Month: March 2026

A Chinese national accused of raping and strangling a woman during a violent home invasion appeared in a New Zealand court on Wednesday to face charges, seven months after he was extradited from Singapore.
Zhang Xuesong reportedly fled to China following the alleged March 2024 Auckland break-in, complicating efforts to arrest him as no extradition treaty exists between the two countries.
The 41-year-old subsequently visited Singapore, where he was returned to New Zealand last September.
Zhang,…

The UK initiative that encourages a move away from petrol- and diesel-powered vehicles to zero emissions vehicles (ZEVs) is working – but the cost of complying with the ZEV mandate is too high and unsustainable in the long-term. That was the clear message delivered by the UK automotive industry at the SMMT Electrified 2026 event in London earlier this month.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is facing accusations of diplomatic sycophancy after White House footage showed her giggling at a portrait of an autopen – placed by US President Donald Trump in the spot reserved for his predecessor Joe Biden – during summit talks last week.
The clip, posted on the official White House website, shows Takaichi pointing at the framed picture, then laughing and covering her mouth.
It was filmed on the “Presidential Walk of Fame”, a gallery unveiled by Trump…

Singapore authorities warned on Tuesday that involvement in organisations linked to the Israeli military, such as Sar-El, would not be acceptable under current conditions and could attract action under the law.
In a joint media release, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence (Mindef) noted that Sar-El’s website states that it is “deeply committed to supporting the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces)”, and its volunteers “work side-by-side with soldiers on IDF bases”.
“Being involved…

The UK government’s decision not to extend the text and data mining exception in copyright law to facilitate AI training differs from the approach EU policymakers have taken on the issue, an expert has said.

In a quiet suburb of the Malaysian city of Klang, Farouk* scrolls through his phone, replaying videos of a toddler learning to walk, laugh and reach out to steady himself – milestone moments of a son whom he is forced to love through a screen.
“He is now two years old, but I have never held him,” the 26-year-old Rohingya man said. “I have only seen him twice from afar at the gate.”
Farouk’s wife gave birth in a Malaysian immigration detention centre a day after the family were arrested in early…

Washington and its allies are drawing up plans to establish an ammunition production facility in the Philippines, a move critics warn would turn the Southeast Asian nation into a logistics arm of US “warmongering”.
The proposal emerged last week from the Partnership for Indo-Pacific Industrial Resilience (PIPIR), a US-led initiative founded in 2024 to reduce supply chain vulnerabilities and help allies produce and sustain military equipment closer to potential flashpoints.
Members agreed to…

As the world reels from the fallout of the Iran war, India is seeking to manage its risks and interests in the Middle East and beyond while maintaining its neutrality in the widening conflict.
This can be seen in New Delhi engaging with combatants US and Iran, as well as other nations caught in the crossfire of the war, according to political analysts.
In the past two weeks, Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken four times with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, while Prime…

At least three Filipinos with ties to the country’s military have been arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing, allegedly leaking information that sparked maritime confrontations in the disputed South China Sea.
The case, which came to light last year during an ongoing multi-agency counter-intelligence effort, marks a new strategy of recruiting Filipinos for espionage instead of planting individuals with fake local identities in the country, according to Philippine Navy Rear Admiral Roy…

Before his first term as US president began in 2017, Donald Trump was probably best known for his book, The Art of the Deal. But by launching, together with Israel, a widely unpopular war on Iran, Trump has arguably dealt himself a very weak hand. There is little “art” in it.
The headline splashed across the front page of the Financial Times on March 17 – “Allies reject Trump’s call for warships” (to force open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has partially closed after US and Israeli attacks) –…