As part of drills rehearsing a blockade, China’s Eastern Theatre Command conducted 10 hours of live-fire exercises, launching rockets into waters to the north and south of the democratically governed island

International News via Reuters:

China fired rockets into waters off Taiwan on Tuesday, showcased new assault ships and dismissed prospects of U.S. and allied intervention to block any future attack by Beijing to take control of the island in its most extensive war games to date.

As part of drills rehearsing a blockade, China’s Eastern Theatre Command conducted 10 hours of live-fire exercises, launching rockets into waters to the north and south of the democratically governed island.

Chinese naval and air force units also simulated strikes on maritime and aerial targets and carried out anti-submarine drills around the island, while state media released images touting Beijing’s technological and military superiority and its ability to take Taiwan by force if necessary.

Named “Justice Mission 2025”, the drills began 11 days after the U.S. announced a record $11.1 billion arms package to Taiwan, drawing the Chinese defence ministry’s ire and warnings that the military would “take forceful measures” in response.

DETERRING ‘EXTERNAL FORCES’ 

For the first time, China’s military said the drills were aimed at deterring outside intervention.

“Any external forces that attempt to intervene in the Taiwan issue or interfere in China’s internal affairs will surely smash their heads bloody against the iron walls of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office said in a statement on Monday.

Beijing has also intensified its rhetoric over Taiwan in the weeks since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a hypothetical attack on the island could trigger a military response from Tokyo.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping last week promoted the commander of the Eastern Theatre Command, which oversees Taiwan-facing operations, to full general – a move which analysts say serves to shore up the military’s combat readiness after a leadership purge.

“China not only has vast numerical superiority, it now has qualitative superiority across the board in weaponry and probably in training as well,” said Lyle Goldstein, Asia programme director at U.S.-based think tank Defense Priorities.

“This is an arms race Taiwan cannot possibly win.”

U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the drills on Monday, talking up his relationship with Xi and saying China has carried out naval exercises around Taiwan for 20 years.

The drills this week, the sixth major round of war games since 2022, were the largest by area and the closest yet to Taiwan.

SHOW OF FORCE

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that China appeared to be simulating striking land-based targets such as the U.S.-made HIMARS rocket system, a mobile artillery system with a range of about 300 km (186 miles) that could hit coastal targets in southern China.

Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said in a post on Facebook that frontline troops were primed to defend the island but that Taipei did not seek to escalate the situation.

China’s state media rolled a stream of propaganda posters, including one titled “Hammers of Justice” that showed Lai being crushed by one hammer striking the island’s south while another hits its north.

Chinese newspapers also highlighted the first deployment of the Type 075 amphibious assault ship. Zhang Chi, an academic at China’s National Defence University, said the vessel can simultaneously launch attack helicopters, landing craft, amphibious tanks and armoured vehicles.

CHINA BELIEVED TO BE EYEING 2027 READINESS TARGET

Taiwan sits alongside key commercial shipping and aviation routes, with some $2.45 trillion in trade moving through the Taiwan Strait each year and the airspace above the island a conduit between China, the world’s second-largest economy, and the fast-growing markets of East and Southeast Asia.

Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Authority said that although 11 of Taipei’s 14 flight routes were affected by the drills, no international flights had been cancelled. Routes to the offshore islands of Kinmen and Matsu near China’s coast were blocked, affecting around 6,000 passengers.

Taiwan’s defence ministry said 71 Chinese military aircraft and 24 navy and coast guard vessels had been operating around the island on Tuesday. The ministry added that China fired 27 rockets in Taiwan’s waters. 

Chinese coast guard ships were tracking Taiwanese vessels during the drills, a Taiwan coast guard official told Reuters.

A Pentagon report released last week said the U.S. military believed China was preparing to be able to win a fight for Taiwan by 2027, the centenary of the founding of the PLA.

China’s military said on Monday that simulating a blockade of Taiwan’s deep-water Port of Keelung to the island’s north and Kaohsiung to Taiwan’s south, its largest port city, was central to the drills.

