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Thai coconut farmer Lamduan Haochareon. Photo: Aidan Jones

World

China defence experts vanish online, Thai coconut cartel crisis: 5 weekend reads

From Hongkongers embracing OpenClaw to Thailand’s coconut cartel, here are five stories you may have missed over the weekend.

Trump warns he ‘may delay’ China visit in demand for countries to secure Hormuz

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Afghan asylum seeker dies in ICE custody, US advocacy group says

Europe

Police arrest 12 as hundreds join banned pro-Palestinian march in London

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood agreed to ban the march after police said it was organised by a group ‘supportive of the Iranian regime’.

Police arrest a protester for not removing a face covering during a protest held by pro-Palestinian group Al-Quds in central London on Sunday. Photo: AFP
Police arrest a protester for not removing a face covering during a protest held by pro-Palestinian group Al-Quds in central London on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Middle East

Gaza’s Rafah crossing to open on Wednesday ‘for limited movement of people’

Move comes as 13 people were killed – including children, a pregnant woman and police officers – in Israeli strikes in Gaza on Sunday.

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Australasia

Iran says women’s football captain has withdrawn Australia asylum bid

Zahra Ghanbari is the fifth member of the delegation to change her mind amid claims players had received threats against their families.

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United States & Canada

Brother of Michigan synagogue attacker was Hezbollah commander: Israeli military

Ibrahim Ghazali was killed in Lebanon on March 5 along with 3 other relatives of Detroit attacker Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, the IDF said.

The front entrance of the Temple Israel synagogue outside Detroit, Michigan. Photo: Getty Images / AFP
The front entrance of the Temple Israel synagogue outside Detroit, Michigan. Photo: Getty Images / AFP

World

IEA says oil from emergency stocks to flow in Asia and Oceania immediately

The International Energy Agency also said barrels for Europe and the Americas will only be available from the end of March.

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United States & Canada

US energy chief signals Iran war could continue for several more weeks

Meanwhile, Iran’s FM said his nation was not interested in talks with the US ‘because we were talking when they decided to attack us’.

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Middle East

Over 800,000 Lebanese – 1 in 7 people – displaced by war in 10 days

It is little more than a year since the last conflict uprooted over a million Lebanese from their homes, although that process took months.

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A displaced Lebanese family sit in the back of a truck, their current home, in the southern city of Sidon on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Europe

‘Cease fire’! Pope Leo escalates call for Middle East war to end

The pope did not cite the US or Israel by name but did mention the strike on a school in Iran that killed over 165 people.

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Pope Leo leads prayers from a window at the Vatican on Sunday. Photo: Handout via Reuters
Pope Leo leads prayers from a window at the Vatican on Sunday. Photo: Handout via Reuters

Middle East

‘Black rain’: Iran war’s toxic pollution will spread and last for years

Missiles and bombs contain pollutants which are released into the air, soil and water when they explode and crash, posing many health risks.

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Middle East

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards issue death threat for Israeli PM Netanyahu

Before the threat, US President Donald Trump said Tehran wanted ‘to make a deal, I don’t want to because the terms aren’t good enough yet’.

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Russia & Central Asia

To help Middle East nations fight drones, Ukraine wants cash and tech

This is about ⁠protection and a full assessment of how to counter Shahed drones, says Zelensky, after Kyiv dispatched dozens of experts.

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A Ukraine-made drone equipped with a high-performance camera. Kyiv downs Russian drones every night, including through the use of cheaper, smaller drones. File photo: Kyodo

Middle East

Iran war: Trump urges China, other nations, to send warships to secure Hormuz

The president insisted that Iran’s military capability had been eliminated but admitted it was still able to attack the strait.

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The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon preparing recently to depart for the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster British defences in the region. Photo: UK MOD via Reuters
The Royal Navy destroyer HMS Dragon preparing recently to depart for the Eastern Mediterranean to bolster British defences in the region. Photo: UK MOD via Reuters

Africa

Kenya floods death toll rises to 62, police say, including 8 children

The capital, Nairobi, was the worst hit, with ⁠33 deaths. Dozens of people have also died in Ethiopia.

Economics

Why the Iran war marks a turning point for Gulf-Asia trade

The closure of the Middle East’s important straits – Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb – is forcing Gulf and Asian nations to explore other options.

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Politics

The China-US face-off: a visual guide to Xi and Trump’s key people

Discover the power players in Xi and Trump’s teams; the key people setting the agenda on diplomacy, the military, the economy, security and science.

The China-US face-off: a visual guide to Donald Trump and Xi Jinping’s inner circles

United States & Canada

Power players: a visual guide to Trump’s team and their views on China

Discover who is in Donald Trump’s inner circle, their backgrounds, stances on China and the roles they will play in shaping the future of the US.

United States & Canada

Trump’s ‘racist hate speech’ fuelling rights violations in US, UN panel says

UN watchdog is ‘deeply disturbed’ by dehumanising language and condemns the use of lethal force in recent immigration and protest crackdowns.

Diplomacy

Trump threatens ‘death, fire, and fury’ as US destroys 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels

After reports of mine-laying in the Strait of Hormuz, the US unleashes its ‘most intense’ day of strikes on Iran since the war began.

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An Iranian naval vessel just before it is struck by a projectile ‘near the Strait of Hormuz’, according to the US. Photo: US Central Command via AFP
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Open Questions series

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

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Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Zheng Yongnian on what US’ ‘neocolonialism’, Venezuela operation mean for China

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15
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez

Liu Qian on Chinese innovation, the US rivalry and women holding up half the sky

7
Illustration: Victor Sanjinez Garcia

Fuchsia Dunlop tells how she fell for China’s cuisine and names her perfect dish

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5
Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

80 years on from WWII, China’s interests lie in peaceful Asia-Pacific: Mitter

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

‘Delusional’: Jeffrey Sachs on why Western hegemony has ended

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Illustration: Henry Wong

Scholar Jing Qian on right-sizing China’s economy in the age of Trump

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
MORE FROM THIS SERIES
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OPINION
Amna Saqib

Opinion | How US-Israel war on Iran rocks foundations of the Abraham Accords

Amna Saqib
Denis Simon

Opinion | 3 realities shaping China-US tech competition

Denis Simon
Ram Manikkalingam

Opinion | US attack on IRIS Dena shows that wars know no borders

Ram Manikkalingam
4
Anthony Rowley

Macroscope | Trump hasn’t counted on financial blowback from his war with Iran

Anthony Rowley
Alex Lo

As I see it | Trump and Netanyahu’s Iran quagmire is wrecking the global economy

Alex Lo
13
Andrew Sheng

Opinion | US-Israeli war on Iran makes a mockery of global governance rules

Andrew Sheng
13
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MULTIMEDIA
Video

The collateral victims of Myanmar’s civil war

This handout courtesy of Luke Duggleby taken on December 10, 2025 and released to AFP on February 25, 2026 shows Lahu elder and religious leader Jaha Satae (C) undertaking a drug cleansing ceremony on Jawa Jabo (black shirt), 70, who has struggled with methamphetamine and opium addiction for many years, in the village of Mae Haeng in Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district. Hundreds of thousands of people in northern Thailand have become collateral damage from the civil war in neighbouring Myanmar, turning to drugs as supply through the area rockets on the back of the conflict. (Photo by Luke Duggleby / Courtesy of Luke Duggleby / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT “AFP PHOTO / LUKE DUGGLEBY / HANDOUT “ - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS TO GO WITH ‘THAILAND-MYANMAR-CRIME-SOCIAL-LAHU,REPORTAGE’ BY NATHAPHOB SUNGKATE
04:18
Video

Can a new kind of hotel save Japan’s dying towns?

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US says Iran’s Supreme Leader likely wounded

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00:56
Video

Trump shares bombing video after Kharg Island attack in Iran

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