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US

Tribal and bedouin fighters cross al-Mazraa village in Syria's Sweida governorate as they mobilize amid clashes with Druze gunmen on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 19, 2025
U.S. announces Syria-Israel truce as new clashes rock Druze heartland
At least 638 people have died since Sunday in violence between the Druze and Bedouins, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
South African Deputy Minister of Finance David Masondo (left), Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana (center) and South African Reserve Bank Gov. Lesetja Kganyago address a closing news conference on the last day of a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Durban, South Africa on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025
G20 communique delivers rare show of unity amid Trump trade war
U.S. tariffs have strained the G20’s multilateral foundations and complicated South Africa’s efforts — as this year’s rotating president — to keep the group’s agenda on course.
Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd gives a speech during the 2017 Asia Game Changer Awards and Gala Dinner in Manhattan, New York, in November 2017.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jul 19, 2025
Australia confident issues raised in U.S. AUKUS review will be resolved
Australian Ambassador to the U.S. Kevin Rudd said his country is working with the Pentagon on the U.S. Defense Department's review of the AUKUS submarine project.
Microsoft used Chinese engineers to work on U.S. military cloud computing systems under the supervision of U.S. "digital escorts" hired through subcontractors who have security clearances but often lacked the technical skills to assess whether the work of the Chinese engineers posed a cybersecurity threat, a media report said.
WORLD
Jul 19, 2025
Microsoft to stop using engineers in China for U.S. military tech support
The revelations also prompted U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to order a two-week review of Pentagon cloud deals.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks during a news conference with President Donald Trump in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington on June 27.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 19, 2025
Trump sues Wall Street Journal over Epstein report, seeking $10 billion
The newspaper said that Trump in 2003 sent Jeffrey Epstein a birthday greeting that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent before a meeting at the Prime Minister's Office in Tokyo on Friday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 19, 2025
Ishiba and Bessent say 'good' trade agreement still possible
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba urged U.S. Treasury chief Scott Bessent to continue talks with Japan’s chief negotiator to achieve a win-win deal.
The Solomon Islands. A team from the U.S. nonprofit Ocean Exploration Trust has discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki on the deep seabed off the Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.
JAPAN / Society
Jul 18, 2025
Sunken WWII Japanese warship Teruzuki found off Solomon Islands
The Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer was discovered at a depth of more than 800 meters off the small island nation northeast of Australia.
A Sanseito campaign van in Shinjuku. The populist party is gaining ground and challenging the more centrist parties.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Japanese markets brace for triple whammy if opposition wins big
Bonds, stocks and the yen could be destabilized if spendthrift parties gain influence.
The $9 billion cut to foreign aid and public media the U.S. House of Representatives passed amounts to roughly one-tenth of 1% of the $6.8 trillion federal budget.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
U.S. House Republicans pass Trump plan to cut foreign aid and public broadcasting
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 216 to 213 in favor of the funding cut package, with only two Republicans voting against it.
A member of staff works on a production line that manufactures small metal coils at Mitsuwa Electric in Tokyo on July 11.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan's smaller firms say they are ready to adapt to Trump tariffs
Millions of small- and medium-sized firms that make up 99.7% of Japan's companies are world-class in their specialist niche, giving rise to confidence about weathering tariffs.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on June 26. The Donald Trump-ordered strikes on Iran, said to be an example of the “Trump Doctrine,” ignore decades of failed U.S. attempts to force adversaries to back down through short bursts of military power. 
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 18, 2025
The 'Trump Doctrine' is wishful thinking
The Donald Trump-ordered strikes on Iran, claimed to prove a unique “Trump Doctrine,” ignore decades of failed U.S. attempts to force adversaries to back down.
"Japan said that tariffs aren’t really the right tool to fix excessive current accounts imbalances,” Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato told reporters Thursday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Finance minister says tariffs not right tool to fix trade imbalances
Katsunobu Kato's comments come as the global economy braces for higher U.S. tariffs.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services building in Washington
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
U.S. health department hands over Medicaid personal data to ICE
The move marks an escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies.
Just 17% of Americans approve of U.S. President Donald Trump's handling of the Jeffery Epstein case, a weaker rating than the president received on any other issue in the poll.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
Trump faces backlash as 69% believe Epstein details concealed, poll finds
Close to two-thirds of Republicans surveyed think the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is hiding details on Jeffrey Epstein's business.
Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, in Beijing on Thursday
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 18, 2025
Trump’s U-turn on Nvidia spurs talk of grand bargain with China
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the administration wanted Chinese developers "addicted” to American technology.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attend a meeting on the sidelines of NATO summit in The Hague on June 25. Zelenskyy said his latest talks with Trump focused on a deal that would help each country bolster its aerial technology.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
Zelenskyy says he and Trump are considering a drone 'mega-deal'
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said drones were the key tool that has allowed his country to fight off Russia's invasion for more than three years.
Once seen as an unlikely prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba has struggled to deliver on promises, mishandled ties with U.S. President Donald Trump and now faces an election where the odds don’t look good for his party to come out victorious.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025
A trade deal fumble could be Ishiba’s last mistake
Ishiba already leads a coalition that lacks a majority in the Lower House, and another bad showing Sunday will likely mean Japan is looking for its third leader in as many years.
Mazda employees walk at the company's main plant in the town of Fuchu, Hiroshima Prefecture, on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jul 18, 2025
Japan voters see little hope for tariff reprieve in carmaker Mazda's hometown
The economic engine of Hiroshima Prefecture faces U.S. tariffs of 25% on cars, a dispiriting prospect for an electorate already battling inflation.
A migrant is detained by federal officers at a U.S. immigration court in Manhattan, in New York City, on June 11.
WORLD
Jul 18, 2025
'A trap' — Asylum seekers arrested after attending U.S. court hearings
Homeland Security agents have adopted the tactic of waiting outside immigration courts nationwide and arresting migrants as they leave at the end of mandatory asylum hearings.
Members of Japan's Self-Defense Forces stand in formation during a review at Camp Asaka in October 2018. The government’s latest Defense White Paper warns of growing threats from China, Russia and North Korea.
EDITORIALS
Jul 18, 2025
Japan must be ready for an increasingly dangerous world
If there is a complaint to be issued against this year’s Defense White Paper, it is its reluctance to fully address the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the U.S. presidency.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’