The Pentagon report said U.S. military planners believed Beijing was also contemplating carrying out strikes from China to take Taiwan by “brute force” if needed.

Reporting by Joe Cash, Liz Lee and Xiuhao Chen in Beijing and Yimou Lee in Taipei; Writing by Joe Cash; Editing by Stephen Coates and Saad Sayeed

Protests, which included shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, were held on Sunday and Monday according to Iranian state media

International News via Reuters:

Iran’s government said on Tuesday it would seek dialogue with protest leaders after demonstrations in Tehran and other cities over a plunge in the currency’s value that has accelerated inflation, with the central bank chief resigning.

Protests, which included shopkeepers in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar, were held on Sunday and Monday according to Iranian state media, the latest demonstrations in the Islamic Republic where bouts of unrest have repeatedly erupted in recent years.

President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a social media post late on Monday that he had asked the interior minister to listen to “legitimate demands” of protesters. Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said a dialogue mechanism would be set up and include talks with protest leaders.

“We officially recognise the protests … We hear their voices and we know that this originates from natural pressure arising from the pressure on people’s livelihoods,” she said on Tuesday in comments carried by state media.

The Iranian rial has been falling as the economy has suffered from the impact of Western sanctions, sinking to a record low on Monday at around 1,390,000 to the U.S. dollar, according to websites monitoring open market rates.

“We have fundamental measures on the agenda to reform the monetary and banking system and maintain the purchasing power of the people,” Pezeshkian posted on X.

Iranian media have said the government’s recent economic liberalisation policies have put pressure on the open-rate rial market, where ordinary Iranians buy foreign currency.

In 2022, Iran was buffeted by protests across the country over price hikes, including for bread, a major staple.

Over the same period and into 2023, the country’s clerical rulers faced the boldest unrest in years touched off by the death of a young Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police, who enforce strict dress codes.

Iranian security services suppressed previous rounds of protests with violent crackdowns and widespread arrests rather than dialogue.

Iran remains under intense international pressure, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying on Monday that he might back another round of Israeli airstrikes if Tehran resumed work on ballistic missiles or any nuclear weapons programme.

The U.S. and Israel carried out 12 days of airstrikes on Iran’s military and its nuclear installations in June aimed at stopping what they believe were efforts to develop the means to build an atomic weapon.

Iran says its nuclear energy programme is entirely peaceful and that it has not tried to build a nuclear bomb.

Reporting by Elwely Elwelly; writing by Angus McDowall; editing by Mark Heinrich

Khaleda, aged 80, had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, chest and heart problems, her doctors said

International News via Reuters:

Bangladesh’s first female prime minister, Khaleda Zia, died after a prolonged illness, her opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party said on Tuesday.

Khaleda, aged 80, had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, arthritis, diabetes, chest and heart problems, her doctors said.

Reporting by Ruma Paul and Shivani Tanna; Editing by YP Rajesh and Clarence Fernandez

The polls are being held in several phases amid an ongoing civil war that has ravaged parts of Myanmar and led to one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises

International News via Reuters:

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday that leaders from the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN will consider developments in Myanmar following the first phase of its election over the weekend.

The polls are being held in several phases amid an ongoing civil war that has ravaged parts of Myanmar and led to one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises.

The election has been widely derided by the United Nations, Western governments and human rights groups as a sham and an attempt by the ruling junta to entrench military rule through political proxies.

The junta has denied the charge, saying the election was not being conducted through coercion or force and has public support.

Anwar, the current chair of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, said the bloc’s leaders will monitor the situation in Myanmar with care, including steps underway that relate to the political process.

“Any assessment will proceed in a sequenced manner, guided by the need to reduce violence, avoid actions that could deepen divisions or confer premature legitimacy, and preserve the possibility of an inclusive and credible pathway forward,” he said in a televised press conference.

Malaysia’s foreign minister has previously said that ASEAN wants the election to be fair and inclusive, and also urged the Myanmar junta to adhere to a peace agreement it agreed with the bloc in 2021.

