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August 31, 2025
 

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Gram Slattery
A Ukrainian soldier fires a howitzer toward Russian troops in Ukraine's Kherson region in March.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 29, 2025
The 'land swap' that wasn't: Inside Trump's frantic dash for Ukraine peace
A meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and a high ranking U.S. official set off a flurry of diplomatic activity.
Officials, including Russian President Vladimir Putin (second from right), Defense Minister Andrei Belousov (third from right) and Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh (left), attend a meeting in Moscow on Dec. 10, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 25, 2025
Indian firm shipped explosives to Russia despite U.S. warnings
Two shipments sent in December by an Indian firm, both of which were unloaded in St. Petersburg, have been identified in Indian customs data.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin remain at odds over ending the war in Ukraine.
WORLD
Jul 4, 2025
No progress at all, Trump says after phone call with Putin
The two leaders did not discuss a recent pause in some U.S. weapons shipments to Kyiv during the nearly hourlong conversation.
The Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm are seen in the Strait of Hormuz on Dec. 10, 2023. Two U.S. officials said Tehran was gearing up to blockade the strait following Israel's strikes on sites across Iran last month.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 2, 2025
Iran made preparations to deploy mines in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. sources say
About one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the strait, and a blockage would likely have spiked world energy prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday. The lack of a common understanding between U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about Putin's goals is seen complicating future diplomatic plans to wind down the war in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2025
Following NATO summit, Trump and Europe still at odds over Putin's ambitions
The NATO summit highlighted the widening gap between how the U.S. and Europe see the military ambitions of Russia, the bloc's main foil.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 26, 2025
Comparing U.S. Iran strike to Hiroshima, Trump plays down intelligence report
The U.S. president argued that the damage was severe even though available intelligence reports were inconclusive.
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.
Firefighters at the site of Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
Trump administration disbands group focused on pressuring Russia, sources say
The effort lost steam as it became clear to participants that Trump was not interested in adopting a more confrontational stance toward Moscow.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a bill signing ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 13, 2025
Trump's 'peacemaker' pledge takes big hit as Israel strikes Iran
U.S. ally Israel struck dozens of Iranian targets in a dramatic attack that analysts say threatens to spiral into an all-out regional war.
A rally against U.S. President Donald Trump's stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, in front of the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on March 8
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2025
Pressure mounts on a reluctant Trump to impose sanctions on Russia
Trump has held off on such penalties for months, believing he could have fruitful dealings with Putin to end the war.
Smoke billows in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
May 30, 2025
U.S. says Israel accepts Gaza ceasefire plan; Hamas cool to it
A senior Hamas official says the plan does not contain commitments to end the war, withdraw Israeli troops or admit aid as the group has demanded.
Elon Musk holds a chainsaw featuring a Spanish slogan that translates as "Long live freedom, damn it" during the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
May 29, 2025
Elon Musk leaving Trump administration, capping turbulent tenure
Musk's departure was quick and unceremonious, and he did not have a formal conversation with Trump before announcing his exit.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (right) watches as U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Syria's interim president Ahmad al-Sharaa in Riyadh on Wednesday.
WORLD
May 14, 2025
Trump meets Syrian president and urges him to establish ties with Israel
Trump urged Ahmad al-Sharaa to join the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, which normalized relations with Israel in 2020.
President Donald Trump delivers remarks during a Saudi investment forum at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center in Riyadh on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025
Trump says U.S. to lift Syria sanctions as he secures $600 billion Saudi deal
Saudi Arabia is one of the largest customers for U.S. arms — part of a decadeslong arrangement where the kingdom delivers oil and the superpower provides security.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on as President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington on March 21.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025
Hegseth's order to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard
The story of how the flights were canceled points to an at-times haphazard policymaking process within the Trump administration.
Demonstrators with signs stand around the John Harvard Statue in Cambridge, Massachusetts, following a rally against U.S. President Donald Trump's attacks on Harvard University on April 17.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025
Trump administration freezes future grants to Harvard
The U.S. president has targeted the university over allegations of antisemitism on campus during pro-Palestinian protests.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 2, 2025
Trump ousts White House national security adviser Waltz, replacing him with Rubio
Waltz was blamed for adding the editor of The Atlantic to a private thread describing details of an imminent U.S. bombing campaign in Yemen.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele (not pictured) in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025
Trump calls for deporting some citizens to El Salvador, testing U.S. law
The comments are the clearest signal yet that the president is serious about deporting naturalized and U.S.-born citizens, a proposal many legal scholars say is unconstitutional.
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, and Nayib Bukele, El Salvador's president, during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Apr 15, 2025
El Salvador's Bukele won't return man the U.S. mistakenly deported
The Trump administration has deported hundreds of people to El Salvador, which is receiving $6 million to house the migrants in a high-security mega-prison.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Top Japan trade negotiator canceled U.S. trip over rice, report says
Ryosei Akazawa
Most Japanese teens struggling with school find end of summer ‘painful’
Some 93.1% of Japanese teenagers who struggle with school life said they felt like they “wanted to disappear from the world" at the end of summer vacation ahead of the start of a new term, according to a recent survey released by Yokohama-based nonprofit Daisan Kazoku.
Most Trump tariffs are not legal, U.S. appeals court rules
Workers hang a large poster of U.S. President Donald Trump on the facade of the Department of Labor headquarters building in Washington on Wednesday.
Japan to launch broad review of immigration policies amid rise in foreign nationals
Foreign tourists at Narita Airport in June. A report released Friday stresses that Japan is at a turning point and that current ad-hoc measures on immigration are no longer sufficient.
Japan is warming up to tattoos — just not permanent ones
Tattoos have a complex history in Japan, but new types of temporary ink are letting locals curious about body art experiment without the commitment.
YouTube Music Weekend is where Japan’s internet-born performers go global
Headlining the second day of YouTube Music Weekend is Vocaloid artist Kikuo, who, with 1.46 million YouTube subscribers, is one of the most popular artists in the genre.
Japan looks to build drone ‘shield’ in record defense budget request
A group of Ground Self-Defense Force service members discuss drone operations and capabilities at a joint static display during the Orient Shield 24 opening ceremony at the Yausubetsu Training Area in Hokkaido in July last year.
Can anime carry the memories of World War II?
Many schools in Japan show "Grave of the Fireflies" as educational material to tell the emotionally grueling story of a boy who has no means to prevent his sister from starving to death.

Podcast

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

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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