Worldwide
After three days of indirect talks in Egypt, Donald Trump announced that Israel and Hamas have ‘signed off’ on the first phase of his twenty-point peace plan to end the Gaza war. The agreement, expected to…
The strengthened commitment by China to cutting emissions and expanding renewable energy production may well accelerate Southeast Asia’s transition to a low-carbon economy. Analysts note that, as one of ASEAN’s key investors and trading partners in…
USA: government shutdown now in its second week
09 Oct 2025
The US government shutdown has entered its second week as the Senate again failed to pass competing bills to restore funding, deepening the political stalemate. Democrats and Republicans remain divided over whether to pair any funding…
The military government of Burkina Faso has arrested eight employees of the Netherlands-based International NGO Safety Organisation (INSO), accusing them of ‘spying and treason’. The security minister claims that the group, which includes citizens from France,…
Brazil: Lula talks with Trump about tariffs
09 Oct 2025
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has urged Donald Trump to remove the 40% tariff recently imposed on Brazilian imports. The two leaders held a thirty-minute phone conversation, exchanging direct contact numbers and discussing trade and…
In Malaysia, a pocket-sized multipurpose hacking device capable of reading and emulating credit cards, cloning simple RFID tags, and recording older car key fob codes is being sold openly on popular e-commerce platforms. Marketed variously as…