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While upholding his "America First" policy and transactional diplomacy, U.S. President Donald Trump has been emphasizing the importance of the U.S.-Japan relationship since his first term, from 2017 to 2021.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 20, 2025

Marking 80th year since Battle of Iwo Jima, Trump touts U.S.-Japan alliance

The bloody battle fought on the Pacific island between February and March of 1945 claimed some 21,900 lives on the Japanese side and about 6,800 among American forces.
An electric vehicle factory in Rayong, Thailand. Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to President Donald Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 22, 2025

How Trump’s tariffs could reorder Asia trade and exclude the U.S.

Asian countries are among the most vulnerable to Trump's economic grievances — but also well-placed to make deals to minimize their exposure.
U.S. Marines during training in Okinawa last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 22, 2025

U.S. Marines start to leave Japan, decades behind schedule

The U.S. base on Okinawa has relocated 105 Marines. But an agreement to move 9,000 in total is colliding with the perceived threat from a rising China.
U.S. government scientists participating in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were issued a stop-work order from the Trump administration, according to media reports.
ENVIRONMENT / Climate change
Feb 24, 2025

Trump creates uncertainty for world’s most cited climate report

The U.S. absence comes amid broader cuts to research funding and a retreat from climate diplomacy under the Trump administration.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands as they meet in Helsinki on July 16, 2018.
BUSINESS / Economy
Feb 24, 2025

After three years of war, Trump hands Russian economy a lifeline

Russia can either stop inflating military spending as it presses to gain territory in Ukraine, or maintain it and pay the price with years of slow growth.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine (right) with an Iraqi general in Mosul, Iraq, in 2018
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025

Trump’s frustration with generals resulted in an unconventional pick

Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, a retired three-star Air Force officer, quickly moved up the list of candidates to be the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Amid rising global defense spending, U.S. President Donald Trump's push for 5% of GDP on military budgets poses a challenge for American allies, including Japan, which is already struggling to meet its 2% target.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2025

U.S. defense spending demands could transform global security

The level of spending the U.S. is demanding could spark an arms race as adversaries try to match NATO and America's Asian allies.
Elon Musk speaks next to U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Feb. 11.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

U.S. lawmakers warn that China could use Musk to influence Trump

Lawmakers fear the CCP will try to use business leaders who have commercial interests in China, to advance its goals in talks with Washington.
Canada's Liberal Party leadership candidates gather for a debate ahead of the March 9 vote to replace Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in Montreal on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

U.S. threats mean Canada must bolster military, candidates say

The four candidates sparred over how fast Canada can realistically roll out the billions of dollars needed to reach the NATO threshold of 2% GDP.
An Apple store in Walnut Creek, California, on Monday. Apple Inc. Apple investors rejected a proposal to end the iPhone maker’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, but CEO Tim Cook some some adjustments may occur.
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 26, 2025

Apple to keep DEI efforts, though some adjustments possible

The proposal to abolish DEI efforts came after competitors like Meta and Google have started winding down such programs.
A sample of a wafer is seen at the Semicon Taiwan 2022 exhibition in Taipei in 2022.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

China says Taiwan seeking to give away chip industry to U.S.

U.S. media has said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. has been in talks for a stake in Intel.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy gives a news conference in Kyiv on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

Trump confirms Zelenskyy visit to sign Ukraine minerals deal

The Ukrainian leader said the success of the deal would hinge on talks in Washington on Friday and continued U.S. aid.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s populism and polarization will challenge American democracy, but constitutional limits, congressional dynamics and enduring pluralism will sustain it.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
Feb 27, 2025

American democracy will weather the Trumpist storm

Despite Trump’s authoritarian tendencies, his populist nature makes constitutional collapse unlikely so long as pluralism in society endures.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson said that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy either "needs to come to his senses and come back to the table in gratitude, or someone else needs to lead the country to do that."
WORLD / Politics
Mar 3, 2025

Trump allies pressure Zelenskyy to change course or resign

Democrats, meanwhile, have expressed disgust over the tenor of U.S. President Donald Trump's meeting with the Ukrainian leader.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 4, 2025

Trump pauses military aid to Ukraine after clash with Zelenskyy

The pause will last until the U.S. president determines the country’s leaders demonstrate a good-faith commitment to peace, a senior defense official said.
U.S. F-18 Super Hornet fighter jets are seen on the flight deck of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson at a port in Busan, South Korea, on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 4, 2025

North Korea slams U.S. 'provocations' over aircraft carrier visit to Busan

Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korea's leader, hinted that her country could respond with the testing of nuclear-capable missiles or other technology.
U.S. military aid to Ukraine halted at 3:30 a.m., a source with knowledge of the matter said, after U.S. President Donald Trump paused assistance late on Monday following a clash with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last week.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 4, 2025

