Observers are once again raising concerns about insider trading on Wednesday after a trader took a colossal crude oil short position just over an hour before a US-Iran peace deal was reported to be on the horizon, causing prices to fall. The Kobeissi Letter, a financial
Mira Rapp-Hooper joined RFA’s board in April 2026. An expert on national security and strategy issues in Asia, she currently serves as a partner at The Asia Group, and is a visiting fellow at Brookings Institute. She has held a number of positions at the highest levels of
Olivia Enos joined RFA’s board in April 2026. She currently serves as a Senior Fellow at Hudson Institute, writing on a wide range of human rights and national security issues in Asia, and as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. She previously worked as Washington
The ease of use of online peer-to-peer lending services has sparked concerns.
They are unable to return to their home countries without passports or money.
Donald Trump has paused “Project Freedom”, the US operation aimed at restoring commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. In a post on social media just days after the operation was first announced, Trump said he had made the decision to give US negotiators time to reach
In the part of the world that includes Iran, if you have to explain that you won you have in fact lost. President Trump’s announcement that he is pausing, after a day, Project Freedom, which had the US Navy escorting cargo ships through the Straits of Hormuz, is puzzling. As
Many businesses are anxious over his party’s lack of political experience.
WASHINGTON, May 6 - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Iran wants to negotiate and make a deal, adding that the U.S. was doing very well in Iran and that it was going very smoothly.
This came amid a shaky US-Iran ceasefire and ahead of an expected meeting between the Chinese and US presidents.
Floodwater was seen overflowing drains onto the walkways fronting several shophouses in Malaysia's capital.
When Indonesia recently signaled that it may monetize transit through the Strait of Malacca, it heralded a fundamental shift in how maritime geography is being used or misused. What Indonesia is deliberating in Malacca, Iran has already demonstrated in Hormuz, though it has not
The Selangor Sultan decreed in February that pig farming should not be allowed in the Malaysian state, but a politician’s recent suggestion that a modern farming system be allowed instead has sparked a political storm.
The Malaysian government allocated RM24 million to secure broadcasting rights for the 2026 World Cup, according to Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil.
Four people were hospitalised, three of them with serious burns.
The government had previously granted a full import and excise duty exemption from January 2022 to December 2025.
WASHINGTON/SHANGHAI, May 6 - The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released data this week indicating the fuel supply was switched off to both engines of a China Eastern Airlines Boeing 737 jet before the aircraft plunged into a hillside in southern China in March 2022,
The Indonesian ban initially targeted eight “high risk” platforms.
TOKYO — The Philippines’ shock inflation spike in April is a serious warning sign — an economic canary in the coal mine that shouldn’t be ignored. The 7.2% year-on-year jump is roughly double the first-quarter 3.4% growth rate. Clearly, the Philippines falling into the
PARIS, May 6 - Group of Seven trade ministers meeting in Paris on Wednesday sought common ground on securing critical mineral supplies that are dominated by China, but fresh U.S. tariff threats against European Union-made cars risked straining unity.
China and Taiwan have long traded accusations of "dollar diplomacy" to win support from developing countries.
Japan's Self-Defense Forces fired an anti-ship missile at a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship about 75km off the coast of Paoay in the northern Philippines, which faces the South China Sea.
Wang Yi is holding talks with Iran's foreign minister Aragchi who is on his first trip to China since the war began.
Internal friction over tension between Thailand and Cambodia has complicated the energy crisis.
Former Swaziland is one of just 12 countries with formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan.
The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defence equipment transfer.
A German naval vessel named the Fulda is in the Mediterranean, ready to do the one thing without which the Strait of Hormuz cannot physically reopen: find and clear the mines Iran planted and has since lost track of, the ones the US Pentagon told Congress could take six months
Tensions involving Iran and the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted energy supply chains, raising fresh risks for Southeast Asia.
Police suspect the stepfather strangled the boy in a public restroom around late March.
South Korea has been cautious about becoming too directly embroiled in the Middle East conflict.
Police said clashes between rival party supporters erupted in state capital Kolkata.
Japanese PM Takaichi seemed eager to tap growing anxiety in Asia and Australia over Beijing.
Shared concerns over China have drawn Manila and Tokyo together.
BEIJING, May 6 - Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met China's top diplomat in Beijing on Wednesday, underscoring close ties between the two countries shortly before U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to meet with Xi Jinping.
LONDON, May 6 - Syrian forces have arrested Uzbek fighters during a security sweep in the northwest, after a dispute involving one of them escalated into protests outside a government security facility, two Syrian security officials said.
This comes as Washington remain unpredictable and the Iran war continues to disrupt trade.
By 2050, the number of days when temperatures exceed 35 deg C is expected to rise to 120 a year.
Before the war, China bought more than 80 per cent of Iran’s shipped oil.
When Bala stepped onto the podium in San Diego in April, holding the trophy for the 2026 World Latte Art Championship, the backdrop behind him said “Luckin Coffee” — the Chinese chain that was an official sponsor of the event. He had just poured a raccoon, a giraffe and red
The revision codifies leader Kim Jong Un’s push to treat the two Koreas as separate states.
May 6 - Iran will only accept \"a fair and comprehensive agreement\" in its negotiations with the U.S. on ending the war in the Middle East, its foreign minister said on Wednesday, as President Donald Trump cited \"great progress\" in the process.
Officials discovered a website allegedly advertising sexual services involving foreign nationals.
The 5-year-old was found dead five days after she went missing from an Aboriginal town camp in Alice Springs.
CHANGSHA, China, May 6 - Senior Chinese officials took charge of rescue and relief efforts after a fireworks factory explosion killed 26 and injured 61, flattening buildings and burying people in mounds of debris, as they pledged to punish those responsible.
SEOUL, May 6 - North Korea has revised its constitution to define its territory as bordering South Korea and remove references to reunification, according to a draft of the text reviewed by Reuters, codifying leader Kim Jong Un’s push to treat the two Koreas as separate states.
The revised Constitution also includes a new clause delineating North Korea’s territory.