Showing 41 - 47 of 47
Taliban flexes muscles as long war enters new phase
News, Peter Apps, Published on 17/08/2018
» On the streets of the city of Ghazni this week, Afghan troops and Taliban fighters battled for the future of Afghanistan.
China's plans to reshape the world
News, Peter Apps, Published on 10/08/2018
» Ten years ago on Wednesday, the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics showcased a fast-growing, economically powerful China with unmistakable ambitions to be a major global player. Just a few days ago, the Chinese authorities demolished the studio of artist Ai Weiwei, designer of the Games' iconic "bird's nest" stadium and now an exiled dissident in Germany.
The unsettling behaviour of 'The Donald' at summits
News, Peter Apps, Published on 18/07/2018
» In the end, Donald Trump's post-summit press conference with Vladimir Putin produced fewer surprises than many feared. In contrast to the US president's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, there was no announcement to blindside regional allies such as a suspension of military exercises. Like the first part of Mr Trump's trip to Europe, however, the outcome of the Helsinki meeting will outrage his critics, play well with his domestic political base and unsettle European nations. Indeed, that may well have been its purpose.
What G7 can still offer the world
News, Peter Apps, Published on 08/06/2018
» Meetings of the G8 group comprising the world's richest nations used to be an exercise in well-choreographed consensus. The largely technocratic, centrist leadership of major countries would discuss how to tweak the global economy, help those they believed were being left behind and generally congratulate each other on their overlapping progressive and largely democratic values.
A reality check on Korea nuke talks
News, Peter Apps, Published on 24/05/2018
» When US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in first agreed to meet in Washington on Tuesday, they seemed to genuinely believe they might be on the brink of a major rapprochement with the North. Now, there are concerns over whether the much-touted summit between Mr Trump and Kim Jong-un scheduled for Singapore on June 12 will happen at all.
Muslim minority faces modern Orwellian nightmare
News, Peter Apps, Published on 17/05/2018
» In China's northwest Xinjiang province, the predominantly Muslim Uighur minority have nowhere to hide. Facial recognition software reportedly alerts authorities if targeted individuals stray more than 300 metres from their homes and workplaces. Residents face arrest if they fail to download smartphone software that allows them to be tracked, according to social media users. Simply wishing to travel outside China can be cause for arrest, with Beijing detaining family members and using its political clout to force extradition of those abroad.
What a nuke deal with Kim Jong-un might look like
News, Peter Apps, Published on 26/04/2018
» For much of the last few decades, powerful speakers on the South Korean border have blasted propaganda to nearby North Koreans, everything from Korean pop songs to news about the number of cars in the affluent South. On Monday, they stopped -- the latest step in a high-stakes diplomatic dance.