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August 29, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation, in Kyiv on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Aug 28, 2025
Ukraine sees 'priceless' digital battlefield data trove as key to West's support
Since Russia launched its 2022 invasion, Ukraine has collected reams of meticulously logged battlefield statistics.
Jet fighters from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercept a Chinese long-range H-6 bomber operating in the Alaska air defense identification zone in July 2024.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 27, 2025
Joint Sino-Russian patrols push Japan to rethink defense posture
Over the past two years, joint China-Russia overflights have become increasingly sophisticated and extended.
Nuclear weapons may have prevented global war through deterrence, but today’s shifting threats require adaptable strategies and strong leadership to avoid catastrophe.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 26, 2025
How humanity can avoid starting World War III
As a new nuclear age dawns, the U.S. must once again adjust its policies with foresight and flexibility, resisting both technological determinism and political destabilization.
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
A decision is expected in the “coming months,” a senior government official in Manila said, following an inspection of the Abukuma-class destroyer escorts.
The Finance Ministry in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward. The ministry plans to seek a record 32.4 trillion yen in debt-servicing costs in its budget request for fiscal 2026.
BUSINESS / Economy
Aug 26, 2025
Finance Ministry seeks record budget for debt financing
The ministry’s request would be the highest amount ever budgeted for debt-servicing costs, which already account for about a quarter of Japan’s national budget.
U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung attend a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 26, 2025
'Peacemaker’ Trump says he wants to meet North Korea’s Kim this year
The U.S. president said “big progress” was possible, during a summit with South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung in Washington that also focused on defense and trade issues.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate in Sagami Bay off Kanagawa Prefecture
JAPAN
Aug 26, 2025
Australian defense chief to inspect Japanese frigate
Richard Marles will also attend a "two-plus-two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers from Japan and Australia.
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
ASIA PACIFIC
Aug 25, 2025
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
The moves come as Manila settles into a view that alliances, geography and economic interests would inevitably pull it into any U.S. conflict with China over the island.
The Ground Self-Defense Force's Camp Yonaguni in Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 25, 2025
Okinawa town elects independent mayor cautious about defense expansion
Independent candidate Tsuneo Uechi has been elected mayor of the town of Yonaguni, Okinawa Prefecture, a result that could influence the central government's defense policy.
Hours before talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, South Korean leader Lee Jae Myung has signaled that reaching a deal with Washington on its demand to have U.S. forces in South Korea play a larger role in countering China will prove difficult.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 25, 2025
Lee signals resistance to shifting U.S. Forces Korea’s focus to China
President Lee Jae Myung’s remarks come just hours before he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in talks that are expected to be dominated by defense and security issues.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani (right) and Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (second from right) inspect the Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga and receive an explanation about the SH-60K patrol helicopter in the hangar at the MSDF's Yokosuka base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Saturday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
Ishiba inspects MSDF de facto aircraft carrier and British vessel
The Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Kaga is undergoing refitting and training to make it a de facto aircraft carrier.
A soldier speaks to Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te in Hsinchu, Taiwan, on July 10.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 24, 2025
Taiwan voters reject lawmaker recalls, clouding defense budget
None of the seven opposition Kuomintang legislators targeted in Saturday’s second round of recall elections by the Democratic Progressive Party were removed.
A billboard displays an ad for the German armed forces in Berlin on Wednesday. The advertising slogan reads: "Standing up for our democracy. Every morning."
WORLD / FOCUS
Aug 24, 2025
Germany is one step closer to reviving military conscription
A law headed for Cabinet approval on Wednesday seeks to boost Bundeswehr recruitment to help deter Russia and defend European allies.
Director of the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Jeffrey Kruse (left) testifies during a Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington in March 2024.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 23, 2025
In latest purge, Hegseth removes head of Pentagon intel agency and others
The move appeared to be the latest attempt to penalize current and former military, intelligence and law enforcement officials whose views have been seen as at odds with Trump.
A military drill in Taiwan. Taipei has ramped up investment in military equipment and weapons over the past decade in response to intensifying pressure from China.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 22, 2025
Taiwan president ups defense spending target to 5% of GDP
The move comes as China has ramped up military and political pressure over the past five years to assert its claims, which Taipei strongly rejects.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (center) talks with the main commanders of the Korean People's Army's overseas operations units that participated in the war alongside Russia, at the headquarters of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea in Pyongyang on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Aug 21, 2025
North Korea has 'undeclared' ICBM base near China border: report
The facility in North Pyongan province likely houses six to nine nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missiles and their launchers.
Acting Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jim Kilby visits BlackSea Technology facilities to view a drone test in Baltimore, Maryland, in June.
WORLD
Aug 21, 2025
The U.S. Navy is building a drone fleet to take on China. It's not going well.
A recent naval test designed to showcase the Pentagon’s top autonomous drone boats ended in failure due to software glitches and human error.
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani takes part in a welcome ceremony with his Turkish counterpart, Yasar Guler, at Turkey's Defense Ministry in Ankara on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Aug 20, 2025
Japan and Turkey defense chiefs pledge industry tie-ups as Tokyo eyes drones
While drones were not explicitly mentioned by either side in readouts of the meeting, they were believed to have featured prominently in discussions.
Students visit the Atomic Bomb Dome in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park in late April. Attitudes in Japan are shifting away from the traditional pacifist views that have held sway since the end of World War II.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 20, 2025
Trump shock spurs Japan to think about the unthinkable: nuclear arms
There is a growing willingness to loosen the country’s decades-old pledge not to produce, possess or host nuclear weapons in its territory.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with European leaders in Washington on Monday amid signs of U.S. and its NATO partners drifting further apart. 
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 19, 2025
All is not quiet on the Western front
The Trump-Putin Alaska summit is further evidence that the U.S. and its NATO partners are drifting further apart with each passing month.
Philippine bid to acquire used Japanese warships gains steam
Tokyo is looking to transfer Abukuma-class vessels to the Philippines as part of broader efforts to boost the defense capabilities of like-minded neighbors amid growing Chinese military assertiveness in the region.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Akazawa's trip to Washington for tariff talks abruptly canceled
Ryosei Akazawa, Japan's chief tariff negotiator, had been set to fly to Washington on Thursday.
Confusion over Japan’s ‘hometown’ plan overshadows African development event
First Lady Yoshiko Ishiba (center, in white and blue dress) hosts an event on Japanese culture with the first ladies of African leaders on the sidelines of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Mitsubishi’s wind-power retreat a blow to Japan's alternative-energy goals
Wind turbines in the town of Happo in Akita prefecture. Wind power is a key part of Japan's alternative energy drive.
Koshien’s dark summer forces reckoning for high school baseball
Koryo High School players greet their cheering section after beating Hokkaido’s Asahikawa Shiho in the first round of Summer Koshien on Aug. 7. The school withdrew three days later as a bullying scandal enveloped the team.
Is Kishida plotting a return of the king? Or would he rather stay a kingmaker?
Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida chairs a plenary session at the Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development in Yokohama on Aug. 21.
Japanese prefectures break with labor ministry on minimum wage
The ministry of labor has suggested a 6% minimum wage increase, but most prefectures reporting so far are opting to go slightly higher.
Philippines quietly deepening ‘unofficial’ defense ties with Taiwan
Filipino soldiers take part in a flag-raising ceremony on Mavulis Island during a visit by the Philippines' Armed Forces chief of staff, in Batanes, the Philippines, in June 2023. Batanes, a group of idyllic islands at the country’s northernmost tip, sits about 160 kilometers from Taiwan.
Are 'coolcations' the answer for Japan's heat-weary tourists?
Hikers on a trail in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture. As extreme heat continues to grip Japan, a tectonic shift may be underway in the nation’s summer tourism scene as more people gravitate toward cooler destinations.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past
By Alex K.T. Martin

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