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The volunteer lifesavers of Nishihama Surf Lifesaving Club never know what's in store at the start of their day.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Aug 19, 2024

It's no simple day at the beach for Japan's volunteer lifesavers

Protecting beachgoers from drowning, heatstroke and possible tsunami, lifesavers are seeking formal recognition for what they do.
An ISIS flag hangs in the bombed-out remains of a palace that militants used as a headquarters in Mosul, Iraq, in 2017.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 26, 2024

Islamic State supporters turn to AI to bolster online support

Digital experts say groups like IS and far-right movements are increasingly using AI online and testing the limits of safety controls on social media platforms.
A man raises his arms in front of burning wooden pallets on Sunday as protesters block Tel Aviv's Ayalon highway during an antigovernment rally calling for the release of Israelis held hostage by Palestinian militants in Gaza since October.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 3, 2024

Hostage deaths prompt angry Israelis to push Netanyahu’s red lines

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis protested to demand a truce with Hamas.
A Ukrainian military sapper places red flags next to a part of a Russian cluster bomb while demining a field in the Kherson region of Ukraine on April 4.
WORLD
Sep 10, 2024

Cluster bombs have killed or wounded over 1,000 in Ukraine since 2022

Cluster munitions can be dropped from planes or fired from artillery before exploding in midair and scattering bomblets over a wide area.
Signs expressing opposition to the University of Tokyo's proposed tuition hikes are displayed at the university's Komaba campus in Tokyo in July.
JAPAN / Society
Sep 11, 2024

University of Tokyo plans to raise tuition fees by 20% in 2025

The university expects to make the proposal official by the end of September, barring unforeseen issues.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un tours a facility for producing weapons-grade nuclear materials at an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this photo released Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 13, 2024

North Korea unveils images of uranium enrichment facility for first time

The pictures could give outside experts a better understanding of how many and what types of nuclear weapons the North has produced.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello speaks at a news conference Saturday in Caracas after three American citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in the country on suspicion of plotting to destabilize it through "violent actions," the government in Caracas said.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2024

Americans and Spaniards held over alleged plot to 'destabilize' Venezuela

The arrests come during heightened tensions after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was accused of stealing the country's election.
A Ukrainian soldier operates a DJI drone on the front line of the war, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine in March 2023. U.S. authorities consider Chinese drone-maker DJI a security threat.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 25, 2024

Taiwan and U.S. work to counter China’s drone dominance

Discussions in Taiwan, set to finish Wednesday, brought more than two dozen U.S. companies together with Taiwanese firms looking for U.S. knowledge and customers.
Singapore's Marina Bay Sands at dusk on Sept. 17
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 28, 2024

AI boom and wild weather take spotlight in Southeast Asian earnings

Stronger currencies, driven in part by the Federal Reserve’s pivot to interest-rate cuts, also buoyed stocks.
A Palestinian girl looks through the rubble of a building after an Israeli strike in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Oct 30, 2024

Deadly Israeli strike in Gaza comes amid anger over U.N. agency ban

Israel's military has been conducting a sweeping air and ground assault in northern Gaza since Oct. 6.
A stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, prior to a World Cup qualifying match between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on Oct. 15.
SOCCER / World cup
Oct 30, 2024

Saudi World Cup bid's rights report 'flawed,' NGOs say

The document makes "highly selective" use of United Nations assessments and fails to consult credible external stakeholders, the groups said.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Foan attends a news conference about a bill on raising ceilings on local government debt, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 9, 2024

China unveils $1.4 trillion debt swap, saving stimulus for Trump

China gave indebted local governments a 10 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion) lifeline but stopped short of unleashing new stimulus.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi (left) meets the deputy chief of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, Behrouz Kamalvandi, upon his arrival at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 14, 2024

Europe pushes for resolution against Iran at IAEA, diplomats say

Such resolutions risk further diplomatic tension with Iran.
A national flag of Saudi Arabia at their pavilion at the COP29 climate conference in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Nov. 14
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 18, 2024

Saudi Arabia executes more than 100 foreigners in 2024

Saudi Arabia has faced persistent criticism over its use of the death penalty, which human rights groups have condemned as excessive.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives for a bilateral meeting Peruvian President Dina Boluarte at the Government Palace in Lima on Nov. 14.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 20, 2024

Xi’s push for stable world of low tariffs undone by Trump and Putin

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is threatening to put 60% tariffs on Chinese goods while China walks a tightrope regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A Rohingya child walks across a bamboo bridge at a refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on Sept. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 25, 2024

