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Masato Kanda, then the foreign ministry's vice minister for international affairs, speaks during a news conference in Sao Paulo in February.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2024

Former top Japanese currency diplomat Masato Kanda chosen as next ADB chief

Masato Kanda will be tasked to navigate the ADB through fresh challenges such as helping Asia reduce poverty and mitigate risks from climate change.
Russian President Vladimir Putin
WORLD
Nov 28, 2024

Putin warns Russia may strike Kyiv with new ballistic missiles

Russia has said it will strike back for recent Ukrainian attacks using U.S.-supplied ATACMS and U.K.-made Storm Shadow long-range missiles.
The Social Media Minimum Age bill sets Australia up as a test case for a growing number of governments which have legislated or said they plan to legislate an age restriction on social media amid concern about its mental health impact on young people.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Nov 29, 2024

Australia passes social media ban for children under 16

The law forces tech giants to prevent minors from logging in or face fines of up to 49.5 million Australian dollars.
A damaged vehicle sits near Roman ruins in the eastern city of Baalbek, Lebanon, on Thursday, the second day of the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
WORLD
Nov 29, 2024

Israel and Hezbollah trade accusations of ceasefire violations

The Israeli military said its air force struck a facility used by Hezbollah to store midrange rockets in southern Lebanon.
A girl stands next to her house damaged by a Russian missile strike on the outskirts of Odesa, Ukraine, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Ukraine calls Russian strikes on energy facilities 'despicable escalation'

Ukrainian president said Russia used cruise missiles with cluster munitions on Thursday, its second big attack on energy infrastructure this month.
Yoshitaka Ito, minister for regional revitalization (right), and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba set up a signboard for an office in charge of regional revitalization on Nov. 8 in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2024

Japan will help revitalize willing municipalities, minister says

The government is working to create a 10-year basic plan for rural revitalization, said Yoshitaka Ito, minister for regional revitalization.
The Moscow skyline. Heavy recruitment by the armed forces and defense industries has drawn workers away from civilian enterprises, as has emigration, pushing unemployment to a record low of 2.3%, data showed Wednesday.
WORLD / Society / ANALYSIS
Nov 29, 2024

Russia's labor shortage spreads as defense sector poaches staff

A growing labor shortage is affecting all areas of life since Moscow sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022.
Iran has well over 10,000 existing centrifuges operating at two underground plants at Natanz and Fordow and an above-ground pilot plant at Natanz.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Iran plans new uranium-enrichment expansion, IAEA report says

The confidential report details Iran's response to a resolution against it that the IAEA's 35-nation Board of Governors passed last week.
U.K. Members of Parliament will vote on assisted dying for the first time in nine years.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024

U.K. Parliament to hold first vote on assisted dying in nine years

Under the legislation put forward, assisted dying would be restricted to adults with a terminal illness who are expected to die within six months.
Shiho Hanadate is part of a small yet growing number of young tappers pivotal in securing the future of domestic sap collection used in Japanese lacquerware.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Nov 30, 2024

The young sap collectors underpinning Japanese lacquerware

“You can’t cut into the core, so you have to judge the thickness of the bark,” says tapper Shiho Hanadate. “You have to develop a sense for it.”
Despite a range of backgrounds and culinary traditions, food served as the ultimate lingua franca for chefs touring Nagano Prefecture.
LIFE / Food & Drink
Dec 1, 2024

Putting mountainous Nagano on a plate

Nagano’s natural bounty became the star attraction as chefs from Europe, Southeast Asia and Oceania showed off their chops with local ingredients.
The industry ministry plans to provide aid of up to ¥70.5 billion to auto parts maker Denso and Fuji Electric for the joint production of power semiconductors.
BUSINESS / Companies
Nov 29, 2024

Denso and Fuji Electric to get government aid for power chips

Although Japanese companies have a large share of the global power semiconductor market, production volume per maker is smaller compared with European and U.S. peers.
A stone pillar at Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine, on which the word "toilet" was spray-painted in May
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Nov 29, 2024

Chinese man pleads guilty to role in vandalizing Yasukuni Shrine

Jiang Zhuojun said he assisted with the vandalizing to protest against Japan's discharging of treated radioactive water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba delivers his policy speech at the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Nov 29, 2024

Ishiba sticks to the basics in second policy speech

Rather than expand on his broader vision, Ishiba chose to focus on less-contentious individual policy matters.
While the economic benefits of Nippon Steel's acquisition of U.S. Steel are clear, concerns remain about sustaining U.S. domestic steel production, preserving national security interests and addressing union concerns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 28, 2024

Nippon Steel endgame: Resistance or renaissance for the U.S. steel industry

The endgame for Nippon Steel’s bid for U.S. Steel appears near and the results could have a significant impact on U.S.-Japan relations, depending on the outcome.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba arrives to deliver a policy address during a Lower House session in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Tech
Nov 29, 2024

Japan earmarks extra ¥1.5 trillion for chips and AI this year

Japan is fighting to keep up in a global spending spree on cutting-edge tech led by China and the U.S.
An observation deck at a Starbucks store with views of North Korea in Gimpo, South Korea, on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC
Nov 29, 2024

Starbucks serves South Koreans coffee and a glimpse into the North

Hundreds showed up on Friday for the opening of the U.S. coffeehouse chain's newest store in an observatory near the city of Gimpo.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te gives a keynote address on the island's national day in Taipei on Oct. 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

China urges utmost caution by U.S. ahead of Taiwan leader's Hawaii trip

Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te starts a trip this week that will see him transit both Hawaii and Guam, as part of a Pacific tour.
Syrian jihadis in the streets of the northern city of Aleppo on Saturday. Jihadis and their Turkish-backed allies reached Syria's second city of Aleppo earlier, as they pressed a lightning offensive against forces of the Iranian- and Russian-backed government.
WORLD
Nov 30, 2024

Jihadis and allies breach Syria's second city in lightning assault

The fighters took control of "half of the city of Aleppo" as regime forces withdrew, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Pete Hegseth, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be secretary of defense, speaks to reporters at the Russell Senate Office Building in Washington on Nov. 21.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 30, 2024

Pete Hegseth’s mother accused her son of mistreating women for years

She said on Friday that she regretted the 2018 email and had apologized to him.
Britain's Andy Murray and Serbia's Novak Djokovic during a practice session ahead of the 2022 Laver Cup in London on Sept. 22, 2022.
TENNIS
Dec 1, 2024

Shared experiences make Murray the 'perfect coach,' Djokovic says

Murray, a three-time major winner, retired after the Paris Olympics at the age of 37, finally admitting defeat in his long battle against injury.
Anti-government fighters pose for a picture on a tank on the road leading to Maaret al-Numan in Syria's northwestern Idlib province on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 1, 2024

Syrian rebels sweep into Aleppo as Russia conducts strikes

The offensive forced the Syrian army to redeploy in the biggest challenge to President Bashar Assad in years.
Former chief of staff to the U.S. secretary of defense Kash Patel speaks during a campaign rally for former U.S. President Donald Trump in Las Vegas in October.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

Trump picks Kash Patel to head FBI

Patel has called for stripping the FBI of its intelligence-gathering role and purging anyone who refuses to support Trump's agenda.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te is welcomed aboard his aircraft by Ingrid Larson, managing director of the American Institute in Taiwan, upon arrival at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

China vows ‘resolute and forceful’ response as Taiwan leader visits Hawaii

The leader's “transit” comes ahead of visits to the Marshall Islands, Tuvalu and Palau, three of the countries that still have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili attends an opposition rally to protest after the government halted the EU application until 2028, in Tbilisi, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

Georgian president pledges to stay on after violent clashes

Georgian police and special forces cleared protesters and barricades from the main street of Tbilisi.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum delivers a speech during the inauguration of a family medicine unit in San Nicolas de los Garza, Nuevo Leon State, Mexico, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Dec 1, 2024

Trump’s demand that Mexico stop migrants and drugs may never be met

Mexico's new leader must find ways to appease Trump while avoiding the perception that she easily bends to U.S. demands.
Charles Kushner attends the funeral for Ivana Trump, socialite and first wife of former U.S. President Donald Trump, at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in New York in July 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 1, 2024

Trump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France

The choice is in keeping with Trump's pattern, so far, of selecting people, often wealthy, who are close to his family or of proven loyalty.
The mother of Israeli hostage Edan Alexander (L) hugs an organizer at a pro-Israel rally in New York on Oct. 6.
WORLD
Dec 1, 2024

Hamas releases video of U.S.-Israeli hostage in Gaza

Around half of the 101 foreign and Israeli hostages still held incommunicado in Gaza are believed to be alive.
Sharp's plant in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, that has ceased production of large liquid crystal display panels for television, a symbolic end to the company's signature business.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 1, 2024

Sharp marks end of era with halt to large LCD panel production

Now owned by a Taiwanese investor, Sharp has also scaled back production of small and medium-sized LCD panels used in smartphones and personal computers.
Ryggs Johnston celebrates after winning the Australian Open golf tournament in Melbourne on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 1, 2024

Rookie Johnston wins men's Australian Open as Shin claims women's trophy

While Shin made sure of her win by storming to a seven-stroke lead midway through, Johnston wielded magic on the back nine greens to take the title.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go