JAPAN
Drills simulate island attack
An Apache helicopter yesterday flew low over an uninhabited island in Okinawa in a simulated attack on invading forces, part of exercises under way to prepare the nation’s air, sea and land forces for a potential conflict in East Asia. The flight over Irisuna, about 70km from the main Okinawa island, was part of the country’s 11-day nationwide 05JX. The drills, which end on Monday, also include an air-defense exercise in the north and simulated attacks on five nuclear reactors. “The national security environment around Japan has become harsher, particularly with the growing military activities by China and Russia in the East China Sea, South China Sea and western Pacific,” Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade Commander Shingo Nashinoki said on Irisuna.
INDONESIA
ASEAN ministers meet
ASEAN defense ministers yesterday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during the opening of a two-day regional meeting in Jakarta. Opening the annual get-together, Indonesian Minister of Defense Prabowo Subianto said the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation was deeply saddened by the deteriorating conditions in Gaza. “Indonesia’s stance is clear and firm. We push and call for immediate cessation of hostilities and the immediate setting up of corridors for humanitarian assistance,” he said. In a joint declaration, the ministers also urged “all parties concerned” to cease all violence in Myanmar and underscored the need to maintain peace in the South China Sea.
NORTH KOREA
New missile engine tested
The nation has developed and successfully conducted ground tests of a “new type” of solid-fuel engine for its banned intermediate-range ballistic missiles, state media said yesterday. The announcement came as Pyongyang also said that a Russian delegation led by Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Alexander Kozlov was visiting the capital to hold talks on cooperation in trade, economy, science and technology.
INDIA
Meds reach trapped men
Rescuers yesterday said they had sent medicine to 40 men trapped after the road tunnel they were building collapsed, as frantic efforts to free them entered a fourth day. Excavators have been removing debris since Sunday morning from the site in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand to create an escape tunnel for the workers, all of whom are still alive. “After consultation with doctors, medicine has been sent to the workers through pipes,” police officer Prashant Kumar said. “Contact is being maintained with the workers.” No details were given about the condition of the men or how many of them were sick. Food and oxygen had also been sent to the trapped workers, he said.
UNITED STATES
Funding bill passes
The House of Representatives on Tuesday overcame partisan animosity to pass a temporary government funding bill that greatly lowers the risk of a shutdown, even as it delays fights over Ukraine aid, border policies and deep cuts to federal programs. Democrats bailed out newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican whose plan drew opposition from hardliners in his party, because it does not cut government spending or change border policies. A total of 209 Democrats voted with 127 Republicans in support of the measure. The outcome is a reprieve for Johnson, who would have until next year to negotiate annual spending.
Former Nicaraguan president Violeta Chamorro, who brought peace to Nicaragua after years of war and was the first woman elected president in the Americas, died on Saturday at the age of 95, her family said. Chamorro, who ruled the poor Central American country from 1990 to 1997, “died in peace, surrounded by the affection and love of her children,” said a statement issued by her four children. As president, Chamorro ended a civil war that had raged for much of the 1980s as US-backed rebels known as the “Contras” fought the leftist Sandinista government. That conflict made Nicaragua one of
BOMBARDMENT: Moscow sent more than 440 drones and 32 missiles, Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, in ‘one of the most terrifying strikes’ on the capital in recent months A nighttime Russian missile and drone bombardment of Ukraine killed at least 15 people and injured 116 while they slept in their homes, local officials said yesterday, with the main barrage centering on the capital, Kyiv. Kyiv City Military Administration head Tymur Tkachenko said 14 people were killed and 99 were injured as explosions echoed across the city for hours during the night. The bombardment demolished a nine-story residential building, destroying dozens of apartments. Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble. Russia flung more than 440 drones and 32 missiles at Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy
COMPETITION: The US and Russia make up about 90 percent of the world stockpile and are adding new versions, while China’s nuclear force is steadily rising, SIPRI said Most of the world’s nuclear-armed states continued to modernize their arsenals last year, setting the stage for a new nuclear arms race, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said yesterday. Nuclear powers including the US and Russia — which account for about 90 percent of the world’s stockpile — had spent time last year “upgrading existing weapons and adding newer versions,” researchers said. Since the end of the Cold War, old warheads have generally been dismantled quicker than new ones have been deployed, resulting in a decrease in the overall number of warheads. However, SIPRI said that the trend was likely
‘SHORTSIGHTED’: Using aid as leverage is punitive, would not be regarded well among Pacific Island nations and would further open the door for China, an academic said New Zealand has suspended millions of dollars in budget funding to the Cook Islands, it said yesterday, as the relationship between the two constitutionally linked countries continues to deteriorate amid the island group’s deepening ties with China. A spokesperson for New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters said in a statement that New Zealand early this month decided to suspend payment of NZ$18.2 million (US$11 million) in core sector support funding for this year and next year as it “relies on a high trust bilateral relationship.” New Zealand and Australia have become increasingly cautious about China’s growing presence in the Pacific
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