Five global nuclear powers pledged Monday to prevent atomic weapons spreading and to avoid nuclear conflict, in a rare joint statement setting aside rising West-East tensions to reaffirm a goal of a nuke-free world."We believe strongly that the further spread of such weapons must be prevented," said permanent UN Security Council members China, France, Russia, the UK and the United States, adding: "A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."The statement was issu

Looking at the economic landscape at the start of 2022, one cannot help but notice the emergence of new obstacles to a robust recovery. The United States (US), Europe, China, and others face a growing list of remarkably similar short- and longer-term challenges. The pandemic remains the most immediate concern. Without full global vaccination, new COVID-19 variants will continue to emerge, potentially forcing governments to renew partial or full lockdowns.

Desperate residents in China’s western Xi’an city are running out of food after they were barred from grocery shopping in a fierce lockdown.

Each time a regional process risks impacting ASEAN’s role in driving the wider regional architecture, ASEAN proponents would warn of ASEAN’s centrality under siege. The formation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement was a case in point.

United States (US) President Joe Biden will host a virtual democracy summit for leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector on 9-10 December 2021 with the themes defending against authoritarianism; addressing and fighting corruption, and promoting respect for human rights as per the statement released on the website of the US State Department. The invitations for the US Democracy Summit are out and more than half of the world was invited while the rest were left ou

The South China Sea (SCS), one of the most in-demand waterways in the world, is the object of contention of several claimant states with overlapping territorial and maritime sovereignty and sovereign rights claims over the disputed waters. The dispute is still unresolved today and can be dated back to the 1950s.The six-primary claimant states of the contested waters of the SCS are China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

From the Mars Ingenuity helicopter's first powered flight on another world to the launch of the James Webb telescope that will peer into the earliest epoch of the Universe, 2021 was a huge year for humanity's space endeavours.Beyond the science milestones, billionaires battled to reach the final frontier first, an all-civilian crew went into orbit, and Star Trek's William Shatner waxed profound about what it meant to see the Earth from the cosmos, as space tourism finally came

European countries are currently divided over whether to join United States (US) President Joe Biden’s diplomatic boycott of the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing. The episode underscores yet again that when it comes to dealing with China, Europe and the US truly are an ocean apart.

In the area of foreign policy, President Rodrigo Duterte was successful in the historic return of the “Balangiga Bells” from the United States (US).

This was supposed to be the Asian century, with the ascent of China being only one – albeit a major – part of the story.