Priscilla Ruggiero

Kabul is opening up to American investment in Afghanistan, stating that an American military presence on the ground is out of the question, but that money, arms and diplomacy are on the table. In this way, the regime is seeking to break out of its international isolation and establish a channel of communication with Washington regarding rare earths.

According to some sources within the regime, after six months of war, the greatest threat may come not from external pressure but from the possibility of new uprisings by a population worn down by inflation and repression. Iranian men know that the response to the protests would be exemplary; Iranian women know that there will be no backtracking on the hijab

All the signs of Vladimir Putin’s war spreading to the borders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, in the space of a month. US reports on Russian tests of European resilience and support for Ukraine

The Gao brothers channelled the trauma of the Cultural Revolution into their artistic journey; in the early 2000s they experienced a period of rare freedom and openness, but fifty years after the death of the Great Helmsman, they have fallen victim to Chinese repression for a second time. The sentencing of Gao Zhen, who was arrested in China upon his return from the United States 

Aljaksandr Lukashenka is courting Kyiv, but his alliances tell a different story. The Afghan delegation and the Burmese ‘president’ in Minsk, and the Belarusian Foreign Minister’s summer holidays in Pyongyang

August in Iran is the month of death sentences, echoing the 1988 massacre; amidst declarations of war and internal divisions between hardliners and pragmatists, the Iranian regime has for months continued to execute demonstrators with impunity

For Trump, the Strait remains open; he says the United States “has complete control”. Even if it involves substantial resources and is only to allow a limited amount of oil to pass through, things are indeed moving forward. With a night-time operation by the US military

The slapdash nature of a cartoon by a self-styled director and his mother has won over young people, to the extent that they see it as a challenge to propaganda blockbusters. How the ‘ugliest animated film in China’ won over Gen Z on social media

China is offering its data models to train artificial intelligence systems. The White House is seeking a position from the signatories of the Pax Silica

 Trump’s statements on Iranian disinformation and the news of his replacement after more than 250 days on a mission in the Middle East. The families of the marines on board tell a different story