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July 03, 2026
 

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DEFENSE

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during a news conference at the Malacanang Palace in Manila on March 25.
JAPAN / Politics
May 19, 2026
Philippines’ Marcos says Japan defense posture on summit agenda amid Taiwan concerns
Philippine leader Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will discuss Japan’s new defense posture at a summit next week with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in talks also likely to touch on Taiwan.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned withdrawal of 5,000 U.S. troops from Germany could undermine NATO cohesion and diminish U.S. influence in Europe and Asia.
COMMENTARY / World
May 18, 2026
Trump’s troop drawdown in Germany is a warning shot
The withdrawal of U.S. forces from Germany sparks strategic questions for Europe and Asia.
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te speaks at an event to mark the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taipei on Sunday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 18, 2026
Lai says Taiwan won’t be sacrificed as Trump weighs arms deal
Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te rejected characterizations that Taiwan seeks independence, and repeated his position that the island is already a sovereign democratic state.
The United Arab Emirates' Barakah Nuclear Power Plant near Abu Dhabi
WORLD
May 17, 2026
Drone strike starts fire outside UAE nuclear plant
The statement did not say from where the drone was launched, but the UAE has recently accused Iran of being behind attacks on its energy and economic infrastructure.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the press aboard Air Force One en route to the U.S. following his official visit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, on Friday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 17, 2026
Trump says ‘nothing’s changed’ on Taiwan. But his words belie a big shift.
The U.S. president has warned Taipei on independence moves and called American arms deals a “negotiating chip” in talks with China.
A Japanese Type 88 surface-to-ship missile system is launched during the maritime strike iteration of the joint Balikatan military exercises in Paoay, Ilocos Norte, in the Philippines, on May 6.
JAPAN
May 16, 2026
Japan considers missile exports to the Philippines, reports say
Tokyo last month unveiled its biggest overhaul ​of defense export rules in decades, scrapping restrictions ‌on overseas ‌arms transfers.
U.S. Army soldiers practice new battlefield casualty evacuation methods during a NATO exercise in Poland on Monday.
WORLD
May 16, 2026
U.S. scraps deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland
The latest move follows an announcement made earlier this month in which the U.S. said it would withdraw 5,000 troops from Germany.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets members of the Indian contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa in July 2017. The country’s military modernization may be undermined by politically selected generals.
COMMENTARY / World
May 14, 2026
Is Modi ‘coup-proofing’ India’s military?
India’s effort to modernize and integrate its military through the chief of defense staff position is increasingly being undermined by politically controlled appointments.
Yasukazu Hamada (center) speaks at a meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security on Wednesday at the party's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
May 14, 2026
Japan’s ruling LDP may consider spending up to 5% of GDP on security
A further increase in security spending is among issues set to be discussed as part of a plan to revise Japan’s three key security-related documents this year.
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.
A test launch of Russia's Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile at an unidentified location, captured in a still image taken from video released Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2026
Putin vows to deploy powerful Sarmat missile this year after successful test
The Russian leader unveiled the project in March 2018 speech while touting a series of new weapons that he said could render U.S. missile defenses “ineffective.”
Philippine soldiers pose for a picture in front of a Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Type 88 surface-to-ship missile launcher and other equipment during the annual Balikatan joint military exercises in Paoay, Ilocos Norte province, Philippines, on May 6.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 12, 2026
The Philippines emerges as an Indo-Pacific security pivot
The rise of China refocused attention on the sprawling archipelago, given the country’s critical location straddling Southeast Asian sea lanes.
Chinese President Xi Jinping walks past honor guard members as he arrives for a ceremony to mark Martyrs’ Day, a day ahead of the National Day on Tiananmen Square in Beijing on Sept. 30, 2025.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 12, 2026
How China’s leader lost faith in his generals
The purge Xi Jinping has inflicted on the military elite shows one of the worst political crises of his 13 years in power.
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's stealth frigate JS Mogami. Japan is trying to sell its Mogami-class warships to New Zealand.
JAPAN / Politics
May 12, 2026
Japan faces U.K. rival in race to build warships for New Zealand
A deal with New Zealand would build on an agreement Tokyo recently signed with Canberra to build the first three of 11 Mogami-class ships planned for Australia.
An unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) that resembles a football-shaped body is seen in this screenshot from video taken near Japan in 2024.
JAPAN
May 11, 2026
Tokyo analyzing Pentagon UFO file trove with sightings near Japan 
Two of the dozens of videos released by the U.S. Defense Department were taken near Japan, including one that shows an object “that resembles a football-shaped body.”
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (left) and her Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, visit the Canberra Nara Peace Park in Canberra on May 4.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 11, 2026
Takaichi’s Golden Week diplomacy: a cheat sheet
The prime minister’s administration used the lull in domestic politics to advance its “Free and Open Indo-Pacific” strategy across Southeast Asia, Africa and Australia.
The Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning takes part in a military drill in the Western Pacific in April 2018.
JAPAN
May 10, 2026
Japan to mull whether to call China ‘threat’ in key papers
Tensions between the two Asian countries have increased markedly since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s parliamentary remarks on a possible Taiwan contingency in November last year.
U.S. President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war at the White House last month.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
May 9, 2026
Trump’s feuds and tensions with allies likely to outlast Iran war
Allies from Europe to the Middle East to the Indo-Pacific are once again fearful that the U.S. might be unreliable in a future crisis.
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro (second from right) speak to soldiers during the Balikatan annual military exercises in Paoay, in the Philippines' Ilocos Norte province, on Wednesday.
JAPAN / FOCUS
May 9, 2026
From observer to contributor: Japan’s growing military role in Philippine drills
Several of the drills were conducted in northern Philippine areas facing Taiwan and the South China Sea, locations increasingly seen as central to deterrence planning.
Japan triples departure tax in push to combat overtourism
Tourists in Yanaka Ginza, Tokyo, on Wednesday. Japan tripled its International Tourist Tax (departure tax) to ¥3,000 from ¥1,000 on Wednesday for all travelers leaving Japan, regardless of nationality.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
More facilities in Japan placing sanitary bins in men’s restrooms
A sanitary bin with an awareness sticker placed in a men's restroom in the Nagasaki Municipal Government building
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.
Japanese-language education is at a turning point
The country is gradually transforming Japanese-language education from a volunteer-driven system into a professional, government-supported network to better serve its growing foreign population. 
Six of the best: rikishi of note in each sumo division
Kazuma (right) faces off against future <i>yokozuna</i> Onosato during the All Japan Amateur Sumo Championships at the Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo in December 2020.
Some startups see opportunity in an aging Japan
Yasmin Baba, CTO of Amilis, wins the Grand Prize at the Pitch2Tokyo Grand Final on Feb. 19.
Japan’s fertility system offers few safe paths for same-sex couples
A Tokyo Pride parade participant holds a sign that says "we want to be a married couple, not a couple."
Life inside Japan’s largest prison for women
Western-style rooms spanning the size of four tatami mats with hardwood floors, a toilet and soft mattresses on bed frames are designated for foreign nationals and those with health conditions at Tochigi Prison.
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.

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