Cook Islands election shaped by diplomatic rift with New Zealand and ties with Beijing
Voters in the Cook Islands are heading to a high-stakes general election that has been shaped by disputes over foreign policy, deep-sea mining and the country's relationship with New Zealand. Prime Minister Mark Brown has said last year's diplomatic rift with Wellington could influence how people vote. The election is taking place in a small Pacific nation of about 17,000 people that has recently drawn wider international attention.Brown said the fallout from the row with New Zealand "does have bearings" on voters, adding that people are "quite mindful and aware of what happens in the geopolitical space". He argued that... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 12 Aug 2026 02:02 LONDON
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Typhoon Dolphin forces more than one million evacuations as it weakens inland in eastern China
Typhoon Dolphin has forced more than one million people to evacuate across eastern China as it continues to bring heavy rain, flooding risk and transport disruption to the region. The storm made landfall in Yuhuan, Zhejiang province, at about 5:30pm local time on Sunday before weakening as it moved inland. It has still left Shanghai and surrounding provinces dealing with waterlogged streets, flight cancellations and warnings of landslides.China's meteorological authorities said Dolphin came ashore with winds of up to 150 kilometres per hour, making it the strongest storm to make landfall in the country this year. About 40 percent of... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 10 Aug 2026 14:59 LONDON
US condemns China's Scarborough Reef 'nature reserve' move amid South China Sea tensions
The United States has criticised China over a new move at Scarborough Reef in the disputed South China Sea, saying Beijing is using environmental language to strengthen its territorial claims. In a statement issued on Saturday, the US State Department said China was attempting to deny Filipino fishermen access to the waters around the reef, which lies near the Philippine island of Luzon. The statement rejected China's description of the area as a "national nature reserve" and said the move was part of a broader effort to advance sweeping maritime claims.The US said China's approach relied on "dubious environmental and... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 08 Aug 2026 20:30 LONDON
Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Fiji disrupted as Kiribati and Naoero block statement on China missile test
Pacific Islands Forum foreign ministers meeting in Suva has been disrupted after Kiribati and Naoero blocked a regional statement criticising China's recent ballistic missile test. The dispute has drawn fresh attention to the influence of outside powers in Pacific diplomacy, with New Zealand's foreign minister suggesting China may be seeking to shape the gathering. Australia and New Zealand had both been pressing for a clear regional response, but consensus was not reached.According to officials from multiple Pacific Islands Forum nations, the statement had broad support in the room before it was blocked during the meeting in Fiji. New Zealand Foreign... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 07 Aug 2026 09:00 LONDON
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Trump imposes 15% tariff on polysilicon imports after national security review
US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing a 15% tariff on imported products made from polysilicon, a material used in semiconductors and solar panels. The order also sets minimum import prices for polysilicon and related products. It follows a national security investigation into overseas production of the material and is aimed at supporting domestic manufacturers.Trump said in the order that he had accepted recommendations from Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to introduce the tariff and the minimum price measures. The administration also said it would offer incentives to boost domestic production. The move comes as the US faces... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 07 Aug 2026 02:00 LONDON
Taiwan begins annual Han Kuang war games amid rising China pressure
Taiwan has begun its annual Han Kuang military exercise, the island's largest war game, with drills starting on 5 August and scheduled to run until 14 August. The exercise is designed to prepare troops, reservists and civilians for a possible attack on the island. It comes as Taiwan continues to face sustained military pressure from China.The drills include combat scenarios for troops and reservists, with defence officials saying the aim is to make the exercise closer to real battlefield conditions. On Wednesday, dozens of reservists were seen on a beach facing the Taiwan Strait firing Taiwanese-made assault rifles at targets... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews | 05 Aug 2026 07:30 LONDON
The Great Uncoupling: Abu Dhabi’s Sovereign Gambit
The UAE’s decision to cut ties with OPEC is far more than a mere adjustment of energy policy, for it functions as a political telegram written in barrels and sent directly to the heart of the global order. For nearly six decades, Abu Dhabi operated within the rigid architecture of producer discipline, where it accepted the rituals of quotas, the formality of communiqués, and the heavy burden of collective restraint. It played the long game of oil diplomacy with a patient hand, balancing its own massive national ambitions against the gravity of cartel discipline and the delicate logic of Gulf... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews-Opinion | 30 Apr 2026 09:50 LONDON
The Mirage of the Umbrella: The Shifting Sands of the U.S.-Israel-GCC Alliance
As I sat in a recent debate at the historic Carlton Club in London, listening to Faisal Abbas, the Editor-in-Chief of Arab News, I felt a tangible shift in the room, not because a new fact had been revealed, but because an old illusion had finally lost its last breath. The old-world order has not merely changed, it has evaporated, leaving the Gulf to realize it is no longer watching a distant fire from the safety of marble towers and air-conditioned ministries, but is instead standing directly inside the smoke. The GCC today is caught in a lethal crossfire between... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews-Opinion | 29 Apr 2026 21:40 LONDON
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The Proving Ground, When “Decent” Reporting Meets High-Tech Warfare
For two decades I have watched wars unfold not only on battlefields, but on screens. Today’s incident over Kuwait, involving the downing of a U.S. F-15 Strike Eagle, is not just another headline in the Iran conflict. It may be a signal that something larger is unfolding behind the noise. Iranian state outlets rapidly circulated imagery of an ejected pilot. Washington responded cautiously. But beneath the spectacle lies a deeper question, whose technology was truly being tested? The Gulf as a live-fire laboratory For years, China has refined export-ready variants of its air defense systems, particularly the HQ-9 family and... [Continue Reading]
360LiveNews-Opinion | 02 Mar 2026 09:36 LONDON
