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October 09, 2025
 

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FRIEDRICH MERZ

German Chancellor and the leader of Germany's Christian Democratic Union Friedrich Merz addresses the media in Duesseldorf, Germany, on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 30, 2025
Merz's ambitions for Germany's role in EU put him at odds with von der Leyen
The German chancellor is trying to tug power back to Berlin, publicly rebuking the European Union’s top executive on issues like trade, the EU budget, green policy and defense.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visits the Henkel AG factory in Dusseldorf, western Germany, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 15, 2025
German far right triples support in vote in Merz home state
The trend intensifies pressure on the German chancellor’s government to revive growth and push through reforms.
Volunteers identify the bodies of fallen soldiers in Dobropillya, Ukraine, on Aug. 23. In an interview on Sunday, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he is bracing himself for the possibility that the war in Ukraine could go on for a long time.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 1, 2025
Merz sees war in Ukraine dragging on with no clear end in sight
The German chancellor says he hasn’t given up hope that a ceasefire can be secured in Ukraine, but he’s "not under any illusions either.”
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz attend a joint news conference in Toulon, France, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Aug 30, 2025
German and French leaders push for secondary sanctions on Russian backers
The two European leaders are increasing pressure on Moscow as U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace efforts sputter.
U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte attend the opening of the NATO leaders summit in The Hague on June 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2025
NATO’s Donald Trump dilemma
NATO's fate — and the future of global stability — will hinge on whether European leaders push back.
Leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, as well as the European Union all have something at stake at the Group of Seven Leaders’ Summit in Alberta, Canada.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 16, 2025
G7 leaders prepare for delicate dance with Trump at summit in Canada
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba is seeking a trade deal with Trump on the sidelines of the summit, which would be a coup ahead of elections next month.
U.S. President Donald Trump meets with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 6, 2025
Germany’s Merz lets Trump do the talking and survives Oval Office meeting
Merz heeded the advice from a number of European leaders that he should let Trump do most of the talking, and when he did talk, to praise the president.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz delivers a speech in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 5, 2025
After courting and criticizing Trump from afar, Merz now set to meet U.S. leader
Past meetings between the two countries’ leaders have often been formalities to reinforce their unshakable postwar partnership. This time is different.
Destroyed buildings in the Gaza Strip. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz criticized Israel's actions in the territory as "no longer comprehensible."
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025
Germany shifts tone on Israel over 'incomprehensible' Gaza carnage
The message reflects a broader shift in public opinion but also a greater willingness from top-ranking German politicians to criticize Israel's conduct.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz takes part in a discussion during the opening of the 'Re:publica 25' digital conference in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 27, 2025
Ukraine's key allies no longer limiting range of weapons, Germany's Merz says
Kyiv has long pleaded for authorization to hit targets within Russian territory — and to hit weaponry used in attacks on Ukraine.
A Rheinmetall Leopard 2 tank production line in Unterluess, Germany. The country's new chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has pledged to make the Bundeswehr Europe’s strongest army, marking a sharp departure from post–Cold War pacifism and sparking economic optimism rather than fear.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 19, 2025
German rearmament is a welcome 'war dividend'
Merz’s planned arms buildup means the definitive end to the "peace dividend” that the Western world had enjoyed since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Newly elected German Chancellor Friedrich Merz speaks as his predecessor, Olaf Scholz, listens during a handover ceremony at the Chancellery in Berlin on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 7, 2025
Friedrich Merz becomes German chancellor after surviving shock defeat
The win — on his second try — paves the way for him to take charge of Europe’s biggest economy but with his authority considerably diminished.
Designated German Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union following a session of the German lower house of parliament to elect the new German chancellor, in Berlin on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
May 6, 2025
Germany's Friedrich Merz faces new vote for chancellor after surprise loss
The initial shock defeat dealt a heavy blow to Merz, who has vowed to restore stability in Berlin after half a year of political turmoil.
The Bundeswehr booth at the Hannover Messe 2025 trade fair in Hannover, Germany, on March 31.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 12, 2025
Germany wants to be a military powerhouse. Can it pull it off?
Achieving this may be easier said than done. Germany’s defense and national security apparatus is fragmented and encumbered by bureaucracy.
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.
The co-leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, Alice Weidel (left) and Tino Chrupalla (right), deliver a statement after the first parliamentary group meeting of their party on Tuesday, two days after Germany's general elections.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 26, 2025
Far right lurks in the shadow of Germany's coalition dilemma
As victor Friedrich Merz tries to build a coalition, Germany could find itself in a vicious cycle where the compromises required to govern deepen the divisions that plague it.
Germany’s new leader, Friedrich Merz, aims to revive the economy with tax cuts and pro-business reforms, but an aging population, labor shortages and rising social costs may limit growth and strain public finances.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025
Germany needs an economic miracle. Merz's odds don’t look good.
Merz faces an aging population that’s set to hold back growth and exacerbate strains on the federal budget and social security system.
German conservative candidate for chancellor and Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party leader Friedrich Merz reacts after the exit poll results are announced in Berlin on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 24, 2025
German election victor Merz plans pivot from U.S. as coalition talks loom
Friedrich Merz and his opposition conservatives have vowed to help give Europe "real independence" from the U.S. as he looks to cobble together a government.
A campaign poster for Friedrich Merz, the Christian Democratic Union candidate for chancellor, in Potsdam, Germany, on Saturday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 23, 2025
Gloomy Germans vote in election which conservatives are set to win
The election campaign has been dominated by fierce exchanges over the perception that irregular immigration is out of control.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 16, 2020
Who will succeed Angela Merkel as Germany's next leader?
Whereas the U.S. and the U.K. essentially have two-party governments, Germany governs through multiparty coalitions that don't swing radically to and fro with every election.
How China waged an infowar against U.S. interests in the Philippines
Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU) Chairman Raul Lambino shakes hands with guests during a ceremony for the Award for Promoting Philippines-China Understanding at The Manila Hotel in Manila in June.
‘We have drawn lessons,’ Indian Army chief says of brief clash with Pakistan
Indian Army chief Upendra Dwivedi waves as he arrives to attend the ceremonial reception of Defense Minister Gen Nakatani in New Delhi in May.
Typhoon Halong to cause windstorms, heavy rain and high waves on the Izu islands
Typhoon Halong is moving north near the Izu Islands, with strong winds, high waves and heavy rain expected as it passes early on Thursday, prompting warnings from the weather agency.
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.
Takaichi's leadership lineup favors Aso and his allies while shutting out rivals
The LDP's newly-appointed election chief Keiji Furuya (far left), general affairs council chair Haruko Arimura (second from left), vice president Taro Aso (center left), president Sanae Takaichi (center right), secretary-general Shunichi Suzuki (second from right) and policy chief Takayuki Kobayashi in Tokyo on Tuesday.
With nuclear sub proposal, Japan faces array of political and tech challenges
The Jingei, the third of the Maritime Self-Defense Force's Taigei-class submarines, was commissioned in March last year. It is equipped with lithium-ion batteries, enabling it to have a longer diving time and cruising distance than older models with lead-acid batteries.
OpenAI’s Sora 2 is drowning in Japanese 'AI slop'
OpenAI has rolled out a social app powered by Sora 2, its artificial intelligence video generator, which was quickly flooded with videos featuring iconic Japanese intellectual property.
Trump has his eyes on the prize — but a Nobel win looks unlikely
A protester holds a sign with an image depicting U.S. President Donald Trump and the words "Nobel" written on it, as supporters and family members of hostages who were kidnapped during the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, demonstrate to demand the immediate end of the war and the release of all hostages, outside the U.S. Consulate in Tel Aviv, on Sept. 2.
‘Takaichi trade’ stalls as political reality calls for wait-and-see approach
Tokyo stocks staged a powerful rally on Monday. On Tuesday, they rallied again, then retreated.
How a family-run landscaper turned the Osaka Expo green
The team at Ryokukou Garden consists primarily of a single family, including Toshiki Tanisaki (second from right), who led the company's efforts at the Osaka Expo, Chikako Tanisaki (fifth from right), who performs daily maintanence at the expo, and Takeshi Tanisaki (fourth from right), who added a nursery to the family farm more than 50 years ago.

Podcast

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

Longform

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Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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