Headlines

US, Saudi forces strike Iran-backed groups in Iraq

US and Saudi Arabian forces said they struck Iran-backed militants in Iraq on Wednesday in retaliation for recent attacks, following a short pause in Iran war hostilities. The combined air operation came as President Donald Trump met with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin

US stealth fighter surge risks a readiness nosedive

The US military’s fighter fleet is projected to become stealthier but less available, widening the gap between technological sophistication and the combat mass needed for a prolonged war. This month, the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a report showing that a

Asia

Vietnam’s great banking clean-up is only the beginning

Vietnamese banks started deleting more than 86 million bank accounts last September. Of the roughly 200 million accounts on the country’s books, only 113 million personal accounts and some 711,000 organizational ones survived the biometric verification requirements introduced

Asia

The key issues that will shape Israel's elections

When Israel goes to the polls this year, voters will weigh in on conscription, the economy and how the state should investigate its inability to prevent Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack. AFP looks at the key issues shaping the campaign as Israel gears up for elections on October

Remember the two-state solution? Trump doesn’t

Israel’s right-wing government is intensifying its half-century-long campaign to take over the West Bank fully by unleashing bands of settler militias to harass Palestinian residents, destroy their homes and livelihoods and restrict their movement throughout the occupied

Asia