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COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2023

The outlook for 2024 appears grim — but nothing is preordained

Given the complex landscape of 2024, we can expect to navigate uncertainty, geopolitical shifts and a myriad of pivotal elections.
TENNIS
Jan 1, 2024

New mother Naomi Osaka makes winning return in Brisbane

The four-time grand slam champ beat Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 7-6(9) in the first round of the Brisbane International on Monday.
U.S. President Joe Biden is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as he arrives in the country amid the Israel-Hamas war, on Oct. 18. No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship between the United States and Israel in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

The U.S. and Israel: An embrace shows signs of strain after Oct. 7

No other episode in the past half-century has tested the relationship in such an intense and consequential way as the Israel-Hamas war of 2023.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un meets with commanders of the Korean People's Army in Pyongyang in this undated picture released Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 1, 2024

Kim tells army to 'annihilate' South Korea and U.S. if they initiate conflict

The North Korean leader told his top military officers to use maximum force against South Korea and the United States in event of war.
JAPAN
Jan 1, 2024

Strong quake prompts tsunami warning for Japan's western coast

Residents were said to be trapped in collapsed buildings following the quake, which measured a 7 on Japan's intensity scale — the highest level.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024

Dozens killed as Japan assesses damage from massive quake

The Monday afternoon quake led to the collapse of multiple buildings, caused landslides and sparked a large-scale fire in a popular tourist area.
The ASML headquarters and factory in Veldhoven, Netherlands
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

U.S. pushed Dutch tech company to block Chinese sales

ASML had licenses to ship three top-of-the-line deep ultraviolet lithography machines to Chinese firms until January, when new Dutch restrictions took full effect.
A man dozes while leaning on a crutch as he sits outside a tent where displaced Palestinians are camped in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

Israel army warns Gaza war will continue throughout 2024

Its 300,000 reserve soldiers will be gradually deployed in the battle against Hamas.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year's speech in Beijing on Sunday had made reference to the inevitability of China's "reunification" with Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 2, 2024

China calls on Taiwan's people to promote 'peaceful reunification'

Message by the head of the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Office follows tone of Chinese president's New Year remarks.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024

Japan's nuclear power plants largely undamaged following quake

While the plants escaped serious damage, the tremor could once again spark public concern about the safety of nuclear energy.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida awaits the results of a no-confidence vote against his Cabinet in the country's parliament on Dec. 13.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 2, 2024

Unpacking the LDP's expected leadership race

LDP politicians are already talking about a leadership change, and the polls have shifted to who the public wants to see in the prime minister’s office.
Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns on science.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 2, 2024

Let’s stop insulting each other as ‘anti-science’

Take any scientific issue that involves political choices, from public health to climate change, all sides claim to be basing their concerns in science.
JAPAN
Jan 2, 2024

Five dead after Japan Airlines jet collides with coast guard plane at Haneda Airport

All 379 people on board the JAL plane exited safely but five of the six people on the coast guard plane died, with the captain sustaining serious injuries.
People gather at the site of an explosion in what security sources say is an Israeli drone strike in the Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Gaza war spreads to Beirut with killing of Hamas deputy leader

Lebanese and Palestinian security sources said Israel was behind the drone strike that killed Saleh al-Arouri.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason steams through the Atlantic Ocean. Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the Red Sea takes the projection of Iranian power in the region to another level but it is unlikely to want direct confrontation — its old frigate is no match for the U.S.-led maritime task force patrolling the waters off Yemen.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Iran’s Red Sea power play raises fears of trade disruption

Tehran's dispatch of a warship to the region emboldens Yemen's Houthis, who are attacking vessels headed to or owned by firms in Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the the Kirya military base in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Netanyahu boxed in by fierce pressure over war, politics and budget

Whether his government will survive 2024 is a renewed topic of debate that will now play out against the backdrop of war.
Wrestlers with the Shikoroyama stable after a training session in Tokyo late last month.
SUMO / INSIDE SUMO
Jan 3, 2024

Opportunities abound for sumo's governing body as centenary nears

Much progress has been made in Japan’s national sport in recent years, but there's still work to be done to better cater to foreign fans.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Japan Coast Guard plane not cleared for takeoff before collision: transcripts

Transcripts of traffic control instructions released by authorities appeared to show the Japan Airlines passenger plane had been given permission to land.
Then-Harvard University President Claudine Gay attends a candle lighting ceremony for the seventh night of Hanukkah on Harvard University’s campus on Dec. 13. Faced with a new round of accusations over plagiarism in her scholarly work, Harvard’s president Claudine Gay announced her resignation on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Harvard president resigns after rows over plagiarism, anti-Semitism

Claudine Gay had come under ferocious attack over plagiarism accusations and her response to antisemitism on campus amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud attends a meeting during the 2023 BRICS Summit in Johannesburg on Aug. 24, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

Saudi Arabia officially joins BRICS bloc

Saudi Arabia's entry comes amid geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China, and the expansion of China's influence within the kingdom.
A Japan Airlines (JAL) passenger plane burns on the tarmac at Tokyo's Haneda Airport on Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Runway safety concerns in focus as Japan probes Tokyo crash

The collision of two airplanes at Haneda Airport comes just weeks after the global airline industry heard fresh warnings about runway safety.
Firefighters inspect collapsed wooden houses in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Tuesday, a day after a major 7.6 magnitude earthquake struck the Noto region in the prefecture.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Ishikawa quake rescue efforts ramp up as crucial time window narrows

Over 33,000 people are staying in evacuation centers with limited access to electricity and water.
China has cast Taiwan's Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary elections as a choice between war and peace, warning that an attempt to push for the island's formal independence means conflict.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 3, 2024

'Hawkish' China likely to squeeze Taiwan militarily after poll

With both the DPP and KMT pledging to bolster the island's defenses, Beijing is expected to continue its saber-rattling regardless who emerges victorious in the polls.
Firefighters and first responders inside a residential building that was hit by a Russian missile strike in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD
Jan 3, 2024

Russia hammers Kyiv with missiles in large-scale attack

The barrage came a day after President Vladimir Putin of Russia promised to retaliate for a Ukrainian assault on a Russian city.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's President Xi Jinping after a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21. China has refused to push back against the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine, in the hopes that the war would weaken the United States and NATO.
COMMENTARY / The Year Ahead
Dec 11, 2023

Europe’s Chinese new year

The last year has solidified China’s status as one of the most salient foreign-policy challenges facing Europe. But it has been a long time coming.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

Japanese firms rush to send supplies to areas devastated by quake

Various companies nationwide are preparing to provide food, water and other relief supplies to Ishikawa Prefecture and surrounding areas.
Frontiers players pose with their trophies after winning the Rice Bowl at Tokyo Dome on Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 3, 2024

Frontiers roll over Impulse once again for third straight Rice Bowl

As with other recent title showdowns, Panasonic had opportunities throughout the game, but near-misses and questionable decisions saw them come up short.
Evacuees rest at a shelter in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2024

In pictures: Rescue efforts continue three days after Ishikawa earthquake

Scenes from Day 3 after a 7.6 magnitude earthquake devastated parts of the scenic Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on New Year's Day.
People gather near a body lying on the ground at the scene of explosions during a ceremony held to mark the death of Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani, in Kerman, Iran, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 4, 2024

Iran vows revenge after blasts kill nearly 100 at commander's memorial

No one has claimed responsibility for the explosions at the cemetery where Qassem Soleimani, a former head of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, is buried.
A man looks out at the burnt wreckage of a Japan Airlines passenger plane on the tarmac at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 4, 2024

Japan Airlines estimates loss of about $105 million from collision

The loss of the aircraft will be covered by insurance, the company said, adding it was assessing the impact on its fiscal 2023 earnings forecast.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years