Japan: Ishiba government opens office on migrants, a hot topic ahead of the vote

Today's headlines: Israel issues another evacuation order for Gaza as ultra-Orthodox party announces (again) its exit from Netanyahu's government; Chinese economy continues to grow by 5.2% thanks to acceleration in orders during the tariff truce; Indian foreign minister in Beijing for the first time since 2020; Only electric motorcycles in Hanoi from July 2026; Health risks prompt postponement of open water swimming debut at World Championships in Singapore.

JAPAN

The Japanese government has opened a new office within the Cabinet Secretariat to address concerns about the impact of foreigners on Japan. The issue has become a hot topic during the campaign for the Upper House elections scheduled for this weekend. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the office would ensure that citizens' concerns about foreign residents were heard. Despite having long maintained a restrictive immigration policy, Japan has begun to gradually open its doors to foreign workers to address labour shortages, which are set to worsen in the coming years due to the rapid ageing of the population.

GAZA-ISRAEL

The Israeli army has issued a new mandatory evacuation order, calling on civilians in 16 neighbourhoods in northern Gaza to leave their homes immediately. A military spokesman called it an “urgent warning to all those still in Gaza City and Jabalia”, ordering them to head south towards al-Mawasi. Israel designates al-Mawasi as a so-called “safe zone”, but the area has been repeatedly bombed. Meanwhile, the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party has announced its withdrawal from both the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition amid the controversy over compulsory military service for yeshiva students. If the move is confirmed in the coming hours, Netanyahu's government would be left with the support of only 61 out of 120 members of the Knesset.

CHINA

The Chinese economy grew by 5.2% in the second quarter of 2025, slightly higher than analysts' expectations despite ongoing trade tensions with the United States. Growth in the first quarter was 5.4%. So far, China has managed to avoid a sharp recession thanks to a fragile trade truce reached with the United States in mid-May (in June, many exporters rushed to ship orders before the August deadline) and government policy support. However, analysts warn that the second half of 2025 could prove more difficult.

VIETNAM

Vietnam will ban fossil fuel-powered motorcycles and mopeds in central Hanoi from July 2026 in an effort to reduce air pollution, state media reported on Monday, restricting the main means of transport for many of the city's 8 million inhabitants. The directive, issued by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, covers the area within the main ring road around central Hanoi, where much of the city's commercial activity is concentrated. The city has nearly 7 million motorcycles and 1 million cars.

INDIA-CHINA

Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar is in Beijing, where he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping this morning. This is the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to the country in five years, since the military clashes in the Galwan Valley in 2020.

The visit is particularly significant as it comes just weeks after China provided military support to Pakistan, which emerged strongly during the conflict between India and Pakistan, triggered in April by the terrorist attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 civilians.

SINGAPORE

In Singapore, the women's 10 km race, the first event in the open water programme of the World Swimming Championships, scheduled for this morning in Sentosa, has been postponed a few hours before the start of the event because water quality levels did not meet “acceptable thresholds”, according to the organisers. World Aquatics announced that the decision was made “in the best interests of athlete safety” and that the race has been rescheduled for tomorrow morning. This is the first time that a Southeast Asian country has hosted the World Swimming Championships.

RUSSIA

In St Petersburg, a group of activists plans to start collecting signatures to organise a referendum against the construction of two new skyscrapers by the giant Gazprom, as part of the Peterburg City project near the Ladozhskaya metro station, which would even obscure the view of St. Peter and St. Paul's Cathedral and the original fortress.

ARMENIA

Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, currently under arrest for supporting the coup attempts in Armenia, has declared his intention to form a new political movement to “fight the anti-popular policies of Prime Minister Nikol Pašinyan”, trusting “in the strength of our people, who will not be destroyed by repression”, as demonstrated by the demonstrations in his support in recent days.

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