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July 01, 2026
 

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TRADE

Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi fields questions from reporters after hosting an online summit of the Japan-led Asia Zero Emission Community framework on Wednesday.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 19, 2026
Takaichi actively engages in summit diplomacy over Iran crisis
The Japanese PM aims to showcase Tokyo’s unique approach, capitalizing on international relationships it has nurtured since the end of World War II.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi speaks during the Liberal Democratic Party's annual convention in Tokyo on Sunday.
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2026
Japan pledges ‘all possible measures’ for Hormuz safety
Momentum for a lasting peace has been building, with Tehran saying Friday that Hormuz is open for commercial shipping after Israel agreed to a ceasefire in Lebanon.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron leave a news conference after the multinational virtual summit at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris on Friday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 18, 2026
European leaders offer military help to secure Strait of Hormuz
Trump said the waterway is “open and ready for business,” though a U.S. naval blockade would remain in place until a broader agreement is reached.
Jason Cheung, CEO of Huntar Co., a U.S.-based toymaker with a factory in China, said, "It'll be nice to get that money back," but added, "it looks like the government is trying to make it difficult."
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2026
Companies scramble for tariff refunds as U.S. prepares to launch claim process
Some firms preparing claims said they are worried about a last-minute legal move by the Trump administration that could slow the process.
Crude oil buyers in Japan led the charge to purchase May-loading cargoes from the U.S. early in the month, along with South Korean, Singapore and Thai processors.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2026
Asia relying on U.S. crude to replace Middle East supply
U.S. exports of oil, including crude and refined products, reached a record 13 million barrels a day last week, government data showed.
A vessel is seen in the Strait of Hormuz, off the coast of Oman’s Musandam province, on Sunday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 16, 2026
Iran proposes allowing ships to exit Oman side of Hormuz free of attack, source says
The proposal hinges on whether Washington is prepared to meet ​Tehran’s demands, the ​source added.
People take part in an anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rally at Enghelab Square amid a ceasefire between U.S. and Iran, in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD
Apr 16, 2026
U.S. optimistic of deal with Iran as it increases economic pressure
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he believes the war with Iran is nearly over, even as a shipping blockade he announced in the Strait of Hormuz came into effect.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks at an International Institute of Finance event during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in Washington on Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 15, 2026
Bessent says China has been unreliable partner by hoarding oil during war
China already had a strategic petroleum reserve that was roughly the same size as that of the entire reserve held by the 32-member International Energy Agency.
Bathtub makers are suffering material shortages as the Iran conflict stretches on.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 14, 2026
Japanese bathtub makers halt orders as material shortages bite
Major suppliers have stopped giving delivery dates for their own products.
U.S. President Donald Trump signs an order raising tariffs in the Oval Office in Washington in February 2025.
COMMENTARY / World / Geoeconomic Briefing
Apr 14, 2026
Trump, ‘The Art of the Deal’ and the ‘TACO’ myth
The question is not whether Trump “chickens out,” but whether the final outcome leaves him in a stronger position.
Visitors look at a display of semiconductor devices at the SuperSiC booth during SEMICON China, a trade fair for semiconductor technology, in Shanghai on March 25.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2026
China’s export engine stutters as Iran war chills global demand
The effects of the conflict in the Middle East have exposed the risks in Beijing’s strategy of leaning on manufacturing to sustain growth.
The petrodollar system underpinning U.S. financial dominance is breaking down as the Iran war disrupts both oil revenues and foreign demand for Treasurys, exposing limits to their safe-haven status.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 13, 2026
The Iran war just broke the petrodollar
The virtuous loop that has seen America underwrite stability in the Middle East in exchange for Gulf states recycling their dollar revenues into U.S. Treasurys has been broken.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a press conference after attending a special summit of European Union leaders to discuss transatlantic relations in Brussels on Jan. 23.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 13, 2026
Spanish premier Sanchez heads for fourth China visit, risking Trump’s ire
Spain has been one of Europe’s loudest proponents of expanding trade and treating China as a strategic ally rather than the economic and geopolitical rival that Trump sees it ​as.
Cargo ships near the Strait of Hormuz on March 11. The stakes for the peace talks are high, given that a fifth of the world's oil as well as vast quantities of natural gas and fertilizer pass through the key waterway in peacetime.
WORLD / FOCUS
Apr 10, 2026
Shipping toll for Hormuz passage sharply divides nations
While Iran agreed to reopen the strait during the two-week truce with the U.S., it has also spoken of a toll system to fund reconstruction following U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Iran has suggested that it will allow ships to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz during an ongoing two-week ceasefire if they coordinate with its military, though specific procedures remain unclear.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2026
42 Japan-linked ships still stranded in Persian Gulf
The vessels include crude oil tankers, chemical tankers, vehicle carriers, liquefied natural gas ships and tankers carrying petroleum products.
The U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran has left developing countries using Chinese tech and trade, like solar panels and EVs, better able to weather fallout than those relying on American-backed supply chains.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2026
Is Trump the president who lost Asia to China?
After six weeks of the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran and its ensuing counterattacks, it is the countries that bet on Chinese supply chains that are faring best.
A liquefied natural gas tanker is seen at a port in Yokohama, Kanagawa prefecture, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2026
Shipowners eye Hormuz ceasefire window for 800 trapped vessels
The near-closure of the vital waterway has created an unprecedented global energy supply crunch, as Iran tightened its control in the aftermath of U.S. and Israeli strikes.
People stand on the beach in Gujarat, India, near the MT Desert Kite oil tanker carrying Russian oil in the Arabian Sea, on March 11.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2026
Whether oil and gas or green tech, India depends on imports
​India imports 80% of its oil and gas, and while it produces some green minerals like copper and graphite, it is dependent on imports for others such as lithium, cobalt and nickel.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian meets with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing in September. China is trying to leverage its close ties with Iran to present itself as a mediator in the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict.
COMMENTARY
Apr 7, 2026
China can’t end the Iran war. But it can shape the endgame.
Beijing does have skin in this game and, therefore, incentive to find a solution.
An employee inspects a printed circuit board at a factory, which is in partnership with Agilian Technology, in Dongguan, China, on March 16.
BUSINESS / Tech
Apr 6, 2026
How one factory in China learned to live with Trump, tariffs and turmoil
A Chinese electronics supplier ended 2025 more convinced than ever of China’s manufacturing strengths.
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.
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.
Yen hits 40-year low against the dollar, breaking ¥162 level
Japan's currency broke ¥162 to the dollar on Tuesday in Tokyo.
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

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