In world's largest refugee camps, Rohingya mobilize to fight in Myanmar

The emergence of Rohingya fighters and weapons in camps is regarded as a ticking time bomb by Bangladesh, one source said
Hiroshi Kurosaki’s Netflix series “Beyond Goodbye” centers on a woman (Kasumi Arimura, left) who discovers her dead lover’s heart saved the life of a quiet pianist (Kentaro Sakaguchi).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Nov 29, 2024

Hiroshi Kurosaki looks beyond Japan for heart-wrenching drama

The director’s Netflix series relies on lush visuals and truths about love and loss to appeal to an overseas audience.
Farhan al-Khouli, a Syrian military conscript who deserted his post on the first day of the rebel offensive, works at a horse stable in Damascus, Syria, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 13, 2024

Demoralized and abandoned by allies: Why Syria’s army failed to fight

Rampant corruption and a heavy reliance on foreign allies hollowed out Bashar Assad's once-feared army.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol delivers an address to the nation at his official residence in Seoul on Saturday after the National Assembly voted to impeach him earlier in the day.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 15, 2024

South Korean president impeached over martial law decree

The 204-85 vote means Yoon Suk Yeol's ultimate fate now rests with the Constitutional Court, which can either decide to formally oust him or return him to office.
An Apple logo is seen in Brussels, Belgium, in 2016.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 17, 2024

Congo files criminal complaints against Apple over conflict minerals

International lawyers representing Congo argue that Apple uses minerals pillaged from the country and laundered through international supply chains.
A rebel fighter stands in front of an abandoned tank in the town of Adra on the northeast outskirts of Damascus on Monday.
WORLD
Dec 18, 2024

Conflict in Syria 'has not ended,' U.N. warns

The U.N.'s special envoy for Syria has warned of "significant hostilities" already witnessed there between Turkish-backed and Kurdish fighters.
Internally displaced Syrians from eastern Ghouta queue for food in a Damascus countryside in April 2018.
WORLD / Society
Dec 24, 2024

Global hunger crisis deepens as major nations skimp on aid

The United Nations says that, at best, it will be able to raise enough money to help about 60% of the 307 million people it predicts will need humanitarian aid next year.
Combat aircrafts from NATO countries roll on a landing strip during a fighter plane maneuver exercise at the American military's Ramstein Air Base, near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
WORLD
Jan 5, 2025

Drones, exploding parcels and sabotage: How hybrid tactics target the West

Increasingly brazen “gray zone” attacks against Europe and the U.S. have left defense officials with a dilemma: How to respond?
China has increased provocations against Japan under Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's weak leadership, exploiting political instability to push its agenda, including military incursions, cyberattacks and other forms of coercion.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2025

China seizes opportunities amid Ishiba’s weak leadership

China is also no longer hesitant to send its aircraft carrier group through narrow straits in the southernmost Nansei Islands to conduct drills.
Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki speaks during his introductory news conference with the team in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Jan 23, 2025

Dodgers introduce Japanese pitching phenom Roki Sasaki

A frenzied sweepstakes among MLB clubs officially came to an end with Sasaki's decision to join Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto in LA.
Though vegan restaurants have been on the upswing since 2017, Japanese vegans still lack a wide variety of options.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability / OUR PLANET
Jan 29, 2025

In meat- and fish-loving Japan, veganism is making a comeback

Tourism, climate goals and animal rights concerns are sparking a plant-based renaissance in a country famous for sushi and pork ramen.
Institutional security officers stand during a ceremony to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the United States ceding control of the Panama Canal to the government of Panama in 1999, in Panama City on Dec. 31, 2024.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2025

Why the U.S. is claiming China’s presence violates the Panama neutrality treaty

U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to take back the waterway during his Jan. 20 inauguration speech, falsely claiming that China is operating it.
U.S. President Donald Trump's imposed and since paused tariffs on Canada and Mexico, coupled with his broad levies on China — and possibly others soon — pose risks of economic retaliation, supply chain disruptions and long-term damage to U.S. influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 5, 2025

The tariff man is making a risky bet

The optimal tariff argument ignores the substantial risks that Trump is taking. A generalized trade war will make everyone worse off.
Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro says Manila's moves to beef up deterrence — including continuing to have a powerful U.S. missile system deployed on its territory — “are for the protection of our territorial integrity and sovereignty."
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 6, 2025

Philippines all in to get its own midrange missile system

The plan, as disclosed by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, comes amid Chinese pressure to remove a powerful U.S. weapons system from its territory.
Once a boon to tea farmers' bottom lines, the global matcha craze is now pushing producers and distributors to their limits with few options to adequately meet demand.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Feb 23, 2025

Japan struggles to fend off a world without enough matcha

Production methods and economic risks keep the domestic tea industry from ramping up supply.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami