Courtney McBride - The Japan Times

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Courtney McBride

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk arrive for a "Coalition of the Willing" news conference at St. Mary's Palace in Kyiv on May 10.

WORLD / Politics

May 26, 2025

How can Europe maintain a supply of weapons for Ukraine? Buy American

Such a move would force the U.S. president to pick between his desire to avoid antagonizing his Russian counterpart against his wish to bring in more cash.

A Qatari Boeing 747 sits on the tarmac of Palm Beach International airport after U.S. President Donald Trump toured the aircraft on Feb. 15

WORLD / Politics

May 22, 2025

U.S. accepts Qatar luxury jet as Trump’s new Air Force One

Politicians from both parties have questioned the president’s decision, raising ethical and security concerns.

U.S. President Donald Trump (R) the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on March 13, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 13.

WORLD / Politics

May 20, 2025

Trump hands Putin a win with retreat from Ukraine peace talks

After months of failing to move Putin closer to peace, Europe fears Trump is pulling the plug on his efforts to end the war, leaving Ukraine and its allies on their own.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth attends a meeting of the Eradicating Anti-Christian Bias Task Force, at the Justice Department in Washington on Tuesday.

WORLD / Politics / FOCUS

Apr 23, 2025

Hegseth delivers what Trump wants but with unwanted controversy

Hegseth has done most everything so far that Trump hoped he would — and for now, that’s been enough to keep Trump on Hegseth’s side.

Protesters, mainly Houthi supporters, rally to mark the annual al-Quds Day on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in Sanaa, Yemen, on March 28.

WORLD / ANALYSIS

Apr 6, 2025

U.S. progress against resilient Houthi militants remains murky

Trump's administration has offered limited evidence of weapons deployed and targets hit to back up his assertion.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Helsinki in July 2018

WORLD / Politics

Feb 13, 2025

In U.S. policy reversal, Trump and Putin agree to Ukraine talks

Trump's move blindsided European allies, who feared the more conciliatory American stance amounted to a giveaway to the Russian leader.

National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan speaks during a briefing for reporters at the White House in Washington on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

Jan 14, 2025

Sullivan urges Trump team to focus on China cyberthreats

The warning from the National Security Advisor follows a series of high-profile attacks by Chinese hackers against U.S. agencies and companies.

Police officers investigate the scene after 15 people were killed by a man driving a truck in an attack during New Year's celebrations, in New Orleans on Thursday.

WORLD

Jan 3, 2025

New Orleans attack shows enduring influence of Islamic State group

Since 2019, when then-U.S. President Donald Trump declared the group’s so-called caliphate had been defeated, Islamic State has "metastasized” elsewhere.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and U.S. President Joe Biden greet one another during a meeting in Washington in September.

WORLD / Politics

Nov 24, 2024

Biden rushes to bolster Ukraine before Trump takes control

Biden’s recent steps include, most notably, allowing Kyiv to hit military targets deeper inside Russia.

A Palestinian boy sits on the rubble of the destroyed Maghazi Camp Services Club building following an Israeli strike on the Maghazi refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on Thursday.

WORLD / Politics

Oct 25, 2024

U.S. presses for Gaza truce as negotiators prepare to meet

The U.S. is exploring different options to restart stalled talks between the warring parties.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington on July 25.

WORLD

Oct 10, 2024

Looming Israeli strike on Iran offers fresh test of U.S. sway

With Israeli retaliation against Iran expected at any time, the U.S. is finding it has few assurances against further escalation.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is greeted by U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget A. Brink after arriving by train at Kyiv-Pasazhyrskyi station on Tuesday in Kyiv.

WORLD / Politics

May 14, 2024

As war rages on, Blinken visits Ukraine with reassurances on support

Delays in billions of dollars of military aid forced Ukraine to ration munitions and prompted fears the U.S. would abandon its partner.

Law enforcement officers walk along the Kremlin wall near Red Square in Moscow on Dec. 31.

WORLD / Politics

May 7, 2024

U.S. says soldier who went to Russia detained for ‘misconduct’

A U.S. soldier was detained in eastern Russia on "charges of criminal misconduct,” the U.S. Army said Monday, a potential new flashpoint in relations between the nations already at a low since Russia’s February invasion of Ukraine began in 2022.

A Ukrainian lieutenant colonel examines the remains of his aircraft on the outskirts of the town of Izyum, Kharkiv region, on Wednesday.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 19, 2024

Ukraine’s allies see bleak times without more air defenses

G7 ministers are expected to agree to step up shipments of military equipment and to reaffirm their "unwavering determination” to support Ukraine.

An anti-missile system operates after Iran launched drones and missiles toward Israel, as seen from Ashkelon, Israel, on Sunday.

WORLD

Apr 14, 2024

Multiphase Iran attack tests U.S.-backed Israeli air defenses

Early indications suggest Israel's air defenses effectively handled Iran's missile and drone attack, aimed at overwhelming systems with its complexity.

Ukrainian police officers and rescue workers clear away the rubble of a destroyed house after a Russian rocket attack in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, on Saturday.

WORLD / Politics

Feb 19, 2024

Ukraine’s allies are gaming out a world where the U.S. retreats

NATO members are beginning to doubt the U.S. will maintain its traditional role of protecting Europe as part of the alliance.

Ukrainian soldier fire a mortar near Kyiv on Nov. 8.

WORLD / Politics

Dec 13, 2023

Pentagon has a workaround to send Ukraine arms despite aid stalemate

The tactic: Continue to provide arms from U.S. stockpiles in hopes of waiting until later for the money to replace them.

Smoke fills the sky after a strike on the port of Gaza City on Tuesday.

WORLD / Politics

Oct 12, 2023

Israel-Hamas conflict offers boon to Russia in Ukraine

Israel’s requests for U.S. military aid risk diverting weapons and focus from Ukraine while the rising price of oil bolsters Moscow’s economy.

Japan Times

WORLD

Jun 27, 2023

U.S. denies any role in Russia uprising as allies watch and wait

In his first public comments about the matter, U.S. President Joe Biden said it was still too soon to make any conclusions about the revolt by Wagner Group mercenaries.

Japan Times

WORLD

Jun 13, 2023

Trump didn’t do enough to counter Chinese spying, Blinken says

Trump’s administration didn’t do enough after discovering that Beiijng had been operating a spy facility in Cuba since 2019, the top U.S. diplomat said.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.

How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic

By Alex K.T. Martin

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