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Wednesday, March 18, 2026
TopicBelt & Road

Topic: Belt & Road

China’s Xi Jinping defends Belt & Road, vows zero tolerance of corruption

China will negotiate & sign high-standard free trade pacts with more countries, strengthen cooperation in customs, taxation, auditing & supervision.

On Camera

War in West Asia shows India must rethink tech sovereignty

Iran’s strikes on data centres in the UAE and Bahrain brings tech policy into focus. The war threatens the web of global connectivity that flows through these hubs.

Covid, sanctions, war. Life’s rough for Surat’s small diamond units, salaries ‘not guaranteed anymore’

West Asia war threatens to push already fragile industry deeper into crisis. Latest disruption is playing out differently for bigger and small-scale players in Surat’s diamond industry.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba, the man Iran must keep alive & the secret force ‘tasked with it’—all about NOPO

The Nirouyeh Vijeh Pasdaran Velayat, or NOPO, was the only force Ali Khamenei trusted.It was founded in 1991 and is more feared than the Revolutionary Guards.

Peaceful power transfers followed uprisings in India’s neighbourhood. It’s a sign of mature democracies

Rating democracies is a tricky business. I am only using the simple metric of who in the Indian subcontinent has had the most peaceful, stable, normal political transitions and continuity.