Asia Pacific

The US and China have agreed to a 90-day pause on punitive trade tariffs, with both sides also set to reduce proposed levies by 115 percentage points, following trade talks in Geneva over the weekend. Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng stressed the importance of resolving issues through equal and respectful dialogue.

Some ‘reciprocal’ tariffs and duties are being rolled back in favour of ‘mutually beneficial’ talks.

China and the United States have agreed to suspend some of the heavy trade tariffs imposed against one another as they prepare to extend negotiations aimed at lowering trade war tensions.

The two countries issued a joint statement on Monday, following two days of trade talks in Geneva, Switzerland. They described the negotiations, which came after US President Donald Trump’s nationalist agenda prompted a spiral of increasingly heavy duties, as positive.

Global markets reacted positively to the news, with stock markets in Hong Kong, the US and Europe rising.

In the statement, Beijing and Washington said they recognise the importance of their bilateral economic and trade relationship to both countries and the global economy.

They said they would move forward “in the spirit of mutual opening, continued communication, cooperation, and mutual respect”.

As part of the agreement, the US will suspend its additional ad valorem rate of duties – tax based on the value of goods – by 24 percent for an “initial” period of 90 days. This will leave a 10 percent tariff rate in place.

China will reduce its duties on US imports by a similar amount, also retaining a tariff of 10 percent.

Washington will also roll back tariffs imposed by two executive orders signed by Trump in early April, affecting a wide range of US imports of goods from China, including Hong Kong and Macau.

Beijing will suspend tariffs imposed in response and “suspend or remove the non-tariff countermeasures” taken against the US.

‘Neither side wants to be decoupled’

The world’s two largest economies also agreed to establish a mechanism to continue discussions on economic and trade relations, and named officials to lead the talks.

Vice Premier of the State Council He Lifeng will be China’s top negotiator. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will lead the talks for the White House.

“These discussions may be conducted alternately in China and the United States, or a third country upon agreement of the Parties. As required, the two sides may conduct working-level consultations on relevant economic and trade issues,” the joint statement reads.

Bessent told reporters in Geneva that “both sides will move down reciprocal tariffs” by up to 115 percent on some goods after successful meetings during which the two delegations exhibited “great respect” for each other.

“The consensus from both delegations is neither side wants to be decoupled,” Bessent said, adding that the tariffs were the equivalent of an embargo, something neither side favoured.

Global markets had fallen considerably amid the trade wars launched by the Trump administration as uncertainty grew over the potential impact of the tariffs.

However, signs of a pullback have been seen in recent weeks.

The agreement with China comes days after the US reached a framework for a trade agreement that would reset most of Washington’s tariffs on imports from the United Kingdom.

On May 10, United States President Donald Trump announced a “full and immediate” ceasefire between India and Pakistan brokered by his administration. US media reported that, alarmed by intelligence signalling further escalation, Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles drove urgent mediation. Vance warned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi of catastrophic risks and encouraged direct talks between India and Pakistan.

The announcement of the ceasefire was received across the world with a sigh of relief. The spectre of a nuclear exchange, which according to one 2019 study could kill up to 125 million people in less than a week, had fuelled regional anxiety and spurred the US diplomatic frenzy.

In India, however, Trump’s announcement was seen differently in some quarters. Former Indian army chief Ved Prakash Malik posted on X: “Ceasefire 10 May 25: We have left India’s future history to ask what politico-strategic advantages, if any, were gained after its kinetic and non-kinetic actions.” MP Asaduddin Owaisi wrote on the same platform: “I wish our PM @narendramodi had announced the ceasefire rather than the President of a foreign country. We have always been opposed to third party intervention since Simla (1972). Why have we now accepted it? I hope the Kashmir issue will not be internationalised, as it is our internal matter.”

The latter comment likely refers to Trump’s statement that he is willing to work with India and Pakistan “to see if, after a ‘thousand years,’ a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir”.

The ceasefire announcement by the US president appears to have been perceived by some in India as a sign of the Modi government’s retreat under US pressure while his offer to mediate on Kashmir is being seen as an indication that India’s longstanding rejection of third-party intervention is being undermined.

In South Asian geopolitics, perception often outpaces reality – until reality bites. India has long projected regional dominance, bolstered by economic growth and nuclear might. Yet its actions in the aftermath of the April 22 massacre carried out by the Resistance Front (TRF) in Kashmir exposed its vulnerabilities. Intended to assert strength, India’s response faltered, boosting Pakistan’s regional standing and leaving Modi’s government diplomatically weakened.

On May 7, India launched Operation Sindoor to dismantle terrorist bases linked to groups like the TRF, which, it claims, is supported by Pakistan. Backed by French-made Rafale jets, the operation sought to project Modi’s strongman image amid domestic outrage. Yet its success was contested. Pakistan reported civilian casualties, including children, while India insisted only terrorist sites were hit.

Pakistan’s air force scrambled its own jets to deflect the attack and claimed it downed five Indian jets, including three Rafales. Two US officials confirmed to the Reuters news agency that a Chinese-made J-10 jet shot down at least two Indian planes, aided by Chinese intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) support. India has not acknowledged any losses.

Indian media initially claimed devastating strikes on Pakistani cities, including Karachi’s seaport, but these reports, which were clearly part of propaganda efforts, were proven false.

On May 9, India launched missile attacks on Pakistani bases, including one near Islamabad, Pakistan claimed. The Pakistani army retaliated with short-range missile and drone strikes targeting Indian airbases at Udhampur, Pathankot, Adampur and Bhuj. Indian air force officer Vyomika Singh reported Pakistani drones and munitions hit civilian and military targets.

India’s image as a regional hegemon frayed. The Indian government clearly overestimated its Rafale jets and underestimated Pakistan’s Chinese-backed ISR systems, which enhanced battlefield precision.

China’s military support for Pakistan has increased significantly in recent years. Since 2020, it has accounted for 81 percent of Islamabad’s military imports.

For years, some Indian defence analysts warned that India’s military was unprepared for a China-supported Pakistan, given its limited US or Russian backing for its high-risk Kashmir gamble. Others criticised the government’s foreign policy for encouraging China-Pakistan rapprochement. Their warnings remained unheeded in New Delhi.

The events of the past few days exposed India’s strategic limits, replacing ambiguity with global scrutiny. The kneejerk reaction in New Delhi may be to increase the defence budget and deepen even further the militarisation of Kashmir.

As the Indian government plans its next steps, it should do well to consider that the status quo of shadow war and the cycle of covert aggression fuelling unrest is untenable. Both nations’ intelligence agencies have long backed proxies, driving instability from Kashmir to Afghanistan.

The path forward rests on New Delhi and Islamabad making wise choices. Restraint, not rhetoric, should shape policies moving forward. Failure to do so risks geopolitical turmoil, economic stagnation and hardship for millions. Home to a quarter of the world’s poorest people and more than 350 million illiterate adults, India and Pakistan cannot afford prolonged strife. Continued tensions could derail India’s growth and cripple Pakistan’s fragile economy, dwarfing any tactical gains.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough, but host Switzerland hopes ‘roadmap’ will emerge.

China’s trade envoy He Lifeng has met United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Switzerland for talks aimed at easing a trade war between the superpowers that is roiling global markets.

The first official engagement, since the US slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, prompting a retaliatory 125 percent duty from China, began on Saturday at an undisclosed location in Geneva, Switzerland, according to the Chinese state news agency Xinhua.

A motorcade of black cars and vans was seen leaving the home of the Swiss ambassador to the United Nations in the suburb of Cologny, The Associated Press news agency reported.

A diplomatic source, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the meeting, said the sides met for about two hours before departing for a previously arranged luncheon.

The trade dispute, which effectively amounts to a mutual boycott of products, was prompted by US President Donald Trump last month when he announced sweeping duties on almost every country in the world, which are now subject to a 90-day reprieve while negotiations take place.

Experts believe China may be looking for the same 90-day waiver as well as a reduction of the 145 percent tariff – Trump suggested that it could be reduced to 80 percent, saying in a Truth Social post on Friday that the amount “seems right”.

Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said on Friday that the US would not lower tariffs unilaterally, adding that China would need to make concessions as well.

Bessent has said the meetings in Switzerland would focus on “de-escalation”.

“The best scenario is for the two sides to agree to de-escalate on the … tariffs at the same time,” said Sun Yun, director of the China programme at the Washington, DC-based Stimson Center, adding even a small reduction would send a positive signal.

“It cannot just be words,” she said.

Distrust running high

Trump has justified the punitive tariff by citing unfair trade practices and accusing Beijing of failing to curb the export of chemicals used to produce fentanyl, a lethal synthetic opioid.

China, for its part, says it will not bow to “imperialists” and bullies.

With distrust running high, both sides have been keen not to appear weak, and economic analysts have low expectations of a breakthrough.

Trump has suggested the discussions were initiated by China. Beijing said the US requested the discussions and that China’s policy of opposing US tariffs had not changed.

Swiss Economy Minister Guy Parmelin met both parties in Geneva on Friday and said the fact that the talks were taking place was already a success.

“If a roadmap can emerge and they decide to continue discussions, that will lower the tensions,” he told reporters on Friday, saying talks could continue into Sunday or even Monday.

Iraq replaces Jesus Casas as head coach with former Australia boss Graham Arnold ahead of crunch World Cup qualifiers.

Former Australia manager Graham Arnold has been confirmed as the new head coach of Iraq by the country’s football federation ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against South Korea and Jordan.

Arnold’s appointment was announced on social media by the Iraq Football Association, which published photographs of the 61-year-old being welcomed in Baghdad by officials from the national body.

“We are delighted to announce Graham Arnold as the new head coach of the Iraq national team,” the federation said in a post on Instagram. “Welcome to the Lions of Mesopotamia!”

Arnold replaces Jesus Casas at the helm after the Spaniard’s departure in the wake of a 2-1 loss to Palestine in March during the third round of Asia’s qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup.

That result left the Iraqis in third place in the standings in Group B, four points adrift of leaders South Korea and one behind the Jordanians.

Welcome to Baghdad ✔️

Our new Australian head coach Graham Arnold has arrived in the Iraqi capital! 🛬 pic.twitter.com/AH1IybroHv

— Iraq National Team (@IraqNT_EN) May 9, 2025

The top two finishers in each of Asia’s three qualifying groups advance automatically to the World Cup, while the teams in third and fourth place progress to another round of preliminaries.

Arnold’s first game in charge will be in Basra on June 5 against the South Koreans before he takes his new team to Amman to face Jordan five days later. Iraq are attempting to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1986.

The appointment sees Arnold return to international management more than seven months after standing down as Australia’s head coach.

Arnold, who led the Australians to the knockout rounds of the 2022 World Cup during a six-year spell in charge, quit after an uninspired start to the current phase of qualifying when his side lost to Bahrain and drew with Indonesia in September.

He was replaced by Tony Popovic, the former Western Sydney Wanderers coach who has taken the Socceroos to second place in Group C of Asia’s qualifiers ahead of games against already qualified Japan and Saudi Arabia in June.

