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Ami Yuasa won the B-Girl competition during the breaking event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
OLYMPICS / Breaking
Jan 3, 2025

Breaking’s big year that wasn’t

Beyond music insiders or Olympic aficionados, most would struggle to recall the winners of the inaugural breaking competition at the Games.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk attends a conference organized by the European Jewish Association in Krakow, Poland, in January 2024.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jan 4, 2025

Musk projects his hard-right influence in Europe

The multibillionaire has demanded new elections in Britain, promoted Germany's far-right, blasted the European Commission — and that's just the start.
DOPS Director Dr. Jim Tucker (back row, from left), David Acunzo, Marina Weiler, Philip Cozzolino (front row, from left) Marieta Pehlivanova and Elliot Gish, pose for a photo on the campus of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, on July 15. Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the "beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025

Do you believe in life after death? These scientists study it.

Is reincarnation real? Is communication from the “beyond” possible? A small set of academics are trying to find out, case by case.
Children at a traditional festival in the city of Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, on Thursday. A forecast made by Tohoku University professor Hiroshi Yoshida estimates that Japan will be left with just one child on Jan. 5, 2720, based on current birthrate trends.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 6, 2025

2720 — the year when Japan is left with just one child

An expert on the graying of society has warned that the nation will be left with just one child age 14 and below in 695 years if its birthrate continues to decline.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he makes remarks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 8, 2025

Trump will not rule out force to take Panama Canal and Greenland

Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, also floated the idea of turning Canada into a U.S. state.
The town of Ilulisat in Greenland in September 2021. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has said he would like to make Greenland part of the United States.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2025

Why is Trump interested in Greenland?

The U.S. president-elect has said control of the Arctic island is "an absolute necessity" for "purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World."
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and then-California Gov. Ronald Reagan greet each other before their U.S. presidential debate in Cleveland, Ohio, in October 1980.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 9, 2025

What if Reagan's vision had been more like Carter's?

Yes, Carter had his share of missteps, but he was way, way, way ahead of his time on clean energy.
Volkswagen ID. Buzz electric vehicles are lined up at the company's plant in Hanover, Germany, on Dec. 17.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 9, 2025

Germany electric vehicle sales go into reverse

Just 380,609 EVs were registered in 2024 in Europe's largest auto market, 27.4% fewer than in the previous year.
Competitors are interviewed after a women's esports event in Beijing last month.
MORE SPORTS / esports
Jan 12, 2025

China's women esports players defy sexism for love of the game

For female esports players in China, mastering the game is just the first hurdle to carving out a space for themselves in the male-dominated field.
People wave Palestinian flags while celebrating the announcement of a ceasefire in Ramallah in the West Bank on Wednesday.
WORLD
Jan 16, 2025

Israel and Hamas reach ceasefire deal to end 15 months of war in Gaza

Israel and Hamas have reached a ceasefire agreement that includes a phased withdrawal of Israeli forces, the release of hostages and humanitarian aid to Gaza.
A motorcade carrying South Korea's impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol leaves for the Seoul Detention Center at the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials following his arrest, in Gwacheon, South Korea, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 16, 2025

South Korean president’s arrest shows peril as Trump returns

Bureaucrats in Seoul are hoping that Donald Trump goes easy on South Korea once he's back in the White House.
For some time away from Tokyo's suffocating urban sameness, Yamagata Prefecture is home to a soothing array of natural abundance.
LIFE / Travel
Jan 18, 2025

For tourists in search of seasonal sights, Yamagata makes its case

Japan’s much-lauded four seasons aren’t felt as much in Tokyo as they are in the full, rural vistas of Yamagata Prefecture.
Children pray for the victims of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake during an early morning ceremony to mark the 30th anniversary of the quake, in Kobe on Friday.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 17, 2025

30th anniversary of Hanshin quake marked with desire to pass on lessons

Hyogo Prefecture is also calling on the central government to pick Kansai as the base of a new disaster relief agency currently in the works.
Most of the grant funding for U.S. President Joe Biden's ambitious Chips and Science Act has been awarded, and the initiative has spurred more than $400 billion in planned company investments. But much of the job remains unfinished — and broader upheaval in the chip industry will only add to the challenges.
BUSINESS / Tech / FOCUS
Jan 18, 2025

Biden’s chips team hands off $52 billion program to a skeptical Trump

Before the election, Donald Trump described the Chips Act as "so bad” and suggested tariffs would be a better solution.
Homes destroyed by the Eaton Fire in Altadena, California, on Monday
WORLD
Jan 21, 2025

'Extremely critical' risk as winds whip fire-weary Los Angeles

The hurricane-force winds could combine with exceedingly dry conditions to create the potential for a fast-spreading fire.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he attends the Commander in Chief Ball in honor of his inauguration in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 22, 2025

Aiming to weaken U.S. foes, Trump faces an 'unholy alliance'

