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December 22, 2024
 

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Andrew Osborn
The scene of an explosion where Russian chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov and his assistant were killed in Moscow on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 18, 2024
Ukraine kills Russian chemical weapons chief Igor Kirillov in Moscow
The lieutenant general was killed outside an apartment building when a bomb hidden in an electric scooter went off.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov attend an expanded meeting of the Defense Ministry Board at the National Defense Control Center in Moscow on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2024
Russia must be ready to fight NATO in Europe in next decade, minister says
Russian defense chief cited a NATO summit in July and military doctrines in NATO members as evidence that Moscow had to prepare.
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives past an honor guard during a military parade on Victory Day in Red Square in central Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2024
Putin draws a nuclear red line for the West
Experts are debating how seriously to take Putin's new nuclear doctrine.
A Russian Yars intercontinental ballistic missile system drives past an honor guard during a military parade on Victory Day, marking the 77th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, in Moscow's Red Square in May 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2024
Putin's options for Ukraine missiles response include nuclear test
In his clearest warning yet, Putin said the West's next possible move could be seen as directly fighting Russia, altering the nature of the conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during an event in St. Petersburg on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 13, 2024
Giving Kyiv long-range missiles pulls West into war, Putin says
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been pleading with Kyiv's allies for months to let Ukraine fire Western missiles deep into Russian territory.
Jailed Russian opposition figure Vladimir Kara-Murza stands behind a glass wall of an enclosure for defendants during a court hearing to consider an appeal against his prison sentence, in Moscow, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 1, 2024
Signs of major prisoner exchange between Russia and the West multiply
Many major figures jailed in Russia have suddenly disappeared in a sign they might be being gathered for a swap.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lights a candle in memory of the victims of the Crocus City Hall attack, on the day of national mourning in a church at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on March 24.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2024
Dagestan shootings spotlight rising Islamist threat for Putin
The latest violence, with at least 20 killed in coordinated shootings in Russia's far south on Sunday, raises tough questions for its intelligence and security services.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the West that NATO members in Europe were playing with fire by proposing to let Kyiv use Western weapons to strike deep inside Russia, something he said could trigger a global conflict.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2024
Think tank close to Kremlin says Russia should consider a 'demonstrative' nuclear explosion
The idea was suggested as a way to cow the West into refusing to allow Ukraine to use its arms against targets inside Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on Thursday
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2024
Putin wants Ukraine cease-fire on current front lines, sources say
The Russian president is also prepared to fight on if Kyiv and the West do not respond, according to sources.
Andrei Belousov has been described as a tough-talking and professional government insider who once led a campaign to wring more money out of big business for the state, proving he had sharp enough elbows to navigate the system.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 14, 2024
Surprise pick as Russia’s defense minister is tough-talking economist and Putin ally
Andrei Belousov's appointment as defense chief suggests to many that President Vladimir Putin is reshaping Russia for a long war in Ukraine.
Andrei Belousov, economic aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2024
Putin taps economist to run defense in unexpected move
It is vital to ensure military spending aligns with Russia's overall economy, a Kremlin spokesperson said.
Alexandra Skochilenko, a 33-year-old artist charged with spreading false information about Russia's armed forces, is escorted during a court hearing in St. Petersburg on Nov. 8.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 13, 2023
Lawyers seek release of Russian artist who staged anti-war protest
Alexandra Skochilenko has spent over 1½ years in prison in St. Petersburg as the Russian legal system deals with her case.
Russian lawmakers attend a session of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament, in Moscow in 2019.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 10, 2023
Russian lawmakers asked to study revoking nuclear test ban treaty
Revoking the ratification would send a warning that Moscow can fundamentally change the assumptions of post-Cold War nuclear planning.
Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev prior to a meeting in Brussels on May 14
WORLD / Politics
Oct 1, 2023
In taking Karabakh, Azerbaijan's president avenged his father
A confluence of factors had convinced Ilham Aliyev, 61, that the time was right to do something his father couldn't.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jun 29, 2023
Where are Russia's top generals? Rumors swirl after mercenary mutiny
Valery Gerasimov, Russia's top general, has not appeared in public or on state TV since the aborted mutiny. Absent from view too is Gen. Sergei Surovikin.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 28, 2023
Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko feted in Russia after mutiny role
It was Lukashenko, according to his own narrative and Putin, who played a major role in ending the Wagner mutiny that threatened to destabilize the world's largest nuclear power.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
May 6, 2023
Russia's mercenary boss deepens fog of Ukraine war while deflecting blame
The announcement by Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, that his fighters will abandon the city of Bakhmut looks like an exercise in blame avoidance and disinformation.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
May 5, 2023
Kremlin drone incident gives Putin cover to deepen Ukraine war
Inside Russia, the incident helped reinforce the Kremlin-backed narrative that its war in Ukraine is an existential one for the Russian state and people.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2023
Kremlin critic jailed for 25 years for treason
Vladimir Kara-Murza spoke out against President Vladimir Putin for years and successfully lobbied Western governments to impose sanctions on Russia.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 14, 2023
Kremlin moves to rein in Russian mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin
The founder of Russia's Wagner mercenary group has grabbed headlines over his role in Ukraine and is sometimes portrayed in the West as a real-life James Bond villain.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.
A year of Oscar wins and a quiet push for diversity
Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s “Evil Does Not Exist,” released in Japanese theaters in April, sharply dramatizes the clash between rural and urban values. The film won five awards at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, including the second-place Silver Lion prize.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition
By Alex K.T. Martin

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