Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang has pledged that Beijing is willing to become the first nuclear-armed state to sign a treaty that makes Southeast Asia a nuclear weapons-free zone, The South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

In an interview with Kurdish Rudaw published on 25 March, Bush and Trump administration official John Bolton stated that an independent Iraqi Kurdistan is in the interest of the US.

“I think an independent Kurdistan is in the interest of the United States. It’s hard to define exactly what its boundaries would be. But I think the state of Iraq has failed. I think certainly Kurdish territories in Iraq could be the basis of a new independent country.”

Myanmar’s coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has pledged to deal decisively with “terrorists” fighting against his rule as the military put on an annual show of strength for Armed Forces Day.

The senior general delivered his remarks on Monday after soldiers marched in formation through a parade ground in the capital, Naypyidaw, backed by armoured vehicles, missiles and artillery as well as fighter jets and helicopters flying overhead.

Armenia and Turkiye are set to permanently reopen their land border by this year’s tourist season for the first time in three decades, Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan announced on Friday, 24 March.

The border will initially be opened only for citizens of third countries and diplomatic officials. There is already direct air traffic between the two countries.

Azerbaijan has a long border with Iran, which needs defending, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said answering provocative questions from pro-Armenian Democratic Senator Bob Menendez….

Menendez was expressing concern with the US providing military education to Azerbaijan.

Blinken reminded that that were practical reasons for that.

The present conflict between Russia and Ukraine is arguably the culmination of the foreign policy pursued by the United States of America since the ending of its ideological Cold War with the Soviet Union.

In a ceremony at the Kremlin, and on the second day of Chinese leader's Xi Jinping's visit, Putin and Xi kicked off formal talks which will focus on the Ukraine crisis. They shook hands and stood side by side as their respective national anthems played, aired on state television. Following the meeting, they held a joint press conference, to be followed by a state dinner at the Kremlin. 

The leader of Indonesia says the country must reduce its dependence on foreign payment systems, to negate potentially disastrous economic consequences should the country ever find itself in the crosshairs of Western sanctions.

Addressing a business forum in Jakarta this week, President Joko Widodo argued that Indonesia must shield itself from geopolitical disruptions, citing the sanctions attack on Russia’s financial sector by the US, EU, and their allies over the conflict in Ukraine.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Myanmar on Monday called on the international community to coordinate sanctions to counter the abuses perpetrated by the southeast Asian country's military.

Since a junta seized power in February 2021, Myanmar has been plunged into chaos, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts following a bloody crackdown on opponents.