The “Five-Point Consensus” peace plan has been largely seen as a failure, with Myanmar’s military rulers refusing to meet with opponents it deemed to be terrorists.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew a civilian democratic government in a 2021 coup, triggering an armed rebellion that has captured large swathes of territory across the country.

Reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Ashley Tang; Editing by John Mair

The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on a ceasefire that took effect at noon (0500 GMT) on Saturday, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides

International News via Reuters:

A renewed ceasefire between Thailand and Cambodia over border clashes passed the 72-hour mark on Tuesday, an initial goal the countries set to secure a more lasting peace, but Bangkok said it had delayed the release of 18 Cambodian soldiers due to alleged breaches of the deal.

The Southeast Asian neighbours agreed on a ceasefire that took effect at noon (0500 GMT) on Saturday, halting 20 days of fighting that killed at least 101 people and displaced more than half a million on both sides, and included fighter-jet sorties, exchanges of rocket fire and artillery barrages.

The border clashes reignited early this month, following the breakdown in a ceasefire deal that U.S. President Donald Trump and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim helped broker to halt a previous round of conflict in July.

Under the agreement signed by the defence ministers of both countries on Saturday, Thailand said it would release the 18 Cambodian soldiers after the ceasefire held for 72 hours. 

On Tuesday, Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Nikorndej Balankura said the military had detected many drones from Cambodia on Sunday night, which it saw as a breach of the deal, and so had reconsidered the timing of the handover of the soldiers.

“The consideration of date and time of the release depends on the security side,” he said at a press conference, adding that the handover could “happen soon”.

Cambodian authorities have strongly rejected the accusation of using drones, and issued an order prohibiting the use of drones across the country late on Monday.

“There has been no reaction yet, it is being monitored,” said Pen Bona, a spokesperon for the Cambodian government, when asked about the delay to the soldiers’ release.

The Thai Foreign Ministry also sent a formal protest to Cambodia after a Thai soldier lost a limb on Monday in a landmine blast at a border area.  

Landmine incidents were a catalyst for the renewed clashes.

China’s Foreign Minister hosted two days of talks with his Thai and Cambodian counterparts, reaching an agreement on Monday that the two countries would work to rebuild mutual trust and gradually consolidate the ceasefire.

Earlier on Tuesday, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said the ceasefire was fragile and needed both sides to ensure that it was sustained and that bilateral relations were gradually repaired.

“The ceasefire has only just been agreed so there is fragility,” Sihasak told reporters. “We should avoid instigation or things that could diminish the ceasefire,” he said.

Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um and Reuters staff; Editing by Kate Mayberry

Naveed Akram and his father Sajid Akram are alleged to have killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event on December 14, Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost three decades

International News via Reuters:

Two gunmen who allegedly opened fire on a Jewish celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach earlier this month acted alone and there was “no evidence” they were part of a militant cell, police said on Tuesday.

Naveed Akram and his father Sajid Akram are alleged to have killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event on December 14, Australia’s worst mass shooting in almost three decades that shocked the nation and led to immediate reforms of already strict gun laws.

Police have previously said the men were inspired by Islamic State, with home made flags of the militant group found in their car after the attack, and a month-long trip by the pair to a Philippines island previously plagued by militancy a major focus of investigation.

But on Tuesday, Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett said there was no indication the men had received formal training on the November trip to Mindanao in the Philippines.

“There is no evidence to suggest these alleged offenders were part of a broader terrorist cell, or were directed by others to carry out an attack,” Barrett told a news conference.

She added the findings were an initial assessment, and authorities in Australia and the Philippines were continuing their investigation.

“I am not suggesting that they were there for tourism,” she said, referring to the Philippines trip.

Sajid Akram was shot dead by police during the attack, while his son Naveed, who was also shot by police, was charged with 59 offences after waking from a days-long coma earlier this month. Naveed Akram faces charges ranging from 15 counts of murder to terror and explosives offences.

Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry