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July 04, 2026
 

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Jonathan Landay
From left: FBI Director Kash Patel, Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. James Adams, Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Tulsi Gabbard, Acting National Security Agency Director Lt. Gen. William Hartman and CIA Director John Ratcliffe testify before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 18.
WORLD / Politics
Jun 3, 2026
Top U.S. spy agencies feud over turf and mission
The infighting between the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) has flared for more than a year.
U.S. Army soldiers walk in formation during the Sword 26 exercise, in Bemowo Piskie, Poland, on May 11.
WORLD / Politics
May 20, 2026
U.S. plans to shrink forces available to NATO during crises, sources say
U.S. President Donald Trump has made it clear he ⁠expects European countries to take over from the United States primary responsibility for the continent’s security.
A man holds a flag with a picture of Iran's former supreme leaders, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (left) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (center), and new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, during a rally in Tehran on April 29.
WORLD
May 5, 2026
U.S. intelligence indicates limited new damage to Iran’s nuclear program
Analysts estimate that Iran would need up to one year to build a nuclear weapon, assessments that remain broadly unchanged even after two months of war.
Iran's grip on the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital oil artery, provides the only real leverage it has over the United States.
WORLD
Apr 4, 2026
U.S. intelligence warns Iran unlikely to ease Hormuz Strait chokehold soon
Tehran’s grip on the world’s most vital oil artery provides the only real leverage it has over Washington.
A Palestinian man climbs on the remnants of an Iranian missile that landed in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Hares on Tuesday.
WORLD
Mar 29, 2026
U.S. can only confirm about a third of Iran’s missile arsenal destroyed
Iran’s drone capability may be similarly depleted, according to one source.
Smoke rises following a strike on the Bapco Oil Refinery, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, on Sitra Island Bahrain, on March 9.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 23, 2026
Patriot missile involved in Bahrain blast likely U.S.-operated, analysis finds
Both Bahrain and Washington have blamed an Iranian drone attack for the March 9 blast, which the Gulf kingdom said injured 32 people including children.
Shia Muslims holding portraits of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and of his son, new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, shout anti-U.S. and anti-Israel slogans during the Youm-e-Ali procession in Karachi on Wednesday, marking the anniversary of the death of Imam Ali, the son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad.
WORLD / Politics
Mar 12, 2026
U.S. intelligence indicates Iranian government is not at risk of collapse, sources say
With political pressure building over soaring oil costs, U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested he will end the biggest American military operation since 2003 “soon.”
The site of a Russian drone strike in Odesa, Ukraine, on Tuesday
WORLD / Politics
Feb 19, 2026
U.S.-led Ukraine peace deal this year unlikely, top European spy chiefs say
The officials believe Russia does not want to end the war quickly, and is instead using talks with the U.S. to push for sanctions relief and business deals.
Puerto Ricans line up at a U.S. voting booth in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 12, 2026
Trump’s ‘Stop the Steal’ lawyer pushed for voter fraud evidence from U.S. intelligence agency
Some officials are attempting to prove the president’s charges that the 2020 election was stolen, a claim repeatedly rejected by courts.
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard speaks during a press briefing at the White House in Washington last July.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 11, 2026
Trump’s spy chief Gabbard winds down intelligence task force
The task force, which was tasked with rooting out politicization from intelligence agencies, has been accused of being a tool for partisan attacks by the Trump administration.
US President Donald Trump speaks with the media after signing a funding bill to end a partial government shutdown in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Tuesday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 4, 2026
Trump’s call to ‘nationalize’ elections draws furious pushback from Democrats
Democratic lawmakers voiced concern that the president intends to interfere with the November midterms that will determine control of Congress.
Russian President Vladimir Putin visits the National Defense Control Center to oversee the test of a Russian hypersonic missile system called Avangard, which can carry nuclear and conventional warheads, in Moscow in December 2018.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 1, 2026
Barring last-minute nuclear deal, U.S. and Russia teeter on brink of new arms race
Meanwhile, China’s arsenal is growing, unchecked by agreements between Washington and Moscow.
An image shows a former airbase in eastern Belarus where Russia is believed to be stationing its new nuclear-capable hypersonic cruise missiles.
WORLD
Dec 27, 2025
Russia likely placing new hypersonic missiles at former airbase in Belarus, researchers find
Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear his intention to place the missiles, but the exact location has not been previously reported.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during his annual end-of-year news conference, in Moscow on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Dec 20, 2025
U.S. intelligence indicates Putin’s war aims in Ukraine are unchanged
The reports present a starkly different picture from that painted by U.S. President Donald Trump and his Ukraine peace negotiators.
U.S. President Joe Biden meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in July 2024.
WORLD
Dec 13, 2025
U.S. briefly withheld some intelligence from Israel during Biden era
The decision came as worries intensified in the U.S. intelligence community about the number of civilians killed in Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
The Russian flag over the Embassy of Russia in Washington. Despite U.S. President Donald Trump's tight grip over the Republican Party, foreign policy disagreements between the administration and lawmakers appear to be widening.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Dec 12, 2025
Contrasting views of Russia show deepening U.S. Republican foreign policy split
Despite the U.S. president’s tight grip over the Republican Party, foreign policy disagreements between the administration and lawmakers seem to be widening.
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Friday.
WORLD / Crime & Legal
Nov 8, 2025
U.S. intel found Israeli military lawyers warned there was evidence of Gaza war crimes
The previously unreported intelligence pointed to doubts within the Israeli military about the legality of its tactics in Gaza.
Palestinians seek aid supplies from the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation in the central Gaza Strip in August. U.N. and aid groups have questioned the neutrality of the foundation.
WORLD
Oct 24, 2025
U.S. mulls Gaza aid plan that would replace controversial GHF aid operation
Washington is seeking to facilitate having more deliveries of assistance in the Palestinian enclave under a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
Ukrainian soldiers fire toward Russian troops near a front line, in Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine, on Aug. 20.
WORLD / Politics
Sep 17, 2025
Trump administration clears first Ukraine arms aid paid for by allies, sources say
Since taking office, the Trump administration has only sold weapons to Ukraine or shipped donations which were authorized by former President Joe Biden.
People receive aid distributed by the Aga Khan Development Network in the Dewa Gul Valley of Sawkay district in Kunar province, Afghanistan, on Friday.
WORLD
Sep 6, 2025
U.S. yet to approve any help following Afghanistan earthquake, sources say
The lack of response underscores how President Donald Trump has forfeited decades of U.S. leadership of global disaster relief.
‘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. 
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
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.
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.

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

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