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A man walks past a TV broadcasting a news report on North Korea firing a space rocket, at the main railway station in Seoul in August.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 21, 2023

North Korea says it could launch satellite as early as Wednesday

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s office said it had "strongly demanded" that North Korea halt preparations for the launch.
Families of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip protest outside the ministry of defense in Tel Aviv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 22, 2023

Israel approves deal for release of 50 Gaza hostages and truce

The release will be over four days, during which there will be a pause in fighting. For every 10 other hostages freed, the pause would be extended a day.
Pedestrians walk past a screen displaying North Korean leader Kim Jong Un celebrating after the launch of a military reconnaissance satellite, in Tokyo's Akihabara district on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

North Korea ends 2018 military accord with South after launch

Pyongyang said its first military spy satellite is in orbit, with the rocket passing over the Japanese archipelago late Tuesday.
Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers a speech in Budapest on Nov. 18, after he was re-elected leader at the congress of the governing right-wing Fidesz party.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 23, 2023

Inside Viktor Orban’s $1 billion academy for future nationalists

The academy has become a training ground for the next generation of Orban disciples to ensure the nationalist forces are replenished.
Taiwan’s presidential election will not only shape cross-strait relations for decades, but will impact the nature of the U.S.’ already tense ties with China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 24, 2023

Taiwan opposition alliance collapses and Terry Gou quits race

The prospects of a China-friendly unity ticket for the upcoming presidential election now lie shattered after the public mudslinging.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the control center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration in Pyongyang to inspect the operational readiness of a new military spy satellite and view photographs in this image released Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 25, 2023

North Korea's Kim views satellite photos of South Korea and Hawaii

Pyongyang claimed the images showed “major target areas,” including Seoul and cities home to U.S. military bases in South Korea.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 27, 2023

Netanyahu's two-front war against Hamas and politics

The Israeli prime minister is conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival.
Israeli freed hostage Yocheved Lifshitz (center), 85, takes part in a protest with her family members outside the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Her husband Oded is reportedly still held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2023

Medics and relatives offer insights into Gaza hostage conditions

Palestinian militant groups have released more than 50 Israeli women and children, with more than 160 other hostages still detained.
Pages from a new Otaku Dictionary catalog the lexicons of Japan’s various subcultures.
PODCAST / deep dive
Nov 30, 2023

A problematic otaku dictionary and the Japanese approach to sitting

An “Otaku Dictionary” has Japan’s subcultures upset at an attempt to define them.
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, speaks at a high-level segment at the COP28 climate conference in Dubai on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2023

U.S. lays out plan at COP28 to slash methane emissions from oil and gas

The rules, two years in the making, were announced by U.S. officials at the United Nations COP28 climate change conference in Dubai.
Residents of the Qatari-funded Hamad Town residential complex in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, sit with some of their belongings as they flee their homes after an Israeli strike, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 3, 2023

Israel faces growing U.S. calls for restraint amid Gaza fighting

Remarks by the U.S. vice president and defense chief were some of the strongest to date on Israel's need to protect civilians in Gaza.
KDDI President Makoto Takahashi (left), SoftBank President Junichi Miyakawa (center) and Rakuten Mobile's Hiroshi Mikitani speak during a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023

Prospect of NTT Law abolishment unclear amid fierce opposition

The idea was first proposed by a ruling Liberal Democratic Party panel to make the communications giant internationally competitive.
U.S. military Ospreys and helicopters are lined up on a runway at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, on Dec. 1
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 7, 2023

U.S. military grounds all Osprey aircraft after Japan crash

A preliminary investigation into the crash last week indicated that problems with the aircraft — not a mistake by the crew — had led to the deaths.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
WORLD / Politics
Dec 7, 2023

Italy withdraws from China's Belt and Road initiative

The long-expected decision was quietly communicated to Beijing three days ago without any official announcement.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is questioned about fundraising parties by reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Dec 7, 2023

Understanding the LDP political funding scandal and its implications

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his ruling LDP are in hot water over suspicions that party factions underreported funds for years.
Few could have predicted what artificial-intelligence proponents are dreaming up these days.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 7, 2023

Wall Street quants see mixed results from chatbots amid AI boom

As AI tools get more sophisticated, companies are updating their presentations to incorporate a positive vocal tone and upbeat sentences, research shows.
Team Europe's Jon Rahm lines up a putt during the Ryder Cup in Rome in October. The two-time major champion is heading to LIV Golf after signing a mega-deal with the PGA Tour rival.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 8, 2023

Jon Rahm joins LIV in deal reportedly worth over $300 million

The Spaniard's deal is another hit for the PGA Tour as it races to finalize an agreement to ally with the Saudi-backed league.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken
WORLD / Politics
Dec 8, 2023

U.S. criticizes Israel on Gaza as civilian death toll mounts

Israel says it must wipe out the Hamas militant group and is doing everything possible to get civilians out of harm's way.
Split over the leadership of Sam Altman, board members and executives at OpenAI turned on one another. Their brawl exposed the cracks at the heart of the artificial intelligence movement.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 11, 2023

Inside OpenAI’s crisis over the future of artificial intelligence

From the moment it was created in 2015, OpenAI was primed to combust.
A China Coast Guard vessel uses a water cannon against a Philippine supply boat as it carries out a mission to deliver provisions to the Second Thomas Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 11, 2023

Manila summons Chinese envoy after tense weekend in South China Sea

The moves came after the Philippines said one of its vessels was rammed and others "directly targeted” by a China Coast Guard ship with a water cannon.
Shohei Ohtani is joining a franchise that has long been a trailblazer in an increasingly diverse and global game.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 13, 2023

In a land of stars, Los Angeles can’t stop talking about Ohtani

Dodgers fans were still beside themselves days after Ohtani agreed to the most lucrative contract in sports history.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida awaits the results of  a vote on a no-confidence motion in the Lower House against his Cabinet on Wednesday over the ongoing party financing scandal.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 14, 2023

Kishida tries to clean up the Liberal Democratic Party house

A political event of the magnitude of the LDP-funding scandal bears close observation of what happened, why and what comes next.
A still from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
PODCAST / deep dive
Dec 14, 2023

Big in Japan 2023: Anime, Murakami and The Legend of Zelda

Our guests tell us why anime dominated in 2023, which books stood out among a lackluster crowd and why the Zelda franchise is experiencing a renaissance.
Incoming Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi arrives at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 14, 2023

Kishida axes Abe faction members from government over funds scandal

In replacing nearly a dozen ministers and officials, the prime minister is attempting to contain the worst crisis of his administration so far.
While Hayao Miyazaki’s return to filmmaking, “The Boy and the Heron,” did not attain the ¥10 billion milestone that the beloved animator’s movies had once routinely surpassed, it debuted at the top of the North American box office and became the first original anime film to lead the box office in the United States and Canada.
CULTURE / Film / 2023 in Review
Dec 15, 2023

Japan’s auteurs and anime triumphed in 2023

From Hayao Miyazaki's “The Boy and the Heron” to Hirokazu Kore-eda’s “Monster,” the box-office hits kept coming.
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo. BOJ Gov. Kazuo Ueda told lawmakers in parliament that his job was about to get even more "challenging” from the end of the year, adding to speculation of looming action by the central bank.
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2023

BOJ set to stay outlier as 2024 hike seen in contrast to Fed

The Bank of Japan has become used to being a policy outlier over its decades-long quest to vanquish deflation. It’s likely to be no different in 2024.
Dodgers owner Mark Walter puts a jersey on Shohei Ohtani during the superstar's introductory news conference on Thursday. The structure of Ohtani's contract could help the Dodgers get a full return on their investment in the two-way player.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 15, 2023

For the Dodgers, Ohtani's megadeal could end up being a bargain

The Dodgers have the makings of a juggernaut, and success on the field will allow the franchise to cash in on Ohtani’s transcendent marketability.
A Yemeni coast guard patrol boat in the Red Sea on Tuesday
WORLD
Dec 16, 2023

Shipping firms suspend Red Sea traffic after Yemen rebel strikes

The Iran-backed Houthis say they're targeting shipping to pressure Israel during its two-month-old war with Hamas militants.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attends a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 16, 2023

Kishida losing grip on LDP as funds scandal unfolds

As the Cabinet's approval rate continues to fall, officials and are beginning to discuss a scenario in which the prime minister is forced to step down.
A woman walks past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main railway station in Seoul on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 18, 2023

North Korea launches long-range ballistic missile for fifth time in 2023

Japan said the missile was estimated to have a range of 15,000 kilometers, putting the entire U.S. within striking distance.

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