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Ground personnel unload weapons and other military hardware delivered by the U.S. military near Kyiv in 2022.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2025

U.S. aid pullback is making Ukraine more vulnerable to Russian hacks

USAID has been gutted in the first months of Trump’s presidency by Elon Musk’s "department of government efficiency," and Trump has become increasingly impatient with Zelenskyy.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an executive order in the Oval Office on Wednesday. His push for quick wins through tariffs and other measures is risking trade turmoil with key allies like Japan.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 28, 2025

Is there a method behind the Trumponomics madness?

Washington’s policies are treading and often crossing a fine line between political jostling and economic strategizing.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney waves to supporters at a victory party in Ottawa on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2025

Carney's Liberals win Canada election defined by Trump

Following a campaign dominated by Trump's tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart "a new path forward."
The United States and Ukraine signed a minerals deal on Wednesday, offering a measure of assurance to officials in Kyiv.
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2025

U.S. and Ukraine sign resources deal after fraught negotiations

The signing ceremony on Wednesday concluded weeks of contentious negotiations and pulled the two countries back from a rift.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. President Donald Trump during a Cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington on Wednesday
WORLD / Politics
May 1, 2025

U.S. eyes more migration deals, with Rwanda said to be in talks

"We are actively searching for other countries to take people from third countries," said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the Democratic Party, makes a final speech during the party's presidential primary election in Goyang, South Korea, on April 27.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 2, 2025

South Korea presidential race rocked by court ruling and resignations

South Korea's third acting president in five months, Lee Ju-ho, said that he will ensure stable government ahead of a June 3 presidential election.
U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House in Washington on April 24.
WORLD / Politics
May 3, 2025

Now a trusted ally, 'Little Marco' gets Trump's big jobs

Marco Rubio's expanding resume underscores President Donald Trump's increasing trust in the former Florida senator, officials said.
Israeli tanks operate in the Gaza Strip, by the Israel-Gaza border, on Saturday.
WORLD
May 4, 2025

Israel calls up tens of thousands of reservists for Gaza offensive

All aid deliveries to Gaza have been blocked since March 2, prompting warnings from U.N. agencies of impending humanitarian disaster.
An Israeli soldier walks near tanks deployed at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
May 5, 2025

Israel prepares to scale up pressure on Gaza ahead of Trump visit

The new ground operations will likely involve taking control of additional territory while stopping short of a full siege.
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from his popemobile as he arrives at the Manger Square before presiding over an open-air mass on May 25, 2014 outside the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank Biblical town of Bethlehem.
WORLD / Society
May 6, 2025

Francis' popemobile converted into clinic for Gazan children

The iconic open-sided vehicle will head to the Gaza Strip if and when Israel opens a humanitarian corridor.
Israeli tanks are positioned near the Israel-Gaza border in southern Israel on April 23.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Israel may seize all of Gaza in expanded operation, officials say

The newly approved offensive would move the territory's civilian population southward and keep humanitarian aid from falling into Hamas' hands.
Designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union following a session of the German lower house of parliament to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Germany's Friedrich Merz faces new vote for chancellor after surprise loss

The initial shock defeat dealt a heavy blow to Merz, who has vowed to restore stability in Berlin after half a year of political turmoil.
Israeli soldiers work on a mobile cannon at a position near Israel's border with the Gaza Strip on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025

Hamas says Gaza truce talks pointless as Israel wages 'hunger war'

The comments from a senior Hamas official followed Israel's approval of a military plan involving the "conquest" of Gaza, where nearly all 2.3 million people have been displaced.
Arashi is known for massive hit songs such as “A・RA・SHI,” “Love So Sweet” and “Happiness.”
CULTURE / Entertainment news
May 7, 2025

J-pop group Arashi to disband after going on tour next spring

Current fan club members will be given priority to purchase tickets for the last concert tour.
People walk past a television screen showing a news broadcast with file footage of a North Korean missile test, at the main train station in Seoul on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 8, 2025

North Korea fires off multiple short-range missiles from east coast

One of the missiles had traveled 800 kilometers, Japan's Defense Ministry said, nearly falling inside the country's exclusive economic zone.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters the Prime Minister's Office on Wednesday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 8, 2025

Ishiba faces a fresh money scandal

The supporter said he gave the Ishiba campaign cash multiple times when he ran for the presidency of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (right) responds to questions from Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda (left) at a Lower House Budget Committee meeting on April 14.
JAPAN / Politics
May 9, 2025

Hung parliament keeps Lower House Legislative Bureau busy

As each party pushes its own agenda by drafting its own bills, the workload increases for the bureau, which supports lawmakers in such matters.
Princess Kako smiles during the spring garden party at the Akasaka Imperial Gardens in Tokyo on April 22.
JAPAN
May 9, 2025

Japan's Princess Kako to visit Brazil from June 4

This will be Princess Kako's fourth official visit to a foreign country, following her visit to Greece in May 2024.
A Japan Coast Guard vessel sails in front of the Uotsuri islet, one of the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands. Concerns are growing in Tokyo after a Chinese government helicopter violated Japan's airspace around the uninhabited islets.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 12, 2025

Escalation fears rise in Japan following Chinese moves near Senkakus

Beijing sent a government helicopter to the area for the first time, while Chinese government ships have been spotted in the area for more than 170 straight days.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent takes questions at the White House on April 29. Bessent, a former hedge fund manager, is leading trade talks with China in Geneva.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 11, 2025

U.S. and China conclude first day of talks in bid to ease trade war

U.S. President Donald Trump said negotiators had "a very good meeting” on their first day of an effort to deescalate the rivals' trade war.
Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
LIFE / Lifestyle / Longform
May 12, 2025

What comes after 100?

The number of Japanese centenarians is on the rise, providing new models for how to live in a super-aging society.
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
May 13, 2025

Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands

Going forward, experts say, this will make the Chinese side confident that they have leverage over the U.S. in any negotiations.
Despite the government releasing rice from its emergency stockpile since March, prices have remained high.
JAPAN
May 13, 2025

Rice prices finally fall, but change is in baby steps

The average supermarket price of 5 kilograms of rice dropped for the first time since December, falling ¥19 to ¥4,214.
Liberal Democratic Party executives at a General Council meeting on Tuesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2025

LDP approves pension reform legislation

The government aims to adopt the legislation at a Cabinet meeting Friday and submit it to the current session of the Diet, the country's parliament.
The motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump is parked next to a 12-year old Qatari-owned Boeing 747-8 that Trump was touring in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Feb. 15.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2025

Trump’s freebie Qatar jet is the stuff of nightmares in spyworld

"If we had built the plane, knowing it was going to a foreign government, we would probably have bugged it,” said Thad Troy, a former station chief with the CIA.
Aso serves as the head of the LDP's task force on Japan’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2025

Conservative heavyweights join forces in LDP panel on Indo-Pacific

The panel has prompted speculation it could serve as an occasion to coalesce support against the government in the upcoming months.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi speaks at a news conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN
May 15, 2025

Russia to conduct drill in waters near disputed island off Hokkaido

The Japanese government has lodged a protest with Russia over the planned drills near Shikotan.
With Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's ruling coalition in crisis, the opposition divided and the Democratic Party for the People gaining momentum, Japan’s upcoming Upper House election could trigger a major political realignment.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 15, 2025

Nervous parties gird for a high-stakes Upper House vote

With Ishiba in place, the fear that the LDP could next lose its current majority in the Upper House in July is pervasive.

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?