On a typical day, Mai Rupa travels through his native Shan State, in eastern Myanmar, documenting the impact of war.

A video journalist with the online news outlet Shwe Phee Myay, he travels to remote towns and villages, collecting footage and conducting interviews on stories ranging from battle updates to the situation for local civilians living in a war zone.

His job is fraught with risks. Roads are strewn with landmines and there are times when he has taken cover from aerial bombing and artillery shelling.

“I have witnessed countless people being injured and civilians dying in front of me,” Mai Rupa said.

“These heartbreaking experiences deeply affected me,” he told Al Jazeera, “at times, leading to serious emotional distress.”

Mai Rupa is one of a small number of brave, independent journalists still reporting on the ground in Myanmar, where a 2021 military coup shattered the country’s fragile transition to democracy and obliterated media freedoms.

Like his colleagues at Shwe Phee Myay – a name which refers to Shan State’s rich history of tea cultivation – Mai Rupa prefers to go by a pen name due to the risks of publicly identifying as a reporter with one of the last remaining independent media outlets still operating inside the country.

Most journalists fled Myanmar in the aftermath of the military’s takeover and the expanding civil war. Some continue their coverage by making cross-border trips from work bases in neighbouring Thailand and India.

But staff at Shwe Phee Myay – a Burmese-language outlet, with roots in Shan State’s ethnic Ta’ang community – continue reporting from on the ground, covering a region of Myanmar where several ethnic armed groups have for decades fought against the military and at times clashed with each other.

Fighting to keep the public informed

After Myanmar’s military launched a coup in February 2021, Shwe Phee Myay’s journalists faced new risks.

In March that year, two reporters with the outlet narrowly escaped arrest while covering pro-democracy protests. When soldiers and police raided their office in the Shan State capital of Lashio two months later, the entire team had already gone into hiding.

That September, the military arrested the organisation’s video reporter, Lway M Phuong, for alleged incitement and dissemination of “false news”. She served nearly two years in prison. The rest of the 10-person Shwe Phee Myay team scattered following her arrest, which came amid the Myanmar military’s wider crackdown on the media.

Spread out across northern Shan State in the east of the country, the news team initially struggled to continue their work. They chose to avoid urban areas where they might encounter the military. Every day was a struggle to continue reporting.

“We couldn’t travel on main roads, only back roads,” recounted Hlar Nyiem, an assistant editor with Shwe Phee Myay.

“Sometimes, we lost four or five work days in a week,” she said.

Despite the dangers, Shwe Phee Myay’s reporters continued with their clandestine work to keep the public informed.

When a magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit central Myanmar on March 28, killing more than 3,800 people, Shwe Phee Myay’s journalists were among the few able to document the aftermath from inside the country.

The military blocked most international media outlets from accessing earthquake-affected areas, citing difficulties with travel and accommodation, and the few local reporters still working secretly in the country took great risks to get information to the outside world.

“These journalists continue to reveal truths and make people’s voices heard that the military regime is desperate to silence,” said Thu Thu Aung, a public policy scholar at the University of Oxford who has conducted research on Myanmar’s post-coup media landscape.

On top of the civil war and threats posed by Myanmar’s military regime, Myanmar’s journalists have encountered a new threat.

In January, the administration of US President Donald Trump and his billionaire confidante Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began dismantling the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID had allocated more than $268m towards supporting independent media and the free flow of information in more than 30 countries around the world – from Ukraine to Myanmar, according to journalism advocacy group Reporters Without Borders.

In February, The Guardian reported on the freezing of USAID funds, creating an “existential crisis” for exiled Myanmar journalists operating from the town of Mae Sot, on the country’s border with Thailand.

The situation worsened further in mid-March, when the White House declared plans for the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) to reduce operations to the bare minimum. USAGM oversees – among others – the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, which were both leading providers of news on Myanmar.

Last week, RFA announced it was laying off 90 percent of its staff and ceasing to produce news in the Tibetan, Burmese, Uighur and Lao languages. VOA has faced a similar situation.

Tin Tin Nyo, managing director of Burma News International, a network of 16 local, independent media organisations based inside and outside Myanmar, said the loss of the Burmese-language services provided by VOA and RFA created a “troubling information vacuum”.

Myanmar’s independent media sector also relied heavily on international assistance, which had already been dwindling, Tin Tin Nyo said.

Many local Myanmar news outlets were already “struggling to continue producing reliable information”, as a result of the USAID funding cuts brought in by Trump and executed by Musk’s DOGE, she said.

Some had laid off staff, reduced their programming or suspended operations.

“The downsizing of independent media has decreased the capacity to monitor [false] narratives, provide early warnings, and counter propaganda, ultimately weakening the pro-democracy movement,” Tin Tin Nyo said.

“When independent media fail to produce news, policymakers around the world will be unaware of the actual situation in Myanmar,” she added.

‘Constant fear of arrest or even death’

Currently, 35 journalists remain imprisoned in Myanmar, making it the world’s third-worst jailer of journalists after China and Israel, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The country is ranked 169th out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index.

“Journalists on the ground must work under the constant fear of arrest or even death,” Tin Tin Nyo said.

“The military junta treats the media and journalists as criminals, specifically targeting them to silence access to information.”

Despite the dangers, Shwe Phee Myay continues to publish news on events inside Myanmar.

With a million followers on Facebook – the digital platform where most people in Myanmar get their news – Shwe Phee Myay’s coverage has become even more critical since the military coup in 2021 and the widening civil war.

Established in 2019 in Lashio, Shwe Phee Myay was one of dozens of independent media outlets which emerged in Myanmar during a decade-long political opening, which began in 2011 with the country’s emergence from a half-century of relative international isolation under authoritarian military rule.

Pre-publication censorship ended in 2012 amid a wider set of policy reforms as the military agreed to allow greater political freedom. Journalists who had lived and worked in exile for media outlets such as the Democratic Voice of Burma, The Irrawaddy and Mizzima News began cautiously returning home.

However, the country’s nascent press freedoms came under strain during the term of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy government, which came to power in 2016 as a result of the military’s political reforms.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s government jailed journalists and blocked independent media access to politically sensitive areas including Rakhine State, where the military committed a brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya community and for which it now faces international charges of genocide.

But the situation for independent journalists dramatically worsened following the 2021 coup. As the military violently cracked down on peaceful protests against the generals seizing power, it restricted the internet, revoked media licences and arrested dozens of journalists. That violence triggered an armed uprising across Myanmar.

‘If we stop, who will continue addressing these issues?’

Shwe Phee Myay briefly considered relocating to Thailand as the situation deteriorated after the coup, but those running the news site decided to remain in the country.

“Our will was to stay on our own land,” said Mai Naw Dang, who until recently served as the editor of Burmese-to-English translations.

“Our perspective was that to gather the news and collect footage, we needed to be here.”

Their work then took on new intensity in October 2023, when an alliance of ethnic armed organisations launched a surprise attack on military outposts in Shan State near the border with China.

The offensive marked a major escalation in the Myanmar conflict; the military, which lost significant territory as a result, retaliated with air strikes, cluster munitions and shelling. Within two months, more than 500,000 people had been displaced due to the fighting.

With few outside journalists able to access northern Shan State, Shwe Phee Myay was uniquely positioned to cover the crisis.

Then in January this year, Shwe Phee Myay also received notice that USAID funds approved in November were no longer coming and it has since reduced field reporting, cancelled training and scaled back video news production.

“We’re taking risks to report on how people are impacted by the war, yet our efforts seem unrecognised,” editor-in-chief Mai Rukaw said.

“Even though we have a strong human resource base on the ground, we’re facing significant challenges in securing funding to continue our work.”

During staff meetings, Mai Rukaw has raised the possibility of shutting down Shwe Phee Myay with his colleagues.

Their response, he said, was to keep going even if the money dries up.

“We always ask ourselves: if we stop, who will continue addressing these issues?” he said.

“That question keeps us moving forward.”

The Israeli military has been altering commercial drones to carry bombs and surveil people in Gaza, an investigation by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency has found.

According to Sanad, drones manufactured by the Chinese tech giant DJI have been used to attack hospitals and civilian shelters and to surveil Palestinian prisoners being forced to act as human shields for heavily armoured Israeli soldiers.

This is not the first time DJI drones have been modified and used by armies. There were similar reports about both sides of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

At the time, DJI suspended all sales to both countries and introduced software modifications that restricted the areas where its drones could be used and how high they could fly.

However, DJI has not stopped selling drones to Israel.

Israel’s use of DJI drones

The Israeli army’s use of DJI drones is not new.

By 2018, DJI drones were reportedly in extensive use across numerous divisions in the Israeli military. The Israeli campaign group Hamushim found evidence that Israeli military-trained operators were using DJI’s Matrice 600 model to drop tear gas on civilian protesters during the following year’s Great March of Return in Gaza.

Despite their previous deployment by the Israeli military, their lethal use against civilians and protected targets in Gaza, as documented in this investigation, is unprecedented.

Al Jazeera has reached out to Israeli authorities to request comment on the findings of this investigation but has received no response by time of publication.

Sanad has documented several DJI drones that have been adapted for military use.

However, it is the powerful DJI Agras drone, developed for agricultural use, that is the most significant.

According to its manufacturers, the DJI Agras can carry a substantial payload and is capable of precision flight.

As Sanad’s investigation shows, it can also be used to deliver an explosive payload to targets beyond the reach of conventional military forces.

In addition to the DJI Agras, the DJI Mavic has been used by the Israeli military across Gaza for reconnaissance and target acquisition.

Similarly, the compact DJI Avata drone, designed for recreational filming, has been repurposed by the Israeli military to navigate and map the intricate tunnel networks beneath Gaza.

Attacks on northern Gaza

By late 2024, Israel had laid siege to Gaza’s north, pushing the population to the brink of famine and imposing conditions described as “apocalyptic” by United Nations observers.

Residents and humanitarian organisations reported an alarming number of what appeared to be civilian drones armed with explosives.

In an incident documented by displaced civilians, footage shared on July 17, 2024, shows a DJI Agras drone dropping a bomb onto the IHH Turkish charity’s building in Jabalia, northern Gaza, less than 100 metres (330ft) from a school serving as a shelter and aid distribution centre.

In November in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, a DJI Agras drone dropped a bomb in a residential neighbourhood where civilians had fled after Israeli shelling of a UN-operated school-turned-shelter.

People who witnessed the bombing told Sanad the attack seemed calculated to instil fear.

Surveillance and urban warfare

Beyond direct attacks, Israeli-modified DJI drones have been used extensively for surveillance and tactical operations throughout Gaza.

In a further incident, footage obtained by Al Jazeera Arabic from one Israeli drone shows a DJI Avata helping to track an unnamed Palestinian being used by heavily armed Israeli soldiers as a human shield – an illegal practice under international law – in Shujaiya in December 2023.

The individual is seen opening the school’s doors to make sure there were no Palestinian fighters inside, closely monitored by another drone that captured the entire operation.

