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July 07, 2026
 

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IRAN

U.S. President Donald Trump participates in a friendship walk through Zhongnanhai, the tightly guarded headquarters of China’s ruling Communist Party, in Beijing on Friday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 15, 2026
Strategic stalemate: Xi and Trump summit to test limits of managed competition
By the time U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to China ended, it was clear that the relationship had moved into one where Beijing operates from a position of assumed parity.
Japan’s corporate goods prices in April posted their biggest rise in 12 years, driven by higher oil and naphtha prices, the Bank of Japan said.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2026
Japanese producer prices jump by the most since 2014, backing case for rate hike
The measure of input prices for Japanese firms rose 2.3% in April from a month earlier, a full point above the highest estimate in a survey of economists.
U.S. President Donald Trump inspects a guard of honor during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.
WORLD
May 15, 2026
Trump says he is losing patience with Iran after talks with China’s Xi
Talks aimed at ending the conflict have stalled, with Iran refusing to end its nuclear program or relinquish its stockpile of enriched uranium.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping visit the Zhongnanhai leadership compound in Beijing on Friday.
EDITORIALS
May 15, 2026
A sigh of relief as Trump visits Xi
Trump will declare the meeting a win for his diplomacy and credit his personal relationship with Xi. The Chinese leader will be less effusive.
A Volkswagen e-Golf charges at a kiosk outside an elementary school in Escondido, California. A group of corporate bosses and senior bankers has issued a report underlining how clean energy systems are structurally immune to the type of shock caused by the current Middle East crisis.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
May 15, 2026
Clean energy seen as ‘structurally immune’ to Hormuz-style shock
The war in Iran may ultimately strengthen the case for renewables.
The Strait of Hormuz has remained largely blocked since the Iran war began in late February and has been subject to an international diplomatic arm wrestle ever since.
BUSINESS
May 15, 2026
Hormuz oil flows creep higher as more supertankers exit
Four ships each hauling 2 million barrels of mostly-Iraqi crude have exited since May 10 — a rate close to 2 million barrels a day — according to vessel tracking data.
A man fuels up his vehicle at a gas station during a gas giveaway event in Chicago last month. More than 6 in 10 Americans say their household's finances have taken a hit from higher gas prices, according to a poll taken in May.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2026
White House scrambles for gas-price relief as Iran war drags on
Gasoline prices are averaging more than $4.50 a gallon nationwide, and historically, $4 per gallon has been a level that triggers public backlash and economic anxiety.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi enters the Prime Minister’s Office in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN / Politics
May 15, 2026
Takaichi to meet with South Korean President Lee on Tuesday
Takaichi and Lee are slated to meet at the president’s hometown of Andong in North Gyeongsang Province.
U.S. President Donald Trump takes part in a welcome ceremony with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 14, 2026
Xi warns Trump that Taiwan missteps could lead to U.S.-China conflict
The meeting also saw the Chinese leader emphasize a “new positioning” of ties with, highlighting Beijing’s growing confidence in its ability to grapple with the U.S.
The Reserve Bank of India headquarters in Mumba on April 8
BUSINESS / Economy
May 14, 2026
War turmoil saps Asian reserves with Philippines and India hit most
The slide in reserves adds to evidence that Asia has been one of the biggest losers from the Middle East conflict due to its reliance on energy imports.
Fighters with the Kurdistan Workers' Party line up during a disarmament ceremony marking a significant step toward ending the decades-long conflict between Turkey and the outlawed group in the Qandil mountains, Iraq, on Oct. 26, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
May 14, 2026
Iran war throws wrench in peace process between Turkey and Kurdish militants
Ankara and the ‌Kurdistan Workers’ ‌Party have dug in to watch the fallout of the Iran war, each refusing to move next and stalling ​efforts to end the four-decade conflict.
F-15SA fighter jets in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Jan. 25, 2017. The Saudi strikes on Iraq were carried out by Saudi ‌air force fighter ‌jets on Iran-linked militia targets near the kingdom's northern border with Iraq, one Western official says.
