Search - about-us

 
 
The diary of a 13-year-old girl who died in the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima was donated to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in the city in June.
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2025

Hiroshima museum continues to receive artifacts 80 years after atomic bombing

With fewer atomic bomb survivors still alive to share their stories, donated materials are becoming more and more vital for expressing the impact of the bombing.
U.S. President Donald Trump makes an announcement regarding the Golden Dome missile defense shield in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington in May.
WORLD
Aug 15, 2025

Trump’s Golden Dome still shrouded in mystery, even for its builders

Government officials told defense contractors last week they weren’t even allowed to mention the project by name.
A screwworm in Tapachula, Chiapas state, Mexico, on July 4
WORLD / Science & Health
Aug 25, 2025

Human screwworm case in U.S. traced to person who traveled from Guatemala

Screwworms can be devastating in cattle and wildlife, and rarely infest humans, though an infestation in either an animal or a person can be fatal.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung attend a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025

'Peacemaker’ Trump says he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim this year

The U.S. president said “big progress” was possible, during a summit with South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung in Washington that also focused on defense and trade issues.
A Tesla robotaxi drives on a street along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, on June 22. CEO Elon Musk has set an ambitious timeline of having "millions of Teslas operating autonomously” by the second half of next year.
BUSINESS / Tech
Sep 1, 2025

How Tesla and Waymo's radically different robotaxi approaches will shape the industry

The differing strategies have far-reaching implications for the early pecking order in the nascent autonomous-driving space.
Japan has hired energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie to assess a proposed $44 billion Alaska gas pipeline and LNG project backed by U.S. President Donald Trump, sources say.
BUSINESS
Sep 9, 2025

Japan hires Wood Mackenzie to assess Trump-backed Alaska LNG project: sources

The scope and cost of the deal with Wood Mackenzie is unclear, as is whether any resulting report will be made public.
A damaged building, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, in Doha, Qatar, on Tuesday.
WORLD
Sep 11, 2025

Israel vows to kill Hamas leaders next time if they survived Qatar attack

Israel's widely condemned Doha operation was especially sensitive as Qatar has been hosting and mediating in negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
Senior U.S. and Chinese led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang meet to discuss trade and economic issues in Madrid on Sunday.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2025

U.S. and China end first day of talks in Spain on trade and TikTok deadline

The talks mark the fourth time in as many months that the two nations have attempted keep their trade relationship from collapsing.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping, along with his Russian and North Korean counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un, attends a military parade in Beijing on Sept. 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 24, 2025

An Orwellian lesson from Xi and Putin

The World War II anniversary parade in Beijing was not about history — it was about what comes next.
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomes Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 8, 2025

Trump says U.S. and Canada working on formula for tariff deal

The U.S. president described the two North American nations as being in "natural conflict” because they’re competing for the same business.
A crime scene technician prepares to document evidence at the site of a shooting in West Baltimore in May 2015. U.S. cities are seeing murder rates fall sharply from post-2020 highs thanks to local violence-reduction efforts and pandemic-era investments.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 8, 2025

What’s behind the great American murder decline?

Homicides are plummeting in many places. The explanation may be the sheer volume of different efforts to reduce violence.
Family members of Yuichi Hirotsu harvest kerner grapes at their vineyard producing pinot noir, kerner and other grapes in Yoichi, Hokkaido, on Oct. 6.
JAPAN
Oct 15, 2025

A Japanese pinot noir town blessed by climate change now worries about the weather

Yoichi had its hottest summer since record-keeping began, with average temperatures of 22.1 degrees Celsius between June and August.
Masanori Murakami became the first MLB player from Japan when he made his debut with the Giants on Sept 1, 1964.
BASEBALL
Oct 16, 2025

New film explores how Japan and the U.S. found common ground through baseball

Baseball has been a shared love between Japan and the United States for over 150 years — a sport that has connected the nations despite disagreements large and small.
Magnetic slices made from rare earth metals. Beijing last week announced a sweeping set of rules that are set to restrict the flow of rare earths worldwide.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 20, 2025

China’s rare earth restrictions aim to beat U.S. at its own game

The impacts of the Chinese licensing system would be much broader than U.S. technology controls, which have targeted only more advanced computer chips.
The Pentagon has said it has accepted a $130 million anonymous donation to cover pay for U.S. troops amid the government shutdown.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 25, 2025

Pentagon received $130 million anonymous gift to pay troops

The Pentagon said it received a donation to pay the military amid the government shutdown, but using it would be legally questionable.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio looks on as President Donald Trump speaks to the media aboard Air Force One, at Al Udeid Air Base near Doha, Qatar, on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Oct 26, 2025

Rubio says U.S. won’t change Taiwan policy for China deal

Xi Jinping has renewed a push for the U.S. to change its longstanding policy that it doesn’t support Taiwan’s independence.
U.S. director Kathryn Bigelow attends the Los Angeles special screening of her Netflix film "A House of Dynamite" at The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood, California, on Oct. 9.
WORLD
Oct 26, 2025

Pentagon frets over ‘A House of Dynamite’ nuclear doomsday film

The Pentagon agency responsible for the more than $50 billion system of ground-based interceptors designed to avoid just such a scenario isn’t happy about it.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier during a visit to the U.S. Navy's Yokosuka base in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Oct 29, 2025

Takaichi buys time and builds trust with ‘near-perfect’ Trump summit

Experts called the PM’s meeting with the U.S. president an “overwhelming success,” especially considering the tumult and uncertainty in bilateral relations over the past year.
Chinese leader Xi Jinping and his ministers sit across from U.S. leaders at the Gimhae Air Base in Busan, South Korea, on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 30, 2025

China is winning the global ‘narrative war’

The future of the international order may depend less on missiles and trade deals than on who controls the story of what that order means and whom it serves.
Science-themed toy electronics kits for children from the brand MicroKits. When tariffs on Chinese imports spiked above 100% this spring, MicroKits’ founder temporarily stopped importing and slowed down production.
BUSINESS / Markets
Nov 3, 2025

A toy-maker takes his case against Trump’s tariffs to the Supreme Court

The U.S. president’s tariffs have hit small- and medium-sized businesses particularly hard.
A man watches a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at a railway station in Seoul on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 22, 2023

North Korea fires cruise missiles into Yellow Sea, but remains silent on U.S. soldier's fate

Experts say cruise missiles, which fly far slower than ballistic weapons, present a unique danger in that they can fly low and maneuver, making them potentially very difficult to intercept.
Hou Yu-ih, mayor of New Taipei City, during a protest against the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei, on July 16. Taiwanese voters are preparing to choose their next president in January, in a vote that will define cross-strait and U.S.-China relations for years to come.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 21, 2023

Popular Taiwan mayor stumbles in bid to lead in U.S.-China hotspot

His failure to articulate a critical policy at the bedrock of Taiwan’s international status drew widespread criticism online.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un walks in front of an intercontinental ballistic missile in this undated photo released in March 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 25, 2023

From 'Young General' to 'Supreme Leader': The evolution of Kim Jong Un

North Korea's thinking on its relations with the U.S. has undergone dramatic changes, and Kim Jong Un's past evolution offers indications of where the country might be headed.
A woman walks on the bottom of a dried pond on a hot day in Mauharia, India, in May 2022.
ENVIRONMENT
Jul 29, 2023

Warming world 'brutalizes' women as heat waves deepen gender divide

The impacts of rising heat are disproportionately dangerous and costly to women — be it at home or on the job — according to a new report.
Bradley Fighting Vehicles on Jan. 25 at the Transportation Core Dock in North Charleston, South Carolina, ahead of shipment as part of a U.S. military aid package to Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Aug 8, 2023

Is China going unchecked while the West supports Ukraine?

Some have criticized Washington's efforts to help Kyiv as having a negative impact on its ability to deter a possible contingency from Beijing.
A man poses for pictures at a booth showing off a book by Chinese leader Xi Jinping during the China International Import Expo at the National Exhibition and Convention Center in Shanghai in November 2018.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 31, 2023

Survey finds historically high negative views of China

In the survey, only about 28% of respondents had a favorable opinion of China despite Beijing’s diplomatic initiatives over the past year.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stands for the U.S. national anthem before a meeting with his Australian counterpart ahead of the Australia-U.S. Ministerial Consultations in Brisbane on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 31, 2023

U.S. defense tieup efforts pay dividends with Australia deals

The agreements will mean not only more U.S. troops in Australia, but also the integration of Japan into more military initiatives between the two.
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2023

Japan shares post biggest one-day drop this year

Then benchmark 225-issue Nikkei average closed down 2.30% at 32,707.69 — its sharpest one-day drop since Dec. 20.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, attend a document signing ceremony during the Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi, Russia, in October 2019.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

China’s weaponization of race and history

BRICS nations seek a more equitable global architecture that represents the interests of the Global South as China uses race to challenge the West.
Migrants at a base near Tripoli hand out food to other migrants after they were detained by the Libyan navy in September 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 2, 2023

An immigration wake-up call

Well-designed immigration policies in advanced economies could ease inflationary labor-market shortages and preventing humanitarian tragedies.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes