Today's headlines: Cambodia and the United States announce the resumption of joint military exercises suspended since 2017 following criticism over human rights; In Southeast Asia, deaths from air pollution could increase by 10% by 2050; Ten dead in a stampede at a temple in Andhra Pradesh; Chinese scientific mission to study Antarctic ice at a depth of 3,000 metres.

​​SOUTH KOREA

Faced with deepening fractures in the global trading order, Asia-Pacific leaders adopted a joint statement emphasising the need for resilience and shared benefits in trade at the end of the annual APEC summit held in Gyeongiu, South Korea. With Trump's hasty departure before the summit began, China positioned itself as a supporter of free and open trade. President Xi Jinping also announced that China will host the APEC summit in Shenzhen in 2026. However, few of the member countries believe that a new trade order excluding the United States can exist.

CAMBODIA-UNITED STATES

The United States and Cambodia will resume joint military exercises after years. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth announced the return of the Angkor Sentinel exercises after a meeting with his Cambodian counterpart yesterday on the sidelines of a security summit in Malaysia. This is a further sign of the rapprochement between the two countries, which culminated in the ceasefire agreements with Thailand. The exercises were suspended in 2017, at a time when Washington was harshly criticising Phnom Penh for the worsening human rights situation and the deterioration of democracy.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

Deaths caused by air pollution in Southeast Asia could increase by almost 10% and cost the region more than US trillion by 2050, unless more effective mitigation measures are taken. This is according to a new study by the Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Health at Nanyang Technological University published in the journal Environment International. The comparison is with 2019, when air pollution caused 1,147,259 premature deaths in Southeast Asia, with a total economic cost of US2 billion.

INDIA

At least ten people died in a stampede at the Venkateswara Swamy temple, located in the Srikakulam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The tragedy occurred as large numbers of worshippers crowded the temple on the Hindu festival of Ekadashi.

CHINA

The 42nd Chinese Antarctic expedition set sail today from Shanghai, during which scientific drilling experiments are planned for the first time in lakes located deep within the ice sheet. ‘Using domestically developed hot water jet and thermal melting drilling systems, we will carry out clean drilling and sampling through ice more than 3,000 metres thick,’ said mission leader Wei Fuhai. Antarctic subglacial lakes are characterised by extreme conditions - high pressure, low temperatures, darkness and nutrient scarcity - and are home to a unique ecosystem, as well as preserving valuable archives on the history of the ice sheet and climate change.

RUSSIA

The most popular computer programming system, JavaScript, has been translated into Russian in terms of both syntax and Cyrillic script, with the aim of ‘defending specialists from English-language standards,’ according to the project entrusted to the state university in the Russian city of Penza, which intended to demonstrate in this way that “it is possible to create computer codes without relying on English systems”, and the same will be done for other programmes.

TURKMENISTAN

Turkmenistan is strengthening its “gas diplomacy” towards Afghanistan with the development of the new Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India Tapi gas pipeline, which, according to plans, will be able to transport up to 33 billion cubic metres of gas per year. The project has been under discussion since the 1990s but then blocked after 11 September 2001 and only reconfirmed in September 2024, as a symbol of “new pragmatism in regional politics” according to various comments.

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