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United Nations

United Nations
The UN is an international organisation founded after World War II that aims to provide a dialogue platform between countries, fortifying international corporation and preventing future wars. There are currently 193 members led by five permanent members of the Security Council - US, Russia, UK, France and China. The organisation currently has six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.
Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po on January 5. Photo: Dickson Lee
Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Letters | As Hongkongers unite around Tai Po, the fire probe must deliver

Readers discuss how to sustain social cohesion in Hong Kong, the kindness of Hongkongers, and why the world must respond to the Venezuela raid.

US-China relations

China warns of ‘law of the jungle’ as US exits global bodies

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France

France’s Macron slams US over Venezuela, Greenland actions

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Singapore

Singapore’s ex-PM says US raid in Venezuela is worrying for small countries

The city state has always made its stance clear on such issues, such as when it opposed the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, the ex-PM says.

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Protesters outside the US embassy in Jakarta step on a poster with the image of US President Donald Trump during an anti-US rally on Tuesday, after the US raided Venezuela and captured its leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Photo: Reuters
Indonesia

Is 12 too young? Rare matricide case tests Indonesia’s juvenile justice system

The girl, often threatened with a knife by her mother, was inspired to use one after playing online games and watching anime, police say.

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Donald Trump

Trump pulls US out of dozens of international organisations, UN agencies

Many are groups and treaties the US president’s team has categorised as catering to diversity and ‘woke’ initiatives, such as climate talks.

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Sustainability

Opinion | Why Shein doesn’t have to be the model for the fashion industry

Although the fast fashion label had a bumper 2025 while familiar brands faced collapse, the industry should not conclude that speed and scale are everything.

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Police secure the area as people queue to enter a department store, during the opening of Shein’s first physical outlet in Paris, France, on November 5, 2025. Photo: Reuters
Israel

UN accuses Israel of subjecting Palestinians in West Bank to ‘apartheid’

For first time, UN rights chief labels situation in occupied Palestinian territories ‘apartheid’, a term previously used only by UN experts.

China-Latin America relations

China condemns US raid on Venezuela amid UN stalemate

Toppling of President Maduro by US forces splits UN council, undermines international order and sows doubt in Latin American governments about Chinese and Russian support.

US-Venezuela conflict

US ousting of Maduro prompts region to reassess China – and Trump’s next move

Trump hints at wider action as Latin American governments weigh sovereignty, China ties and US dominance.

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Protesters gather outside a courthouse in New York on Monday where ousted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro made his first appearance after he was seized by US forces in his country. Photo: Xinhua
US-Venezuela conflict

‘Shocked’ China demands immediate release of Nicolas Maduro

At an ‘emergency’ meeting of the UN Security Council, Chinese envoy Sun Lei says Beijing ‘strongly condemns’ Maduro’s capture by US.

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Sun Lei, deputy permanent representative of China to the UN, addresses the UN Security Council on Monday in New York. Photo: AP
US-Venezuela conflict

US attack on Venezuela a ‘death certificate’ for United Nations: analyst

UN chief ‘deeply alarmed’ about implications, while China is described as seeing openings to entrench itself as alternative to America.

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War and conflict

Opinion | US attack on Venezuela tests moral clarity of the post-war world order

Amid Washington’s use of force, there is a sense that global affairs are drifting towards a modernised version of the law of the jungle.

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Africa

War in Sudan: drone strikes cut power supply in oil-rich south

Over the past week, some 15,000 people have been displaced from the region, according to the UN’s International Organization for Migration.

Sudanese protesters take part in a rally in support of the Sudanese Army and against the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Merowe, about 330 kilometres north of Khartoum, Sudan, on December 13 last year. Photo: EPA-EFE
China-Latin America relations

‘Stop subverting Venezuelan regime’: China urges US to release Maduro

When the ‘law of the jungle’ replaces international norms, no sovereign nation is safe, Xinhua commentary says.

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A still image from video posted on social media by a White House team shows Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro being walked in the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration in New York. Photo: via Reuters
China-Japan relations

Why China is turning down the nationalist heat in its row with Japan

With economic stakes high, Beijing seen as ‘more cautious in handling external frictions’, avoiding fanning of ‘uncontrollable’ nationalism.

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Donald Trump

‘Peace President’ Trump embraces war: Maduro captured, Nigeria hit, Iran warned

Despite Nobel Peace Prize ambitions, Trump opens 2026 with strikes in Venezuela after a Christmas Day hit on Nigeria.

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Bangladesh

Asian Angle | Bangladesh needs ‘structural’ change, but how will it get there?

As Bangladesh heads into elections next year, it must tread the challenge of political transition with more care and thoughtfulness.

A man holds a Bangladeshi national flag during celebrations to mark Victory Day at the old airport in Sher-e-Bangal Nagar in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on December 16, 2025. Photo: EPA
Myanmar

Myanmar military-backed party leads in election’s first phase by wide margin

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals, won 38 of 40 seats in the lower house.

Israel-Gaza war

Angelina Jolie visits Egyptian side of Gaza’s Rafah crossing

‘What needs to happen is clear: the ceasefire must hold and access must be sustained, safe and urgently scaled up,’ the actress said of Gaza.

War and conflict

Outside In | 2025 was the year of denial. What now?

Despite the threat of wars, tariffs, climate change and AI, normality has persisted. But it can only be a matter of time before such contradictions explode.

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A couple kiss next to a Christmas tree in Kyiv, Ukraine, during celebrations before a curfew on December 31. Photo: Reuters
Good Schools Guide

Are Hong Kong international schools truly global in nature?

How global curricula, cultural diversity and shifting demographics are shaping the city’s international education landscape.

Students in the classroom at Anfield School. Photo: courtesy Anfield School
Ukraine war

Russia will win in Ukraine, says Putin in New Year address

The president’s speech called on Russians to ‘support our heroes’ and came on the 26th anniversary of him coming to power.

Myanmar

As I see it | Why China is Myanmar’s only real hope

A general election won’t end the country’s brutal civil war, but regional coordination by key neighbouring countries without Western interference might.

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Antonio Guterres

‘World stands at a crossroads’: UN chief issues grim New Year message

Antonio Guterres laments US$2.7 trillion global arms race and urges leaders to choose ‘people and planet over pain’ in 2026.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. Photo: AFP
Iran

Iran’s president urges dialogue as currency plunge sparks protests

Anger over Iran’s worsening economic situation pushes people onto the streets in Tehran and other cities.

Iranian shopkeepers and traders protest against economic conditions as tear gas is fired by anti-riot police in Tehran on Monday. Photo: EPA
Myanmar

‘They always lie’: pro-military party claims big lead in Myanmar’s disputed vote

The overwhelming lead claimed by the USDP in the first poll phase is met with condemnation from rights groups warning of a rigged process.

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United States

‘Adapt, shrink or die’: US pledges US$2 billion for UN aid in humanitarian cut

Trump administration’s latest aid pledge is a small fraction of what the US has contributed in the past.

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