A pause that refreshes? What’s ahead for US-China tariffs and trade talks

By Mark Magnier in New York After months of chest-thumping, accusations and threats, look for US-China trade relations to weather an uneasy pause as the giants retreat from extremist positions, guard against backtracking and alter the negotiating dynamic toward an eventual agreement, analysts and former US officials say. The breather follows this month’s London sit-down […]

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US didn’t destroy Iran’s nuclear programme: Here’s what new intel says

The United States’ strikes on three key Iranian nuclear sites on Sunday failed to destroy underground facilities, and set Tehran’s nuclear programme back only by a few months, according to an assessment of a confidential American intelligence report. The “top secret” document prepared by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) – the intelligence arm of the […]

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Are Trump’s Iran strikes a ‘wake-up call’ for China on US unpredictability?

By Meredith Chen As US air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities call into question the anti-war stance of US President Donald Trump, they may also reinforce Beijing’s assumptions about the unpredictability of the US administration, according to diplomatic observers. The attacks could bolster belief in Beijing that Washington might intervene in regional conflicts, prompting stronger […]

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US, Israeli strikes on Iran nuclear sites: How big are radiation risks?

By Al Jazeera Staff Early on Sunday, the United States bombed three Iranian nuclear sites after more than a week of Israeli strikes on Tehran’s military and nuclear sites, stoking concerns about radiation leaks and contamination in Iran and neighbouring countries in the region. US President Donald Trump said the US strikes “obliterated” key nuclear […]

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With Russian and Chinese nuclear plants, will Kazakhstan balance the risk, or double it?

It was a completely unsurprising surprise announcement. In a highly unusual statement issued on June 14, a Saturday, Kazakh authorities said they had selected Russia’s state-owned Rosatom to build Kazakhstan’s first nuclear power plant, binding the country further to its northern neighbor. “Finally, the spectacle is over,” Kazakh economist Aset Nauryzbaev, who opposed the project, […]

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Decoding PLA moves around Taiwan: 3 categories, 3 levels of signalling?

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 […]

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