Author: stingfm

Iran’s chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz has thrown the global economic system into turmoil, yet Israel, which launched attacks on Tehran alongside the United States, has emerged as a rare exception. Since Israel and its US ally started the Middle East war on February 28, economies from Asia to Europe and the US have […]

Pakistan is hoping that its role in building a diplomatic off-ramp from the US-Israel war on Iran will enable it to become a key actor in the Middle East after the conflict ends, analysts say. If Islamabad can deliver without being sucked into the maelstrom, it can capitalise on its position as peacemaker by signing […]

Amid ongoing talks between the Trump administration and Cuban leaders, Sandro Castro, the controversial grandson of Fidel Castro, told a major US television news network that most Cubans on the island want to embrace capitalism and that the country’s hand-picked president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, has done a poor job. His statements to CNN’s Havana correspondent, Patrick […]

China and Pakistan unveiled a joint five-point plan on Tuesday to restore peace in the Persian Gulf after five weeks of US-Israeli bombardment of Iran. China, Pakistan five-point initiative for restoring peace in the Middle East by scmp

Why didn’t China develop its own scientific and industrial revolutions when it made so many discoveries and advances over millennia? That is often called “Needham’s question”, named after the historian of Chinese science and tech Joseph Needham. Why didn’t China develop capitalism during the Song dynasty when it was so close to achieving a breakthrough […]

Emmanuel Macron touches down in Tokyo this week with a packed agenda and a receptive audience in a Japanese government anxious about a choked oil route and looking for support amid its diplomatic falling-out with Beijing. The French president’s three-day visit, which begins Tuesday before he heads to South Korea later in the week, comes […]

Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging President Donald Trump to continue prosecuting the war against Iran, arguing that Tehran has not been weakened enough by the month-long US-led bombing campaign, according to US, Gulf and Israeli officials. After private grumbling at the start of […]

European governments breathed a sigh of relief in October when the US and China sealed a fragile trade truce that paused more sweeping Chinese rare earth restrictions and papered over a Sino-Dutch row over chipmaker Nexperia. Now, however, the European Union is being urged to come up with a battle plan should the ceasefire fail […]

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US may need to reassess its relationship with Nato after the Iran war is finished, calling the military alliance’s alleged lack of support during the Middle East conflict “very disappointing”. Rubio assailed Nato members for denying access to military bases, following prior criticism from US President Donald Trump […]

Iran is pushing the Houthis to prepare for a renewed campaign against Red Sea shipping, contingent upon any further escalation by the US in its war on the Islamic Republic, according to European officials familiar with the matter. Leaders of the Yemen-based Houthis, a militant group backed by Iran, are weighing options for more aggressive […]