International Affairs

MusicalKinky Bootshas broken new ground in the socially conservative nation, with shows in theatres across cities Sign language interpreters swung their hips and gestured at deaf audience members to the rhythm of a rollicking performance by drag queens singing and dancing on stage behind them. Nothing surprising for a Broadway …

Later in September, Hong Kong’s first high-speed train will head for Guangzhou, a port city and industrial power house. Its 200-km-an-hour sprint will finally end in nearby Shenzhen, the crucible of China’s reforms. The high-speed train will cover a short span of 141 km between Hong Kong’s West Kowloon station …

The two countries have signed an MoU to establish a 1,700 km corridor, connecting key areas China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) got a high-octane boost last week, when Myanmar — facing the heat from the West because of the Rohingya refugee crisis — inked an agreement with Beijing to …

Trump seeks to force an ‘ultimate deal’ The United States has decided to close the Palestinian mission in Washington in the latest move against them by President Donald Trump, a Palestinian official said on Monday, denouncing it as a “dangerous escalation”. The closure comes as Mr. Trump seeks to force …

The lives of the former spy and Putin, two former intelligence agents from the Soviet-era, intersected at key points Sergei V. Skripal was a little fish. This is how British officials now describe Mr. Skripal, a Russian intelligence officer they recruited as a spy in the mid-1990s. When the Russians …

Sweden Democrats could garner 16-25% of the vote share Swedes voted in legislative elections on Sunday with a far-right surge expected if voters punish traditional parties over their failure to address immigration concerns. Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Löfven has called the election a “referendum on the future of the …

The U.S. has extended by over five months the temporary suspension of premium processing for H-1B visas as part of its efforts to clear the backlog. Premium processing is a feature that shortens the usual processing time of visa petitions from about of six months to 15 days for a …

Exercise Peace Mission 2018, the joint military exercise of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), ended in Russia on Wednesday with the eight-member states undertaking joint training on combating terrorism. This is the first time India and Pakistan participated in the exercise, which began on August 24 at the firing ranges in …

Global superstars Lady Gaga, Ryan Gosling and Vanessa Redgrave descend on Venice this week as the annual film festival kicks off on Wednesday to controversy over the inclusion of Netflix productions and there being just one female director in competition. Some 21 features will be locking horns for the prized …

In 2016, Turkey launched its first military operation in Syria to prevent both the Islamic State (IS) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Kurdish militia, from advancing on the town of Azaz. Though the stated objective was to push the IS further away from the border, what concerned Ankara …