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Worshipers pray to the sea goddess Mazu at the Dajia Jenn Lann Temple in Taichung, Taiwan, on Nov. 9.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

China finds sudden faith in 'peace goddess' ahead of Taiwan vote

China sees faith in a sea goddess with origins in Fujian province as the "axis" of its influence operations, according to an intelligence analysis.
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Egypt aims to broker Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas and Israel demands

Chances for a second truce is slim with Hamas demanding a permanent end to Israeli offensive, which Israel has ruled out.
Donald Trump vowed to seek Supreme Court review after Colorado’s top court on Tuesday barred him from the 2024 presidential ballot there.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Trump’s fate rests with the U.S. Supreme Court he shaped

The court will play a pivotal role in determining whether Trump will land in prison — or return to the White House.
LGBTQ activists take part in a protest in Moscow.
WORLD / Society
Dec 21, 2023

LGBTQ+ Russians ask: Should I stay or should I go?

Rights activists fear the ruling could open the door to arrests and prosecutions.
A Mainichi poll this week gave Fumio Kishida's Cabinet a nearly 80% disapproval rate, the worst result since the newspaper began surveying in 1947.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2023

No, seriously, this is one Japan scandal that’s important

With no clear rival, and potential challengers likely reluctant to take their shot with support so low, Kishida may yet hang on in the near term.
Shoppers at a market in Kyiv on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

With Ukraine’s aid in doubt, companies say they’re the Plan B

Ukrainian companies making products are ensuring their survival while contributing to the war effort.
Protesters against the proposal for a new European Super League outside Chelsea's Stamford Bridge Stadium in London in April 2021.
SOCCER
Dec 22, 2023

Fan power remains European Super League's biggest obstacle

Although a ruling against UEFA was hailed by those still seeking to make the Super League a reality, fan power could once again be their biggest hurdle.
Workers disassemble vehicle battery packs in a workshop in Dongguan, China.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023

China bans export of rare earths processing tech over security

China has significantly tightened rules guiding exports of several metals this year, in an escalating battle with the West over control of key minerals.
Boys wait to fill containers with water at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Dec. 16.
WORLD / Society
Dec 22, 2023

Parched Gaza residents praise water tasting 'like sugar' from Egypt

While clean water is badly wanted, Gaza's ruined infrastructure means it is hard to distribute beyond the border town of Rafah.
Shinjuku's Kabukicho is filled with colorful individuals that give the neighborhood its character.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 22, 2023

Christmastime in Shinjuku Golden Gai

One of Tokyo's most storied watering holes gets a little quiet during the holidays now that it relies quite a bit on tourists.
While Magic: The Gathering is popular with card game aficionados the world over, the community in Japan is split along some unexpected lines.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2023

Diehards and casuals clash in Tokyo’s Magic: The Gathering community

The Commander format is widely popular across Europe and the United States, but Japan’s Magic community hasn’t quite followed the same path.
What's old in Tokyo libations is new again at Heiwa Doburoku Kabutocho Brewery, where sake's cloudy, rustic predecessor takes center stage.
LIFE / Food & Drink / Kanpai Culture
Dec 24, 2023

At 2023’s close, Tokyo bars enter a new golden age

This year’s cocktail trends offer a spirit-forward reflection on the past as well as glimpses of the future.
Baltimore Orioles right fielder Anthony Santander warms up near the pitch clock during a game in Baltimore in May.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 22, 2023

MLB tweaks rules on pace of play and first base path

The measures followed off-season discussions with umpires, managers and general managers and came after new pitch clocks shortened game times in 2023.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2023

Japan cuts spending for first time in 12 years in fiscal 2024 budget

The budget for the coming fiscal year that starts in April is estimated at ¥112.07 trillion, down 2% from the current year's initial amount.
The U.S. Supreme Court in Washington
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2023

Push to disqualify Trump pits democracy against the rule of law

Trump’s status as the Republican front-runner for the presidential nomination has created severe tensions.
The Rev. Munther Isaac lights a candle next to an improvised crèche in Bethlehem on Dec. 13. The baby Jesus is lying not in a makeshift cradle of hay and wood, but among the rubble of broken bricks, stones and tiles that represent Gaza’s destruction.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2023

‘God is under the rubble in Gaza’: Bethlehem’s subdued Christmas

The Israel-Hamas war has cast a pall over the birthplace of Jesus.
Desi Permatasari, 32, comforts her daughter, Sheena Almaera Maryam, 5, who was prescribed contaminated cough syrup last year in their home in Bogor, Indonesia.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2023

When children take toxic cough syrup — and live

In Indonesia, one of the places most impacted by the contamination, families struggle to care for survivors while taking action against those responsible.
French police evict migrants from a squat in a disused industrial building not far from the Paris 2024 Olympic Village in Ile-Saint-Denis, near Paris, in April.
WORLD / Society
Dec 25, 2023

Asylum-seekers and Roma evicted from Paris squats ahead of Olympics

Advocates and some officials say the evictions appear to be a policy aimed at beautifying the area for the sporting event.
A woman holding an umbrella walks near a fluttering Taiwanese flag outside the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall in Taipei in November.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 25, 2023

What’s at stake in Taiwan’s January presidential election?

Depending on the outcome, the closely watched vote could have markedly different security and economic implications for the entire region.
Workers push damaged solar panels into a machine to be recycled at the We Recycle Solar plant in Yuma, Arizona.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Dec 25, 2023

'Urban mining' offers green solution to old solar panels

Silver, copper, aluminum, glass and silicone are all commodities that can be harvested from old panels and have value on the open market.
While harsh comments from older generations can sometimes be seen as rude, consider instead that they’re often trying to teach us something they hold on to.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 26, 2023

A survival guide for your first Japanese-style at-home New Year’s

Meeting your partner’s Japanese family for the New Year’s holidays? Here are some do’s and don’ts for an ‘oshōgatsu’ success story.
Bottled and canned cocktails are predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 31, 2023

Are canned cocktails poised for a meteoric U.S. rise?

The bottled and canned cocktail market is predicted to be worth $21.1 billion (about ¥3 trillion) in the U.S. alone by 2027.
A statue depicting Brazilian football legend Pele, designed by Brazilian artist Luis Costa, at Rei Pele pier in Brazil's Sao Paulo state. Friday will mark the first anniversary of the former player's death.
SOCCER
Dec 26, 2023

Pele 'would have been sad' at state of Brazil team, says son

"This crisis didn't appear overnight, there are big and complex problems," said Edinho, 53, who is one of Pele's seven children.
Sayyed Razi Mousavi, senior adviser for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Iran vows retribution after Israel kills senior general in Syria

Razi Mousavi is the most senior commander with Iran's Quds Force to have been killed outside Iran since the death of Gen. Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny appears for his court hearing in Moscow on Jan. 28, 2021.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Russia moves opposition leader Alexei Navalny to Arctic prison

Temperatures at the 'Polar Wolf' colony, one of the toughest prisons in Russia, are set to drop to around minus 28 degrees Celsius over the next week.
Nancy Mills in a photo that appears to have been taken on Amami Oshima
JAPAN / History
Dec 26, 2023

New Yorker recalls life on Amami island 70 years after reversion

Tracing her early childhood through photographs and letters, 74-year-old Nancy Mills wishes for Amami residents' happiness.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Civilians in Gaza navigating 'human chessboard,' says U.N. official

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fight against Hamas militants amid international pressure to reduce harm to civilians.
Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities sold Additional Tier 1 notes from Credit Suisse more aggressively than any other firm in Japan, with its sales making up about two-thirds of the notes taken up, which totaled ¥140 billion in value.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 26, 2023

MUFJ securities unit sued again over Credit Suisse AT1 bond losses

Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities sold more than two-thirds of the Additional Tier 1 notes taken up in Japan.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley speaks at a campaign town hall in Atkinson, New Hampshire, on Dec. 14.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 26, 2023

Nikki Haley works to broaden reach as bid to beat Trump gains pace

Support for the Republican presidential contender has risen in opinion polls, but falls short among rural voters and those without college degrees.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin III in 2021. The U.S. military carried out strikes on three sites used by Iran-backed forces in Iraq on Dec. 25 after an attack wounded American personnel earlier that day, Austin has said.
WORLD
Dec 26, 2023

U.S. launches strikes on Iran-backed militants in Iraq after attack

The report comes amid fears of broader conflict in the region, the same day an Israeli air strike in Syria was said to have killed an Iranian commander.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan