ASEAN foreign ministers declared “significant progress” in negotiations on a long-awaited Code of Conduct (COC) for the South China Sea at their 59th Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Manila on Friday, 25 July, expressing collective hope that talks could be concluded…
Washington is closing a loophole — and the implications extend well beyond American borders. On Monday, 20 July, President Donald Trump signed an executive order designed to substantially restrict defence contractors’ ability to source critical minerals and other sensitive materials…
A Historic Reversal in Global Opinion For roughly two decades, Pew Research Center’s tracking of global attitudes consistently placed the United States ahead of China in international favourability. That long-standing pattern has now broken. In its latest survey, conducted between…
Picture the scene: a Singapore office tower, mid-afternoon, the equatorial sun pressing down at 33°C outside, and inside, a colleague reaching under her desk for a cardigan. The air-conditioning has been cranked to somewhere near arctic. It is a small,…
On a Monday morning in Washington, President Donald Trump stood before cameras to announce the launch of a new federal programme — tax-deferred investment accounts for every American child under the age of 18. The initiative, branded as Trump Accounts,…
When the United States Supreme Court handed down a 6-3 decision on Tuesday affirming birthright citizenship for children born on American soil — including those born to parents present unlawfully or on temporary visas — President Donald Trump did not…
A diplomatic contradiction played out in public on Tuesday, with US President Donald Trump announcing imminent nuclear talks with Iran in Doha, and Tehran flatly denying any such meeting had been requested or arranged. Trump posted on Truth Social with…
Cross-Border Strikes and a City Under Siege Pakistan launched ground operations and air strikes along the Afghan border in the immediate aftermath of a significant militant assault on Karachi, with Islamabad claiming its forces killed 29 militants in coordinated precision…
Rubio Reassures Gulf Arab Partners on Iran Talks, But Concerns Over Exclusion Persist U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio concluded a three-nation Gulf tour on Thursday insisting that Washington’s partnerships with its Arab allies remain “rock solid,” even as those…
Iran’s Pezeshkian Rules Out Missile Programme in US Nuclear Deal, Calls Arsenal Essential to National Survival Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian declared on Tuesday in Islamabad that Tehran’s missile programme is entirely excluded from the recently concluded 14-point memorandum of understanding…
