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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.
The government is considering a program that would allow local governments to lease food trucks used following disasters to business operators during normal times and receive maintenance fees in return.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2025

Cabinet Office may lease government-owned disaster food trucks to businesses

The plan aims to offer local governments assistance from the private sector in preparing for natural disasters as the authorities confront severe financial conditions.
A Self-Defense Forces tank unit takes part in parade at Camp Asaka, near Tokyo, in October 2018. The percentage of GDP spent on defense is a politically convenient but flawed metric that oversimplifies the complex realities of alliance management.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 2, 2025

In the Trump era, how much should countries really be spending on defense?

In truth, the “percentage of GDP” approach is a political one, not a practical one
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.
A team of technicians from climate startup Recoolit work to capture emissions from a large air conditioning unit in the basement of a housing complex in Jakarta on June 10.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 10, 2025

In Indonesia, a startup captures coolants to stop global warming

With cooling demand increasing as the planet warms, concern is growing over highly polluting refrigerants. Enter the Recoolit startup.
A police officer stands in front of the wreckage of an Air India aircraft, bound for London's Gatwick Airport, which crashed during take-off from an airport in Ahmedabad, India, on June 12.
WORLD
Jul 14, 2025

Amid Air India probe, U.S. FAA and Boeing say fuel switch locks are safe

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration's notification came after a preliminary report into Air India's Boeing 787-8 crash raised questions over engine fuel cutoff switches.
A student leaves the secondary school building built by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Francis Kere, in Kere's home village of Gando, Burkina Faso, on June 3, 2022.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 17, 2025

How schools are being built for extreme heat — without air conditioning

With techniques such as cross-ventilation and materials such as clay, architects around the world are adapting schools to climate change without the use of air conditioning.
Israeli settlers swim in the Ein Samiyah spring near the village of Kafr Malik, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on July 15. The spring, which feeds the pumping station, is the main or backup water source for some 110,000 people, according to the Palestinian company that manages it — making it one of the most vital in the West Bank, where water is in chronic short supply.
WORLD
Jul 21, 2025

'No life without water': settler attacks threaten West Bank communities

Israeli settlers have been accused in several recent incidents of damaging, diverting or seizing control of vital Palestinian water sources.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth shakes hands with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. during a welcome ceremony at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 22, 2025

Philippine president and top U.S. officials vow to ramp up deterrence

Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. met separately with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Sohei Kamiya, founder of the Sanseito, which campaigned on a “Japanese first” message and tough immigration rhetoric, speaks at a rally in Gunma Prefecture on July 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 23, 2025

Ignore the election hype, foreign residents are here to stay

While the number of foreign residents reached a record high last year, it’s still barely over 3% of the total population, low by international standards.
European Council President Antonio Costa (left) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (right) join hands with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba prior to a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 23, 2025

Japan and EU launch trade ‘alliance’ amid concerns over U.S. and China

The new agreement will expand bilateral trade ties, promote business cooperation and explore ways to diversify critical mineral supply chains.
Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor, promises a rent freeze that’s easy to deliver but it remains to be seen if it will solve the city’s deeper housing problems.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 28, 2025

Freezing rent is easy. Making NYC housing affordable isn’t.

Zohran Mamdani’s campaign pledge would be simple to put into effect but wouldn’t do much to solve the underlying problem.
A notice board at a station in Tokyo announces suspended shinkansen services due to a tsunami warning after a strong quake off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula on Wednesday. 
EDITORIALS
Aug 1, 2025

A troubling reminder of Japan's vulnerability to natural disasters

There is considerable work to be done. Multiple studies and surveys of municipalities show that they are not prepared for a big incident.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate. Australia's selection of an upgraded version of the Mogami-class warship for its next frigate class could prove to be a watershed moment for Japan’s defense industry.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Aug 6, 2025

Australia's warship selection signals Japanese defense industry's arrival

Japan's successful bid will serve as a confidence booster and could set a precedent for other countries to consider Japanese capabilities for their own militaries.
The rise in household consumption spending in Japan in June was driven by a 30.1% jump in spending to buy automobiles and motorcycles, and higher electricity bills.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2025

Japan's household spending rises 1.3% in June

The average spending by households with two or more members was ¥295,419 ($2,000).
A model of the upgraded Mogami-class frigate is displayed at the Defense Security Equipment International Japan exhibition at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on May 21.
EDITORIALS
Aug 8, 2025

The Japan-Australia frigate deal is more than a weapons pact

The scale of the agreement is sweeping. Japan has never before won a bid this size.
Operations of a medical helicopter in Tokyo will be suspended for seven days this month due to a staff shortage.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2025

Tokyo temporarily halts medical helicopter operations due to staff shortage

The suspension began on Thursday and will continue through Sunday. The helicopter will also be out of service between Aug. 24 and Aug. 26.
A worker at Stetman LLC repairs a damaged Starlink terminal in an undisclosed location in Ukraine on July 14.
WORLD
Aug 13, 2025

Starlink techies keep Musk’s network running, even in a war

Despite his on-and-off feud with Trump and the subsequent exile from the White House, Musk remains a central figure in the war.
A U.S. Marine Corps MV-22 Osprey aircraft flies over the island of Okinawa in March 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 14, 2025

Precautionary Osprey landings signal safety, not alarm

Two precautionary V-22 Osprey landings in northern Honshu demonstrated the aircraft’s safety and its role in enhancing Japan’s rapid-deployment and island-defense capabilities.
Australia’s decision to select Japan's upgraded Mogami-class warship, seen in this computer-generated image, has been “well received across Japanese industry," a Defense Ministry official said.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 17, 2025

Winning warship bid gives Japan confidence boost as Tokyo eyes more exports

Japan’s successful offer of state-of-the-art warships to Australia is seen as a "model" case for the future export of entire military systems, including to Southeast Asia.
China’s massive scale, strong education system and competitive local governance have enabled it to reach the technological frontier and dominate high-tech manufacturing despite its low per capita gross domestic product.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 19, 2025

Demystifying the manufacturing success of China

The obvious question is how a country with such low per capita GDP has managed to reach the technological frontier in so many sectors.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby visits BlackSea Technology facilities to view a drone test in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025

The U.S. Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.

A recent naval test designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats ended in failure due to software glitches and human error.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) talks with the main commanders of the Korean People's Army's overseas operations units that participated in the war alongside Russia, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025

North Korea has 'undeclared' ICBM base near China border: report

The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their launchers.
The education ministry plans to implement reskilling programs to achieve wage hikes for essential workers and the employment ice age generation.
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2025

Japan to promote vocational reskilling to target wage increases

The initiative will be carried out in collaboration with companies specializing in digital technology and will help participants acquire productivity-boosting skills.
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.
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025

Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam

A decision is expected in the “coming months,” a senior government official in Manila said, following an inspection of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts.
Nuclear weapons may have prevented global war through deterrence, but today’s shifting threats require adaptable strategies and strong leadership to avoid catastrophe.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2025

How humanity can avoid starting World War III

As a new nuclear age dawns, the U.S. must once again adjust its policies with foresight and flexibility, resisting both technological determinism and political destabilization.
A resident removes sludge from his damaged house a day after flash floods in the Buner district of mountainous Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Aug. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Aug 27, 2025

Pakistan's monsoon misery is nature's fury, but also man's mistake

Unless construction and sewer maintenance are better regulated, annual downpours that have left hundreds dead in recent months will continue to kill.
U.S. military personnel stand guard in front of the New Grand Hotel where Gen. Douglas MacArthur stayed circa September 1945 in Yokohama.
JAPAN / History / Perspectives
Sep 1, 2025

How the Allied Occupation changed Japan: A love story

A wartime GI and a Japanese civilian fell in love during the Occupation, embodying the peace built after Japan’s surrender.
The Ming Yang OceanX in the Qingzhou IV offshore wind farm near Yangjiang, China, on Aug. 8.
BUSINESS / Tech
Aug 29, 2025

China is running the world's most powerful floating wind turbine

The OceanX is an eloquent symbol of the ambitions of Chinese green technology companies.

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?