Search - time

 
 
Sammy Sosa hit a franchise-record 545 home runs for the Cubs.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 20, 2024

Sammy Sosa and Cubs set to reconcile after slugger apologizes for "mistakes"

Sosa, beloved among Cub fans during his 13 years with Chicago, has remained distant from the team since his final season with the club in 2004.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries speaks to members of the news media along with U.S. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark and House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Trump-backed spending deal fails in U.S. House as shutdown approaches

Government funding is due to expire at midnight on Friday.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Ishiba may visit U.S. in mid-January for talks with Trump

Ishiba hopes to build a personal relationship of trust with the president-elect and confirm the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
A limited edition of PlayStation 5 (PS5) Pro video game console
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2024

Sony’s record climb makes investors more bullish on gaming boom

Sony Group’s long-awaited rise to record highs has emboldened bullish investors and analysts, who see gains extending into 2025 on a robust outlook for video games.
A venue for the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka
JAPAN
Dec 20, 2024

Ride-hailing restrictions to be eased during 2025 Osaka Expo

To meet visitors' demand for transport between April and October, 24-hour operations are to be allowed throughout Osaka Prefecture.
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing

The arrest marked the culmination of an intensive investigation to apprehend the suspect in the fatal stabbing.
Australian rescue crews work at the site of a collapsed building on Friday after an earthquake struck Port Vila, the capital city of Vanuatu.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2024

Rescuers extend search for Vanuatu quake survivors

The 7.3-magnitude earthquake struck off the main island of Vanuatu on Tuesday.
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'

Lawmakers were aiming to stop three amendments that would make it more difficult for voters to oust elected officials who they see as unfit.
A police cordon is set up on Thursday near the scene where a couple was fatally stabbed a day earlier in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 20, 2024

77-year-old man arrested in connection with fatal stabbings and arson in Chiba

Investigators believe the suspect might have harbored resentment toward the deceased couple, which could have led to the attack on Wednesday.
Three political parties' secretaries-general sign a confirmation letter in Tokyo on Friday regarding the tax-free income threshold.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Ruling camp approves tax reform proposal

The ruling bloc agreed to “continue talks in good faith” with the DPP, which wants to further raise the tax-free income threshold.
A pedestrian crossing in Tokyo's Ginza district. In an economic report released Friday, the government cut its assessment on corporate profits for the first time since March 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 20, 2024

Japan says overall economy recovering, but cuts view on corporate profits

Among key economic areas, the government cut its assessment on corporate profits for the first time since March 2023 as the pace of its recovery was moderating.
Ahmed al-Sharaa, head of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Shamthat led the lightning offensive to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad, attends a meeting in Damascus on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

U.S. drops bounty for Syria's new leader after Damascus meeting

The move follows "positive messages" from a first meeting with American diplomats that included a promise to fight terrorism.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a Cabinet swearing-in ceremony on Friday in Ottawa
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

Trudeau does major Cabinet reshuffle amid party pressure and Trump taunts

The reshuffle came at the end of a chaotic week in Ottawa spurred by the surprise resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland.
Self-Defense Force members march in formation at Camp Asaka, which straddles Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, during a ceremony on Nov. 9.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 21, 2024

Japan ready to improve working conditions for SDF members

Improving working conditions for the members "is a serious challenge" for his administration, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a meeting of relevant Cabinet ministers.
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.
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 21, 2024

The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem

Flowing more than 4,300 kilometers from the Tibetan Plateau to Vietnam, the Mekong River is the lifeblood of the region. It also faces a spiraling problem with plastic.
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.
The rise of TikTok has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly over its links to China.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

One billion users, but controversies mount up for TikTok

In Washington, the platform has been accused of espionage, while the EU suspects it was used to sway Romania's presidential election in favor of a far-right candidate.
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.
Syrians step on posters of Bashar Assad and his father, Hafez Assad, in Homs, Syria, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 22, 2024

How Bashar Assad's inner circle fled Syria after his fall

The ousted president was accompanied by only a handful of confidants, leaving both family members and loyal aides to find their own means of escape.
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.
Protesters behead a statue of Saddam Hussein's predecessor, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979, in Baghdad's al-Mansur district in May 2003, erasing one of the last symbols of the Baath Party's 35-year regime.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 22, 2024

Can lessons from Iraq's regime change be applied in Syria?

If regional tensions escalate, disruptions to energy supplies could impact global markets, including Japan, which remains disengaged despite the mounting crisis.
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.
A member of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces stands along a street, after rebels seized the capital and ousted Syrian dictator Bashar Assad, in Hasakah, Syria, on Dec. 11.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Dec 22, 2024

Syrian Kurdish groups on the back foot as power balance shifts

Part of a stateless ethnic group straddling Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Armenia and Syria, Kurds have so far been among the few winners of the Syrian conflict.
The Japanese antitrust watchdog said that Google forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices, sources say.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 23, 2024

Japan accuses Google of violating antimonopoly law

The Japanese antitrust watchdog said the U.S. company forced smartphone makers to preinstall its search app on their devices.
The container ship MSC Marie can be seen transiting through the Panama Canal in this handout picture released by the Panama Canal Authority on Aug. 30.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 23, 2024

Trump threatens that U.S. could retake control of Panama Canal

Donald Trump's comments were an exceedingly rare example of a U.S. leader saying he could push a sovereign country to hand over territory.
A woman places a tribute with flowers and candles left near the "Alter Markt" Christmas market, where a man drove a car into the crowd through an emergency exit route on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, on Sunday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 23, 2024

Suspect in German Christmas market attack held on murder charges

The motive for the attack remains unclear.
Mourners pray during the funeral for Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, in Deir Al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip, on Sunday.
WORLD
Dec 23, 2024

Order to evacuate Gaza hospital 'next to impossible' to obey: medics

The hospital is one of the few still partially functioning in the northern edge of Gaza, an area under intense Israeli military pressure for nearly three months.
Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe (right) scores his side's first goal in a La Liga match against Sevilla in Madrid on Sunday.
SOCCER
Dec 23, 2024

Mbappe back from 'bottom' as Real Madrid downs Sevilla

"We can see on the pitch that I click better with my teammates and now we're all playing better," the player said.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. Strategists are now feeling less optimistic on the yen’s outlook after Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda opened up the possibility of waiting longer for the next rate hike.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 23, 2024

Yen bulls retreat as Fed and BOJ dim hopes of quick narrowing of rate gap

Wide gaps in interest rates could bring back the yen carry trade, in which investors borrow in Japan and deploy the funds in higher-yielding markets.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight