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A pedestrian walks past a theatre promoting the "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child" show in the West End district of London in 2020.
WORLD / Society
Dec 27, 2023

Researchers draw on Harry Potter to magic future AI into our world

The books’ enduring influence, wide range of language and complex wordplay make them particularly valuable for work on generative artificial intelligence.
Netanyahu said Israel would not succeed in freeing the remaining hostages held by Hamas without applying military pressure.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Israel launches more Gaza strikes as Netanyahu says Hamas must be destroyed

Israeli military said its air force carried out a strike against 100 Hamas targets, including tunnel shafts, to assist ground forces in Gazan suburb.
Watanabe has made shapes of (from left) a monkey, an elephant and a giraffe by folding oak leaves with his hands.
CULTURE / Art / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jan 8, 2024

Kumamoto artist embodies re-evaluation of 'outsider art’ in Japan

Dubbed a "genius autistic paper cutout artist," Yoshihiro Watanabe's works are now being alongside those by trained artists.
The iconic structure with its shell-shaped roof at Bennelong Point in Sydney is a source of immense pride for many Australians.
CULTURE / Art
Dec 27, 2023

Yuzo Mikami: The unsung hero behind the Sydney Opera House

On the building's 50th anniversary, those with memories and knowledge of the Japanese architect say recognition of his achievements is long-overdue.
A Ukrainian soldier looks out from a tank as he holds his position near to the town of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Dec. 13.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 28, 2023

The battles Ukraine has already won

Many of the nation's key victories began long before Russia’s latest assault.
Xi Jinping
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Xi touts alternative to Western capitalism in speech on Mao

Xi described "Chinese modernization” as "a cause passed down from veteran revolutionaries including Mao Zedong.”
Supporters hoist a giant Taiwan national flag during a campaign rally for Kuomintang ahead of Taiwan's presidential election, in Taipei on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2023

Whisky and a coal 'shack': Taiwan election is not only about China

The candidates are exchanging blows over everything from property disputes to whether drinking whiskey is out of touch.
As president of Japan's largest opposition party, the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, Kenta Izumi has the unenviable task of mounting a challenge against the ruling coalition led by the Liberal Democratic Party.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 28, 2023

Amid LDP woes, a familiar question reappears: Is the opposition ready?

Faced with a divided opposition and voter skepticism, CDP President Kenta Izumi says he is looking to adopt a stronger tone.
Relatives mourn a loved one killed during Israeli bombardment at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
WORLD
Dec 28, 2023

Gaza deaths soar in Israel-Hamas war as WHO warns of 'acute hunger'

Explosions lit up the sky over the Khan Yunis — a focus of heavy urban combat since the Israeli army said it had largely gained control over Gaza's north.
Masimo's headquarters in Irvine, California. The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled earlier this year that the Apple Watch violates two Masimo patents related to blood-oxygen sensing and imposed an import ban on the Ultra 2 and Series 9 models.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 28, 2023

The email to Tim Cook that set the Apple watch saga in motion

Masimo, based in Irvine, California, is the rare company to wound Apple in a patent dispute.
As Japan’s borders opened back up and tourists eager to document their long-awaited trips to the country streamed back in, 2023 saw a handful of prominent content creators stir up trouble with local residents to grab attention online.
LIFE / Digital / 2023 in Review
Dec 29, 2023

Social media binged on bad behavior in 2023

Mischief makers like Johnny Somali and "sushi terrorism" instigators gained attention online amid a deluge of Japan-related content this year.
U.S. President Joe Biden with IBM’s System One quantum computer during a tour of a facility in Poughkeepsie, New York in 2022. Chinese spies are challenging the C.I.A. by deploying artificial intelligence and other advanced technology as the two nations try to pilfer each other’s trade secrets.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 28, 2023

Chinese spy agency rising to challenge the CIA

In recent years, China's Ministry of State Security has sharpened itself through better training, a bigger budget and the use of advanced technologies.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2023

Japan's Princess Kako turns 29

The princess attended more events in the past year than before, reflecting the removal of COVID-19 pandemic-linked restrictions.
People line up to enter the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the city of Hiroshima on Aug. 14.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2023

Hiroshima museum eyes online ticketing to ease congestion

The surge in visitors to the museum is apparently attributable chiefly to the effects of the Group of Seven summit held in the city in May.
Vishnu Dabad, a Gau Rakshak, or cow protector, and a politician with the regional political party Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), in Chamdhera village, Haryana, India.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 29, 2023

