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The skeleton of a mammoth, one of the large mammals that roamed North America during the last Ice Age, is displayed at the Mammoth Site where numerous mammoth fossils have been excavated, in Hot Springs, South Dakota, on Aug. 31, 2018.
WORLD
Dec 5, 2024

Mammoths topped the menu for North American Ice Age people

Scientists discovered that the woman's diet was mostly meat from megafauna — the largest animals in an ecosystem — with an emphasis on mammoths.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te speaks during a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday for a new government facility in Palau that Taipei helped fund.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Taiwan's Lai says he is 'confident' of deeper cooperation with Trump

Trump caused jitters during his campaign by suggesting Taiwan should pay the United States for its defense.
Japanese investors sold overseas stocks in November as they sought to capitalize on robust gains in global equities, particularly as U.S. stocks reached record highs.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 9, 2024

Japanese investors sell overseas equities for second straight month

Investors' net sales of overseas stocks totaled ¥1.22 trillion last month, following about ¥2.37 trillion worth of net withdrawals in the prior month.
Police escort Luigi Mangione to his arraignment at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Monday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Dec 10, 2024

Murder charges filed against suspect in UnitedHealthcare shooting

The suspect, identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, was captured in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in a McDonald's after a customer and an employee believed he resembled the gunman.
Possible new sanctions on Russian oil highlight how Biden’s team is more willing to take risks in confronting Russia as it prepares to depart.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 11, 2024

U.S. mulls new Russia oil sanctions to weaken Putin ahead of Trump

The European Union is planning similar measures on Russia’s shadow fleet before the end of the year.
Nvidia will end the year with about 4,000 people in China, up from just about 3,000 at the start of 2024, people familiar with its operations said.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 12, 2024

Nvidia steps up hiring in China to focus on AI-driven cars

The tech giant will end 2024 with about 4,000 employees in China, after starting the year with around 3,000.
Monex Group Chairperson Oki Matsumoto (center), celebrates the debut of Coincheck on the Nasdaq Global Market on Wednesday in New York.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 12, 2024

Japanese crypto exchange Coincheck goes public in U.S.

Coincheck, effectively controlled by Japanese online broker Monex Group, aims to expand its operations through acquisitions in the U.S. and Japan.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks before ringing the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan on Thursday morning.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2024

Time Magazine names Donald Trump person of the year for second time

This year saw Donald Trump convicted on charges of business fraud and nearly assassinated twice — and will end with him preparing to return to the White House.
A Taiwanese coast guard ship (left) monitors a Chinese coast guard ship a few nautical miles from Taiwan's northeastern coast on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / ANALYSIS
Dec 13, 2024

China's 'drills that dare not speak their name' put Taiwan on alert

Analysts say that Beijing's activities, conducted in near silence and followed by an opaque statement, are meant to create confusion.
Children walk past shelters at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in the Nahr al-Bared area of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Dec. 9.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 25, 2024

Will stability rise from the Middle East rubble?

If done well, focusing on ending ongoing conflicts and building a basis for stability and security will reestablish a foundation for peacemaking.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump embraces SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 17, 2024

SoftBank pledges $100 billion U.S. investment at Trump event

SoftBank chief Masayoshi Son’s announcement this time marks the highest-profile commitment by a company to expand investment in the U.S. since Trump’s election win.
A worker walks along the partially snowless slope at the William F. Rogers Ski Area at Massachusetts' Blue Hills in January.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 17, 2024

Companies challenged by fewer weeks of winter

Warmer winters also impact everything from sports to drinking water and even seasonal allergies.
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.
A television station broadcasts Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaking after a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 19, 2024

U.S. stocks tumble, dollar rallies as Fed signals fewer 2025 rate cuts

After latest interest rate cut, Fed 'significantly closer' to the point where no further cuts needed: Powell
A new — and severe — case of bird flu in the United States has raised alarms, with California declaring an emergency to ramp up its response.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 19, 2024

First severe bird flu case in U.S. sparks alarm

The new case brings the total number of infections in the United States during the current 2024 outbreak to 61.
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.
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.
The flag of China is seen next to the elements of gallium and germanium on a periodic table.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 23, 2024

Tiny but vital metal markets rush to adjust to Chinese clampdown

Beijing this month slapped a ban on U.S.-bound exports of gallium, germanium and antimony in a tit-for-tat move in a technology trade war.
Here we go again, a Christmas marked by legal battles, evolving traditions, commercial influence, and debates over greetings.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 23, 2024

There is no war on Christmas. There are many.

As usual, our holiday cornucopia overfloweth with litigation.
Supporters of the French far-right National Rally party wave French flags on Dec. 15. In Europe this year, the far right made gains in several legislatures, including that of France.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Democracy heads into 2025 bloodied but unbowed

Overall, there were no attempts this year to prevent a peaceful transfer of power, but autocracies grew more repressive.
A North Korean soldier watches his South Korean counterparts at the truce village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone. South Korea's political crisis, with President Yoon's impeachment, threatens U.S. influence while boosting opportunities for China and North Korea to expand their influence.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

Beijing and Pyongyang will exploit South Korea's turmoil

The geopolitical landscape in the region may soon become less friendly to the U.S.
People walk around the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on December 29, 2023. Investors are more confident about the economy than this time a year ago.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 25, 2024

Investors hope for U.S. stock market trifecta in 2025 after boom years

They are eyeing a solid economy supporting corporate profits, moderating interest rates and pro-growth policies from incoming President Donald Trump.
The United Nations headquarters in New York
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 25, 2024

Japan to stay the third-largest U.N. contributor

The share of Japan's contribution to the United Nation's regular budget will drop by about 1 percentage point from the current level to 6.930%.
A voter casts a ballot at a polling station in Tokyo on Oct. 27. Last year, incumbents in every major country that held a national election lost that vote, the first time that has happened in almost 120 years.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 31, 2024

The world is ever more angry. That is not good.

Hostility toward existing leadership stems from the belief that lives aren't improving and future generations will have fewer opportunities than previous ones.
Stock market information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday
BUSINESS / Markets / FOCUS
Jan 1, 2025

Investors hope for U.S. stock market trifecta in 2025 after back-to-back boom years

Investors are more confident about the economy than this time a year ago, with consumers and businesses having absorbed higher interest rates.
On the first day of the 2000s, the world was relieved that the Y2K computer glitch was mostly nothing. And in Russia, Vladimir Putin came to power.
JAPAN / History / Japan Times Gone By
Jan 1, 2025

Japan Times 2000: Japanese celebrate new year

Check out what was on the front page on Jan. 1 in 1925, 1950, 1975 and 2000.
Investigators inspect he remains of a Tesla Cybertruck that burned at the entrance of Trump Tower Las Vegas on Wednesday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 2, 2025

Tesla Cybertruck explodes outside Trump Las Vegas hotel, killing one

The FBI is joining the investigation of the blast, which Tesla CEO Elon Musk said "was caused by very large fireworks and/or a bomb carried in the bed of the rented Cybertruck."
Abdur Rahim Jabbar, half-brother of the man accused of the New Orleans truck attack, sits in the garage of their house in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025

Investigators seek clues to New Orleans attacker's path to radicalization

It is still unclear what contact Shamsud-Din Jabbar might have had with overseas extremist groups.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji