders.
Head of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and Syria's de facto leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa (right), meets with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (left) and French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (center) in Damascus on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

Europe tries to build ties with Syria and cut Putin’s influence

A visit by the German and French foreign ministers to Damascus was part of attempt to persuade Syria's new rulers to reduce Russia’s influence over the country.
A man pushes a cart along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025

Ahead of Trump term, U.S. cities grapple with homelessness

The crisis worsened with the end of pandemic-related aid, and are driven by a lack of affordable housing, as well as inflation and low wages.
A demonstrator holds a placard that reads "I will fight with President Yoon Suk Yeol" during a rally in support of the impeached South Korea president in the Gwanghwamun area of Seoul on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 4, 2025

South Korea's political crisis: what could happen next?

From another arrest attempt to waiting for a Constitutional Court decision, the scenarios that could decide President Yoon Suk Yeol's fate are numerous.
Recovering Ukrainian soldiers pray at the Holy Cell of Saints Archangels Falakrou in Mount Athos, Greece
WORLD
Jan 4, 2025

Wounded Ukrainian soldiers find solace in Greek monasteries

They arrived with marks of war — one with a head scar, another with both legs amputated above the knee, and some with invisible mental wounds.
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?
Britain's Reform U.K. party leader Nigel Farage speaks during a news conference in London on Nov. 28.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Musk turns on U.K.'s Farage, saying he should quit as Reform party chief

The Tesla CEO, a close ally of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, said the Reform U.K. party leader "doesn’t have what it takes."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visits the graves of fallen soldiers at a cemetery in Lviv on Dec. 17, where defenders of Ukraine who died in the war with Russia are buried.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 6, 2025

Supporting Ukraine is in Trump’s interest

A sovereign, secure Ukraine is in Donald Trump's interest. Otherwise, Vladimir Putin — and others — will smell weakness.
This undated handout picture courtesy of Blue Origin shows the New Glenn rocket during a successful integrated vehicle hotfire at Launch Complex 36 (LC-36) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 6, 2025

Bezos' Blue Origin poised for first orbital launch

The NG-1 mission will carry a prototype of Blue Ring, a Department of Defense-funded spacecraft envisioned as a versatile satellite deployment platform.
Analysts believe the strength of the Japanese economy will help to push up domestic stocks, despite pressure from likely interest rate hikes from the Bank of Japan and uncertainty caused by Donald Trump’s presidency in the U.S.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 6, 2025

Japan stocks look set for new highs in 2025 on earnings and reforms

Analysts see better corporate earnings as the country transitions to a growth economy from a deflationary one.
A subsidy for epidural childbirths was one of Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike's campaign promises when she ran for her position last year.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 7, 2025

Tokyo looks to ease the pain — both physical and financial — of childbirth

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government is looking to begin offering a subsidy for epidural childbirths in fiscal 2025.
Jean-Marie Le Pen gives a speech on Feb. 3, 1973
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2025

French far-right figurehead Jean-Marie Le Pen dies

The far-right bogeyman of French politics, infamous for his dismissal of the Holocaust and anti-immigrant rhetoric, has died at age 96.
Five years since COVID-19 started upending the world, the virus is still infecting and killing people across the globe — though at far lower levels than during the height of the pandemic.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 8, 2025

Is the world ready for the next pandemic?

While the U.N. health agency considers the world more prepared than it was when Covid hit, it warns we are still not nearly ready enough.
Masahiro Nakai in Tokyo in October 2017
JAPAN
Jan 8, 2025

TV networks drop Japan boy band star over sex allegations

Reports say that Masahiro Nakai, a former member of SMAP, paid a woman a lump sum of ¥90 million.
Takeshi Ebisawa poses with a rocket launcher during a meeting with an informant and two undercover Danish police officers at a warehouse in Copenhagen, Denmark on Feb. 3, 2021.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 9, 2025

Yakuza leader pleads guilty in U.S. court to conspiring to sell nuclear material

The leader was charged in February 2024 with conspiring to sell weapons-grade nuclear material and lethal narcotics from Myanmar and purchasing military weaponry.
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart testifies before U.S. Congress during an anti-doping hearing on June 24, 2024.
MORE SPORTS
Jan 9, 2025

U.S. withholds payment to WADA amid dispute over Chinese doping tests

The move to hold back 2024 WADA dues comes in the wake of WADA's controversial handling of positive doping tests by 23 Chinese swimmers who were later allowed to compete.
Greenland's flag flies in Igaliku settlement, Greenland
WORLD
Jan 10, 2025

Denmark says it has neglected Greenland defense for years

Greenland is crucial for the U.S. military and its ballistic missile early-warning system, since the shortest route from Europe to North America runs via the island.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building