Opinion

The anti-Donald Trump brigade is banking on defeating him this week in Ohio, and possibly Florida, paving the way for an “open” convention that would deny him the Republican presidential nomination and avoid what it believes would be a general election debacle. This is an uphill climb under any scenario and probably impossible if Trump wins both states on Tuesday. …

The head of the Syrian opposition said he’s going to Geneva for the next round of U.S.-Russian-sponsored peace talks (being held today), even though the opposition rejects any future role for President Bashar al-Assad, whose regime will be the other party in the talks. The Syria diplomacy might be described as “the art of the impossible,” borrowing the title of …

The corruption probe that former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is facing, seems more politically-motivated. Though, he has to come clean. He was detained briefly for questioning over a massive embezzlement and bribery conspiracy revolving around state oil giant Petrobras. It is not yet clear whether reports that Lula has hinted the possibility of running for the presidency …

The Andaman and Nicobar Islands, located in the Bay of Bengal, northwest of the pivotal maritime choke point at the Strait of Malacca, are an immensely valuable geopolitical asset for India, particularly as it looks to ‘Act East’ and play an increasingly more visible role in the eastern Indian Ocean and beyond. The islands host an Indian tri-service command, the …

China has offered to expand its military aid to Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reports, following a visit to the country by a top Chinese general. Outlook Afghanistan put the total value of the proffered military aid at 480 renminibi ($73 million). The offer came during a visit to Afghanistan by General Fang Fenghui, chief of China’s joint staff department, …

Can Thailand’s military government achieve its ambitious 3.5 percent gross domestic product growth target and stave off social instability amid mounting signs of structural economic decline? As exports swoon amid a global slowdown and consumption gasps under high household debts, Thailand’s near-term growth will necessarily be state-led. Whether Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s military administration lives up to the policy challenge …

Lots of Americans, especially Republican-Americans, are pretty steamed about illegal immigration. Stopping it with a big new wall at the Mexican border is one of the signature campaign promises of GOP front- runner Donald Trump. As journalists and others have pointed out, though, the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. appears to have peaked in 2007. To put it …

Frequently predicted but never reached, “peak oil” — maximum possible production — has been postponed yet again, this time because of fracking. “Peak Sanders” was prematurely announced because of persistent underestimations of how underwhelming Hillary Clinton is as a candidate. The Vermont senator’s peak might not arrive soon because his fundraising prowess will allow him to continue campaigning to outlaw …

For Asia to continue leading the global economic growth, it has to introduce a series of structural reforms in different sectors. This theme of structural reform has been echoed repeatedly by International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde in many of her visits worldwide, of which the last was New Delhi. Asia already accounts for 40 percent of the world economy …

A Chinese mega-project in Sri Lanka is set to recommence, after the Sri Lankan government announced that its concerns regarding the project “have been resolved.” Xinhua reports that Sri Lankan Minister of International Trade Malik Samarawickrema gave the green light for the $1.4 billion project to construct “Port City” near the Colombo Harbor. He promised that the government would officially …