International

Malaysia’s longest-governing party stormed to victory in closely watched state polls Saturday, gaining a boost in power ahead of a general election. The United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was the lynchpin of a coalition that governed Malaysia for six decades until it was booted from power in 2018 following a storm of corruption allegations. Former […]

China vowed Friday to punish “diehard” Taiwan politicians, saying it would ban several from visiting the mainland, as tensions between Beijing and Taipei spiked to their highest level in years. China claims Taiwan as its territory — to be seized one day, by force if necessary — and has intensified efforts in recent years to […]

A Chinese intelligence officer was convicted in US federal court Friday of economic espionage in an alleged state-backed effort to steal technology from US and French aerospace firms, the Justice Department said. Xu Yanjun, an official in the Jiangsu province foreign intelligence office of the Ministry of State Security, was found guilty in the Cincinnati […]

President Joe Biden returned from Europe Wednesday with a wake-up call for feuding Democrats holding up his sweeping domestic reforms in Congress — after a humiliating state election defeat that many blamed on inertia and infighting among the party’s lawmakers. “I do know that people want us to get things done,” he told reporters asking […]

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday accused China and Russia of failing to show leadership on climate change in blistering criticism of their leaders for not attending the COP26 summit in Glasgow. Speaking at the UN summit aimed at forging an ambitious new climate agreement, Biden called his own presence and promises proof that “America […]

By Jitendra JOSHI France and Britain offered wildly differing accounts after their leaders met Sunday to resolve a row over post-Brexit fishing rights that threatens to turn into a full-blown trade war. President Emmanuel Macron’s office was optimistic after the French leader met Prime Minister Boris Johnson one-on-one, without aides, for about half an hour […]

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson vowed Friday to defend UK interests in a worsening dispute with France over fishing rights, while emphasising the historical strength of cross-Channel ties. “We will do whatever is necessary to ensure UK interests,” he told reporters on board his plane to Rome for a G20 leaders@ summit, adding that Britain […]

Myanmar remains an “integral part” of Southeast Asia’s regional bloc, member Brunei insisted Thursday, despite the coup-hit country boycotting annual talks in protest at a ban on its junta chief. The crisis in Myanmar, which is still in chaos following February’s military takeover and subsequent deadly crackdown, dominated this week’s virtual summit of the Association […]

By Ella IDE When world leaders finally got together for the G20 summit in Rome after over two years apart, the mood was festive, with formalities temporarily ditched in favour of fist-pumping and football quips.”It is great to see all of you here, after a difficult few years for the global community. The pandemic has […]

By Francesco FONTEMAGGI Tensions have soared in recent weeks over Taiwan, the self-governing democracy claimed by China — and allied with the United States. How far the tensions will accelerate — and what the US response will be — is hotly debated among experts. What is each side’s position? China’s communist government considers Taiwan a […]

As tensions spike between mainland Taiwan-China, here are key dates in decades of fraught relations: Taiwan-China relations – 1949 separation Mao Zedong’s communists take power in Beijing in October 1949 after defeating Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT) nationalists in a civil war. The KMT flee to the island of Taiwan and form their own government in […]

By Peter HUTCHISON Britain’s Prince Andrew insisted his sexual assault accuser was out to profit from a “baseless lawsuit” against him as he asked a New York court to dismiss the case Friday. In a filing in Manhattan, the Duke of York’s lawyers accused Virginia Giuffre of suing the prince “to achieve another payday” from […]

By Sonny Tumbelaka An American woman convicted with her boyfriend of killing her mother and stuffing the body in a suitcase at a luxury Bali hotel was freed from prison on Friday.In the notorious case, then teenager Heather Mack was handed a 10-year jail term in 2015 while her boyfriend Tommy Schaefer got 18 years […]

Taiwan will not bow to pressure by Beijing and will defend its democratic way of life, President Tsai Ing-wen said Sunday on China-Taiwan Conflict, following a spike in incursions by Chinese warplanes into its air defence zone. Self-governed Taiwan’s 23 million people live under the constant threat of invasion by authoritarian China, which views the […]

By Sean CHANG President Tsai Ing-wen has confirmed a small number of US troops are present in Taiwan to help with training, adding she had “faith” that the American military would defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack. The remarks sparked a strident, albeit familiar, rebuke on Thursday from China which accused […]