Tag - middle-east

 
Menu
Search
 
July 12, 2026
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

MIDDLE EAST

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.
The 30-day moving average for coal generation across Japan’s main islands was up 17% on Tuesday compared with the same period last year, and has been consistently higher since late March.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2026
Japan’s coal power generation climbs as war makes LNG more expensive
The 30-day moving average for coal generation across Japan’s main islands was up 17% on Tuesday compared with the same period last year.
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.
A passenger aircraft operated by Deutsche Lufthansa in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 13. The airline group — Europe’s largest — said it’s scrapping 20,000 uneconomic short-haul flights in the region this summer.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 13, 2026
How a jet fuel supply crunch threatens summer flights
Faced with higher fuel costs and lower supply, airlines have axed thousands of flights, grounded less-efficient aircraft and raised airfares.
Commuters drive past an anti-U.S. billboard referring to President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, installed on a building at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on May 10.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2026
Iran says U.S. must accept its peace plan or face ‘failure’
The war has spread throughout the Middle East and roiled the global economy despite the ceasefire, impacting hundreds of millions worldwide.
A Saudi fighter jet accompanies Air Force One, carrying U.S. President Donald Trump, on approach to the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 13, 2025.
WORLD
May 13, 2026
Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say
The attacks mark the first time that Riyadh is known to have directly carried out military action on Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself.
The first shipment of Central Asian oil arrived in Japan as the country seeks to diversify supply sources amid the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz due to the war in Iran, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2026
Crude oil from Azerbaijan arrives in Japan
Japan received the shipment of U.S. oil in late April and Russian oil earlier this month.
A tugboat guides the crude oil tanker Odessa, carrying UAE crude, after passing through the Strait of Hormuz this month.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2026
Is the global financial system making the Hormuz shock worse?
The system is functioning as designed. It was built for a world of episodic shocks and orderly recoveries, not one characterized by persistent, overlapping sources of disruption.
An Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh on Monday. Conflict and violence were responsible for 32.3 million people newly fleeing within their own countries last year, the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre and the Norwegian Refugee Council said Tuesday.
WORLD
May 12, 2026
Conflict created more internal displacement than disasters last year: monitors
With new wars underway this year adding to numerous entrenched conflicts around the world, more displacement driven by violence can be expected.
An Iranian woman walks past an anti-Israeli mural on a street in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2026
Trump says Iran ceasefire is ‘on life support’ as hopes for a deal fade
Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have forced oil ​producers to cut exports, and OPEC output dropped to the lowest in more than two decades.
Global stocks surged last week, pushing the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 to fresh records.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 11, 2026
Momentum-obsessed traders seek clues on Iran truce
Trump labeled Iran’s latest response to his proposal to end the 10-week conflict with the U.S. as unacceptable.
Dumplings at Hung Ming-he’s food stall at the Xizhou Public Market, one of the oldest traditional food markets in Taipei, on April 8.
ASIA PACIFIC
May 11, 2026
Taiwan’s plastic habit collides with shortages caused by a faraway war
Some producers have turned to the U.S., while others have sourced plastic goods from China, where many Taiwanese manufacturers have long-standing relationships.
A man passes a mural on a wall in Tehran after U.S. President Donald Trump said that he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, on April 8.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2026
If Iran agrees to everything, was the war worth it?
The strongest argument against the reported U.S. proposal is that it would leave Iran controlling the Strait of Hormuz.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington, on Sunday. He swiftly dismissed Iran's response to a U.S. peace proposal in a post on social media.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2026
Trump rejects ‘unacceptable’ Iran response to peace plan, causing oil prices to surge
Days after the U.S. floated an offer in the hopes of reopening negotiations, Iran has released a response focused on ending the war on all fronts.
The Solaris liquefied natural gas tanker sails near the Himeji LNG terminal in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, on April 22.
JAPAN
May 10, 2026
Japan diversifying shipping routes for Middle East oil
Japan is also trying to diversify oil procurement sources, looking at the United States and Russia, as the Middle East situation remains unstable.
A member of NOPO, Iran’s counter-terrorism special force, stands guard under a billboard of Iran’s late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, on April 23.
WORLD
May 10, 2026
Drone strikes ship near Qatar; South Korea reports attack on one of its vessels
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center had earlier said a bulk carrier reported being hit 23 nautical miles northeast of Doha by an “unknown projectile“.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi waves as she departs a Royal Australian Air Force base in Canberra on May 5, after a three-day official visit.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 10, 2026
Was Japan’s recent Golden Week diplomatic offensive effective, let alone ‘strategic’?
Prime Ministger Takaichi risks continuing a pattern of compressed, opportunistic diplomacy — busy, but not always effective.
China’s demand for Soviet-style apartments shows limits to revival
Apartments built during a Soviet Union-inspired construction drive in the 1970s and 1980s tend to suffer from poor insulation and outdated plumbing, but they are seeing a revival in interest due to their attractive locations.
Japanese scientists identify neural mechanism that may explain why we dislike people
The aggressive mouse (left) used in the experiment and a mouse defending itself
Japanese payment processor’s collapse hits banks and restaurants
Zentoshin served around 200,000 shops, many of which rely on early payments to maintain cash flow, raising concerns over their financial stability following the disruption.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
Lenders seek $700 million after Japanese payments firm’s collapse
The financial failure of Osaka-based Zentoshin has left 63 creditors with claims totaling ¥115.16 billion, according to Tokyo Shoko Research.
Japan’s largest exhibition of women photographers rights a wrong in cultural history
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images.
Over 70% of accommodations in Japan say they are understaffed amid tourism influx
The number of foreign visitors to Japan reached a high of 42.68 million in 2025.
‘Princess Mononoke’ comes alive in Super Kabuki staging
The “Princess Mononoke” adaptation was created under Shochiku’s Super Kabuki initiative, a modern form of kabuki with more technology in staging and open to pop culture collaborations.
The beating heart inside ‘Human Vapor’
Different forms of love and connection form the emotional backbone of Netflix’s “Human Vapor,” says actor Shun Oguri, who plays troubled detective Kenji Okamoto.
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.

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
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being
Sompo looks beyond insurance to focus on well-being

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER