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Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in the Malaysian capital against the visit of US President Donald Trump. They accuse him of complicity in genocide over the Gaza war.

Pakistan seems to have caught the geopolitical winds just right. Last month, Pakistan signed a defence agreement with Saudi Arabia. Under this bold pact, an attack on one will be regarded as an attack on both, a dramatic escalation of security guarantees in a region already crowded with rivalries. At the same time, Islamabad has quietly dispatched rare earth mineral samples to the United States and is exploring deeper export agreements. Washington, for its part, appears newly interested in treating Pakistan as more than a peripheral irritant.

These moves suggest momentum. Commentators in Islamabad and Riyadh call it a renaissance of Pakistani foreign policy, a belated recognition of the country’s strategic indispensability. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s presence at the Gaza peace summit only reinforced the impression of a nation returning to centre stage in the Muslim world.

But this is no overnight miracle. It is the product of necessity, pressure and shifting alignments in a volatile region. Behind the optics lie harder realities.

The first driver of Pakistan’s foreign policy push is the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. Washington’s abrupt exit left a vacuum it still struggles to fill. With a hostile Iran and an entrenched Taliban, the US needs a counterweight in the region. Pakistan, with its geography, intelligence networks and long entanglement in Afghan affairs, suddenly matters again.

US President Donald Trump’s demand that the Taliban hand over the Bagram airbase, five years after signing the deal that paved the way for the US withdrawal, underscores America’s search for leverage. If that gambit fails, Pakistan becomes the obvious fallback: the only state with both logistical capacity and political connections to help Washington maintain a presence in the region.

The second factor is the uneasy US-India relationship. Over the past decade, Washington has drawn New Delhi deeper into its Indo-Pacific strategy, strengthening its global profile in ways Pakistan sees as threatening. Yet US-India friction has grown. Disputes over visas and tariffs have festered. India’s embrace of Moscow has raised eyebrows in Washington.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August visit to Beijing sent a clear signal that India is willing to hedge its bets with China. Economically, his “Make in India” programme, modelled on East Asia’s low-cost export strategies, could undercut US manufacturing. For Trump, eager to maintain balance in Asia, Pakistan appears useful again as a counterweight to India’s flirtations with Beijing.

The third and most precarious driver is mineral diplomacy. Islamabad’s outreach to Washington centres on promises of access to rare earth minerals, many of which are located in the restive region of Balochistan. On paper, this looks like a win-win: Pakistan gains investment, and the US secures critical resources. But the reality is darker. Balochistan remains Pakistan’s poorest province despite decades of extraction. Infrastructure projects stand underused, airports lie empty and unemployment remains stubbornly high.

The Balochistan Mines and Minerals Act 2025, passed by the provincial legislature in March, has only deepened discontent. Under the act, Islamabad is formally empowered to recommend mining policies and licensing decisions in Balochistan, a move that has provoked opposition across the political spectrum. Critics argue it undermines provincial autonomy and recentralises control in Islamabad. Even right-wing religious parties, such as the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F), seldom aligned with nationalist groups, have expressed opposition, portraying the law as yet another attempt to dispossess local communities of their rightful stake in the province’s resources.

This backlash underscores a dangerous trend. Resource exploitation without local participation fuels resentment and insurgency. By opening mineral wealth to foreign investors without social safeguards, Islamabad risks deepening the alienation of a province already scarred by conflict and militarisation. What looks like salvation in Islamabad can look like dispossession in Quetta.

Taken together, these drivers show that Pakistan’s foreign policy shift is less a renaissance than a calculated pivot under pressure. The Afghan vacuum, the recalibration of US-India ties and the lure of mineral diplomacy all explain Islamabad’s newfound prominence. But none erases underlying fragilities. Washington may once again treat Pakistan as disposable when its priorities change. India’s weight in US strategy is not going away. And Balochistan’s grievances will only deepen if resource deals remain extractive and exclusionary.

The applause in Riyadh, the visibility at the Gaza summit and the polite handshakes in Washington should not be mistaken for a strategic rebirth. Pakistan is manoeuvring carefully, improvising under pressure and seeking to turn vulnerabilities into opportunities. But the real test lies at home. Unless Islamabad can confront governance failures, regional inequalities and political mistrust, foreign policy gains will remain fragile.

In the end, no defence pact or minerals deal can substitute for a stable social contract within Pakistan itself. That is the true renaissance Pakistan still awaits.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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Hundreds gather to express opposition to US president’s attendance at ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have held demonstrations opposing United States President Donald Trump’s visit to Malaysia for the ASEAN summit.

Protesters gathered in Kuala Lumpur’s Independence Square and the Ampang Park area of the city in separate demonstrations on Sunday morning and evening to oppose Trump’s support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

Trump was in Kuala Lumpur to attend the 47th ASEAN summit, where he oversaw the signing of a ceasefire deal between Cambodia and Thailand and announced a number of trade deals.

In Independence Square, protesters wearing keffiyehs braved the midday sun while chanting “Free, Free Palestine”.

Asma Hanim Mahoud said she had travelled 300km (185 miles) from the state of Kelantan in northeast Malaysia to attend the protest and another demonstration on Friday in front of the US embassy.

“People who have a conscience know that Trump is a genocide enabler. Without him, Israel cannot kill all the children and people in Gaza,” she told Al Jazeera.

“It’s not rocket science.”

Mahoud was dismayed that the morning protest had been moved by authorities from Ampang Park, close to the venue of the ASEAN summit, where protests earlier in the week had taken place.

Police said they had expected between 1,000 and 1,500 protesters at the anti-Trump rally on Sunday, according to Malaysia’s Bernama news agency.

The turnout, while much lower, drew from a diverse swath of Malaysian society.

Choo Chon Kai, a leader of the Socialist Party of Malaysia, said he was attending the rally to protest US foreign policy in the Middle East and elsewhere.

“This is a solidarity rally against US imperialism, as well as solidarity with the people of Palestine and people all over the world who are victims of US imperialism,” Choo told Al Jazeera.

Choo also said he was disappointed the protest had been moved from the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, where Trump and other leaders gathered for the summit.

Protesters later gathered at Ampang Park, the original gathering site for the protest, in the evening to demonstrate against the US president’s visit.

“We just want to make a point that we are against the US policies, but unfortunately, our police have been very hostile to the protest and even shut down the area where we were going to protest,” Choo said.

Kuala Lumpur resident Mursihidah, who asked to be referred to by one name, said she and her husband had been attending pro-Palestine demonstrations since 2023.

Mursihidah said protesters should no longer have to take to the streets after more than two years of war.

Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement earlier this month – an agreement also overseen by Trump – but violence has continued, with each side accusing the other of breaching the truce.

“I honestly don’t know why we’re still doing this,” she told Al Jazeera.

“This shouldn’t be happening, but somebody has to be their voice. We have to be their voice because they don’t have a voice.”

For decades, the image of maritime power centered on gray hulls and carrier groups. Today, the center of gravity has shifted to the white hulls that police, escort, ram, repel, rescue, and repair in the murky space between peace and open conflict. Call it the coast-guardification of security. In the Indo-Pacific, and especially around the South China Sea, coast guards are now the first responders for sovereignty spats, illegal fishing, disaster relief, drone sightings, and the protection of undersea infrastructure. The trend is not cosmetic. It is strategic, and it is accelerating. Recent scenes off Scarborough Shoal and near Thitu Island show why. In September and October 2025, the China Coast Guard used water cannons and ramming tactics on Philippine civilian and government vessels, injuring crew and damaging hulls, while Washington and others publicly backed Manila. These were not naval shootouts. They were high-stakes law enforcement encounters led by white hulls that managed political sensitivity without signaling immediate military escalation.

History helps explain how we got here. Through the 2010s, piracy in Southeast Asia declined as coordinated patrols tightened the Strait of Malacca. At the same time, gray zone pressure rose as coast guard and militia fleets, not destroyers, pushed claims around the Senkakus and the Spratlys. A 2015 Reuters dispatch already highlighted Japanese and Philippine coast guard anti-piracy drills, and by 2025 Japanese reporting still records routine intrusions by Chinese coast guard vessels around the Senkakus. White hull presence became the everyday instrument of statecraft at sea, a domain where legal authorities matter as much as tonnage.

Coast guards have also become the backbone of coalition building. The most telling images of 2025 are not only of naval flotillas but also of trilateral coast guard exercises among Japan, the United States, and the Philippines. Tokyo hosted large drills in June, the Philippine flagship returned from joint maneuvers later that month, and USNI News has tracked a steady tempo of multilateral activities that blend navies and coast guards. These events rehearse search and rescue, firefighting, interdiction, and uncrewed systems integration. They build habits of cooperation at the level most relevant to day-to-day friction.

What counts as “security” has widened too. Undersea cables that carry the world’s data now sit squarely on the white hull docket. Policymakers across the region are writing playbooks for detection, attribution, and rapid repair when cables are cut or damaged. Analysts urge Quad Plus partners to formalize protocols and run sabotage response drills that rely on law enforcement and coast guard authorities. New scholarship details how geoeconomic competition around cables is intensifying across the Indo-Pacific and why civilian maritime forces will need new sensors, legal tools, and public-private coordination to keep data flowing after an incident.

The mission creep is not only about geopolitics. It is also about fish. Vietnam has spent 2025 pushing to shed the European Commission’s IUU “yellow card,” tightening enforcement and compliance across its vast fishing fleet. IUU policing is classic coast guard work. It requires boarding teams, AIS analytics, community outreach, and a credible threat of penalties. Success here matters for livelihoods and for legitimacy, since foreign perceptions of fishing practices can shape export earnings as much as tariffs do.

Technology is transforming these forces in real time. Maritime drones and high-altitude ISR have moved from prototypes to daily tools for search and rescue, disaster response, and wide-area surveillance. Regional programs, from Japanese UAV support to Southeast Asian partners to Malaysia’s investments, reflect a simple truth. Persistent eyes and quick cueing make small coast guards feel bigger without inviting the diplomatic blowback that armed naval build-ups can trigger.

If coast guards now run the show, two practical steps can help them run it better.

First, fund an Indo-Pacific Seabed Protection Network with coast guards in the lead. Start with an agreed checklist for cable incident response that combines attribution standards, rapid permitting for repair ships, common data on seabed maps, and a secure channel for operators to notify authorities. Build this around recurring tabletopand at-sea exercises that simulate simultaneous cable cuts, and let civilian agencies command the play unless naval forces must step in. The legal authorities and public legitimacy of coast guards make them the right first responders for cable attacks that sit below the threshold of armed conflict. Allies are already converging on this logic. They should codify it.

Second, scale coast guard capacity through targeted training pipelines and shared tech. The U.S. Coast Guard’s 2025 program that opens more than a hundred training courses to Philippine personnel is a good template. Expand it to include a regional curriculum on IUU enforcement, drone employment, incident documentation, and evidence handling for prosecutions. Pair classrooms with pooled hardware. A rotating inventory of UAVs, portable radars, and small craft that partner coast guards can book for surge operations would lift outcomes faster than waiting for each budget cycle to deliver new ships.

Coast Guard decks will never replace carrier decks, and they should not try. What they can do is shape almost every day short of war. In Southeast Asia’s crowded waters, that is where strategy lives. The white hulls are already writing the script. Policymakers should give them the resources and rules they need to keep the peace, protect the seabed, and put predatory behavior on notice.

French authorities have detained several men in connection to the recent theft of precious jewellery from the world-renowned Louvre museum in Paris, the Paris prosecutor has said.

French media reported that one of the suspects was apprehended around 10 pm (20:00 GMT) on Saturday at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to board a plane abroad, French media Le Parisien and Paris Match reported on Sunday, and the second was arrested not long after in the Paris region, according to Le Parisien.

The Louvre Museum in the French capital closed one week ago after a group of intruders successfully stole eight pieces of priceless jewellery in a quick-hit four-minute heist in broad daylight that rocked the world’s most-visited museum and was followed raptly around the globe.

The robbers had climbed the extendable ladder of a movers’ truck and cut into a first-floor gallery.

They dropped a crown as they fled down the ladder and onto scooters, but managed to steal eight other pieces, include an emerald-and-diamond necklace that Napoleon Bonaparte gave his wife, Empress Marie-Louise.

Officials said the jewels were worth an estimated $102 million but held incalculable cultural value.

An intensive manhunt for the thieves has been ongoing, involving dozens of investigators.

The brazen theft has made headlines across the world and sparked a debate in France about the security of cultural institutions.

Police initially cordoned off the museum – famously home to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting Mona Lisa – with tape and as armed soldiers patrolled its iconic glass pyramid entrance.

More to come…

The leaders of Thailand and Cambodia have expanded a ceasefire deal in the presence of US President Donald Trump, who is in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit. In July, the president helped bring an end to their five-day border conflict.

This is the moment East Timor was officially declared ASEAN’s 11th member, what Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao called a ‘historic moment’. East Timor, which gained independence from Indonesia in 2002, is Asia’s youngest nation.

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro has said the United States government is “fabricating” a war against him as Washington sent the world’s biggest warship towards the South American country.

It signals a major escalation of the US’s military presence in the region amid speculation of an attempt to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

Maduro said in a national broadcast on Friday night that US President Donald Trump’s administration is “fabricating a new eternal war” as the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford, which can host up to 90 aeroplanes and attack helicopters, moves closer to Venezuela.

Trump has accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organised crime gang Tren de Aragua.

“They are fabricating an extravagant narrative, a vulgar, criminal and totally fake one,” Maduro added. “Venezuela is a country that does not produce cocaine leaves.”

Tren de Aragua, which traces its roots to a Venezuelan prison, is not known for having a big role in global drug trafficking but for its involvement in contract killings, extortion and people smuggling.

Maduro was widely accused of stealing last year’s election in Venezuela, and countries, including the US, have called for him to go.

