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A drone view shows smoke above Beit Hanoun in the Gaza Strip, as seen from near Kibbutz Nir Am in southern Israel on Dec. 12.
WORLD
Dec 30, 2024

Israeli forces order evacuation of northern Gaza town, residents say

Palestinian and United Nations officials say no place is safe in Gaza and that evacuations worsen the humanitarian conditions of the population.
Mikheil Kavelashvili, elected by lawmakers as Georgia's new president, takes an oath during his swearing-in ceremony at the parliament in Tbilisi on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

New Georgian president sworn in; predecessor calls him illegitimate leader

The presidential standoff is seen as a watershed moment in Georgia, which had been regarded as among the most pro-Western of the former Soviet states.
Former President Jimmy Carter waves to the crowd at the Democratic National Convention 2008
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

World leaders pay tribute to former U.S. President Jimmy Carter

World leaders and politicians pay their respects to the U.S. president who brokered peace between Israel and Egypt and later received the Nobel Peace Prize.
Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico during a meeting in Moscow on Dec. 22.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 30, 2024

Ukraine-Russia gas transit deal faces critical moment of truth

As its year-end expiry looms, Slovakia and a group of central European companies are putting pressure on Ukraine to keep Russian gas flowing.
The start of the 2024 Hakone Ekiden in Tokyo's Otemachi district. Every year on Jan. 2 and 3, Hakone Ekiden brings millions of fans across Japan to a standstill.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 31, 2024

A newcomer’s guide to the Hakone Ekiden experience

Every year on Jan. 2 and 3, Hakone Ekiden brings millions of fans across Japan to a standstill, even people who normally don’t care about running.
Members of the Wajima City Morning Market Association pose for a group photograph on the site where the market once stood.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Dec 30, 2024

In the wake of disaster, the revival of Wajima's market brings hope

Wajima's morning market on the Noto Peninsula was devastated a year ago. Now, led by women vendors and bold ideas, it is rising as a symbol of resilience.
Oleksandr, a 45-year-old Ukrainian soldier of the 1st Separate Assault Battalion Da Vinci, who left his unit without permission and later returned to the army, poses for a portrait in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on Dec. 12.
WORLD / Society
Dec 30, 2024

Desertions spark panic, and pardons, in Ukraine's army

More than 90,000 cases have been opened into instances of soldiers in Ukraine going absent without leave or deserting since Russia invaded in 2022.
At 60, the shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan, with only one system ever sold overseas.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 1, 2025

Japan’s go-slow approach to selling high-speed rail globally

The shinkansen has been mostly stuck in Japan as competitors from Europe and China sell their own high-speed trains in an increasing number of countries.
Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the Democratic Party, South Korea's main opposition party, leaves after delivering a public statement on the impeachment motion against acting President Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

In South Korea’s impeachment saga, who’s really in trouble?

Lee Jae-myung, facing six criminal cases, needs an election before any convictions are finalized, as a conviction could disqualify him from running for president.
Although meat consumption has been dropping, it's not happening quickly enough to meet climate targets, something to keep in mind over the holidays.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 2024

Why are my vegan friends going back to meat?

Helping people eat healthier diets with more fruit, vegetables and fiber would have enormous benefits for human well-being and the planet.
An advertisement in Tokyo's Kabukicho, Japan's largest red-light district. The country is home to a thriving adult entertainment industry and has recently seen a boom in sex tourism fueled by the weak yen and availability of red-light services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 30, 2024

From geisha to oshikatsu, toxic tropes fuel sex industry

It isn't only the foreign gaze that produces stereotypes of Japanese women as submissive and promiscuous. Local laws and cultural norms play just as important a role.
Kozo Naka (right) cries as his wife Sueko looks down during an interview at their temporary housing unit in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 10.
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2024

A fearful New Year's on Noto Peninsula nearly one year after earthquake

More than 200 people still live in shared emergency shelters, while thousands of others are in accommodation units meant as a stop-gap solution.
Some local governments are launching initiatives outside schools to support children who are bullied at school.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 30, 2024

Japan working to address school bullying through local support

"It's necessary to solve the problem in local communities rather than leaving it to schools," a senior official said.
Players test "2045," a new board game by Mizo Games set against the backdrop of armed conflicts around Taiwan, in Taipei on Sept. 22.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 30, 2024

Taiwanese board game invites players to imagine Chinese invasion

The new game, titled 2045, tasks gamers with navigating the troubles of war by using colorful action cards.
Ian Lynam's "Fracture" is the result of 15 years of research and production and excavates 100 years of Japanese graphic design history from the Meiji (1868-1912) to Showa eras (1926-89).
CULTURE / Books
Jan 4, 2025

‘Fracture’ dissects 100 years of Japanese graphic design

Ian Lynam puts his kaleidoscopic expertise to work examining Japanese graphic design from an internationalist and feminist perspective.
National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik offers joss sticks at a memorial for the victims of the Jeju Air crash in Muan, South Korea, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / FOCUS
Dec 30, 2024

What caused South Korea's most deadly plane crash?

