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October 03, 2025
 

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PACIFIC

People work at an automotive parts factory in Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, on April 11. Export powerhouse Japan saw manufacturing activity shrink in September.
BUSINESS / Economy
Oct 1, 2025
Asian factories struggle as soft China and U.S. demand takes toll
Export powerhouse Japan and global tech hub Taiwan saw manufacturing activity shrink in September, leaving businesses in Asia on fragile footing.
U.S. President Donald Trump departs after addressing senior military officers gathered at the Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Virginia, on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Oct 1, 2025
Trump speech to military brass hints at looming Pentagon shift to focus on homeland
Amid a litany of talking points were Trump’s hints at an increasingly inward-looking foreign policy stance.
U.S. trade representative Jamieson Greer speaks during an Economic Club of New York luncheon in New York on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Markets
Oct 1, 2025
Trump trade chief expects U.S. to ink more deals during Asia trip
The U.S. president is set to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, and has been invited to a Southeast Asian leaders' summit in Malaysia.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya meets with his counterparts from India, Australia and the United States during talks of “the Quad” grouping in Washington in July. The meeting reflected Japan’s strategy of building flexible minilateral partnerships to navigate growing tensions with China and shifting U.S. priorities.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 23, 2025
Japan’s foreign policy faces uncharted waters
Japan's challenge lies in maintaining strategic alignment while accommodating American transactionalism.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones during a training session in November last year.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 21, 2025
Fiji beats Japan in Pacific Nations Cup rugby final
Fiji seized a 33-10 lead on Nasova's try early in the second half and then held off a furious Japan rally over the final minutes in a rematch of last year's final.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea leader James Marape attend a flag-lowering ceremony in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 17, 2025
Australia and Papua New Guinea delay mutual defense pact
The postponement was Canberra’s latest stumble as it seeks to counterbalance Beijing’s expanding presence and clout in the Pacific region.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi, Indian External Affairs Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the State Department in January.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 17, 2025
Japan and India must anchor America in the Indo-Pacific
Neither Japan or India possess the military strength to counter China independently.
U.S. soldiers participate in the Freedom Shield joint U.S.-South Korea exercise near the North Korean border in Yeoncheon, South Korea, in March.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 16, 2025
Trump 2.0 and the U.S.-South Korea alliance
Debate in Seoul over the future of the U.S.-South Korea alliance has intensified since Trump returned to the White House
Artificial intelligence avatar Una will appear at the U.N. pavilion at Osaka Expo later this month as part of initiatives to combat climate change.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2025
Japan-backed AI avatar to promote climate action at expo
The anime-inspired female character, Una, was developed as part of climate initiatives supported by the Japanese government.
Japan head coach Eddie Jones ahead of a match against England in June last year.
MORE SPORTS / Rugby
Sep 16, 2025
Japan and Fiji cruise into Pacific Nations Cup rugby final rematch
Fiji rolled over Japan 41-17 in last year's final, and Japan coach Eddie Jones admitted his side has plenty of work to do to flip the script this year.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles speaks during an announcement at the Kuttabul Australian Navy base in Sydney on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 14, 2025
Australia to spend $8 billion on AUKUS nuclear sub shipyard facility
The investment is part of a major military restructure to improve Australia's long-range strike capabilities in the face of China's expanding military strength across the Pacific.
A Philippine Navy soldier observes Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer Takanami from a Philippine ship in the South China Sea, on June 14.
JAPAN
Sep 11, 2025
Japan-Philippines visiting-forces pact comes into force as defense ties blossom
The pact will serve as the legal basis for Japanese and Philippine forces operating in each other’s countries, paving the way for greater cooperation amid tensions with Beijing.
Children walk past Nepal's Parliament house in Kathmandu Thursday, just days after it was set on fire by protesters angered by a social media ban and government corruption.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2025
Gen-Z protesters across Asia are challenging the old guard
On Tuesday, Nepal’s Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned after two days of demonstrations over a sweeping social-media ban.
Australian defence chief Richard Marles (second from left), Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy (left), and navy chief Vice Adm. Mark Hammond inspect a "Ghost Shark"-class autonomous undersea vehicle at a naval base in Sydney on Wednesday.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025
