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U.S.Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States at the Pentagon, in Washington.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2025

As U.S. military leaders prepare for Virginia meeting, agenda comes into focus

Some officials have billed the meeting between Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and top U.S. military leaders across the globe as focused on the "warrior ethos."
President Donald Trump has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold his planned rollback of automatic birthright citizenship, a move that will test a Trump executive order that lower courts have uniformly concluded runs afoul of the Constitution, federal immigration law and Supreme Court precedent.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 27, 2025

Trump asks U.S. Supreme Court to curb birthright citizenship

President Donald Trump's administration asked the Supreme Court on Friday to review the legality of his bid to limit birthright citizenship in the United States, teeing up a major test of one of his most contentious policies that could alter how the U.S. Constitution has long been understood on the...
A DJI drone at a technology and industry trade fair in Berlin
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 27, 2025

Drone maker DJI loses lawsuit to exit Pentagon's list of firms with Chinese military ties

The world's largest drone maker said it was disappointed that the judge upheld the listing and was evaluating its legal options.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro addresses pro-Palestinian demonstrators, through a translator, at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza outside United Nations headquarters, during the U.N. General Assembly in New York City on Friday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Sep 28, 2025

Colombian leader’s call to defy Trump amplifies rifts in region

Trump’s confrontational approach to Latin America, which is still scarred by U.S. interventions before and during the Cold War, will be tested in a string of upcoming elections.
A tech ad featuring humanoid robots at the Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai in May. This week, China will launch a new visa program aimed at attracting foreign tech talent.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 29, 2025

China's new K visa beckons foreign tech talent as U.S. hikes H-1B fee

The K visa targets young foreign science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates and promises to allow entry, residence and employment without a job offer.
A container truck is loaded with used cars at a used-car export complex in Incheon, South Korea, on Aug. 12.
BUSINESS / Economy
Sep 30, 2025

South Korea's surge in used-car exports softens impact of U.S. tariffs

South Korea exported $5.5 billion cars in August, up 9% from a year earlier and the highest monthly total on record. Used car exports jumped 35% to $711.5 million the same month.
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025

Trump speech to military brass hints at looming Pentagon shift to focus on homeland

Amid a litany of talking points were Trump’s hints at an increasingly inward-looking foreign policy stance.
The U.S. Supreme Court said it’s deferring action on President Donald Trump’s bid to remove Fed Gov. Lisa Cook while the Justice Department appeals a lower court ruling that said she was likely to win her lawsuit over the firing.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2025

U.S. Supreme Court allows Lisa Cook to stay on at Fed, for now

The high court said it’s deferring action on U.S. President Donald Trump’s bid to remove Cook while the Justice Department appeals a lower court ruling.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth greet each other during a meeting of senior military leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Oct 3, 2025

Trump and Hegseth advance militaristic noise over nuance

For countries that study U.S. actions closely, this week’s spectacle was anything but reassuring.
A Xiaomi SU7 model electric car is displayed at the Beijing Auto Show in Beijing in April last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 6, 2025

Porsche and Xiaomi face off over custom-model buyers in China

Xiaomi is competing for consumers who may otherwise opt for an individualized Porsche or another premium European brand.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s new Pentagon policy mandating pre-approval for unclassified information threatens to reverse nearly a century of First Amendment protections.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 6, 2025

Hegseth tries turning back 94 years of press freedom

The history on his side has been discredited by the Supreme Court for a century.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends an event at the White House on Monday.
WORLD
Oct 7, 2025

White House says no shutdown-related layoffs yet, but warns they could come

Previous shutdowns have not forced the government to fire any workers, though hundreds of thousands are typically told not to work.
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s first female prime minister if appointed, will have her work cut out for her and face key diplomatic challenges with the U.S., China and South Korea, as well as persistent economic and demographic issues.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 8, 2025

Will Takaichi become the prime minister Japan needs?

An admirer of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Takaichi is an adherent to Shinzo Abe’s pragmatic yet conservative vision.
A mine for heavy rare earth metals outside of Longnan in south-central China's Jiangxi province
BUSINESS
Oct 10, 2025

China expands rare earths restrictions, targeting defense and chips users

The new curbs come ahead of a scheduled face-to-face meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea at the end of October.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi addresses the media at the White House on June 27 as President Trump listens following a Supreme Court ruling that limited federal judges' power to block presidential orders.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 9, 2025

Global lessons from a press in peril

A democracy cannot survive without a free press. There has never been a democracy without a media that is free and independent.
Despite heightened geopolitical tensions and escalating trade wars, the U.S. dollar’s global dominance is unlikely to fade in the near term, leaving Asian economies vulnerable to dollar shocks.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 10, 2025

