Tag - us

 
 

US

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Friday. Trump said tariffs could be imposed on Canadian dairy and lumber products within days, in a growing trade war with the United States' northern neighbor.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Mar 8, 2025
Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff strategy sows confusion
Hasty announcements have injected chaos into the economy and financial markets, casting doubts about the White House’s trade strategy.
British Secretary of State for Business Jonathan Reynolds, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, and trade minister Yoji Muto shake hands after a joint news announcement after their economic "two-plus-two" ministers' meeting at the Iikura Guesthouse on Friday in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Japan and Britain stress free trade in Tokyo talks
The comments followed Japan and Britain's first "two-plus-two" talks between the country's trade and foreign ministers.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks to members of Iran's air force in Tehran in February.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 8, 2025
Trump says he sent Iran leader letter urging nuclear talks
Trump said that while he isn’t ruling out a military intervention, he would "rather negotiate a deal.”
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the ongoing National People's Congress in Beijing on Friday. Wang said major powers should assume international obligations and not be profit-driven.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Major powers should not bully the weak, China's top diplomat says
They should assume international obligations and not be profit-driven, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says.
Students walk through the University of Pennsylvania campus. It has been reported that the U.S. State Department will use artificial intelligence to revoke the visas of foreign students who it perceives as supporters of Palestinian Hamas militants.
WORLD
Mar 7, 2025
Reported U.S. plan to use AI to revoke student visas sparks alarm
Axios reported that a "Catch and Revoke" effort will include AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders' social media accounts.
Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025
Bank of America CEO willing to hire in Japan amid revival
The bank, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has about 800 employees in Japan.
Nintendo shares sank as much as 9.8% in Tokyo Friday, as U.S. President Donald Trump doubling levies on China means game consoles, mostly made in China, could have higher selling prices in the United States due to heftier import costs.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 7, 2025
Nintendo shares plunge on tariff fears as foreign investors retreat
Nintendo sank 9.2% in Tokyo, its biggest intraday drop since the stock market rout on Aug. 5.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and U.S. President Donald Trump arrive for a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on Feb. 7.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 7, 2025
Tokyo responds to Trump remarks on 'interesting' Japan-U.S. security pact
Japan's top government spokesperson underlined the agreement's cooperative element after the U.S. president complained the deal was one-sided.
Balboa Port, operated by Panama Ports Company, at the Panama Canal. Conglomerate CK Hutchison, controlled by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing, has agreed to sell its ports network, including assets along the Panama Canal, to a U.S. consortium led by BlackRock.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
Mar 7, 2025
As Trump hails taking back of Panama Canal, Hong Kong Inc. walks tightrope
Firms in the former British colony are increasingly under pressure to shake off any connection with China amid tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Shizuko Nishio — who will turn 86 on March 10, when Japan will commemorate 80 years after the bombing of Tokyo — gives an explanation in February in front of a map showing the areas that were burned in the air raids.
JAPAN
Mar 7, 2025
'Eerie' sky, charred bodies: 80 years since Tokyo's World War II firestorm
Because of the atomic bombings and Japan's surrender a month later, the firebombing of Tokyo is often overlooked in history.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in December 2019
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 7, 2025
'Psychodrama' tariff negotiations frustrate Mexico and Canada
The on-again, off-again tariffs and the high-level discussions surrounding them have exasperated negotiating teams, sources say.
As the U.S. under Donald Trump reassesses its commitment to Ukraine, countries worldwide, particularly in Europe and Asia, are reconsidering their defense policies and alliances with America. 
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2025
Europe braces for a post-American world. Is Japan ready?
A diplomatic posture that makes demands only of Ukraine and not Russia suggests, however, that Washington has taken sides.
A monarch butterfly is seen at an enclosure at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, in August 2019.
ENVIRONMENT / Wildlife
Mar 7, 2025
Butterfly populations plummet by 22% in U.S. since turn of century
Studies in some other countries have documented declines at roughly the same rate as in the U.S. data.
Palestinian fighters and crowds gather to watch a hostage release in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 15.
WORLD
Mar 7, 2025
U.S.-Hamas talks complicate Gaza truce efforts, analysts say
The direct contact is "a sign of a breakdown in mediation for a wider ceasefire," one expert said.
France's President Emmanuel Macron addresses the media during a news conference at the end of a Special European Council to discuss continued support for Ukraine and European defense at the EU headquarters in Brussels on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics / EXPLAINER
Mar 7, 2025
How realistic is France's offer to extend its nuclear umbrella?
France has only a fraction of the number of airborne nuclear weapons the U.S. can provide, and any upgrade of its systems would be costly.
Ukraine has become a leader in drone warfare, particularly with its innovative use of first-person view drones. These drones have proven highly effective in targeting Russian military equipment and ammunition depots.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 6, 2025
Breaking down Ukraine’s true value
With the U.S. now increasingly acting in Russia’s interests, supporting Ukraine is not just a moral imperative for Europe, it is an existential one.
U.S. President Donald Trump is exempting automakers from newly imposed tariffs on Mexico and Canada for one month, the White House said Wednesday, as a temporary reprieve following pleas from industry leaders.
BUSINESS / Economy
Mar 6, 2025
Trump’s tariff pause cheered globally and watched closely in Tokyo
The U.S. president is delaying 25% tariffs on cars from Mexico and Canada and might consider carve-outs for agricultural imports from those countries.
People walk past the Department of Education building in Washington on Feb. 4.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025
Trump to order U.S. Education Department abolished, WSJ reports
Trump has repeatedly called for eliminating the department, calling it a "big con job."
President Donald Trump delivers an address to a joint session of Congress in Washington on Tuesday. Some critics are questioning if the U.S. is shifting away from global leadership under his stewardship.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 6, 2025
Trump's speech was more campaign rhetoric than leadership
Trump's speech to Congress, like the one eight years ago, was little more than domestic political propaganda.
The Eastern District of New York Court Federal Court House in New York on Feb. 5.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 6, 2025
Judges face rise in threats as Musk blasts them over rulings
In recent weeks, Musk, congressional Republicans and other top allies of U.S. President Donald Trump have called for the impeachment of some federal judges.

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan