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Demonstrators rally in support of USAID in Boston on Feb 17. Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with the agency’s closure.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 20, 2025

Mr. President, foreign aid does put America first

Women and children are the main beneficiaries of humanitarian assistance, so they are the biggest victims of what is unfolding with USAID's closure .
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba addresses Group of Seven leaders during a teleconference from the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo late Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

Japan urges G7 to avoid 'wrong lessons' in Ukraine peace process

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has urged leaders to be careful in backing any Ukraine peace process that could validate the use of force to change borders.
U.S. President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron look at each other during a press conference at the White House in Washington on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 25, 2025

Macron and Trump rekindle Le Bromance with a touch of tension

Strains over Trump's sudden pivot to Russia over the Ukraine war bubbled up to the surface, even if Macron softened the blow with yet another physical gesture.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt (center) takes questions during a daily briefing at the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

White House takes control of picking media who cover Trump

The move came amid an escalating battle between the White House and the Associated Press news agency, which Trump has barred from presidential events.
Elon Musk holds up a chainsaw onstage during the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, on Feb. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 26, 2025

Musk's new ultimatum spurs fresh confusion among U.S. government workers

President Donald Trump said workers who did not respond would be "sort of semi-fired," adding to the uncertainty.
A Chinese H-6 bomber flies between Okinawa’s main island and Miyako Island in October 2013. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warned that Japan must strengthen its defenses in case of a Taiwan contingency.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 26, 2025

As Ukraine endgame intensifies, don’t forget Taiwan

The scale of China’s air and naval exercises around Taiwan has grown from fewer than a dozen planes and ships a few years ago to over 250 in the December exercise alone.
U.S. President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting with Elon Musk in attendance in Washington on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 27, 2025

White House bars reporters from covering Trump cabinet meeting

The White House denied access to an Associated Press photographer and three reporters from Reuters, HuffPost and Der Tagesspiegel, a German newspaper.
A scientific officer works in the research lab at the University of Cape Town's Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, in Cape Town, South Africa on Feb. 17.
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 28, 2025

Services to millions of people collapse as USAID cuts contracts worldwide

Among those to get termination notices were major U.N. health programs, which might have different sources of funding, and smaller groups that relied mostly on U.S. grants.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba answers questions during a Lower House Budget Committee meeting at parliament on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 3, 2025

Ishiba says Japan won't take sides in U.S. row with Ukraine

The Japanese leader sought to strike a balance for Japan, the sole Asian G7 member, in its alliance with the U.S. and its longstanding support for Kyiv.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks to reporters in Washington on Tuesday morning. Vance’s comments on the Anglo-French proposal to protect Ukraine have sparked criticism in Britain.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 5, 2025

JD Vance denies disrespecting U.K. and France over Ukraine peacekeeping force

Vance's comments caused politicians in both countries to say he was dishonoring troops killed fighting alongside U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Multibillionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk speaks via video link to an election campaign rally for the far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Halle, Germany, on Jan. 26.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 5, 2025

Musk rallies the far right in Europe. Tesla is paying the price.

The multibillionaire's support for right-wing political parties could help boost his empire by cutting back regulations he thinks impede tech innovations.
Tariffs and trade uncertainty are causing the U.S. economy to lose steam, and companies more vulnerable to slower growth are starting to show the cracks.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 6, 2025

Investors spy the dawn of a tectonic shift away from U.S. markets

For most of the last three years, investors had bet on "U.S. exceptionalism," with the country ahead of others in economic growth, stock prices and AI.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2019
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2025

'Psychodrama' tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada

The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, sources say.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025

Bank of America CEO willing to hire in Japan amid revival

The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has about 800 employees in Japan.
Students walk through the University of Pennsylvania campus. It has been reported that the U.S. State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke the visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Palestinian Hamas militants.
WORLD
Mar 7, 2025

Reported U.S. plan to use AI to revoke student visas sparks alarm

Axios reported that a "Catch and Revoke" effort will include AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders' social media accounts.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to members of Iran's air force in Tehran in February.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025

Trump says he sent Iran leader letter urging nuclear talks

Trump said that while he isn’t ruling out a military intervention, he would "rather negotiate a deal.”
Germany's chancellor-in-waiting and leader of the Christian Democratic Union party, Friedrich Merz, says he would like talks with France and Britain about sharing their nuclear weapons as part of a nuclear shield.
WORLD
Mar 9, 2025

Germany's Merz wants European nuclear weapons to boost U.S. shield

Germany, due to its Second World War past, has bound itself to non-nuclear defense in a number of international treaties but participates in NATO weapons-sharing arrangements.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stands with him aboard Air Force One on his return to Washington on Sunday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 10, 2025

Trump declines to rule out recession in U.S. this year

The U.S. president's on-again, off-again tariff threats have roiled financial markets and stoked unease among consumers.
Crown Prince Akishino and Crown Princess Kiko attend a memorial service in Tokyo's Sumida Ward on Monday to mourn the estimated 100,000 victims of the U.S. military's air raid on Tokyo 80 years ago.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2025

Crown Prince Akishino joins in mourning victims of the 1945 Tokyo air raid

An estimated 100,000 people died on March 10, 1945, after about 300 U.S. B-29 bombers dropped bombs on Tokyo.
A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at the opening bell in New York on Monday, when stocks plummeted as investors fretted that uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariff policy could tip the world's biggest economy into a recession.
BUSINESS / Markets
Mar 11, 2025

Markets rocked by Trump show economic fear across Wall Street

What had been a steady pullback from the U.S. stock market accelerated sharply Monday as investors retreated from virtually every type of risk.
Elon Musk, head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, wears a shirt that says "Tech Support" as he speaks during a Cabinet meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on Feb. 26.
WORLD
Mar 11, 2025

Elon Musk says X hit by major cyberattack

The attack raises questions as to whether the politically divisive billionaire — and top adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump — is being targeted.
An election campaign banner is attached to a rock ahead of Tuesday's general election in Nuuk, Greenland, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 11, 2025

In wake of Trump's threats, Greenland holds parliamentary election

Independence has been a key campaign theme in the semiautonomous territory of Denmark after the U.S. president said he wants control over the island.
Smoke rises from the MV Solong cargo ship on Tuesday, the day after it collided with the MV Stena Immaculate tanker in the North Sea, off the coast of Withernsea, east of England.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Mar 12, 2025

U.K. arrests cargo ship captain for manslaughter over North Sea crash

The 59-year-old captain was arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter in connection with the collision involving a tanker chartered by the U.S. military.
If Russia emerges victorious from the Ukraine war, nuclear proliferation will ensue as states view armaments and not agreements as the only way to protect their sovereignty.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 12, 2025

Lessons from Ukraine: Allies are fickle, nukes are forever

If Russia emerges victorious from the Ukraine war, nuclear proliferation will ensue as states view armaments and not agreements as the only way to protect their sovereignty.
A tea ceremony was held in Washington on Wednesday, hosted by Yuyusai Sosa Sen (far right), the 15th grandmaster of the Omotesenke tea school.
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2025

Tea ceremony held in Washington to mark 15th year of Omotesenke in eastern U.S.

The tea school's branch in the eastern U.S. region now has about 150 members in places including Washington and New York.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder and executive chairman Alain Bouchard (left) and President Alex Miller hold a news conference in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 13, 2025

Alimentation Couche-Tard ramps up campaign to take over Seven & I

The Canadian convenience store giant and owner of Circle-K has sought to combat skepticism surrounding the deal, most recently with a news conference in Tokyo.
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes part in a video meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on Friday.
WORLD
Mar 15, 2025

Putin tells Ukraine troops in Russian region to 'surrender'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused his Russian counterpart of seeking to sabotage a ceasefire initiative.
Alimentation Couche-Tard founder Alain Bouchard (center), CEO Alex Miller (left) and CFO Filipe Da Silva attend a photo session after a news conference on their bid for Seven & I Holdings in Tokyo on Thursday.
BUSINESS / Companies / EXPLAINER
Mar 17, 2025

Why Couche-Tard's deal with Seven & I isn't going anywhere

The buyout bid has seen a mixed response in Japan, with some expressing concerns over the convenience store chain being taken over by a foreign company.
After U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin's phone call, talks aimed at advancing toward a broader peace plan will begin immediately, the White House, though it was unclear whether Ukraine will be involved.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

Putin spurns a Ukraine ceasefire but Trump calls talk a win

The Russian leader agreed only to limit attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with experts saying Moscow could be playing for time.
People protest as the USAID building sits closed to employees after a memo was issued advising agency personnel to work remotely, in Washington on Feb. 3.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 19, 2025

Powerful Asian countries will struggle to fill aid gap left by U.S.

China may be reluctant to fully fill the void, while South Korea and Japan could struggle to give enough.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami