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Why is Asia so reliant on Middle Eastern oil?

Asia depends on oil and gas from the Middle East, sourcing 60 per cent of its crude from the region, making it highly vulnerable if the Iran war causes a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz supply ​route. How much Middle Eastern oil does Asia import? The Middle East is the world’s largest oil-producing and exporting ‌region, shipping one in four barrels of crude exports daily, mostly through the Strait of Hormuz. A pie chart depicting the share of Asia’s crude oil imports in 2025 via percentage. Middle East occupies 59pc of Asia’s crude oil imports — Reuters Asia imported 14.74 million barrels per day (bpd) of Middle Eastern crude in 2025, nearly 60pc of the record 25m barrels per day in total purchases for the region, according to data ​from shipping analytics firm Kpler. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Iraq are the region’s top suppliers to ​Asia. A bar graph depicting the top crude oil suppliers to Asia. Saudi Arabia supplies a large amount of crude oil,...
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PM Shehbaz announces Rs1.5m reward for each player of hockey team after qualifying for World Cup

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday announced a reward of Rs1.5 million for each player of the national hockey team following the team’s performance in the FIH Hockey World Cup qualifier, state-run Radio Pakistan reported. The announcement comes a day after the team secured a place in the upcoming hockey World Cup, marking their return to the tournament after an eight-year absence. It will be hosted jointly by Belgium and the Netherlands in August this year. Quoting a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Radio Pakistan said the team’s performance represented a “significant step towards promoting hockey in Pakistan”. The premier also “acknowledged the team’s hard work and dedication to the sport,” the statement added. As per the statement, the prime minister maintained that the participation of the team in the World Cup qualifiers — held in Egypt — had “generated excitement and enthusiasm among hockey fans”. The premier stressed the monetary reward was a “clear ...
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Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, son and successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader?

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei who has been appointed as the new head of the Islamic republic, is a discreet figure who offers continuity of his father’s leadership. The 56-year-old had no official post during his father’s rule, but was speculated to be acting behind the scenes to pull strings at the heart of power in Iran. He is regarded as close to conservatives, notably because of his ties with the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which swiftly pledged allegiance to the new leader. A woman holds a picture of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after his son Mojtaba Khamenei was introduced as Iran’s new supreme leader, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 9, 2026. —Reuters The Islamic republic’s third supreme leader also received endorsements from President Masoud Pezeshkian, the armed forces and the judiciary within hours of his appointment. Because of his discretion at offici...
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What would a feminist Karachi look like?

Consider this: she gets back home after a long hard day at work. “It’s 10pm already,” she thinks to herself, as something outside the window catches her eye. It’s her roommate excitedly waving a cricket bat at her. She now begins to notice her surroundings: almost 15 girls from her neighbourhood out on the street. All positioned for the game, all looking as disheveled as one can be, yet they all have this fiery spark in their eyes. Clearly they feel passionately for the game. They play for the next two hours. Unperturbed by any restrictions. The dark shadows on the street do not scare them. Time is of no concern. They feel free. Their energy, loud passionate voices, and roaring laughter fill the dimly lit street. No one cares for their appearance, they just run and trip and get back up. They get into silly brawls over the rules of the game. By the end of the night, they are drained but they return to their homes content. The kind of contentment almost every young girl and woman in K...
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New York police probe man for throwing ‘ignited’ devices near anti-Muslim protest in front of Mayor Mamdani’s house

New York counterterror police said they were carrying out an investigation on Saturday after a man threw “ignited devices” near far-right protesters demonstrating outside the mayor’s home. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the devices contained nuts, bolts and screws as well as a fuse — but it was not yet clear if they were functional improvised explosive devices, or hoax imitations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an X post that its Joint Terrorism Task Force was “actively investigating” the matter along with New York City Police. There was no indication the incident was related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, Tisch added. Police arrested six people over unrest at the protest, she said, including two suspects in connection with the devices. Far-right influencer Jake Lang was demonstrating against alleged “Islamification” and calling for an end to “public Muslim prayer” in New York in front of Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani....
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From end of the Earth to World Cup final — the audacity of the Kiwi

I am writing this from a hospital waiting room where the wi-fi is aggressive, the coffee is optimistic, and my father is currently having his knee surgically improved against his will. The last part is not entirely accurate; he consented to the surgery. It is the recuperation he is resisting, with the focused, creative energy of a man who has decided that the medical profession, for all its centuries of accumulated knowledge, has fundamentally misunderstood his particular knee. He will not do the prescribed exercises at the prescribed intervals. He has opinions about his medication schedule that differ meaningfully from those of his surgical team. He listens to advice the way a very senior cat listens to instructions: with complete attention, apparent comprehension, and zero subsequent compliance. I have spent the better part of this week sitting across from him, deploying every rational argument available to a grown adult son, and achieving roughly nothing. I am told this stubbornn...
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