India's far-right cow vigilantes mobilize before high-stakes elections

Some say cow vigilantism has become a way for young men to use popularity built through taking on alleged cattle smugglers to catapult into politics.
Palestinian's mourn relatives killed in an Israeli strike at the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis on the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 29, 2023

Devastating Israel-Hamas war looks set to continue into 2024

The war has more U.S. military forces to the region and fears of spillover are high, with little hope of reviving peace moves as Washington had hoped.
Japanese model Dulmi, 24, was selected as one of eight models in Vogue Open Casting's class of 2023.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 3, 2024

Dulmi: The biracial model bringing change to modeling in Japan and beyond

In a still-rare recognition of the diversity that exists in Japan, the Osaka native was chosen for the 2023 class of Vogue's Open Casting initiative.
Demonstrators march as they protest in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in London on Dec. 9. Huge demonstrations against the Israeli military’s attacks on Gaza have been taking place in the U.K. and elsewhere.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jan 9, 2024

Europe rattled by Israel-Hamas war

Attempts to establish a peaceful international order after two world wars have been greatly shaken by recent conflicts.
As Japan's productivity declines due to the shrinking working-age population, policies that allow for everyone’s full participation in the labor force, especially women, are needed more than ever.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2023

A look back at Japan’s gender laws and fairness in 2023

Gender equality needs to improve to boost Japan’s prospects. What hits and missed opportunities will we remember from 2023?
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son speaks at the SoftBank World 2023 corporate conference in Tokyo on Oct. 4.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2023

Will generative AI speed up Japan's digital transformation?

An initially cautious attitude has given way to wider acceptance in the public and private sectors, providing a boost to digitalization efforts.
The entrance lobby of Accor's Mercure Tokyo Hibiya, which recently opened in the capital
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 2, 2024

Backed by tourism potential, hotels keen to cultivate Japanese market

Because Japan was slow to reopen its borders, there appears to be robust, pent-up demand to visit the country.
People take shelter in a subway station in Kyiv amid a Russian missile attack on Friday.
WORLD
Dec 30, 2023

Russia pounds Ukrainian cities in one of largest air attacks of war

Russia targeted Ukrainian cities with more than 150 missiles and drones Friday morning, in what Ukrainian officials said was one of the largest air assaults of the war.
A Khudi Bari tiny home in Char Shildaha, Bangladesh
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2023

Bangladesh's tiny houses tackle giant flood challenge

The Khudi Bari — resilient tiny homes made on bamboo stilts rising out of the floodwaters that are also easy to move to safer locations when needed — offers hope to millions.
A wafer is pictured at Semicon Taiwan in Taipei
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 30, 2023

This startup shows it won't be easy to contain China's chip industry

The story of Seida illustrates the challenges the West faces in thwarting Chinese development of advanced microchip technology.
Firefighters work to extinguish burning cars following what Russian authorities say was a Ukrainian military strike in Belgorod, Russia, on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2023

Ukrainian missile attack on Russian city kills at least 20: officials

Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a statement that Ukraine had hit Belgorod with two missiles and several rockets.
An Israeli tank near the border with the Gaza Strip on Saturday. As global outrage and impatience grow over the war’s devastating human toll, the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden said late Friday that it was bypassing Congress for a weapons sale to Israel.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2023

Defying U.S. pressure, Israel deepens Gaza assault

The Gaza Health Ministry reported Saturday that 165 people had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and artillery attacks in the previous 24 hours.
The Alumy website, which offers a service for companies that want to connect with individuals who have quit their jobs
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 31, 2023

More Japanese companies move to rehire former employees

Previously, it had been widely believed that quitting a job means completely severing the relationship with the employer.
A colorful coral reef made out of wool to raise awareness about climate change, at a museum in Baden-Baden, Germany, in January 2022
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 31, 2023

The art world's big planetary problem

Over the last five years, it’s become increasingly clear to major art institutions in Japan and around the world that the sector has a sustainability issue.
Though ChatGPT debuted in late 2022, it was really in 2023 that we started to get a sense of what large language models could do, including diagnosing complex medical issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023

The 10 most intriguing science breakthroughs over the past year

As 2023 has drawn to a close, let’s look back on some of the astounding breakthroughs we’ve seen in the last 12 months.
People have their dinner at a restaurant as a screen broadcasts Chinese leader Xi Jinping's New Year's speech in Beijing on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

China's Xi says 'reunification' with Taiwan is inevitable

Chinese leader Xi Jinping's comments come less than two weeks to go before Taiwan elects a new president.

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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