The Specter

🇯🇵🇺🇸 | Okinawans to US troops: "You are not welcome!" During Okinawa Memorial Day, US military personnel attended the mourning ceremony. Meanwhile, protesters gathered in Okinawa on Tuesday to condemn the continued US military presence on the island. Over 6,200 crimes have been linked to US military personnel since 1972 in Okinawa. The Battle of Okinawa marked one of the bloodiest battles of WWII, when roughly 100,000 Imperial Japanese forces fought US invaders. Okinawans suffered atrocities by Japanese and US forces alike. The commemorations came as anger continues over the heavy concentration of US military facilities. As tensions rise across the region once again, the island finds itself exactly where it was 80 years ago: on the frontline of someone else's war.

🇵🇸 | Our reporters spoke to survivors of ongoing ceasefire violations across the Gaza Strip. Displaced families living in a refugee camp west of Gaza City recounted their night under Israeli bombardment on Wednesday. Witnesses described a harrowing scene in which sleepy children, people with special needs, and entire families were forced to flee, leaving everything behind to survive the attack. "There is no ceasefire on the ground," people in Gaza continue to say. Between military strikes, the advancing "yellow line," and the obstruction of humanitarian aid and reconstruction materials, Palestinians remain trapped in a cycle of survival, often forced to rebuild from nothing after every bombardment. At least 1,029 Palestinians have been killed since the October ceasefire.

🇺🇸🇯🇵🇵🇭🇰🇷 | This is how a US-led alliance is preparing for conflict in the South China Sea. Fresh footage shows the US military and allies launching amphibious raid simulations as tensions with Beijing on the disputed vital waterways rise. Philippine military officials have recently claimed China may move to seize full control of disputed areas, setting a precedent for escalating US interference. Beijing recently imposed sanctions on Filipino military officials over unspecified “irresponsible remarks” about China. The Scarborough Shoal has become a flashpoint of navy standoffs, which is vital to control international shipping lanes carrying over $3 trillion in global trade. US War Department official Pete Hegseth recently announced a new period of quasi-non-stop militarization of US allies as a new policy to encircle China.

🇸🇴 🇮🇱 | Reports suggest that the Israeli government is expanding its military presence in Africa through the Somaliland breakaway region. The Israeli state became the first government in the world to recognize Somaliland, declaring it on 26 December 2025 "in the spirit of the Abraham Accords." Somaliland sits 30 km south of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, where roughly 12% of global trade passes. Its coastline faces Yemen across the water. The breakaway region declared independence from Somalia three decades ago and has sought recognition ever since. Until now, no government had granted it. In the months after the regonition, the two sides moved quickly. A Somaliland embassy opened in Jerusalem. President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, visited the grave of Theodor Herzl, the founder of Zionism. Unconfirmed reports place around 50 Israeli troops in the territory. Inside Somaliland, religious leaders were detained after sermons criticizing the deal. The recognition came with conditions: host a base for the Israeli military, sign on to the Abraham Accords, and take in Palestinians displaced from Gaza, a resettlement Sudan and Somalia had already refused.

Round-up of the reality in Okinawa under US military bases today.

On April 1, US forces landed on Okinawa. Over the next three months, at least 150,000 Okinawan civilians, a third of the population and more than the Japanese and US casualties combined, died in the crossfire.

🇺🇸🇯🇵 | Okinawa was sacrificed once to “save” mainland Japan. More than 80 years later, it’s happening again. As tensions rise across the region once again, the island finds itself exactly where it was 80 years ago: on the frontline of someone else’s war. Read on.

🇯🇵 | Japanese football fans are right now a reason for outrage, especially among East Asians. Following the latest win by Japan at the ongoing FIFA World Cup against Tunesia, Japanese fans inside the stadium but also in Tokyo have displayed the “Rising Sun” flag used by Imperial Japan. For East Asians and Southeast Asians, the Japanese imperial flag symbolizes some of the most notorious crimes imaginable. Under the Rising Sun flag, Japanese forces occupied, colonized, plundered, and killed tens of millions of people. While only some people raised the imperial flag at today’s celebrations, thousands of others were seen celebrating next to it seemingly unbothered at Shibuya Crossing in the Japanese capital. Japan has been repeatedly criticized by victim nations of its imperial era for never having been actively cleansed of its fascist elements or having paid significant reparations.

🇯🇵 | Japanese PM Sanae Takaichi was disrupted by anti-war activists while she was giving a speech in Okinawa. Today marks Okinawa Memorial Day, in remembrance of the over 240,000 victims of the Battle of Okinawa. One of the bloodiest battles of WWII ensued when roughly 100,000 Imperial Japanese forced clashed with US invaders. Okinawans suffered atrocities by Japanese and US forces alike. Takaichi was giving a speech in which she also mourned the “precious lives” of the Imperial Japanese forces and “the youth who fell in battle to protect their country.” This is not an isolated incident. Takaichi is an avid supporter of the Yasukuni Shrine, a memorial in Tokyo that honors Japan's Class-A war criminals. Since Takaichi took power last year, Japan has initiated its most profound re-militarization process since WWII. Her administration has sparked long-unseen tensions with Beijing over issues like openly discussing the possibility of war against China over the Taiwan question.

