Search - 2022

 
 
Naomi Osaka celebrates winning her second round match at the Australian Open over the Czech Republic's Karolina Muchova on Jan. 15.
TENNIS
Feb 6, 2025

Naomi Osaka on tennis, motherhood and being Japanese

Osaka returned to the tour a year ago and has had mixed results overall. But there are early signs in 2025 that she's starting to "get her pink back."
Ippei Mizuhara, former interpreter for Shohei Ohtani, leaves the courthouse in Santa Ana, California, on Thursday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 7, 2025

Ohtani's ex-interpreter Mizuhara sentenced to nearly five years in prison

The case involved the illegal transfer of nearly $17 million from the star's account to pay off gambling debts.
TENNIS
Feb 7, 2025

Rybakina battles past Jabeur into Abu Dhabi semis

The 2022 Wimbledon champion will next face Switzerland's Belinda Bencic for a place in the final.
A monitor in Tokyo shows the yen at the ¥155 level against the dollar on Monday, when it began rallying after a sharp decline in the previous week.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 7, 2025

Yen’s weekly surge underscores growing case for a hawkish BOJ

The Japanese currency has rallied more than 2% this week, heading for the biggest gain since late November.
Spurs center Victor Wembanyama will play in the NBA All-Star tournament after being selected by Charles Barkley in Thursday's All-Star Draft.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Feb 7, 2025

Barkley picks global lineup for NBA All-Star tournament

In a revamped format for the Feb. 16 All-Star event in San Francisco, four elite teams will meet in a tournament format.
The Supreme Court could be called upon in the coming weeks or months to act in a challenge to U.S. President Donald Trump's policies, depending on how quickly appeals move through the lower courts.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Feb 8, 2025

As U.S. Supreme Court girds for Trump cases, can it be an 'effective firewall'?

Since taking office on Jan. 20, Trump's views of presidential authority appear far less restrained than those of his White House predecessors.
Recording artist Kendrick Lamar speaks at a press conference for the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Feb 9, 2025

Kendrick Lamar promises 'storytelling' at Super Bowl show

Speculation abounds as to whether the rapper will perform his award-winning diss track, "Not Like Us."
Latvia's Minister for Climate and Energy Kaspars Melnis (left) and Rolands Irklis, CEO of electricity transmission state system operator AST, pose with a severed cable after technicians worked on the disconnection of the major power line between Latvia and Russia in Vilaka, Latvia, near the Russian border on Saturday.
WORLD
Feb 9, 2025

Baltic nations disconnect from Russian power grid ahead of linking with EU

The Baltic states have disconnected from Russia's power grid and will synchronize with the EU's system, marking a major step toward energy independence and security.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and U.S. President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Ishiba says Trump didn't push defense spending hike or discuss tariffs

Ishiba also echoed Trump's pledge to help mediate a move by Japan’s Nippon Steel to invest in U.S. Steel rather than purchasing the American company.
India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi (center) is being greeted by party members after he arrives at the Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters to celebrate the party's win in the Delhi legislative assembly election in New Delhi on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 9, 2025

Indian PM's party celebrates landslide win in New Delhi

Modi’s BJP secured a landslide victory in Delhi, unseating Arvind Kejriwal and reclaiming power from AAP in the capital after 25 years.
The Auckland city skyline in 2021
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2025

New Zealand changes ‘golden visa’ to lure wealthy migrants

As well as dropping the English language test, other potential barriers to investment such as the amount of time investors must stay in the country will be adjusted.
Svitlana Vakar and her grandson Maksym wait for a chance to visit the boy’s father, who was picked up for military conscription on his way to work, outside a recruitment center in Kyiv on Jan. 27.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 10, 2025

At a draft site in Ukraine, an anguished wait for a chance to say goodbye

The well of volunteers to fight against Russia has run dry after three years of grinding war, leading the Ukrainian military to chase draft dodgers to help replenish the ranks.
Drug rehab patients walk in formation to have lunch at the Mega Drug Abuse Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, north of Manila, in 2019.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 10, 2025

Abuse and coercion rife in Philippines drugs rehab, rights groups say

Rights groups say some facilities fail standards and have called for more health and social support.
Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte attends a news conference in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, the Philippines, on Friday. Would-be senators elected on May 12 face a duty few bargained for — as jurists in the impeachment trial of Duterte.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

Duterte's future in balance as Philippine election season kicks off

Would-be senators elected during the May 12 vote will be jurists in the impeachment trial of the vice president.
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Osaka in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

Russia seen playing hardball with Trump on Ukraine peace discussions

Donald Trump, who has repeatedly stated he wants to end the war in Ukraine, said he thought he was making progress, though he has not shared how he hopes to end the conflict.
Billionaire Elon Musk's bid is likely to ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the future of the ChatGPT maker at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 11, 2025

