China wants to import more Irish food and a stake in Irish wind energy, Taoiseach saysMicheál Martin says during visit to China that premier Li Qiang wants a more open trading environmentWed Jan 07 2026 - 14:45
China charms South Korea, pressures Japan in contrasting foreign policy stancesBeijing uses economic rewards and punishments to discourage what it sees as foreign interference over TaiwanWed Jan 07 2026 - 06:48
Irish colleges teaching Chinese students is not a security risk, says TaoiseachMicheál Martin says programmes run in China by Irish colleges are good for students and institutions in both countries Tue Jan 06 2026 - 12:47
The EU doesn’t look ready to stop Donald Trump taking over GreenlandAnnexing the territory is now US policy, says White House deputy chief of staffTue Jan 06 2026 - 06:57
Xi Jinping says Irish novel The Gadfly sustained him during traumatic teenage yearsChinese president and Micheál Martin discover shared interest in revolutionary novel by Ethel VoynichMon Jan 05 2026 - 10:14
Taoiseach declines to criticise US over capture of Venezuela’s MaduroMicheál Martin spoke after a meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping in BeijingMon Jan 05 2026 - 09:27
The US attack on Venezuela threatens Chinese interests in more ways than oneChina is the biggest buyer of Venezuela’s oil and the country’s largest creditorMon Jan 05 2026 - 06:35
Taoiseach talks with Xi in Beijing expected to focus on EU-China relationship and tradeMicheál Martin's official visit will be the first by a sitting Taoiseach since Enda Kenny’s in 2012Sun Jan 04 2026 - 06:00
A €120 dinner for two in Beijing, Berlin, Damascus and Odesa? Our correspondents couldn’t spend their moneyFrom shrimp skin in Beijing to chicken livers in Syria and cherry schnapps in Berlin, the quality and value available in other countries are strikingSat Jan 03 2026 - 05:00
Spike in Saudi Arabia-UAE tensions is good news for Houthis, bad news for US and ChinaSaudi Arabian air strikes on a southern Yemeni port targeted weapons supplied by the United Arab Emirates to local separatist forcesThu Jan 01 2026 - 06:51
Main party affiliated with Myanmar’s military claims victory in first elections since 2021 Almost nobody believes that Myanmar’s first elections since the 2021 coup are free or fair.Wed Dec 31 2025 - 08:36
Ireland spends record €330m to tackle humanitarian crises as others cut aid budgetsUS remains the biggest humanitarian donor, despite making cuts, with European governments reducing aid budgets to fund more defence spendingTue Dec 30 2025 - 06:46
China launches live-fire drills around Taiwan, simulating blockade of key portsMove comes after US announced $11bn arms deal for the islandMon Dec 29 2025 - 15:27
Israel’s recognition of Somaliland could leave both more isolated than beforeDonald Trump says United States would not be following Israel’s move, which has drawn broad condemnationMon Dec 29 2025 - 06:35
Impeachment proceedings initiated against Taiwan’s presidentVote comes amid heightened tension between China and Japan after comments by Sanae Takaichi Fri Dec 26 2025 - 09:54
Algeria passes law declaring French colonisation of country a crimeNew legislation makes call for reparations and official apology which Macron has so far refused to doThu Dec 25 2025 - 10:20
South Korea’s new president opens the door to renewed dialogue with North KoreaPresident Lee Jae Myung seeks to improve cross-border relations amid unprecedented hostility, but Kim Jong-un is not bitingWed Dec 24 2025 - 07:39
Trump appointment of US special envoy to Greenland is worrying new developmentUS strategy has shifted to seeking to exploit discontent in Greenland towards DenmarkTue Dec 23 2025 - 06:45
Unravelling of plan to use frozen Russian assets is good news for EU and Ukraine New scheme for €90 billion loan to Kyiv is more straightforward and legally stable Mon Dec 22 2025 - 12:24
Future of US in the Asia-Pacific is under close considerationBeijing denounces US senate approval of $10 billion in arms sales to TaiwanFri Dec 19 2025 - 05:45
Tunisia returns to autocratic rule, 15 years after Jasmine RevolutionCountry saw first of a string of movements across North Africa and Middle East that became known as the Arab SpringThu Dec 18 2025 - 06:23
Trump’s chief of staff goes full Mean Girls in gossipy and illuminating interview Trump has an alcoholic’s personality, JD Vance is a conspiracy theorist and Elon Musk is an ‘odd, odd duck’, Susie Wiles tells Vanity FairWed Dec 17 2025 - 06:42
Jimmy Lai conviction offers evidence of Hong Kong’s twin-track justice systemFormer media tycoon’s case came under draconian National Security Law that supersedes city’s common law procedures Tue Dec 16 2025 - 06:41
The Bondi Beach massacre makes both Jews and Muslims feel less safeJews and Muslims now feel less safe against a backdrop that was already volatileMon Dec 15 2025 - 17:28
Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner faces life sentence for seditionThree charges of sedition and foreign collusion carry a maximum sentence of life in prisonMon Dec 15 2025 - 07:31
New Chilean leader faces task of keeping good terms with both US and ChinaJosé Antonio Kast, who won Sunday’s presidential election, is ideologically aligned with Trump, but China is Chile’s biggest trading partnerMon Dec 15 2025 - 06:28
How Donald Trump’s ‘peace deals’ are driven by US economic interestOne year on, the US president remains neither a peacemaker nor a friend of EuropeSat Dec 13 2025 - 06:00
Beijing’s lack of criticism of latest US security strategy reflects warmer relations Credibility of US security guarantee in Pacific left in question by disdainful comments about Europe Fri Dec 12 2025 - 06:00
Tensions in Tanzania as president calls off Independence Day weeks after election winSamia Suluhu Hassan, re-elected with almost 98 per cent of the vote, faces a young, increasingly well-educated and independent-minded populationThu Dec 11 2025 - 07:01
US and China urge restraint after fresh clashes on Thailand-Cambodia borderJuly ceasefire was reached after Trump threatened steep tariffs for both countries, and he may use this tactic againWed Dec 10 2025 - 06:24
Donald Trump allows Nvidia to sell powerful AI chip to ChinaPresident’s move comes despite warnings from Capitol Hill that it will supercharge Beijing’s advance in AI technologyTue Dec 09 2025 - 10:51
Europe should reassess its relationships with Russia and ChinaPainful choices in Russia talks over Ukraine should not be left to US, while China’s status as a strategic rival deserves another look as Trump targets the EU Tue Dec 09 2025 - 07:24
China’s trade surplus tops $1tn for first timeExports soar despite tensions between Washington and BeijingMon Dec 08 2025 - 12:38
EU needs fresh thinking as Trump calls time on US ‘propping up entire world order’Trump administration’s recently published security strategy is hostile to the EU and no longer identifies Russia as an adversary Mon Dec 08 2025 - 06:31
After the Hong Kong fire, Beijing confronts a grief it can’t easily policeThousands queue to mourn victims, highlighting tensions between public grief and Beijing’s strict controls on dissentFri Dec 05 2025 - 05:01
Putin visit to India set to further strengthen ties despite western efforts Russia is a crucial counterbalance to China for India and a valuable hedge against the USThu Dec 04 2025 - 06:35
Could Sudan’s offer of a naval base to Russia spark an effort to end the civil war?Reported move by Sudanese Armed Forces government may increase incentive for US to play a more active role in ending the warWed Dec 03 2025 - 06:59
Failure to join EU rearmament fund shows UK stuck in post-Brexit strategic cul-de-sacEU and Canada seek greater autonomy from US, while Britain highlights ‘number one spear carrier’ role for WashingtonTue Dec 02 2025 - 06:43
Trump may find momentum of US military build-up targeting Venezuela hard to resist US president spoke to Maduro and demanded he resign immediately but Venezuelan leader refused, the Miami Herald reportsMon Dec 01 2025 - 06:36
Hong Kong fire: Fury and questions as death toll soars Inspections ordered into all major housing renovations in Hong KongFri Nov 28 2025 - 07:24
‘That place that looks like a teddy bear on the left, that’s Ireland’IDA’s MD for China pointed to a map of Europe: `That place that looks like a teddy bear ... that’s Ireland’Fri Nov 28 2025 - 05:00
Pope Leo’s first trip outside Italy as pontiff is diplomatically delicate Trip to Turkey and Lebanon could be revealing about the character and style of this still-elusive new popeThu Nov 27 2025 - 06:50
Europe, China and US compete for minerals as African states grow more assertiveAfrican countries are demanding deals that will allow more mineral processing to be done locallyWed Nov 26 2025 - 08:33
Trump speaks to Xi and Takaichi as rift between China and Japan deepensTokyo and Beijing in standoff following Japanese prime minister’s remarks about TaiwanTue Nov 25 2025 - 14:51
Ukraine and Europe will probably have to accept version of Trump’s peace planA draft communique from Istanbul talks in 2022 offered Ukraine a more robust security guarantee and did not involve sweeping territorial concessionsTue Nov 25 2025 - 06:31
G20 summit offers glimpse of world without US leadershipTaoiseach Micheál Martin’s invitation to take part in the South Africa meeting was unusual and significantMon Nov 24 2025 - 06:35
Wolf Warrior diplomacy returns as China bares its teeth in clash with Japan Tokyo faces travel bans, trade restrictions and mounting pressure after PM’s remarks on TaiwanFri Nov 21 2025 - 05:00
‘It’s about Ukraine accepting’: Latest Trump peace plan blindsides European alliesReported proposal appears to be a settlement mostly on Moscow’s termsThu Nov 20 2025 - 06:52
Trump’s shocking response to reporter’s question part of a trendOval Office meeting with Mohammed bin Salman was a triumph for the Saudi crown princeWed Nov 19 2025 - 06:37
A precarious path to peace in GazaIndonesia, Azerbaijan and others could contribute troops to 20,000-strong international stabilisation forceTue Nov 18 2025 - 07:16
