TAIPEI — Pro-independence candidate William Lai looks on course to win the Taiwanese presidential election on Saturday in a result that risks inflaming tensions between Beijing and Washington in the South China Sea. The election has been billed as the first major global geopolitical watershed of 2024, pitting the U.S. against China in a battle … Read more
TAIPEI — Taiwan has been slow to learn the lessons from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and should be accelerating a shift away from big-ticket warplane and warship projects and switching to agile weaponry like drones and mobile air-defense systems that could cause China major problems, a retired top military official told POLITICO. Lee Hsi-ming, who … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. Western warplanes and guided missiles roared through the skies over Yemen in the early hours of Friday in a dramatic response to the worsening crisis engulfing the region, where the U.S. and its allies are facing a direct confrontation with Iranian-backed militants. The strikes … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. While the U.S. and U.K. carried out airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen on Thursday — in a bid to deter attacks on ships in the Red Sea — it remains to be seen whether there will be a meaningful EU involvement in the growing conflict. So … Read more
PARIS — France’s Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné was on his way to Ukraine on Friday, the day after his appointment in a widely expected government reshuffle. According to the French foreign ministry, the schedule of his visit was still in flux Friday, but it is expected Séjourné will meet Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday. … Read more
Dozens of Ukrainian children from a Russian-occupied city in Ukraine were taken to Belarus and sent to “emergency survival training” with the Belarusian military, according to local media. The Belarus 4 Mogilev state television channel reported on Wednesday that 35 children from the city of Antratsyt in eastern Ukraine, which Russia has occupied since 2014, … Read more
Latvian Foreign Minister Krišjānis Kariņš, who has joined the race to become NATO’s next secretary-general, thinks the job should go to someone from a country that walks the talk on defense spending. Latvia is investing “about 2.4 percent of our GDP into defense this year, and we’re heading up to 3 percent in the next … Read more
Press play to listen to this article Voiced by artificial intelligence. Mark Kimmitt is a retired U.S. Army brigadier general. He served as assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs and deputy assistant secretary of defense for Middle East affairs under President George W. Bush. On December 23, the Chem Puto tanker was attacked by … Read more
BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wants to put added pressure on EU partners to deliver more weapons to Ukraine by raising the issue at a special summit of EU leaders next month. Politicos will meet in Brussels on February 1, where they plan to adopt a €50 billion financial aid package for Kyiv. Scholz … Read more
A Russian singer who got in trouble for performing on stage wearing only a sock to cover his genitals was arrested at a St. Petersburg airport as he planned to leave the country. Maxim Tesli, lead singer of Russian band The Puppies, was charged with petty hooliganism. He was planning to flee Russia, according to … Read more
