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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (far right), Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (second from right), Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics (left) and Finland President Alexander Stubb (second from left) gather on the day of a news conference after the Support Ukraine summit, marking the third anniversary of the Russian invasion, in Kyiv on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

European leaders in Kyiv to mark three years of war, but top U.S. officials stay away

Trump's rush to end the war has stoked fears of an undermined Kyiv and an altered geopolitical landscape.
President Donald Trump’s order making English the official language of the country is unnecessary, as nearly 80% of people in the U.S. already speak it at home.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 14, 2025

America doesn’t need an official language

After all, what is our shared culture if not the mix of cultures — including languages — that make and remake America every day?
Port City Brewing Company founder and President Bill Butcher adds bottle caps, which he imports from Mexico, into the bottle machine at his brewery in Alexandria, Virginia, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Mar 16, 2025

'Impossible': U.S. breweries buffeted by Trump tariffs

From Canadian malted barley to aluminum beer cans, Trump's tariffs have hit multiple products that American craft breweries need.
Unexploded U.S. military ordnance found in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 24
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2025

Unexploded ordnance still haunts Okinawa 80 years after WWII battle

Despite decades of clearance efforts, roughly 1,900 metric tons of deadly remnants are estimated to remain buried beneath the land.
Containers are stacked at a port in Vietnam
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Apr 5, 2025

Southeast Asia rushes to avert tariff pain by enticing Trump

Southeast Asia’s offers to negotiate contrast with China’s retaliation, while the European Union is preparing its own countermeasures if talks fail.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a Cabinet meeting at the White House on Thursday in Washington.
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Apr 16, 2025

Trump calls the U.S.-Japan alliance ‘one-sided.’ Tokyo says otherwise.

Some observers believe the U.S. president’s worldview is stuck in the 1980s, a time when trade deficits with Japan captured the attention of U.S. policymakers.
A drone view shows a cargo ship at Kwai Tsing Container Terminals in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 17, 2025

U.S. looks to box in China by recruiting other trading partners

Washington is set to ask nations to limit Beijing’s might when they negotiate tariffs.
A disturbing factor that may ultimately defeat the all-volunteer military force is the growing political division across the U.S., which is diminishing the young people's faith in America.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 24, 2023

U.S. military’s recruiting woes are a national-security crisis

The U.S. military's struggle to entice even the most surefire candidates — the children of veterans — puts the future of the all-volunteer force in doubt.
A man sits on his own at a taco stand on Kokusai Street in Naha.
COMMUNITY / Issues
Jul 2, 2023

Peacemaking of a different sort in Okinawa

Through therapy and community outreach, counseling service TELL draws on the personal experiences of its clinicians and support workers to help various communities in Okinawa.
The expansionist era is over for Taiwan's life insurance industry.
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2023

U.S. interest rate hikes haunt Taiwan’s $1 trillion life insurance industry

Over the past year, local regulators have repeatedly loosened operating rules after a cocktail of unrealized investment losses.
Like other martial arts, aikido takes the concept of 気 (ki, spirit/mind) and incorporates it into the philosophy of the sport.  
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jul 28, 2023

Physically, spiritually and linguistically speaking, 'ki' is all around us

Often used to mean energy or spirit, the Japanese word "ki" can be seen in many different types of idioms and phrases.
An American F-15 jet takes off from Anderson Air Force Base in Guam earlier this year. The U.S. is hunting for malicious computer code it believes China has hidden deep inside the networks controlling power grids, communications systems and water supplies that feed military bases in the United States and around the world.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jul 30, 2023

U.S. hunts Chinese malware amid military disruption fears

The U.S. believes the malware could give China the power to disrupt or slow military deployments or resupply operations.
Former U.S. President and 2024 presidential hopeful Donald Trump arrives to speak at an event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on July 15.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 2, 2023

Indictment could push Trump closer to 2024 Republican nomination

The former U.S. president has made the indictments a central plank of his campaign platform, portraying himself as the target of a biased justice system.
A market in Kolkata, India. Developing nations are demanding control of their resources, in part by insisting on factories in their own countries.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 8, 2023

The Global South breaks away from the U.S.-led world order

Developing nations are demanding control over their resources and reordering relationship that date back to colonial times.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada speaks during a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo in June.
JAPAN
Aug 8, 2023

China hacked sensitive Japanese defense networks, report says

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tuesday that Tokyo has not confirmed that top secret information was leaked.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 78th anniversary of the end of Japanese colonial rule over the Korean Peninsula in Seoul on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 15, 2023

South Korea’s Yoon calls Japan a partner ahead of summit with U.S.

