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Masayo Ishimaru, the head of volunteer group Tanpopo no Sato, cuddles cats rescued from a pet hoarder, in the city of Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, in September.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 4, 2024

Local governments tighten rules on pet ownership as hoarding persists

Municipalities are introducing mandatory reporting requirements for owners of large numbers of pets as well as fines for non-compliance.
World Anti-Doping Agency Director-General Olivier Niggli speaks during the agency's symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March.
OLYMPICS
Dec 4, 2024

Anti-doping agency froze out investigators who warned about China

The decision by WADA’s leaders to keep its own investigators in the dark raises new questions about WADA's response to possible doping by Chinese athletes.
Netflix's subscribers in Japan topped 10 million in the first half of this year, with Japanese content being its third-most-viewed non-English content, after those in Korean and Spanish.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 4, 2024

Netflix Japan subscribers top 10 million

The streaming firm's Japanese-language programming is grabbing attention in the growing market.
Democratic Party for the People chief Yuichiro Tamaki speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

Tamaki suspended for three months as DPP leader following affair

An internal committee judged Tamaki’s conduct as having contravened the party’s ethics regulations and damaged its honor and trust.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who lost his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to Trump, was on an earlier list of potential defense secretary candidates but U.S. President-elect Donald Trump decided to go with Pete Hegseth, a report said Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 4, 2024

Trump considers replacing Hegseth with DeSantis to run Pentagon, report says

Pete Hegseth's nomination has run into trouble over allegations about his personal and professional life.
Under a plan being put forward by JR East, the Yamanote Line's base fare will be raised from ¥150 to ¥160.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2024

JR East to raise standard fares for first time since privatization

The plan would mark the railway operator's first full-fledged fare hike since its creation through the Japanese National Railways' privatization in 1987.
A TV screen broadcasts a news report of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol's declaration of martial law and a following announcement that he will lift the martial law after the measure was voted down by parliament, at a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / EXPLAINER
Dec 5, 2024

How to impeach a South Korean president

A two-thirds majority in parliament needs to pass an impeachment motion, and the Constitutional Court will conduct a trial to either confirm or reject it.
Major electronics firms plan to pay new graduate hires starting salaries that vary depending on skills and experiences.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 5, 2024

Japanese electronics firms rethink uniform starting salaries

Panasonic Connect plans to pay an additional 10% to 20% on top of this year's starting salaries to spring 2025 recruits with past startup experiences or tech skills.
The fall of Aleppo in Syria to political chaos in Tbilisi, Georgia, and even recent events in Paris, give us a glimpse of a possible post-American new world disorder.
COMMENTARY
Dec 4, 2024

Welcome to the post-American new world disorder

From Aleppo in Syria, to Tbilisi, Georgia, and even Paris, last weekend gave us a glimpse of a possible post-American new world disorder.
A woman is arrested for soliciting prostitution near Okubo Park in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward in October.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Dec 5, 2024

88 arrested for soliciting prostitution near Tokyo park so far this year

The arrests reflect ongoing challenges in curbing illegal activities in Shinjuku's Okubo Park area, which has been dubbed a “prostitution haven” on social media.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announces his decision to impose martial law on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 5, 2024

South Korea turmoil strikes at heart of U.S. alliances in Asia

The potential impeachment of South Korea’s president after an aborted attempt to impose martial law may complicate U.S. efforts to counter China.
Bank of Japan board member Toyoaki Nakamura's cautious stance on raising interest rates indicates that the idea of a December hike may not have unanimous support.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 5, 2024

BOJ’s leading dove calls for careful approach to tweaking easing

The board member's remarks indicate that the idea of hiking interest rates this month may not have unanimous support.
Protesters angry over President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declarations of martial law call on him to step down at a rally at the national assembly in Seoul on Wednesday. REUTERS
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2024

Where does South Korea's democracy go from here?

Why did he dig himself such a deep political hole? The answer to that is Yoon is not really a “politician” either.
South Korea’s currency recovered while its stocks fell Wednesday as investors braced for prolonged political uncertainties following a brief decree of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2024

Capitalism is the unsung hero of South Korean democracy

Capitalism, with its economic pressures and global integration, has been crucial in fostering democracy in South Korea.
Sake bottles are displayed at the 19th World Cultural Heritage Conference, as sake was added to UNESCO'S Intangible Cultural Heritage list, in Asuncion, Paraguay on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 5, 2024

Japanese sake brewing added to UNESCO intangible heritage list

Traditional sake brewing marks the 23rd Japanese entry on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list, joining other culturally significant arts such as washoku and kabuki.
Satoko Shisai
BUSINESS / WOMEN AT WORK
Dec 15, 2024

Forging a career through digital transformation and mindset change

Backed by a strong belief in career ownership, Satoko Shisai built her own success at IBM Japan and Chugai.
Many of the investors who stuck with cryptocurrency through its ups and downs, its scandals and scams, are now basking in an I-told-you-so glow.
BUSINESS / Markets
Dec 6, 2024

Bitcoin's true believers bask in I-told-you-so glow at $100,000

The milestone marks a spectacular comeback from a “crypto winter” two years ago in the wake of the collapse of the FTX exchange in a pile of fraud.
French President Emmanuel Macron vows to stay on as leader during a televised broadcast from the Elysee Palace in Paris on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Macron vows to serve remainder of term as French president

"The mandate you gave me democratically is for five years and I will exercise it fully,” the French president said in a televised speech.
Rebel fighters hold weapons in front of the Hama governor's building after capturing the city during their advance across northern Syria on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 6, 2024

Syria rebels capture another key city in fresh blow to Assad

Hama lies about halfway between Aleppo, which opposition fighters captured in a shock attack on government-held territory last week, and Damascus.
British driver George Russell arrives to participate in the drivers' parade ahead of the Qatari Formula One Grand Prix at the Lusail International Circuit in Lusail, north of Doha, on Dec. 1.
MORE SPORTS / Auto Racing
Dec 6, 2024

George Russell says Max Verstappen made threats in Qatar

Tensions are heating up ahead of Sunday's season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced in a statement on Thursday that David Sacks will be the "White House A.I. & Crypto Czar."
WORLD
Dec 6, 2024

Trump appoints former PayPal exec David Sacks as AI and crypto czar

Sacks is considered a member of the "PayPal Mafia" of former workers and executives at the digital finance firm that includes prominent Trump supporters.
Critics have said that drivers who were speeding well over the speed limit or those who were extremely drunk were not indicted for dangerous driving because of its vague definition.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal / EXPLAINER
Dec 6, 2024

What constitutes fatal dangerous driving in Japan?

Critics say its vague definition has often led prosecutors to indict offenders with less-serious charges of fatal negligent driving instead.
Miho Nakayama rose to stardom in 1985 after the release of her first single “C,” which established her popularity as an idol.
CULTURE
Dec 9, 2024

Miho Nakayama, known for 'Love Letter' and her music, dies at 54

Nakayama had a solo Christmas show scheduled in Osaka on Friday, but had canceled the show in the morning, citing health reasons.
Yoshihiko Noda, the leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 6, 2024

CDP leader calls for gradual BOJ rate hikes

Yoshihiko Noda urged the central bank to keep a close eye on economic and overseas developments when raising rates.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks in parliament on Thursday.
JAPAN
Dec 6, 2024

Ishiba raised most funds among Japanese party leaders in 2023

An LDP chief has topped the rankings list for 10 years in a row.
Shoppers wait at the checkout lines at an Ito-Yokado shopping centre after a sales tax hike in Tokyo April 1, 2014. Big firms expect to increase capital spending only modestly, the Bank of Japan's (BOJ) tankan quarterly survey showed on Tuesday, reflecting uncertainty over how much a sales tax hike that kicked off on Tuesday could hurt a fragile economic recovery.   REUTERS/Toru Hanai (JAPAN - Tags: BUSINESS)
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 6, 2024

Ito-Yokado to reduce headcount of permanent employees by 1,000

The Seven & I Holdings unit will implement the reduction through personnel relocations and natural reductions, mainly through mandatory retirement.
Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin perform during the pairs competition at the Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France, on Friday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 7, 2024

German skaters Hase and Volodin defend Grand Prix Final gold

Former world champions Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan took silver with 206.71.
Chugoku Electric Power Company's Shimane nuclear power plant
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2024

Chugoku Electric restarts Shimane reactor for first time in 13 years

The long-delayed restart of the reactor, which was shut down in January 2012, boosts the number of Japan's operational reactors to 14.
A low pressure storm system known as a "bomb cyclone" moves off the coast of the U.S. Pacific Northwest and western Canada in a composite satellite image on Nov. 20.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 7, 2024

Google introduces AI agent that aces 15-day weather forecasts

They report that their new model can, among other things, outperform the world’s best forecasts meant to track deadly storms and save lives.
South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun attends a joint news conference during a "two-plus-two" meeting at the State Department in Washington on Oct. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 8, 2024

South Korea’s ex-defense chief is detained over martial law episode

Kim Yong-hyun is the first person to be detained as prosecutors begin their investigation into allegations made by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s political opponents​.

Longform

Yasuyuki Yoshida stirs a brew in a fermentation tank at his brewery in Hakusan.
The quake that shook Noto's sake brewing tradition