DJI double standards: Gaza vs Ukraine

In 2022, in response to complaints from Ukrainian officials that DJI was sharing critical data with their Russian adversaries, the drone manufacturer suspended all sales to its retail partners in both countries.

DJI explained the move: “We will never accept any use of our products to cause harm, and we will continue striving to improve the world with our work.”

Despite evidence of DJI drones being weaponised by the Israeli military in Gaza, DJI has had no such response.

Responding to direct inquiries from Sanad, DJI said: “Our products are for peaceful and civilian use only, and we absolutely deplore and condemn the use of [DJI] products to cause harm anywhere in the world.”

A subsequent direct query asked if it plans “to halt sales in Israel or implement measures similar to those taken in the Russia-Ukraine conflict”.

But DJI did not respond to the query not has it undertaken any measures to halt sales or impose software restrictions on where drones can fly over Gaza, allowing continued military deployments of their drones by the Israeli military.

Seoul’s military says launches may have been to test weapons intended for export.

North Korea has fired a flurry of short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its east coast, South Korea’s military has said, in what Seoul called a possible test of weapons intended for export.

North Korean forces launched the missiles from an area near the eastern port city of Wonsan between 8:10am (23:10 GMT on Wednesday) and 9:20am (00:20 GMT), South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Thursday.

The missiles flew up to 800km (500 miles) before landing in the Sea of Japan, the JSC said.

The launches are the fourth round of ballistic missile tests carried out by North Korea this year, after the firing of several different missile types in January and March.

“Our military, under the strong South Korea-US combined defense posture, is closely monitoring various North Korean activities to prevent any misjudgment (by the North),” the JSC said in a statement.

Lee Sung Joon, a JSC spokesperson, said in a briefing that the launches may have been to test the “performance or flight stability” of planned missile exports.

Lee did not specify which country might receive the missiles, but Pyongyang has been a key backer of Russia in its war in Ukraine.

North Korea has sent missiles, artillery and some 15,000 soldiers to Russia to support its war effort, according to South Korea’s National Intelligence Service.

About 4,700 North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured in fighting so far, according to the intelligence service.

Pyongyang last month acknowledged the deployment for the first time, with state media quoting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un saying his forces would help “annihilate and wipe out the Ukrainian neo-Nazi occupiers and liberate the Kursk area in cooperation with the Russian armed forces”.

North Korea signed a landmark mutual defence treaty with Russia last year following a state visit to the reclusive country by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Thursday’s missile launches also drew condemnation from Japan, with Japanese Defense Minister Nakatani Gen telling reporters that Tokyo had lodged a protest with Pyongyang.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Washington does not wish to decouple from China but wants ‘fair trade’.

The United States and China will hold trade talks in Switzerland this week, officials have said, as the world’s two largest economies seek to de-escalate tensions that have led to a de facto mutual trade embargo.

The talks would be the first official engagement between Washington and Beijing on trade since US President Donald Trump slapped a 145 percent tariff on Chinese goods, prompting a retaliatory 125 percent duty from China.

US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer will attend the talks for the US side, their offices said in a statement on Tuesday.

Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng will represent Beijing, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

Businesses and investors have been anxiously waiting for signs of a thaw in US-China tensions amid fears a prolonged trade war could cause serious damage to the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent amid Trump’s trade salvoes.

Economists have increasingly warned of the possibility of the US economy tipping into a recession this year, with JP Morgan Research putting the likelihood at 60 percent.

The US economy shrank 0.3 percent in the first quarter – a period before most of Trump’s tariffs came into effect – the first decline since early 2022.

In an interview with Fox News after the talks were announced, Bessent said the two sides had a “shared interest” in talks as the current levels of tariffs were unsustainable.

“We don’t want to decouple. What we want is fair trade,” Bessent told Fox News host Laura Ingraham.

Bessent said he expected the initial talks to focus on “de-escalation,” rather than a “big trade deal”.

“We’ve got to de-escalate before we can move forward,” he said.

China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday that the talks should proceed on the “basis of mutual respect, equality, consultation, and mutual benefit”.

“As a Chinese saying goes, ‘Listen to their words and observe their actions,’” a ministry spokesperson said.

“If the US wishes to resolve issues through negotiation, it must acknowledge the severe negative impacts its unilateral tariff measures have had on itself and the world, respect international economic and trade rules and the voices of fairness and reason from various sectors, demonstrate sincerity in negotiations, correct its wrongful actions, and work with China to address concerns through equal consultations.”

TikToks claiming luxury brand goods are manufactured in Chinese factories have gone viral in shoppers’ feeds. This comes after the closure of a major import loophole and 145% tariffs on Chinese goods. What do these videos reveal about American consumer culture and the course of this trade war?

Noting string of fatal incidents, President Xi Jinping calls for stronger safety measures for tourism and public events.

A sudden storm in southwestern China’s Guizhou province has capsized four boats, killing 10 people and injuring 70.

More than 80 people fell into the water, state media reported on Monday, when the rain and hailstorm struck the vessels on a stretch of the Wu River near Qianxi City on Sunday afternoon.

Rescue operations ran overnight. Initial reports said nine people had died, with one person missing. However, rescue personnel discovered the missing person, who “showed no signs of life”, around noon, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

In one video shared by state media, a man could be seen performing CPR on a person, while one of the vessels drifted upside-down.

Initial reports suggested two tourist vessels had capsized. However, CCTV later confirmed that four boats were involved – two of which were not carrying passengers at the time – in the incident, which occurred on the upper reaches of the waterway, which is a tributary of the Yangtze River, China’s longest.

The seven crew members on board the two vessels, carrying no passengers, managed to swim to safety, the broadcaster said.

A witness interviewed by the state-owned Beijing News said some passengers managed to swim to safety after the storm had descended rapidly, and thick mist obscured visibility on the river.

According to CCTV, the boats involved were not overloaded. Each had a maximum capacity of 40 passengers.

Provincial authorities dispatched some 500 emergency personnel to lead the rescue operation.

President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts” in the search and rescue operations and treatment of those injured, state news agency Xinhua said.

Xi also “underscored the importance of strengthening safety measures in tourist attractions” and other large public venues, the agency said.

He also noted a string of recent fatal incidents across the country.

The Wu River, which winds through Guizhou’s mountainous interior, is a popular destination for domestic tourists, particularly during holidays.

China’s May Day holiday, from May 1 to May 5, saw a sharp increase in domestic travel. Government data cited by state media showed that many tourist destinations across the country were overwhelmed by crowds.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rode an anti-Trump wave to a landslide victory and a historic second term Saturday. Voters, he said, chose “the Australian way.” Liberal Party leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat.

The People’s Action Party has been facing a concerted challenge form the Workers’ Party.

Singapore’s long-governing People’s Action Party (PAP) appeared set to retain its strong grip on power following the city-state’s general election, but early vote samples suggest the Workers’ Party (WP) could hold its ground, challenging the PAP’s dominance in several key areas.

Sample counts released by the Elections Department on Saturday showed the PAP ahead in 29 out of 32 contested constituencies, translating to about 87 of the 97 seats in parliament, including five secured uncontested.

A final tally was expected by early Sunday.

Although a comfortable win for the PAP was anticipated, the real test lay in how much support it could retain, especially under the leadership of newly appointed Prime Minister Lawrence Wong.

The party’s performance in 2020, when it won just more than 60 percent of the vote, was among its weakest showings since independence in 1965 after seceding from Malaysia.

Wong, who took office last year, campaigned on promises of continuity and new leadership, hoping to shore up support amid growing public concern about surging living costs and housing shortages in one of the world’s priciest locales.

The WP, Singapore’s most credible opposition force, contested 26 seats and is projected to keep the 10 it won in 2020, an unprecedented figure for any opposition party in the city-state.

While the PAP’s rule continues, the WP’s ability to maintain or slightly grow its share signals a shift in political sentiment, particularly among younger voters, according to analysts.

Saturday’s vote marked the first national test for Wong, 52, who succeeded Lee Hsien Loong, son of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.

In many races, the PAP’s wins were big, the sample counting showed, with only three of the contests close and within the margin of error.

“It’s not just status quo, it’s also the margin of victory in each of the constituencies, and you can see that the numbers are quite remarkable,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, adjunct senior lecturer at the National University of Singapore, speaking to Reuters.

“That certainly points, at this juncture, to a healthy and strong mandate for the prime minister,” added Izzuddin.

The PAP, in power since before independence in 1965, still benefits from vast institutional reach and resources, while opposition parties struggle with limited coverage and funding.

Government officials had cautioned that losing seats could weaken Singapore’s ability to navigate global economic instability, especially amid ongoing US-China tensions.

Labor Party leader becomes the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in two decades.

Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in two decades, in a dramatic comeback for his Labor Party in a general election dominated by the cost-of-living crisis.

Albanese’s Labor Party was on track on Saturday for an unexpectedly large parliamentary majority, as Peter Dutton, leader of the conservative Liberal Party, conceded defeat and the loss of his own seat.

In his victory speech, left-leaning Albanese pledged to steer the nation through a rough patch of global uncertainty.

“Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,” he told supporters in Sydney. “We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people.”

He said the Australian people have voted for “Australian values”.

“For fairness, aspiration and opportunity for all,” he said amid a loud cheer. “In this time of global uncertainty, Australians have chosen optimism and determination.”

Dutton of the main opposition Liberal Party accepted full responsibility for poor election results on what he called “an historic occasion” for the party.

Dutton also lost the race for his own Dickson seat in Australia’s parliament to Labor’s Ali France, a former journalist and communications manager who has pushed for easing the cost of living through tax cuts, cheaper medicine, and investment in public healthcare and education.

Senator James Paterson, a Liberal spokesperson, suggested “the Trump factor” was in play in Australia, in reference to United States President Donald Trump. Trump had cast a long shadow over the six-week election campaign, sparking keen global interest in whether his tariff-induced economic chaos would influence the result.

For Australian voters, the high cost of living, healthcare, housing prices and clean energy were some of the top issues in this federal election.

Reporting from Sydney, Al Jazeera’s Jessica Washington said it was an historic win for the Labor Party.

“There was certainly a message of unity by the prime minister. There was also a short moment during his speech when the crowd began to boo Peter Dutton, and he immediately hushed them and said that wasn’t the Australian way,” she said.

“Labor has pledged to make it easier for young people to buy homes and has also made promises, including a 20 percent cut to student debt. This makes the loss doubly embarrassing for the opposition coalition because they are often seen as the economic managers, but they lost in an election held largely around those issues.”

The election is completing the party’s return to power after it had also managed to secure a parliament majority with 77 seats out of 151 in the House of Representatives in 2022.

After the 2022 election, Labor also secured 25 seats in the Senate while the coalition working against it secured 30, and the Greens took 11.

To form a government, a party needs to win a majority – at least 76 seats – in the House of Representatives. If no party wins an outright majority, the party with the highest number of seats forms a minority government by collaborating with smaller parties or independent members.

The snap election was triggered by the removal of Yoon Suk-yeol from the presidency for declaring martial law on December 3.