As South Korean investigators probe the causes of the country's worst-ever aviation disaster on home soil, experts offer a glimpse at what could have gone wrong.
South Korean acting President Choi Sang-mok pays his respects at a memorial for the victims of Jeju Air Flight 2216 in Muan County, South Korea, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

Plane crash prompts South Korea leaders to pause political fight

The tragedy has compounded the challenges facing South Korea, which is already going through one of its most turbulent periods in years.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a public address from his official residence in Seoul on Dec. 14.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

South Korean court issues arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon

The warrant makes Yoon the first sitting South Korean president to face arrest, following his short-lived bid to impose martial law in the country.
Syria's new leader and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) chief Ahmed Sharaa (right) receives Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha in Damascus on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

Syria eyes 'strategic' ties with Ukraine amid waning Russian influence

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped providing help to Syria would be beneficial to restoring stability in Ukraine.
The tail of Jeju Air Flight 2216 is seen at Muan International Airport in Muan County, South Korea, on Sunday after the aircraft careered down the runway with no landing gear deployed and smashed into a concrete wall, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2024

Two plane crashes lead to deadliest year in skies since 2018

The Jeju Air disaster in South Korea and last week’s downing of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane took the number of fatalities aboard passenger aircraft in 2024 to 318.
A Starlink antenna placed at a public facility in disaster-hit Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Dec. 10
JAPAN
Dec 31, 2024

Ishikawa municipalities weigh Starlink service one year after earthquake

Municipal officials think that Starlink is effective in securing communication methods in the early days of a disaster.
The city of Kumamoto has seen a surge in the number of students from Taiwan, following the arrival of chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. and related businesses in Kumamoto Prefecture.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 31, 2024

Kumamoto public schools respond to influx of Taiwanese students

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s arrival in Kumamoto has heightened the need to adapt to the needs of Taiwanese families.
Children play with fireworks at the Bureij camp for displaced Palestinians on Monday.
WORLD
Dec 31, 2024

World greets 2025 after sweltering year of Olympics, turmoil and Trump

As New Year's Eve parties kicked into gear along Australia's picturesque Sydney Harbour, many revelers were relieved to see the past 12 months in the rearview mirror.
Photos taken from the same place but at different times in the Noto Peninsula towns of Wajima (left) and Suzu illustrate the progress made following the devastating earthquake that hit these areas of Ishikawa Prefecture on Jan. 1, 2024.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 1, 2025

A year after a deadly earthquake, Noto Peninsula still faces long road to recovery

Reconstruction remains a prolonged and complex ordeal for cities in the worst-hit areas, with recovery further hampered by torrential rains in September.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks to Brendan Carr, his intended pick for Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), as he attends a viewing of the launch of the sixth test flight of the SpaceX Starship rocket, in Brownsville, Texas, on Nov. 19.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 31, 2024

Social media companies face global tug-of-war over free speech

Trump’s return to the White House is expected to widen the free speech divide that has long existed between the United States and Europe.
Opium is harvested from poppies in Bang Laem Village, Shan State, Myanmar.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 31, 2024

Drugs, scams and sin: Myanmar’s war has made it the global crime capital

Growing opium poppies is illegal in Myanmar, but small-scale farmers see it is a relatively low-risk cash crop.
Japan's 2024 Word of the Year, "futehodo," is a phrase tied to a Netflix show and highlights the broader decline in the cultural significance of such awards, with recent selections often seen as superficial or promotional.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 31, 2024

Japan’s 2024 word of the year has no rizz

Some critics wondered why the word of the year award was, essentially, functioning as advertising for a TV show that is still available on streaming.
South Korea's Finance Minister and new acting president Choi Sang-mok speaks as he presides over a meeting of the National Security Council at the Government Complex in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

South Korea's acting President Choi to appoint two Constitutional Court justices

The move is an effort to restore stability after the impeachment of two of his predecessors this month triggered political turmoil.
Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako pose for a photo at the Imperial Palace Small Hall in Tokyo on November.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2025

Emperor prays for world peace in New Year's message

Emperor Naruhito stressed the "importance of people recognizing their differences and working hand in hand to realize a peaceful world."
One of the themes in American guitarist Marty Friedman’s autobiography “Dreaming Japanese” is that while he has become a star in his own right in Japan, he still feels that he doesn’t “belong.”
CULTURE / Books
Jan 1, 2025

Guitarist Marty Friedman goes to bat for J-pop in new autobiography

"Dreaming Japanese" tells the story of how the Megadeth guitarist navigated Japan's music industry.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?