Russia, China, North Korea and Iran have drawn closer following Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Tokyo Gas President Shinichi Sasayama speaks during an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo on Jan. 16.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 22, 2025

Tokyo Gas focusing on more U.S. investment opportunities

"Among our overseas businesses, North America is an especially important growth market for us,” said President Shinichi Sasayama.
Japanese Communist Party leader Tomoko Tamura speaks at a Lower House session in Tokyo in December 2024.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 23, 2025

Japanese Communist Party's Tomoko Tamura faces leadership questions ahead of polls

Tamura is aiming for 6.5 million proportional representation votes, but experts say that's unrealistic.
Marialyce Pedersen cleans burned leaves and debris that accumulated in the sink of her outdoor kitchen made of cob that survived the Eaton fire when her home burned in Altadena, California, on Jan. 20.
WORLD / Society
Jan 23, 2025

Los Angeles wildfires spark interest in adobe and natural building materials

Former homeowners determined to stay want houses that the next fire will not burn easily and that, if burnt, will not turn the soil, water and air into a toxic hazard.
Upon the release of Dragon Quest VII in 2000, hundreds of customers lined up outside stores in Tokyo to secure a copy of the new game. With a remake of a 1988 title, the rest of the world is understanding why Japanese gamers love the series so much.
LIFE / Digital
Jan 25, 2025

Japan’s love affair with Dragon Quest spreads worldwide

The remake of a 1988 game serves as the latest chance for the rest of the world to learn why Japan loves Dragon Quest so much.
U.S. President Donald Trump is seen on a giant screen during his address by video conference at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 25, 2025

Trump spurs surprise world rally in first week on trade respite

U.S. President Donald Trump's decision not to immediately slap tariffs on U.S. trade partners triggered the surprising market response.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks after being sworn in during a ceremony in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD
Jan 26, 2025

Pete Hegseth vote portends glide path for other Trump nominees

Trump's success in pushing through his Pentagon chief nomination despite private doubts among lawmakers amounted to a fresh testament to his hold over the GOP.
Jeffrey Andrews (L), a social worker, and Uzma Naveed (R), an outreach coordinator, speak to "John" (C) at the Christian Action Center for Refugees in Hong Kong on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 26, 2025

U.S.-bound refugees in Hong Kong despair as Trump halts arrivals

Many asylum seekers in Hong Kong — some waiting years — now fear being sent back to square one.
U.S. President Donald Trump looks on as reporters ask questions aboard Air Force One during a flight from Las Vegas to Miami on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 27, 2025

Trump, at zenith of power, moves quickly to 'take over' Washington

Trump's agenda faces roadblocks going forward, and the opening weeks of his administration may represent the height of his power, some supporters acknowledge.
Webcam model Tania Rios looks at a computer screen in Soacha, near Bogota, Colombia, on Dec. 17. Unhealthy rooms, shared sex toys, excessive shifts, clients with degrading requests and harassment — for years silenced, webcam models are denouncing the abuses they have suffered in Colombia, a mecca of this multimillion dollar business.
WORLD / Society
Jan 28, 2025

Colombian 'webcam models' denounce abuse in online sex industry

Despite their clients being thousands of kilometers away, many webcam sex workers say they have suffered physical and emotional mistreatment.
Bushfires in Little Desert National Park in the Australian state of Victoria. Firefighters were scrambling Tuesday to control the blaze tearing through rural southeastern Australia, as stranded locals were warned it was "too late to leave" if they had not already fled.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jan 28, 2025

Fast-moving fires torch national parks in southeast Australia

Hotter temperatures are fueling increasingly severe natural disasters across Australia, researchers have found.
Shiori Ito (right) speaks outside the Tokyo District Court in December 2019 after hearing the ruling on a damages lawsuit by her, accusing a former TV reporter of rape.
JAPAN / Society
Jan 29, 2025

Japan #MeToo survivor says media are failing in wake of Fuji TV scandal

Despite several high-profile cases, Japan has never seen an outpouring of #MeToo allegations.
Hoshoryu (front, second from left) celebrates after being promoted to yokozuna on Wednesday in Tokyo.
SUMO
Jan 29, 2025

Sumo’s newest yokozuna is all smiles — but major challenges await

For all the feel-good energy that has surrounded Hoshoryu the past few days, the Mongolian will need to take his sumo to another level if he is to last in the rank.
Hindu devotees sit after a deadly stampede before the second Shahi Snan (royal bath) at the Maha Kumbh Mela, or Great Pitcher Festival, in Prayagraj, India, on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Jan 29, 2025

Over a dozen dead in stampede at Hindu mega-festival in India

The six-week Kumbh Mela festival is the single biggest milestone on the Hindu religious calendar.
Many workers at small companies continue to fall behind as wages fail to keep up with inflation.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 29, 2025

Smaller Japanese companies unlikely to meet wage-increase target for 2025

For this year’s spring negotiations, the Japanese Trade Union Confederation set hike targets of more than 6% for smaller firms.

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?