Geopolitics
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[ Tolo News ] Afghan Commander: Troops Will Be Stationed Along Durand Line
The commander made the remarks during a graduation ceremony of around 150 border force members who passed a 45-day training in the eastern part of the country. Sangin said these forces will be dispatched alongside the Durand Line to defend Afghanistan’s territory. “The new forces are going to be settled … where we built 32…
Japan signs defense pact with Australia; further abandoning pacifism
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison signed a new defense pact via a virtual summit which the two countries will agree to cooperate closely on defense to bolster securities ties. The Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), will allow Australian and Japanese military to work seamlessly on defense and humanitarian operations. “Japan is…
Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen accepted invite to lead high delegation to meet Myanmar military junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing
According to the press release from Cambodia, Prime Minister Hun Sen will be leading a high delegation consist of his deputy, Foreign Minister, Industry Minister as well as a number of senior government officials from the 7 to 8 January 2022. The announced meeting is said to discuss bilateral and multilateral cooperation (read: taking sides;…
IMF’s global financial system cyberattack wargame a signal of what is to come?
Israel on Thursday led a 10-country simulation of a major cyberattack on the global financial system in an attempt to increase cooperation that could help to minimise any potential damage to financial markets and banks. The simulated “war game”, as Israel’s Finance Ministry called it and planned over the past year, evolved over 10 days,…
Tablighi Jamaat a Cause For Concern
Tablighi Jamaat (TIJ) is currently grabbing the headlines for getting banned by Saudi Arabia. Saudi government official statement called Jamaat as a danger to society and one of the gates of terrorism. In a tweet on December 6, the country’s Ministry of Islamic Affairs said, His Excellency the Minister of Islamic Affairs, Dr. Abdullatif Al…
Europe is making a bet that they can’t win ; Russia may be forced to deploy mid-range nuclear missiles in Europe
Ryabkov said Russia would be forced to act if the West declined to join it in a moratorium on intermediate-range nuclear forces (INF) in Europe – part of a package of security guarantees it is seeking as the price for defusing the crisis over Ukraine. Lack of progress towards a political and diplomatic solution would…
UAE and Ukraine providing military support to Ethiopia in civil war against Tigray Defense Forces
According to an exclusive report by Al Jazeera, they had discovered by satellite images that Ethiopia is receiving extensive support in their fight against forces from the northern Tigray region. In their investigation, there were more than 90 flights between United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Ethiopia between September and November 2021. A Spanish firm is…
[ Asahi Shimbun ] Okinawa’s governor plans to reject U.S. base design change
Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki said on Nov. 25 the prefecture will reject a proposed design change in the landfill work for the construction of a planned U.S. military base when he met the ruling prefectural assembly group backing him. He cited what prefectural officials perceive to be flaws in the measures to strengthen the weak…
Morocco signs defence pact with Israel, as Trump’s legacy reverberates and relationship with Algeria worsen
Israel signed a defence pact with Morocco on Wednesday, its latest public display of readiness to advance national security interests in tandem with Arab countries that have drawn closer to it amid shared concern over Iran and Islamist militancy. The memorandum of understanding could herald intelligence cooperation, arms deals and joint military training, Israeli Defence…
[ The Star ] Urea shortage threatens South Korea’s transport, energy industries
South Korea is flying a military oil tanker to Australia this week to airlift 27,000 litres of urea solution, used in diesel vehicles and factories to cut emissions, amid a dire shortage threatening to stall commercial transport and industries. Approximately two million diesel vehicles, mostly cargo trucks, are required by government to use the additive,…
[ Mothership ] Unthinkable for Australia not to join US in defending Taiwan: Defence minister
Australia will join the U.S. in defending Taiwan as not doing so is unthinkable as an alliance partner, Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton told The Australian in an interview that was published on Friday, Nov. 12. He further expressed his belief that the Chinese government has no right to claim Taiwan as its territory. China has been…
[ Yahoo! ] Sinovac to be included in Singapore’s national vaccination programme
Eight months after Singapore received its first doses of the Sinovac-CoronaVac COVID-19 vaccine, it will now be included in the National Vaccination Programme (NVP) as an alternative for those who are unable or unwilling to take mRNA vaccines. Noting that some continue to choose not to take up mRNA vaccinations due to “strong personal preferences”,…
[ Reuters ] Turkey to expel U.S. envoy and nine others, Erdogan says
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Saturday that he had told his foreign ministry to expel the ambassadors of the United States and nine other Western countries for demanding the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala. Seven of the ambassadors represent Turkey’s NATO allies and the expulsions, if carried out, would open the deepest rift with…
[ The Jakarta Post ] Myanmar junta blames ‘foreign intervention’ for ASEAN summit exclusion
Source: https://www.thejakartapost.com/world/2021/10/17/myanmar-junta-blames-foreign-intervention-for-asean-summit-exclusion.html A spokesman for Myanmar’s military government blamed “foreign intervention” for the rare exclusion of its junta leader from a regional leaders’ summit later this month. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun told the BBC Burmese news service that the United States and representatives of the European Union had pressured other leaders of the 10-member…
[ Washington Post ] Navy nuclear engineer and his wife charged with trying to share submarine secrets with a foreign country
A Navy nuclear engineer and his wife have been charged with repeatedly trying to pass secrets about U.S. nuclear submarines to a foreign country, in an alleged espionage plot discovered by the FBI, according to court document The court papers say that in December 2020, an FBI official received a package that had been sent…
[ Intelligencer ] U.S. Troops Have Reportedly Been in Taiwan for Over a Year
According to the Wall Street Journal, a small contingent American troops have been deployed in Taiwan for over a year, involving a special-operations unit of around two dozen and supporting Marines. U.S. officials told the Journal that the troops are working with local maritime forces on training missions involving small boats. DPA Notes: Curious that USA would actually…
[ Nikkei ] U.S. set to resume trade talks with China
U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is expected to speak to Chinese vice premier Liu He by telephone over the next few days, calling on China to respect the “phase one” trade agreement it signed with Washington under former President Donald Trump. The U.S. also plans to resurrect partial exemptions on punitive tariffs to help curb the impact of…
[ Reuters ] Canada foreign minister says eyes wide open when it comes to normalizing China ties
Huawei Technologies Co Ltd Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, flew back to China on Friday after reaching an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end a bank fraud case against her. That resulted in the scrapping of her extradition battle in a Canadian court. Soon after Meng flew to…
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