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Israeli soldiers during tank drills in northern Israel in October. Washington wants Israel to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip around the end of the year and transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 15, 2023

Washington urges Israel to scale down its war in Gaza

U.S. officials say Biden wants Israel to switch to more precise tactics in about three weeks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin holding his year-end news conference at Gostiny Dvor exhibition hall in central Moscow on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 15, 2023

Vladimir Putin exudes confidence that war in Ukraine is going his way

Russian president referenced Kyiv's struggle in securing more aid from allies in his first year-end news conference after the invasion.
U.S. President Joe Biden hugs Brittany Alkonis, wife of Lt. Ridge Alkonis, on the day of the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress in Washington on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 15, 2023

U.S. Navy officer jailed in Japan transferred to U.S. custody

Lt. Ridge Alkonis has been serving a three-year prison term since being convicted of negligent driving over a fatal car crash.
Dodgers owner Mark Walter puts a jersey on Shohei Ohtani during the superstar's introductory news conference on Thursday. The structure of Ohtani's contract could help the Dodgers get a full return on their investment in the two-way player.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2023

For the Dodgers, Ohtani's megadeal could end up being a bargain

The Dodgers have the makings of a juggernaut, and success on the field will allow the franchise to cash in on Ohtani’s transcendent marketability.
The Dodgers officially introduced two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani during a news conference on Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 15, 2023

Another extraordinary milestone for Shohei Ohtani

Dodgers secure baseball phenom Shohei Ohtani with record-breaking $700 million contract.
There are no villains in Saikaku's stories … just people caught more or less helplessly in life's vortex.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Dec 17, 2023

Tales of a Closed Country: Part 3

There are no truly evil villains in Ihara Saikaku's stories, just people caught helplessly in life's vortex.
Diggers move piles of coal after it was unloaded from a ship at Lianyungang Port in China's Jiangsu province.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 16, 2023

Coal use hits record in 2023, Earth's hottest year

The IEA reported that nations would burn even more coal this year than in 2022, but that demand would tail off starting in 2024.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 16, 2023

Kishida losing grip on LDP as funds scandal unfolds

As the Cabinet's approval rate continues to fall, officials and are beginning to discuss a scenario in which the prime minister is forced to step down.
Tiger Woods laughs at a comment made by Justin Thomas (back) during the PNC Championship in Orlando, Florida, on Saturday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Dec 17, 2023

PGA Tour still aims to meet deadline for Saudi alliance, Woods says

The PGA Tour, scrambling to finalize its merger plans ahead of the deadline, has said it would proceed with talks with U.S.-based Strategic Sports Group.
Matt Boyle of the Greater Manchester Police speaks to reporters after missing teen Alex Batty returned to the U.K. on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 17, 2023

British teen Alex Batty arrives in U.K. six years after vanishing

The teen was found in the middle of the night by a delivery driver after he had walked along a road for four days.
A SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, in 2018
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Dec 17, 2023

A made-in-Japan solution for space junk that goes against the grain

As space junk clogs Earth's orbit, a Kyoto University team has a new solution: wooden satellites.
Naomi Osaka in action at the Pan Pacific Open in Osaka in September 2019.
TENNIS
Dec 17, 2023

'Superstar' Osaka's return a boost for WTA, top coach says

The four-time Grand Slam champion last played a WTA tournament at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in late September 2022.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, who took office in April, has been considered a skeptic of negative interest rates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 17, 2023

One small step for BOJ. One giant leap for the yen.

Japan can hold off on undoing negative interest rates
FIFA President Gianni Infantino speaks in Miami on Dec. 7. On Sunday, Infantino announced details of the 2025 Club World Cup and the 2024 Intercontinental Cup.
SOCCER
Dec 18, 2023

Club World Cup in June-July 2025, Intercontinental Cup in 2024: FIFA

Announcement has drawn criticism from the global players' union FIFPro as well as the World Leagues Forum.
SUMO
Dec 18, 2023

Sumo stablemaster Shikoroyama dies at 60

Shikoroyama made his professional sumo debut from the Izutsu stable, then headed by his father, in 1979.
Smoke rises from damaged buildings in the Gaza Strip on Friday. Washington has appealed to Jordan, Egypt and Gulf states to persuade Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to pursue institutional reforms with urgency to prepare for post-war Gaza.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2023

U.S. wants overhauled Palestinian Authority to run Gaza after Hamas

Washington considers the Mahmoud Abbas-led administration as the the only realistic post-war solution despite its unpopularity.
Israeli soldiers operate in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2023

Israel opens aid crossing to Gaza while stepping up bombardment

Hopes flickered at news that Israel may have spoken with Qatar, one of the mediators of an earlier ceasefire.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton removes his helmet after the qualifying session for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Nov. 25.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 18, 2023

Button expects Hamilton to bounce back 'with the right car'

For the second year running, Mercedes driver Hamilton has failed to win a grand prix.
Tiger Woods walks onto the 18th green with his daughter Sam Woods during the PNC Championship at The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club in Orlando, Florida, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Dec 18, 2023

Woods optimistic following family weekend at PNC Championship

Woods said his surgically repaired right ankle continues to hold up well and that he recovered quickly after the Hero World Challenge earlier this month.
Market players see the yen rallying next year as the Bank of Japan exits the world’s last negative interest rate regime and its global peers cut borrowing costs.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 18, 2023

2023's big currency flop is top pick for year ahead, again

The BOJ's expected unwinding of its ultraeasy monetary policy and the prospects of lower borrowing costs elsewhere set the stage for the yen to rebound.
Harvard University President Claudine Gay testifies before a United States House of Representatives hearing on antisemitism in American campuses on Dec. 5.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 18, 2023

U.S. campus antisemitism debate muddles nuances of free speech

The debate on antisemitism in U.S. campuses doesn’t lend itself to easy answers. What is free speech and what harmful conduct is down to context.
United States Steel's Irvin Plant along the banks of the Monongahela River across from Glassport, Pennsylvania, in August
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023

Nippon Steel defends buying U.S. Steel at premium in global push

The American steelmaker has been considering potential transactions since mid-August, after rejecting an offer from rival Cleveland-Cliffs.
Apple Watch Ultra 2 devices displayed in Los Angeles. Apple said on Dec. 18 it will stop selling some of its smartwatch models in the United States while it fights a patent battle over technology for detecting blood oxygen levels.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023

Apple plans rescue for $17 billion watch biz in face of U.S. ban

If the ban holds, Apple is working on a range of legal and technical options.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2023

Japan’s travel industry urges people to get their mighty passports

Japan’s passport gives visa-free entry to 192 global destinations, according to the latest Henley Passport Index.
A climate activist arranges artwork expressing opposition to fossil fuels at Dubai's Expo City during the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai on Dec. 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 19, 2023

COP28 deal on fossil fuels puts new focus on 'just transition'

From coal miners to offshore oil rig engineers, 32 million people who work in the fossil fuel industry face losing their livelihoods.
In Hayao Miyazaki's films, characters often experience life-changing revelations in midair, such as Haku and Chihiro in "Spirited Away."
CULTURE / Film
Dec 19, 2023

How Hayao Miyazaki’s films continue to take us to the skies

When characters take flight in the films of the master animator, there is always a deeper meaning.
Koo Yeon-kyung, the eldest daughter of LG's former chairperson Koo Bon-moo, at her home in Seoul on Oct. 3. The death of Koo Bon-moo in 2018 without a will sparked a power struggle within the Koo family and LG over the inheritance of his estimated $1.5 billion fortune — including his 11% stake in the company.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2023

Family split at LG tests corporate succession in South Korea

Wife and daughters of late chairman accuse adopted son and other executives of deception to steal their inheritance to bolster his claim to the company.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference after a policy meeting at BOJ headquarters in Tokyo on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 19, 2023

BOJ holds off from policy normalization moves amid growing pressure

BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s comment during a parliamentary session on Dec. 7 increased expectations that the bank might send some signals of a policy change.
In Toshiba, JIP takes on a sprawling company far bigger and more complex than any it acquired before.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Dec 19, 2023

In buying Toshiba, JIP takes on corporate Japan's toughest job

While the fund has quietly built up a track record by carving out businesses from big manufacturers, Toshiba is more complex than any it acquired before.
Sacks of coffee beans at a storage unit in the Sidama region of Ethiopia.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Coffee firms switch sources, evading impact of EU deforestation law

Under the new law, importers of various commodities and products that use them must prove goods did not originate from deforested land.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past