🇮🇱 🇺🇸 | The Israeli PM Netanyahu just stated: "I greatly appreciate the support we have received from our American friends. But today I say, we need our own independent weapons-production system. We must manufacture our own armaments." As the crack in US-Israeli relations becomes increasingly evident following the US-Iran deal, Israeli PM Netanyahu has declared his intention to detach Israeli affairs from US economic and military support. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US has provided more than $300 billion in total economic and military assistance to Tel Aviv since 1948. The current 2019–2028 Memorandum of Understanding commits the US to $38 billion over ten years, including $33 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $5 billion for missile systems. Following October 7, the US Congress approved additional funding packages that included $3.5 billion in FMF and a broader $10.6 billion support package.

🇹🇳 | Protesters marched in Tunisia to denounce racism against Black migrants. "We are all Africans," said Nayla Zaghlami of the Association of Democratic Women. The protest rebuked President Kais Saied, who in February 2023 told his security council that "hordes" of African migrants were a "criminal plan" to alter the country's demographic make-up. The speech triggered an immediate wave of evictions, dismissals and arrests. The violence soon moved to the borders. After unrest in the coastal city of Sfax in 2023, Tunisian authorities bused Black people off the streets, many regardless of their legal status, and abandoned them in the desert, without food or water. In July 2023, Saied and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a deal earmarking €105 million for "migration management," part of a near-€1 billion package.

🇵🇸 | “There is no ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.” – Our reporters in Gaza captured reactions to latest Israeli attacks. Several Israeli strikes hit the Gaza Strip this morning, including a double-tap strike that claimed the life of a Palestinian teenage student and wounded several others. Israeli attacks have claimed the lived of more than 1,020 Palestinians across Gaza since the ceasefire was supposed to take effect last October. The Palestinian Red Crescent said its crews recovered the body of 16-year-old Raghad Ashour after several strikes hit the Rimal neighbourhood, a densely populated area, as high school students made their way to exams. A medical source said a paramedic also lost their life and another person was seriously wounded in a separate drone strike in Al-Mawasi.

🇨🇴 | Unrest in Colombia after far-right candidate claims victory in disputed elections. Mass protests have erupted across Colombia after Trump-backed far-right candidate Abelardo de la Espriella claimed a razor-thin victory. Preliminary counts show de la Espriella leading by fewer than 250,000 votes. Leftist Senator Iván Cepeda announced that party lawyers are contesting 27% of the ballot boxes due to irregularities. 'Outgoing President Gustavo Petro leveled serious allegations of foreign meddling, claiming Israeli intelligence interfered in the electoral process. The far-right leader’s victory speech has already escalated tensions. De la Espriella issued a chilling openly urged his supporters to "confront" anyone questioning the vote. His aggressive rhetoric mirrors his recent pledge to Donald Trump, where he vowed to use his platform to target the left and aggressively dismantle progressive political movements. De la Espriella, a millionaire lawyer turned ultra-conservative influencer, anchors his hardline platform in deep-rooted alliances with traditional corporate elites and the global far-right. Known for defending figures linked to right-wing paramilitary groups, he campaigns on aggressive military crackdowns and mega-prisons.

🇺🇸🇨🇳 | The US is preparing for war in the South China Sea, and not many are talking about it. Footage from today shows US and Filipino forces practising amphibious raids to seize contested terrain. The US is accelerating joint military maneuvers with the Philippines. Over the past five years, US-Philippine military maneuvers have surged uninterrupted. Official sources confirm that operations have scaled from roughly 300 annual drills in 2020 to surpassing 500 scheduled deployments in 2026. Crucially, this geopolitical encirclement against China extends far beyond the Philippine archipelago. The US is constructing a comprehensive anti-China military network, establishing a functional, quasi-NATO alliance framework across the Western Pacific in anything but words. This surge centers on "Balikatan", the Philippines' premier annual military drill widely seen as a simulated conflict targeting China. By pulling in regional allies, the US introduced South Korean forces and—for the first time since World War II—deployed active Japanese combat troops onto Philippine soil. The massive Balikatan 2026 mobilization deployed a staggering 17,000+ troops. Powered by a 10,000-strong US contingent, it marks the most complex in the exercise's history. At the ASEAN 2026 Summit, US War Secretary Pete Hegseth formalized this deterrence doctrine. The strategy mandates continuous, non-stop militarization across East and Southeast Asia. Hegseth pointed out Tokyo's historic re-armament of Japan as a "leading example." Roughly one-third of global maritime trade, amounting to between $3 trillion and $5 trillion in goods, transits the South China Sea annually.