Headlines

The Lockheed-Tanaka bagman

‘In every trouble spot I have cautiously visited, there has always been one watering hole where, as if by secret rite, hacks, spies, aid workers and carpetbaggers converge. John le carre That observation by the British spy fiction master is one with which I wholeheartedly

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How Pacific islands can gain from Australia-Japan ties

In their meeting on May 4 in Canberra, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, agreed to prioritize a range of issues including supply chains, energy, critical minerals, trade and security. Under the framework of

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Pentagon bans reporters from public affairs office

The Trump administration’s “attempts to silence objective journalism just hit a new low,” said one press freedom advocate late Monday after the Pentagon announced that the US Department of Defense would mark its press office as a classified area, banning journalists from the

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Japan’s Terra Drone gaining battlefield experience in Ukraine

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi set the tone for the debate over Japan’s rearmament with her remark that a Chinese move against Taiwan could threaten Japan’s survival and warrant a military response. But the first casualties of her military buildup might be in Ukraine,

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AUKUS sub shift a front for US access to Australian bases

The US decision to transfer three in-service Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines to Australia instead of the previously planned mix of one new Block VII boat and two used Block IV vessels marks a major shift in the AUKUS program, one that raises questions not only about

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The leak was the message in Trump’s Netanyahu clash

On Monday, after a heated telephone call between Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, a decision was made. Not a decision to negotiate, to sanction, or to deploy, but a decision to tell. By that evening, reporters at Axios and CNN were quoting serving American officials to the

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CPEC 2.0: new green hope or new China debt trap for Pakistan?

Walk into any mid-sized factory in Lahore, Pakistan, on a summer afternoon, and you’ll hear the same sound: loud, diesel-fueled power generators running because the electricity grid is down. For factory workers and owners, the heavy hum of the backup unit is a constant audible

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Houthis and Al-Shabaab conspiring to choke Red Sea routes

In a region crucial to global trade, ideological rivals may now be working together. United Nations and American intelligence reports suggest that Yemen’s Houthi insurgents and the Somali group Al-Shabaab — considered Al-Qaeda’s strongest affiliate — are exchanging logistical

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Desert shield: China hardening nuclear forces for a Taiwan war

China’s buildup at its remote Hami nuclear silo field reflects a broader effort to transform a historically vulnerable nuclear force into a resilient deterrent capable of surviving attack, constraining US intervention and reinforcing its position in a Taiwan contingency. Last

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The nightmare of Indonesia’s ’10 New Balis’ tourism dream

The idea of replicating Bali’s success across the Indonesian archipelago through the “10 New Balis” initiative was one of the country’s most ambitious economic development visions when it was first launched a decade ago. The objective was compelling: diversify tourist flows,

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