Tag - defense

 
 

DEFENSE

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen holds a welcome ceremony in September 2022 for then-Tuvaluan Prime Minister Kausea Natano in Taipei.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 7, 2024
Tuvalu could recognize China, but how much would it affect Taiwan?
Taipei might benefit from shifting its energy and resources away from competing with Beijing over formal recognition.
Cars and homes destroyed by a Russian missile that fell between a residential building and a public preschool in Kyiv on Dec. 13, 2023. In January, the White House said it had evidence that North Korea had provided ballistic missiles used by Russia.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 6, 2024
A Russian bank account may offer clues to North Korean arms deal
Russia has allowed the release of $9 million in frozen North Korean assets from a Russian financial institution, according to intelligence officials.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops participate in a joint military drill and demonstration with the U.S., British, Canadian, German and other countries' militaries in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, on Jan. 7.
COMMENTARY / Japan / EXPLAINER
Feb 5, 2024
The Rosetta Stone to decipher Japan's new security deals
Japan has already signed several agreements this year that, together with previous ones, form a dense web of security pacts — one worth untangling.
Military vehicles carrying intercontinental ballistic missiles during a military parade in Beijing in 2019
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 5, 2024
Fear and ambition propel Xi’s nuclear acceleration
As China’s arsenal grows, its military looks to warheads as both defensive shield and potential sword — to intimidate and subjugate adversaries.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2024
170,000 SDF members sent to Noto quake areas over one month
SDF personnel rescued about 1,000 people, according to the Defense Ministry.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Feb 2, 2024
Japan starts 2024 with flurry of security deals
In January alone, Tokyo signed cooperation deals with at least four countries, strengthening and expanding its network of like-minded partners.
Foreign Minister Yōko Kamikawa will likely face some institutional challenges in achieving quick and meaningful progress in advancing the United Nation's Women, Peace and Security initiative.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2024
Japan unveils task force for gender-inclusive security issues
U.N. mandate spurs Japan into action with new task force aimed at enhancing women's roles in global conflict resolution.
A news broadcast showing at a railway station in Seoul on Tuesday shows footage of a previous North Korean missile launch.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
North Korea fires missiles as Kim seeks ‘war preparation’ boost
Kim is likely using the tests to show he many ways to launch a strike, adding to the planning contingencies for the U.S. and its allies in the region.
Japan remains largely unresponsive as the U.S. moves toward the escalation of retaliatory strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen and other Iranian-supported militants in the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2024
As the U.S. and Iran inch toward war, Tokyo bickers about political factions
Japan remains largely unresponsive as U.S. moves toward retaliatory strikes in the Middle East, and possibly war.
A farmer throws an egg aimed at police officers as farmers from Belgium and other European countries use their tractors to block the area outside the European Parliament, as they protest over price pressures, taxes and green regulation, in Brussels, on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
How farmers, football and fatigue got Viktor Orban to cave on Ukraine
Angry farmers' noisy protest against burdensome EU regulations robbed Hungarian leader of a good night's sleep.
Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi. Ukraine's top general refused to step down Monday at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is seeking to reinvigorate his military after Ukraine’s counteroffensive fizzled in the fall, according to people familiar with the discussions.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
After failed counteroffensive, Ukraine’s top general feuds with Zelenskyy
Valeriy Zaluzhnyi refused to step down Monday at a meeting with the Ukrainian president, leaving the pair at odds with U.S. military support in question.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends a European Union summit in Brussels on Thursday.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
EU breaks deadlock on €50 billion for Ukraine after Orban caves
The deal is crucial for Ukraine, which has warned that its coffers are emptying as it grapples with a weapons shortage.
U.S. President Joe Biden has come under intense pressure from Republicans to take strong action, up to attacks directly on Iranian assets or territory.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 2, 2024
The world waits as Biden telegraphs attack on Iran-backed groups
The U.S. has accused Iran of funding groups that have attacked American bases and personnel in the region.
An F/A-18 fighter jet takes off from the deck of the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier during a three-day maritime exercise between the U.S. and Japan in the Philippine Sea, between Okinawa and Taiwan, on Wednesday.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2024
U.S. and Japan conduct joint naval drills
U.S. Rear Adm. Carlos Sardiello called the joint exercises "a great rehearsal opportunity for us."
A soldier stands in front of the grave sites of fallen soldiers in Kinmen, Taiwan, on Aug. 23, 2023. Chinese President Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to take Taiwan by 2027, though many analysts see that as an attempt to galvanize his military rather than a timeline for invasion.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 1, 2024
How Washington is preparing for a Chinese invasion of Taiwan
It is looking at a key vulnerability — military logistics — and is setting up hubs in the Indo-Pacific region to ensure supplies are readily available.
A Ukrainian serviceman prepares shells to fire a L119 howitzer toward Russian troops from a position near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, on Jan. 25.
WORLD / Politics
Feb 1, 2024
EU grapples with future of military aid for Ukraine
Most EU countries are ready to inject €5 billion into the military aid fund to help Kyiv but Germany wants changes to the fund first.
New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (left) speak with relatives of hostages taken by Hamas during the militant group’s Oct. 7 attack on Israel, in Washington on Jan. 17. Gillibrand was one of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman's guests at discussions that took place in earlier this month.
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2024
Saudis resume U.S. defense talks after pause from Gaza war
Crown prince met U.S. senators for the revival of talks of a pact that would have included a tie-up with Israel.
An F-16 fighter jet in Spangdahlem, Germany, on June 14, 2023
WORLD / Politics
Jan 31, 2024
U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashes off South Korea's west coast
The pilot ejected safely and was recovered, the U.S. military said, hailing close cooperation with South Korea during the rescue operation.
North Korea says that it launched Hwasal-2, a strategic cruise missile, in the West Sea of Korea on Tuesday.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Jan 31, 2024
North Korea says it test-fired strategic cruise missile
Analysts warn these recently launched weapons could be destined for Russia's war in Ukraine.
At the heart of European Union thinking about economic security is fear that economic dependencies will be weaponized.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 30, 2024
EU’s dilemma: balancing national and economic security
At the heart of EU thinking about economic security is fear that economic dependencies will be weaponized.

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.