India is spending hundreds of millions of dollars to build roads, tunnels and landing strips throughout the Himalayas, as it prepares for a possible future clash with its longtime nemesis China. India’s bloody border clash with China in 2020, which killed soldiers on both sides, exposed an alarming vulnerability along the disputed 2,200-mile border, a […]
Read MoreBy Stephen M. Bland Kyrgyzstan says it is close to ending a near two-decade ban that has kept its airlines off European routes, after President Sadyr Japarov said the country has reached a “critical point” in efforts to leave the European Union’s air safety blacklist. The comments come as Kyrgyz officials push for international recognition […]
Read MoreBy Andrew Hammond The coming year will surely have some significant surprises in store, both politically and economically. However, one relatively predictable feature of the global landscape will be the launch of China’s new five-year plan, the 15th such iteration. Beijing’s five-year plans have long been defining characteristics of not just the Chinese but also the […]
Read MoreUzbekistan exported goods worth $1.3 billion to Afghanistan between January and November this year, making Afghanistan the country’s third-largest export destination, data from Uzbekistan’s national statistics committee showed. Russia remained Uzbekistan’s top export market during the period, importing about $4 billion worth of goods, followed by China with $1.9 billion, the committee said. Uzbekistan’s total […]
Read MoreDEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: Barefoot children played on chilly sand as Gaza ‘s thousands of displaced people prepared threadbare tents on Saturday for another round of winter rain. Some families in the central town of Deir Al-Balah said they had been living in tents for about two years, or for most of the war between […]
Read MoreRIYADH: Saudi utility giant ACWA Power has signed a public-private partnership agreement valued at SR1.5 billion ($400 million) to develop Azerbaijan’s first large-scale Caspian Sea water reverse osmosis desalination plant. In a Tadawul statement, ACWA Power said the agreement was signed with the government of Azerbaijan, represented by the Azerbaijan State Water Resources Agency as […]
Read MoreBy Zhao Ziwen Saudi Arabia has pledged to boost investments in America to nearly US$1 trillion, but according to analysts Riyadh could struggle to meet that target. Rather, they said the pledge – announced when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited Washington last month – was more about the “political display” than a binding commitment. […]
Read MoreBEIJING: Top diplomats from Thailand and Cambodia kicked off two days of talks in China on Sunday as Beijing seeks to strengthen its role in mediating the two countries’ border dispute, a day after they signed a new ceasefire. The ceasefire agreement signed on Saturday calls for a halt to weeks of fighting along their […]
Read MoreA group of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries, alongside the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), have firmly rejected Israel’s announcement of its recognition of the Somaliland region within Somalia. In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the ministers condemned Israel’s decision, announced on December 26, warning that the move carries “serious repercussions for […]
Read MoreBy Sam Beltran As the Philippines wraps up a tumultuous year punctuated by colourful barbs thrown across warring political houses, an ongoing corruption scandal surrounding flood control projects threatens to derail President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr’s administration. Externally, Manila has been embroiled all year in a long-standing territorial row with Beijing in the South China Sea […]
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