BEIJING, March 5 - China's 2026 defence spending will rise 7%, a copy of an official government report reviewed by Reuters showed on Thursday, slightly lower than the 2025 increase of 7.2% but roughly in line with rises over the last decade.
China’s defence outlays are closely watched as a barometer of Beijing’s strategic priorities as it presses ahead with military modernisation.
Beijing has shown little support for Tehran’s defence besides criticising the attacks.
China has unveiled its 2026 GDP growth target at the annual Two Sessions, a closely watched signal of policy direction as the economy grapples with weak demand, property strains and trade pressures.
The two countries produce around a third of global lithium and uranium.
A prolonged property slump and weak labour sentiments have dragged down its economy.
Malaysia is a key player in the vital chips sector but has been largely focused on the lower end of the market.
The United States government recently hosted a critical minerals summit aimed at reducing China’s predominant role in the global production of smartphones, weapons systems, lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles (EVs). The meeting, which included representatives from
The missile incident was the first time that Türkiye, which has NATO's second-largest military, was drawn into the conflict.
The tests come shortly after he led a major once-in-five-years Party Congress.
They were ordered to leave by the US State Department due to “safety risks".
SYDNEY, March 5 - Australia said three more commercial flights were scheduled to depart the United Arab Emirates on Thursday as the first group of Australians stranded in the Middle East returned home overnight following the outbreak of the Iran conflict.
The failure to pass the Bill has exposed significant coordination gaps and "uneven political commitment" within the Anwar Ibrahim administration, say analysts.
International diversification has been a major theme this year, but the one-way traffic into North Asian markets has been heavy, says Shuli Ren for Bloomberg Opinion.
Votes open Thursday (Mar 4) for a new parliament in Nepal, as young leaders challenge older politicians following anti-corruption protests.
The controversial video has sparked debate on whether government scholarship holders overseas should return home to "contribute".
There is an old joke. Why does the Italian Navy have glass bottomed boats? Answer: So they can see the previous Italian Navy. It is looking like the joke can be redirected, although it will be some time before Iran has glass bottomed boats. Here a situation report: IRIS Dana
WASHINGTON, March 4 - President Donald Trump is discussing with his advisors what role the U.S could have in Iran after the military campaign while U.S. intelligence is monitoring reports that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran's slain supreme leader, has emerged as a
Islamabad says its airstrikes aim to stop militants using Afghan territory to attack Pakistan.
AMSTERDAM, March 4 - The Netherlands summoned the Iranian ambassador on Wednesday over the Iranian attacks on Gulf countries and the wider region, Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said on Wednesday.
WARSAW, March 4 - Iran's government is making a strong case for its demise by indiscriminately attacking its neighbours, EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters on Wednesday.
DUBAI, March 4 - The New Zealand government said on Wednesday that it would send two Defence Force C-130J Hercules aircraft to the Middle East in case they were needed for evacuating New Zealanders from the region.
A key deliverable is China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which will outline the country's development goals until 2030.
WASHINGTON, March 4 - Iran is firing fewer missiles than it did at the start of the war on Saturday, the top U.S. general said on Wednesday, as he argued Iran's military capabilities were greatly diminished as the United States expands its strikes inside Iran.
WASHINGTON, March 4 - The U.S. military said on Wednesday that it killed an Iranian official who headed a unit behind an alleged assassination plot against President Donald Trump.
A Sri Lankan navy spokesman said 32 people had been rescued.
WASHINGTON, March 4 - The U.S. military carried out a strike that sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast and triggered a rescue for dozens of Iranian sailors by Sri Lanka's navy, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.
In its decision rejecting President Donald J. Trump’s tariffs, the US Supreme Court reined in a particularly glaring abuse of presidential emergency powers. One thing it didn’t do is question whether an actual emergency existed. Courts have always deferred to presidents’
The Met Police suspect three men of assisting Chinese intelligence services in the UK.
BUDAPEST, March 4 - Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Wednesday that he hopes two ethnic Hungarian prisoners of war will be freed by Russia during his talks in Moscow, where he is scheduled to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin later.
BEIJING, March 4 - Chinese Communist Party elder and the longest-lived member of the elite Politburo Standing Committee, Song Ping, died on Wednesday at the age of 109, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
LONDON, March 4 - Britain needs to keep a cool head over the conflict in the Middle East to address the public's concerns about escalation, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Wednesday.
ANKARA, March 4 - NATO air and missile defence systems stationed in the eastern Mediterranean destroyed a ballistic missile fired from Iran as it headed into Turkish airspace after passing Syria and Iraq, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
LONDON, March 4 - Two men went on trial in London on Wednesday accused by British prosecutors of carrying out hostile surveillance on well-known pro-democracy dissidents for Hong Kong and, ultimately, China.
One of the accused was a Defence Ministry staff who said he wrote opinion stories in exchange for pay.
South-east Asian governments are warning of risks to regional stability and its citizens abroad.
A new coalition government led by Bhumjaithai is expected to begin working in April.
MANILA, March 4 - The Philippine government said on Wednesday it had apprehended some of its citizens on suspicion of spying for China in a \"serious national security matter\" that underscores the need for stricter laws against espionage and foreign interference.
Zhang Youxia, China’s highest-ranking general, was not among the party’s 23-member politburo at the opening of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The two doctors had placed the baby in a freezer to end its life.
One of Iran’s closest allies, China kept silent about the business and trade impact of the attacks.
RIYADH, March 4 - Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura, which houses its largest domestic refinery and a key crude export terminal, was struck again on Wednesday by an unknown projectile, four sources said, two days after a source said a drone attack on the complex shut the refinery.
BEIJING, March 4 - Weeks before U.S.–Israeli strikes in Iran, wide swathes of state-backed Chinese companies were eyeing projects in areas from energy and heavy industry to trade promotion, data showed, spotlighting the risks the war presents for business in China.
BEIJING, March 4 - Two senior Chinese officials were absent on Wednesday from the ranks of China's highest tier of power at the opening of the country's two largest political events of the year, with top Communist Party cadres ensnared in a wave of purges.
JAKARTA, March 4 - Indonesia's foreign minister said talks on U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza \"Board of Peace,\" of which the Southeast Asian nation is a key troop-contributing member, were on hold due to the Middle East war.
MOSCOW, March 4 - Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using an imaginary threat from Iran as a pretext to overthrow its constitutional order, and said Washington's calls for Iranians to seize power from their leaders were cynical and inhumane.