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Supporters of then-President Donald Trump clash with police while storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 29, 2024

Will the guardrails of U.S. democracy hold?

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump continues to express admiration for authoritarian leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference and phone-in, in Moscow, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Putin offers Trump talks while defending his invasion of Ukraine

The order to invade Ukraine "should have been made earlier," and Russia should have prepared better, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Nov. 13.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 31, 2024

Will the second Trump boom go bust?

Trump is inheriting a strong economy, but he faces a more challenging economic landscape than he did in his first term.
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Dec. 10 prior to talks on political, trade and economic relations
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024

Finnish PM seeks boosted military tech ties with Japan

“Finland is keen to deepen bilateral relations, and Japan is an important strategic partner for Finland,” Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told The Japan Times.
One of two Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Type 056 gray corvettes is seen docked at a pier at Cambodia's Ream Naval Base on Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2024

Cambodia to grant Japan visitation rights to China-linked naval base

Hun Sen, Cambodia's Senate president, announced the decision to grant U.S. ally Japan access during a visit by Takeo Akiba, its national security adviser.
People play pickleball in New York on Dec. 8.
TENNIS
Dec 21, 2024

Australian Open to provide platform for pickleball from 2025

Melbourne Park's Court 3 will transform into pickleball central from Jan. 24-26 next year, as an international field of players compete for top honors.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (third from right) and other officials visit the site Saturday of a car-ramming attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany.
WORLD
Dec 22, 2024

Suspect in deadly Christmas market attack railed against Islam and Germany

The attack left five people dead — including a 9-year-old child — and wounded 205 others.
MLB Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson after throwing out the ceremonial first pitch before a game between the Mariners and the Athletics in Seattle on Sept. 29.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 22, 2024

Rickey Henderson, baseball’s flamboyant ‘Man of Steal,’ dies at 65

Henderson holds the MLB career record for stolen bases with 1,406 — a mark unlikely to be swiped from him anytime soon, or perhaps ever.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom stands with Chinese Ambassador to the United States Xie Feng at an event welcoming pandas to the San Diego Zoo on Aug. 8. American intelligence agencies have warned of influence operations targeting city halls and statehouses. But what's in it for Beijing?
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 22, 2024

As China seeks influence, it has a cuddly way into city hall: pandas

Records and interviews show that Beijing has used pandas as leverage to shape policy on Taiwan and to cultivate relationships with local U.S. politicians.
Steam rises from a geothermal plan in Yuzawa, Akita Prefecture. Despite its long history and potential, geothermal provided just 0.3% of Japan's overall energy mix in the fiscal year from April 2023
ENVIRONMENT / Energy / OUR PLANET
Dec 22, 2024

Is Japan finally ready to tap its abundant geothermal energy potential?

Japan boasts the world’s third-largest potential supply of geothermal energy, but this renewable energy resource has mostly been untapped.
People gather to view a rocket launch test by AstroX in the city of Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture on Nov. 9.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 22, 2024

Fukushima startup aiming to launch rocket from flying balloon

Since the method does not require large-scale ground facilities, the cost can be reduced to one-third of that on the ground, according to the company.
Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party, casts his vote during an impeachment vote against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at the National Assembly in Seoul  Dec.14.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 22, 2024

A race to the Blue House or the jail house

Since the end of martial law in 1987, there have been eight democratically elected presidents — and all but two of those have either been impeached or imprisoned.
People walk through Vilnius, Lithuania, on Dec. 17. Lithuania’s national opera house had stopped showing Tchaikovsky’s 1892 masterpiece in solidarity with Ukraine over the war with Russia.
WORLD / Society
Dec 22, 2024

A cultural casualty of the war in Ukraine: ‘The Nutcracker’

Many in the art world oppose banning works on the basis of their nationality, believing that culture has the power to unite and should not be contaminated by politics.
Visitors to Kyoto walk along a street near Kiyomizu Temple in April. A popular tourist spot, Kyoto has seen what locals feel to be an overwhelming amount of tourists in 2024.
LIFE / Travel / Longform
Dec 23, 2024

Is Japan ready for 60 million tourists?

Inbound tourism to Japan reached a record high in 2024, but managing the crowds and ensuring sustainability remain a challenge.
Emperor Emeritus Akihito and Empress Emerita Michiko at the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo prior to the wake of Princess Yuriko on Nov. 24. The emperor emeritus was deeply sorrowful over the death of his aunt, aides said.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Emperor Emeritus Akihito turns 91

The emperor emeritus spends his days caring for Empress Emerita Michiko who broke her right thigh bone in October.
Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani reacts to a standing ovation from fans after hitting his 50th home run of the season, against the Marlins in Miami on Sept. 19.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 23, 2024

For baseball fans, 2024 brought The Summer of Shohei Ohtani

The superstar was the center of attention for almost a full calendar year during a season straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Some of the same mistakes made during COVID-19 can be seen in the U.S. government's response to H5N1, which started in poultry before a new variant began infecting the nation’s dairy cows.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

Another pandemic is inevitable, and the U.S. isn't ready

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s picks to lead the nation’s top public health agencies also don’t inspire confidence.
The Nagano District Court found Daisuke Maruyama guilty of killing his 47-year old wife, Nozomi, who was a company executive, in September 2021 at their home in the city of Shiojiri, Nagano.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2024

Ex-Nagano assembly member sentenced to 19 years in prison for killing wife

Prosecutors argued that Daisuke Maruyama, 50, was motivated to kill his wife because she would not agree to a divorce.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Jan 3, 2025

AI has not yet destroyed democracy

The worst predictions about AI disrupting the democratic process were not borne out in 2024.
Italy's Jannik Sinner in action during the Davis Cup Finals on Nov. 24. Sinner was cleared of wrongdoing in a doping case this year, but an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency means a potential ban of up to two years is still hanging over his head.
TENNIS
Dec 24, 2024

Players on edge after Sinner and Swiatek doping cases

Time out of the game to serve or fight a doping ban means a loss of income for players.
North Korea has sent thousands of troops to reinforce the Russian military in Ukraine.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

Over 1,000 North Koreans killed or wounded fighting for Russia, Seoul says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy later gave a far higher estimate, saying the total killed and wounded in the Kursk region has already exceeded 3,000.
Indonesia takes on Saudi Arabia in a World Cup Asian qualifier match in Jakarta on Nov. 19.
SOCCER
Dec 24, 2024

Thohir determined to take 'sleeping giant' Indonesia back to World Cup

Thohir has overseen efforts to entice members of the Indonesian diaspora, mostly born in the Netherlands, to play for the land of their heritage.
JR Kyushu concluded that it will not be able to guarantee the safety of the Queen Beetle high-speed passenger ferry operations even after safety measures are taken.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

JR Kyushu to end passenger ship operations after water leak incident

JR Kyushu Jet Ferry covered up a water leak incident on its high-speed passenger ferry linking Hakata Port with the city of Busan in South Korea.
A Wizzair Airbus A320-200 plane lands in Riga International Airport, Latvia, in 2019.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

European airline pilots and crews voice concerns about Middle East routes

The safety debate about flying over the Middle East is playing out in Europe largely because pilots there are protected by unions, unlike other parts of the world.
From Dec. 9 to Dec. 15, there were 94,259 flu cases reported across some 5,000 hospitals and clinics nationwide, according to the health ministry.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024

Health ministry urges caution as flu cases rise nationwide

There were 94,259 cases of the flu reported across some 5,000 hospitals and clinics nationwide in the second week of December.
The Self-Defense Forces facilities are believed to have become sources of PFAS contamination because they used firefighting foam containing the toxic chemicals in the past.
JAPAN / Science & Health
Dec 24, 2024

High levels of PFAS found in water from 44 private suppliers across Japan

Among them are five that supply water to Self-Defense Forces facilities.
Internally displaced Syrians from eastern Ghouta queue for food in a Damascus countryside in April 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2024

Global hunger crisis deepens as major nations skimp on aid

The United Nations says that, at best, it will be able to raise enough money to help about 60% of the 307 million people it predicts will need humanitarian aid next year.
David Nemecek
BUSINESS
Dec 25, 2024

The star dealmakers remaking the rules of corporate debt

The world of liability management is a small, aggressive and, thus far, male-dominated corner of corporate finance.
Novak Djokovic plays in an exhibition match in Buenos Aires on Dec. 1.
TENNIS
Dec 25, 2024

Djokovic has sights set on more glory as Swiatek returns under doping cloud

As doubts grew over Djokovic's motivation and ability to take down the new guard after a disappointing 2024, he stunned the tennis world by hiring Murray to coach him.
The nationwide average for men's healthy life expectancy decreased 0.11 year from the previous survey, three years earlier, to 72.57 years, while that for women rose 0.07 year to 75.45 years.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 25, 2024

Residents of Shizuoka live longest healthy lives in Japan, ranking shows

Every three years the health ministry estimates healthy life expectancy based on a comprehensive survey of living conditions.

Longform

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