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Southeast Asia has been planning a unified electricity grid since 1997. Now, nearly 30 years later, its leaders are giving renewed impetus to the push to get energy flowing seamlessly across borders and seabeds. In Cebu earlier this month, leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations put the power grid’s development high on their summit agenda, aiming to better insulate the region against...
Oil fell as senior US officials gave further, positive signals on progress towards a deal with Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Brent lost as much as 6.2 per cent to US$97.10 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near US$91. Secretary of State Marco Rubio struck a cautiously upbeat tone, saying the US was going to give diplomacy every chance. “We thought we might have some news last nigh...
Oil dropped as the US and Iran edged towards a deal, although US President Donald Trump said that Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain until an agreement was completed. Global crude benchmark Brent fell as much as 5.7 per cent to US$97.64 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was below US$92. Trump said in social-media posts he wouldn’t “rush” into a deal, which “isn’t even...
Oil dropped as the US and Iran edged towards a deal, although US President Donald Trump said that Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain until an agreement was completed. Global crude benchmark Brent fell as much as 5.7 per cent to US$97.64 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was below US$92. Trump said in social-media posts he wouldn’t “rush” into a deal, which “isn’t even...
Oil dropped as the US and Iran edged towards a deal, although US President Donald Trump said that Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain until an agreement was completed. Global crude benchmark Brent fell as much as 5.7 per cent to US$97.64 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was below US$92. Trump said in social-media posts he wouldn’t “rush” into a deal, which “isn’t even...
Oil dropped at the week’s open as the US and Iran edged towards a deal, although US President Donald Trump said Washington’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would remain until an agreement was completed. Global crude benchmark Brent fell as much as 4.2 per cent to US$99.16 a barrel, after declining more than 5 per cent last week, while West Texas Intermediate was near US$92. Trump said in social-...
Geopolitical tensions and a funding crisis are jeopardising peacekeeping missions, particularly those under the auspices of the United Nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) warned on Monday. Just under 79,000 international staff were deployed in international peacekeeping operations at the end of 2025, the lowest number in at least 25 years, the institute said in a ...
Geopolitical tensions and a funding crisis are jeopardising peacekeeping missions, particularly those under the auspices of the United Nations, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) warned on Monday. Just under 79,000 international staff were deployed in international peacekeeping operations at the end of 2025, the lowest number in at least 25 years, the institute said in a ...
Dr Evan Medeiros is the Penner family chair in Asia studies and the Cling family distinguished fellow in US-China studies at Georgetown University. He has served as the National Security Council’s director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia. Medeiros was former president Barack Obama’s top adviser on the Asia-Pacific and was...
Dr Evan Medeiros is the Penner family chair in Asia studies and the Cling family distinguished fellow in US-China studies at Georgetown University. He has served as the National Security Council’s director for China, Taiwan and Mongolia, and later as special assistant to the president and senior director for Asia. Medeiros was former president Barack Obama’s top adviser on the Asia-Pacific and was...
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China last week saw the signing of some 40 documents and a joint statement on strengthening the Beijing-Moscow partnership. The visit, just days after US President Donald Trump’s Beijing trip, is more than a diplomatic coincidence. It is a vivid reminder that the global order is now being shaped less by alliances than by a fluid triangle of China, the Un...
Experts trying to prevent a tank holding a highly toxic and flammable chemical from exploding in Southern California found a “potential crack” in the container that might be reducing the pressure, a fire official said on Sunday. Since Friday, officials have warned that the tank, which contains methyl methacrylate, a chemical used in plastics and manufacturing, could rupture and spill up to 26,500...
Experts trying to prevent a tank of hazardous chemicals from exploding in southern California found a “potential crack” in the container that might be reducing the pressure, a fire official said on Sunday. Since Friday, officials have warned that the tank, which contains methyl methacrylate, a flammable chemical used in plastics and manufacturing, could rupture and spill up to 26,500 litres (7,00...
The US Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”. The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assa...
The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda”. The purge of news releases documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentencings is the latest step by the Trump administration to dramatically rewrite the history of the assault...
A shipment of nearly 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and t...
A shipment of 15,000 tonnes of rice donated by the Chinese government to Cuba has arrived at the port of Havana, the island’s president said on Sunday. The shipment is the first batch of a promised 60,000 tonnes that China says it will donate to Cuba, which is grappling with dire shortages. “That noble gesture of solidarity will reach millions of consumers throughout all the provinces and the spec...
Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party’s headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, fuelling a crisis at the heart of Turkey’s democracy. Clouds of tear gas billowed within the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building while those inside shouted and threw objects at the entrance as police broke through a makeshift barricade. There were no...
Turkish riot police fired tear gas and forced their way into the main opposition party’s headquarters to evict its ousted leadership on Sunday, fuelling a crisis at the heart of Turkey’s democracy. Clouds of tear gas billowed within the Republican People’s Party (CHP) building while those inside shouted and threw objects at the entrance as police broke through a makeshift barricade. There were no...
Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police s...
Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police s...
Security was tightened in South Africa’s Kruger National Park nature reserve after two tourists were found killed there, authorities said on Sunday. The two South African victims, a 71-year-old man and a woman whose age was not disclosed, failed to return to their lodge on Wednesday evening, prompting a search operation. Other tourists eventually found them in a river on Friday afternoon. Police s...
Ukraine is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and a gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following massive Russian air strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday. In a statement published on social media, Sybiha also called for an “appropriate and strong response to the aggressor” following the overnight attacks...
Ukraine is calling for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and a gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) following massive Russian air strikes, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on Sunday. In a statement published on social media, Sybiha also called for an “appropriate and strong response to the aggressor” following the overnight attacks...
An Israeli air strike on a flat in a refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday left three people dead, including a six-month-old child, health officials said. Medical workers named the three who died in the Nuseirat refugee camp as Mohammad Abu Mallouh, the infant’s father, Alaa Zaqlan, the mother, and their child, Osama. Later on Sunday, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian man in the north of the...
An Israeli air strike on a flat in a refugee camp in central Gaza on Sunday left three people dead, including a six-month-old child, health officials said. Medical workers named the three who died in the Nuseirat refugee camp as Mohammad Abu Mallouh, the infant’s father, Alaa Zaqlan, the mother, and their child, Osama. Later on Sunday, Israeli gunfire killed a Palestinian man in the north of the...
As the race to send humans back to the moon heats up, China has been fine-tuning its plans. On Saturday – the day after the US company SpaceX successfully launched its largest and most powerful Starship – the China Manned Space Agency unveiled further details about its plans to integrate its crewed and uncrewed lunar landing programmes into a single mission. The purpose was “to fully leverage the ...
With no food aid, 65-year-old Saeedah Mohammed heads out with a plastic bag to pick tree leaves near her displacement camp in southern Yemen, before serving them to her grandchildren to stave off hunger. Behind the camp wooded hills stretch under a clear sky, while on the ground, yellowed and stony earth is strewn with rubbish. Amid the trash and destitution, daily life manages to organise itself,...
China’s latest space mission, which includes Hong Kong’s first astronaut, lifted off on Sunday night. The Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in northwestern China’s Gansu province at 11.08pm local time on Sunday, according to the China Manned Space Agency. The crew included Lai Ka-ying, the Hong Kong police superintendent a...
An electric atmosphere swept from the edge of the Gobi Desert to Hong Kong on Sunday night, as thrilled residents erupted into cheers to celebrate the historic launch of the Shenzhou-23 space mission featuring the city’s first astronaut, Lai Ka-ying. Lai, a police superintendent and a mother of three, is serving as the payload specialist for the mission. At a Wong Chuk Hang student dorm of the Uni...
