What’s the Pinglu Canal, China’s new gateway to Southeast Asia?
China’s first modern river-to-sea canal could significantly cut down time and costs of trade to Southeast Asia.

China’s first modern river-to-sea canal could significantly cut down time and costs of trade to Southeast Asia.


![French lawyer Matthieu Chirez (front 2L) arrives with relatives of victims for the trial of the 14 alleged smugglers over the deaths of 31 migrants in the English Channel in 2021 at the Judicial court in Paris, on September 8, 2026. [AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/afp_6aa086d6befa-1788905174.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)






Fifteen Indian tourists have died after their speedboat capsized off Vietnam’s Phu Quoc Island.
The Indian embassy says it has set up control rooms to respond to victims’ families.
Animal welfare groups say the bust highlights the ‘enormous scale’ of the country’s cat meat trade.

Ten years on, world remembers Muhammad Ali ‘the Greatest’
The bloc currently imports more than half of its crude oil from the Middle East.
Takaichi signs six agreements with Vietnam, including on technology, agriculture and space, during a trip to Hanoi.
Diesel prices have more than doubled in the Southeast Asian nation amid Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Fuel shocks from the US-Israel war on Iran are rippling worldwide, as Strait of Hormuz disruptions push prices higher.
Analysts say carpet bombing countries is a war crime. But it wouldn’t be new for the US.
While Trump has talked about diplomacy, fears of a ground invasion in Iran loom as US troops arrive in the region.