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July 07, 2025
 

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DEFENSE

Gen. Jennie Carignan, Canada’s Chief of the Defense Staff, attends an interview with The Japan Times on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
JAPAN
Jun 10, 2025
Japan ‘priority’ as Canada eyes bigger Asian footprint, military chief says
Ottawa's concerns about what it sees as growing challenges to the current world order are driving its Asia push.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney stands alongside Chief of the Defense Staff Gen. Jennie Carignan and Minister of National Defense David McGuinty as he makes a speech about defense and security at Fort York Armory in Toronto on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Canada vows to meet NATO defense budget target early
New Canadian leader Mark Carney said he will boost funding for the armed forces and hit NATO's 2% military spending target this fiscal year, five years earlier than promised.
A Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) interceptor undergoes testing at an undisclosed location. The Trump administration’s ambitious “Golden Dome” missile defense plan revives Reagan-era dreams of a high-tech shield but faces immense technical, financial and geopolitical hurdles. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 10, 2025
Golden Dome is a glittering gamble — and a likely mistake
Trump’s EO outlined an MD system that would use a network of hundreds of satellites to detect, track and intercept incoming missiles “to protect our homeland.”
Amid growing global tensions and military rearmament, allies in Europe and Asia increasingly fear that under Donald Trump, the U.S. has become an unreliable partner — undermining trust, unity and the foundation of the postwar international order.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 9, 2025
Whose side is the U.S. on? Doubts strain alliances
The U.S. once anchored a stable world order. Now, with rising threats from China and Russia, allies scramble to adapt as Washington sends mixed signals on defense and trade.
Officials and government leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin (center right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (center left) attend a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day, marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in Moscow on May 9.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 9, 2025
Secret Russian intelligence document shows deep suspicion of China
Some officials believe Beijing is trying to recruit Russian spies and steal sensitive military tech, at times by luring disaffected Russian scientists.
New Zealand Defense Minister Judith Collins speaks during the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 9, 2025
New Zealand looking at new ways to grow security ties with Japan, defense chief says
The move is part of a reset in New Zealand’s foreign and defense policy as Wellington grows concerned over international security tensions.
A B-2 stealth bomber drops a dummy bomb during a drill. As diplomacy falters, military options against Iran are gaining traction. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 8, 2025
Could U.S. and Israel destroy Iran’s nuke program? Yep, here’s how.
Having lost control of its decimated proxies — Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis — Iran has few moves left on the chessboard.
The Taiwanese coast guard conducts its annual drill in southern Taiwan, simulating the seizure of a ferry by 'international terrorists,’ in collaboration with Taiwan's military to board and take back control of the boat and evacuate casualties, in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 8, 2025
Taiwan's coast guard and military drill to better face China's 'gray zone' threat
Taipei has repeatedly complained about Chinese activities such as undersea cable cutting and sand dredging around the island, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation.
A model of an unmanned ship with artificial intelligence being developed by the Defense Ministry is displayed at a defense equipment show in Chiba in May.
JAPAN
Jun 8, 2025
Objectivity seen as key to screening AI weapons
The United Nations is discussing how to regulate lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS), which use AI to identify and select targets without human involvement.
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy reacts as he speaks during an interview at the British High Commissioner Residence in New Delhi on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 8, 2025
U.K. and India discuss 'counterterrorism' cooperation after Pakistan ceasefire
Britain and India on Saturday discussed expanding their "counterterrorism" collaboration following recent fighting between India and Pakistan, Britain's foreign minister said after meeting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass visits the Northrop Grumman booth during the Defence and Security Equipment International Japan trade show at Makuhari Messe in the city of Chiba last month.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
U.S. envoy plays down Washington-Tokyo trade row
George Glass dismissed concerns that tensions over unilateral U.S. tariffs could lead to a repeat of the trade war between the two countries in the 1980s.
Many economies in Asia have invested at much lower levels on defense than the U.S., expecting the support of Washington’s military might.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Asia sees Trump’s 5%-of-GDP defense spending goal as unrealistic
In interviews, key defense officials in Asia have been clear: The ambition is understood, but the math just doesn’t add up.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg delivers a speech during the Meta Connect event at in Menlo Park, California, in September 2023. The partnership between Zuckerberg's Meta and defense firm Anduril to build battlefield XR gear underscores how working with the military, once taboo in Silicon Valley, is now actively embraced.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 5, 2025
Mark Zuckerberg finally found a use for his Metaverse — war
Anduril and Meta are partnering to design, build and field a range of integrated XR products that provide warfighters with enhanced perception on the battlefield.
The government plans to develop a shelter strategy for foreign armed attacks by the end of fiscal 2025, according to sources.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan to decide plans for shelters from armed attacks within fiscal 2025
The government will also compile basic guidelines for evacuating residents in Okinawa Prefecture's Sakishima Islands, apparently with a possible Taiwan contingency in mind.
The draft also expresses strong concern about China's attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the East China Sea and the South China Sea.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
Japan to name China as its biggest strategic challenge
It is unusual for the annual economic and fiscal policy guidelines to criticize China for its coercive behavior toward neighboring countries.
America's reluctance to provide air defenses sought by its European partners highlights how the western allies are at odds over how to deal with Russian aggression in Ukraine.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
U.S. said to deny air cover to Europe force in postwar Ukraine
The U.S. reluctance to provide the backup sought by its European partners highlights how the allies are at odds over the way to deal with Russia.
French President Emmanuel Macron gives the keynote address at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore on Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2025
The 'Macron Doctrine' goes to Asia: Autonomy with partners, steady on China
Macron affirmed that "France is a friend and ally of the United States, and a friend that cooperates — even if we sometimes disagree and compete — with China”.
Self-propelled guns are refurbished at a Rheinmetall plant in Unterluess, Germany, in June 2023.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2025
The Europeans are facing an existential choice
U.S. officials are openly stating that they do not intend to devote most of their time or resources to dealing with what they deem European issues such as the war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with the head of Ukraine's Security Service Vasyl Malyuk in Kyiv, in this image released Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
'Aces up the sleeve': Ukraine drone attacks in Russia shake up conflict
Despite being outgunned, Kyiv used inexpensive drones at the weekend to destroy Russian nuclear-capable bombers worth billions of dollars.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer passes a Royal Navy nuclear-powered submarine at a shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness, England, on March 20.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2025
Welfare demands put pressure on Starmer's commitment to defense overhaul
Labour lawmakers want to prioritize domestic issues blowing back on the left-leaning party at the ballot box, such as controversial benefit cuts.
Japan braces for more quakes as authorities dismiss doomsday hype
Evacuees from Akuseki Island, located in the Tokara island chain in Kagoshima Prefecuture, arrive at Kagoshima Port on Friday.
Heatstroke alert issued for 19 prefectures as Japan enters 'once-in-a-decade' heat wave
Japan will experience a heat wave through mid-July on a “level only seen once in a decade,” the Meteorological Agency said on June 30.
Hidden AI prompts in academic papers spark concern about research integrity
Waseda University is one of 14 institutions in eight countries found to have used hidden prompts in research papers.
Tokyo and Kyoto feature among top ‘noctourism’ destinations
Tokyo ranked second after New York and ahead of Dubai and Singapore in a ranking of the top global cities for nighttime tourism.
Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan's tea farms dry
Matcha is added to beverages on offer at Kettl Tea in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 20.
Ainu land rights in crosshairs as Hokkaido communities debate nuclear waste
A street in Suttsu, Hokkaido, with a sign put up by an anti-nuclear organization. The small community is considering hosting a facility that would hold nuclear waste.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.

Podcast

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

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji
By Alex K.T. Martin

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