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Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks on Saturday in Tokyo at a rally that was held by a group of families of Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea decades ago to demand the immediate return of all abductees.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 24, 2024

Ishiba shelves proposal for liaison offices with North Korea amid rising tensions

The Prime Minister has expressed his commitment to resolving the abduction issue, as well as his willingness to hold talks with Kim Jong Un.
Tehran's illuminated city skyline on Sept. 20. 2019
WORLD / Politics
Nov 24, 2024

Iran braces for Trump reset with economy buckling from sanctions

With Iranians struggling with economic hardship after years of sanctions, its leaders are signaling they’re keen to establish a different relationship this time around.
Gautam Adani, whose role as chairman and founder of India's Adani Group has made him one of the world's richest people, in Boston on Oct. 28, 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Adani charges to test Trump’s desire to keep India in U.S. orbit

The case against Gautam Adani is yet another reminder of the long reach of U.S. law — one that can affect both friends and foes around the world.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump approaches to embrace Donald Trump Jr. at his campaign rally in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Nov. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 25, 2024

Trump's son helping him pick most controversial Cabinet of modern times

Donald Trump Jr. is helping contenders sink or rise to the fore, according to a half dozen sources with knowledge of his role.
A view of the city skyline and Huangpu river in Shanghai on Feb. 24, 2022
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 25, 2024

China's startups suffer as investors exercise redemption rights

The situation conflicts with the government's resolve to foster innovation and achieve technological self-reliance in systemically important industries.
Sacks of untreated and shredded plastic waste, left unattended, collect at an inoperative recycling site in Asan, South Korea, on Nov. 19.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Nov 25, 2024

South Korea's mountain of plastic waste shows limits of recycling

Seoul says that it recycles 73% of its plastic waste, but environmentalists say the real number is about 27%.
Former Lower House member Masatoshi Akimoto (center) enters the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward on Monday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 25, 2024

Former Japanese lawmaker Masatoshi Akimoto denies accepting bribes

Akimoto said that he received the payment in question, but added that the money was "neither a reward for a job nor a benefit."
Taiwan celebrates with the trophy after beating Japan in the Premier12 final at Tokyo Dome on Sunday.
BASEBALL
Nov 25, 2024

Taiwan celebrates after team's victory over Japan in Premier12 final

Taiwan is not a global sporting powerhouse but baseball is hugely popular.
Four House Republicans wrote to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo on Friday, saying that recent developments related to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) "have called into question the integrity of its decision-making process,” and demanding the preservation of records related to a potential sale of U.S. Steel to Japan's Nippon Steel.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 26, 2024

U.S. Steel review targeted by Republicans for potential probe

GOP lawmakers are calling on U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to preserve documents related to the proposed sale to Japan's Nippon Steel.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19. Trump on Monday threatened to slap China, Mexico and Canada with hefty tariffs upon his return to the White House.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 26, 2024

Trump pledges 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and more levies on China

The president-elect says he will sign executive orders to enforce the measures when he returns to the White House on Jan. 20.
Ukrainian cadets hold lit candles as they stand in attention before the Motherland Monument during a commemoration ceremony marking the 1,000th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Kyiv on Nov. 19.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

For EU, North Korean troops add new dimension to war in Ukraine

Pyongyang's move and the return of Donald Trump to the White House are further complicating EU efforts to end the bloody conflict.
Supporters of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party march toward Islamabad in Punjab province on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

One killed in clashes with Imran Khan's supporters in Pakistan

The latest protest march, which former Prime Minister Imran Khan has described as the "final call," is one of many his party has held to seek his release from jail.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos (center) stands beside Vice President Sara Duterte (left) in a traditional dress after he delivered his first State of the Nation address at the House of Representatives in Quezon City,  Manila, on July 25, 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Philippines' Marcos vows to fight back after estranged VP's death threat

The threat by Sara Duterte, daughter of firebrand former President Rodrigo Duterte, is the latest twist in a dramatic spat between the powerful families.
The national flag of Saudi Arabia at their pavilion at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 14
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Nov 26, 2024

How Saudi Arabia turned back climate progress at COP29

After three decades of being the main opposition at the annual climate talks, the Saudis have developed a sophisticated playbook.
Eriko Nakamura (left) and Ryo Narita play star-crossed lovers in Shinzo Katayama’s hallucinatory romp through past and present, dreams and reality.
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2024

The mind-bending melancholy of ‘Lust in the Rain’

Shinzo Katayama’s hallucinatory film boldly explores both the absurdities of wartime violence and the erotic psyche.
"I asked for cooperation in next year’s wage negotiations for a substantial wage increase, building on this year’s momentum,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said.
BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2024

Ishiba renews pressure on companies to ramp up pay

Average wage deals this year hit a 33-year-high as firms responded to demands to raise pay amid ongoing inflation.
Aiku Kurotaki’s “Human 1” (2024) — and “Human 0” (2024) to the left — on display at Tokyo’s Som Gallery earlier this year.
CULTURE / Art
Nov 26, 2024

‘From 0 to 1’: Aiku Kurotaki’s fabric of existence

The artist's wool sculptures play off the idea of string theory, which conceptualizes subatomic particles as infinitesimal strings vibrating in fixed patterns.
A Facebook "military interest" page that misrepresented old photos and videos of army operations to falsely claim that Washington was helping its ally Manila prepare for war.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Philippines-China tensions trigger money-making disinformation

Clashes between the two countries in the South China Sea are being manipulated online by disinformation networks for profit, an analysis has found.
Oil drilling equipment on federal land near Fellows, California. Drilling activity on federal lands and waters accounts for about a quarter of U.S. oil production and 12% of gas output.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 26, 2024

Trump prepares wide-ranging energy plan centered on gas and oil, sources say

The plan to roll out the list as early as day one ensures that oil and gas production will rank alongside immigration as a pillar of Trump's early agenda.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, in June 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

Trump team weighs direct talks with North Korea's Kim

Several in Trump's team now see a direct approach from him, to build on a relationship that already exists, as most likely to break the ice with Kim Jong Un.
Wall Street is rotating out of the chip sector, put off by stretched valuations and trade war-related risks under Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 27, 2024

Software is in, chips are out as traders position for Trump era

Software has been on an upswing given its lower exposure to tariff risks, and as the tailwind from AI looks set to shift from infrastructure to services.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi comments on use of the death penalty at a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office on Nov. 14.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024

Two years pass since Japan's last execution, amid calls for abolition

Between 2012 and 2021, the average period from the finalization of a death sentence to its execution was about seven years and nine months.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe speaks during an interview on Friday.
OLYMPICS
Nov 27, 2024

World Athletics chief 'very pleased' with India's Olympic interest but warns of hurdles

Coe, 68, a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters, is one of seven people bidding to be the next president of the International Olympic Committee.
Investigators seize items after raiding a store in the city of Sakado, Saitama Prefecture, that is suspected to have been used by a Vietnamese theft ring as a collection point, on Wednesday. The store's signboard is partly blurred for privacy reasons.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 27, 2024

Police raid Vietnamese theft ring's collection points

The group, linked to crimes in at least 10 prefectures, is believed to have sent stolen items to Vietnam for resale.
DPP leader Yuichiro Tamaki in Tokyo on Tuesday
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 27, 2024

DPP’s Tamaki leverages new position with energy proposal

Yuichiro Tamaki has been a long-time advocate of nuclear power and the reactivation of Japan’s halted nuclear power plants.
Japan has won four games and lost seven since Eddie Jones took over in January.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Nov 27, 2024

Eddie Jones tells Japan to keep faith after heavy defeats

Japan has won four games and lost seven since the Australian took over in January.
Southern Lebanon near the country's border with Israel on Wednesday, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Hezbollah faces long recovery, with thousands of fighters believed killed

One source said the Iran-backed group may have lost up to 4,000 people — well over 10 times the number killed in its monthlong 2006 war with Israel.
Keiichi Kaburagi (Ryusei Yokohama) goes on the run after being sentenced to death for a triple murder he insists he didn’t commit in Michihito Fujii’s “Faceless.”
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2024

‘Faceless’: Fugitive thriller turns a blind eye to hard truths

Michihiro Fujii’s latest offers stylistic flourishes while treading the familiar terrain of the fugitive film.
Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s “The Making of a Japanese” is an even-handed portrait of elementary school in Japan, where the citizens of tomorrow are forged.
CULTURE / Film
Dec 5, 2024

‘The Making of a Japanese’: A warm and engaging portrait of Japanese schoolchildren

Ema Ryan Yamazaki’s documentary is a candid and heartfelt glimpse of elementary school in Tokyo.
Dmitry Polyanskiy, Russia's First Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, speaks at the U.N. headquarters in New York on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 28, 2024

Russia says Trump Ukraine aid cut would be 'death sentence' for Kyiv's military

Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador said Moscow had repeatedly offered to negotiate but Ukraine and its Western backers have favored escalation.

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A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami