UNITED STATES – RUSSIA – CHINA
Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping will hold their first trilateral meeting in Shenzhen on 19 November on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, the White House announced yesterday. According to US officials, Trump wishes to discuss the reduction of nuclear arsenals and is also expected to raise the issue of the war in Iran, but he is not expected to discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine. On 17 November, the leaders of the Quad countries (the United States, Japan, Australia and India) may meet on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to be held in Manila, in the Philippines.
SINGAPORE
The case that led to the resignation of Nvidia’s founder, Jensen Huang – who was accused of having a relationship with an alleged Chinese spy, Alice Huang, from Singapore – has refocused attention on the city-state as a hub for the semiconductor industry. Malaysia has announced that it is conducting investigations to “determine whether any of the chips imported into Malaysia were subsequently re-exported” and, if so, whether this took place “in accordance with the law”. The statement comes after the Singaporean authorities stated, on 12 November, that they had “received limited information or assistance” from their US counterparts as part of a 2025 investigation into several companies, such as the Singapore-based cloud firm Megaspeed, and its executives, including Alice Huang.
MYANMAR
This week, a delegation from the Eurasian Economic Commission visited Naypyitaw. The organisation’s Minister for Integration and Macroeconomics, Daniyar Imanaliev, held talks with the military junta’s Foreign Minister, Tin Maung Swe, regarding Myanmar’s bid to obtain observer status within the regional bloc. The Eurasian Economic Union comprises Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and trade with Myanmar has more than tripled between 2019 and 2024, exceeding $1.5 billion.
JAPAN
Some Japanese museums have designated days when photography of artworks is prohibited and others when it is permitted, so that tourists can plan their visits according to their preferences. According to a survey, 84 per cent of around 600 art museums nationwide allowed photography of at least part of their collections in 2024, up from 67 per cent in 2019. The Kofu Art Museum in Yamanashi Prefecture, which houses paintings by Jean-François Millet, reported that the introduction of designated photography days has so far been very successful.
SAUDI ARABIA – SRI LANKA
Saudi Arabia has formally concluded all legal proceedings against Sivarasa Anojan, the Sri Lankan man of Tamil ethnicity who faced the death penalty for a Facebook comment about the Prophet Muhammad. The Sri Lankan Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed that the Saudi Arabian Public Prosecutor’s Office decided on 9 November 2026 to dismiss the case, quashing all remaining sentences, after the case had attracted international attention.
INDIA
According to a report by the International Migration Outlook, between 2020 and 2024 over 900,000 Indians obtained citizenship in member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an increase of 41 per cent compared with the 650,000 recorded between 2015 and 2019. Canada accounted for the largest share, with 260,000 Indians obtaining Canadian citizenship.