Yoon said he sees a summit this week with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden as setting a new milestone of cooperation.
Donald Trump has until noon on Aug. 25 to surrender to Georgia authorities and submit to an arrest after he was indicted 
for an array of crimes related to efforts to sabotage the vote in the state in the wake of his 2020 election loss.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 16, 2023

Trump's Georgia indictment has a smoking gun

Trump, along with 18 alleged co-conspirators, was indicted in Georgia for an array of crimes related to efforts to sabotage the 2020 presidential vote.
U.S. President Joe Biden walks with Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol as the three arrive for a joint news conference during a trilateral summit at Camp David, near Thurmont, Maryland, on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 19, 2023

Japan, South Korea and U.S. inaugurate a 'new era' of cooperation

The three countries' leaders also announced a plan to create a hotline for coordinating responses to regional challenges and threats.
Alexis Ryoko Nishizawa (left) facilitates workshops for people with curly hair during which she shares the basics with attendees.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 20, 2023

In Japan, curly hair makes you stand out. This entrepreneur says 'embrace it.'

Nishizawa has become a go-to guide for people in Japan looking to tame and style their natural wavy, curly and coily hair.
Former U.S. President and 2024 Republican Presidential hopeful Donald Trump walks off stage after speaking at an event in Las Vegas on July 8.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2023

Trump set to upstage Republican rivals despite debate no-show

Five months ahead of the start of primary elections to choose the party's flag-bearer, the runaway front-runner's grassroots support is as strong as ever.
T-shirts and hats with an image depicting the mug shot of former President Donald Trump are pictured at the Y-Que printing store in Los Angeles on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Aug 26, 2023

Owning it: Trump embraces historic mug shot

T-shirts, mugs and stickers bearing the first mug shot of a serving or former U.S. president were put out within hours of the photo's release.
The remains of the World Trade Center in New York on Sept. 12, 2001
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Aug 27, 2023

U.S. plea proposal for 9/11 suspects splits victims' relatives

Some say a deal without trial means the whole truth might be lost — others say that every year the trial is delayed, there are fewer left to see justice.
U.S. President Joe Biden has so far not commented on 91 felony counts in four indictments leveled at Donald Trump this year.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Aug 28, 2023

Trump trials: A challenge and opportunity for Biden

So far, Biden hasn't weighed in on Trump's legal woes, which could boost the Republican's campaign while also shedding light on his alleged crimes.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol hold a news conference during the trilateral summit at Camp David, Maryland, on Aug. 18.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2023

Camp David success depends on convincing the public

The Camp David statement is an important declaration of shared purpose and principles, and sets a path forward for substantive cooperation.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shakes hands with India's Defense chief Gen. Anil Chauhan during a reception in New Delhi in June.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 9, 2023

India’s military studying options for any China-Taiwan war

Defense chief Gen. Anil Chauhan — India’s top military commander — commissioned a study to examine the wider impact of any war over the island.
A U.S. Marine shows off a Grp I UAS Black Hornet drone as part of the Rim of the Pacific 2016 exercise at Camp Pendleton, California, in July 2016.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 13, 2023

U.S. allies and partners critical for Pentagon’s drone swarm strategy

Questions remain about how much technology Washington will be willing to share without the risk of compromising security.
A Solterra Subaru RZ450e electric vehicle is displayed during a Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association event on the sidelines of the Group of Seven leaders summit in Hiroshima in May.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 15, 2023

Subaru president close to deciding where to build EV plant in U.S.

While the current base of Indiana is a top candidate, the company is weighing locations based on the procurement of batteries and incentives from states.
Kabul is diverse and culturally rich, like the rest of Afghanistan. Yet the country has struggled with political inclusivity.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 15, 2023

Japan can help pave the way for an inclusive Afghanistan

A new generation of Afghan leaders wants to be included in the country's future. Japan is well-positioned to facilitate dialogue with the Taliban.
The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. facility in Phoenix, Arizona
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 20, 2023

TSMC weighs advanced chip packaging in U.S. to ease bottleneck

The U.S. is talking to TSMC about research and development for the first time, in an effort to bring more of the contract chipmaker’s technology onshore.
Members of the Writers Guild of America picket outside of Universal Studios in Universal City, California, on Friday.
CULTURE / Entertainment news
Sep 25, 2023

Striking Hollywood writers reach tentative deal with studios

The WGA settlement, while a milestone, will not return Hollywood to work. The SAG-AFTRA actors' union remains on strike.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.