Musk-led group makes $97.4 billion bid for control of OpenAI

The move was another salvo in billionaire Elon Musk's fight to block the AI startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.
Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2025

Trump funding freeze threatens Ukraine probe of alleged Russian war crimes

At stake are six U.S.-funded projects at the Prosecutor General's Office valued at $89 million, according to a Ukrainian document on the U.S. funding and cuts.
People walk past a banner that reads "no to divorce" outside the Quiapo Church in Manila. The Philippines is one of just two countries — along with Vatican City — where divorce is illegal, and the Catholic Church retains a powerful grip on society and outsize influence on politics.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Feb 11, 2025

Philippine divorce activists vow to fight on

The Philippines is one of just two countries — along with Vatican City — where divorce remains illegal.
The city of Settsu in Osaka Prefecture, which has distributed "randoseru" to elementary schoolchildren for free for 50 years, marked the milestone with a redesign of the school backpack.
JAPAN / Society
Feb 16, 2025

City marks 50 years of free school bag project

The city redesigned the traditional backpack for the first time, increasing its capacity, in the fiscal year that started in April 2024.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs executive orders, including two official proclamations that will impose a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum from all countries globally, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 12, 2025

Japan asks for exemption from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs

Officials in Tokyo said the government will closely examine the impact of U.S. measures on Japanese companies and will take necessary actions.
Self-Defense Forces members march in formation at the Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefectures, last November. Japan has picked the head of its new Joint Operations Command, which is set to be launched on March 24 at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Feb 12, 2025

SDF Joint Staff official tapped as first chief of new Joint Operations Command

The Joint Operations Command for the ASDF, the Ground SDF and the Maritime SDF is set to be launched in March at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in Tokyo.
Sam Altman (left) and Elon Musk were among the 11-person team that founded OpenAI in 2015.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 12, 2025

AI feud: How Musk and Altman's partnership turned toxic

Facing a barrage of hostility, Altman has increasingly suggested that Musk's actions stem from regret over leaving OpenAI in 2018.
Fredric Gushin, president and CEO of Spectrum Gaming Group
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2025

Thailand's big casino gamble hangs on fine print of regulations

Experts warn success will come only by playing its cards right on regulation.
Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone (left) tries to get a shot away in front of Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid during the second period at Rogers Place, Edmonton, Canada on Dec. 14, 2024.
MORE SPORTS / Ice Hockey
Feb 12, 2025

Canada and Sweden ready to drop puck on anticipated 4 Nations Face-Off

Not since the 2016 World Cup of Hockey have the NHL's brightest stars lined up against each other to compete for their countries.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018
WORLD / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

In U.S. policy reversal, Trump and Putin agree to Ukraine talks

Trump's move blindsided European allies, who feared the more conciliatory American stance amounted to a giveaway to the Russian leader.
A hapless rakugo comic storyteller, Tamon Saito (Tomizo Nobe, left), strikes up an unlikely relationship with a young comedian (Nagiko Tsuji) who wants to rip off his routine in “Laugh, Everyone!”
CULTURE / Film
Feb 13, 2025

'Laugh, Everyone!’: A wonky but endearing double act

Taichi Suzuki’s comedian buddy movie walks a fine line between funny and bleak.
New Zealand Ambassador to Japan Hamish Cooper says his country and Tokyo are close to inking a key intelligence-sharing agreement that will further reinforce growing security and defense ties.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 13, 2025

New Zealand paving way for deeper security ties with Tokyo, envoy says

The moves are part of a reset in New Zealand’s foreign and defense policy as Wellington looks to step up engagements with its Asian partners.
Rory McIlroy celebrates on the 18th hole after winning the Pebble Beach Pro-Am in Pebble Beach, California, on Feb. 2.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Feb 13, 2025

Rory McIlroy had conversation with Donald Trump about PGA-LIV deal

McIlroy said he played golf with Trump in early January and felt Trump supported the PGA over Saudi-backed LIV.
People attend a vigil for a recently deceased 43-year-old Japanese woman in central Budapest on Feb. 4
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Feb 13, 2025

Hungarian police discipline officers over Japanese woman’s death

Despite repeated claims of domestic abuse at the hands of her ex-husband, local police failed to follow up with an investigation until it was too late.
Part of the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition is seen on Dec. 11, 2024, in Riyadh.
SOCCER / World cup
Feb 14, 2025

Saudi Arabia to ban alcohol at 2034 FIFA World Cup

The Saudi ambassador to the United Kingdom quipped that much like Saudi Arabia's dry weather, "It's a dry country."

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