Phil Stewart - The Japan Times

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A billboard in Tehran showing a variety of missiles. U.S. military bombers carried out strikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities on June 22.

WORLD

Jul 3, 2025

Iranian nuclear program degraded by up to two years, Pentagon says

The announcement suggests the U.S. operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

The Iranian shores and the island of Qeshm are seen in the Strait of Hormuz on Dec. 10, 2023. Two U.S. officials said Tehran was gearing up to blockade the strait following Israel's strikes on sites across Iran last month.

WORLD / Politics

Jul 2, 2025

Iran made preparations to deploy mines in Strait of Hormuz, U.S. sources say

About one-fifth of global oil and gas shipments pass through the strait, and a blockage would likely have spiked world energy prices.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, speak during a news conference at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, on Thursday.

WORLD

Jun 27, 2025

No known intel that Iran moved uranium, says U.S. defense chief in fiery presser

Experts have cautioned that Iran likely moved its stockpile of near weapons-grade highly enriched nuclear material before the strikes, and could be hiding it.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in February. U.S. intelligence consistently showed Israel might go ahead with an attack on Iran with or without U.S. support.

WORLD / Politics / FOCUS

Jun 20, 2025

How Trump, a self-proclaimed 'peacemaker,' embraced Israel's campaign against Iran

No epiphany is seen to have tipped the scales for U.S. President Donald Trump so much as a lack of diplomatic progress, a push from Israelis and hawkish ally appeals wore him down.

Fire and smoke rise in the city after a Russian drone strike in Kyiv on Saturday.

WORLD / Politics

Jun 8, 2025

U.S. says Russia response to Ukraine drone attack not over and to expect more strikes

The Kremlin denies the full impact of Kyiv's drone attack but Russian military bloggers cite serious damage, including to planes that carry nuclear weapons.

Lt. Gen. Alexus Grynkewich speaks at a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington on March 17. Grynkewich is expected to be the U.S. nominee for the positions of both Supreme Allied Commander Europe and U.S. European Command.

WORLD

Jun 1, 2025

America's next top general in Europe will also lead NATO forces

Since taking office in January, Trump's administration has pressured Europe to ramp up its own defense spending.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth looks on as President Donald Trump delivers remarks at the White House in Washington on March 21.

WORLD / Politics

May 7, 2025

Hegseth's order to cancel Ukraine weapons caught White House off guard

The story of how the flights were canceled points to an at-times haphazard policymaking process within the Trump administration.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth awaits the arrival of Peruvian Foreign Affairs Minister Elmer Schialer and Peruvian Defense Minister Walter Astudillo at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

May 6, 2025

U.S. defense chief to slash top ranks of military

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday ordered a 20% reduction in the number of four-star officers at the Pentagon.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks to reporters during the 2025 White House Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 22, 2025

'Disruptor' Hegseth's unsettled Pentagon starts turning against him

U.S. defense chief Pete Hegseth accused former advisers of turning against him following news he texted sensitive U.S. military plans to his wife, brother, attorney and others.

National flags flutter at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 2. The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 8, 2025

U.S. admiral at NATO fired in expanding national security purge

The firing of Vice Adm. Shoshana Chatfield, the U.S. military representative to the NATO Military Committee, is the latest to rock the Pentagon.

A ship fires missiles at an undisclosed location, after U.S. President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, in this screenshot of a handout video released on March 15.

WORLD / Politics

Apr 1, 2025

White House says strikes killed Houthi missile expert, but questions linger

The U.S. military has so far declined to confirm the death, and the identity of the Houthi commander in question remains unclear.

A ship fires missiles toward an undisclosed location, after U.S. President Donald Trump launched military strikes against Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group's attacks against Red Sea shipping, in this screengrab obtained from a handout video released on Saturday.

WORLD

Mar 17, 2025

U.S. vows to keep hitting Houthis until shipping attacks stop

The Houthi-run health ministry said U.S. airstrikes on Saturday killed at least 53 people.

A handout picture released by the official Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) shows Syria's interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa (right) and Syrian Democratic Forces commander-in-chief Mazloum Abdi signing an agreement to integrate the SDF into the state institutions, in Damascus on Monday.

WORLD / Politics

Mar 13, 2025

U.S. steered Syrian Kurds toward Damascus deal, sources say

The deal aims to stitch back together a country fractured by 14 years of war.

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Charles Q. Brown speaks during annual Memorial Day in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, in May 2024.

WORLD / Politics

Feb 22, 2025

Trump fires top U.S. general in unprecedented Pentagon shakeup

The decision sets off a period of upheaval at the Pentagon, which was already bracing for mass firings of civilian staff and other dramatic shifts.

Shilling poses for a picture at her home in California, Maryland, on Jan. 19.

WORLD

Jan 29, 2025

How transgender troops prepared to fight Trump's new policy

Transgender advocates say the lawsuit is the first shot in what they predict will be a long fight.

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks via video link at the Kremlin in Moscow last month.

WORLD / Politics

Nov 28, 2024

Nuclear attack unlikely despite Putin's warnings, U.S. intelligence says

The U.S. believes Russia will aim to match what it views as U.S. escalation, and that nuclear force is unlikely — though not out of the question.

A satellite image shows a suspected missile assembly building under construction, visible in the lower central part of the image, at the "February 11" plant near the city of Hamhung in North Korea.

ASIA PACIFIC

Nov 26, 2024

Satellite images may show North Korea expanding missile plant, researchers say

The plant in North Korea's second-largest city is the only one known to produce solid-fuel ballistic missiles Ukrainian officials say have been used by Russian forces.

Pete Hegseth, a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a Minnesota native, speaks at the Values Voter Summit in Washington in September 2009.

WORLD / Politics / FOCUS

Nov 16, 2024

How Trump's Pentagon pick Hegseth fell out of love with the U.S. military

Hegseth was flagged by a National Guard officer as a possible "insider threat" for having tattoos that suggested potential links to rightwing extremism.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures as he meets with House Republicans on Capitol Hill in Washington on Wednesday.

WORLD / Politics

Nov 14, 2024

Trump's team drawing up list of Pentagon officers to fire, sources say

It is unclear if Donald Trump will endorse the firings, although in the past he has railed extensively against defense leaders who have criticized him.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump takes stage at an election night event in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Wednesday.

WORLD / Politics / FOCUS

Nov 11, 2024

How a Trump presidency could lead to a purge at the Pentagon

During his campaign for reelection, Donald Trump vowed to purge the military of so-called woke generals. Now the question is how far will he go?

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

Muji has been sustainable from the beginning

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