Geo Politics

CHINA: Saturday (16th of July) saw a US Navy destroyer sail near the disputed Spratly Islands, the second such “freedom of navigation” exercise in the South China Sea in a week, according to the US Navy. Chinese officials claimed to have “forced away” the USS Benfold, which was sailing near the disputed Paracel Islands, on Wednesday. In the South China …

US: President Joe Biden and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman gave each other a fist bump to try to heal their strained relationship, the US leader left the country on Saturday (July 16) with little tangible evidence that the trip had been worthwhile. His first journey to the Middle East as president, President Biden’s four-day visit to Israel and …

UKRAINE: Agreements were signed on Thursday (Jul 14) by the United States and more than 40 other countries, following what Kiev claimed was a Russian missile strike that killed civilians well from the front line. “Russian missiles targeted two communities in western Ukraine, killing 20 people, including three young children,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at an international summit. Since …

ITALY: After a day of political drama that threatened to topple Italy’s national unity government, President Sergio Mattarella rejected Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s resignation on Thursday (July 14). ECB President Mario Draghi stated Thursday that he would quit after the 5-Star Movement, a coalition party, failed to support him in a confidence vote over his strategy to curb increasing prices. …

US: Friday (Jul 15), Saudi Arabia said that restrictions on “all airlines” accessing its airspace would be lifted ahead of US President Joe Biden’s arrival in Saudi Arabia. US President Barack Obama hailed Riyadh’s “historic” decision, the latest concession to the Jewish state, which it has refused to recognize despite Israel’s persistent attempts to build connections with the Arab world. …

JAPAN: As the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) won Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Japan, Prime Minister Lee has written to his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida to congratulate him on the LDP’s success. Two days after the killing of a senior LDP member and former prime minister Shinzo Abe, Japan’s conservative coalition government extended its majority in the upper house of …

US: US President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday (July 13) to begin a trip to the Middle East, where he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to strengthen Israel’s ties to the area as they prepare to take on Iran. A visit to Saudi Arabia by Biden, who will be making his first regional trip since assuming …

MALAYSIA: De facto law minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar has said that a new anti-party switching Bill will be filed in Malaysia’s parliament on Monday (Jul 18) and that if enacted, the law could come into effect by September. A draft of the anti-party jumping law was finalized and studied on Wednesday by the bipartisan select committee appointed to look …

SRI LANKA: He was known as “The Terminator” for his role in ending Sri Lanka’s long-running civil war, but he’s now a wanted man and the country’s economy is in ruins. From 2005 to 2015, Rajapaksa served as Sri Lanka’s defense secretary, one of four brothers who have dominated recent Sri Lankan politics. His tough-guy image was bolstered by reports …

UKRAINE: Ukrainian officials announced on Tuesday that they had launched a long-range rocket strike against Russian army and military equipment in southern Ukraine, which they claim they are intending to reclaim with hundreds of thousands of troops in a counter-offensive. The settlement of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region was attacked by an airstrike that killed 52 people, according to …