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Amid growing global tensions and military rearmament, allies in Europe and Asia increasingly fear that under Donald Trump, the U.S. has become an unreliable partner — undermining trust, unity and the foundation of the postwar international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025

Whose side is the U.S. on? Doubts strain alliances

The U.S. once anchored a stable world order. Now, with rising threats from China and Russia, allies scramble to adapt as Washington sends mixed signals on defense and trade.
The messy, transactional fallout between Donald Trump and Elon Musk has exposed a toxic alliance built on money, power and chaos — one that now threatens both men’s influence and the stability of U.S. governance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 9, 2025

The MAGA odd couple turns combustible

The world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man have fallen out. No matter who wins, America loses.
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes warms up before Super Bowl LIX in New Orleans last February. Flag football is set to debut at the 2028 Olympics — but if the NFL wants the sport to thrive globally, it should resist overshadowing it with high-profile pro players.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2025

NFL stars don’t belong on the Olympics' flag football field

If the NFL is really serious about growing football’s global footprint, it and its players should sit the Olympics out.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stands alongside Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and Minister of National Defense David McGuinty as he makes a speech about defense and security at Fort York Armory in Toronto on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Canada vows to meet NATO defense budget target early

New Canadian leader Mark Carney said he will boost funding for the armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.
A ¥4.7 trillion ($32.4 billion) buyout bid by an entity led by Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda wasn’t formally on the agenda, but it overshadowed Toyota Industries' annual meeting on Tuesday as shareholders aired their grievances and sought clarity about the proposal.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 10, 2025

Toyota Industries shareholders question buyout at annual meeting

The Toyota group’s plan to privatize Toyota Industries has drawn sharp criticism from investors and analysts since it was announced a week ago.
People carry relief supplies from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), a private U.S.-backed aid group that has bypassed the longstanding U.N.-led system in the territory, as displaced Palestinians return from an aid distribution center in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025

Palestinians' dangerous ordeal to reach Israeli-approved aid

Gunfire and a desperate crowd of hungry people make reaching aid points a life-threatening ordeal that may ultimately be an exercise in futility.
Activists, filmmakers and survivors attend a symposium in Tokyo marking 60 years since the discovery of Niigata Minamata disease.
CULTURE / Film
Jun 11, 2025

Film symposium marks 60 years since Niigata Minamata disease outbreak

The disease caused by mercury poisoning was documented in such films as “Fighting Pollution” and “Minamata Mandala.”
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard (second from right) poses with U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass (third from left) and U.S. Marines during a visit to the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on June 4.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 11, 2025

U.S. intel chief warns ‘warmongers’ fomenting nuclear war after Hiroshima visit

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard’s unusual remarks seemed to echo Russian talking points on the war in Ukraine.
Rory McIlroy hits his tee shot on the eighth hole during the second round of the RBC Canadian Open golf tournament in Caledon, Ontario on Friday.
MORE SPORTS / Golf
Jun 11, 2025

Rory McIlroy eyes U.S. Open form after Masters triumph

Since claiming his first Masters title in dramatic fashion in April, McIlroy's form has fallen off precipitously.
Ohkawara Kakohki President Masaaki Okawara (center, left) and the eldest son (center, right) of Shizuo Aishima, a late former adviser to Ohkawara Kakohki, head to the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department on Monday in the capital's Chiyoda Ward.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 11, 2025

Central and Tokyo governments won't appeal ruling in Ohkawara case

The ruling, which also ordered the governments to pay a total of ¥166 million in damages, is set to become final Thursday.
Printed copies of the newly disclosed documents related to the dubious sale of state-owned land to Moritomo Gakuen, on Wednesday in the city of Osaka
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 12, 2025

More Moritomo Gakuen papers disclosed to widow of Finance Ministry official

The ministry intends to gradually disclose all the documents, which total more than 170,000 pages.
WADA President Witold Banka attends the World Anti-Doping Agency Symposium in Lausanne, Switzerland, on March 12, 2024.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 12, 2025

WADA calls on U.S. to stop Enhanced Games from taking place

The first Enhanced Games will be staged in Las Vegas in May 2026, with athletes participating in three sports — athletics, swimming and weightlifting.
India’s potential participation in the Japan-U.K.-Italy fighter jet project GCAP makes strategic sense but should be postponed until the core partners solidify the program to avoid delays, conflict and operational risk.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2025

India should join the Global Combat Air Program — but not just yet

GCAP is more than just a weapons platform. It is a statement of strategic autonomy, industrial innovation and trilateral cooperation among democracies.
People gather for a campaign speech in Tokyo's Suginami Ward on June 1.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025

Parties to test political waters in Tokyo election ahead of Upper House vote

The election is seen as an early indicator of how voters nationwide might cast their ballots in next month’s Upper House poll.
Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton speaks during a news conference ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Thursday.
MORE SPORTS
Jun 13, 2025

Lewis Hamilton defends Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur ahead of Canadian GP

Ferrari is second overall but has yet to win in nine races so far this season and there has been media speculation in Italy that Vasseur could be replaced.
Momentum appears to be building toward what Osaka Expo organizers hope will be a boom period for the event as they try to recoup ballooning costs via ticket sales. But long lines are making some guests weary.
JAPAN
Jun 13, 2025

Two months in, Osaka Expo organizer struggles to improve experience as crowds grow

Even before the expo reaches its peak attendance, some visitors are already growing weary of the long lines.
The public breakdown between U.S. President Donald Trump and Elon Musk highlights a familiar pattern among authoritarian leaders: They elevate allies only to discard them when their loyalty falters or their influence threatens the throne.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2025

No loyalty lasts: Why authoritarians always betray their allies

The very public and acrimonious split between U.S. President Donald Trump and his once-favorite aide, Elon Musk, would be amusing if it were not so terrifying. Their puerile public feud demonstrated just how insecure — even unhinged — the world’s most powerful person and its wealthiest really are....
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's Cabinet has approved this year's <i>honebuto no hōshin</i>, a document that sets economic and fiscal management guidelines for the government.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 13, 2025

Wage growth a focus of this year's honebuto no hōshin

The government's guidelines for economic and fiscal management outline the target of raising the average minimum hourly wage to ¥1,500 by 2030.
Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato speaks to reporters during the Group of Seven finance ministers meeting in Banff, Alberta, last month.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 13, 2025

Finance chief Kato says talks with market players key for bond issuance

Kato’s comments come as the ministry is scheduled to hold a meeting with primary dealers on June 20.
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's top tariff negotiator, speaks to reporters in Washington on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 14, 2025

Japan seeks possibility of trade deal with U.S. as G7 summit looms

Japan's top tariff negotiator offered no hint whether a deal could be announced at the upcoming G7 summit in Canada.
A woman walks with a sign depicting Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as people gather for a protest against Israel's wave of strikes on Iran in central Tehran on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 14, 2025

Israel's attacks on Iran hint at a bigger goal: regime change

The moves appear aimed at diminishing Iran's credibility both at home and among its allies in the region — factors that could destabilize the Iranian leadership, experts said.
Guillaume Ollagnier, director general of strategic, security and disarmament affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, says that the global nonproliferation architecture should be further strengthened — lest a nuclear arms race erupt.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 15, 2025

France doubles down on opposition to new nuclear states, top official says

With Pyongyang and Beijing ramping up their nuclear capabilities, calls are growing louder in Seoul and elsewhere to develop their own nukes.
U.S. President Donald Trump stands with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New Jersey on June 8.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2025

Trump administration weighs adding 36 countries to travel ban, memo says

The directive was part of an immigration crackdown Trump launched this year at the start of his second term.
Rare earths from Australia's Mount Weld mine. Japanese companies have a supply agreement with a company that sources rare earths from the mine.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2025

Japan and the U.S. face challenges in economic security discussions

In their trade negotiations, the subject is much discussed, especially as rare earths become an issue.
Japan faces a growing crisis of social isolation, with over 1.4 million people — many middle-aged — living reclusive lifestyles, and experts say only long-term, trust-based community support can reverse the trend.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 16, 2025

Japan needs to rethink how it helps hikikomori

While hikikomori, the Japanese term for acute social withdrawal, often brings to mind young recluses in dark bedrooms, the reality is broader.
The Neuralink device, called Blindsight, stimulated areas of a monkey’s brain associated with vision, said engineer Joseph O’Doherty.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jun 16, 2025

Neuralink device helps monkey see something that’s not there

The device, called Blindsight, stimulated areas of a monkey’s brain associated with vision.
U.S. President Donald Trump walks to have a family photo taken at the Group of Seven leaders' summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025

G7 backs Israel’s ‘right to defend itself’ as Trump hastily leaves summit

In a tersely worded joint statement, the bloc labeled Iran a “principal source of regional instability.”
With people growing increasingly wary of unknown callers and not answering their doors, more and more agencies and pollsters tasked with collecting data are using online surveys, though that comes with its own set of challenges.
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Jun 17, 2025

Faced with dwindling response rates, pollsters turn to online surveys for data

Problems with the new wave of online surveys include fresh biases in the data, confusion over questions that a computer cannot address and gaining trust.
A statue of Mohandas Gandhi in Tetsugakudo Park, Tokyo. The Indian nationalist saw lessons for humanity in the trajectory of modern Japan and the violence wrought by — and perpetrated upon — the nation.
JAPAN / History / The Living Past
Jun 21, 2025

Gandhi and Japan: Turning away from ‘brute force’ and toward love

“I did not move a muscle when I first heard that an atom bomb had wiped out Hiroshima.”
U.S. President Donald Trump’s reversal on the Nippon Steel deal creates a "win-win-win-win" situation benefiting both companies, the U.S. economy, and the Japan-U.S. alliance, but the golden share raises concerns about increased government control.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 17, 2025

Nippon Steel deal signals a win for the U.S. economy and Japan alliance

Last week, Trump lifted the Biden block, saying that the acquisition could go forward if the two companies signed a national security agreement with the U.S. government.

Longform

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