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A peace rally on Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3. Japan’s identity as a pacifist nation is shifting as the government strengthens its military, but many don’t agree with the policy.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 27, 2024
Government and society are at odds on national security
Tokyo posits itself as a mutual defense ally of the U.S., but polls show that while the public wants a stronger military, changes should align with the peace Constitution.
A woman looks on during a protest against the death in Minneapolis police custody of George Floyd, in front of a U.S. consulate in Barcelona, Spain, on June 1, 2020.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
May 27, 2024
Four years after George Floyd killing, police reform slow to follow
Despite the initial surge of calls for change, federal attempts at wide-ranging reform have been mostly unsuccessful.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the UNITED24 fundraising platform summit in Kyiv on Thursday.
WORLD
May 26, 2024
Zelenskyy invites Biden and Xi to attend Ukraine peace summit
Switzerland said it has invited 160 delegations but Russia will not attend the event, which is expected to last just over a day.
Richard Grenell speaks at a Donald Trump rally in Florence, Arizona, on Jan. 15, 2022.  Grenell has a good chance of landing a top foreign policy job in a second Trump administration — if not as secretary of state, which requires Senate confirmation, then perhaps as national security adviser, which does not.
WORLD / Politics
May 26, 2024
He threw ‘spaghetti at the wall’ for Trump. Now he’s after a top job.
If Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency, Richard Grenell hopes to be secretary of state. But his work raises questions, even from his former boss.
South Korean women pose for photographs as they look toward the north from the Unification Observation Platform, near the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, in May last year.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 26, 2024
North Korea accuses U.S. and South Korea of flying spy planes and ships
Pyongyang's vice defense minister warned his country would take "immediate action" if its sovereignty was breached.
Self-Defense Forces soldiers walk past a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile unit at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo in October 2017.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
May 26, 2024
Evolving drone and missile threats prompting Tokyo to rethink air defense
The low cost of mass-producing tools for modern warfare is pushing the Defense Ministry to find ways to upgrade detection, tracking and interception capabilities.
A member of a Ukrainian artillery crew stores munitions at a firing position near the town of Vovchansk, in the northern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, on May 19. Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine's recent battlefield setbacks.
WORLD
May 26, 2024
Some U.S. weapons stymied by Russian jamming in Ukraine
Two classified Ukrainian reports show that some U.S. precision-guided weapons are vulnerable to electronic warfare, an element in Ukraine’s recent battlefield setbacks.
"Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California" is a welcome reminder of how Japanese basics are best done and, perhaps, how to get a little closer to how things still should be.
LIFE
May 26, 2024
A California dreamin’ cookbook of 'izakaya' favorites
In an age where traditional knowledge is being forgotten, “Rintaro: Japanese Food from an Izakaya in California” is a treasure trove.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin speaks during a media briefing at the Pentagon in Washington on Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 25, 2024
U.S. and Chinese defense chiefs to meet this week, as military drills around Taiwan end
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will meet his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, this week for the first time, the Pentagon said Friday.
A protester holds a placard stating "Sunak Supports Genocide" in support of Palestinians as police stand guard during a visit from Britain's Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak to Cannock College, in Cannock, Staffordshire, England, on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
May 25, 2024
Sometimes U.S. and U.K. politics seem in lock step. Not this year.
In 2016, Britain voted for Brexit and America for Trump, heralding a populist wave. Both countries face pivotal elections this year — but their paths appear to have diverged.
Demonstrators during a protest outside the Legislative Yuan in Taipei on Friday
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 25, 2024
Taiwan protesters gather against bill aimed at president
Tens of thousands of people gathered outside the legislature in Taipei on Friday, while smaller demonstrations were reported in other cities around the democratic island.
Shipping containers at Pier J at the Port of Long Beach wait for processing in Long Beach, California.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 25, 2024
USTR extends some Chinese tariff exclusions, but many to fall away
Friday's action means certain goods will maintain exclusions from import tariffs.
A P-8 Poseidon flies over the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Benfold as part of information-gathering operations during Valiant Shield 2016 in the Philippine Sea.
JAPAN
May 24, 2024
Japan's SDF to take part in U.S. 'valiant shield' drill for first time
The large-scale military exercise started in 2006 and is held in areas including Guam and involves about 10,000 personnel.
Chinese military vessels sail in an unknown location around Taiwan on Thursday amid joint military drills aimed at punishing the self-ruled island and its new president.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 24, 2024
China says Day 2 of Taiwan drills tests ability to 'seize' key areas
The Chinese military said the exercises test its ability “to jointly take control of (the) battlefield and launch joint strikes, and to seize control of crucial areas.”
South Korean leader Yoon Suk-yeol (left), U.S. President Joe Biden (center) and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida walk during the Camp David summit on the outskirts of Washington last August. South Korea and Japan will be going into the summit with China more aligned than before following the Camp David meeting.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
May 24, 2024
At Japan-South Korea-China trilateral summit, a chance to manage tensions
Just holding the summit is an accomplishment amid the considerable issues that divide the three countries.
Rakuten is working with eBay to market Japan's used fashion and accessories in the United States, taking advantage of the weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 24, 2024
Rakuten and eBay team up to test U.S. market for used Japanese fashion goods
The tie-up aims to capitalize on the currency effect and is also a move toward bargain hunting as cost-of-living pressures around the world crimp spending.
The captain of a port pilot boat approaches a container ship outside the Port of Los Angeles in Los Angeles.
WORLD / Politics
May 24, 2024
A new trade war offers no easy way back for old global order
Then-U.S. President Donald Trump fired the first shots with tariffs on China seven years ago, then President Joe Biden ushered the U.S. into the new industrial policy age.
A damaged multistory apartment block, a section of which collapsed as the result of what local authorities called a Ukrainian missile strike, in the city of Belgorod, Russia, on May 13
WORLD / Politics
May 23, 2024
Inside the White House, a debate over letting Ukraine shoot U.S. weapons into Russia
Russia’s forces have placed weapons right across the Ukrainian border and aimed them at Kharkiv — knowing weaponry that can be used in response is limited.
A Chinese military ship northwest of Pengjia Island, off the coast of northern Taiwan, on Thursday
ASIA PACIFIC
May 23, 2024
China's military kicks off large-scale 'punishment' drills around Taiwan
The large-scale joint military exercises come days after the self-ruled island’s new president was sworn into office.
Joe Biden’s tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and other imports are more than symbolic — they are a signal that the U.S. won’t accept a surge of imports that could undermine crucial parts of his administration’s agenda.
COMMENTARY / World
May 21, 2024
The U.S. is preparing for a second 'China shock'
The immediate impact of these tariffs will be small, because the United States currently imports very few of the affected goods from China.

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Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?