911±¬ÁÏÍø

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November 19, 2025
 

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Marc Champion
U.S. Marines at Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture demonstrate the Typhon ground-launched missile system in September. Capable of launching land-based Tomahawks, it has already been deployed in global exercises, proving that the technical challenges often cited as an excuse to withhold Tomahawks from Ukraine are unfounded.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 27, 2025
Sanctions or Tomahawks? Only credible threats will convince Putin.
A lack of resolve and realism in the West has encouraged Putin to believe he need only wait until Ukraine¡¯s backers fail it and he¡¯ll be able to achieve his maximalist goals.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian leader Vladimir Putin meet in Anchorage, Alaska, on Aug. 15. Putin is growing vulnerable, but Trump¡¯s wavering and Europe¡¯s divisions risk wasting the chance to end the Ukraine war.
COMMENTARY
Sep 17, 2025
Did Putin finally overplay his hand with Ukraine?
Vladimir Putin grows vulnerable, but Donald Trump¡¯s wavering and Europe¡¯s divisions risk squandering the chance to force an end to the war.
This damaged drone was found in a field near the eastern Polish village of Czosnowka on Wednesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 11, 2025
Lessons for NATO after Putin sends drones over Poland
The U.S. and Europe have a lot to learn from Russia¡¯s warning shot.
Russian traditional nesting dolls with images of Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as U.S. President Donald Trump. Ukrainian and European leaders worry that the hastily arranged Alaska meeting between the two leaders risks playing into Russia¡¯s hands.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 13, 2025
Putin is about to outplay Trump again in Alaska
Trump isn¡¯t wrong to try sitting down with U.S. foes and rivals, even where more conventional leaders would avoid the risk. But hastily arranged encounters rarely result as hoped.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets veterans involved in the Ukraine war, at the Kremlin on June 12. Europe should tap Russia¡¯s frozen central bank assets to fund Ukraine¡¯s defense, given Donald Trump¡¯s conditions on U.S. aid.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2025
Russia¡¯s frozen $245 billion can pay for Ukraine¡¯s arms
Replacing the U.S. military and financial aid provided by President Joe Biden¡¯s administration would cost about $45 billion a year for the duration of the war.
Despite perceptions of Russian weakness after Israel¡¯s attack on Iran, that conflict has helped Vladimir Putin by diverting U.S. resources, eroding support for Ukraine and possibly setting the stage for the war to shift in his favor.
COMMENTARY
Jul 7, 2025
The U.S. bombing of Iran was a win for Putin
The possibility of another war in the Middle East has sucked attention, energy and resources away from Ukraine.
The Israeli and U.S. strikes on Iran scored a tactical win and prompted a tentative ceasefire, but they failed to eliminate the threat posed by Tehran¡¯s nuclear ambitions or shift the long-term strategic calculus.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2025
There is no 'one-and-done' on Iran's nuclear ambitions
Trump still faces tough calls that will decide the future of non-proliferation.
Israel¡¯s rapid military gains in Iran have exposed deep vulnerabilities in Tehran¡¯s defenses, but they also raise urgent questions about how far Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is willing to go and at what cost.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 18, 2025
Success in Iran leaves Israel at a strategic crossroads
In Iran, it¡¯s vital that Netanyahu follow his Hezbollah model if his campaign of military shock and awe doesn¡¯t quickly succeed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on April 7. Netanyahu is playing a risky game by launching a war against Iran that may not stop its nuclear program and could trigger a wider conflict beyond Israel¡¯s control.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2025
Netanyahu¡¯s big gamble risks a quicker Iranian bomb
Whether the air strikes can indeed succeed is a very big "if.¡± It¡¯s more likely that Israel can do no more than delay Iran¡¯s nuclear program.
A Palestinian woman carries a toddler as she walks amid the destruction following Israeli strikes in Jabalia's Saftawi neighborhood in the northern Gaza on Thursday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 26, 2025
Nothing civilized about Netanyahu's war in Gaza
The continued razing of Palestinian enclave following the killing of Israel Embassy staffers will only perpetuate the cycle of violence.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff prior to their talks in Moscow on April 25.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2025
The U.S. is letting Putin string it along on Ukraine
Russia is stringing Trump along with empty ceasefire gestures and escalating demands, exploiting his desperation to claim a quick Ukraine peace deal.
U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign policy efforts, including negotiations with Ukraine, Iran and others face failure due to unrealistic expectations and an apparent failure to fully understand the complexities of the conflicts.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 23, 2025
U.S. diplomacy confronts reality in Ukraine and Iran
Trump loyalists must recognize that his approach may well fail in ways that leave the world in immeasurably worse shape.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (bottom center) and other Trump administration officials mishandled security by discussing a military strike on a commercially available messaging app, exposing vulnerabilities and raising questions about poor judgment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 26, 2025
U.S. allies get a Signal chat¡¯s worth of red flags
In the short term, that may have few real consequences. Although insulting, the administration¡¯s assessment of Europe¡¯s weak military capabilities is correct.
When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms President Vladimir Putin might accept, Trump¡¯s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 10, 2025
Kyiv and Moscow are divided by a valley of lies
When Ukraine gets bulldozed into accepting a ceasefire on the capitulatory terms Putin might accept, Trump¡¯s America will dismiss complaints from Kyiv as warmongering.
French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. President Donald Trump meet at the White House on Monday. The French leader has been forced to appease Trump knowing Europe is unprepared to defend itself without U.S. support.
COMMENTARY
Feb 26, 2025
America is turning its alliances into a protection racket
Trump has no compunction in using his leverage as a global security provider for extortion of allies.
U.S. President Donald Trump's approach to ending Russia¡¯s war in Ukraine appears to prioritize re-establishing U.S.-Russia relations over securing a fair settlement for Ukraine.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 25, 2025
Ukraine is just a pawn in a Russian reset
Donald Trump's approach makes U.S. actions more logical, but no less shameful.
Donald Trump¡¯s demand for Ukrainian resources in exchange for aid may be unseemly, but Europe should accept it as the price of keeping the U.S. engaged in Ukraine and Europe's defense.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 14, 2025
Trump¡¯s resource grab in Ukraine is a price worth paying
Europe shouldn¡¯t complain. This is a cost of its defense failures.
Gaza¡¯s reconstruction is needed, but U.S. President Donald Trump¡¯s approach ¡ª framing it as a business deal without addressing Palestinian political aspirations ¡ª makes little sense as foreign policy.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 6, 2025
Trump¡¯s ¡®Gaza Riviera¡¯ scheme may be more than a fantasy
It¡¯s tempting to dismiss Donald Trump¡¯s bid to take over Gaza as just another wild proposal, designed more to change the conversation and wrong-foot negotiating partners than as policy.
Demonstrators in Rabat, Morocco, on Thursday show support for Palestinians following the news of a ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel.
COMMENTARY
Jan 17, 2025
Gaza ceasefire deal is a win for Trump
Donald Trump secured a Gaza ceasefire by pressuring Israel into an agreement, but achieving a lasting peace will depend on resolving deeper regional issues.
The myth that the West provoked Russian aggression in Ukraine overlooks Russia's expansionist history, the complex dynamics of NATO expansion and the true nature of the 2014 Ukrainian revolution.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 8, 2025
What you think you know about Ukraine is probably wrong
It¡¯s more important than ever to fact check the Kremlin's claims and excuses for the war
A beloved Tokyo penguin¡¯s end presages Suica¡¯s shift to payments giant
JR East is retiring the beloved Suica penguin as part of a rebrand to transform the contactless payment platform, used for both transit and retail, into a mobile fintech powerhouse.
More 911±¬ÁÏÍø firms relax rules in tussle for workers
Hinako Mori, 22, arranges products at a Don Quijote outlet in Tokyo in October. The 911±¬ÁÏÍø retailer, which relaxed its rules concerning hair and nail polish three years ago, says nearly a quarter of its employees sport brightly colored hair.
Japan sends senior official to China to cool boiling tensions
A Chinese tour group in the Ginza shopping district of Tokyo on Sunday. China has advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Japan, following a diplomatic feud sparked by remarks from Tokyo's new prime minister about a hypothetical attack on Taiwan.
What you need to know about the shift to My Number health insurance cards
With the government's integration of health insurance with My Number cards, conventional health insurance cards will no longer be accepted at clinics and hospitals across Japan from Dec. 2.
Japan seeks to placate China as strained relations move beyond political realm
Director-General of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau Masaaki Kanai (left) and Chinese Director-General of the Department of Asian Affairs Liu Jinsong depart after a meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing on Tuesday.
How Band-Maid brought anime energy into the hard-rock sound of ¡®Scooooop¡¯
Members of Band-Maid combine heavy riffs and maid-inspired visuals in their latest project, "Rock Is a Lady¡¯s Modesty."
Japan uses series against South Korea to prep for World Baseball Classic title defense
Japan's Ryuhei Sotani pitches against South Korea at Tokyo Dome on Saturday night.
Who is cricket¡¯s Shohei Ohtani?
South African cricket legend Jacques Kallis plays a shot during the final day of a cricket test match against India in Johannesburg in December 2013.
Good fortune, wrapped in fried tofu
Golden "age-fukuburo," a culinary take on Japan's new year "lucky bags," can be served on their own.
Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom
Located near the Imperial Palace, the Foreign Correspondents¡¯ Club of Japan prides itself on the accessibility of its events and the support it offers to budding and established journalists. The club is currently headed by Dan Sloan, a former reporter for Reuters.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

An illustration features the 911±¬ÁÏÍø signs for "ganbare" (good luck) and the Deaflympics, which will be held between Nov. 15 and 26.
A century of Deaf sport finds its moment in Tokyo
By Kathryn Wortley

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