3 d. ago How sanctioned Russian oil flows freely via a tiny Pacific island nation

Dozens of oil tankers suspected of smuggling contraband crude for Russia and Iran have been using a beachside office in the tropical South Pacific to cover their tracks, an analysis of sanctions data has revealed. Nestled next to a pizza shop in the far-flung Cook Islands is the modest headquarters of one of the fastest-growing shipping registries in the world. Without ever setting foot in the palm-fringed microstate, foreign shipowners can pay Maritime Cook Islands to sail under its...

Politics

2 w. ago China’s soybean revolution: how it reshaped trade and tested food security

Soybeans are more than just a crop – they have become a litmus test of Beijing’s evolving food security strategy and sit at the heart of the US-China trade war. As a crucial source of animal feed and cooking oil, soybeans have remained a flashpoint throughout the ebbs and flows of the two nations’ trade disputes, from the tariff war during US President Donald Trump’s first term to the current one. Less well known is China’s transformation from soybean exporter to the world’s leading importer....

Events

2 w. ago ‘Impossible to achieve’: why China can’t grow enough soybeans to feed itself

Soybeans are more than just a crop – they have become a litmus test of Beijing’s evolving food security strategy and sit at the heart of the US-China trade war. As a crucial source of animal feed and cooking oil, soybeans have remained a flashpoint throughout the ebbs and flows of the two nations’ trade disputes, from the tariff war during US President Donald Trump’s first term to the current one. Less well known is China’s transformation from soybean exporter to the world’s leading importer....

Politics

3 w. ago 3 PLA warships sailed past Japan amid row over Sanae Takaichi’s Taiwan comments

Beijing sent a Type 055 destroyer fleet to the south of Japan on Tuesday, just days after comments made by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan drew a strong reaction from Beijing, according to Tokyo. Japan’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that three Chinese ships, including a Type 055 destroyer, had passed through waters south of Kagoshima on Kyushu island on Tuesday before travelling through the Osumi Strait into the Pacific Ocean. According to the ministry, the three ships...

Events

3 w. ago 3 PLA warships sailed past Japan amid row over PM Takaichi’s Taiwan comments

Beijing sent a Type 055 destroyer fleet to the south of Japan on Tuesday, according to Tokyo, just days after comments about Taiwan from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi drew a strong reaction from Beijing. Japan’s defence ministry said on Wednesday that three Chinese ships, including a Type 055 destroyer, had passed through waters south of Kagoshima on Kyushu island on Tuesday before travelling through the Osumi Strait into the Pacific Ocean. According to a statement from the ministry,...

Events

3 w. ago China Is Building a Secret Shadow Fleet to Import Sanctioned Russian LNG

China Is Building a Secret Shadow Fleet to Import Sanctioned Russian LNG  UNITED24 Media

Politics

3 w. ago Russian Oil Takes New China Blow After Trump Sanctions: Report

Russian Oil Takes New China Blow After Trump Sanctions: Report  Newsweek

Politics

4 w. ago Trump grants Hungary’s Orban, a Putin ally, exemption from oil sanctions

US President Donald Trump handed Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban an exemption from sanctions to keep buying Russian oil on Friday, as the right-wing allies held a chummy White House meeting. As Orban and Trump heaped praise on each other, the Hungarian nationalist said it would take a “miracle” for Ukraine to beat Moscow, underscoring the gulf between him and other European leaders on the war. Trump, meanwhile, wholeheartedly backed Orban on the touchstone issue of migration, saying that...

Politics