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Shein, a Chinese-founded online fast fashion platform, has filed to go public in the U.S. in what could be one of the world’s biggest IPOs.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2023

Chinese are making a killing everywhere but in China

China's companies are racing to reap the benefits of entering the U.S., while also running away from a crowded and competitive local market.
A vehicle from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, is deployed in Naqoura, southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2023

U.N. peacekeeping is an essential multilateral tool for peace

Ghana hosts a U.N. meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday at which international ministers are expected to strengthen their commitment to peacekeeping.
Then-U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (center) meets with Chinese Foreign Minister Chiao Kuan-Hua (left) and Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping in New York in 1974. Kissinger died last Wednesday at age 100.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 4, 2023

Kissinger had a profound impact on Taiwan

Former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger shifted Washington away from Taiwan in favor of Beijing, catalyzing the island’s diplomatic isolation.
Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates after winning against Britain's Jack Draper during their men's singles match on day one of the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne on Jan. 16. Nadal has been absent from the courts for almost a year with a hip injury.
TENNIS
Dec 5, 2023

Nadal plays down expectations before Brisbane return

Rafael Nadal, 37, has been out with a hip injury since last January but is set to feature at Brisbane in the near year.
United States forward Sophia Smith shoots against China during the first half of a friendly at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Saturday.
SOCCER
Dec 5, 2023

U.S. women's soccer team working toward 'shift in mentality'

The national team produced their worst-ever performance at a Women's World Cup, exiting in the round of 16.
The MP Materials rare earth open-pit mine in Mountain Pass, California, in January 2020. Western startups are focusing their attention on the process of refining rare earths — some of them pivoting from mining — that China has spent the past 30 years mastering.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2023

Western startups seek to break China's grip on rare earths refining

The companies are looking for faster, cleaner and cheaper ways to process the minerals that are critical for billions of electronic devices.
Gender-neutral names were more popular for Japanese babies born in 2023, a survey has found.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2023

Popularity of gender-neutral Japanese names rose in 2023

The annual ranking by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, released Monday, showed that unisex names have risen in popularity.
Godzilla is presented with a certificate after being selected for Hollywood's Walk of Fame during a news conference in Tokyo in October 2004.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023

New 'Godzilla' flick deftly tackles postwar Japan in cinematic triumph

Godzilla strikes again: New 'Minus One' movie is a visual spectacle that challenges Hollywood's big budget norms.
Indigenous people fish in the Pira Parana River in Vaupes province, Colombia.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 6, 2023

Carbon credit project 'destroys everything,' says Amazon community

Some two-thirds of Indigenous territory in the rainforest falls under carbon credit projects today, research in Colombia shows.
Kim, 31, who loaded his family into a homemade wooden boat in May and sailed away from his native North Korea, attends a job fair for North Korean defectors in Seoul while holding a whiteboard that reads "Navigator."
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 6, 2023

North Korean defector plans new life after high-risk escape by sea

Tens of thousands of North Koreans have fled to South Korea since the peninsula was divided by war in the 1950s, but most go overland.
Practioners of Judaism pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on Nov. 12.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 6, 2023

Unraveling the new roots of modern antisemitism

Whereas antisemitism reproaches Jews for being rootless, Zionism tries to correct this supposed failure.
Workers collect recyclable garbage including plastic bottles on World Environment Day in Tokyo in June 2020.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 6, 2023

New solutions tackle Japan’s waste problem at its core

Issues like the plastics and climate crises seem insurmountable — until we apply "systemic design," as several Japanese initiatives are showing.
People wait to board trains at the Hongqiao railway station in Shanghai ahead of the National Day holiday on Sept. 28.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 7, 2023

China holds back from easing of Mao-era rules, in blow to economy

An internal passport system has largely tethered people's destinies to their place of origin since the 1950s.
Naomi Osaka in action during the third round of the Australian Open in January 2022
TENNIS
Dec 7, 2023

Osaka and Nadal set for Grand Slam comebacks in Australia

Osaka gave birth to daughter Shai in July and has not played since September 2022, having also struggled with her mental health.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in November 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 7, 2023

If Kissinger was serving as the U.S. secretary of state

There was no other U.S. diplomat whose reputation in Japan and China was as polar opposite as that of Henry Kissinger.
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.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman completed a seven-player deal this week, with the centerpiece headed to New York in 25-year-old slugger Juan Soto.
BASEBALL / MLB
Dec 8, 2023

Yankees want Juan Soto long-term. Is Yamamoto next?

The Yankees had a representative at every start made by Yamamoto, who has become a hot commodity in the MLB free agent market.
Naomi Osaka in action during the 2022 U.S. Open in one of her final tournaments before her pregnancy leave
TENNIS
Dec 8, 2023

Returning Osaka targets Paris Olympics and more Grand Slam titles

The 26-year-old former world No. 1 is set to return to competition at the Brisbane International starting at the end of the month.
New Year's celebrations in Japan and Western countries can differ wildly, but Tokyo offers plenty of ways for you to ring in 2024 in any way you prefer.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 9, 2023

A Tokyoite’s guide to a Western-style New Year’s Eve

Typically, Ōmisoka (New Year’s Eve) is a family affair — even in the global metropolis that is Tokyo.
Kubura fishing port and Kubura district on the island of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2023

Frontier islanders decry lack of plan to aid fleeing Taiwanese

Concerned about the potential for a China-Taiwan conflict, Japan has embarked on its biggest defense buildup since World War II.
After more than 33 hours of negotiations this week, delegates from the European Commission, the European Parliament and 27 member countries agreed to a set of controls for generative artificial intelligence tools.
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 9, 2023

EU strikes deal to regulate AI tech in landmark act

The bloc’s internal market chief said the deal strikes a balance between fostering innovation and protecting the rights of people and companies.
Yujiro Nakajimaya's advice for players new to hockey is that you have to know what you want to achieve. Is it a professional career? Then you need to challenge yourself.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / 20 QUESTIONS
Dec 9, 2023

Yujiro Nakajimaya: ‘Overcoming adversity is an art’

At a young age, this hockey-playing Hokkaido native left for Canada and ended his journey playing in the NHL.
Former South Korean "comfort woman" Lee Yong-soo with a statue symbolizing "comfort women" at the Seoul Comfort Women Memorial
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 9, 2023

No appeal by Japan after 'comfort women' ruling: South Korea

The ruling ordered Tokyo to pay around 200 million won ($152,000) to each of the Korean complainants.
Delegates arrive at Dubai's Expo City during COP28 on Saturday
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Dec 9, 2023

Oil is everywhere at COP28, vexing those seeking its demise

To many of the activists in attendance, the prominence of the oil and gas industry is a travesty.
Drag queen Kylie Sonique Love performs at the third edition of Opulence. While the LGBTQ community suffered a few setbacks this year, there were also many occasions in which people could let loose and celebrate the scene.
LIFE / Lifestyle / 2023 in Review
Dec 10, 2023

Politics and pageantry for Japan's LGBTQ community in 2023

The year was one in which more Japanese members of the LGBTQ community began to push for rights such as marriage equality.
Janos Cegledy sits in a park in Tokyo's Nerima Ward. The pianist says Japan suits him, “There is a certain civility and politeness here which you don’t find anywhere else.”
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / Longform
Dec 11, 2023

The extraordinary life of a Holocaust survivor living in Japan

Janos Cegledy tours schools, telling his story. If the students ever meet a Holocaust denier, he says, they can reply, "I met someone who was there."
Shakhtar Donetsk players celebrate defender Mykola Matviyenko scoring the opening goal against Antwerp during a UEFA Champion's League Group H match in Hamburg on Nov. 28.
SOCCER
Dec 11, 2023

War-torn Shakhtar Donetsk looks to Saudi Arabia for financial boost

Deals with clubs in the Saudi Pro League may lead to lucrative player transfers and exhibition matches in the Gulf nation next season.
A tourist poses for a photograph under signs for karaoke nightclubs in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. The government crackdown on neon signs stems from safety and environmental concerns, but the campaign evokes the fading of the city itself.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 11, 2023

Where did all the Hong Kong neon go?

A government crackdown on neon signs stems from safety and environmental concerns, but the campaign evokes the fading of the city itself.
Rina Gonoi, a former member of the Self-Defense Forces, who has accused colleagues of sexually assaulting her during her time in the military, speaks in Yokohama on Friday.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 11, 2023

Former Japanese soldier fights for justice in landmark sexual assault case

A former Self-Defence Forces member's yearslong fight for justice against the men she has accused of sexually assaulting her will reach a climax on Tuesday when a court delivers a verdict in a trial that has drawn international attention.
Gold ornaments on display for sale at a Chow Tai Fook jewellery store in Shanghai.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 11, 2023

Young Chinese spurn traditional investments in favor of gold

The trend underscores uncertainty about growth prospects in the world's second-largest economy, which has not recovered from COVID-19 as fast as expected.

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