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Lakers forward Rui Hachimura drives to the hoop against Suns guard Devin Booker during a game on Nov. 26.
BASKETBALL
Dec 4, 2024

Rui Hachimura's criticisms of Japan Basketball Association cause a stir

The JBA has said that there was "miscommunication" between it and the Los Angeles Lakers forward.
Members of a Lebanese NGO clear debris from their office that was damaged in an Israeli strike on a nearby building, in Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday.
WORLD / Society
Dec 4, 2024

In Lebanon, people with disabilities isolated and abandoned by war

More than 900,000 people in Lebanon are classified as living with disabilities, according to the United Nations Development Program.
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.
Satoko Shisai
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Dec 15, 2024

Forging a career through digital transformation and mindset change

Backed by a strong belief in career ownership, Satoko Shisai built her own success at IBM Japan and Chugai.
The headquarters of the Bank of Japan in Tokyo
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024

BOJ rate hike bets retreat as traders count down to key meeting

The predictions hardly budged even after one of the policy board’s most dovish members said he isn’t opposed to higher rates.
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.
Crowds gather in front of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris on Friday, a day ahead of its official reopening.
WORLD
Dec 7, 2024

Notre-Dame Cathedral reopens on Saturday, five years after fire

The 860-year-old medieval cathedral has been meticulously restored, with a new spire and rib vaulting.
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.
The government is preparing to set Japan’s new Nationally Determined Contribution, an emissions reduction commitment made by members of the United Nations climate framework's Paris Agreement.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change / OUR PLANET
Dec 10, 2024

As Japan nears new climate goal, criticism of policy process ramps up

Critics say the process is not intended to facilitate genuine debate, and that those who support the energy status quo are overrepresented on policy panels.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 11, 2024

BOJ signals before meeting leave traders guessing

The confusion has caused sharp swings in market bets on rate hikes, with overnight indexed swaps pricing in a 22% chance of a December rate increase.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (front right) bows as the fiscal 2024 supplementary budget bill is passed in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

Ishiba makes concessions to opposition to maintain power

The prime minister's minority government has endorsed opposition policies on tax and education to win their support for a supplementary budget.
People holding K-pop idol sticks attend a rally to protest South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, in Seoul on Dec. 8.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Dec 15, 2024

'Into the New World': the K-pop song that became South Korea's protest anthem

The Girls' Generation track has a history of being used to give young South Koreans a voice in politics.
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.
LeBron James dunks during the first half of the NBA All Star game in Indianapolis in February.
BASKETBALL / NBA
Dec 18, 2024

NBA All-Star Game to have mini-tournament format in 2025

The change follows criticism about the lack of intensity by players in the midseason exhibition contest in recent years.
Alice Weidel, co-leader of the Alternative for Germany, speaks during a vote of confidence at the Bundestag in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2024

Scholz’s far-right rival puts Germany’s EU exit on the ballot

Alternative for Germany co-leader Alice Weidel says the bloc’s "socialist policy making” has "destroyed the market mechanism in Europe.”
Greenpeace activists protest next to a fake whale's tail in front of the Japanese Embassy in Berlin in 2010. The real motivation behind Japan's whaling may lie in asserting its maritime sovereignty, as the country defends its exclusive economic zone amid territorial disputes.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 19, 2024

For Japan, whaling is intertwined with maritime sovereignty

While Japan has an undeniable culture surrounding seafood, the current generation of people do not show much interest in whale meat.
U.S.-Canadian anti-whaling environmental activist Paul Watson, who was released from prison in Greenland's capital Nuuk after five months in detention, arrives with Lamya Essemlali, president of Sea Shepherd France, at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, near Paris, on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2024

Freed anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson arrives in France

Watson, 74, was released after Denmark refused the Japanese extradition request over a 2010 clash with whalers.
Sorane Sakihama, a 22-year-old college student, speaks at a rally in the city of Okinawa on Sunday protesting against sexual assaults by U.S. soldiers.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2024

Okinawa people stage rally against sexual assaults by U.S. servicemen

The Okinawan protesters adopted a resolution demanding apologies for sexual assault victims, compensation and a revision of the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement.
Minutes from the Bank of Japan's October policy meeting highlight how overseas economic risks, particularly those surrounding the new U.S. administration's policies, will be key to how soon the BOJ will hike rates.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 24, 2024

BOJ debated need for caution in raising rates, meeting minutes show

Contrary to its concern over external risks, the BOJ board was mostly optimistic on domestic economic conditions.
A Wizzair Airbus A320-200 plane lands in Riga International Airport, Latvia, in 2019.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2024

European airline pilots and crews voice concerns about Middle East routes

The safety debate about flying over the Middle East is playing out in Europe largely because pilots there are protected by unions, unlike other parts of the world.
South Korea's ruling People Power Party lawmakers (bottom) argue to National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik (second right top) during the plenary session for the impeachment vote of acting president Han Duck-soo at the National Assembly in Seoul on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

South Korea's parliament impeaches acting president Han Duck-soo

The move plunged the country deeper into political chaos, as the Constitutional Court also said it would swiftly trial suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba in Tokyo on Friday. Tokyo prosecutors have dropped charges against 65 current and former Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers and their secretaries, including Ishiba, in relation to the party's slush funds scandal.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 27, 2024

Prosecutors drop cases against LDP lawmakers over slush fund scandal

With the decision, the LDP hopes to turn the page on the scandal, which heavily damaged public trust in the party.
Midori Kato has been voice acting the character Sazae Fuguta in the TV animation series "Sazae-san" since it started in 1969.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 30, 2024

Still sounding young at 85, Midori Kato is the voice of old Japan

The voice actor is the last original member of the cast of “Sazae-san,” a cartoon series that premiered in 1969 and never quite joined the modern world.
​SSPP Forum #03
ESG CONSORTIUM
Dec 31, 2024

NTT’s SSPP Forum shares ideas on forming communities of future

NTT’s Sustainable Smart City Partner Program (SSPP) supports the development of communities of the future that maximize residents’ well-being. The SSPP Forum was launched in 2022 to provide an opportunity for sharing SSPP case studies on community formation, and its third session was held recently....
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has expressed support for allowing for married couples to retain different surnames. 
JAPAN / Society
Jan 3, 2025

Japan's dual-surname option could see turning point in 2025

Support for allowing spouses to retain separate surnames is strong among the opposition, and even within the Liberal Democratic Party, which rules as a minority government.
Head of Peoples Party (OEVP) and Chancellor Karl Nehammer addresses reporters during a presentation of his party's election platform in Vienna in September.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

Austria's chancellor to step down after coalition talks collapse

The move by conservative Chancellor Karl Nehammer comes after breaking off coalition talks with the Social Democrats over disagreements on key issues.
The Bank of Korea complex in Seoul. South Korea's economic growth is hindered by structural challenges like high living costs, a tough job market and an aging population.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 26, 2024

The Bank of Korea moves beyond monetary policy

Many Koreans are pessimistic about the future, which reflects the intense competition that defines their lives, from education to employment.
Former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a meeting held at the Liberal Democratic Party's headquarters in Tokyo on Nov. 21.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 6, 2025

Japan's LDP lawmakers seen actively forming new groups

Moves to create fresh groups and hold gatherings may be seen as a revival of the factional politics at the core of the money scandal.
Afghanistan's Azmatullah Omarzi (second right) celebrates with teammates during a One Day International cricket match between Zimbabwe and Afghanistan in Harare, Zimbabwe, on Dec. 17.
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Jan 7, 2025

England urged to boycott Afghanistan match by British politicians

Female participation in sport has effectively been outlawed since the Taliban's return to power in 2021.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?