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By Johannes LEDEL Sweden’s NATO membership bid, submitted in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, cleared its final hurdle as Hungary’s parliament voted to ratify it on Monday. Accession to the US-led alliance means stark changes for both Sweden’s defence and the geopolitical balance in the region. – Why did Sweden decide to join NATO? – At the end of the Napoleonic wars of the early 19th century, Sweden adopted an official policy […]
SYDNEY, Feb 20, 2024 (AFP) – Australia on Tuesday outlined a decade-long plan to double its fleet of major warships and boost defence spending by an additional US$7 billion, in the face of a quickening Asia-Pacific arms race. Under the plan, Australia will get a navy of 26 major surface combatant ships, up from 11 today. “It is the largest fleet that we will have since the end of the Second World War,” said Defence […]
WASHINGTON, Feb 7, 2024 (AFP) – A Chinese-born US researcher has been arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets, including technology used to detect nuclear missile launches, the Justice Department said Wednesday. Chenguang Gong, 57, of San Jose, California, was arrested on Tuesday, the department said in a statement. Gong, who became a US citizen in 2011, is accused of transferring more than 3,600 files from the research and development company where he briefly worked […]
By W.G. DUNLOP WASHINGTON, Jan 9, 2024 (AFP) – President Joe Biden was kept in the dark over his defense secretary’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent hospitalizations for about a month, the White House admitted Tuesday, as details of Lloyd Austin’s deeply unusual disappearance raised questions about leadership of the world’s top military. The 70-year-old’s failure to disclose his hospitalization has prompted an extraordinary row in Washington and could be embarrassing for Biden, who faces multiple […]
SEOUL, Dec 19, 2023 (AFP) – Troops on the South Korean side of the Joint Security Area on the border with the North have been authorised to carry guns, the UN Command said Tuesday, after Pyongyang’s soldiers reportedly started carrying weapons there last month. Soldiers from both countries face off at the JSA north of Seoul, which is overseen by the US-led United Nations Command. North and South Korea agreed to disarm their troops on […]
By Josh EDELSON MOUNTAIN VIEW, United States, Dec 2, 2023 (AFP) – The defense chiefs of the United States, Australia and Britain met in California on Friday, touting high-tech co-operation on deep space radar, AI and quantum computing systems aimed at bolstering their armed forces in the face of growing global threats, including from China. The three men huddled in Silicon Valley — the heart of the US tech sector — to build on the […]
SEOUL, Dec 2, 2023 (AFP) – North Korea warned Saturday it would “destroy” US spy satellites if Washington tries “any attack” on its space asset, after Pyongyang launched its first military eye in the sky last week. A spokesman for the North’s defence ministry said it would consider such a move a “declaration of war”, according to a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The statement came after a US official’s remark […]
SARAJEVO, Nov 20, 2023 (AFP) – NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Monday of Russia’s “malign” interference in Bosnia, saying Moscow’s actions threatened the stability of the deeply divided Balkan country. Nearly 30 years after the end of its civil war, Bosnia remains fractured along ethnic lines, with NATO troops and later European peacekeepers stationed in the country to help keep the peace. “We are concerned by secessionist and divisive rhetoric as well as […]
MOSCOW, Nov 8, 2023 (AFP) – Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed strengthening military ties with Beijing on Wednesday as he hosted a senior Chinese general in Moscow. Russia has bolstered ties with its Chinese neighbour in the last year, as it seeks allies against the backdrop of its dragging offensive on Ukraine. “Our contacts in the military and military-technology spheres are becoming increasingly important,” Putin told Zhang Youxia, a high-ranking general and vice chairman of […]
MOSCOW, Oct 18, 2023 (AFP) – Russian lawmakers on Wednesday voted once more to revoke Moscow’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, moving the country another step closer to abandoning the landmark agreement. The 1996 treaty outlaws all nuclear explosions including live tests of nuclear weapons, but it has never come into force because some key countries — including the United States and China — have not ratified the treaty. In a fast-track […]
TAIPEI, Oct 12, 2023 (AFP) – Taiwan’s defence minister said Thursday China has stepped up “military intimidation” this year by flying an increased number of warplanes around the island as well as accelerating the deployment of ballistic missiles. China claims self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory to be seized one day — by force if necessary — and has ramped up pressure on the island in recent years, staging at least two rounds of […]
MOSCOW, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran on an official visit on Tuesday to deepen Moscow’s defence ties with Tehran, which provides Russia with attack drones for its Ukraine offensive, Russian news agencies reported. “During the visit, the Russian Defense Ministry delegation will hold a number of talks with the republic’s military leadership,” the ministry said, according to a statement carried by Russian news agencies. This is a […]
