A Laotian citizen deported by the United States to eSwatini under Donald Trump administration’s immigration crackdown was released from a maximum-security prison in the African nation on Sunday after being held there for more than a year, his lawyer said.
Phone Chomsavanh was among five immigrants deported to eSwatini – where he has no ties – in July 2025, in the early days of the Trump administration’s secretive and highly contentious third-country deportation programme.
Chomsavanh’s US-based...
FBI Director Kash Patel is engaged to his country singer girlfriend, Alexis Wilkins, the pair announced in a post to X on Sunday evening.
Wilkins, 27, posted a black-and-white photo of herself standing with Patel, 46, flashing her hand in front of them to show off her ring with the caption: “Went and got the law involved”. The two have been dating since before Patel took over as head of the FBI in 2025, when she attended his swearing in.
The country singer and political commentator released her...
Neighbouring China and Vietnam, two manufacturing giants, are building out railways, adding flights and boosting cargo links to leverage their geographic proximity for another boost in trade and tourism that will help both weather pressure from the US.
The two countries set aside political disputes last year to step up economic ties, and analysts said they were now improving both the quality and quantity of transport links.
“Overall, I see the China-Vietnam connectivity story moving from...
Beijing has tightened scrutiny of quantitative trading funds in recent months amid fears they add to market instability. Yet a leading investor believes the future is bright for China’s quant funds, as they are “necessary for a developed economy”.
Seth Huang, the head of Aris Capital, said quant funds had such a clear advantage over retail investors on China’s capital markets that the situation could be described as “a war with some using machine guns and others butcher knives”.
Quant funds have...
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei seems to believe that he, the American artificial intelligence (AI) industry and the United States are the only ones who should have the right to determine the fate of humanity.
While he pays lip service to involving other democracies in AI development, which ones remotely approach the technological capacities of the US and China? Do other non-democratic developing countries not count?
His self-belief is far more dangerous than mere commercial greed. Like Peter Thiel,...
The US Air Force has brought home its bombers stationed at a US-run military airbase in England used to strike Iran following an investigation into a planned terror attack at the RAF Fairford base.
The bombers were redeployed back to their home bases in the United States, according to a Pentagon official who was not authorised to discuss sensitive military movements and spoke on Sunday on condition of anonymity.
Aviation watchers such as the Military Air Tracking Alliance have observed dozens of...
Bosnian Serb nationalist politician Milorad Dodik has declared victory for his party in an election in Bosnia and Herzegovina on Sunday that was shaped by economic pressures, the prospect of the Balkan nation joining the European Union and ethnic tensions that have divided the country since its brutal 1992–95 war.
Dodik is a staunchly pro-Russia politician who, despite not appearing on the ballot, has dominated the campaign and inflamed divisions with separatist rhetoric that have sparked fears...
Iran’s top diplomat insisted on Sunday that there would be no military solution to the United States’ war against the Islamic republic, with talks on ending the conflict apparently at an impasse.
A campaign of heavy bombardment failed to bring a decisive close to the war launched by the US and Israel in late February, and Washington in recent weeks has dialled back military operations in favour of economic pressure.
The main point of contention remains Iran’s attempt to blockade the Strait of...
Brazilians queued to vote on Sunday in the first round of a tight election, following a campaign dominated by corruption scandals, economic anxiety and accusations of US meddling.
The field of 13 candidates has been led by two clear front runners – leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, 80, who is seeking a fourth term, and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, the 45-year-old son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, who hopes to return his father’s right-wing movement to power.
A victory for the...
Beijing has been urged to do more to protect its overseas interests with a call for diplomatic engagement to reshape international rules and deeper security cooperation with other countries.
As China’s expanding global footprint comes under pressure from geopolitics and restrictions from the West, a Chinese analysis posted on the Global Security Research social media account has called for a major shift in strategy.
The author was not identified, but the account regularly posts analysis and...
A range of public and private-sector Chinese buyers have acquired a total of 44 small-model Bell helicopters, often for sightseeing and corporate travel. This makes China the vendor’s second biggest market in the Asia-Pacific, with growing demand for more despite safety concerns surrounding rotary-wing aircraft, an aviation services firm said.
China lagged behind only South Korea in the total number of five-seat Bell 505 Jet Ranger X helicopters, according to a statement by the Hong Kong-based...
Taipei’s dilemma over its history during World War II appeared to deepen as Beijing and Washington looked to the Flying Tigers as a source of connection and goodwill during last month’s Xi–Trump summit.
US President Donald Trump’s description of China as an American ally during the war has raised concerns in Taiwan that what could have been a valuable historical connection with the United States ended up benefiting Beijing’s ties with Washington.
The dilemma resurfaced after Trump and Chinese...
A 20-year-old US marine was arrested on Sunday in Japan’s Okinawa prefecture on suspicion of robbing and murdering a local woman, police said.
Davin Ballard stationed at the Futenma Airbase is suspected of killing Anna Yagi, 39, and taking her wallet and backpack in the early hours of Saturday at a hotel in Naha, according to the Okinawa prefectural police. The suspect has denied the charges, they added.
Ballard was seen entering the hotel with Yagi, who was found dead on Saturday morning, the...
Huge billboards on the walls of Tehran mocking US President Donald Trump and depicting American drones under the boot of an Iranian soldier are providing a chronicle of Iran’s war with the United States and Israel.
Khaneh-ye Tarrahan, or Designers’ House, produces the billboards with anti-US messaging for prominent locations in Tehran where they are seen daily by large crowds of passers-by, including the city’s famed Valiasr Square.
The team created a towering portrayal of Trump’s lips sewn and...
