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The U.S. Air Force's CV-22 Osprey displayed during Japanese-American Friendship Festival at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on May 18
JAPAN
Dec 15, 2024

U.S. and Japanese Ospreys grounded this month after precautionary landing

While the details about the precautionary landing are not known, the incident has raised concerns over the vulnerability in Osprey components.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (left) meets with Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki at the Okinawa Prefectural Government Office on Sunday.
JAPAN
Dec 16, 2024

Okinawa governor seeks timetable for transfer of U.S. marines

Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki on Sunday called on the government to provide a concrete timetable for the transfer of U.S. Marines in Okinawa to Guam, following the recent start of the relocation.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (right) delivers remarks at a news conference alongside Howard Lutnik, his pick for commerce secretary, at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 17, 2024

Trump says he's open to meeting Ishiba before inauguration

The U.S. president-elect says it's up to Tokyo to make the meeting happen.
Just over a year ago, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated their historic summit at Camp David, but Yoon's controversial policies and martial law attempt have undermined that progress.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 17, 2024

Yoon's impeachment widens East Asia fault lines

leadership changes in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington add to the instability, raising concerns about the future of this critical alliance.
The U.S. Steel Mon Valley Works Edgar Thomson Plant along the Monongahela River in Braddock, Pennsylvania
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 19, 2024

Despite revamped proposals, Nippon Steel deal on track to be blocked, letter shows

The letter, sent Saturday, sets the stage for U.S. President Joe Biden, who has long opposed the deal, to block it.
A visitor takes pictures near models of military equipment and a giant screen displaying Chinese leader Xi Jinping, at an exhibition at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing in October 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 19, 2024

Graft scandals disrupt China military modernization, Pentagon report says

At least 15 high-ranking Chinese military officers and defense industry executives were removed between July and December 2023, the report says.
While ByteDance faces a possible TikTok ban in the U.S. and China targets Nvidia, tensions escalate, posing risks for global tech companies caught in the conflict.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 19, 2024

From TikTok to Nvidia, the tech war is getting uglier

While ByteDance faces a possible TikTok ban in the U.S. and China targets Nvidia, tensions escalate, posing risks for global tech companies caught in the conflict.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2024

Ishiba may visit U.S. in mid-January for talks with Trump

Ishiba hopes to build a personal relationship of trust with the president-elect and confirm the significance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with House Republicans at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Washington on Nov. 13.
COMMENTARY / World / The Year Ahead
Dec 31, 2024

Will the second Trump boom go bust?

Trump is inheriting a strong economy, but he faces a more challenging economic landscape than he did in his first term.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s push to end birthright citizenship, despite its likely legal failure, could still serve as a political strategy to appear tough on immigration while highlighting systemic obstacles to comprehensive reform.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2024

Why Trump can’t just end birthright citizenship

Donald Trump’s proposal to end birthright citizenship faces major legal obstacles, as the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to everyone born on U.S. soil.
Writer Baye McNeil and his wife, Miki, host a Kwanzaa gathering in Yokohama together. The end of the year at the McNeil’s home is a mix of several different holiday traditions, including those of Kwanzaa.
COMMUNITY / Voices / Black Eye
Dec 23, 2024

A holiday season built on creativity and care

Fusing African heritage with Japanese spirituality, our columnist crafted a holiday season that celebrates cultural understanding.
Migrants seeking asylum gather near the border wall between the United States and Mexico after crossing a razor wire fence deployed to inhibit their crossing, as a member of the Texas National Guard escorts them on Dec. 19.
WORLD / Society
Dec 23, 2024

'Bless Donald Trump': Human smugglers cash in

"Coyotes," as they are known, are banking on a pickup in trade due to the president-elect's campaign promise to crack down on migrants once he takes office.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Washington on Dec. 10.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 24, 2024

Biden launches new Chinese chip trade probe, which will be handed off to Trump

The effort could offer Trump a ready avenue to begin imposing some of the hefty 60% tariffs he has threatened on Chinese imports.
Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
BUSINESS / Companies
Dec 24, 2024

Mizuho CEO sees global boom in M&A after Trump takes office

Masahiro Kihara, the CEO of Mizuho, Japan’s third-largest lender, is expecting U.S. President-elect Trump to make regulations more business friendly.
Cats sit on steps at Grazing Plains Farm in Newton, Kansas, in May. Researchers are keeping a close eye on the mounting cases of bird flu infections in cats.
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 28, 2024

New bird flu mutation discovered in U.S. as cat infections cause alarm

Several experts cautioned that it was too early to determine whether these changes would make the virus more transmissible or more severe in people.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump sits with Elon Musk at UFC 309 at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 16.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 28, 2024

