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Experts say the scam industry has become a pillar of Cambodia’s economy, but it is under pressure from other countries to crack down.

Chen founded multinational conglomerate Prince Group that US says is front for multibillion-dollar fraud operation
Chinese television has shown footage of the US-indicted tycoon Chen Zhi being escorted by armed police after his extradition to China from Cambodia, where authorities on Thursday ordered the liquidation of a bank he founded linked to a massive “scam centre” network.
Chen, who chairs a conglomerate the US says is a front for a multibillion-dollar online fraud operation, was shown in handcuffs and hooded as he was led off a plane at a Beijing airport by black-clad Swat officers, with the state broadcaster CCTV describing him as the “leader of a major transnational gambling and fraud crime syndicate”.

Leaders of Early Rain Covenant Church have been arrested and Yayang Church is being torn down, groups say.

Russians find a refuge on the beaches of Sanya from sanctions and “sideways looks,” toasting the New Year beside a Chinese nuclear submarine base.

Policies meant to lure importers to Hainan, a resort island off China’s coast, signal an opening up, Beijing says. One expert calls it a “bait and switch.”

Beijing and Canberra have adopted different strategies to support policing in the Pacific nation and observers are split on which is proving more effective
At a church hall on the outskirts of Honiara, dozens of community leaders gathered for a training session organised by the Chinese police, alongside local Solomon Islands officers.
Among them is Ben Angoa, who has enthusiastically embraced the training, as well as other things China has provided: solar lighting, sewing machines, soccer balls, and even noodle-making lessons.

Outcome of aggression will determine whether rare earths and other resources drive energy transition – or strengthen US military power and oil interests
The US’s first overt attack on an Amazon nation last weekend is a new phase in its extractivist rivalry with China. The outcome will decide whether the vast mineral wealth of South America is directed towards a 21st-century energy transition or a buildup of military power to defend 20th-century fossil fuel interests.
Although this onslaught was ostensibly aimed at one corrupt dictatorship in a miserably dysfunctional country, the ramifications are far wider.

The US's seizure of Nicolás Maduro carries uncertainty for China, which is no fan of chaos.

Louis Koo is the modern-day cop still trapped in the Qin dynasty in this cinematic reprise of the hit 2001 Hong Kong TV series

Time-travel stories were briefly in the crosshairs of the Chinese censors in the early 2010s, because of how they potentially subverted “official” history. It’s not clear if the – about a modern-day cop transported to the third-century BC “warring states” period – was seen as an offender. But it is evidently all go for Chinese time-travel movies now, and hence this glossy cinematic reprise of A Step Into the Past that picks up the main characters 20 years on.
Louis Koo returns as former policeman Hong Siu Lung, still trapped in the Qin dynasty and lying low with his family after putting his disciple Chiu Poon (Raymond Lam) on the throne. Back in the present, the time machine’s inventor Ken (Michael Miu Kiu-wai) has just been released from a prison stretch for botching the technology and marooning Hong. He maintains it is unfair, but he doesn’t muck about with a grievance procedure; he goes full Vader and resolves to head back and become Qin emperor himself.

Our reporters on the ground tell us what they’re watching in Ukraine, the Middle East and China.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was said to have listed the Trump administration’s demands to Venezuela’s new leader, Delcy Rodríguez, in a classified meeting Monday with senior congressional leaders.

The U.S. assault on Venezuela points to a world where big powers seek to call the shots in their regions, an idea Beijing knows well.