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October 13, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Defense Minister Gen Nakatani attend the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore on May 31.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2025
Pentagon says Japan must meet ‘global standard’ and spend 5% of GDP on defense
Both allies had been mum on whether the U.S. would press Japan specifically to hit the 5% target amid political sensitivities over the issue.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addresses the media in Madrid on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 20, 2025
Spain risks derailing NATO summit by resisting 5% defense spending goal
At an estimated 1.28% of GDP, Spain had the lowest proportion of expenditure on defense in the alliance last year, according to NATO estimates.
Protesters from the Socialista National Confederation of Labor, angered by China's actions in the South China Sea, hold a rally outside the Chinese Consulate in Makati City, Metro Manila, in June 2015.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025
Beijing's peace message on South China Sea contradicts its actions
The four principles articulated in a recent Chinese paper are propaganda and concocted realities of communist thinking.
South Korea's F-15K fighters were involved in a joint aerial exercise with Japanese and U.S. fighters off South Korea's Jeju island Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Japan, U.S. and South Korea conduct joint aerial drill
It was the first three-way joint training since the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae-myung was inaugurated on June 4.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s support for Israel’s attack on Iran has sparked outrage among MAGA loyalists who see it as a betrayal of his anti-war promises.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025
Trump's MAGA coalition won't survive a bunker-buster in Iran
As the U.S. president weighs whether to join Israel’s war against Iran, a rift cleaves his own base, not to mention the world.
A U.S. military plane takes off at the Kadena U.S. Air Force Base in Okinawa Prefecture in August 2023.
JAPAN
Jun 19, 2025
Okinawa marks 80 years since 'Typhoon of Steel,' with U.S. presence still a burden
On June 23, Japan’s southernmost prefecture commemorates the end of the Battle of Okinawa, among the bloodiest ground battles of World War II.
A Ukrainian tank fitted with protective netting — known as “cage armor” — highlights how the war has favored fast, low-tech adaptations over expensive hardware.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 19, 2025
High-tech weapons alone won’t win the wars of tomorrow
To prevail in future conflicts, Western countries must maintain financial flexibility and combine advanced systems with scalable low-tech solutions.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with representatives of international news agencies on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 19, 2025
Putin says NATO rearmament not a 'threat' to Russia
NATO will hold a crucial summit in The Hague next week to discuss increasing defense spending to 5% of gross domestic product.
In a recorded speech played on television Wednesday, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's demand for unconditional surrender, saying Americans "should know that any U.S. military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage."
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2025
Iran supreme leader rejects Trump's call for surrender as thousands flee Tehran
U.S. President Donald Trump has veered from proposing a swift diplomatic end to the Israel-Iran war to suggesting the United States might join it.
A J-15 fighter jet from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong makes an unusual approach to a Maritime Self-Defense Force P-3C patrol aircraft that was conducting surveillance above the Pacific Ocean on June 8.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2025
In rare move, Japan releases map showing Chinese aircraft carrier activities
The decision to release the map comes as concerns grow over Beijing’s apparent efforts to alter the status quo in the region.
The AUKUS submarine deal was flawed from the start, and its possible collapse offers Australia a chance to rethink its defense strategy, reclaim sovereignty and pursue more practical, cost-effective alternatives.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025
Cross your fingers, Australia, and hope the AUKUS deal collapses
Some analysts assume that the U.S. Defense Department review is just another Trumpian extortion exercise designed to extract an even bigger financial commitment from Australia.
Israel’s rapid military gains in Iran have exposed deep vulnerabilities in Tehran’s defenses, but they also raise urgent questions about how far Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to go and at what cost.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025
Success in Iran leaves Israel at a strategic crossroads
In Iran, it’s vital that Netanyahu follow his Hezbollah model if his campaign of military shock and awe doesn’t quickly succeed.
Drone warfare in Ukraine has exposed the obsolescence of traditional military systems, the need for rapid, adaptive innovation and the terrifying potential of AI-driven autonomous weapons in future conflicts.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025
The age of AI drone warfare is here and changing the rules
Drone technology, weapons and tactics now evolve at a blinding pace. A new drone will be useful for only two to six months.
A family looks at a model and an introduction video of the first Taiwan domestically made submarine on display at a Panshih-class fast combat support ship in Keelung, Taiwan, in March.
ASIA PACIFIC
Jun 18, 2025
Taiwan completes first sea trial for domestically made submarine in defense milestone
Taiwan has made the indigenous submarine program a key part of a project to modernize its armed forces as Beijing stages almost daily military exercises.
A GBU-57 or Massive Ordnance Penetrator bomb, known as a "bunker buster," at Whiteman Air Base in Missouri in May 2023.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 18, 2025
Bunker-buster bomb draws focus as Trump weighs Iran options
The U.S. has a wide range of military assets in the Middle East and across the globe to bring to bear in a potential fight against Iran.
A picture of Major Gen. Hossein Salami (left), head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran and a cutout of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a protest in support of Iran, in Baghdad on Monday
WORLD / Politics
Jun 17, 2025
Iraq treads a tightrope to avoid spillover from Israel-Iran conflict
Iraq, which has been for years navigating a delicate balancing act between Tehran and Washington, has long been a fertile ground for proxy battles.
Israeli air defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles over Tel Aviv amid a fresh barrage from Iranian forces on Monday.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 17, 2025
Israel’s defense shield is tested like never before as Iran fires ballistic missiles
In total, Tehran has sent 370 ballistic missiles toward Israel, with around 30 hitting targets in the country, the Israeli government says.
An Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) stand is blocked off with black partitions during the 55th edition of the International Paris Air Show on Monday.
WORLD
Jun 17, 2025
Israel furious as France shuts weapons stands at Paris Air Show
The French government considers it unacceptable for attack weapons to be on show; Israel says the move stymies competition.
Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning. It crossed what is known as the second island chain, which links the Ogasawara Islands and the U.S. territory of Guam, on June 7.
JAPAN
Jun 16, 2025
Japan suspects Chinese aircraft carriers conducted drills against U.S.
The two flattops may have conducted exercises for countering U.S. forces, with one playing the role of a U.S. aircraft carrier and the other practicing intercepting it.
Rocket trails line the sky above Jerusalem on Friday after Iran launched a salvo of missiles at Israel.
WORLD / FOCUS
Jun 16, 2025
What is Israel's multilayered defense against Iranian missiles?
The system has been used to defend Israel amid attacks by Iran, which has fired hundreds of ballistic missiles and suicide drones since Friday.
University of Tokyo lands its highest spot ever in global higher education ranking
The University of Tokyo in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
After ruling bloc breakup, CDP and Komeito eye unified PM candidate
Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan leader Yoshihiko Noda speaks to reporters at the Diet in Tokyo on Friday.
As the Osaka Expo comes to a close, what will its legacy be?
After a run-up marked by apathy, organizers soon found they had the opposite problem as crowd control became a concern.
Why Japan's coalition collapsed — and what's next
Liberal Democratic Party President Sanae Takaichi enters party headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday.
Ghost of Yotei’s bloodstained fun sidesteps Ainu identity
Ghost of Yotei, the follow-up to 2020's smash hit Ghost of Tsushima, is a violent, vengeful and engaging romp through 17th-century Hokkaido that fails to stick the landing on its most sensitive cultural material.
‘Takaichi trade’ starts unwinding as political calculus upended by Komeito exit
Less than a week ago, Sanae Takaichi seemed set to become Japan's first female prime minister.
‘Save the Ring’ calls intensify as Osaka Expo’s end nears
Visitors lounge on the grassy hill on the top of the Grand Ring during the 2025 Osaka Expo in the city of Osaka in May.
A Japanese comedian walks into an Aussie bar … and stays there
Takashi “Waka” Wakasugi stopped by the Tokyo Comedy Bar in Shibuya Ward last month following his stint at Edinburgh Festival Fringe performing his show “Comedy Samurai.”
Chemistry Nobel winner Kitagawa says downtime helped him think up new material
Susumu Kitagawa speaks to reporters at Kyoto University on Wednesday after receiving the news that he had been awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry the same day.

Podcast

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

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building
By Patrick St. Michel

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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