Young Palestinians take part in a military-style exercise at a Hamas-run summer camp in Gaza City on July 20, 2019.
Politics

Western-led global order eroded by nonstate armed groups

With tax collection and medical care, groups bare fangs against old rulers

9 June 2024
The U.S. House committee on China is pushing the Treasury Department to probe Chinese companies for allegedly helping Iran evade sanctions.
US-China tensions

China state firms targeted by U.S. lawmakers for allegedly helping Iran

Treasury should probe 6 companies that assist Tehran in evading sanctions, letter says

1 June 2024
Natthaporn Onkaew, 26, was embraced by his father, Thawatchai, 47, when he arrived back home on Dec. 1 after being held hostage in Gaza for nearly two months by Hamas. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa
Middle East crisis

Thai workers in Israel return to pre-war level after October exodus

Farmers trapped between conflict abroad and low wages at home

31 May 2024
Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing on May 30.
Middle East crisis

China's Xi tells Arab leaders Gaza war can't 'continue indefinitely'

Chinese leader tops up aid, seeks deeper 'South-South' ties

30 May 2024
Parading Houthis show off a rocket launcher on Feb. 7 in Sanaa in front of a banner depicting the Japanese ship Galaxy Leader seized in November. 
Opinion

Japan should play part in protecting Red Sea shipping

Country has much to lose from normalization of threats to global maritime order

27 May 2024
A cargo vessel at the port in Chabahar, Iran, during an inauguration ceremony for the first export convoy to India via Iran in February 2019.
26 May 2024
A Palestinian man pushes a bicycle with his belongings as he returns to his house after Israeli forces withdrew from the area following a raid, in Gaza City on May 15.
Comment

Palestine finds itself increasingly isolated in the Arab world

Arab nations opting for self-interest over solidarity with Palestinians

25 May 2024
Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar delivers a video address at the Future of Asia forum in Tokyo on May 24. (Photo by Yuki Kohara) 
The Future of Asia 2024

India seeks to extend influence in Middle East, Africa: Jaishankar

Foreign minister says country's transformation is crucial for building multipolar world

24 May 2024
Flowers at a tribute to Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi outside the Iranian Embassy in Moscow on May 20.
International relations

Russia, China and Iran move closer after President Raisi's death

Tehran likely to stay course on hard-line diplomacy with West

24 May 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was considered a leading candidate to succeed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the country's supreme leader.
Politics

Iran President Raisi's death injects new uncertainty into Middle East

Supreme leader loses heir-apparent, setting off succession race

21 May 2024
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi attends a meeting with Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev on the Azerbaijan-Iran border on May 19. (Iran's Presidency/WANA /handout via Reuters)
Politics

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi dies in helicopter crash

Country's foreign minister and others also dead

20 May 2024
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. (Photos by Nikkei)
Markets

Saudi ETF to list in Japan under expected deal between leaders

Prince Mohammed visits Japan to boost cooperation in financial sector

20 May 2024
Zhang Jun, then China's U.N. ambassador, joins a Security Council debate in March on calling for a cease fire in Gaza. 
Opinion

China is burning all its bridges with Israel

Desire to be seen as champion of Global South drives policy tilt

16 May 2024
A construction site in Istanbul. Turkey will halt public investment in new buildings for three years.
Inflation

Turkey slashes public investments 15% to rein in inflation

Erdogan's government switches gears toward an estimated $3bn in spending cuts

15 May 2024
Dubai's real estate market has attracted a lot of investment from overseas and achieved high growth. 
Terrorism

Terrorist groups suspected of funneling money to Dubai properties

'Dubai Unlocked' project finds individuals with alleged links to Hezbollah, Houthis among owners

15 May 2024
Afghan cargo is loaded at Chabahar for shipment to India in 2019: Budding multilateral cooperation centers on the Iranian deep-water port.
Opinion

Pakistan's moves to further isolate Afghanistan are backfiring

Estrangement is driving the Taliban to work with Iran and India at Chabahar port

13 May 2024
Filling up at a petrol station in Karachi, the Pakistani commercial capital. Pakistan receives millions of barrels of smuggled Iranian finished petroleum products annually.
International relations

Iran smuggles $1bn worth of fuel into Pakistan annually: report

Traders sneak petrol and diesel across border in corruption-riddled trade

7 May 2024
Demonstrators wave an Iranian flag in Tehran on April 15, two days after Iran unleashed a drone-and-missile attack against Israel in retaliation for a presumed Israeli airstrike on the Iranian embassy compound in Syria on April 1.
Comment

How escalating tensions in Middle East threaten Asia's security

Risk of multifront conflict grows as 'axis of war' nations deepen military ties

28 April 2024
The hazards posed by navigating through the Red Sea were underscored by the seizure of the Japanese-operated Galaxy Leader by Houthi rebels in November.
Middle East crisis

Chinese cargo ships poised to gain from Red Sea tensions

Houthis believed to grant safe passage to nations friendly with Iran

27 April 2024
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, right, walks with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in Islamabad on April 22. (prime minister's office handout via Reuters)
International relations

Pakistan and Iran agree to boost trade, but Washington casts long shadow

Sanction fears could make it tough for neighbors to expand bilateral business

25 April 2024
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russia's President Vladimir Putin talk during a 2023 tour in Russia. (KCNA via Reuters)
N Korea at crossroads

North Korea leans on Russian ties to expand relations with Iran

Pyongyang officials visit Moscow-friendly nations in diplomatic blitz

25 April 2024
Yun Jong Ho, right, North Korean external economic relations minister, speaks with a Russian delegation in Pyongyang on Dec. 12, 2023. 
International relations

North Korea officials visit Iran in a rare public trip

Two sides have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs

24 April 2024
Israeli military spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari displays an alleged Iranian ballistic missile retrieved from the Dead Sea at Julis military base in southern Israel on April 16. 
Indo-Pacific

Japan studies Israel's air defense success with eye on Indo-Pacific

U.S.-Japan-Australia collaboration faces additional threat of China's hypersonics

19 April 2024
Tokyo stocks lost 3.4% at one point in morning trading on April 19 as other Asian bourses also declined.
Markets

Asian stocks fall as concern over Middle East spurs selling

Nikkei and KOSPI down by 3%; yen strengthens, other currencies weaken

19 April 2024
The flags of China and Iran fly in Tiananmen Square during a visit by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in February 2023. China refrained from criticizing Iran's recent drone and missile attack on Israel.
Middle East crisis

China says it opposes any Israel-Iran escalation amid balancing act

Murky reports of Israeli strike underscore Beijing's economic stakes, dicey diplomacy

19 April 2024