Actor-turned-politician Vijay’s Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam made history in April 2026 by winning 108 of 234 seats in its first Tamil Nadu state election, ending nearly six decades of alternation between ...

Thailand’s heavy reliance on Middle Eastern energy and fertiliser imports has left it vulnerable to the economic fallout from the 2026 US–Israel war on Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Indonesia’s proposed export scheme for strategic commodities, centred on the new state-owned enterprise Danantara Sumberdaya Indonesia, aims to curb trade misinvoicing but raises concerns about ...

Beijing opened 2026 with a clear signal on Taiwan. In his New Year message, Chinese President Xi Jinping celebrated the establishment of Taiwan Retrocession Day on October 25 and called reunification ...

Ongoing instability in the Middle East is exposing structural vulnerabilities in energy-dependent economies. South Korea, whose economic engine relies heavily on Persian Gulf hydrocarbons, has ...

For Asia Pacific governments, the US–Israeli war against Iran is a reminder that conflicts in the Middle East do not stay in the Middle East. Since February 2026, oil has surged past US$120 a barrel, ...

The geopolitical and economic implications of the 2026 Iran war and the Strait of Hormuz crisis may last for decades. Asian countries are bearing high costs in their energy supplies, financial ...

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will visit Australia in early May 2026 — on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the Basic Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation and almost 70 years on from the ...

The war the United States and Israel have started with Iran threatens a major global economic shock, with rising energy prices and supply disruptions likely to trigger stagflation and wider ...

The geopolitics of the South China Sea in 2025 were shaped by confrontation, militarisation and US–China rivalry. While some progress was made towards reaching an ASEAN–China Code of Conduct (COC) in ...

The final days of 2025 saw Taiwan surrounded by Chinese warships, aircraft and coast guard vessels in what the Chinese Ministry of Defence described as a serious warning to ‘Taiwan independence’ ...