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Japan and South Korea are watching the Trump-Xi summit through four linked concerns: Taiwan, North Korea, Hormuz, and the future of America’s alliance system in the Indo-Pacific. For Tokyo and Seoul, the issue is not only whether Washington and Beijing can stabilize relations, but whether that stability comes at the expense of allied confidence.

Trump’s expected summit with Xi places Taiwan, Iran, Hormuz, trade and technology at the center of the world’s most consequential power relationship.

On World Press Freedom Day, the issue in MENA is no longer only whether journalists can publish, but whether they can still reach audiences, verify facts, and remain visible in a digital public sphere shaped by pressure, fear, and restriction.

Bahrain used the opening of its U.N. Security Council presidency to press its case against Iran, defend a Hormuz draft resolution and signal concern over regional instability. But questions from journalists exposed a deeper issue: the region still lacks a clear political mechanism to move from escalation management to a credible path toward de-escalation.

The Strait of Hormuz alliance shift did not emerge from a naval deployment, but from a recalibration in Washington. Japan and key European powers moved closer to U.S. strategic expectations, signaling alignment without full military commitment as the burden of securing Hormuz begins to redistribute.

As artificial intelligence reshapes power, the United Nations is struggling to keep pace. In a candid exchange, the Secretary-General acknowledged that global institutions lack leverage over technology powerful enough to influence elections, conflicts and societies. The result is an ambitious effort to set norms and warn of risks, even as enforcement remains beyond reach.