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Japan Crude Imports Fall 66% To Record Low
By Tsvetana Paraskova of OilPrice.com
Amid the supply disruption in the Middle East, Japan’s crude oil imports crashed by 66% in April from the same month last year, dropping to an all time low, official Japanese data showed on Friday.
Japan imported 4.07 million kilolitres, or about 850,000 barrels per day (bpd), of crude oil last month, down by 65.7% from the April 2025 levels, the monthly petroleum statistics of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) showed.
Crude imports from the Middle East region, which delivered more than 90% of Japan’s total crude imports before the war, plunged by 68% in April from a year earlier.
Japan’s imports from Saudi Arabia crashed by nearly 58%, and supply from the United Arab Emirate (UAE) to Japan plunged by 69.4%, the Japanese government data showed. Of the total severely reduced crude supply, the Middle East continued to account for more than 90% of Japanese crude imports, at 93.7% in April.
Japan in April imported the lowest volume of crude oil from the Middle East on record dating back to 1979 as the Iran war and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz choked supply from the region.
Japan’s crude imports from the Middle East plummeted by 67.2% in April compared to the same month of 2025, provisional trade data from Japan’s Finance Ministry showed last week. The April 2026 volume, estimated in Japan at 3.843 million kiloliters of crude oil, was the lowest since data collection began in 1979.
Japan has just welcomed the first shipment of Middle East crude via the Strait of Hormuz since the Iran war began on February 28.
Japan is also releasing crude from its strategic reserves as part of an IEA-coordinated global effort to release 400 million barrels of crude and oil products.
The ongoing oil stocks release, which is Japan’s biggest ever, is helping Japanese refiners increase throughput. So is alternative supply from producers outside the Middle East, including rare cargoes from Azerbaijan and Latin America.
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Anti-Trump Entertainers Bolt From Freedom 250 Celebration
Several entertainers abruptly backed out of President Donald Trump-linked Freedom 250 concerts this week after learning more details about the patriotic celebration planned for the National Mall.
As American Greatness reports, the cancellations add to the long-running tensions between Americans and the politically progressive entertainment industry.
Young MC, Morris Day, the Commodores, Bret Michaels, and country singer Martina McBride were among the performers who announced they would no longer appear at “The Great American State Fair,” a series of concerts and events scheduled for June 25 through July 10 in Washington, D.C.
The event is being organized by Freedom 250, a group launched by Trump late last year that describes itself as a “national, non-partisan organization leading the celebration of our Nation’s 250th birthday.”
Trump selected former State Department official Keith Krach to serve as the organization’s CEO.
The cancellations came just one day after organizers unveiled the first wave of performers.
McBride said on social media that she initially agreed to participate because she believed the event would remain politically neutral.
“Yesterday things started changing and what we were told is, in fact, not what is happening,” she wrote Thursday.
Young MC similarly suggested he was uncomfortable with the event’s political ties.
“The artists were never told about any political involvement with the event,” he wrote on Instagram, adding that he hoped to “perform in D.C. in the near future at an event that is not so politically charged.”
Morris Day also confirmed his departure in a brief Instagram statement.
“Contrary to rumor, Morris Day & The Time will not be performing at the ‘GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR,’” he posted.
C& C Music Factory issued a confusing statement, distancing themselves from the event:
"As the Creator of C&C MUSIC FACTORY, I can state that we stand for love of all people and races globally and neutrality in all beliefs, in freedom and justice for all humanity"
The greatest lip-syncers ever - Milli Vanilli - are also out:
"The original/real vocalists of Milli Vanilli, Jodie Rocco, Linda Rocco. Brad Howell, John Davis, and Charles Shaw will NOT be performing their hits live at The Great American State Fair. Others using the name 'Milli Vanilli' that appear on the advertisement should be considered a tribute band with no association vocally or musically to our sound or songs."
At least one “I Love the 90s” act will be there: Vanilla Ice.
“He is proud to help celebrate America’s 250th Anniversary!” a representative for the “Ice Ice Baby” rapper wrote in an email to the AP.
“Everyone is welcome to attend and celebrate USA’s Birthday and our Freedom!”
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Obama-Nominated Judge Orders Trump's Name Removed From Kennedy Center Building
Authored by Matthew Vadum via The Epoch Times,
A federal district judge on May 29 ordered that President Donald Trump’s name be removed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and blocked officials from shuttering the venue for two years for renovations.
Obama-nominated, Washington-based Judge Christopher R. Cooper issued an order temporarily halting the closure and preventing the name change.
“Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it,” the judge said.
The new ruling came in response to litigation initiated in December 2025 by Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) who sued Trump and the Kennedy Center board of trustees over its renaming as the Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Beatty is an ex officio member of the center’s board of trustees.
Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) (C) and Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) (C) arrive for an event on Capitol Hill in Washington on Sept. 3, 2025. Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
“Representative Beatty is entitled to summary judgment on the renaming issue,” Cooper wrote Friday.
“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President [John] Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” the judge wrote.
Cooper also ordered that Beatty have her voting rights restored as an ex officio trustee.
“The Center’s organic statute makes no distinction between the powers of general and ex officio trustees,” Cooper wrote.
“Nothing in the statute permits the Board to discriminate categorically between the two as to fundamental trustee rights,” the judge wrote.
“And stripping ex officio trustees of their voting rights runs afoul of common-law trust principles incorporated into the statute, principles which presumptively place trustees on equal footing when it comes to participating in the trust’s administration.”
Days before, the Kennedy Center board had unanimously voted to rename the institution the Trump-Kennedy Center.
That same day, new lettering was installed on the outside of the building along with digital rebranding.
Tyler Durden Fri, 05/29/2026 - 17:40