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June 30, 2026
 

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COMMENTARY

World

World
Japan
Starbucks Korea marketing debacle is far from over
COMMENTARY / World
Starbucks Korea marketing debacle is far from over
Last month’s debacle, broadly perceived as mocking the victims of a brutal military crackdown, was not caused by front-of-house staff.
COMMENTARY / World
Trump’s march of folly in Iran
It did not occur to the Trump administration that Iran would have a plan: retaliate with long-range strikes and close the Strait of Hormuz.
COMMENTARY / World
When killing the messenger becomes a strategy of war
Record journalist deaths in Gaza raise urgent questions about war, accountability and the targeting of reporters.
A man holding a Polish national flag lights a candle at the site of a mass burial of Poles killed by Ukrainian nationalists during World War II in the former Polish village of Puznyky, Ukraine, in September.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2026
Ukraine can’t afford a breakup with Poland over history
By Marc Champion
This is reckless statecraft at the service of domestic politics on both sides — only Poland isn’t at war.
A Taiwan Coast Guard ship patrols near Dadan Island in Kinmen County, Taiwan.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 29, 2026
A Taiwan crisis and America’s faltering industrial base
By Abed el Razek
Weaknesses in the U.S. defense industrial base no longer represent a mere economic issue; they now pose an immediate strategic vulnerability.
Japanese fans hold up their blue plastic bags before the start of the Group F match against Tunisia at the 2026 World Cup in Monterrey, Mexico, on June 20.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 28, 2026
The spotless World Cup stadium and the ‘unseen sink’
By Waka Ikeda
OECD data place Japanese men among the least domestically active in the developed world.
Folarin Balogun of the U.S. challenges Australia's Jacob Italiano during a Group D match at the FIFA World Cup 2026 in Seattle on June 19.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2026
FIFA World Cup thrives on diaspora players
By Adam Minter
The tournament expanded from 32 to 48 teams this year, creating space for more countries and for the transnational communities that define many of them.
Rapid advances in AI, highlighted by powerful models like those from Anthropic, are outpacing government oversight and increasing cyber and and other risks.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 26, 2026
Living without an AI kill switch
By Ngaire Woods
There is no simple way to shut down advanced AI once it exists, so societies must learn to manage its risks rather than rely on a single fail-safe.
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, during a welcoming ceremony before talks at the Kremlin in Moscow in May 2025.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2026
Scarier than fiction: ‘The Wizard of the Kremlin’ comes to life
By Stephen R. Nagy
The objective is not to promote authoritarianism directly, but to corrode the trust that sustains democratic societies and international cooperation grounded in rule of law.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong meet on the sidelines of the Russia-ASEAN Summit in Kazan, Russia, on June 18.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 25, 2026
ASEAN-Russia summit signals multipolar shift
By Ronny P. Sasmita
Leaders’ engagement in Kazan underscores Southeast Asia’s pragmatic diplomacy amid global realignment.

Uruguay federation reportedly cancels charter flight after World Cup exit
Uruguay's Jose Maria Gimenez reacts after the team's loss against Spain at the 2026 FIFA World Cup on Friday.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
India’s gig workers pay the price for exposure to New Delhi’s hazardous air
Rohit Kushwaha waits for a customer as he delivers his last parcel of the day, in New Delhi in January. His work as a delivery driver has helped pay the family’s bills, but has had a significant impact on his health.
Chinese and Russian bombers and fighter jets stage joint patrol near Japan
A Chinese Air Force H-6 bomber is seen during a joint patrol with Russian military aircraft on Saturday.
U.S. missile moves in Japan send China clear message: A new era has arrived
Soldiers conduct the first Typhon midrange capability live-fire exercise outside of the continental United States, firing an SM-6 missile in July last year in Australia's Northern Territory during Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Inside Japan’s rigid adoption system, a British family finds a way
James Benstead, his wife, Jesse, and their three children. Their adopted son is in the rear stroller.
A French ship with close ties to Japan combines arts and sciences on the high seas
Romain Troublé, the executive director of Tara Ocean Foundation, speaks to visitors aboard the Tara during a rare port call in Tokyo in April.
LGBTQ+ families are building lives Japanese lawmakers still struggle to see
Haru Ono founded Nijiiro Kazoku in 2010 after forming a same-sex stepfamily. She said the impetus for founding the organization was that she couldn’t find much reliable information out there for families such as hers in Japan.
In Kyushu’s far south, Senti.U sparks a culinary destination
Chef Yasuhiko Uchida was born in Saga Prefecture but has made his home in Kanoya, Kagoshima Prefecture, since 2012.
‘The colors speak for themselves’: How Japan’s chroma bible went global
“A Dictionary of Color Combinations” is meant to function as a quick-reference guide for artists, designers and anyone with a passing interest in aesthetics as a quantifiable pursuit.

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

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New Logistics Consortium baton to accelerate trucking efficiency

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