WORLD
May 14, 2026
Saudi warplanes struck militias in Iraq during war, sources say
The strikes are part of a broader pattern of military responses around the Persian Gulf that stayed mostly hidden during a conflict that began with U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Many municipalities across Japan say buzz online and anxiety over the situation in the Middle East has led to people panic buying garbage bags.
JAPAN / Society / FOCUS
May 13, 2026
Designated trash bags run low in Japan as fears grow over supply shortages
Reports of a naphtha shortage have driven some to hoard city-designated trash bags needed in some areas to dispose of waste.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi instructed industry minister Ryosei Akazawa to work to further increase the rate in July of crude oil procurement from sources outside the Middle East.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 13, 2026
Japan to procure 70% of its oil for June from outside Middle East
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also instructed industry minister Ryosei Akazawa to work to further increase the rate of crude oil procurement from alternative sources in July.
Calbee will start selling potato chips in black and white packages due to a naphtha-derived ink shortage amid the war in Iran.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 13, 2026
Calbee’s switch to black-and-white packaging brings home impact of Iran war
The government maintains that there is enough naphtha for local industries, though bottlenecks have been identified.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to members of the media on the South Lawn of the White House before boarding Marine One in Washington on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2026
Trump faces emboldened Xi in China as Iran war clips U.S. leverage
As the war extends into its third month, China appears to hold unique sway as the biggest buyer of the Islamic Republic’s oil and a strategic partner of Tehran.
South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul on Nov. 4, 2025. Ahn has stressed that no detailed discussions have taken place with the U.S. on expanding South Korean ​troop involvement to ensure safe navigation through the Strait of ​Hormuz.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 13, 2026
South Korea weighs phased Hormuz role after U.S. talks, minister says
South Korea’s Defense Minister said phased support could include expressions of political support, personnel dispatches, information-sharing and providing military assets.
Mutual overconfidence and strategic miscalculation by both the U.S. and Iran are making renewed war increasingly likely because neither side fully understands the other’s strengths, weaknesses or willingness to endure pain.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2026
The risk of the Iran war restarting is irrationally high
So long as the ceasefire holds and Hormuz remains blocked, the conflict is now a test of how well each side can withstand the economic and political strain inflicted by the other.
An annual rally to commemorate the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran on Feb. 11, 2023. Iran has retained roughly 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, according to U.S. assessments.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2026
U.S. intelligence shows Iran retains substantial missile capabilities
Iran has retained roughly 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, according to U.S. assessments.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. Trump informed Xi that night that he had ordered missile strikes on Syria.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2026
Trump’s superpower, unpredictability, has given way to unreliability
It is an open question whether commitments made this week in Beijing will survive the flight home.
Japan might be giving the currency market the silent treatment
Finance Minister Satsuki Katayama has issued verbal warnings recently using the same language and the same tone, saying authorities “will take appropriate action at any time, as necessary.”
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
Suspected Asian fraud ring exec served fresh warrant in Japan
The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department and Osaka Prefectural Police have issued arrest warrants for three people, including a suspected fraud network leader, over alleged immigration and residency violations.
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Tokyo hospital baby hatch accepts 20 newborns in first year
Hitoshi Kato (left), head of San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, speaks during a news conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday.
Japan bets on character IP to drive global growth
Born on social media platforms in 2022, Opanchu Usagi has become a major hit, especially among Generation Z.
Filmmaker explores history of discrimination against foreign nationals in Japan
Takashi Nishihara, the director of "Now and Then," in Tokyo on Wednesday. The director has spent 10 years traversing politically charged terrain while exploring youth-driven grassroots political movements that scrutinize the status quo.
Japanese nail salons are tourists’ new obsession
Tourists in Japan have always been interested in quintessentially Japanese approaches to modern culture, and, increasingly, visits to nail salons have become the new hot thing.
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The Terasaka Rice Terraces are seen with Mount Buko in the background.
What Yokoze can teach Japan about rural revival
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