Tag Archives: China

US President Donald Trump was awarded the new Fifa peace prize on Friday at the 2026 World Cup draw – giving the soccer spectacle to set matchups for the quadrennial tournament even more of a Trumpian flair. Trump, who has openly campaigned for the Nobel Peace Prize, had been heavily favoured to win the newly created Fifa prize. He and …

We should call it the “Neom factor”: the force that transforms reasonable aggressive ambition into hallucinogenic fantasyland. It glared out at me last week in a Financial Times headline: “Three ‘Heathrows’ of growth: the unstoppable rise of Middle East airports”. In short, Dubai, Istanbul, Riyadh, Doha and Abu Dhabi in aggregate have airport expansion plans to lift passenger capacity almost …

The Pentagon said on Thursday it has endorsed the tripartite Aukus security pact with the United Kingdom and Australia, which would involve Canberra’s acquisition of at least three Virginia-class nuclear submarines within 15 years. The administration of Donald Trump said earlier this year it was reviewing a 2021 deal for the nuclear-powered attack submarines signed under his presidential predecessor, Joe …

A widely shared image on social media depicting colour sketches of men from different regions in China has ignited debate on the physical appearance of Singaporean Chinese based on their ancestry, with online users concluding they are the least attractive of the gene pool. But psychotherapists say perceptions of beauty might be warped by media and celebrity culture, warning against …

Honduran centrist candidate Salvador Nasralla alleged fraud in the country’s highly contested presidential vote on Thursday after his Trump-backed rival Nasry Asfura pulled narrowly past him overnight. Nasralla, in a post on social media, said the screen displaying the vote data went blank at 3.24am and alleged “an algorithm changed the data”, giving the higher tally to Asfura after Nasralla …

With rising tensions between Beijing and Tokyo disrupting travel plans, Chinese tourists are actively seeking alternative destinations for their winter getaways. While South Korea hopes to capitalise on this diverted tourist flow, it faces fierce competition from popular hotspots like Thailand, Russia and other destinations, according to travel industry officials. The timing aligns with South Korean airlines’ efforts to expand …

The Trump administration has renamed the US Institute of Peace after President Donald Trump and has planted the president’s name on the organisation’s headquarters despite an ongoing fight over the institute’s control. It’s the latest twist in a see-saw court battle over who controls the US Institute of Peace, a non-profit think tank that focuses on peace initiatives. It was …

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday described the United States as an ally to both mainland China and Taiwan, while at the same time asserting that its relationships have not shifted, hours after US President Donald Trump enacted legislation deepening US ties with the self-governed island. Asked about concerns among some in Washington about the Trump administration’s approach to …

As it fights to survive in the new era of economic warfare, the European Union wants to turbo-boost efforts to de-risk its ties with China, using two new proposals. Launched on Wednesday, the blueprints will combine to upgrade the bloc’s economic arsenal and unpick its heavy reliance on China for critical minerals, including rare earths. The first, an economic security …

Japan’s position on Taiwan remains unchanged, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Wednesday, referring to a 1972 commitment that led to the normalisation of ties between Beijing and Tokyo. “The Japanese government’s basic position regarding Taiwan remains as stated in the 1972 Japan-China joint statement, and there has been no change to this position,” Takaichi told the Japanese parliament. …