Females pay the price as Taliban dodges sanctions
The economic and political isolation of Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021 has worsened a humanitarian crisis in the country. The World Food Program projected that between November 2022 and March 2023 the number of food-insecure Afghans would rise to 20 million – 3.2 million of them under the age of five. Some […]Continue Reading
Fentanyl, Russia trade spark new Sino-US friction
Political tensions between Beijing and Washington have increased again after the Biden administration sanctioned 12 Chinese firms for shipments to Russia and two others for supplying chemicals illicitly used in Mexico to produce the opioid drug fentanyl for the US market. The US Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) last week amended […]Continue Reading
Afghanistan women’s cricket team: In limbo and in exile in Australia
Afghanistan’s women cricketers have escaped danger, but found only a sporting limbo in exile from their homeland.Continue Reading
Japan’s G7 high-wire balancing act
Japan hopes to contribute to global rule-making as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosts the leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies in Hiroshima on May 19-21. To do so, it will have to push an agenda that can ultimately shape Chinese behavior for the better, keep a distracted United States locked into a […]Continue Reading
FBI makes arrests over alleged secret Chinese ‘police stations’ in New York
China has previously denied running secret police stations overseas, calling them “service centres”.Continue Reading
Commentary: Don’t allow the attack on Japan PM Kishida to become a trend
Two assaults on Japanese leaders in one year suggests a trend. We need to avoid amplifying the message of their perpetrators, says Bloomberg Opinion columnist Gearoid Reidy.Continue Reading
Commentary: Knock-down sale of Iskandar Malaysia puts GLC reform on front burner for PM Anwar
There is widespread scepticism that Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s new coalition government will be able to bring reform to the country’s smorgasbord of government-linked companies that have become central to Malaysia’s highly politicised economy, says CNA’s Leslie Lopez.Continue Reading
Some companies taking precautions amid Singapore’s COVID-19 wave, rise in employees on sick leave
One company is encouraging employees to work from home until the end of April after many of its staff members fell ill over the past month.Continue Reading
Major arrest opens Pandora’s Box of crimes
The arrest of a 53-year-old Chinese woman with Thai citizenship and a long history of alleged criminal activities means more to police than just busting a document forgery ring.Continue Reading
Reforms ‘can’t end’ with legalised cannabis
Former New Zealand prime minister and current member of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty, Helen Clark, has praised Thailand for decriminalising cannabis, but has also called on the country to end capital punishment, especially for those convicted of drug offences.Continue Reading