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English and Urdu newspapers at a roadside stall after the US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad on April 12. Photo: AFP
India

Opinion | Why India feels exposed by Pakistan’s diplomacy in Iran war

Pakistan, with its contested reputation, leapt into diplomatic action while India, despite its heft and concerns, was absent from the frame.

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War and conflict

Opinion | Why ceasefires struggle and fail

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China technology

Opinion | US controls chips in the AI race, but China controls the scoreboard

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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | You’re not asking the right question about the Iran war

The standard critique of the war does not ask who requires Iran to remain an enemy rather than a problem to be managed.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
US-China relations

Opinion | As a global Warring States era begins, China must plan for the future

Beijing needs a unifying proposal to replace the current world order that is being upended by US unpredictability.

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Technology

Opinion | AI pessimism is a luxury the Global South cannot afford

Young, developing states must ride the tech waves if they don’t want to fall further behind and learn from others’ mistakes.

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Banking & finance

Macroscope | Can World Bank and IMF leaders rescue a global economy on the brink?

By attacking Iran, the US has put the global economic order in jeopardy.

The International Monetary Fund logo is seen outside its headquarters in Washington. Photo: Reuters
The International Monetary Fund logo is seen outside its headquarters in Washington. Photo: Reuters
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | Despite its hype, AI is just a means to economic resilience

To survive the shift from winner-takes-all capitalism to true sustainability, the learning curve is steep. AI is just the latest tool to help us climb it.

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Apple

Outside In | My love-hate relationship with Apple as an Android user

As Apple marks 50 years amid market and political pressures, the company has inspired jealousy but also admiration for what it has achieved.

US-China relations

Opinion | A stark clash of world views will overshadow Trump’s visit to China

As Xi and Trump prepare to meet, the divergence between their visions of global order has never been more acute.

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
China economy

Opinion | Why Latin America is becoming indispensable to China

Latin America fits Beijing’s need for alternative partners with uncomfortable precision. That is a problem for Washington.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan (right) pose for a photo with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Rosangela da Silva in Beijing, China, on May 13, 2025, on the sidelines of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum. Photo: EPA-EFE/Xinhua
Chinese President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan (right) pose for a photo with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Rosangela da Silva in Beijing, China, on May 13, 2025, on the sidelines of the fourth ministerial meeting of the China-CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) Forum. Photo: EPA-EFE/Xinhua
War and conflict

Opinion | For Asia, US-Iran ceasefire offers little relief – and much uncertainty

What may be coming is neither stable peace nor uninterrupted war, but something in between: a prolonged condition of managed instability.

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India

Opinion | Asia’s flood of cheap Ozempic generics opens gates to weight-loss abuse

Cheaper semaglutides as patent ends is good news for diabetics. But lax regulation also means a risk of abuse by those desperate to lose weight.

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Africa

Opinion | Beijing’s supply-chain hedging strategy can help African food security

While governments must avoid swapping one dependency for another, Beijing’s inroads could help enhance food security efforts.

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A worker turns excelsa coffee beans to dry near Nzara, South Sudan, on February 15, 2025. Photo: AP
Artificial intelligence

Opinion | How AI and geopolitical rivalry are breaking economic orthodoxy

Today’s imbalances go beyond exchange rates; they reflect concentrated technological investment in one economy and uneven risks in others.

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A data centre is seen from above on October 20, 2025, in Vernon, California. Photo: Getty Images / TNS
A data centre is seen from above on October 20, 2025, in Vernon, California. Photo: Getty Images / TNS
Cambodia

Opinion | To beat Cambodia’s scam gangs, US must work with China – not blame it

Taking down the deeply rooted, well-connected syndicates would require both Washington’s economic leverage and Beijing’s operational efforts.

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War and conflict

As I see it | Why Donald Trump now needs a ‘forever war’

The US president and America are starting to understand you can’t go fascist at home and imperialist abroad halfway.

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Middle East

Opinion | For Gulf states, geography is both a generous and treacherous patron

Sandwiched between Iran and Israel, oil-rich transport hubs like the UAE now face the fragility of their newly built economic prosperity.

A couple stands looking at the Dubai skyline, with a view of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, seen from Creek Harbour on April 3. Photo: AFP
A couple stands looking at the Dubai skyline, with a view of the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building, seen from Creek Harbour on April 3. Photo: AFP
Technology

Opinion | In Asia-Pacific, the real maritime contest is over satellite surveillance

States’ ability to exercise territorial rights is increasingly mediated by their access to satellite data and analytics, but the tech is dominated by a powerful few.

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Technology

Opinion | The danger in the Global South’s pursuit of AI as a magical cure

Rushing in without local R&D, literacy or governance risks leaving countries as testing grounds and passive consumers of foreign tech.

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Nato

Opinion | In denying Trump airspace, Europe has drawn a line for Nato

Growing European defiance to US demands raises a critical question: is Nato a club of equals or a mechanism for enforcing one nation’s agenda?

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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Global South

Opinion | Global South nations are insulating themselves from the heat of US actions

The ‘Great Insulation’ is coming – not major powers decoupling top-down but small and middle powers building a firewall from the bottom up.

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A poster depicting US President Donald Trump with devil horns at a protest in defence of national sovereignty near the US consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 1, 2025. Photo: AFP
A poster depicting US President Donald Trump with devil horns at a protest in defence of national sovereignty near the US consulate in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 1, 2025. Photo: AFP
United States

Opinion | Fixing US branding woes starts with rebuilding trust Trump has damaged

Lavishly funded celebrations will not fly in Asian countries struggling to get by and increasingly sceptical of Trump’s America.

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China-Africa relations

Opinion | China’s growing North Africa presence a structural challenge for Europe

Cooperate or hedge? Growing Chinese energy, infrastructure and industrial investments require a sustained, coordinated European response.

US, Israel war on Iran

Macroscope | Why dollar and gold prices are looking abnormal amid Iran war

Two apparent anomalies stand out in recent market movements – the rising dollar and falling gold prices.

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US President Donald Trump arrives to speak about the Iran war from the Cross Hall of the White House on April 1. Photo: AP
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