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July 07, 2026
 

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OIL

Japan may see food and drink prices rise as early as this summer, as war-related disruptions to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz squeeze naphtha supply, driving up plastic packaging costs.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 30, 2026
Food prices in Japan set to rise as war drives up cost of plastic packaging
Prolonged disruption to energy flows via the Strait of Hormuz has cut the availability of naphtha, a critical ingredient used in the production of plastic packaging.
Auto rickshaw drivers, along with members of the Awami Rickshaw Union, protest rising fuel prices in Lahore, Pakistan, on April 7 amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 30, 2026
Get ready for another summer of rage in Asia
Young workers are especially vulnerable. Even before the war, the World Bank had warned of mounting unemployment among the region’s youth.
People gather at a government-organized march to show support for Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader in Iran, at Enghelab Square in Tehran on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2026
Trump holds talks on prolonged Iran blockade and urges Tehran to reach a deal
The U.S. president’s talks with oil executives followed a deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict, which has led the U.S. to try to squeeze Iran’s oil exports with a blockade.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro (right) and Colombian Environment Minister Irene Velez attend the International Conference on the Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia, on Tuesday.
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 30, 2026
Nations urged to ‘go further’ as fossil fuel exit talks wrap in Colombia
Ministers and envoys from nearly 60 countries gathered in Colombia in the hope of speeding up the shift away from fossil fuels and breaking a stalemate at the U.N. climate talks.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, attends a meeting with King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, King of Bahrain.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 30, 2026
UAE oil break exposes deepening Saudi rift as Gulf power shifts
The UAE’ decision to quit OPEC has brought years of tensions with Saudi Arabia into the open, marking a rebalancing of power shaped by the Iran war.
Employees of the Basra Oil Company work at the Nahr Bin Umar Oil and Gas Field on the outskirts of the city of Basra, Iraq, on Thursday. Earlier this month, Baghdad said it had reached "understandings" with the United States and Iran to reduce the impact of the Hormuz blockade on Iraqi oil exports.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 30, 2026
Trump warns Iran blockade could last months, sending oil prices soaring
“They are choking like a stuffed pig,” the U.S. president told one outlet of the naval action on Iran. “And it is going to be worse for them.”
The OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on April 5
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 29, 2026
UAE exit blindsides OPEC and threatens to shake its grip on oil
For OPEC and its partners, the departure will dilute their ability to manage oil prices by adjusting supply.
Russia's shadow fleet vessels wait in the unofficial anchorage area in the Gulf of Finland near Vaindloo, Estonia, on April 10.
WORLD
Apr 29, 2026
Russian ‘shadow fleet’ undeterred by Starmer’s threat as nearly 100 ships cross U.K. waters
Since the U.K. prime minister’s remarks in March, the number of Russian ​vessels subject to sanctions transiting its waters was unchanged from previous months.
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 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.
While climate-change skeptics downplay the issue, earlier blooming cherry trees in Washington and Kyoto serve as visible indicators of the climate crisis, driven by global warming.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 28, 2026
Cherry blossoms are proof of a planet going awry
It was the seventh consecutive year in which the trees flowered earlier than their 20-year average.
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.
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.
A mini laboratory at a blending and fuel pump station for the B50 road test in Lembang, Bandung, Indonesia
ENVIRONMENT / Energy
Apr 28, 2026
War hastens an Indonesian biofuels push that has global stakes
With energy bills rising due to the Iran war, the Southeast Asian nation is fast-tracking the rollout of a diesel blend comprised 50% of biofuels from its vast palm plantations.
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.
Oil tankers off the shore of Singapore
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2026
How Asia-Pacific is fighting a fuel shock that could get worse
The disruption has laid bare how reliant the region is on Middle East energy, and how dwindling stockpiles may hit everything from Taiwan’s chip supply chain to rice harvests.
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.
A woman walks past an image of Iran's late supreme leaders Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini (above left) and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (above center) next to newly elected supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei (above right), and photos strung along the wall of children killed in a missile strike, outside a mosque in the capital Tehran on Saturday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 27, 2026
Trump says Iran can phone if it wants to talk, as Iranian envoy returns to Pakistan
Hopes of reviving peace efforts receded on Saturday when the U.S. president scrapped a visit to Islamabad by his envoys Steve ​Witkoff and Jared Kushner.
Murakami says his novels are ‘different’ from AI literature
Haruki Murakami's first book in three years hit shelves in Japan on Friday.
Thailand gets serious about chasing high-spending tourists
Chinese tourists at Wat Arun Ratchawararam Rathawaramahawihan in Bangkok
Japan needs caregivers. Young Indians are answering the call.
Young people in India's northeast are increasingly studying Japanese in hopes of building new lives and careers in Japan.
Tokyo hospital baby hatch accepts 20 newborns in first year
Hitoshi Kato (left), head of San-ikukai Hospital in Tokyo's Sumida Ward, speaks during a news conference at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building on Thursday.
Hayabusa2 flies past asteroid as Japan aims to acquire data for planetary defense
A graphic illustration of the Hayabusa2 probe flying past the asteroid Torifune
Okinawa’s prized seaweed under threat as oceans warm
Local harvesters gather <i>mozuku</i> during low tide at Hyakuna Beach in the city of Nanjo, Okinawa Prefecture. As the planet warms, rising ocean temperatures are placing increasing pressure on the seaweed industry.
‘Defense,’ not ‘warfare,’ stressed as pacifist Japan beefs up capabilities
Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends an annual training session near Mount Fuji at Higashifuji Training Field in Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture, on June 7.
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.
X Games returns to Chiba with new team format
Skateboarder Sora Shirai practices at Makuhari Messe in Chiba on Friday afternoon. X Games Chiba begins on Saturday.
NU Festival tests Takanawa Gateway City complex’s culture cred
Veteran improvisers Kazuo Imai and Atsuhiro Ito brought some unruly energy to NU Festival, a three-day multimedia event held at the Takanawa Gateway City complex.  

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