China has been developing closer ties with countries in Central Asia over recent years. Trade between China and the Central Asia region grew to US$89 billion in 2023, an increase of 27% on the previous year. Chinese trade rose with every country there except Turkmenistan. In my paper from June 2024, which is part of […]
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Arctic commercial navigation / Arctic Resources / Block 2 / China / Global Warming / icebreakers / NATO / News / Russia / United States / World
As global players focus on the Arctic, US icebreakers are scarce
Nowhere on earth is global warming proceeding more rapidly than inside the Arctic Circle. Over the past two decades, the Arctic has grown five degrees Celsius warmer. And the trend is accelerating, with the Arctic warming nearly four times as rapidly as the rest of the planet. Climate scientists expect that Arctic median temperatures will […]
Block 1 / Disinformation Campaigns / Erving Goffman / Framing Theory / News / RT / sputnik / Taiwan war / Ukraine war / World / World Economic Forum
Before the missiles: How disinformation could spark Asia’s next war
“The problem with fake news is not that people believe it. The problem is that they don’t believe anything anymore.”— Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century In February 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine triggered the largest European conflict since World War II. But this war isn’t just being fought with tanks […]
Block 4 / Catholic Church / Catholicism in China / China / Chinese History / News / Pope Francis / World
When Pope Francis spoke to Asia Times on China
Pope Francis gave his first-ever interview on China and the Chinese people on January 28, 2016, to then-Asia Times columnist and China Renmin University senior researcher Francesco Sisci. The Pope urged the world not to fear China’s fast rise in a historic one-hour interview at the Vatican. He said the Chinese people are in a […]
Block 2 / Covid-19 Pandemic / IMF / News / The Conversation / Trump Tariffs / World / World Economic Outlook
IMF: Economic uncertainty is now higher than it was during Covid
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has just published its World Economic Outlook, and it does not take an expert to deduce that, even among some of the world’s top economic minds, confident predictions are currently hard to come by. Every spring the IMF and World Bank hold their spring meetings in Washington, DC: a week […]
Appia Institute / Block 3 / Catholicism / Catholicism in China / Christian Indians / News / Pope Francis / World
Choosing the next Pope Francis
He was a beacon, a lighthouse for the common people, the downtrodden, the have-nots and those discriminated against in one way or another—those who wanted to live in harmony, peace and love with other people and nature. Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) was not simply the head of the Catholic Church; he was a voice for eight […]
Carlo M. Cipolla / Donald Trump / News / Opinion / Stupidity / The Conversation / Trump Tariffs / United States
Stupidity researchers: Trump’s policies not just dumb but stupid
Before he stepped down as Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau called Donald Trump’s tariff policies “very dumb.” This might be an accurate description of many Trump administration policies — but the more objectively correct word is “stupid.” In fact, Québec’s largest newspaper, Le Journal de Montréal, published a front-page photo of Trump in early February […]
Block 2 / Brian Ballard / Coca-Cola / News / PET bottles / ProPublica / Reyes Brothers / Trump Tariffs / United States
Politically connected firms benefit from Trump tariff exemptions
This article was originally published by ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. After President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs earlier this month, the White House released a list of more than a thousand products that would be exempted. One item that made the list is polyethylene terephthalate, more commonly known as PET resin, the […]
Anthony Albanese / Australia / Block 3 / DOGE / Donald Trump / Greenland Annexation / News / Peter Dutton / The Conversation / Trump Effect / Trump Liberation Day / Trump Tariffs / Ukraine war / US-Australia relations / World
Australians hate Trump’s policies and distrust US: poll
Australians strongly disagree with key policies of US President Donald Trump, and have overwhelmingly lost trust in the United States to act responsibly in the world, according to the Lowy Institute’s 2025 poll. Despite this, 80% of people say the alliance is “very” or “fairly” important for Australia’s security, only fractionally down on last year’s […]
Block 3 / Brad Thomas / DOGE / News / Porter Stansberry / Trump Tariffs / United States / US Economic Collapse / US Economy / US Stock Market Collapse
Trump’s in-the-know plan to demolish the US economy
The press daily reports ever louder shrieks of concern that Trump’s actions – tariffs, deportations, chainsaw destruction of federal agencies by people barely out of their teens – risk causing a worldwide economic crash. The naïve shriekers Bill Ackman, Larry Fink, Larry Summers and countless others don’t yet realize that there’s no risk: it’s the […]