Author: Prerna Subba

U.K Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is set to sign a significant defence deal with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during the latter’s visit to London. PM Kishida‘s visit to London comes amid Japan’s Group of Seven (G7) presidency. He is expected to visit France, Italy, the UK,  Canada, and the U.S., as the representatives of these countries are anticipated to attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, from May 19th – 21st. The reciprocal access defence agreement between the UK and Japan is to be ratified today, at the Tower of London, allowing the deployment of UK forces on Japanese land…

Brazilian President Lula and American President Biden met on 10 February, this Friday, at the White House and discussed similar battles between their nations in preserving democracy, fighting climate change, and other issues. President Joe Biden welcomed Brazilian President Lula at the White House on Friday. The former declared how both nations saw democracy ultimately overcome the challenge of far-right mobs that had stormed their government halls of power in an attempt to reverse election victories. “Both our nations’ strong democracies have been tested of late—very much tried, but both in the United States and Brazil, democracy prevailed,” President Biden…

American forces and their allies in Asia are battle-ready after years of joint combat exercises, against potential Asian aggressors like China and North Korea, said Major Gen. Joseph Ryan. On Wednesday, Maj. Gen. Joseph Ryan said the Russian setbacks in Ukraine should caution other potential aggressors like China and North Korea in Asia. He further added that “American allies like Australia, Japan and the Philippines have shown their solidarity against aggressors from these nations that seek to change the world order set out here.” In an interview with the Associated Press, he expressed optimism about the allies and partners in…

On Monday, the Mexican government rejected the possible resumption of the controversial U.S. immigration policy called “Remain in Mexico.” The “Remain in Mexico” policy, a Trump-era immigration policy, remains suspended for now. President Joe Biden has sought to end this policy, which requires asylum seekers to wait for U.S. hearings in Mexico. The U.S. states such as Texas and Missouri have filed lawsuits seeking to keep the policy active. In December, a federal judge blocked the Biden administration’s bid to end the program, stating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was ineffective in explaining the shortcomings of the…

The United States warned Turkiye about its exports to Russia, which are beingviewed as an effort to boost Russia’s war. Turkiye’s exports to Russia of chemicals, microchips and various other products have caught the eye of the United States, which has warned Ankara to restrain itself, as Russia can use these products in its war against Ukraine. It also indicated the possibility of penalizing Turkish companies and banks involved in breaching the sanctions. The U.S treasury Department’s top sanction official, Brain Nelson, visited the Turkish government and private sector officials this week and requested more cooperation in withholding the flow…

North Korea plans to hold talks on its “urgent” food issue, a possible sign of its deteriorating food insecurity as the country faces economic isolation amid a growing nuclear weapons push. The North Korean government has scheduled a meeting to discuss improving the country’s agricultural sector. According to a report from the official Korean Central News Agency on Monday, the members of the ruling Worker’s party’s Politburo held a meeting on Saturday and decided to hold a larger political conference of the Party’s Central Committee by the end of this month. The political conference will involve reviewing strategies for agriculture…

Iranian authorities reported attacks by drones carrying bombs on its defence facility in the central city of Isfahan overnight around 11:30 pm, causing damage at the plant. This attack comes at a time when Iran finds itself in increasing regional and international tensions. The drone attacks were carried out, as the Islamic republic was struck by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, killing two people and a refinery fire accident broke out separately in the northwest part of the country. The details of the Isfahan attack, remain quite meagre. The Defence Ministry of Iran in its statement revealed three drones were launched at…

The United States has negotiated an agreement with the Netherlands and Japan to impose limits on the exports of some advanced chips-making apparatus to China. According to reports, the agreement would include specific export controls that the United States had adopted in October for companies based in the Netherlands and Japan, including Nikon Corp, ASML Holding NV, and Tokyo Electron Ltd. Officials from the Netherlands and Japan visited Washington on Friday to join the discussions led by White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan. The discussions revolved around a wide range of issues that were “important to all three of…

The United States and Germany, are reportedly all set to fulfill Kyiv’s months-long request for war tanks. Ukraine sees these tanks as game changers on the battlefield. Ukraine, for months, did make a plea for Western tanks to provide the weaponry boost and mobility to defend against Russian defensive lines and recapture territories. The anticipated tank deliveries come amid an anti-corruption drive in Ukraine. Berlin has been in talks to send its Leopard 2 tanks, while Washington is likely to announce the delivery of M1Abrams tanks, which were earlier not included in the weapons for Ukraine, reports say. On Tuesday,…

Pakistan faced a nationwide power breakdown on Monday due to a “frequency variation” in the national grid, leaving millions of people without electricity. This is its second power outage in about four months. A top US official said, the US is ready to assist Pakistan with its power woes. Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy said the maintenance work is in progress, and it is to be restored within 12 hours. It was reported that the system of frequency of the national grid went down at 7:34 am local time on Monday, which led to millions waking up to no electricity and…