Tensions are mounting in the region, with Trump saying he has authorised CIA operations in Venezuela and that he is considering ground attacks against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean country.

Since September 2, US forces have bombed 10 boats, with eight of the attacks occurring in the Caribbean, for their role in allegedly trafficking drugs into the US. At least 43 people have died in the attacks.

United Nations officials and scholars of international law have said that the strikes are in clear violation of US and international law and amount to extrajudicial executions.

Venezuela’s Defence Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said Saturday the country is conducting military exercises to protect its coast against any potential “covert operations”.

“We are conducting an exercise that began 72 hours ago, a coastal defence exercise … to protect ourselves not only from large-scale military threats but also to protect ourselves from drug trafficking, terrorist threats and covert operations that aim to destabilise the country internally,” Padrino said.

Venezuelan state television showed images of military personnel deployed in nine coastal states and a member of Maduro’s civilian militia carrying a Russian Igla-S shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile.

“CIA is present not only in Venezuela but everywhere in the world,” Padrino said. “They may deploy countless CIA-affiliated units in covert operations from any part of the nation, but any attempt will fail.”

Since August, Washington has deployed a fleet of eight US Navy ships, 10 F-35 warplanes and a nuclear-powered submarine for anti-drug operations, but Caracas maintains these manoeuvres mask a plan to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

Maduro said on Saturday he had started legal proceedings to revoke the citizenship and cancel the passport of opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez, whom he accuses of egging on an invasion.

Lopez, a well-known Venezuelan opposition figure who has been exiled in Spain since 2020, has publicly expressed his support for the deployment of US ships in the Caribbean and attacks on suspected drug trafficking vessels.

The opposition leader reacted on his X account, dismissing the move because “according to the Constitution, no Venezuelan born in Venezuela can have their nationality revoked.” He once more expressed support for a US military deployment and military actions in the country.

Lopez spent more than three years in a military prison after participating in antigovernment protests in 2014. He was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison on charges of “instigation and conspiracy to commit a crime”.

He was later granted house arrest and, after being released by a group of military personnel during a political crisis in Venezuela, left the country in 2020.

In the meantime, the US has also put Colombia’s leadership in its crosshairs.

The US Department of the Treasury slapped sanctions on Colombian President Gustavo Petro, his family and the South American country’s interior minister, Armando Benedetti.

Friday’s decision marked a significant escalation in the ongoing feud between the left-wing Petro and his US counterpart, the right-wing Trump.

In a statement, the US Treasury accused Petro of failing to rein in Colombia’s cocaine industry and of shielding criminal groups from accountability.

The Treasury cited Petro’s “Total Peace” plan, an initiative designed to bring an end to Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict through negotiations with armed rebels and criminal organisations.

Petro, a prolific social media user, quickly shot back that the Treasury’s decision was the culmination of longstanding Republican threats, including from US Senator Bernie Moreno, a critic of his presidency.

US President Donald Trump broke into dance with local performers as he arrived in Malaysia for the ASEAN summit. It marks his first trip to the Asia Pacific since his re-election.

Thailand and Cambodia sign an enhanced ceasefire agreement following a deadly five-day conflict along their border in July.

Thailand and Cambodia have signed an expanded ceasefire agreement in the presence of United States President Donald Trump in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, building on a deal that ended deadly border fighting in July.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the agreement on Sunday on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Kuala Lumpur, shortly after Trump’s arrival.

​​”We did something that a lot of people said couldn’t be done,” said Trump, who co-signed the agreement along with summit host Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, as he made his first trip to Asia since returning to the White House.

Thailand’s Anutin said the agreement creates “the building blocks for a lasting peace”, while the Cambodian premier Hun called it a “historic day”.

Tariffs wielded as threat

The agreement builds on a truce reached three months ago when Trump used the threat of higher tariffs against both countries to persuade them to end five days of fighting that resulted in dozens of deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands.

The first phase of the agreement involves Thailand releasing 18 Cambodian soldiers, and the removal of heavy weapons from the border region, with Malaysian troops to be deployed to ensure fighting does not restart.

Territory along the 800km (500-mile) frontier between Thailand and Cambodia has been disputed for decades.

Following the signing of the ceasefire agreement on Sunday, Trump inked separate economic deals with Cambodia and Thailand, involving an agreement on reciprocal trade with Phnom Penh and a deal on critical minerals with Bangkok.

Malaysia’s Anwar, who was also present at the signing, praised the agreement during his opening remarks at the summit, saying “it reminds us that reconciliation is not concession, but an act of courage.”

Thais cautious

Reporting from Sa Kaeo, Thailand, Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng said the agreement signed on Sunday essentially reinforced “agreements that have already been made”.

Malaysian troops had been supposed to deploy under the initial peace agreement signed in July, but had not yet arrived, he said.

He said that while Thais welcomed “any kind of move towards peace”, they were viewing the agreement as “the beginning of the end” to the conflict, rather than hailing it as having resolved the dispute in itself.

“The devil is going to be in the details of this agreement,” he said.

He said the Thai military had been working to clear some disputed border areas, at the same time as some villages had been building new bomb shelters in recent weeks.

“So people here are still concerned this could go either way,” he said.

Ou Virak, president of Phnom Penh’s Future Forum think tank, told The Associated Press news agency that Trump wielding the threat of tariffs had been a significant factor in bringing the fighting to a halt.

“That’s probably the main reason, if not the only reason, but definitely the main reason why the two sides agreed immediately to the ceasefire.”

Now, he said, “there’s a ceremony for Trump to be in front of cameras” so he can be “seen as the champion that brings an end to wars and conflicts”, giving him “more ammunition for his bid for [the] Nobel Peace Prize”.

Former US Vice-President Kamala Harris has expressed concern that she didn’t ask Joe Biden to pull out of the race for the White House.

In an interview with the BBC for Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, she said: “I do reflect on whether I should have had a conversation with him, urging him not to run for re-election.”

After months of speculation about his health and mental acuity, President Biden ended his re-election bid in July 2024 after a disastrous performance in a debate against Donald Trump a few weeks earlier.

Harris, who stepped in as the Democratic nominee but lost to Trump, has revealed in her book about her three-month campaign that she did not discuss with President Biden her concerns over his ability. Nor did the then 81-year-old raise the issue with her.

In the book, 107 Days, the former vice-president wrote that Biden’s decision to run again was a choice that shouldn’t have “been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition”. She wrote that “perhaps” she should have raised it with him.

In this interview she told the BBC that she still ponders whether she should have acted differently and talked to him about it.

“I do reflect on whether I should have had a conversation with him, urging him not to run.” She said “my concern, especially on reflection is, should I have actually raised it”. She questioned whether it was “grace or recklessness” that stopped her speaking up.

Her worry, she added, was not Biden’s capacity to do the job of commander in chief but about whether he would meet the demands of a gruelling election campaign to stay in the White House.

When pressed on why there is a distinction, she said there was a serious difference between running for the office and conducting the duties of being president. And running against Trump is even more demanding, she said.

She said she had a “concern about his [Biden’s] ability, with the level of endurance, energy, that it requires, especially running against the now current president”.

The former vice-president said it was hard for her to speak up because she risked being accused of promoting her own political interests if she had confronted Biden about his health.

“Part of the issue there was that it would – would it have actually been an effective and productive conversation, given what would otherwise appear to be my self-interest?”

The issue of whether more people in Biden’s circle could have challenged him about the wisdom of him running again has become a major talking point.

One book, Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, alleged that people close to him covered up his physical deterioration from the public.

Biden’s aides have pushed back at the allegation, saying there were physical changes as he got older but no evidence of mental incapacity and nothing that affected his ability to do the job.

In his first interview after leaving the White House, in May of this year, Biden told the BBC it would not have mattered if he had left the race any earlier.

His former vice-president is in the UK promoting her new book. In a wide-ranging conversation for the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme, Harris also said it was “possible” she could run for the White House again.

She has already ruled out running for governor in her home state, California, and the former prosecutor told the BBC she was “not done” with public service.

Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hails membership as beginning of an ‘inspiring new chapter’ for Asia’s youngest nation.

East Timor has joined the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) as the bloc’s 11th member state in a move Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao hailed as a “dream realised”.

The flag of East Timor, which is also known as Timor-Leste, was added to ASEAN’s other 10 on Sunday at a formal ceremony at the bloc’s annual summit at the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, drawing loud applause.

An emotional Gusmao said it was a historic moment for his country, with a new beginning that would bring “immense opportunities” for trade and investment.

“For the people of Timor-Leste, this is not only a dream realised, but a powerful affirmation of our journey – one marked by resilience, determination and hope,” Gusmao said.

“Our accession is a testament to the spirit of our people, a young democracy, born from our struggle,” he said.

“This is not the end of a journey. This is the beginning of an inspiring new chapter.”

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, whose country currently chairs ASEAN, said that East Timor’s accession “completes the ASEAN family – reaffirming our shared destiny and deep sense of regional kinship”.

The country’s admission follows a 14-year wait, and is seen as one of the crowning achievements of Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship.

East Timor was ruled for three centuries by Portugal, which abruptly pulled out of its colony in 1975, paving the way for annexation and an at-times bloody occupation by neighbouring Indonesia before East Timor won full independence in 2002.

East Timorese President Jose Ramos-Horta, who also witnessed the event on Sunday, has long campaigned for ASEAN membership. An application was first submitted in 2011, during his first term.

Ramos-Horta, 75, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996, had raised the idea of East Timor joining ASEAN way back in the 1970s, to secure his country’s future through regional integration.

East Timor was granted observer status to the regional body in 2022, but its full membership was delayed by various challenges.

The country of 1.4 million people is among Asia’s poorest and hopes to see gains from integrating its fledgling economy, which at about $2bn represents only a tiny fraction of ASEAN’s collective $3.8 trillion gross domestic product (GDP).

Some 42 percent of East Timor’s population lives below the national poverty line, while nearly two-thirds of its citizens are under 30 years old.

Its major source of government revenue comes from the oil and gas industry, but with resources quickly becoming depleted, it is looking to diversify.

ASEAN membership gives East Timor access to the bloc’s free trade deals, investment opportunities and a broader regional market.

In an interview with Singapore-based Channel News Asia in September, Ramos-Horta said that his country must maintain stability and not burden ASEAN, adding that East Timor could contribute its experience on conflict, including for disputes over borders and the South China Sea.

“If we can in the future contribute towards strengthening ASEAN mechanisms such as conflict mechanisms, that is key. In each country in ASEAN, we put emphasis on dialogue,” Ramos-Horta said.

ASEAN began as a five-member bloc in 1967 and has gradually expanded, with Cambodia previously the most recent addition in 1999.

In the context of the US-China competition and the post-COVID-19 global economic recession reshaping the international order, Vietnam has emerged as a stable and dynamic bright spot in Southeast Asia. The concept of “the era of the Vietnamese nation’s rise,” first mentioned by General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam at the 10th Central Conference of the 13th tenure, reflects the aspiration to enter a new stage of development from “renovation” to “rise.” In fact, over the past year, Vietnam has achieved a growth rate of about 5.5-6%, higher than the average of many other countries in the region. Record FDI inflows, led by technology projects of technology companies Samsung, Apple, and Intel, as the expanding “China+1” trend helps Vietnam become an important link in the global supply chain. Inflation is maintained at 3-4%, and exports and domestic consumption recover strongly, while digital transformation, green development, and the semiconductor industry are considered new growth pillars.

One of the important milestones of the year is the program of reorganizing and merging administrative units, helping to streamline the apparatus and improve the efficiency of state administration. The reduction of nearly 30% of commune-level units and more than 10% of district-level units not only saves budget costs but is also considered a step forward in institutional quality towards a professional administration.

In foreign affairs, Vietnam has shown an increasingly confident role as a middle power expanding its strategic space. The upgrade of relations with the United States to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership puts Hanoi among the few countries that maintain special relations with both Washington and Beijing. Relations with Japan, South Korea, India, and Australia continue to be strengthened, while cooperation channels and mechanisms for controlling maritime disputes with China are maintained stably.

Multilaterally, Vietnam has shown a more proactive role in ASEAN and actively participated in global initiatives on climate and energy. Its image as a trustworthy, constructive, and balanced country has been reinforced, helping Vietnam to enhance its position in the reshaping regional structure.

However, despite many positive results, Vietnam’s growth still relies heavily on capital flows from the FDI sector, while domestic enterprises lack competitiveness. Labor productivity growth is slow, the efficiency of state-owned enterprises is still low, and institutional reforms have not created breakthroughs. These are barriers that put Vietnam at risk of being stuck in the “middle-income trap.”

On the social front, Vietnam faces challenges of climate change, development disparities, and rapid population aging. The Mekong Delta is being severely impacted by rising sea levels and saltwater intrusion. These pressures require more inclusive and sustainable development policies.

Politically, the anti-corruption campaign continues to strengthen the legitimacy of the regime and national leadership. However, fear of accountability and slow decision-making are hampering the effectiveness of administrative unit mergers. Vietnam still needs extensive institutional reforms to promote transparency, innovation, and accountability to the people as the foundation for modern state governance.

In the coming time, Vietnam’s “rising” prospects in the period 2025-2030 depend on the ability to take advantage of opportunities from the wave of global supply chain shifts. The shift of supply chains away from China, along with trade agreements such as CPTPP, EVFTA, and RCEP, significantly expands the economic space. The young population base and expanding middle class give Vietnam the potential to maintain strong growth momentum in the coming decade.

However, opportunities always come with risks. Over-reliance on FDI can lead to the situation of the “FDI dependency trap.” Therefore, strong investment priority should be given to supporting industries, education, and science and technology as key factors to enhance self-reliance and domestic value.

On the foreign front, Hanoi will need to continue to maintain a delicate balance between the great powers. Deepening ties with the US and the West in technology and energy must go hand in hand with maintaining stable relations with China, its largest trading partner and strategic challenge. The East Sea, maritime security, and strategic supply chains will continue to be a test of Vietnam’s diplomatic mettle of “multilateralization and diversification.”

In conclusion, Vietnam’s “Era of Rising Power” can only be realized if the country turns its current momentum into long-term competitiveness. This requires institutional reform, productivity enhancement, and a shift to an inclusive growth model. If successful, Vietnam can position itself as a dynamic middle-class economy and contribute to the formation of a more balanced regional order in the coming decade.

The past year has shown that Vietnam is at a pivotal moment with great potential but also full of challenges. The “era of rising up” is therefore not just a political slogan but a real test of Vietnam’s leadership, reform, and integration capacity in a turbulent world.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto pitched a rare four-hitter to get the reigning champion Los Angeles Dodgers back in the World Series.

Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto flipped the World Series script in favour of the reigning champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who are headed home for three games and flying high after a 5-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 2 on Saturday.

Yamamoto was spectacular while pitching a complete game, striking out eight batters and walking none, while Will Smith drove in three runs, including a solo home run in the seventh inning that put the Dodgers ahead for good.

“Yeah, he was just locked in tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Yamamoto. “It was one of those things he said before the series: losing is not an option, and he had that look tonight.”

The win leve;led the best-of-seven series at 1-1 and put the star-studded Dodgers back on track in their bid to become Major League Baseball’s (MLB) first repeat champions in 25 years.

Baffled hitters

A day after a humbling 11-4 defeat that exposed the thinness of the Dodgers’ bullpen, and may have allowed some doubt to creep into their clubhouse, the team turned the ball over to their ace in the hopes he could right the ship.

Making his first start since pitching a complete-game gem in the National League Championship Series, Yamamoto again went the distance, and left Blue Jays hitters baffled one day after they were seemingly hitting pitches at will.

“Going into the game, the pregame bullpen, I was feeling really good with the splitter,” Yamamoto said about his signature pitch.

“I’m very happy and proud of the fact that I was able to bring a big contribution and give a chance for the team to win.”

Fast Start

The Dodgers made a fast start as Freddie Freeman hit a two-out double in the first inning before Smith singled to put the visitors ahead 1-0.

Toronto threatened in the bottom half of the inning, getting runners on first and third with no outs, but Yamamoto retired the next three batters to get out of the jam and never looked back.

Yamamoto was so dominant that he retired the final 20 batters he faced on the night, a remarkable run that started when he got Alejandro Kirk out on a sacrifice fly that scored George Springer in the third.

“He made it hard for us to make him work,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said of Yamamoto’s performance. “He was in the zone, split was in and out of the zone. It was a really good performance by him.”

‘Pitchers duel’

The Dodgers, who also had their hands full with Toronto starter Kevin Gausman, broke through in the seventh when Smith homered into the second deck in left field before Max Muncy’s solo shot two batters later.

Los Angeles added two more runs in the eighth on a wild pitch before Smith grounded into a fielder’s choice that scored Shohei Ohtani.

Gausman, who prior to Smith’s homer had retired 17 Dodgers batters in a row, took the loss after allowing three runs and striking out six batters in 6-2/3 innings.

“I thought Kev matched [Yamamoto] pitch for pitch, really,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “They both had low pitch counts. It was kind of a classic pitchers’ duel, and they made a couple more swings.”

Game 3 is on Monday.

Bryan Mbeumo’s match-winning goal in stoppage time elevated Manchester United to fourth on the Premier League ladder.

Manchester United’s improvement under coach Ruben Amorim continued as Matheus Cunha, Casemiro and two goals from Bryan Mbeumo secured a 4-2 victory over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, their third successive Premier League win.

Looking to build on last weekend’s first victory at Liverpool since 2016, Cunha arrowed home a sublime 24th-minute strike into the bottom corner, the Brazilian’s first goal for United.

There was fortune about the second from Casemiro 10 minutes later, his shot taking a huge deflection before finding the net, but Mbeumo’s well-taken third just after the hour mark put the hosts in complete command.

Danny Welbeck’s sublime free kick against his former club pulled one back for Brighton, before Charalampos Kostoulas’s header in stoppage time ensured a nervy finish at Old Trafford.

With Brighton committing everyone forward in search of the equaliser, Mbeumo fired a fine strike into the roof of the net to lift United to fourth in the standings. Brighton stayed 12th.

“I enjoy it a lot here,” Mbeumo told Sky Sports. “It hasn’t been easy at the start. It’s a new environment, a new expectation, but I think with the link-up with the team, everything is going the right way.

“The work we put in, the togetherness we give on the pitch, is key. I like the challenges, I came here to a big club, and we want to fight for the best places.”

Brighton big test for United

The visitors provided a big test for an improving United, given that since the start of the 2021-22 season no team has won more league games against United than Brighton.

United’s victory against Liverpool last weekend was the first time Amorim had achieved back-to-back league wins since taking charge 11 months ago, but the manager insisted the revival would be undone if they slipped to another loss to Brighton.

Welbeck forced a fine save from United goalkeeper Senne Lammens early on as Brighton started brightly, but Cunha’s pinpoint finish settled home nerves. Since the start of last season, Cunha has scored more goals from outside the box than any other Premier League player in all competitions.

Casemiro’s deflected strike deservedly put a dominant United further ahead, with more chances coming and going to extend the hosts’ lead before the break.

Mbeumo followed up his goal at Liverpool with the third to put United into a seemingly unassailable position.

Proof that they are far from the finished article yet came, however, as mistakes crept in and Welbeck started the Brighton comeback.

United appeared on the ropes when Kostoulas pounced to narrow the deficit to 3-2, but Mbeumo’s 96th-minute strike secured the three points as the home side won three straight league victories for the first time since August 2024.

“We put ourselves in a really difficult position,” Welbeck said. “We have a great group. We got two goals and were close to maybe getting a third. It didn’t happen, but it is a good sign we showed character.”

SEOUL, Oct. 24 (UPI) — South Korea’s law firm industry is ruled by Kim & Chang by any measure, while a handful of other companies struggle to catch up with the leader.

In terms of annual revenue, Kim & Chang reportedly posted about $1 billion last year, which was roughly equivalent to the combined revenue of its next four competitors — Lee & Ko, Bae, Kim & Lee, Yulchon and Shin & Kim.

When it comes to the number of lawyers, Kim & Chang was also second to none.

According to the Ministry of Justice, 1,020 lawyers licensed in Korea worked for Kim & Chang as of July, followed by 565 at Lee & Ko, 519 at Shin & Kim, 497 at Bae, Kim & Lee and 433 at Yulchon.

Kim & Chang was the only South Korean law firm in 2024 to be featured among the world’s Top 100 in a survey published by The American Lawyer and Law.com International.

Observers expect that the outfit will maintain its dominant position for the foreseeable future.

“As a perennial leader, Kim & Chang enjoys a premium. Corporate clients with deep pockets tend to select the best law firm available regardless of cost,” Sungkyunkwan University former law school professor Choi June-seon told UPI.

“Kim & Chang has a recruiting team that picks the cream of the crop. Its reward system, based on intense internal competition, is also notable. Its dominance is unlikely to fade within five years. And I expect it to continue even for a decade,” he said.

Economic commentator Kim Kyeong-joon, formerly vice chairman at Deloitte Consulting Korea, said that Kim & Chang has savored a first-mover advantage. Named after two founders, Kim Young-moo and Chang Soo-kil, it was established in 1973.

“As one of the earliest law firms in South Korea, Kim & Chang has stood out by meeting the mounting demand from corporate clients at a time when the country was undergoing rapid economic growth,” Kim said in a phone interview.

“In addition to its long history, the firm’s strength lies in its diversity across practice areas and industries, including M&A consulting, finance, antitrust, tax and litigation in both Korean and foreign languages,” he said.

Kim & Chang said the full-service law firm employs up to 2,100 professionals, including accountants, tax specialists and patent attorneys, on top of Korean and international lawyers.

Yonhap Infomax, a subsidiary of Yonhap News Agency, reported that Kim & Chang advised on 168 M&A deals last year worth $25.95 billion, capturing a 35.88% market share and remaining atop the list for 12 consecutive years.

Shin & Kim ranked No. 2 with 19.8%, chased by Lee & Ko with 12.6%, and Yulchon with 10.31%.

During the first half of this year, Kim & Chang again topped the podium with a market share of 28.27%.

Globally renowned law firms have tapped into the South Korean market since the early 2010s, but they have failed to make their presence felt. Some even exited the country after failing to achieve significant results.

“From the perspective of global law firms, it would be very difficult to build networks within Korea’s tightly-knit legal community. That’s why they have languished,” Seoul-based consultancy Leaders Index CEO Park Ju-gun said. “The situation is not likely to change in the near future.”

Asked which company might emerge as a serious contender to Kim & Chang, Park named Yulchon, which has chalked up fast growth over the past several years. Even so, he projected that it would take quite a lot of time.

Founded in 1997 as a latecomer, Yulchon has risen to the top ranks on the back of its expertise in tax, antitrust, and regulatory affairs. Other major players were mostly launched in the 1970s and 1980s.