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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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India

Macroscope | How the rupee’s fall shows India’s struggle to overcome vulnerabilities

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North Korea

Opinion | After years of neglect, China emerges as North Korea’s ‘top priority’

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Diplomacy

Opinion | How Pakistan outmanoeuvred India in Iran war diplomacy with China’s help

Beijing’s indirect influence has allowed Islamabad to take advantage of New Delhi’s strategic constraints.

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Workers remove a billboard after the failed peace talks between the United States and Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 12. Photo: EPA
Workers remove a billboard after the failed peace talks between the United States and Iran, in Islamabad, Pakistan, on April 12. Photo: EPA
US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Pakistan has the world’s attention. Now it must focus inwards

For Islamabad, sustaining its diplomatic success will also depend on how effectively it addresses internal challenges.

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Singapore

The View | Others in Asia would love to have Singapore’s housing market problems

The city state’s problems pale beside those in other Asia-Pacific markets facing supply shortages that drive up prices and rents.

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Central Asia

Opinion | Why China is looking to Central Asia as Middle East grows riskier

The region’s strategic value as a corridor of resilience is becoming harder to ignore.

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An oil and gas industry worker operates a drilling rig at the Zhetybay field in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, on November 13, 2023. Photo: Reuters
An oil and gas industry worker operates a drilling rig at the Zhetybay field in Kazakhstan’s Mangystau region, on November 13, 2023. Photo: Reuters
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.

Asean

Asian Angle | Doubts about Trump strain Southeast Asia’s US-China balancing act

An increasingly unpredictable Washington is making the region’s traditional hedging strategy harder to sustain.

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Renewable energy

Opinion | Hormuz crisis a chance to spur Asia’s shift to clean, secure energy

The US war on Iran should be a catalyst for governments and industries to accelerate the transition to renewables.

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Cars and motorbikes sit in a long queue to refuel at a petrol station in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 6. Photo: Reuters
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
Vietnam

Asian Angle | Who is Vietnam’s new Prime Minister Le Minh Hung?

The ex-central banker has the credentials to succeed. Whether he has the political capital remains to be seen.

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
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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Demonstrators against military action in Iran after US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, outside the White House in Washington on April 7. Photo: Reuters
Demonstrators against military action in Iran after US President Donald Trump said he had agreed to a two-week ceasefire with Iran, outside the White House in Washington on April 7. Photo: Reuters
War and conflict

Opinion | China’s role in the Iran-US ceasefire reflects its strategic distance

In taking a back seat in de-escalation efforts with Pakistan, China is decoupling its influence from responsibility.

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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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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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Illustration: Craig Stephens
Illustration: Craig Stephens
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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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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A woman takes an iris scan to link her Aadhar card with the National Register of Citizens at a passport service centre in Barpeta district in India’s north-eastern state of Assam in 2019. Without data governance mechanisms, Global South data could end up being extracted and monetised by foreign platforms for their own gains. Photo: AFP
Asia housing and property

The View | Quirks of Asia’s energy markets work to the benefit of data centres

Asia’s unique energy markets, power sourcing strategies and vast digital infrastructure requirements underpin the sector’s resilience.

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Construction workers walk to a data centre under construction at Sedenak Tech Park in the Johor state of Malaysia on September 27, 2024. Photo: AP
Construction workers walk to a data centre under construction at Sedenak Tech Park in the Johor state of Malaysia on September 27, 2024. Photo: AP
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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US, Israel war on Iran

Opinion | Why the ‘Gate of Tears’ may yet make the whole world weep

With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, any attacks on the Bab el-Mandeb Strait will pile further pressure on global supply chains.

US, Israel war on Iran

Asian Angle | Hormuz is sending Southeast Asia a warning – and we can no longer ignore it

The crisis has shown we must invest in renewables rather than staying in a fossil fuel comfort zone.

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People wait to refill their motorbikes at a petrol station in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Monday. Photo: EPA
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