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Two mobile phones show different viral AI-generated videos of people voicing their opinions on the impeachment of Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 26, 2025

AI fakes duel over Sara Duterte impeachment in Philippines

Two interviews with Filipinos arguing for and against Vice President Duterte's impeachment have gone viral. Neither are real.
U.S. President Donald Trump is greeted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney as he arrives at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, on June 16.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2025

Trump, the death of multilateralism and the ‘rise of the rest’

In the post-liberal order, the U.S. won't act in allies' interests unless they align with its own.
Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra goes on trial for lese-majeste next week, while his daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, faces being sacked as prime minister while activists threaten mass protests.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 27, 2025

Thailand braces for crisis as trials and protests loom

Southeast Asia's second-biggest economy looks set for a new round of the turmoil that has periodically gripped it over the last two decades.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, speak during a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jun 27, 2025

No known intel that Iran moved uranium, says U.S. defense chief in fiery presser

Experts have cautioned that Iran likely moved its stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched nuclear material before the strikes, and could be hiding it.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 28, 2025

LDP to discuss governance plans after Upper House election, Moriyama says

During this year's ordinary parliament session, the ruling coalition secured the passage of some bills through partial alliances with opposition parties.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in the NATO summit on June 24. Trump's unilateral strike on Iran without consulting NATO allies has deepened divisions within the alliance, raising doubts about its relevance and collective security framework.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2025

NATO leaders’ price for supporting Ukraine is their self-respect

Last week’s summit in The Hague focused more on appeasing Trump than serious strategy.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a conference in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jun 30, 2025

Party leaders skeptical of three-party ruling coalition after Upper House vote

If the ruling coalition wins fewer than 50 seats, it will either need to work with at least one opposition party for each piece of legislation or invite one to join.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama addresses journalists in London in 2008.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 30, 2025

The Dalai Lama: Tibet's spiritual leader, bane of Beijing

A thorn in China's side, Tenzin Gyatso became the face of the Tibetan cause as he crisscrossed the globe, mixing with royalty, politicians and celebrities.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba inspects an honor guard upon his arrival at the Defense Ministry on Monday.
JAPAN
Jun 30, 2025

Japan needs to bolster defense capabilities steadily, says Ishiba

"The way of fighting keeps changing as the technology develops," the prime minister noted, citing Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an example.
A banner announces the construction of a photovoltaic solar farm in Cabaiguan, Cuba, on May 21.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 1, 2025

China is quietly supplanting Russia as Cuba's main benefactor

Where many of Russia's most recent promises to Cuba have fizzled, China has discreetly stepped up to fill the void.
For non-native speakers of the language, diving into Japanese books on a whim might just broaden your horizons and offer a fresh perspective on any topic imaginable.
COMMUNITY / Voices / FOREIGN AGENDA
Jun 30, 2025

Japanese language is your gateway to seeing the world anew

Whether you want to learn about regional geopolitics or the history of cheese, reading Japanese books can offer a whole world of new perspectives for non-native speakers.
Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima speaks during an interview on Jun. 27 at the Diet building.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 3, 2025

SDP campaign to focus on inflation and opposing military expansion, leader says

The SDP exists to prevent people from starving and the country from going into war, said party leader Mizuho Fukushima.
The Demilitarized Zone — the border area separating the two Koreas — is one of the most heavily mined places on earth.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

North Korean man detained after crossing land border, Seoul says

Defections across the land border are relatively rare, as the area is densely forested, heavily mined and monitored by soldiers on both sides.
U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to just decide tariff rates himself and send out letters.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jul 4, 2025

Japan-U.S. tariff negotiations enter uncharted territory

A deal seems impossible as both sides refuse to budge just days ahead of the deadline.
Voters listen to a stump speech in Tokyo on Thursday as campaigning for the July 20 Upper House election kicked off.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Women make up fewer than 30% of candidates in upcoming Upper House election

Japan's law for promoting gender equality in politics calls on political parties to make the number of male and female candidates as equal as possible.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba takes part in a debate with leaders of seven other political parties at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 4, 2025

Sizing up the forthcoming Upper House election

Given all that is taking place, this is shaping up to be one of the most unusual Upper House elections in decades.
A voter casts a ballot for the Upper House election at the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 4, 2025

Overseas voting for Upper House election begins

This marks the first time that Japanese living in Taiwan could vote at polling stations on the self-governed island.
Elon Musk looks on during a news conference with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on May 30.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Elon Musk says he has created a new U.S. political party

It is not clear how much impact the new party would have on the 2026 midterm elections, or on the presidential vote two years after that.
Donald Trump addresses the Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in July last year.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 6, 2025

Cashing in on his comeback, Trump rescues frail finances

Contrary to the president’s assertions, records filed in a fraud case against him suggest that his riches were not the product of a steady and strong empire.
Nippon Ishin no Kai chief and Osaka Gov. Hirofumi Yoshimura smiles at voters in Osaka's Chuo Ward on July 3 as campaigning for the House of Councilors election officially begins.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 8, 2025

In Upper House election, Nippon Ishin faces key test in birthplace Osaka

One senior Nippon Ishin no Kai official said the party leader's goal of six seats in the July 20 election can't happen without two seats from Osaka.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as Attorney General Pam Bondi (left) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (center) look on during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 9, 2025

Trump signals continuing trade-defense link as tariff talks drag on

The U.S. leader has again alleged that Seoul is taking advantage of Washington on defense spending and burden-sharing — a worrying sign that may also have implications for Tokyo.
U.S. F-35 stealth fighters fly side by side with South Korean F-35s as part of a bilateral exercise over the Yellow Sea in July 2022. The U.S. Air Force is grappling with whether to prioritize air superiority or air denial in response to lessons from Ukraine and the growing threat from China.  
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Jul 9, 2025

Air superiority vs. air denial: Redefining U.S. airpower strategy

The strategic debate is centering on whether to prioritize offensive or defensive airpower. The decision will determine how U.S. air resources are allocated.
Speculation about Xi Jinping losing his grip on power misreads China’s digital authoritarianism, which uses algorithmic control and emotional scripting to absorb dissent and reinforce the Chinese Communist Party’s power in the information age.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 10, 2025

Online dissent in China doesn’t mean Xi is on his way out

Don’t be fooled by viral posts. The CCP allows and even encourages certain forms of online dissent — all part of its digital authoritarianism.
A cargo ship is seen at Rio de Janeiro's port in Brazil on Thursday. Unlike most countries in the world, Brazil actually has a trade deficit with the U.S.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Jul 11, 2025

Brazil has few exit routes from Trump tariff but feels less pain

The U.S. takes in some 12% of Brazil's exports, less than half what China buys, and worth only around 1% of gross domestic product.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who heads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (center) waves to attendees as he departs after delivering a campaign speech in Yokohama on Sunday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 11, 2025

What Japanese politics could look like after Upper House election

Growing uncertainty over whether the ruling coalition can retain its majority in the Upper House has given strength to a number of possible outcomes of the election.
Co-leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla sit at the plenary hall as the Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, in Berlin, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jul 12, 2025

Isolated and fearing a ban, Germany's far-right tones down the rhetoric

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is hoping to go more mainstream and translate popularity into power.
The Sanseito party, led by Sohei Kamiya, is surging in the polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 15, 2025

Japan’s right-wing fringe is no MAGA or reform movement

The Sanseito party is surging in polls with anti-immigration talk, but its rise is likely just a short-lived protest vote rather than the start of lasting right-wing populism.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble

Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
Muneo Suzuki speaks in Sapporo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025

Prodigal Hokkaido son returns to campaign trail for last run in Upper House election

Muneo Suzuki's personality and past actions make him a divisive political figure, but he's teaming up with the Liberal Democratic Party for one final run.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, delivers a campaign speech in Yokohama on July 6.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 16, 2025

Ishiba faces bad poll numbers with Upper House vote only days away

Losing a majority in the Upper House would pile pressure on Ishiba to resign and kickstart efforts by the ruling coalition to find an opposition party to join it.

Longform

An illustration features the Japanese signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo