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A study has found that Chinese-based scientists filled 45% of leadership roles in U.S.-China joint studies in 2023, up from 30% in 2010.
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Oct 29, 2025

China closing in on U.S. as leader in global science, study shows

An analysis of almost 6 million research papers shows that Chinese scientists are taking the helm in almost half of all collaborations with U.S. counterparts.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi gifts U.S. President Donald Trump a putter owned by late Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a golf bag signed by Hideki Matsuyama and a gold leaf golf ball in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2025

With gifts and hospitality, Takaichi taps Abe's legacy to forge bond with Trump

Talk turned to Abe as soon as the U.S. leader stepped into the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo to exchange pleasantries with Japan's recently appointed prime minister.
An electronic quotation board in Tokyo shows the Nikkei 225 stock average topping 51,000 on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 29, 2025

Nikkei 225 breaks 51,000 for the first time ever

The stock index achieved the 50,000 mark just two days ago.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at Akasaka Palace in Tokyo on Tuesday. The encounter capped a strong first week for the new prime minister.
COMMENTARY
Oct 29, 2025

With Trump, flattery will get Takaichi everything

Whereas Takaichi’s predecessor, Shigeru Ishiba, played for a draw at his White House meeting in February, this encounter was redolent of Abe’s best moments.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi shake hands at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Oct 29, 2025

Hegseth says U.S. never demanded Japan defense spending hike

In his first meeting with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi, U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth called Japan's current defense spending plans “wonderful.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly turned down a request from the U.S. to cease imports of liquefied natural gas from Russia.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 30, 2025

Takaichi pushed back on U.S. request to ban Russian gas imports, sources say

Russian LNG accounts for nearly 9% of Japan's total LNG imports, with companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi holding stakes in the Sakhalin-2 project in Russia's Far East.
Nvidia's Blackwell GPU chip. The Blackwell family of chips is Nvidia’s top offering, with capabilities that far exceed those of processors the U.S. effectively banned from sale to China in 2022.
BUSINESS / Tech
Oct 31, 2025

Trump says Nvidia chip talks with Xi didn’t cover Blackwell

The U.S. president said chips were indeed discussed but that Beijing will have separate conversations with chipmakers directly.
Members of the Chinese People's Liberation Army stand as the strategic strike group displays DF-61 nuclear-capable intercontinental ballisitic missiles during a military parade to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, in Beijing on Sept. 3.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Nov 1, 2025

Trump's nuclear testing order risks expanded arms race

By ordering a resumption of nuclear testing, U.S. President Donald Trump risks an expanded arms race that could benefit China, experts say.
U.S. President Donald Trump attends a Halloween party at his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 1, 2025

U.S. tariffs on heavy trucks and buses come into effect

Fresh U.S. tariffs on imports of medium- and heavy-duty trucks took effect Saturday, raising the levy on such vehicles from Japan to 50%.
Houston resident Eric Dunham approaches to receive a free lunch bag from business owner Nhan Ngo (left) and other volunteers at the Petit Beignets and Tapioca restaurant in Houston on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 2, 2025

'I can't eat': Millions risk losing food aid during U.S. shutdown

Since the federal government shut down on Oct. 1 over budget disputes, the Trump administration announced it will halt SNAP funding starting Saturday.
Students of the Arctic basic-training program carry out a fire drill in Sisimiut, Greenland.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 3, 2025

For Danish army, the threat to Greenland isn’t Trump. It’s Russia.

With NATO’s Arctic footprint expanding, Denmark is raising its military commitment to a territory seen as crucial to security.
The United States is expected to push for action against seven vessels suspected of violating United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 4, 2025

U.S. wants U.N. sanctions on seven vessels over North Korea exports

A U.S. official said the seven vessels have illegally exported North Korean coal and iron ore to China, which could earn Pyongyang hundreds of millions of dollars a year.
Judi Oyama at Winchester Skatepark in San Jose, California, in January 1979. The Skateboarding Hall of Fame inductee and Guinness World Record holder still skates and hopes to inspire older women.
SPORTS / Skateboarding
Nov 4, 2025

From 1973 to 2025: A Japanese American skater’s long ride to recognition

At 66, Judi Oyama would be considered a senior citizen by Japan’s official standards, but nothing about her life fits that description.
A screen shows New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani declared the winner during his election night event at the Brooklyn Paramount theater in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday night.
WORLD / Politics
Nov 5, 2025

Zohran Mamdani wins NYC mayoral race, capping meteoric rise

Defeating former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who ran as an independent, Mamdani becomes the first Muslim mayor of the largest city in the U.S.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters on Air Force One after his meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30. During their talks, the two leaders discussed the suspension of rare-earth export controls by China and other issues.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 5, 2025

What Chinese leaders really think of Trump

The Chinese view is that we are entering a prolonged phase of counter-globalization.
A news program in Taipei shows the meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2025

‘Stability’ in U.S.-China competition isn’t surrender

A recent Rand report urges a stable rivalry between the U.S. and China, emphasizing managed competition and the need for mutual recognition of each other's political legitimacy.
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.
People embrace each other as demonstrators for and against the U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down race-conscious student admissions programs at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina confront each other, in Washington on June 29.
WORLD
Aug 3, 2023

U.S. affirmative action ban spurs changes to college essay prompts

U.S. colleges are set to release their essay prompts this month when the common application used by many schools becomes public.
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.

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