Search - about-us

 
 
Palestinian children stand in a camp for displaced people in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the border with Egypt on Sunday.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2024

U.S. pushes for Gaza truce and hostage release as Blinken visits

The White House said that Israel has agreed to hear out its concerns.
A scene from "The Maiden Benten and the Bandits of the White Waves" ("Benten Kozo") at the University of Hawaii at Manoa
CULTURE / Stage
May 5, 2024

Students from Hawaii to perform English-language kabuki in Japan

The group will perform "Benten Kozo," a play depicting the twists and turns of five thieves following their own code of honor.
Defense Minister Minoru Kihara takes part in an arrival ceremony with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon in Washington last October.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 30, 2024

‘Collective capacity’ to top agenda at four-way defense talks in Hawaii

One thing will be on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara's mind: how to deepen military and security cooperation with allies to counter China.
U.S. President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak deliver remarks on the AUKUS partnership, after a trilateral meeting, at Naval Base Point Loma in San Diego, California, on March 13, 2023.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2024

U.S. reduces arms licensing burden for U.K. and Australia to boost AUKUS

The U.S. State Department unveiled its proposal to reduce licensing requirements for transferring military equipment as part of the AUKUS defense project.
Senator Tim Scott (center), a Republican from South Carolina, speaks during a campaign event with former U.S. President Donald Trump, (left), and Doug Burgum (right), governor of North Dakota, in Laconia, New Hampshire, in January.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2024

Trump auditions VP picks before wealthy donors in Palm Beach

Trump’s running mate may have to take on an unusually large amount of campaigning if his legal troubles prevent him from keeping a robust travel schedule.
The 1960s protests, rooted in civil rights and anti-war movements, convulsed campuses nationwide for nearly a decade, while recent protests lack comparable breadth and intensity.
COMMENTARY / World
May 6, 2024

Comparing Gaza protests to the ’60s is wrong — and dangerous

Confusing a few weeks of pro-Palestinian activism with a more than decade-long movement could lead to needless tragedy.
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.
The growing divide between U.S.-led and China-aligned blocs is taking a toll on the global economy as trade and investment flows are redirected along geopolitical lines in ways not seen since the Cold War.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2024

Cold War-type divide puts trade and investment at risk, top IMF official warns

After years of shocks, countries are reevaluating their trading partners, an IMF official has said.
Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in a news conference on Friday in Tokyo
JAPAN
May 10, 2024

Japan raps U.S. officials' remarks about atomic bombings

The comments were "inappropriate and unacceptable" the Foreign Minister told a parliamentary committee meeting.
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, will his foreign policy be as erratic as it was the first time? Would that help or hinder the U.S.? Leaders all over the world are asking themselves these questions.
COMMENTARY / World
May 10, 2024

Would Trump 2.0 rekindle the merits of volatility?

Was Trump's erratic foreign policy an asset or a liability for the U.S.? In capitals all over the world, leaders are weighing the prospect of his return.
Employees work on a production line at an automotive plant producing electric cars near Ningbo, China. The U.S. is set to announce new tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other goods as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2024

Biden set to hit China EVs and strategic sectors with tariffs

The decision, which could come as early as next week, represents one of Biden’s biggest moves in the economic race with China.
Soldiers load boxes of relief goods into a U.S. CH53 Sea Stallion aircraft at Lal-lo Airport in Cagayan province, northern Philippines, last August. The Lal-lo Airport is one of the additional sites for the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) between the Philippines and the United States.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 11, 2024

China woos Philippine elites near base U.S. needs to defend Taiwan

The moves come as Washington and Beijing remain locked in a struggle for influence that is still playing out.
Hanagasa Ondo folk song performers from Yamagata Prefecture take part in the Japan Parade held in Manhattan on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 12, 2024

New York hosts a Japan Parade

About 100 groups took part in the event where parade-watchers were able to enjoy traditional Japanese culture and food.
Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during part of a demonstration for the media to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Jan. 31.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 14, 2024

U.S. and Taiwan navies quietly held Pacific drills in April

The exercises, which were not publicized and involved "multiple military assets," took place last month in the Western Pacific, according to sources.
A new era in Japan-U.S. military cooperation is set to begin after Japan's parliament enacted new laws to establish a joint command headquarters for the nation’s Self-Defense Forces.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 14, 2024

