Why are we so obsessed with a group of prehistoric humans who disappeared some 40,000 years ago? Ever since the discovery of the first named Neanderthal fossils in 1856, scientists have struggled
Israel’s upcoming election is being closely watched across the Middle East, where neighbouring governments and regional powers expect the result to affect security, diplomacy and the future of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Prime
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Iran has maintained its seven-day proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, refusing to soften its conditions as President Donald Trump sends mixed signals over whether Washington is prepared to reach a
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In May 2026, three United Nations Special Rapporteurs issued a warning to the Indian Government, stating that the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls might endanger democratic participation.
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Nepal’s UN speech was powerful in its portrayal of climate vulnerability but far less complete in explaining the forces behind it. Its strongest arguments about climate justice, broken supply chains and unequal
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Germany’s postwar democratic stability is often attributed to a constitution designed to prevent another Weimar collapse. But Weimar already had powerful tools to defend democracy, which political institutions often failed to use
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Singapore’s success was built on a compact city-state, a strategic port, concentrated population, state-controlled housing, tightly coordinated institutions and deliberate social engineering. Sri Lanka, with its rural economy, agricultural regions, established ethnic
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The planned withdrawal of nearly all remaining US troops from Iraq by the end of September is leaving Washington’s Kurdish allies facing what the prime minister of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region describes
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End Times Fascism argues that the real danger is not simply the return of twentieth-century fascism, but the emergence of a politics that treats planetary crisis as inevitable, profitable and even desirable.
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The international system is undergoing a period of structural change in which technology, geopolitical competition and the shifting economic centre of gravity are interacting to weaken established patterns of Western dominance, according
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A senior official in Vladimir Zelensky’s office allegedly struggled to explain how a modest declared salary could coexist with luxury purchases and tens of thousands of dollars in monthly cash payments, according
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US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that he believes the United States and Cuba will reach an agreement on a change of regime and indicated that military action would not be
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What began as a conflict involving a relatively small Yemeni movement has developed into a confrontation with consequences for Gulf security, global shipping and the broader Middle East. The Houthis’ attacks on
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by Our Correspondent in Hong Kong SAR The speed of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s flight between Beijing and Washington has exposed an unusual consequence of the competing airspace restrictions imposed after Russia’s
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As Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump concluded a three-day state visit on Friday, attention extended beyond bilateral talks, the state dinner and military ceremonies to the highly visible
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Peng Liyuan and Melania Trump opened an unusually personal channel in US-China relations during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s three-day state visit to Washington, with their frequent and apparently spontaneous interactions providing a
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