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Yemeni coast guard members on patrol in the Red Sea on Tuesday amid heightened tension over drone and missile assaults by Houthi militia.
WORLD
Dec 17, 2023

Tensions spilling over from Gaza to Red Sea escalate

The shipping industry is bracing for potential economic fallout as the vital sea lane is increasingly drawn into regional unrest.
Matt Boyle of the Greater Manchester Police speaks to reporters after missing teen Alex Batty returned to the U.K. on Saturday.
WORLD
Dec 17, 2023

British teen Alex Batty arrives in U.K. six years after vanishing

The teen was found in the middle of the night by a delivery driver after he had walked along a road for four days.
Kuwait's then-Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al Ahmad Al Sabah arrives to attend a conference in Kuwait City in 2014.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 17, 2023

Kuwait's Emir Sheikh Nawaf dies; Sheikh Meshal named as successor

Crown Prince Sheikh Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, 83, who has been Kuwait's de facto ruler since 2021, was named as Sheikh Nawaf's successor.
Naomi Osaka in action at the Pan Pacific Open in Osaka in September 2019.
TENNIS
Dec 17, 2023

'Superstar' Osaka's return a boost for WTA, top coach says

The four-time Grand Slam champion last played a WTA tournament at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in late September 2022.
"Concussed: Sport's Uncomfortable Truth" by author Sam Peters details the issue of concussions in sports, particularly rugby.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Dec 17, 2023

Rugby in denial over concussion problem, author Sam Peters says

Peters' book includes a section on the damage of repeated heading in soccer but is predominantly concerned with rugby.
A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from a U.S. Navy ship. Japan agreed with the United States to buy U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missiles one year earlier than previously planned.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2023

Japanese government delaying debate over key defense issues

A widening political scandal is affecting the Kishida administration's ability to move forward on important security discussions.
Prosecutors head to the office of the Liberal Democratic Party faction led by former Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

Prosecutors search sites linked to scandal-hit LDP factions

Prosecutors searched the biggest faction, once led by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and another led by former LDP Secretary-General Toshihiro Nikai.
Rahm Emanuel, U.S. ambassador to Japan, eats scallops from Hokkaido at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023

U.S. TV commercials to promote Japanese scallops

The move comes after demand from the Chinese market evaporated when China introduced a blanket ban on Japanese fishery products in August this year.
X owner Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Tech
Dec 19, 2023

EU targets Musk's X in first illegal content probe

The probe will focus on countering the dissemination of illegal content and the effectiveness of measures taken to combat information manipulation.
A mobile missile launcher awaits the order to fire a Hwasong-18 intercontinental ballistic missile from an undisclosed location in North Korea in this undated picture released Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

Japan, South Korea, U.S. begin sharing real-time data on North Korean missiles

The data-sharing system was activated as Pyongyang confirmed that it tested a solid-fueled intercontinental ballistic missile a day earlier.
Men warm up around a fire outside one of the tents housing Palestinians displaced by the conflict in Gaza on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 19, 2023

U.S. vows to keep arming Israel amid calls for Gaza cease-fire

Gaza's health ministry says Israel's military response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas has now killed more than 19,400 people.
Hanako Jimi, minister in charge of the expo, said that infrastructure development around the venue will cost some ¥9.7 trillion, including about ¥839 billion for extending Osaka Metro's Chuo subway line and constructing roads for shuttle bus operations.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2023

Japan unveils Osaka Expo costs

The government will bear ¥164.7 billion in direct expenses based on the latest estimate for venue construction costs.
Buildings in Xiamen on mainland China across the Taiwan Strait from anti-landing barriers on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 20, 2023

Taiwan’s ability to defend against Chinese invasion questioned

For all the support given by Washington, the reality is that when it comes to both civil and military defense, Taiwan still has a lot to do.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting near Moscow on Dec. 12.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2023

U.S. allies brace for high cost of defeat as Ukraine aid stalls

Russian victory in Ukraine would be felt around the world as U.S. partners and allies questioned Washington’s promises of defense.
Daihatsu said Wednesday that it will suspend shipments of all vehicle models made in Japan and abroad due to an unfolding scandal over misconduct in its crash tests.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Toyota's Daihatsu to halt shipments as safety scandal widens

The results of an investigation suggest the scope of safety concerns, first disclosed in April, is now far greater than previously thought.
People gather around a fire on Wednesday to keep warm outside a local mosque after an earthquake in northwest China's Gansu province on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 20, 2023

Chinese earthquake victims emerge into subfreezing weather

The magnitude-6.2 earthquake jolted Jishishan county near the border straddling Gansu and Qinghai provinces a minute before midnight on Monday.
Music streaming service Spotify started offering audiobooks in October, but not everyone in the book industry is thrilled.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 20, 2023

Spotify's push into audiobooks sparks concern among authors

Spotify began offering complimentary audiobooks to millions of customers in October as part of their monthly subscriptions.
People's Liberation Army forces walk near the Sagaing Region of Myanmar on Nov. 23.
ASIA PACIFIC / Crime & Legal
Dec 21, 2023

China is using Myanmar civil war to destroy cyber scam networks

The ruling Communist Party is cracking down on criminal gangs that have scammed, kidnapped and tortured its citizens
Surfers hold banners as they gather during a demonstration in Guethary, France, against the construction of a tower at the Olympic surfing venue in Polynesia.
OLYMPICS
Dec 21, 2023

Surfing tower will be built, Paris Games chief says

Tony Estanguet explained the option offered by the surfing body had been studied but was deemed insufficient.
An Israeli soldier exits what Israel says is the largest Hamas tunnel it has discovered so far in Gaza, located a few hundred meters from the Erez border crossing, during an escorted tour by the military for international journalists on Dec. 15.
WORLD
Dec 21, 2023

Israel says uncovered tunnel network used by Hamas leadership

Israel's military described "tunnels that connects terrorist hideouts, bureaus, and residential apartments belonging to Hamas's senior leadership."
Yamanashi Gov. Kotaro Nagasaki speaks at a news conference at the prefectural government office on Wednesday. The prefecture is set to begin charging people to climb Mount Fuji.
JAPAN
Dec 21, 2023

Yamanashi Prefecture to collect fees from Mount Fuji climbers

The prefecture will also control the number of climbers to ease congestion and prevent visitors from climbing through the night.
The Colorado Supreme Court building in downtown Denver on Tuesday. The Colorado Supreme Court, which barred former U.S. President Donald Trump from the state’s primary ballot, is composed of seven justices who were all appointed by Democratic governors.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 21, 2023

Colorado ballot case adds fuel to Trump's nomination drive

The Colorado Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that the former president was barred from its state ballot for engaging in "insurrection."
Officials from the transport ministry enter Daihatsu Motor's headquarters in Ikeda, Osaka Prefecture, on Thursday for inspection after a scandal regarding safety data manipulation emerged at the firm.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 21, 2023

Daihatsu offices raided after scandal halts all car shipments

The raid followed revelations that the carmaker and supplier had manipulated the results of various collision safety tests dating as far back as 1989.
Police officers stand guard outside the Liberal Democratic Party headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 14. The ruling party is currently trying to contain a funding scandal that threatens the future of the Kishida administration. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 20, 2023

'Strategic Communication' is a missing link in Japan's crisis management

From gaffes to governance, lessons in "strategic communications" for Japanese politicians.
Real Madrid's Luka Modric battles for the ball with FC Barcelona's Ilkay Gundogan during a match in October. Plans for a European Super League bringing together elite soccer clubs such as the two Spanish outfits won a surprise boost on Thursday.
SOCCER
Dec 22, 2023

Teams shun European Super League despite shock court victory

UEFA and FIFA are "abusing a dominant position” by applying arbitrary rules on approval, control and sanctions, the top EU court said.
Japan's core consumer prices rose 2.5% in November from a year earlier, marking the slowest pace of increase in over a year in a sign of easing cost-push pressures in the world's third-largest economy.
BUSINESS / Economy
Dec 22, 2023

Japan’s cooling inflation also offers encouraging signs for BOJ

Consumer prices excluding fresh food items rose 2.5% from a year earlier as falls in energy costs deepened and gains in processed food prices eased.
While Magic: The Gathering is popular with card game aficionados the world over, the community in Japan is split along some unexpected lines.
LIFE / Lifestyle
Dec 23, 2023

Diehards and casuals clash in Tokyo’s Magic: The Gathering community

The Commander format is widely popular across Europe and the United States, but Japan’s Magic community hasn’t quite followed the same path.
Saeed Al-Shorbaji, the supervisor of Nasser hospital's morgue, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in November. He was killed in an Israeli airstrike in early December.
WORLD / Society
Dec 22, 2023

As Gaza death toll hits 20,000, many fear the true count is higher

Only bodies identified or claimed by relatives are included in the official figures, and thousands more are believed to be buried beneath the rubble.
A Brazilian of Japanese descent teaches Japanese to foreign nationals in July 2020 at the Homi housing complex in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, which is home to many foreign nationals, mainly of Brazilian heritage.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2023

Some foreign fourth generation descendants of Japanese to be given long-term residency

The Immigration Services Agency will revise the residency status system to allow such people to effectively stay in Japan indefinitely.
The SKS Doyles crude oil tanker sails through the Suez Canal on Thursday.
WORLD
Dec 24, 2023

Iran dismisses U.S. intelligence tying it to Red Sea attacks

The White House said that Iran was "deeply involved” in the planning of the Houthi attacks and has supplied weapons, financial support and training.

Longform

Totopa in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward was picked by consultants TTNE as the best sauna of the year.
Japan’s sauna movement: Relax, refresh, repeat