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July 22, 2025
 

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Jonathan Landay
A packaged box of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) bears the USAID logo, inside MANA Nutrition’s plant in Fitzgerald, Georgia, on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 17, 2025
U.S. aid workers lobbied to save food stocks after Trump cuts
Wasted food will be turned into landfill or incinerated in the United Arab Emirates, costing the U.S. government an additional $100,000.
Soldiers stand during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's visit to a military training area to find out about the training of Ukrainian soldiers on the Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, in Germany in June last year.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Ukraine celebrates Trump's weapons reversal, but the 'devil's in the details'
U.S. President Donald Trump has finally found a way to like arming Ukraine: ask European allies to donate their weapons, and sell them American replacements.
Palestinians collect what remains of relief supplies from the distribution center of the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 8, 2025
Proposal outlines large-scale 'Humanitarian Transit Areas' for Palestinians in Gaza
One source said the plan, which calls the camps "large-scale" and "voluntary" places for the Gazan population, was recently discussed in the White House.
A Palestinian carries a sack of aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 29.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025
U.S. to give $30 million to Gaza aid operation despite violence concerns
This is the first known U.S. government financial contribution to the group, which uses private U.S. military and logistics firms to bring aid into Gaza.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February. U.S. intelligence consistently showed Israel might go ahead with an attack on Iran with or without U.S. support.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 20, 2025
How Trump, a self-proclaimed 'peacemaker,' embraced Israel's campaign against Iran
No epiphany is seen to have tipped the scales for U.S. President Donald Trump so much as a lack of diplomatic progress, a push from Israelis and hawkish ally appeals wore him down.
Palestinian children gather at a hot meal distribution point in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 7, 2025
U.S. mulls giving millions to controversial Gaza aid foundation
The State Department is weighing giving $500 million to the new foundation providing aid to Gaza, according to people familiar with the matter.
Islamic State billboards are seen along a street in Raqqa, eastern Syria, which is controlled by the Islamic State, on Oct. 29, 2014. The billboard (R) reads: "We will win despite the global coalition."
WORLD
May 11, 2025
Qataris search for bodies of Americans killed by Islamic State in Syria
Islamic State, which controlled swathes of Syria and Iraq from 2014-2017, killed numerous people in captivity and released videos of the murders.
Iranian missiles are displayed at the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Museum in Tehran in November.
WORLD
May 10, 2025
Iran to send Russia launchers for short-range missiles
The delivery of the Fath-360 launchers — if it occurs — would help support Russia's war in Ukraine and reaffirm deepening security ties with Iran.
Demonstrators gather outside offices of the U.S. Agency for International Development for a nationwide "Hands Off!" protest against U.S. President Donald Trump and his adviser, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in Washington on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 9, 2025
U.S. moves to restore some terminated foreign aid programs, sources say
The World Food Programme awards in Lebanon, Syria, Somalia, Jordan, Iraq and Ecuador have been ordered to be restored.
Rohingya refugees wait at the World Food Program (WFP) distribution center to purchase grocery items at the refugee camp in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, on March 15.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 8, 2025
Trump administration food aid cuts put millions at risk, aid sources say
The U.N. World Food Programme warned that the termination of U.S. funding for emergency food assistance "could amount to a death sentence" for millions.
A man stands near the remains of a building destroyed in a strong earthquake, in Amarapura, Myanmar, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 1, 2025
U.S. aid response in Myanmar faces hurdles after staff cuts
Response hobbled by the huge fund cuts, contractor terminations and plans to fire nearly all USAID staff, source says.
An M777 howitzer crew firing at Russian targets near the front lines of the Dnipro region, Ukraine, on Feb. 12
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025
U.S. cuts intelligence for Ukraine, adding pressure for peace deal
The move underscores Trump's willingness to play hardball with an ally as he pivots to a more conciliatory approach to Moscow.
People hold placards as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington on Monday.
WORLD
Feb 7, 2025
Trump to keep only 294 USAID staff out of over 10,000 globally
Washington's primary humanitarian aid agency has been a target of a government reorganization program spearheaded by businessman Elon Musk
Demonstrators protest outside the U.S. Agency for International Development headquarters in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 4, 2025
Elon Musk targets closure of U.S. humanitarian aid agency
The billionaire tasked with downsizing the federal government has been increasingly critical of USAID, calling it a left-wing agency unaccountable to the White House.
Donald Trump, then the Republican nominee for U.S. president, meets with Ukrainian Persident Volodymyr Zelenskyy in New York on Sept. 27 last year.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2025
U.S. wants Ukraine to hold elections following a ceasefire, says Trump envoy
Volodymyr Zelenskyy's five-year term was supposed to end in 2024 but polls cannot be held under martial law, which Ukraine imposed in February 2022.
#AfghanEvac founder Shawn VanDiver speaks during a memorandum of understanding signing as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken looks on at the National Museum for American Diplomacy in the Department of State in Washington, on June 12, 2023. VanDiver's organization is the main coalition that has been working with the U.S. government to evacuate and resettle Afghans in the U.S.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 21, 2025
Trump administration canceling flights for nearly 1,660 Afghan refugees
The group includes minors awaiting reunification with their families in the U.S. and Afghans at risk of Taliban retribution, a U.S official and a refugee resettlement advocate say.
Republican Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming (left), U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (center) and Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, speak to members of the media following a meeting with Republican senators in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2025
U.S. veterans and officials urge Trump to continue resettling at-risk Afghans
There is concern that the incoming U.S. president will curtail visa and resettlement programs as part of his promised crackdown on immigration.
Abdur Rahim Jabbar, half-brother of the man accused of the New Orleans truck attack, sits in the garage of their house in Beaumont, Texas, on Thursday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Jan 3, 2025
Investigators seek clues to New Orleans attacker's path to radicalization
It is still unclear what contact Shamsud-Din Jabbar might have had with overseas extremist groups.
Then-U.S. Presidential nominee Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet at Trump Tower in New York City in September.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 5, 2024
Trump's plan for Ukraine comes into focus, with ceding land possible
Other options allegedly being explored for ending the war include taking NATO membership for Ukraine off the table.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun during the U.S.-ROK Security Consultative Meeting at the Pentagon in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 31, 2024
North Korea troops could lengthen and broaden Ukraine war, U.S. warns
The move looks increasingly like a deployment to support Russia's combat operations in the Kursk region, the U.S. defense secretary said.
Japan ruling bloc loses majority in Upper House after election drubbing
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, leaves at the party's headquarters following announcement of Upper House election result projections in Tokyo early Monday.
‘Japanese First’ Sanseito emerges as powerful force after Upper House poll
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya in Tokyo on Sunday night
Foreign residents closely follow Japan's election and party pledges
A police officer walks past posters of Liberal Democratic Party candidates, as well as one showing Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, outside the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Sunday. As Japan’s foreign population continues to rise, one of the talking points during Sunday’s election was how the country should deal with the increase of international residents.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Hitomi Obara, 2012 Olympic champion in wrestling, dies at 44
Hitomi Obara competes at the London Olympics in August 2012.
Japan’s top brands get tied up in the great sunscreen debate
A coral reef in Okinawa in July 2022. Some jurisdictions around the world have moved to ban certain sunscreens in a bid to protect coral reefs, but some say the impact on reefs is far from clear.
Pentagon looks to unleash ‘military drone dominance’
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on July 10.
‘Noto Democracy’ and the slow work of civic change
Yukio Iokibe’s “Noto Democracy" centers on Motoyuki Takii, a former junior high school teacher who publishes a handwritten newspaper every month to encourage the residents of Anamizu, Ishikawa Prefecture, to engage in local politics.
In microbes we trust: Embracing the nature of fermented food
You don't need an oven to make Kenji Morimoto's easy and delicious Miso Sticky Toffee Crepe Cake.
Touring the Silk Road — without leaving Tokyo
One of the entrances to Pao Compound, a nine-story Silk Road-inspired complex in Tokyo's Higashinakano neighborhood

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan
By Alex K.T. Martin

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