Search - member

 
 
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte stands next to U.S. President Donald Trump as alliance leaders pose for a group photo during a NATO summit in The Hague on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 25, 2025

NATO lines up ‘big success’ for Trump with new defense spending target

The new target for NATO member nations could give more ammunition to the U.S. in its calls for Japan to spend more money on defense.
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Minsk, Belarus, on Thursday. The lack of a common understanding between U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte about Putin's goals is seen complicating future diplomatic plans to wind down the war in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Jun 27, 2025

Following NATO summit, Trump and Europe still at odds over Putin's ambitions

The NATO summit highlighted the widening gap between how the U.S. and Europe see the military ambitions of Russia, the bloc's main foil.
A satellite view shows an overview of Fordo underground complex, after the U.S. struck the underground nuclear facility, near Qom, Iran, on June 22.
WORLD
Jun 30, 2025

U.S. strikes on Iran's nuclear sites set up 'cat-and-mouse' hunt for missing uranium

Iran's more than 400 kg of uranium is enough, if further enriched for up to nine nuclear weapons.
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.
JAPAN / Society / Longform
Jun 30, 2025

What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji

Mount Fuji’s deadliest weekend still echoes today. Luckily, area rescue squads have leveled up their game.
Residents cool themselves in Parc Andre Citroen's fountains in Paris on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Jul 2, 2025

Europe’s climate resolve faces big test as EU unveils 2040 goal

The European Commission is set to propose a binding law to slash emissions by 90% by 2040 as part of its overarching goal to reach climate neutrality by the middle of the century.
Ex-serviceman Izumi Murakami speaks of his experience during World War II, when he was still a child, in an interview in Kasuga, Fukuoka Prefecture, in May.
JAPAN / History / Regional Voices: Kyushu
Jul 14, 2025

Man inspired as a boy by WWII-era commando questions Japan's past actions

Izumi Murakami, now 92, joined the Air Self-Defense Force, but he concedes now that "there is nothing good that comes out of war."
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on Oct. 24. Rio de Janeiro will host the two-day BRICS  Summit starting July 6, where leaders from 10 member states and others will explore ways emerging economies can 
shape global development. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2025

A BRICS+ development agenda for the Global South

An effective BRICS+ development agenda will require a coordinated mobilization of resources and institutional efforts.
Sanseito leader Sohei Kamiya explains his campaign promises in Tokyo on June 30 for the Upper House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan / From Party Leaders
Jul 4, 2025

Japan’s Do It Yourself Party: Who we are and where we are headed

Our core philosophy is “to protect Japan’s national interests and bring about harmony in the world.”
Ukrainian servicemen prepare to fire a howitzer toward Russian troops at a position in the front line in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, in February.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2025

Russian use of chemical weapons against Ukraine 'widespread,' Dutch defense minister says

Russia has been dropping a choking agent from drones to drive Ukrainian soldiers out of trenches so they can be shot, according to the intelligence.
A board announces that no works were awarded the Akutagawa and Naoki literary prizes on Wednesday evening in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 17, 2025

Akutagawa and Naoki award decision marks rare absence of literary prizewinners

Selection committee members were disappointed by the lack of a majority vote in the second round, insisting that the nominated works moved many readers and were worth reading.
Polymetallic nodules — bulbous lumps of rock that are rich in battery metals such as cobalt and nickel which carpet huge tracts of Pacific Ocean seabed — in Rarotonga in the Cook Islands on June 12.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 22, 2025

Trump’s critical minerals obsession reignites deep-sea mining

President Donald Trump has issued an executive order expediting U.S. licensing of seabed mining, departing from international law.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks about recognizing Palestinian statehood at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 31, 2025

Canada plans to recognize Palestinian state, raising allies' pressure on Israel

"Canada condemns the fact that the Israeli government has allowed a catastrophe to unfold in Gaza," said Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Katsutoshi Takegami, 77, in his storehouse attic where he discovered his father's Unit 1644 documents
JAPAN / History
Aug 13, 2025

Hidden rosters and the legacy of Japan’s germ warfare

In a dusty box, a Nagano man finds proof his father served in Nanjing, China, with Unit 1644, part of Japan’s covert biological weapons network during World War II.
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto (left) and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Walter Mondale during a news conference at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo in April 1996 announcing the decision to return to Japan the site for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma air station in Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 17, 2025

Okinawa’s backers in LDP dwindle, prompting concern

At present, not many lawmakers are putting priority on Okinawa after measures taken by the government in the past for the development of the prefecture produced certain results.
A third-party probe into the Fuji TV scandal had reported about a dinner hosted by an executive attended by “a powerful male cast member,” since revealed to be singer and actor Masaharu Fukuyama.
JAPAN / Media
Aug 19, 2025

Masaharu Fukuyama admits to attending Fuji TV dinner

The singer-actor said he was the “powerful male cast member” referenced by a third-party panel investigating the broadcaster, but denied involvement in any harassment.
(Left) Bank of England Gov. Andrew Bailey, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde (second from left), Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda (third from left) and U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell pose for a picture during the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Moran, Wyoming, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Aug 25, 2025

Central bankers fear being caught in Federal Reserve's storm

Politically motivated attacks on the Fed could spill over to the rest of the world.
Liberal Democratic Party Secretary-General Hiroshi Moriyama (left) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba attend a party executive meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 4, 2025

Seeking Upper House majority, LDP eyes support from independents

The 121-strong ruling coalition needs just three more seats for a majority in the chamber.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike (right) and Takayuki Morimura, head of Tomin First no Kai, during the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly election campaign in Tokyo in June
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 8, 2025

Tokyo Gov. Koike seen keeping three-party alliance involving LDP

Attention is also turning to whether the Tokyo governor will seek cooperation with the Democratic Party for the People, which won its first seats in the metropolitan assembly.
ASEAN leaders take a group photo at the bloc's summit in Kuala Lumpur on May 26. The association, set to expand to 11 members, aims to protect its autonomy and unity through deeper integration, sustainable growth and broader partnerships.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 5, 2025

ASEAN balances autonomy and unity in a shifting geopolitical landscape

ASEAN, set to expand to 11 members, aims to protect its autonomy and unity through deeper integration, sustainable growth and broader partnerships.
Members of the Italian Red Cross speak to each other outside a reception center for migrants, in Lampedusa, Italy, on Aug. 15
WORLD
Sep 9, 2025

Falling migration fails to quell EU clampdown calls

Asylum requests to the European Union fell by 23% in the first six months of 2025, driven by a huge drop in Syrians seeking protection, new data showed.
Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto addresses in May in Kobe a meeting of a study group discussing the idea of taxing owners of vacant units in high-rise condominiums.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Sep 10, 2025

Kobe eyes tax on vacant or underused units in high-rise condos

Since taking office, Kobe Mayor Kizo Hisamoto has highlighted problems associated with high-rise condominiums, pushing to strengthen regulations and address aging buildings.
This damaged drone was found in a field near the eastern Polish village of Czosnowka on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2025

Lessons for NATO after Putin sends drones over Poland

The U.S. and Europe have a lot to learn from Russia’s warning shot.
Qatar's Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani addresses delegates during an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council at U.N. headquarters in New York City on Thursday.
WORLD
Sep 12, 2025

U.N. Security Council condemns strikes on Qatar, without naming Israel

Qatar's prime minister welcomed the council's statement of support and reiterated his country's commitment to acting as a mediator in the conflict.
A Russian MiG-31 fighter jet flies above the Baltic Sea after violating Estonian airspace.
WORLD
Sep 20, 2025

Estonia and allies denounce 'reckless' Russian air incursion

Estonia immediately called for urgent talks with NATO allies, less than two weeks after Poland did the same after claiming an incursion by a wave of Russian drones.
A delegation of Japanese war orphans in China arrive at an airport in Harbin, China, on Sept. 10.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2025

Japanese war orphans make what is likely their final trip to China

This is expected to be their last large-scale visit to China as the war orphans have grown older 80 years after the end of the war.
Former Chile President Michelle Bachelet (center) attends an event by GWL Voices, an organization of female world leaders committed to building an international system of equality, in Madrid in January last year.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 27, 2025

Calls grow for first female U.N. chief in 80 years

The United Nations has never had a woman serve as secretary-general — a fact that some world leaders now view as a glaring symbol of gender inequality.
Signs of recovery in consumer spending have some analysts looking for a rate increase as soon as October.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2025

Bank of Japan rate increase looking more likely

The Cabinet Office is becoming more positive on consumer spending.
Sanae Takaichi, the newly elected leader of Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party, poses in the party leader's office after the LDP leadership election in Tokyo on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 5, 2025

How Takaichi won the LDP’s leadership race

A split of moderate votes in the first round and the support of an LDP kingmaker helped propel the former economic security minister to a historic victory.
A member of one of Syria's local committees votes in the country's selection process to designate an interim parliament, in Damascus on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 6, 2025

Syria selects members of first post-Assad parliament

The process has been criticized as undemocratic, as instead of holding a nationwide vote, lawmakers are being selected by local committees and interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (left) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) attend a European Union leaders' summit in Brussels in June 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 7, 2025

Ukraine's obstacles to EU membership extend beyond Hungarian resistance

Senior European Union officials who recently visited Ukraine have delivered a stern message that Kyiv still has a lot more to do.

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?