Australia to field 'Ghost Shark' underwater strike drones
The $1.1 billion fleet will be designed to conduct intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and strike operations, both stealthily and at long range.
A Chinese Navy ship speeds past a Philippine fishing boat while the Philippine, Australia and Canadian navies conduct a joint drill near Scarborough Shoal in the disputed South China Sea on Sept. 2.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 10, 2025
Manila working on new protocols for dealing with Beijing in South China Sea
As tensions heat up in the waterway, the Philippines is updating its existing rules of engagement as part of a whole-of-government approach.
U.S. President Donald Trump salutes the troops during the U.S. Army’s 250th Birthday parade in Washington on June 14, which coincided with his 79th birthday. Trump 2.0 is reshaping global alliances with new defense and diplomatic strategies.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Sep 9, 2025
‘Trump Doctrine’ a fundamental challenge to allied unity
Many in traditional foreign-policy circles struggle to see the method in Trump’s pursuit of “strategic surprises.”
The coast of the Red Sea. Microsoft on Saturday said its Microsoft Azure users may experience increased latency due to multiple undersea fiber cuts in the Red Sea.
WORLD
Sep 8, 2025
Red Sea cable cuts disrupt internet across Asia and the Middle East
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the damage, but an internet monitoring group identified failures affecting cable systems near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec and Australian destroyer HMAS Brisbane sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday. The Ville de Quebec had been operating in the Philippine economic zone, taking part in freedom of navigation exercises.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 7, 2025
China criticizes Canadian and Australian warships transiting Taiwan Strait
China said the Canadian frigate Ville de Quebec and the Australian guided-missile destroyer Brisbane were engaged in "trouble-making and provocation."
East Asia’s fertility plunge is driven not just by financial costs but by perfectionist cultural expectations that burden parents with intense educational and social demands.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2025
‘Confugenics’ and East Asia's demographic crisis
The numbers are staggering when you dig into them. Parents in Japan covered half of higher education costs in 2024 — more than double the OECD average.
Royal Navy Commodore James Blackmore, the commander of U.K. CSG 25, said in an interview aboard the Prince of Wales aircraft carrier that the chance to train closely with the Maritime Self-Defense Force was a "golden moment" for military ties between the countries.
ASIA PACIFIC
Sep 2, 2025
In Indo-Pacific deployment, U.K. carrier group boosts warfighting capability, says commander
The British warship also saw F-35B fighters — one British and one American — touch down and take off from the deck of the MSDF’s Kaga de facto aircraft carrier.
A secret no more: Russia and North Korea's battle against Ukraine is celebrated in Moscow exhibit
A woman visits an exhibition of North Korean art at a museum in Moscow on Monday.
Prices to rise for 3,024 food products in Japan in October
A wide range of products will see higher prices due to rising material and labor costs.
Koizumi and Takaichi continue to lead in LDP presidential race, polls show
Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi (right) reacts as former economic security minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during the Liberal Democratic Party Presidential Election Candidate Debate at the Japan National Press Club in Tokyo, on Sept. 24. Koizumi and Takaichi remain head-to-head in the race, media polls show.
The party that ruled Japan for decades is in danger of crumbling
Haruo Tsukamoto, a rank-and-file member of the Liberal Democratic Party and a rice farmer in Ibaraki Prefecture, questions if the party still stands for people like him.
Same-sex partners recognized under more laws in Japan
A couple poses with the rainbow flag, which they brought from their home for a wedding photoshoot in Tokyo in November 2023.
Japan's far-right party courts Trump allies and vows not to get 'wacky'
Sanseito party leader Sohei Kamiya speaks during an interview in Tokyo on Sept. 25.
How Ohtani has boosted Japan's soft power and made LA even more baseball-obsessed
Fans at Dodger Stadium pose in front of a mural highlighting the Dodgers' Japanese stars from past and present during a game earlier this year.
Japan faces fresh energy challenge as it seeks to expand power-hungry data centers
Data storage tapes at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center facility in Berkeley, California. Data centers consume massive amounts of electricity and water, and that will only rise as generative artificial intelligence takes off in earnest.
Architecture art exhibition highlights unsung industry artists
Yuanhui Li's illustration is one of the awardees in the student category of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators' annual award for artists.
On defense and foreign policy, LDP candidates largely align — except where they don’t
The Liberal Democratic Party presidential election candidates in Nagoya on Friday

Podcast

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

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?
By Alex K.T. Martin

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