South Korea’s main conservative party has nominated Kim Moon-soo, a former labour minister and veteran political figure, as its presidential candidate for the snap election to be held on June 3.

Kim, 73, secured the People Power Party (PPP) nomination with 56.5 percent of the vote at the party’s national convention in Goyang city in Gyeonggi Province on Saturday.

The election was triggered by the dramatic impeachment of conservative President Yoon Suk-yeol after South Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled that he had grossly violated his duties by declaring martial law without justification on December 3.

The ruling ended Yoon’s presidency and forced the country into an early vote to choose his successor.

Kim, a former labour activist who later shifted to the conservative camp, previously served as labour minister under Yoon and governor of South Korea’s Gyeonggi Province from 2006 to 2014.

Kim will face liberal Democratic Party candidate Lee Jae-myung, who remains a clear frontrunner with nearly 50 percent of public support, according to a survey by the pollster Realmeter released on Monday, while Kim had 13 percent support.

Kim has pledged to implement business-friendly policies if elected. He laid out a sweeping conservative vision for the country in his acceptance speech, promising to take a hard line against North Korea and implement incentives for businesses and for innovation and science.

He also pledged to strengthen policies to support young workers and the underprivileged, recounting his experience as a labour and democracy activist while in university for which he was jailed and expelled from school.

“I have never abandoned the weakest among us in the lowest of places,” he said.

But the race was rocked this week by a court ruling that cast doubt on Lee’s eligibility to run for the presidency, overturning a lower court acquittal that cleared him of violating election law in a previous race.

The Supreme Court sent the case back to an appeals court and it was not clear when a new ruling will be made.

On Friday, Yoon’s former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced his entry into the presidential race, hoping to leverage his higher profile. Han, while not a member of the conservative party, has been mentioned as a potential partner of the party to join forces against the liberals in the race.

Singapore – David Wee has lived in the same terrace house with his family in the east of Singapore his entire life.

But over more than 40 years, the Wee family have been a part of five different electoral constituencies.

Singaporean electoral boundary changes occurring shortly before every general election have led government critics to raise accusations of gerrymandering – deliberately manipulating constituency boundaries to favour a particular political party.

According to Singapore’s Elections Department, which is overseen by the Prime Minister’s Office, the latest boundary changes – the most extensive in years – were driven by voter growth and future housing developments.

Despite the criticism, Saturday’s election in Singapore – where some 2.76 million people are scheduled to vote – is set to return the long-ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) to power.

The PAP has won every election in this prosperous global financial centre since declaring independence in 1965.

While there is little danger of the PAP losing power, elections here are seen as a test of public sentiment towards the ruling party. This election is also seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who took over from former premier Lee Hsien Loong last year.

Voting is also compulsory in Singapore – where elections are held every five years, and though modelled after the United Kingdom’s Westminster parliamentary system, one of the quirks of Singapore is that voters are either part of a single-member voting constituency or a Group Representation Constituency (GRC).

People in a GRC, rather than vote for individual candidates, cast their ballots for teams of up to five politicians. Within each team, at least one candidate must be from a minority ethnic group.

Authorities say the team vote is to ensure minority representation in the city-state’s parliament, but critics say it is a means of parachuting new candidates into the legislature as part of a group.

The vote will see 97 members of parliament elected in 33 constituencies made up of 15 single-member constituencies and 18 GRCs. But with no opposition to contest one of the GRCs, the PAP has already scored a walkover for a five-member team, meaning just 92 seats will be contested today.

For David Wee, constituency boundaries are not really an issue.

“It’s something that can happen to anybody, especially if you live in a Single Member Constituency, which can be easily absorbed” into a GRC, he told Al Jazeera.

What is an issue though, he says, is the rising cost of living, inflation, and other concerns around life and work in one of the world’s richest nations.

“I will support whomever I think can serve the residents well,” he said, adding that Singapore’s voters are more discerning now and should not be taken for granted.

“Our voters have become more educated,” he said.

Singapore, after all, is “a developed country, not a developing country”, he added.

Singapore bling

Singapore is one of the world’s most expensive cities, with some of the highest living standards globally.

Alongside a world-class public transport system, it also has the most expensive cars in the world, thanks to a licensing system that sees owners shell out tens of thousands of dollars simply for the right to own a vehicle, alongside congestion pricing, road tax and other expenses.

“If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it,” said Lim Meng Wee, 57, a consultant in the local real estate capital field who has owned several cars over the years.

“A car is a very expensive luxury. It eats into your balance sheet and you will have to keep working harder. I know of people who bought a car, and within two to three years, they were back to public transport,” he said.

Singapore’s economic success, generally low crime and expectation of personal safety for citizens has come in tandem with a low tolerance for dissent.

That has been enforced by wide-ranging laws that allow for, among others, penalties for wounding racial and religious feelings, as well as detention without trial. Labour strikes are outlawed too, and a permit is required for demonstrations, which is strictly observed.

One prominent dissident who held up a cardboard sign with a smiley face outside the State Courts in 2020 to make a symbolic point about the administration of justice was fined for illegal assembly.

In February, six people in their 20s were questioned by police and had their electronic devices seized over a protest at a local university against Israel’s war on Gaza.

Critics and media outlets have been the subject of defamation lawsuits by government ministers, while many politicians and activists were imprisoned from the 1960s into the 1980s.

In addition, the mainstream media is solidly pro-establishment while the country is ranked 123rd in the world in terms of press freedom. All media outlets must tread carefully with a government accustomed to taking matters to court when unhappy with coverage.

Two ministers recently launched a defamation lawsuit against Bloomberg News – which is continuing – over an article about multimillion-dollar property transactions in the country.

Singapore at 60 – the social compact going strong

In August, this multicultural, multilingual island nation of about six million celebrates its 60th year of independence.

It turns 60 as an economic heavyweight, and one of the cleanest, safest, least corrupt places in the world. Gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in 1965 was about $500. Last year, figures from the International Monetary Fund showed the figure was about $93,000.

All this has been accomplished under the PAP, which was co-founded by the country’s first premier Lee Kuan Yew, and which remains the only governing party Singaporeans have ever known.

Over those six decades, Singapore’s version of the social compact has seen its citizens accepting fewer freedoms in exchange for the PAP ensuring stable economic growth and the availability of good jobs. But that appears to be changing.

The PAP has held a parliamentary supermajority for decades, though the 10 opposition politicians elected at the last election in 2020 represented an all-time high in parliament and forced some soul-searching among the governing party’s leadership.

“All that we see here in Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew’s (generation) delivered,” political analyst and former newspaper editor PN Balji said.

“He was a great statesman,” he told Al Jazeera.

However, increasingly, Singaporean voters want a greater say in governance and eschew the “fist in velvet glove” approach to government, along with the authorities’ willingness to intervene in citizens’ lives, leading to the label of “nanny state”.

An example of the PAP’s gloved-fist approach was social housing, said Balji.

For years, the PAP openly told voters that their residential public housing properties would not be prioritised for upgrading if they voted for the opposition.

“All these policies were introduced at a time when the leadership’s mentality was, ‘we’ll just push it through’. You don’t vote PAP, you don’t get upgrading? Let them try this now,” Balji said.

Social media has emboldened Singaporeans to the point where the “fear factor” no longer exists, he said.

Bread-and-butter issues, along with the longstanding argument that more opposition voices are needed in Singapore, are also dominating in high-tech Singapore.

Cost-of-living concerns, exacerbated by a two-step rise in a goods and services tax (GST) – now at 9 percent – since 2023, have dominated the political debate.

In addition to previous handouts, authorities have already earmarked just under $1bn in handouts and rebates to help defray the cost of daily expenses, in the wake of a $4.9bn fiscal surplus for 2024.

But the larger-than-expected surplus led many to question the government’s need for the GST hike, with the main opposition Workers’ Party (WP) asserting that it had “turbocharged” inflation.

United States-imposed tariffs have also heightened economic unease.

Former WP lawmaker Leon Perera noted that with slowing economic growth in recent years, the claim of Singaporean exceptionalism is being cited less by the PAP.

“Three generations of Singaporeans grew up with an exceptional leadership that delivered outcomes of a higher standard than other developed countries,” Perera said.

“Now, increasingly, the narrative is that other developed countries are facing the same problems we have, be it inflation, sluggish real wage growth or high levels of inequality,” he said.

“The PAP is at an inflection point because it is the transition to the new prime minister that I think is a catalyst for voters,” he added.

Former PAP lawmaker Inderjit Singh, who served for almost two decades in parliament, said previously people “saw their lives improve tremendously”, and, therefore, “people were willing to allow the government to play a dominant role” in their lives.

But Singh acknowledged that the cracks have been showing, with a cross-section of Singaporeans who feel they are “sliding backwards” in terms of the cost of living and the affordability of public housing.

“The younger Singaporeans have had a good life, and they see the future as tougher than the present,” Singh said.

He also pointed to the “huge surge” of new immigrants at a rapid pace that has diluted national identity.

“The fact that Singapore has remained a cohesive and prosperous nation should be a matter of pride for all Singaporeans,” he noted.

Singapore’s ‘4G’ generation v the founding fathers

Neophyte Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who came to power last May, is part of the current fourth generation of leaders, dubbed the “4G” leadership, which still lives under the shadow of the late, great Lee Kuan Yew.

“One of the biggest issues for Singapore at 60 is leadership,” said Balji, who believes the current PAP leaders cannot be compared with Lee’s generation.

Judging by online chatter, many Singaporeans appear to agree.

A long-running public dispute between Lee’s children, including Wong’s predecessor as PM Lee Hsien Loong, also continues to divide Singaporeans and generate international headlines. A high-profile corruption case that saw a former transport minister jailed has not helped matters.

Another point of contention for many: Singapore has the highest-paid ministers in the world, thanks to the PAP’s insistence that competitive salaries were essential for guarding against corruption.

At almost $1.69m per annum, Wong himself is the best-paid world leader. A junior minister gets about $845,000 while a backbencher is paid about $148,000.

Wong, who is also finance minister but was not the PAP’s first choice to succeed Lee, made his name as co-chair of the government’s COVID task force.

While the 52-year-old has enjoyed high approval ratings and there is little danger of the PAP losing power in this election, he is expected to improve on or maintain the party’s vote share of more than 61 percent from the last election in 2020 – which was one of its worst performances ever.

The PAP is also facing a resurgent opposition with a slate of young, highly credentialled WP candidates, and the governing party has looked rattled and vulnerable during the campaign.

The former PAP lawmaker Singh said that while Singapore’s management of the COVID pandemic was exemplary compared with many other countries, the jury is still out on Wong and his peers.

“I think the 4G leaders have yet to show that they can handle these issues to the satisfaction of Singaporeans. Some of the trust in the PAP has eroded in the last 10 years or so,” he said.

“Just saying ‘believe me’ will not be enough – showing a convincing plan that people can believe will be key,” he said.

“If the PAP can do it, they should be able to win a good mandate. If not, we can expect further erosion of votes.”