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July 01, 2026
 

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Alistair Smout
Partly assembled cars pass through the battery installation section of the production line at the Nissan car factory in Sunderland, Britain, in December 2025.
BUSINESS
Jun 18, 2026
U.K. in advanced talks with Nissan over Sunderland plant support, sources say
The Japanese carmaker is undertaking a major global ​restructuring that includes selling or closing other factories, cutting 15% of its workforce and shrinking its product lineup.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer meets with Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council, at Downing Street in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 21, 2026
Britain clinches $5 billion Gulf trade deal in shadow of Iran war
The deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council comes after U.S.-Israeli strikes against Iran prompted Iranian attacks on countries in the region, straining energy and food supplies.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer returns to the House of Commons after listening to the King's Speech during the State Opening of Parliament at the Palace of Westminster in London on Wednesday.
WORLD / Politics
May 15, 2026
U.K.’s Starmer faces survival battle as potential rivals circle
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he will battle to keep his job, and sources close ​to him say ‌he is determined to fight any leadership contest.
Green Party candidate for Hackney mayor Zoe Garbett canvasses in London on April 22.
WORLD / Politics
May 4, 2026
U.K.’s leftwing Greens seek to topple Labour’s London strongholds
The trend among urban progressives could cost British Prime Minister Keir Starmer dearly.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves No. 10 Downing St. for the House of Commons in London on Monday.
WORLD / Politics
Apr 23, 2026
Mandelson scandal shatters Starmer’s promise of stable government
During his early days in office, the British prime minister had pledged to “restore honesty ​and integrity to government.”
A man passes by the entrance to the campus of University of Southampton Delhi, a British university and the first to open a campus in India under the National Education Policy 2020, at the International Tech Park in Gurugram, India, on Jan. 29.
WORLD
Feb 12, 2026
Facing pressures at home, U.K. universities set up in India
U.K. universities face pressure at home over the recruitment of international students, with the government determined to reduce immigration.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, right, talks with Britain's ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson during a welcome reception at the ambassador's residence last year.
WORLD / Politics / ANALYSIS
Feb 6, 2026
Once-feted Mandelson becomes nightmare for weakened Keir Starmer
The U.K. prime minister’s appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to the U.S. was once hailed as an inspired move to manage relations with Donald Trump.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng shake hands at Lancaster House in London on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2025
Deal to get U.S.-China trade truce back on track is done, Trump says
The deal removes Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and allows Chinese students access to U.S. universities.
U.S. Secretary of Treasury Scott Bessent (L) and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (R) shake hands as they pose for a photo during trade discussions at the Lancaster House in London on Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2025
U.S.-China trade and minerals talks in London set to extend to second day
Washington and Beijing are trying to revive a temporary truce struck in Geneva that had briefly lowered trade tensions and calmed markets.
U.S. President Donald Trump at the U.S. Steel Corporation Irvin Works facility in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, on Friday
BUSINESS / Markets
Jun 4, 2025
U.K. avoids doubled U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs as countries eye trade pact
The U.S. announcement, which exempts British steel and aluminum from a doubling of tariffs to 50%, came in a proclamation that will raise metals tariffs for other countries.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shake hands on the day of a bilateral meeting inside 10 Downing Street in London on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Oct 11, 2024
Zelenskyy outlines ‘victory plan’ to allies and discusses long-range weapons
The Ukrainian leader is keen for the West to give further support to try to change the balance on the battlefield ahead of a U.S. presidential election and winter.
Diego Garcia — the largest island in the Chagos Archipelago and the site of a major military base used by Britain and the United States — is seen in this undated image the U.S. Navy provided.
WORLD
Oct 4, 2024
U.K. cedes Chagos Island sovereignty to Mauritius and keeps air base
Britain’s deal also could pave the way for people displaced decades ago to return home.
An exit poll predicting that the Labour Party led by Keir Starmer will win 410 seats in Britain's general election is projected onto BBC Broadcasting House in London on July 4, 2024. Labour is set for a landslide win in U.K. election, exit polls showed.
WORLD / Politics
Jul 5, 2024
U.K.’s Labour set to sweep into power with huge majority, exit poll shows
The result would give Labour a majority of 170 and would bring the curtain down on 14 years of increasingly tumultuous Conservative-led government.
Japan Times
WORLD / ANALYSIS
Feb 16, 2023
Scotland’s Nicola Sturgeon bows out at ‘critical moment’ for independence fight
Her success has silenced many critics, but internal fault lines could be exposed by the vacuum she leaves behind.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 3, 2023
In a health system in crisis, Britain’s heart care suffers
The British Heart Foundation charity says full treatment after a heart attack should begin within 18 weeks but a third of patients are currently not being seen within that time.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 12, 2022
Lockerbie plane bombing suspect taken into U.S. custody
Court documents described Abu Agila Mohammad Mas’ud Kheir Al-Marimi as an expert bombmaker who joined Libya’s External Security Organization intelligence service in the 1970s.
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 15, 2022
U.K. announces plan to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda while claims are assessed
Concerns over immigration were a big factor in the 2016 Brexit vote, and Johnson has been under pressure to deliver on his promise to ‘take back control’ of the country’s borders.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 19, 2022
U.K.’s Johnson, facing plot to oust him, says he will not resign
The prime minister is struggling to quell an internal revolt by his own lawmakers who are angry over a series of lockdown parties in Downing Street.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 6, 2022
COVID-19 testing policies under scrutiny worldwide as omicron surge drives up demand
This time last year, vaccines offered hope that the pandemic might be over by now. Instead, the new variant is overloading public health systems.
Japan Times
WORLD
Dec 1, 2021
The race is on to trace the omicron variant
The pace of research highlights the pressure on governments and public health authorities to decide quickly whether they need to take strict steps to curb omicron’s spread.
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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