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July 04, 2026
 

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U.S.

U.S. President Donald Trump meets Chinese leader Xi Jinping during bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, in October.
COMMENTARY / World
May 12, 2026
Why the Trump-Xi summit will be underwhelming
The best-case scenario for the Trump-Xi summit might be that the two leaders agree to disagree on the many fundamental challenges in the U.S.-China relationship.
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.
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.
Meiji's Hello Panda chocolate cookies are displayed for sale at a store in Manhattan in April.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 12, 2026
Hello Panda: A globally loved snack Japan said goodbye to in 1989
While Meiji struggled in Japan to sell its crunchy, chocolate-filled biscuit snacks first introduced in 1987, Hello Panda had a completely different trajectory overseas.
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.
Nagasaki Mayor Shiro Suzuki said Monday that Taiwan will not be included among the countries and regions invited or notified to attend the city’s Aug. 9 peace ceremony commemorating the victims of the 1945 atomic bombing, as was the case last year.
JAPAN
May 12, 2026
Hiroshima and Nagasaki to take differing approaches toward Taiwan again
The Taiwanese government expressed its intention to participate in ceremonies in both cities last year and did so for the first time.
The Epstein files on public display at the Donald J. Trump and Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Reading Room in New York City on May 8
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2026
Epstein files on display at New York pop-up exhibit, all 3.5 million pages
The pop-up also has a display on the longstanding relationship between U.S. President Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, who died in 2019 while awaiting trial.
Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez (center) speaks with reporters following a session at the International Court of Justice regarding the Essequibo region, in the Hague on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
May 12, 2026
Venezuela has ‘never considered’ becoming the 51st U.S. state: acting president
Since the U.S. captured former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on January 3, U.S. President Donald Trump has boasted of controlling the oil-rich Caribbean country.
A dog sits near a U.S. military vehicle located near the border between the United States and Mexico, in Sunland Park, New Mexico, on Feb. 11.
WORLD
May 12, 2026
Catholic diocese fights U.S. bid to seize land for border wall
The court action marks the latest escalation of controversy over the site, and comes amid recent tensions between Trump and members of his administration and Pope Leo XIV.
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.
A California mayor admitted to posting pro-China propaganda at the direction of Chinese government officials, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 12, 2026
Los Angeles-area mayor to plead guilty to acting as Chinese propaganda agent
The mayor of Arcadia, California, a heavily Chinese-American suburb of Los Angeles, has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge of acting as a foreign agent of China.
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.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Jan. 16.
COMMENTARY / Japan / Geoeconomic Briefing
May 11, 2026
Canada’s China recalibration: Rapprochement or risk-hedging?
Ottawa’s playing of the China card helps counterbalance U.S. pressure.
Foreign tourists take selfies with a statue of Buddha in the Asakusa area of Tokyo on April 15.
JAPAN / Society
May 11, 2026
Moving to Japan a dream for many Americans, survey says
Japan is ranked sixth in preliminary searches by those looking to relocate, but practical factors, including language, bumped it down 10 places in a new report.
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.”
Poland's former Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro during an Independence Day march in Warsaw on Nov. 11, 2022. Ziobro, wanted on several criminal charges in his home country, confirmed on Sunday that he has fled Hungary for the United States, following local media reports.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2026
Polish fugitive minister fled Hungary as Orban ousted
Zbigniew Ziobro and his wife, Patrycja Kotecka, arrived stateside after U.S. President Donald Trump personally intervened to approve their visas.
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.
A screen shows news footage of the bilateral meeting between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Busan, South Korea, at a restaurant in Shenzhen, China, on Oct. 30.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
May 11, 2026
Trump and China’s Xi set for talks spanning Iran, nuclear, trade and AI
The two sides are expected to agree to forums to facilitate mutual trade and investment, but many details are still to be discussed.
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks to the media following his meetings with foreign delegations at the Kremlin in Moscow on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
May 11, 2026
Ukraine and Russia trade accusations of violating U.S.-backed ceasefire
The three-day pause is part of a broader U.S.-led push for peace that has so far failed to end the war, going for more than four years, despite ​months of shuttle diplomacy.
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.
‘My dream is broken’: Japan visa rules push out foreign residents
A man orders from a kebab shop in the Okubo district in Tokyo.
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.
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. 
Japan’s princesses face life-altering legal revisions
Princess Aiko, the daughter of Emperor Naruhito, said in a 2022 news conference upon coming of age that she hopes to “spend a long time together” with her parents.
Japan plans to sharply raise fees for residence permits from October
Foreign tourists walk on the path leading to the Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in May.
Iran war exposed, but hasn’t changed, Japan’s reliance on imported oil
Wind turbines generate energy from strong easterly winds on the Shonai Plain in Yamagata Prefecture. Despite the oil crisis caused by conflict near the Strait of Hormuz, and concerns instability in the region could continue to impact supply and the price of imports, the administration of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi does not seem to be drawing on the war as a pretext to hasten progress toward Japan's renewable goals.
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.

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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