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Former President Donald Trump met with former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday evening, discussing the relationship between the two countries. “The two discussed the enduring importance of the US-Japan alliance to both countries’ physical and economic security and to stability in the Indo-Pacific,” a statement released by Trump said. “They also discussed challenges posed by China and North Korea. President Trump praised Japan’s increased defense spending.”

Secretary of State Antony Blinken landed in Shanghai, China, on Wednesday afternoon for meetings with senior officials, receiving no significant honors upon his landing and preceded by loud warnings from the Foreign Ministry to avoid challenging the Communist Party on its belligerent policies. Blinken is expected to stay in China for three days, beginning his journey in the economic heart of China, Shanghai, and then traveling north to Beijing to meet top officials. According to the State Department, Blinken is expected to address a wide variety of international issues, many of them not directly relevant to China such as “the...

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday blasted House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP lawmakers in Congress for handing President Joe Biden a win on foreign aid, especially in Ukraine, without wringing any new concessions from Democrats to secure America’s border. Last weekend’s move by Johnson, said DeSantis, “was a real, real failure" that grossly betrayed GOP voters. Many conservatives have leveled Johnson in recent days for going along with the $95 billion package that funded Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — just as Biden and congressional Democrats wanted. DeSantis ripped Johnson for forgetting the people who placed their faith in...

US Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell met with Niger’s Prime Minister Ali Lamine Zeine on Friday and they agreed – after Niger’s demands – that the US would militarily withdraw from the country, according to a State Department official. In the coming days, there will be conversations over the timeline for the withdrawal with the Department of Defense, the official said. The major drawdown will significantly impact the US troop presence on the continent of Africa, and the move comes amid serious US concerns about the country’s deepening relationships with Russia and Iran. The New York Times first reported...

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday said it was readying to deploy two reserve brigades for missions in the Gaza Strip, as the military appeared to move ahead with plans for an offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah as it seeks to remove the Hamas terror group from its last major redoubt in the enclave. The 679th “Yiftah” Armored Brigade and the 2nd “Carmeli” Infantry Brigade, which had been operating on the northern border, were set to take responsibility for areas of central Gaza that have remained under Israeli military control since troops largely pulled back from other...

Paul Ryan, a member of the Fox Corporation Board of Directors, praised House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) for permitting Democrats to seize control of the House last week. Democrats steamrolled Johnson by successfully pushing Biden administration’s agenda through the House. Johnson gave Biden “pretty much everything” Biden asked for “without having to concede much in return,” Punchbowl reported. The Democrat victory was a reminder of how some Republicans often decline to use their capacity to push conservative policies popular with the base. Democrats often appear to use their power without qualms.

Russian troops have reportedly pushed through Ukrainian lines to take the strategic town of Ocheretyne in Donetsk - the latest scoop for Vladimir Putin's forces amid a recent string of gains on the battlefield. Videos shared on the Telegram messaging app by Russian military bloggers appeared to show the Russian tricolour flying atop a damaged building in the town that once was home to 30,000 Ukrainians. The town was lost after Ukrainian units fled their positions under heavy fire, Msocow's defence ministry claimed, as a Ukrainian army spokesperson said the invaders were 'using the entire arsenal of weapons available... including...

In an effort to address a barrage of noise complaints, Milan is preparing to ban late-night snacks. This war on ice cream isn’t new, and does not sit well with many... The Italian city of Milan is proposing a new law to ban ice cream after midnight, in an effort to protect the "peace and health" of residents. A legislative starting paper has been filed by the city's local government. If passed, the new law could come into effect next month and last until November – something which local vendors will not be best pleased about, considering they are accustomed...

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.”—George Orwell, "Nineteen Eighty-Four"It is hard to find something good to say about America under the present administration. One thing you can say is that at least we are not Australia — at least not yet. Give Biden and his people four more years, and we should be right up there with the Land Down Under. I give it until November. Australia was roundly criticized for how it enforced its COVID-19 regulations on its people. Now, the Australian government has taken it upon...

My apologies if this comes off sounding a bit on the crude side, but has someone in the administration at Harvard finally started to "grow a pair?" Following months of protests and disruptions, Harvard finally suspended the student group Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC). The same group had already been placed on probation for their ongoing antics, but it never seemed to slow them down. In a letter to the group, the administration further warned them that if they continued to operate or inappropriately use campus spaces, the members would face expulsion and be banished from Harvard Yard. PSC...

South Korea's shrinking pool of conscripts is causing concerns amid the growing threat from North Korea, prompting the military to mull options to effectively maintain combat readiness with limited resources. In South Korea, all able-bodied men must serve mandatory military service for at least 18 months, while women can volunteer for military duty as officers or non-commissioned officers. The number of military personnel has been on a steady decline over the past decades due to the country's persistently low birth rate, falling below 500,000 for the first time last year. South Korea's total fertility rate-- the number of children that...

Granting the perpetrators and supporters of October 7th full membership status in the U.N. is the vilest reward for the vilest of crimesThe Israeli ambassador to the United Nations took a firm stance against the surge in antisemitism, insisting the "time for words has passed" and that we must take action now to "ensure that no Jew lives in fear." Since Hamas' horrific attack on October 7th, in which over 1,200 Israelis were killed, 250 were captured and taken as hostages to Gaza, and thousands wounded, I am in the United Nations Security Council on a near weekly, sometimes daily,...

Schoolchildren are converting to Islam in German schools as Christian students feel like outsiders and are desperate to try and fit in, a new study has warned. 'More and more parents of German children are turning to counselling centres because the Christian children want to convert so that they are no longer outsiders at school,' a state security officer told German tabloid Bild.A study by the Criminal Research Institute of Lower Saxony found that 67.8 per cent of the surveyed students believe that the Koran is 'more important' than the laws in Germany. Nearly half of them (45.6 per cent)...

Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned Kremlin will intensify attacks on Western weapons stored in Ukraine. “We will increase the intensity of attacks on logistics centers and storage bases for Western weapons,” Shoigu said on Tuesday, according to Russian state-owned outlet RIA Novosti. The warning from Shoigu came just as the House passed the $95 billion foreign aid package over the weekend and cleared the Senate Tuesday night. It is now on its way to President Biden’s desk to be signed. Foreign aid for embattled U.S. allies includes $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid in Gaza, $8 billion for...

A North Korean delegation led by the cabinet minister for international trade is visiting Iran, the North’s official media says in a rare public report of an exchange between the two countries believed to have secret military ties. The minister for external economic relations, Yun Jong Ho, left Pyongyang on Tuesday by air leading a ministry delegation to visit Iran, the North’s KCNA news agency says. It gives no other detail. North Korea and Iran have long been suspected of cooperating on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise and components that went into their manufacture.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday blamed Tucker Carlson for turning some Republicans against the idea of providing military aid for Ukraine by demonizing the war-torn country. The top Republican in the Senate argued that Carlson’s outspoken stance against US support for Ukraine was one of the primary reasons why approving more than $60 billion in emergency spending for the former Soviet state took so long to achieve. “I think the demonization of Ukraine began by Tucker Carlson, who in my opinion ended up where he should have been all along, which was interviewing Vladimir Putin,” McConnell said during...

Israel has sustained attacks from enemies throughout its history and has invested heavily in high tech defense technologies that are the envy of the world’s military.Iran launched an unprecedented attack on Israel in the early hours of April 14, with a barrage of up to 400 missiles and drones designed to inflict maximum damage. Virtually all its projectiles were, however, intercepted in a coordinated operation by Israel with the United States, European allies and some Arab nations. It has been hailed as “a greater miracle” than the Six- Day War. Israel has sustained attacks from enemies on all sides throughout...

Britains want to mediate, and Germans are more engaged. Survey also shows two out of four Europeans unchanged in their attitude toward Israel.About two in four Europeans say that the Gaza war hasn’t influenced their opinion about Israel, according to a new survey from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The 2024 HU-EF Barometer sheds light on European public opinion amid the ongoing Gaza conflict. Conducted online in Israel, Germany, Great Britain, France and Poland, the survey engaged 1,000 adult men and women from each country between February and March 2024. One of the significant findings was that approximately half the...

The group of Germans posed for photos, with one performing a Hitler salute, police sayFour Germans were caught laying white roses in memory of Adolf Hitler at the house where the Nazi dictator was born in western Austria on the anniversary of his birth, and one gave a Hitler salute as they posed for photos, police said Monday. Hitler was born on April 20, 1889, in Braunau am Inn. After lengthy wrangling over the future of the house where he was born, work started last year on turning it into a police station — a project meant to make it...

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that his government's plan to deport illegal immigrants from the UK to Rwanda will begin in 10-12 weeks. The plan sparked a lively debate in the UK, which reminded many of the Israeli plan to deport immigrants, until Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's 2018 decision to suspend the plan before it even began. At a press conference held by Sunak, he was asked how many would be deported during the summer, but refused to give a number, saying that "there will be many flights throughout the summer."According to the plan, Sunak said that 2,200...