U.S. military aid pause is a blow to Ukraine, but not fatal for now

The U.S. pause could have a real impact on the war within months, undermining Ukraine's air defenses and precision strike capabilities in particular.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine plan to sign a minerals deal that fell through on Friday, sources said.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

U.S. and Ukraine now plan to sign minerals deal, sources say

The deal from last week offered Kyiv no explicit security guarantees but gave the U.S. access to Ukraine's natural resources.
A ship sails through the Panama Canal after Hong Kong's CK Hutchison agreed to sell its interests in a key Panama Canal port operator to a BlackRock-backed consortium on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

BlackRock to buy Hong Kong firm's Panama Canal port stake amid pressure

The $22.8 billion deal, coming amid pressure from the White House, will give the BlackRock-backed group control of ports along the strategic waterway and dozens of others.
Oil pipelines in Alaska. Although the Alaska LNG project has been planned for decades, it faces headwinds from its large price tag and mammoth scale.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025

Trump touts plans to spur mammoth Alaska gas export project

Japan, South Korea and other countries want to partner with the U.S. and invest in "a gigantic natural gas pipeline in Alaska," the U.S. president said.
England and Wales Cricket Board signage is seen at Lord's Cricket Ground before the second Ashes test in London on June 28, 2023.
ECB signage before the start of the second test Action Images via Reuters/Peter Cziborra
MORE SPORTS / Cricket
Mar 7, 2025

England and Wales Cricket Board apologizes for 'ill-judged' post about pope

"This was an ill-judged post and was swiftly deleted," an ECB spokesman said. "We apologize for any offense."
Former Bank of Canada and Bank of England governor Mark Carney speaks after he won the race to become leader of Canada's ruling Liberal Party and will succeed Justin Trudeau as Prime Minister, in Ottawa on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 10, 2025

Mark Carney wins Canada Liberal contest and will succeed Trudeau in days

Carney takes the reins at a time when the White House is creating upheaval in the global economy — and with U.S. trading partners — with increasingly chaotic tariff announcements.
A demonstration against the Trump administration’s cessation of military aid to Ukraine, attended by Ukrainians and American ex-pats, outside the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv on Saturday
WORLD
Mar 10, 2025

With drones and North Korean troops, Russia pushes back Ukraine’s offensive

Russia has retaken about two-thirds of the territory Ukraine seized last summer in the Kursk region of Russia, but at a fearful cost in lives.
Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Francois Wu told The Japan Times in an interview last week in Taipei that he hopes with the island democracy can strengthen ties with Japan and other like-minded nations “at every level.”
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 12, 2025

Taiwan’s No. 2 diplomat seeks higher-level ‘unofficial’ Japan meetings as ties grow

Taipei has been shifting away from its competition with China over formal recognition, focusing instead on pragmatism to circumvent diplomatic obstacles.
Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of the media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University during the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in New York on June 1, 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 13, 2025

Judge extends ban on deportation of U.S. student over opposition to war in Gaza

The case that has become a flash point following a pledge by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to deport some pro-Palestinian college activists.
Just like in times of old, with unresolved territorial disputes, regional disunity and economic self-interest prevailing over solidarity, Southeast Asia faces growing instability as tensions escalate.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 13, 2025

Southeast Asia must learn to defend itself

Would any of the region’s governments lift a finger to maintain peace on behalf of a neighbor?
A Voice of America crew make a live report as they stand in a causeway leading to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's estate in Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, last December.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 16, 2025

Trump freezes U.S.-funded media outlets including Voice of America

The abrupt freezing of U.S.-funded outlets will be a blow to efforts at countering Russian and Chinese information offensives.
Debris lies around damaged houses the morning after a tornado touched down in Florissant, Missouri, on Saturday.
WORLD
Mar 16, 2025

At least 33 dead as tornadoes ravage central U.S.

Local news showed roofs torn off homes and large trucks overturned, as forecasters warned of more tornadoes to come this weekend.
Smoke rises while members of the Syrian forces ride on a vehicle as they battle against an insurgency by fighters from ousted leader Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, in Latakia, Syria, on March 7.
WORLD
Mar 17, 2025

'Pray for us. They've arrived': How Syria descended into revenge bloodshed

Just three months after Bashar Assad's ouster, parts of western Syria descended into vengeful bloodletting.
Officials from the state-run Alaska Gasline Development Corporation and development partner Glenfarne Group want to transport natural gas south from Alaska's remote north via a $44 billion 1,300-kilometer pipeline, to be shipped as liquefied natural gas to Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2025

Alaskan officials to seek investors in Japan as Trump touts LNG

Japanese energy firms have yet to commit, with cost being a focal point.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight