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The Galaxy Leader cargo ship is escorted by Houthi boats in the Red Sea in this photo released Nov. 20.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 28, 2024

U.S.-China talks fall short in nudging Beijing toward Red Sea breakthrough

Top officials wrapped up two days of meetings on managing the rivals' relationship, but saw little progress on addressing the crisis in the waterway.
A paper published in The Lancet in December found that plastics likely enter most of our major organs and even affect the good bacteria that makes up our microbiome.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 14, 2024

We don't know how worried we should be about nanoplastics

Nanoparticles can slip into the bloodstream, get into organs, and sneak into cells where they may cause harm.
As a small open economy, Hong Kong is vulnerable to financial contagion and capital flights to and from China.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 24, 2024

Hong Kong is facing a repeat of 1998 Asia financial crisis

As the Hang Seng Index selloff deepens, bankers and traders are preparing for the worst.
A test-firing of the submarine-launched cruise missile "Pulhwasal-3-31" at an undisclosed location in North Korea on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 29, 2024

North Korea tested submarine-launched cruise missiles, state media says

Kim Jong Un supervised the test of the missiles, which were identical to the strategic cruise missiles the North said last week were under development.
Toyota's Land Cruiser 300 SUV is among models subject to a halt in shipments after irregularities were found during certification tests for diesel engines.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 29, 2024

Toyota halts shipment of some vehicles over certification issues

A special investigative committee found irregularities during horsepower output testing for the certification of three diesel engine models.
Niners running back Christian McCaffrey (right) stiff arms Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson during the first half of the NFC title game in Santa Clara, California, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 29, 2024

Chief and 49ers set up Super Bowl rematch in Las Vegas

The reigning champion Chiefs returned to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in five years.
Singer Taylor Swift walks off the field after the AFC title game in Baltimore, Maryland, on Sunday.
MORE SPORTS / Football
Jan 29, 2024

Taylor Swift may race back to U.S. from Tokyo to watch Travis Kelce in Super Bowl

Taylor Swift has an Eras Tour performance in Tokyo the night before the Super Bowl.
Zain Syed (left), a Pakistan-born Japanese citizen; Maurice, a U.S. citizen with permanent residency in Japan; and Matthew, a Pacific Islander with permanent residency, outside the Tokyo District Court in Tokyo on Monday
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jan 29, 2024

Lawsuit filed in Tokyo over alleged racial profiling by police

The plaintiffs are seeking around ¥3 million in damages each from central and local governments in the case, which is the first of its kind.
Qatar's Akram Afif in action with Palestine's Mohammed Saleh and Mahmoud Abuwarda in the two sides' Asian Cup last-16 match in Al Khor, Qatar, on Monday
SOCCER
Jan 30, 2024

Qatar ends Palestine run; Jordan stuns Iraq with Asian Cup late show

Qatar will face the winner of Tuesday's last-16 meeting between Uzbekistan and Thailand. Jordan will meet Tajikistan.
The unemployment rate fell to 2.4% in December, government data shows.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 30, 2024

Japan job market remains tight, keeping hopes for wage hikes

The Bank of Japan is watching the labor market closely as it seeks evidence of a virtuous cycle linking rising wages with demand-led price gains.
A Palestinian girl sits on bags of flour distributed by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

In dossier, Israel accuses 190 U.N. staff of being 'hardened killers'

Over 10 countries, including major donors the United States and Germany, have halted their funding to the agency, which employs 13,000 people in Gaza.
Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee competes at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Feb. 17, 2022.
OLYMPICS / Figure skating
Jan 30, 2024

Russian skater Valieva suspended for four years over doping

The Kremlin has slammed what it called a "politicized" decision.
Families of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants gather with supporters for a demonstration demanding an immediate deal as they block off a road near the Israeli Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

U.S. vows to act after drone strike, endangering Gaza hostage talks

An attack Sunday by Iran-backed militants was the first deadly strike against U.S. troops since the Israel-Hamas war began, and marks a major escalation.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showed that 8.8 million people in the U.S. in 2022 were living with long COVID.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 30, 2024

A promising turn in the quest to treat long COVID

A new study doesn’t explain why the immune response is out of whack, but it is an important new piece to the vexing puzzle that is long COVID.
Taro Aso, vice president of the Liberal Democratic Party, makes a speech in Ashiya, Fukuoka Prefecture, on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 30, 2024

Japan foreign minister brushes off controversial remarks by Taro Aso

Yoko Kamikawa appeared unfazed after Aso called her an old lady and said she's "not that good looking.”
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerbeg. In October, more than 30 states sued Meta, alleging its social media apps were feeding harmful content to youth.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jan 31, 2024

Social media CEOs brace for child safety scrutiny: Here's what to expect

Evidence suggests that excessive use of social media and harmful content may damage mental health.
North Korea says that it launched Hwasal-2, a strategic cruise missile, in the West Sea of Korea on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

North Korea says it test-fired strategic cruise missile

Analysts warn these recently launched weapons could be destined for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Elon Musk
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Musk’s $55 billion Tesla pay package struck down, threatening status

Worth some $51.1 billion, Musk's Tesla options were one of his most valuable assets. Without them his net worth would drop to $154.3 billion.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (center) attends a monetary policy meeting at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Jan. 23.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jan 31, 2024

'Golden opportunity': BOJ signals rate hike ahead with ramped-up exit talk

Central bank board members indicate that conditions allowing the termination of its negative rate policy are increasing.
Anti-landing barricades on a beach in Kinmen, Taiwan, with China's Xiamen in the background on Dec. 18, 2023
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Taiwan assails 'unilateral' China change to flight path in strait

Taipei says the move in relation to the "median line" appears to be a deliberate attempt to change the status quo for possible military means.
A statue of Mario on display inside a Takashiyama department store in Kyoto in November. Nintendo's shares have soared 47% in the past year, outpacing gains in console rivals Microsoft and Sony Group over the past couple of months.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Nintendo’s record gain tested in wait for 'Switch 2’

Nintendo's shares have soared 47% in the past year, recently outpacing gains in console rivals Microsoft and Sony Group.
Takuo Komori, parliamentary vice minister for internal affairs, bows after speaking to reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Two Abe faction members resign as vice ministers over funds scandal

The latest development in the scandal currently enveloping the LDP comes as the opposition is expected to gear up its criticism of the ruling party.
Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, on March 27, 2021.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 31, 2024

Three years after coup, Myanmar junta chief's power in doubt

Min Aung Hlaing's leadership has been questioned after a series of military defeats during a sweeping offensive by rebel groups known as Operation 1027.
Rescue workers look for missing people in collapsed houses in the aftermath of the  earthquake that struck Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, and the surrounding areas on Jan. 1.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2024

No one left behind: Japan needs to work on its multicultural disaster response

The Noto earthquake has put into relief, once again, the need to cater disaster responses and preparedness to everyone, including foreigners.
Mitsuko Tottori (right), incoming president of Japan Airlines, and Yuji Akasaka, outgoing president, during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 17
BUSINESS / Companies
Jan 31, 2024

Japan opens door to more women directors, but managers still rare

Women account for only 13.4% of directors and executive officers at the 1,836 firms listed on the TSE's Prime market, and of these 13% are internal hires.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2024

BRICS gets boost as Saudi Arabia joins group of emerging nations

Saudi Arabia and four other countries have accepted the invitation to join the BRICS club of nations that was extended during a summit last year.
Police officers escort Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan (center) upon his arrival at the high court in Islamabad on May 12, 2023. Khan and his wife have been sentenced to 14 years' jail after being convicted of illegally selling gifts he received while he was premier.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2024

Pakistan's ex-PM Imran Khan gets another 14-year jail sentence

His conviction for illegally selling state gifts follows a separate charge of leaking state secrets, for which he was jailed 10 years a day earlier.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers his keynote address at the f8 Developers Conference in San Francisco in 2011.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 1, 2024

Facebook, the social network old-timer, turns 20

"Facebook, when it launched, was revolutionary"
U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell holds a news conference after a Federal Open Market Committee meeting in Washington on Wednesday. Powell signaled that an interest rate cut as soon as in March is unlikely, as the central bank remains data-dependent when mulling its next steps.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 1, 2024

Fed cements pivot but pushes back on timing of cuts

Chair Jerome Powell said officials would move patiently and doused speculation that rate cuts would start at the next meeting.
A woman makes a donation for people affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake set up at Shinjuku's Keio Department Store's in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2024

¥17 billion raised for quake-hit Ishikawa

A committee made up of members of related organizations will decide how to allocate the funds, which will be distributed via local municipalities.

Longform

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