Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned Moscow at the United Nations on Wednesday that his nation would strike back and make the coming winter deeply painful for Russia, if the two sides cannot agree a truce on energy attacks before the cold sets in. Ukraine and its allies are racing to secure limited agreements on energy infrastructure and Black Sea shipping before winter, fearing renewed Russian strikes on power and heating ‌facilities, while Moscow continues to show little interest in...

US President Donald Trump has been very eager to show off to Chinese leader Xi Jinping his new US$5 million White House helipad, his latest bid to stamp his image on Washington. While Xi might act impressed and compliment the US president on his latest building project – part of Trump’s bid to match Xi’s splendour-filled hosting four months ago in Beijing and show the Chinese that Americans can build infrastructure too – do not count on Xi actually trying it out with a chopper ride this week...

Relatives of people who committed suicide using poison sold by a Canadian man gave wrenching accounts of pain and loss on Wednesday in court before a judge tasked with deciding the former chef’s prison term. Kenneth Law pleaded guilty in May to aiding in the suicide of 14 people in Canada after prosecutors determined they lacked evidence to convict him of murder over his online forums where he advised people on how to end their lives. Law has admitted that he proactively looked for customers,...

A grand military welcome, a state dinner, tea at the White House and a tour of the National Archives: Chinese President Xi Jinping’s state visit to Washington will see his American counterpart, Donald Trump, roll out the pomp and pageantry. The United States’ capital is bracing for high-level bilateral discussions served with a side of symbolic gestures, marking Xi’s first state visit to the country since 2015. But what exactly makes this a state visit, and how does it differ from other official...

An attack on a cargo ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday killed an Indian sailor, Omani and Indian authorities said, with the latter condemning the ongoing attacks in the vital shipping lane. Since the start of the Middle East war, Iran has sought to impose its control over the maritime conduit for Gulf oil and gas, occasionally striking ships accused of failing to coordinate with its authorities or deviating from its preferred route. In retaliation, the US has been enforcing a...

Paraguayan President Santiago Pena told the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday that his country “is not neutral” on the Taiwan Strait, pledging support for the self-ruled island and calling for its “full and meaningful participation” in the UN system. Casting a conflict in the strait as a potentially far greater threat than the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Pena warned of “ominous clouds gathering over the Indo-Pacific” and of a conflict that would hit Japan, the rest of East and...

As Chinese President Xi Jinping makes his high-profile state visit to the US, Americans’ views of China remain negative but have improved in recent years, according to a new Pew Research Centre report. Using a “feeling thermometer” ranging from zero, the coldest rating, to 100, the warmest, Pew found that Americans gave China an average rating of 37, up from 28 in 2021. “The [Xi-Trump] meeting comes as Americans’ feelings about China have warmed in recent years, even though they remain cold...