By Amber Wangin Beijing Manoeuvres around Taiwan by the People’s Liberation Army have become a routine affair, but their tempo and intensity have steadily increased in recent years. What were occasional sorties before 2020 have evolved into a well-coordinated campaign designed not only for combat training but also for strategic signalling. But not all PLA […]
Read MoreAmbassadors from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman — have raised serious concerns about the safety of nuclear facilities near their borders amid escalating tensions between Israel and Iran. According to Qatar’s state news agency, the ambassadors voiced their concerns directly to […]
Read MoreBy John T Psaropoulos The three largest European nations by population, Germany, France and the UK, held talks with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, in an effort to avert a protracted war in the Middle East. US President Donald Trump, who has said he will decide within two weeks whether […]
Read MoreBy Yashraj Sharma and John T Psaropoulos Returning early from the Group of Seven summit in Canada early on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump told reporters he believed Iran was “very close” to building nuclear weapons. His comments were in keeping with increasingly threatening social media posts and language from Trump against Iran in […]
Read MoreBy John T Psaropoulos As the conflict between Iran and Israel escalates, United States President Donald Trump’s administration is offering mixed signals about whether it still backs a diplomatic solution to Iran’s nuclear programme. Publicly, it has backed a negotiated agreement, and US and Iranian negotiators had planned to meet again this week. As recently […]
Read MoreBy Tom Hussain With President Donald Trump poised to determine whether the United States will plunge into the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, anxiety over the possible consequences is sweeping across the Middle East. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday broadened his demands for Iranian capitulation, moving beyond calls to dismantle the Islamic […]
Read MoreChina and Central Asian countries are willing to improve road and railway connectivity, and will look to open more direct flights to and from China as they agreed to enhance exchanges, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. China will look at simplifying visa procedures with the five Central Asian countries while […]
Read MoreAssociated Press As Israel pounds Iran with air strikes targeting military facilities and its nuclear sites, officials in Tehran have proposed a variety of steps the Islamic republic could take outside launching retaliatory missile barrages. Those proposals mirror those previously floated by Iran in confrontations with either Israel or the United States in the last […]
Read MoreBy Finbarr Bermingham in Brussels European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has accused Beijing of deliberately creating a near-monopoly in the global supply of rare earth elements, then weaponising the world’s reliance on those chains. Addressing the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday, von der Leyen made a hawkish return to form, […]
Read MoreBy John T Psaropoulos Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch strikes against Iran’s nuclear facilities has sparked concerns among sections of the global community, atomic energy regulators and experts on the risks of nuclear contamination. On Monday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog, said there was a possibility of […]
Read More
