Author: stingfm

Iran said on Monday it hanged a man accused of spying for Israel, the latest as Tehran carries out its largest wave of executions in decades. Iran identified the executed man as Bahman Choobiasl, whose case was not immediately known in Iranian media reports or to activists monitoring the death penalty in the Islamic Republic. […]

It has black button eyes and long, thin whiskers that tremble when it looks around curiously. Unlike most rats, this one has a name, Plume, and gets to enjoy the rare privilege of wandering around Paris on the shoulder of its owner, a local politician. Gregory Moreau, a Paris district deputy mayor, is on a […]

When Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a mutual defence agreement earlier this month, it was widely interpreted as a gesture of Muslim unity in a region roiled by crisis. But its reverberations are already being felt among policymakers in Pakistan’s perennial rival India, threatening to complicate New Delhi’s delicate diplomatic balancing act in the Gulf. […]

We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. China is ‘nanoseconds behind’ US in chips, says Nvidia’s Jensen Huang 2. Dim sum trolleys go silent as Hong Kong’s […]

Bukhara once flourished as a Silk Road hub, where travelling poets, merchants and scholars converged. But under Soviet rule during the 20th century, the Uzbekistani city was for decades sealed off from the world, with few outsiders entering. This autumn, the narrow streets of the medieval city are abuzz again, but with a very different […]

Convergence theory has long been a Western fantasy in conquering the world with liberal democratic values. It proposes that societies, especially as they industrialise, tend to become more alike in various aspects of social organisation, including work, class structure, family patterns and culture. However, convergence theory oversimplifies the complexities of social change and ignores the […]

Iran’s clerical rulers face one of their gravest crises since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, caught between growing discontent at home and a stalled nuclear deal that together have left the country more isolated and divided. The United Nations reimposed sanctions on Iran on Saturday after last-ditch talks between Tehran and European powers Britain, France and […]

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the West on Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a “decisive response”, warning against attempts to down aircraft in Russian airspace and accusing Germany of militaristic rhetoric. As Russia’s war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along Nato’s eastern flank in recent weeks as Estonia said Moscow […]

American actress and singer Selena Gomez married her boyfriend, music producer Benny Blanco, in a star-studded southern California wedding ceremony on Saturday. The Only Murders in the Building” star posted a slideshow of pictures and videos on social media from the wedding, showing Gomez, 33, in a wedding dress and Blanco – real name Benjamin […]

When the General Debate of the UN General Assembly’s 80th session opened on September 23, the cavernous hall in New York was once again filled with the familiar spectacle: heads of state taking the rostrum, diplomats scribbling notes and the global press parsing every phrase. But this year’s theme – “Better together: 80 years and […]