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July 02, 2026
 

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MIDDLE EAST

U.S. forces patrol the Arabian Sea near the Touska cargo ship, on April 20.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2026
Trump tells aides to prep for lengthy Hormuz blockade, WSJ says
The decision suggests that the U.S. could be moving into a lengthy period with the fighting largely halted, but no durable resolution to the conflict.
A woman holds a poster depicting Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, during an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally in Tehran on March 26.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2026
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard seizes wartime power, blunts supreme leader’s role
Tehran no longer has a single, undisputed clerical arbiter at the pinnacle of power.
A gasoline tanker truck at an Idemitsu Kosan gas station in Tokyo. The supertanker is listed as being operated by the tanker arm of the Japanese energy conglomerate.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Japanese crude supertanker may have exited Strait of Hormuz in war first
The supertanker linked to Japan is carrying 2 million barrels of crude, which was loaded from Saudi Arabia’s Juaymah terminal in early March.
A woman walks past a billboard featuring an image of the late supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a building in Tehran on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 29, 2026
U.S. spy agencies examine how Iran would react to Trump declaring victory
A quick de-escalation could ease political pressure on the U.S. president but also leave behind an emboldened Iran that could eventually threaten U.S. allies in the region.
Toyota's parts suppliers are grappling with rising raw material costs, shortages of basic supplies and ongoing logistical turmoil.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 29, 2026
Toyota suppliers start to feel strain of supply chain disruptions due to Iran conflict
Toyota’s parts suppliers are grappling with rising raw material costs, shortages of basic supplies and ongoing logistical turmoil.
A tanker carrying U.S. crude oil sails in Tokyo Bay on Sunday.
JAPAN / Explainer
Apr 29, 2026
How the Iran crisis affects Japan
With the Strait of Hormuz still closed, nearly a fifth of the world’s oil exports are being kept from reaching their destinations.
Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi greets his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 28, 2026
Australia and Japan tighten regional energy security coordination amid Mideast crisis
Foreign Minister Penny Wong highlighted the need for boosted cooperation following talks in Tokyo with Japan’s ministers for trade, economic security and foreign affairs.
A Japanese machine tool industry group is concerned about a potential shortage of thinners and cutting oils amid prolonged conflict in the Middle East.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2026
Japan industry group warns of war’s impact on supply of thinners
There are no shortages now, but the prolonged conflict in the Middle East could affect supplies in the future, the head of an industry group has said.
People wait to fetch drinking water at a makeshift camp for displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on April 10
WORLD
Apr 28, 2026
Israel using water access as ‘weapon’ in Gaza, report says
Doctors Without Borders has warned that Israeli authorities are systematically depriving people in Gaza of water.
The U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has exposed many countries' heavy dependency on oil and gas imports.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 28, 2026
Nations meet to discuss fossil fuel exit as Iran war drives up prices
The gathering will focus on practical steps to shift economies away from fossil fuels, rather than setting new global targets of the kind agreed to at U.N. climate summits.
Some 74% of those surveyed in a recent poll by Nikkei and TV Tokyo said energy-saving is needed.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2026
Japanese public wants energy-saving as Takaichi holds back
The war in Iran is putting pressure on Japan to consider energy-saving measures, a challenge for the prime minister as she seeks to calm public anxiety over potential shortages.
Yair Lapid (right) and Naftali Bennett during a weekly Cabinet meeting in Jerusalem on Sept. 18, 2022.The new party they formed, called "BeYachad" meaning "together" in Hebrew, has not released a formal policy platform.
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 28, 2026
Netanyahu’s rivals are joining forces. Would they shift Israel’s security policy?
The new party from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top rivals — right-leaning Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair Lapid — is called “BeYachad,” or “together” in Hebrew.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz gives a press statement during the CDU/CSU parliamentary group’s executive committee meeting in Berlin on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2026
Trump being ‘humiliated’ in Iran talks, Germany’s Merz says
The German chancellor said he didn’t see “what strategic exit the Americans are now choosing” with regard to their country’s conflict with Iran.
U.S. President Donald Trump leaves a press conference at a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands on June 25, 2025.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 28, 2026
Bruised by Trump, NATO alliance considers end to annual summits
Trump has engaged repeatedly in scathing criticism of many of NATO members, most recently for not providing more assistance to U.S. military with Iran.
Toyota all-new RAV4 SUVs are displayed during its world premiere event in Tokyo in May last year.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2026
Toyota sees sales decline as Iran conflict looms over operations
Global sales in March — including those of subsidiaries Daihatsu and Hino — fell 5.8% from a year earlier to 983,126 units.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks at the Upper House Budget Committee session in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
Japan won’t impose fuel-saving measures, Takaichi says
The move signals confidence in Japan’s energy response as it seeks alternative oil supplies amid disruptions caused by the Strait of Hormuz blockade.
Nomura Holdings has been benefiting from volatile global markets and a boom in investing and dealmaking at home, but the coming quarters may provide a test for the firm as the Iran war puts a strain on the global economy.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 27, 2026
Nomura stock hit after research affiliate writedown and Europe loss
The results overshadowed a second straight year of record earnings for Japan’s biggest brokerage.
A Palestinian man casts his ballot at a polling station during municipal elections in the Palestinian town of Birzeit, north of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
Abbas loyalists win Palestinian municipal elections, including some seats in Gaza
Saturday’s ballot marked the first elections of any ‌kind in the Gaza ‌Strip since 2006 and the first Palestinian polls since the Gaza war began more than ​two years.
Russian troops at a Victory Day military parade rehearsal in St. Petersburg last week. Russia's military spending rose 5.9% in 2025 to $190 billion, equivalent to 7.5% of GDP.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 27, 2026
Global military spending surges on insecurity, report finds
The three top spenders — the United States, China and Russia — spent a combined total of $1.48 trillion, just over half of global expenditure.
Former head of political security in south Syria's Daraa province, Atif Najib attends the first trial session at the Palace of Justice, in Damascus on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
Syrian court begins proceedings against Assad and allies
Bashar Assad and his brother had fled Syria and will be tried in absentia.
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.
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.
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.
Reform panel calls for easing data center building standards
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi emphasized that the government will promote reforms of regulations and systems that fit the artificial intelligence era.
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.
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.
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.

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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