Let the real work on Japan’s defense modernization begin

Scheduled to go into effect in March 2025, the Japan Joint Operations Command will centralize command of the country’s military services.
Antony Blinken, U.S. secretary of state, at the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute in Kyiv on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2024

Blinken, in Kyiv, vows unwavering U.S. support to Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken acknowledged the delay of weapons made Ukraine more vulnerable to Russia's attacks.
Russian President Vladimir Putin is greeted by Chinese leader Xi Jinping before the opening ceremony at the Expo Center at the fourth Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia summit in Shanghai in May 2014.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 15, 2024

Putin to visit Xi amid U.S. threat of China sanctions over Ukraine

The two sides are set to discuss ways to challenge the U.S.-led global order while bolstering Moscow’s economic resilience amid its war in Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks about new actions to protect American workers and businesses from China's "unfair" trade practices, in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2024

Who’s toughest on China? Biden’s tariff tactic ups ante as election looms.

U.S. president is seen to be trying to "outtrump Trump" to appeal to voters who worry about geopolitical competition or hold anti-China sentiments.
Chinese and U.S. flags flutter outside the building of an American company in Beijing.
WORLD / Politics
May 16, 2024

'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' China trolls U.S. tariffs

Chinese state media accused the U.S. of taking action that threatens climate goals and will push up costs for American consumers.
The Defense Ministry has signed a contract with the United States to jointly develop the so-called Glide Phase Interceptor (GPI).
JAPAN
May 16, 2024

Japan and U.S. sign agreement to develop hypersonic missile interceptor

The plan was first announced in August when the leaders of the two countries met in Camp David outside Washington.
The new era of U.S.-Japan cooperation exemplifies a successful public-private collaboration crucial for maintaining a competitive edge in global technology, especially amid geopolitical tensions with China.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 16, 2024

U.S.-Japan semiconductor alliance of the future

On the geopolitical side, the U.S.-Japan alliance is on one side of the equation, with China on the other and Taiwan in the middle.
People talk as smoke billows from a nearby strike on industrial buildings in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Friday.
WORLD
May 18, 2024

Ukraine asks U.S. to provide more intelligence on targets in Russia

American officials say they do not want U.S. weapons used in cross-border attacks or intelligence reports used to strike inside Russia.
The U.S. military's secretive X-37B, a crewless space shuttle-like space plane, lifts off on its seventh mission to orbit, the vehicle's first launch atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket capable of lofting it far higher than ever before, from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, last December.
WORLD
May 18, 2024

New star wars plan: Pentagon rushes to counter threats in orbit

Citing rapid advances by China and Russia, the United States is building an extensive capacity to fight battles in space.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te (left) and Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim wave to a crowd following his swearing-in at the Presidential Office in Taipei on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 21, 2024

As new Taiwan leader takes office, a fragile status quo and power struggle at home await

New Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te has pledged to build on the legacy of his predecessor.
Artificial-intelligence-related talks in Geneva between China and the U.S. yielded no concrete agreements, but the conversations set the stage for continued engagement on safety and risks related to the technology.
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024

Seven hours in Geneva hotel highlight U.S.-China struggle on AI

Officials from the U.S. and China stressed in the meeting at the hotel a shared desire to prevent nightmare scenarios like a computer-triggered nuclear war.
A P-8 Poseidon flies over the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold as part of information-gathering operations during Valiant Shield 2016 in the Philippine Sea.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024

Japan's SDF to take part in U.S. 'valiant shield' drill for first time

The large-scale military exercise started in 2006 and is held in areas including Guam and involves about 10,000 personnel.
A woman looks on during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in front of a U.S. consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on June 1, 2020.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 27, 2024

Four years after George Floyd killing, police reform slow to follow

Despite the initial surge of calls for change, federal attempts at wide-ranging reform have been mostly unsuccessful.
Some experts are concerned about the potential for worldwide conflict within the next few years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2024

Echoes of 1962, the Berlin crisis and a world teetering on war

There is the potential for worldwide conflict within the next three years as China, Russia, Iran and North Korea are likely preparing for major confrontation.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

U.S. defense chief stresses commitment to Asia as concerns mount

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington was focused on the region even as the White House grapples with the conflicts raging in Ukraine and Gaza.
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell speaks to journalists after welcoming Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hyong Kyun, at his Iron Bell farm in Washington, Virginia, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 1, 2024

Japan, U.S. and South Korea officials slam recent North Korean launches

The three officials also shared concerns about deepening ties between North Korea and Russia, including arms transfers from the former to the latter.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji