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United Nations

United Nations
The UN is an international organisation founded after World War II that aims to provide a dialogue platform between countries, fortifying international corporation and preventing future wars. There are currently 193 members led by five permanent members of the Security Council - US, Russia, UK, France and China. The organisation currently has six principal organs: General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Secretariat, International Court of Justice, and the Trusteeship Council.
Singapore’s President Tharman Shanmugaratnam during the 56th annual World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters
World Economic Forum (WEF) at Davos

At Davos, Singapore’s Tharman calls for US-China rivalry to ‘benefit’ world

The city state’s president also urges nations to stick to established rules and norms and build resilient international alliances.

Israel-Gaza war

3-month-old dies of cold in Gaza tent as Trump talks peace at Davos

US-Asean relations

Foot in the door or trap? Risks of Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ for Southeast Asia

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Donald Trump

Trump could lead his Board of Peace for life after leaving White House

Donald Trump’s signature diplomatic initiative is drawing resistance from fellow leaders who see it as an undisguised challenge to the UN.

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US President Donald Trump after speaking with reporters at the White House on Tuesday. Photo: AP
Israel-Gaza war

Israel’s demolition of UN compound in East Jerusalem raises legal concerns

Israel banned UNRWA in October 2024 over alleged Hamas ties. The agency says demolition of sites that stored Gaza aid violates international law.

Donald Trump

Trump threatens 200% wine tariff to push France to join ‘Board of Peace’

US president targets France after it was lukewarm about the US$1 billion invitation to join his new global body.

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Donald Trump

Allies tepid on joining Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ as countries study invites

Some leaders sign on to the Trump-chaired body, but initial reaction from two key allies, France and Canada, was lukewarm.

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US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida. Photo: AP
Diplomacy

China bids to host High Seas Treaty secretariat, even as US exits UN bodies

China puts forward Xiamen as potential future home of Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction secretariat as treaty comes into force.

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Donald Trump

A ‘Trump UN’ with US$1 billion entry? Nations cautious on Board of Peace plan

US president invites 60 nations to join his ‘Board of Peace’, with permanent membership available for states that pay US$1 billion.

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Diplomacy

Asian Angle | China has a worthy blueprint to improve the UN. Why is the West ignoring it?

China’s Global Governance Initiative seeks to end ‘might is right’, but the West insists on viewing it through a dusty Cold War lens.

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(From right) Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin on September 1, 2025. Photo: EPA
Donald Trump

Trump wants nations to pay US$1 billion to stay on his Board of Peace

Critics are worried that the US president is trying to build an alternative – or rival – to the United Nations.

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US President Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, on Friday. Photo: AP
China-Middle East relations

China-led SCO warns against Iran ‘interference’ in veiled swipe at US

Security bloc expresses ‘grave concern’ over ‘tragic events’ as Iran is rocked by protests, calls for ‘political and diplomatic’ resolution.

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Taiwan

Will US exit from world bodies deal fresh blow to Taiwan’s global profile push?

Opposition lawmakers fear the island’s international space will shrink still further without Washington’s voice in dozens of global bodies.

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Africa

Museveni leads Uganda vote as Bobi Wine under house arrest amid violence claims

Uganda election marred by violence and internet blackout as one MP accuses security forces of killing 10 supporters at his home during crackdown.

Police officers detain a voter on the ground near a polling station in Kampala on Thursday. Photo: AFP
Open Questions series

Open Questions | China wins if Venezuela ensnares Trump, Mearsheimer says

Maduro’s ‘kidnap’ and naked grab for Venezuela’s oil may leave US bogged down and less able to keep eye on China, political scientist John Mearsheimer says.

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Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
Diplomacy

Opinion | High Seas Treaty will both boost China’s power and hold it accountable

Beijing realises that maritime leadership will be measured not just by fleets and bases but also by who protects the planet’s last great commons.

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Taiwan

Opinion | The US wants to block China’s peaceful reunification. It won’t work

US weapons sales to Taiwan violate the one-China principle but won’t sway Asean or the wider international community.

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Myanmar

Myanmar’s pro-junta party wins Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat: ‘surprise no one’

The military-backed party claims to have won 90 per cent of the available seats so far in a poll activists have derided as ‘engineered’.

A protester holds up a poster featuring Aung San Suu Kyi during a demonstration against the military coup on February 15, 2021. Photo: AFP
US-Venezuela conflict

Editorial | US raid on Venezuela should push nations to revive collective security

Following Washington’s fragrant breach of international law, responsible member states must restore the UN’s credibility and authority.

Israel-Gaza war

Hamas says will dissolve its Gaza government when Palestinian body takes over

Militant group agrees to cede power to technocratic committee under Trump-brokered plan, but silence remains over disarmament.

US-Venezuela conflict

How the US raid in Venezuela has triggered Brazilian fury and a Chinese opening

Latin America’s largest economy seeks ‘delicate balance’ between Trump’s ambitions and boosting ties with Beijing, its top trading partner.

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Illustration: Brian Wang
Israel-Gaza war

Israel says Bulgarian diplomat to direct Trump’s Board of Peace for Gaza

The Board of Peace is meant to oversee the implementation of the second and far more complicated phase of the Gaza ceasefire.

Palestinians walk amid buildings destroyed by Israeli air and ground operations in Gaza City. Photo: AP
Hong Kong’s Tai Po fire tragedy

Letters | As Hongkongers unite around Tai Po, the fire probe must deliver

Readers discuss how to sustain social cohesion in Hong Kong, the kindness of Hongkongers, and why the world must respond to the Venezuela raid.

US-China relations

China warns of ‘law of the jungle’ as US exits global bodies

Opportunity and challenge for Beijing on world stage amid Donald Trump’s order suspending support for 66 international organisations.

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France

France’s Macron slams US over Venezuela, Greenland actions

The French President condemned Washington’s isolationism after the capture of Venezuela’s leader and designs to take over the Danish territory.

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French President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech to French ambassadors on Thursday in Paris. Photo: AP
Singapore

Singapore’s ex-PM says US raid in Venezuela is worrying for small countries

The city state has always made its stance clear on such issues, such as when it opposed the US invasion of Grenada in 1983, the ex-PM says.

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Protesters outside the US embassy in Jakarta step on a poster with the image of US President Donald Trump during an anti-US rally on Tuesday, after the US raided Venezuela and captured its leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Photo: Reuters
Indonesia

Is 12 too young? Rare matricide case tests Indonesia’s juvenile justice system

The girl, often threatened with a knife by her mother, was inspired to use one after playing online games and watching anime, police say.

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Donald Trump

Trump pulls US out of dozens of international organisations, UN agencies

Many are groups and treaties the US president’s team has categorised as catering to diversity and ‘woke’ initiatives, such as climate talks.

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