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The plastics issue is particularly difficult due to a lack of viable substitutes and oil producers are increasingly investing in refineries for plastic production as they expect increased demand in that sector.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 3, 2024

Plastics failure is a canary in the climate coal mine

This delay reflects the real-world obstacles these international negotiations face, as a single country can block progress.
Mental health, education and social services needed to intervene in many cases before the behavior of minors became a police issue, said a research paper by the Five Eyes, which also include the U.S., Canada, Britain and New Zealand.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 6, 2024

Young people involved in one-fifth of Australian terrorism cases, intelligence chief says

Australia passed legislation this month to ban children under the age of 16 years from social media platforms starting late next year.
Doctor Mehdi Davut, who heads an association helping Syrians in Istanbul, speaks at his office, where he also runs a health clinic, in Istanbul on Wednesday.
WORLD
Dec 6, 2024

Rebels' capture of Aleppo stirs Syrian homecoming hopes in Turkey

Millions of people have fled abroad from Syria since the war began, including across the frontier to Turkey.
About $105 trillion is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024

A $105 trillion inheritance windfall is on the way for U.S. heirs

The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45% higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago.
Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.
CULTURE
Dec 9, 2024

Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54

Nakayama had a solo Christmas show scheduled in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled the show in the morning, citing health reasons.
A woman waves a Syrian opposition flag as she celebrates at Umayyad Square in Damascus on Sunday as celebrations erupted around Syria after Islamist-led rebels swept into Damascus and declared President Bashar Assad had fled the country.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 9, 2024

Assad’s fall in Syria puts world on watch for more Middle East chaos

Multiple Arab and U.S. officials said that a power vacuum could now be dangerous, with memories of Moammar Gadhafi in Libya and Saddam Hussein in Iraq still fresh.
A protester holding a cardboard cutout of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol takes part in a demonstration calling for his ouster outside the National Assembly in Seoul on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 9, 2024

After failed martial law, South Koreans ask: Who’s in charge?

President Yoon Suk Yeol's move has created a power vacuum in his governing camp, pushing the country deeper into what analysts call a constitutional crisis.
Destruction left in the wake of Russia's military invasion of Ukraine in the city of Hulyaipole, in the country's Zaporizhzhia region, in September 2022
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024

Does a savage war of partition await Ukraine?

Donald Trump appears bent on striking a “peace” deal with Russia that involves Ukraine’s dismemberment.
Elon Musk, a co-leader of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, carries his son X Æ A-Xii Musk following a meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 9, 2024

DOGE's best idea yet is permanent daylight saving time

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s support for adopting a year-round clock would give the U.S. more sunshine and less confusion.
A man vapes on a beach in Nice, France, in 2019. In the absence of European Union regulations on vaping, each country now applies different rules and levels of excise tax on electronic cigarettes.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 9, 2024

EU countries want vaping included in bloc's tobacco tax law

Each country now applies different rules and levels of excise tax on electronic cigarettes, distorting the bloc's single market.
Ant and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2024

Jack Ma pushes AI drive in rare speech since Ant crackdown

The co-founder of Ant and affiliate Alibaba showed up to talk about the next 20 years of the fintech company and the opportunities brought on by artificial intelligence.
Students at Hiroshima University’s School of Dentistry offer silent prayers for the donors of bodies before they practice anatomy on the cadavers in late October.
JAPAN / Science & Health / Regional Voices: Chugoku
Dec 16, 2024

In death, body donors become silent teachers for medical students

Practical training on cadavers significantly increases the understanding of the human body, says one professor.
During the trial of ex-principal Hisayoshi Kitamura, one of his victims testified that she could not consult anyone when she was assaulted as a student because she had been taught to follow the instructions of teachers.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2024

Ex-principal gets 9 years for raping middle school students in 2010

The crimes came to light after one of the victims reported her assault to the Tokyo education board in 2022.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Nihon Hidankyo's representative Terumi Tanaka attends a news conference ahead of the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo on Monday.
JAPAN
Dec 10, 2024

Nuclear weapons must never be used, hibakusha tells Putin before Nobel ceremony

Terumi Tanaka was referring to threats made by Putin and others to use nuclear bombs if necessary to counter what they see as a hostile West in the Ukraine war.
Roki Sasaki delivers a pitch during the first inning of the World Baseball Classic semifinal against Mexico in Miami in March 2023.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 10, 2024