Cracks emerge in Trump's MAGA coalition

Squabbling over immigration between Elon Musk and his Silicon Valley "tech bros" and Trump's hardcore Republican backers is roiling the movement.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends a meeting of the country's ruling party in Pyongyang in this photo released Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 29, 2024

North Korea launches 'toughest' U.S. strategy at key party meeting

In a signal to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, North Korea has used a key party meeting overseen by leader Kim Jong Un to announce its “toughest” ever strategy to counter the United States, Pyongyang's state-run media said Sunday.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks during a news conference in Tokyo on Dec. 24. Ishiba has, unsuccessfully, sought to meet with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump since November, with Trump’s team saying at the time that no meetings with foreign leaders would take place before his January inauguration.
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 31, 2024

Ishiba rules out pre-inauguration meeting with Trump

Ishiba had sought a mid-January meeting with Trump but said over the weekend that sooner didn't necessarily mean better when it came to talks with the incoming U.S. president.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a U.N. Security Council session at U.N. headquarters in New York on Dec. 19.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 4, 2025

Top U.S. diplomat to visit South Korea with eye on political crisis

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also visit Tokyo, where he will hold talks with Japanese officials on Monday and Tuesday.
A man pushes a cart along Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles
WORLD / Society
Jan 4, 2025

Ahead of Trump term, U.S. cities grapple with homelessness

The crisis worsened with the end of pandemic-related aid, and are driven by a lack of affordable housing, as well as inflation and low wages.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken answers a question from the audience at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on Dec. 18.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 5, 2025

Blinken wades into political crisis with stop in South Korea

The top U.S. diplomat will seek delicately to encourage continuity with the policies, but not tactics, of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol.
U.S. Steel's Edgar Thomson Steel Works in Braddock, Pennsylvania, in December 2019. The Biden administration blocked the $14 billion takeover of U.S. Steel by Nippon Steel on Friday, citing grounds that the sale posed a threat to national security.
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
Jan 5, 2025

Biden’s decision on Nippon Steel deal followed divide in his orbit

The split was emblematic of so many shifts in U.S. policy — including of Biden’s pledge to build trust with allies and the race against China.
Combat aircrafts from NATO countries roll on a landing strip during a fighter plane maneuver exercise at the American military's Ramstein Air Base, near Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany, June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
WORLD
Jan 5, 2025

Drones, exploding parcels and sabotage: How hybrid tactics target the West

Increasingly brazen “gray zone” attacks against Europe and the U.S. have left defense officials with a dilemma: How to respond?
Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, lights a protective face mask on fire during a rally in support of President Donald Trump in Atlanta, in 2020.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2025

On anniversary of U.S. Capitol attack, Proud Boys ex-leader asks Trump for pardon

1,583 people have been charged with a crime connected to the siege of the Capitol, with about 1,100 of those cases fully adjudicated, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
A Tencent sign is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. The gaming and social media company has been added to a U.S. Defense Department list of firms it says work with China's military.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 7, 2025

U.S. adds Tencent and CATL to list of firms allegedly aiding Chinese military

The companies described their addition to the annual list as a mistake.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba meets with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel at the Prime Minister's Official residence in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 8, 2025

Missteps highlight Ishiba’s foreign policy challenges

Japan faces a delicate balancing act between securing its economic future and ensuring its security, with Ishiba's policies leaving much to be desired in both areas.
Attendees sit in Xpeng's modular "flying car" during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 9, 2025

Trade war worries loom over Las Vegas tech show

The potential for Trump's trade policies to roil the global tech industry has loomed large over the Consumer Electronics Show.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with Republican governors at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Thursday.
WORLD
Jan 10, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court lets Trump sentencing proceed in hush money case

The court turned down Trump's last-minute bid to prevent his sentencing, scheduled for Friday in New York state court in Manhattan.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing in front of New York State Judge Juan Merchan in the criminal case in which he was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, at New York Criminal Court in Manhattan on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 11, 2025

A sentence with no penalty assures Trump will take office as a felon

Justice Juan Merchan gave Donald Trump a symbolic punishment. The judge said that leniency was due the office of the president, not the man who will soon hold the title.
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump meets with then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at the Group of 20 leaders summit in Osaka in June 2019.  Though Trump's first term in office was not as earth-shattering for Japanese companies as many feared, it would be a mistake to assume his second will be the same.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 13, 2025

Trump 2.0 presents new challenges for Japanese companies

Another challenge for Japanese firms will be that Trump, his Cabinet by and large and many key advisers are China hawks.

Longform

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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji