Israel’s opposition parties appeared to have secured enough Knesset seats in Tuesday’s elections to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from power and end a four-year reign marked by genocidal war in Gaza and escalating terror and dispossession against Palestinians in the West Bank. But will they? With about 86% of ballots counted as of Wednesday […]

The post Will Israeli opposition parties join forces to eject Netanyahu? appeared first on Asia Times.

Of all the leaders of America’s allies, from Europe to Asia, no one has invested more in seeking the favor of Donald Trump than Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae. She has met Trump three times in person during her first year in office and offered up tens of billions in investment pledges, while keeping mostly […]

The post Did Takaichi make a bad bet on Donald Trump? appeared first on Asia Times.

On Monday, the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement did something a defense treaty is not usually built to do. Its members went to Tehran to talk. Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, Pakistan’s Field Marshal Asim Munir and Turkey’s intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalın met President Masoud Pezeshkian and Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei. […]

The post The Mecca pact goes to Tehran. Can it keep the region out of another war? appeared first on Asia Times.

Battlefield robots were once thought of as the stuff of science fiction. But the Ukraine war has put paid to that view, with uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs) – or ground robots – taking on an increasingly visible role. In September 2026, Mykhailo Fedorov, the former defense minister of Ukraine – who is generally credited with […]

The post Could humanoid robots soon replace soldiers on the battlefield? appeared first on Asia Times.

TOKYO — When America’s AI bubble bursts, it will be a bad day for Nvidia and Intel. In Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo, it will be a national crisis. AI has become, almost overnight, what China once was for Asia: the growth engine everyone depends on. Investors from South Korea to Taiwan to Japan should spend […]

The post Asia’s AI boom could turn from hero to zero overnight appeared first on Asia Times.

Israelis turned out in numbers not seen in a generation, and handed both of their would-be prime ministers the same verdict: not enough. On the partial count this morning, neither Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor Gadi Eisenkot’s reaches the 61 seats needed to govern. Both men have nonetheless claimed the night. Eisenkot told supporters the old […]

The post Israel’s inconclusive election reveals a sharply divided nation appeared first on Asia Times.

For decades after World War II, Japan was seen in Southeast Asia chiefly as an economic partner, a development donor and a source of investment. Security played a minor role in its relations with ASEAN. Today, Japan is a significant security partner for many Southeast Asian states, especially the Philippines. This shift is not driven […]

The post Manila’s closer ties to Tokyo not aimed at containing Beijing appeared first on Asia Times.

Saudi Arabia’s rapid expansion of a ballistic missile factory signals a transformative shift in its pursuit of strategic deterrence. Saudi Arabia is expanding its solid-propellant missile production complex near al-Duwadimi, approximately 200 kilometers west of Riyadh, to develop longer-range ballistic weapons capable of carrying heavier payloads, multiple media outlets reported this month based on satellite […]

The post Under Houthi fire, Saudi Arabia looks to China for missile support appeared first on Asia Times.

As artificial intelligence technologies grow ever more powerful, so do the risks they pose and with them the urgency of regulating AI. In July 2026, OpenAI’s advanced models hacked into AI company Hugging Face’s systems during internal cybersecurity evaluations by communicating through unauthorized channels and working around safeguards developers had imposed on the models. In […]

The post How to regulate AI? Follow the harm appeared first on Asia Times.

Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee released in July an interim staff report accusing South Korea of “discriminatory attacks on American-owned businesses.” Seoul’s “practices include coercive investigation tactics, overly burdensome regulatory requirements, and massive fines and penalties intended to punish American businesses and make it harder for them to effectively compete against Korean companies,” the […]

The post South Korea’s rich lobbying spree isn’t paying off in DC appeared first on Asia Times.

This article first appeared on Pacific Forum and is republished with kind permission. Read the original here. With so much media focus in recent months on the war in Iran, it’s no surprise that Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby’s speech in Manila received so little coverage. That means very few know what […]

The post Deeper India-Philippines ties boost US aims in South China Sea appeared first on Asia Times.

Just one day after vowing he would remain in Brazil to disprove allegations of money laundering, corruption, and other crimes, far-right Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro followed in his disgraced father’s footsteps by fleeing to the United States after losing a presidential election. Bolsonaro, his wife Fernanda Bolsonaro, and their two daughters, ages 14 and 12, […]

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