45-day negotiation window set to begin as Marines post Roki Sasaki

The right-handed flamethrower has until 7 a.m. (JST) on Jan. 24 to sign with an MLB team.
France and New Zealand in action at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, on Nov. 16
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 10, 2024

New Zealand agree to keep 2025 France tests at home

The French Rugby Federation last week refused to play in North America.
Mitsubishi UFJ, Mizuho and Sumitomo Mitsui are enjoying record earnings and they are determined to fund overseas expansion.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 10, 2024

Japan's megabanks are flush with cash and hunting overseas deals

The primary focus is on the U.S. and India, respectively the world’s largest economy and the fastest-growing.
Protesters attend a rally calling for the impeachment of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in front of the headquarters of the ruling People Power Party in Seoul on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2024

South Korean police blocked from raid on president's office

The attempted raid came as former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun tried to kill himself shortly before his formal arrest late Tuesday.
Incumbent Mayor Shuhei Azuma announces the opening of applications for a possible successor at a news conference on Sept. 25.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 11, 2024

City in Osaka Prefecture looks for new mayor using job search site

The idea is to encourage more people to get involved in local government in Japan, but questions have emerged about the project and its implications.
Passersby hold umbrellas as they walk under strong sunlight as the Japanese government issued heat stroke alerts in 39 of the country's 47 prefectures in Tokyo on July 22.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 12, 2024

Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: 'This is life now'

As the year draws to a close, the environmental conclusion is both blatant and bleak: 2024 was the hottest year since records began.
Illegally cultivated cannabis plants uncovered by police at a home in Chiba Prefecture. Revised cannabis-related laws now criminalize the use of marijuana in addition to its possession and sale.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 12, 2024

Japan tightens cannabis laws amid rising youth usage

The use of marijuana has been criminalized, with the maximum penalty for possession, transfer and now usage set at up to seven years in prison.
Nippon Life Insurance, Japan’s largest insurer by assets, will buy $250 million worth of convertible notes and $300 million of preferred securities issued by TCW Group.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2024

Nippon Life ramps up global push with $550 million TCW deal

The announcement comes just a day after Nippon Life agreed to buy Bermuda-based Resolution Life Group Holdings for about $8.2 billion.
Chinese President Xi Jinping
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 13, 2024

China vows bigger fiscal spending to boost consumption next year

For only the second time in at least a decade, Chinese officials made "lifting consumption vigorously” and stimulating overall domestic demand their top priority.
Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow in August 2021. From Syria to Ukraine, Merkel and former U.S. President Barack Obama’s missteps still haunt the West.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 15, 2024

Putin’s loss in Syria exposes Western failures

The West's indecision and failed liberal internationalist policies allowed Putin to bolster Assad’s regime and secure strategic advantages in Syria.
Satoyo Kojika, who has run a barbershop inside the parliament building for more than half a century
JAPAN / Politics / Regional Voices: Fukushima
Dec 23, 2024

Woman who ran a parliament barbershop for half a century retires

The shop has been run by Satoyo Kojika, 85, a native of the village of Kawauchi in Fukushima Prefecture.
Thimphu TechPark building in Thimphu, Bhutan, on Oct. 17
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 16, 2024

Secret to AI profitability is hiring a lot more doctorates

Nagging questions persist about whether AI will actually prove useful enough for businesses around the world to pay up for it.
A Taiwan High Speed Rail bullet train arrives at Nangang Station in the city of Taipei.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2024

Taiwan’s bullet train a testament to shinkansen’s export potential

The line runs the length of Taiwan, over mountainous, unstable territory that makes the island a perfect test bed for the fast trains.
Nippon Life Insurance Chairperson Yoshinobu Tsutsui is set to become the next head of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, in May next year.
BUSINESS
Dec 17, 2024

Nippon Life chair to become head of Japan's main business lobby

Yoshinobu Tsutsui is set to be the first chairperson of the Japan Business Federation, or Keidanren, from the financial industry.
A train passes over downtown Kuala Lumpur
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

ASEAN's second renaissance is now

The bloc’s economies, despite varying political landscapes, rank among the world’s most dynamic.
Luigi Mangione, 26, at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 10. Mangione was indicted on Tuesday for the murder of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 18, 2024

Luigi Mangione indicted for first-degree murder in CEO death

Mangione faces as long as life in prison without the possibility of parole if he is convicted.

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