South Korea, U.S. begin largest military drills in years amid North Korea backlash
Reuters South Korea and the United States began their largest joint military drills in years on Monday with a resumption of field training, officials said, as the allies seek to tighten readiness over North Korea’s potential weapons tests. The annual summertime exercises, renamed Ulchi Freedom Shield this year and scheduled to end on Sept. 1, […]
Biden signs documents of U.S. support for Sweden, Finland to join NATO
Reuters U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed documents endorsing Finland and Sweden’s accession to NATO, the most significant expansion of the military alliance since the 1990s as it responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Biden signed the U.S. “instrument of ratification” welcoming the two countries, the final step for their endorsement by the United […]
France’s Macron: underlined importance of diversifying energy supplies in talks with Saudi Crown Prince
Reuters French President Emmanuel Macron underlined the importance of having a diverse source of energy supplies during his talks this week with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, said a statement from Macron’s Elysee office on Friday. Macron hosted Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Thursday as part of increased Western efforts to court […]
Top U.S. delegation visits Kyiv, vows to ensure continuing support
Reuters A senior U.S. Congressional delegation met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv on Saturday and promised to try to ensure continued support in the war against Russia. The delegation – which included Representative Adam Smith, chair of the House Armed Services Committee – is the latest in a series of high-profile American visitors to […]
U.S. envoy sees ‘consequential shift’ in NATO, Asia ties amid China challenges
Reuters The recent attendance by four Asia Pacific leaders at the NATO summit reflects a “consequential shift” in the U.S. transatlantic security partnership which Washington seeks to expand to better counter China, a senior U.S. diplomat told Reuters. In an interview in Seoul, Derek Chollet, counselor of the U.S. Department of State who serves as […]
Saudi Arabia walks oil policy tightrope between Biden and Putin
Reuters Saudi Arabia’s push for swifter oil production hikes by OPEC+, which were agreed in June, involved behind-the-scenes diplomacy to ensure Russia backed the move that followed U.S. appeals for more supply, two sources familiar with the discussions said. The OPEC+ group of oil producers made a larger-than-expected output rise when its ministers met on […]
Germany triggers gas alarm stage, accuses Russia of ‘economic attack’
Reuters Germany triggered the “alarm stage” of its emergency gas plan on Thursday in response to falling Russian supplies but stopped short of allowing utilities to pass on soaring energy costs to customers in Europe’s largest economy. The measure is the latest escalation in a standoff between Europe and Moscow since the Russian invasion of […]
Ukraine, U.S.-China relations dominate Asia security meeting
By Chen Lin The war in Ukraine and China’s increasingly tense relationship with the United States featured in nearly every session of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, which ended on Sunday after three days of discussions. Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe, who gave one of the featured speeches on the meeting’s final day, said it […]
Israel signs historic trade deal with UAE, its biggest with any Arab country
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel and the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday penned a multi-billion dollar free trade agreement, the latest product of the two countries’ historic normalization deal in 2020 known as the Abraham Accords. With a stated target of increasing annual bilateral trade to more than $10 billion over the next five […]
APC, PDP DELEGATES: Confusion rages over Buhari’s assent to Electoral Act Amendment Bill
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru There were conflicting stories, yesterday, on the Electoral Act Amendment Bill waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari’s assent. It was earlier reported that Buhari may have appended his signature to the piece of legislation. Some online platforms, yesterday, published a story claiming that the President had signed the bill which was transmitted to […]
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