How Asia can reduce its dollar dependence

While geopolitical tensions and the risk of sanctions have fueled diversification efforts, the greenback’s international dominance is unlikely to diminish in the near term.
U.S. President Donald Trump returns to the White House on Friday after a medical checkup at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Trump said on Saturday that he had identified funds that would allow the administration to pay members of the military, even though the government remains shut down and Congress has not approved additional money for the troops.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 12, 2025

U.S. military will use R&D money to pay troops if shutdown persists

With no signs of a resolution anytime soon, the administration on Friday began making good on Trump's threat to lay off thousands of federal workers.
A federal agent chases a man in a shopping center parking lot in Chicago on Saturday, after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered increased federal law enforcement presence to assist in crime prevention.
WORLD
Oct 12, 2025

U.S. appeals court says national guard sent to Illinois can stay, but not deploy

The decision largely upholds a lower court's halt on the mobilization by U.S. President Donald Trump as part of his mass deportation campaign.
The U.S. Capitol in Washington on Friday. The current government shutdown is the most acute symptom of a general lack of goodwill in Washington, where bipartisan deal-making has increasingly gone out of vogue.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 12, 2025

Trump layoffs and broken trust harden Democrats’ shutdown stand

Democrats have expressed doubts that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will deliver a health care fix unless forced to do so.
A container ship sails at the port in Qingdao, China, on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 12, 2025

China blames U.S. for raising trade tensions and defends rare earth curbs

Beijing's decision not to immediately respond to Trump's opening salvo could leave the door open for both countries to negotiate a deescalation.
U.S. President Donald Trump gives a thumbs up while boarding Air Force One, as he departs for Israel, at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 13, 2025

Trump and Vance open door to China deal as trade spat drags on

Remarks by the two suggest that the U.S. wants to keep up the pressure on China to reverse its most recent trade moves, while trying to reassure spooked markets.
Gantry cranes stand near shipping containers as an Evergreen Marine Corp. container ship is docked at Yangshan Port outside of Shanghai on June 17. China has started to collect special port fees on U.S.-owned, operated, built or flagged vessels.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 15, 2025

U.S. and China roll out tit-for-tat port fees, threatening more turmoil at sea

Shippers are quietly trying to improvise workarounds, with varying degrees of success.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2025

Trump declares U.S.-China trade war as Bessent floats long truce

The dueling remarks underscored the whiplash investors have felt as tensions have flared in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
U.S. Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the leader of U.S. military forces in Latin America, said he will step down at the end of this year, two years ahead of schedule.
WORLD
Oct 17, 2025

In surprise move, head of U.S. military for Latin America to step down

Adm. Alvin Holsey said on social media platform X he would retire on Dec. 12, but did not give a reason.
People participate in a "No Kings" national day of protest in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 19, 2025

'No Kings' protesters emerge en masse for anti-Trump rallies

Organizers said 7 million people marched in protests spanning New York to Los Angeles, with demonstrations popping up in small cities across the U.S. heartland.
A sample of monazite, a mineral used in the rare-earth industry to extract elements such as cerium, lanthanum, and neodymium, is displayed at the Geological Museum of China in Beijing on Oct. 14.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 21, 2025

'They can shut us down in two months': Carmakers race China's rare-earths curbs

Most motors that don't rely on rare earths are years away, as are efforts to develop new rare-earth mines and processing plants outside China, industry experts say.
The Blue Jays celebrate after defeating the Mariners in Game 7 of the ALCS round for the 2025 MLB playoffs in Toronto on Monday.
BASEBALL / MLB
Oct 22, 2025

Blue Jays carry hopes of a nation into World Series amid tension

Canadian support for the Blue Jays goes beyond the fact that they will be facing the Dodgers. There is also national pride at stake.
The Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan announced plans to invest ¥350 billion in capital expenditures to double shipbuilding output by 2035.
BUSINESS / Companies
Oct 24, 2025

Japan shipbuilders to invest ¥350 billion to double output

The Shipbuilders’ Association of Japan is also preparing for Japan-U.S. cooperation in the sector.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and trade minister Ryosei Akazawa at Sensoji Temple in Tokyo's Asakusa district on Sunday
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2025

Akazawa and Lutnick reunite to discuss trade deal ahead of Trump visit

Trade minister Ryosei Akazawa and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick visited Tokyo’s landmark Sensoji Temple before heading to Tokyo Skytree for a working lunch on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump disembarks Air Force One at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia, on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 27, 2025

U.S. and China tee up sweeping trade deal for Trump and Xi to finish

After talks wrapped up Sunday in Malaysia, an official said there is preliminary consensus on topics like export controls, fentanyl and shipping levies.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes