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U.S.

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.
Yuki Kusumi, president of Panasonic Holdings, in the city of Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture, in April 2025
BUSINESS / Companies / FOCUS
May 13, 2026
After cost cuts and reforms, Panasonic enters decisive stage in turnaround
Fiscal 2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for the major manufacturer as it seeks to break free from prolonged stagnation and place its recovery on firmer ground.
An annual rally to commemorate the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Tehran on Feb. 11, 2023. Iran has retained roughly 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, according to U.S. assessments.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2026
U.S. intelligence shows Iran retains substantial missile capabilities
Iran has retained roughly 70% of its prewar missile stockpile, according to U.S. assessments.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping attend a dinner at Mar-a-Lago in West Palm Beach, Florida, on April 6, 2017. Trump informed Xi that night that he had ordered missile strikes on Syria.
COMMENTARY / World
May 13, 2026
Trump’s superpower, unpredictability, has given way to unreliability
It is an open question whether commitments made this week in Beijing will survive the flight home.
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.”
The United Nations headquarters before a meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in New York on April 27
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
May 13, 2026
Who are the candidates running for U.N. secretary-general?
The 10th United Nations secretary-general will be elected this year for a five-year term starting on Jan. 1, 2027.
A passenger aircraft operated by Deutsche Lufthansa in Frankfurt, Germany, on April 13. The airline group — Europe’s largest — said it’s scrapping 20,000 uneconomic short-haul flights in the region this summer.
BUSINESS / Markets
May 13, 2026
How a jet fuel supply crunch threatens summer flights
Faced with higher fuel costs and lower supply, airlines have axed thousands of flights, grounded less-efficient aircraft and raised airfares.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, on Oct. 30 last year.
BUSINESS / Tech
May 13, 2026
Investors say they want Trump and Xi to stay out of AI’s way
Whether the U.S. will relax chip export restrictions will be a point of focus at the two leaders’ summit.
Commuters drive past an anti-U.S. billboard referring to President Donald Trump and the Strait of Hormuz, installed on a building at the Valiasr Square in Tehran on May 10.
WORLD / Politics
May 13, 2026
Iran says U.S. must accept its peace plan or face ‘failure’
The war has spread throughout the Middle East and roiled the global economy despite the ceasefire, impacting hundreds of millions worldwide.
A Saudi fighter jet accompanies Air Force One, carrying U.S. President Donald Trump, on approach to the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh on May 13, 2025.
WORLD
May 13, 2026
Saudi Arabia launched covert attacks on Iran as regional war widened, sources say
The attacks mark the first time that Riyadh is known to have directly carried out military action on Iranian soil and show it is becoming much bolder in defending itself.
U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping attend a welcoming ceremony in Beijing in November 2017 — Trump's last visit to the Chinese capital as U.S. president.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics / FOCUS
May 12, 2026
How China could lull Trump into softening U.S. language on Taiwan
Any changes would be a boon for China, which views “the Taiwan question” as “the most sensitive red line in bilateral relations.”
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.

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