Author: ANC News Desk

An aerial view of the Thai capital Bangkok, with Lumpini Park in the foreground. Credit: ID 134898558 © Tampatra1 | Dreamstime.com In the first quarter of 2026, Thailand’s economy expanded by 2.8 percent, beating analyst expectations. But the economic outlook for the full year remains modest, with the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC) […]

Through humanitarian engagement, the EU aims to maintain ties with the Afghan people and civil society organizations. But higher level policy is less active. Credit: X/ EU in Afghanistan In May 2026, the European Union accelerated its review of policies regarding Afghan migrants, with the primary goal appearing to be the return of migrants who […]

Fragment of the Nilaṇṭhanāmahṛdaya dhāraṇī, written in the Siddhaṃ script and transliterated in Chinese characters. Credit: Wikimedia Indian and Chinese civilizations have known about each other and been in contact with each other for over 2,000 years. Any book or article that focuses on the relationship between India and China will usually include some mention […]

Credit: Photo Supplied Lorcan Lovett is a Welsh journalist based in Southeast Asia who has reported across the region with a focus on Myanmar since 2017. He has just returned from a trip to the war-torn country and to Bangladesh, where he toured the refugee camps housing the Rohingya. He says life remains tough in […]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif shake hands at a meeting during the latter’s visit to Beijing, May 25, 2025. Credit: X/Shehbaz Sharif The recent visit of the Pakistani leadership to Beijing has injected new energy and robustness into the Sino-Pakistani bilateral partnership. During the visit, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif […]

New Htan Shauk Khan village at Buthidaung in Myanmar’s Rakhine State. Credit: Rajeev Bhattacharyya The Arakan Army (AA)’s military campaign to liberate the Arakan region from the Myanmar military has sparked allegations and counter-allegations of killings and arson by the warring sides. Among the most recent cases is a massacre that reportedly happened at the […]

The Quad Foreign Minister’s Meeting in New Delhi, India, May 26, 2026. Credit: Facebook / Penny Wong Australia’s foreign minister, Penny Wong, traveled to New Delhi this week for the latest meeting of the Quad foreign ministers. Despite concerns that the grouping would not hold amid the current realignment of worldview in the United States […]

Credit: Wikimedia Commons/ Baycrest As temperatures rose sharply in May, China carried out four “joint combat readiness patrols” around Taiwan, on May 1, 6, 19, and 25. When compared with similar activity in recent years, this high frequency of military operations is unusual. It also suggests that the assumption that a recent decline in the […]

Credit: Javad Esmaeili from Pixabay As it struggles to ship oil through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran is looking for alternative land routes to import and export goods. In March, Iran exported 1.84 million barrels per day (BPD) to Asian customers, mostly China. Although some ships managed to evade the blockade, Iran still cannot transport […]

Credit: Gemini Generated Image Within a couple of years of its incubation in 2023, Manus, an autonomous agentic AI start-up, made headlines in December 2025, when Meta announced its acquisition for $2 billion. Although the Chinese authorities rushed to order a probe into the deal, it took four months to finally unwind the transaction. Since […]