Milan-Cortina Olympics

Milan-Cortina Olympics

Photo taken on Jan. 3, 2026, shows a snow machine at the venue of cross country skiing disciplines for the upcoming Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Tesero, Italy.

Itsukushima Shrine

Itsukushima Shrine

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Jan. 3, 2026, shows the World heritage-listed Itsukushima Shrine dusted with snow (front) in Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan.

Itsukushima Shrine

Itsukushima Shrine

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Jan. 3, 2026, shows the World heritage-listed Itsukushima Shrine dusted with snow in Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan.

Expressway interchange congested due to snow

Expressway interchange congested due to snow

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter on Jan. 3, 2026, shows traffic congestion at the Sanyo Expressway interchange in Iwakuni in the western Japan prefecture of Yamaguchi, due to heavy snow the previous day.

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

Police vehicles are parked on Jan. 3, 2026, near a detention center in New York's Brooklyn where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held following a U.S. military operation in Caracas.

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

People gather on Jan. 3, 2026, at a detention center in New York's Brooklyn where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held following a U.S. military operation in Caracas.

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

Photo taken on Jan. 3, 2026, shows a detention center in New York's Brooklyn where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held following a U.S. military operation in Caracas.

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

Photo taken on Jan. 3, 2026, shows a detention center in New York's Brooklyn where Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being held following a U.S. military operation in Caracas.

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

U.S. military operation in Venezuela

People protest in front of the White House in Washington on Jan. 3, 2026, following a U.S. attack on Venezuela that resulted in the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Tokyo-bound lanes on the Tomei Expressway packed with cars near the Ebina service area in Kanagawa Prefecture on Jan. 3, 2026, as the New Year's holiday season nears its end.

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Tokyo-bound lanes on the Tomei Expressway packed with cars near the Ebina service area in Kanagawa Prefecture on Jan. 3, 2026, as the New Year's holiday season nears its end.

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Return rush of New Year travelers in Japan

Photo taken from a Kyodo News helicopter shows Tokyo-bound lanes on the Tomei Expressway packed with cars near the Ebina service area in Kanagawa Prefecture on Jan. 3, 2026, as the New Year's holiday season nears its end.

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Aoyama Gakuin University anchor runner Sota Orita crosses the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2026, securing the university's third consecutive year of victory in the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay.

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Aoyama Gakuin University anchor runner Sota Orita crosses the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2026, securing the university's third consecutive year of victory in the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay.

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Aoyama Gakuin University anchor runner Sota Orita crosses the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2026, securing the university's third consecutive year of victory in the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay.

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Aoyama Gakuin University anchor runner Sota Orita crosses the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2026, securing the university's third consecutive year of victory in the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay.

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay

Aoyama Gakuin University anchor runner Sota Orita crosses the finish line in Tokyo's Otemachi business district on Jan. 3, 2026, securing the university's third consecutive year of victory in the two-day Tokyo-Hakone collegiate ekiden road relay.

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

Women dressed in traditional attire from ancient Heian period play karuta traditional card game in a New Year's ceremony at Yasaka shrine in Kyoto on Jan. 3, 2026. ==Kyodo

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

Women dressed in traditional attire from ancient Heian period play karuta traditional card game in a New Year's ceremony at Yasaka shrine in Kyoto on Jan. 3, 2026. ==Kyodo

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

New Year's traditional card game ceremony in Kyoto

Women dressed in traditional attire from ancient Heian period play karuta traditional card game in a New Year's ceremony at Yasaka shrine in Kyoto on Jan. 3, 2026. ==Kyodo

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits the mausoleum of Empress Kojun, her great-grandmother and wife of Emperor Showa, at the Musashi imperial graveyard in Hachioji, western Tokyo, on Dec. 3, 2025, following her first official overseas trip to Laos the previous month. (Pool photo)

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits the mausoleum of Emperor Showa, her great-grandfather, at the Musashi imperial graveyard in Hachioji, western Tokyo, on Dec. 3, 2025, following her first official overseas trip to Laos the previous month. (Pool photo)

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits the mausoleum of Emperor Showa, her great-grandfather, at the Musashi imperial graveyard in Hachioji, western Tokyo, on Dec. 3, 2025, following her first official overseas trip to Laos the previous month. (Pool photo)

CORRECTED: Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

CORRECTED: Japanese Princess Aiko visits imperial graveyard

Japanese Princess Aiko visits the mausoleum of Empress Kojun, her great-grandmother and wife of Emperor Showa, at the Musashi imperial graveyard in Hachioji, western Tokyo, on Dec. 3, 2025, following her first official overseas trip to Laos the previous month. (Pool photo)

Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center

Xmas tree at Rockefeller Center

A 23-meter-tall Christmas tree at the Rockefeller Center in New York is illuminated with more than 50,000 LED lights on Dec. 3, 2025

Japan-sponsored kindergarten lunch center in Ukraine

Japan-sponsored kindergarten lunch center in Ukraine

People tour a new kindergarten lunch center partially financed by Japanese official development assistance in Demydiv near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Dec. 3, 2025.

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa, a co-winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry, waves at Osaka airport straddling Hyogo and Osaka prefectures on Dec. 3, 2025, before leaving for Stockholm to attend the award ceremony.

Japan-sponsored kindergarten lunch center in Ukraine

Japan-sponsored kindergarten lunch center in Ukraine

People tour a new kindergarten lunch center partially financed by Japanese official development assistance in Demydiv near the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Dec. 3, 2025.

Japanese sake promotion in Cambodia

Japanese sake promotion in Cambodia

Cambodian government officials and people involved in the food and beverage industry take part in an event promoting rice wine made in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025, at the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh.

Japanese sake promotion in Cambodia

Japanese sake promotion in Cambodia

Cambodian government officials (2nd and 3rd from L) taste sake at an event promoting rice wine made in Gifu Prefecture, central Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025, at the Japanese embassy in Phnom Penh.

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa, a co-winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry, meets the press at Osaka airport straddling Hyogo and Osaka prefectures on Dec. 3, 2025, before leaving for Stockholm to attend the award ceremony.

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Nobel laureate Kitagawa leaves for Stockholm

Kyoto University distinguished professor Susumu Kitagawa, a co-winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in chemistry, meets the press at Osaka airport straddling Hyogo and Osaka prefectures on Dec. 3, 2025, before leaving for Stockholm to attend the award ceremony.

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan's National Police Agency chief Yoshinobu Kusunoki addresses a meeting of senior officials of the Fukushima Prefectural Police at its headquarters in Fukushima, northeastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan's National Police Agency chief Yoshinobu Kusunoki meets the press at the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, straddling Futaba and Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025. (Pool photo)

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan police chief in Fukushima

Japan's National Police Agency chief Yoshinobu Kusunoki offers flowers at a memorial for victims of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster in Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Japan PM meets ASEAN entrepreneurs

Japan PM meets ASEAN entrepreneurs

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi (C, R) poses for a photo at her office in Tokyo on Dec. 3, 2025, upon meeting with young business leaders from Japan and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Japan PM meets ASEAN entrepreneurs

Japan PM meets ASEAN entrepreneurs

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaishi (C, R) poses for a photo at her office in Tokyo on Dec. 3, 2025, upon meeting with young business leaders from Japan and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Trial of shooter of ex-Japan PM Abe

Trial of shooter of ex-Japan PM Abe

Akie Abe (C), widow of assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, leaves the Nara District Court in Nara on Dec. 3, 2025, after attending for the first time the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami, indicted for fatally shooting Abe during an election stump speech in the western Japan city in 2022.

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Fireworks glitter above decorated floats during Chichibu Night Festival in Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Fireworks glitter above decorated floats during Chichibu Night Festival in Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Fireworks glitter above decorated floats during Chichibu Night Festival in Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Chichibu Night Festival in eastern Japan

Fireworks glitter above decorated floats during Chichibu Night Festival in Chichibu in Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan, on Dec. 3, 2025.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

A woman is pictured in front of the remnants of a factory in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

People stare at a muddy stream covering what used to be a residential area in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region. About 20 houses were swept away in the area ahead of planned revetment work.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

People stare at a muddy stream covering what used to be a residential area in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region. About 20 houses were swept away in the area ahead of planned revetment work.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

A woman looks on in front of a muddy stream where her house once stood in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

A woman looks on in front of a muddy stream where her house once stood in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

Photo shows a national highway covered with debris in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

A woman is pictured in front of a muddy stream where her house once stood in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.

Flash floods in Indonesia

Flash floods in Indonesia

Sisters stand in front of a muddy stream where their house once stood in Padang in West Sumatra Province, Indonesia, on Dec. 3, 2025, following deadly flash floods a week earlier caused by heavy rains in the region.