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Military  China's sole operational aircraft carrier passed through the Taiwan Strait Wednesday, the island's defence ministry said, as Beijing steps up pressure on its democratic rival. It comes weeks after Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen warned against what she called China's "military expansion" -- the increase of air and naval drills around the island since she came to power in May 2016. Beijing views the self-ruling island as part of its territory, to be reunified at some point. Cross-strait relations have become increasingly frosty as Tsai refuses to acknowledge Taiwan is part of "one China". The aircraft carrier -- a second-hand Soviet ship -- caused a stir in Taiwan when it first entered the strait in January last year, viewed as a symbolic show of strength by Beijing. The defence ministry said the Liaoning carrier and accompanying vessels entered Taiwan's air defence zone early Wednesday morning and left by noon. The fleet, which ...

War game NATO has put Moscow on notice that it will be keeping a close eye on a major military exercise with Belarus next week, in a region still on edge after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Similar drills in the past included a simulated invasion of Poland by tens of thousands of Russian troops culminating in a nuclear strike on Warsaw, and the coming show of force, codenamed "Zapad 2017" (West 2017) has sparked months of speculation and fears along NATO's eastern flank. Observers say that while there is little chance of Russia using the exercise as cover for an actual invasion, there are concerns about what troops and equipment it will leave behind afterwards. Moscow has said about 12,700 Russian and Belarusian troops will take part in the exercises, to be held in Belarus and Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad from September 14 to 20, but Lithuania and Estonia have put the figure as high as 100,000. "We are concerned about the nature and the lack...

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday urged the Kremlin to comply with rules on transparency as it gears up for huge military exercises along the alliance's eastern flank next month. The drill, named Zapad 2017 ("West"), has stoked fresh alarm in NATO-members Poland and the Baltic states as a more assertive Russia pushes back against what it sees as the alliance's unjustified expansion into eastern Europe. "I call on Russia to ensure compliance with its obligations under the OSCE Vienna Document, because predictability, transparency is especially important when we have increased military activity along our borders," Stoltenberg told reporters in Warsaw at a joint press conference with Poland's right-wing Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. The Vienna Document requires all sides to provide advance information about exercises and allow observer teams so as to avoid any dangerous misunderstandings. The NATO chief had much stronger words for Mosco...

.   An F-35B begins its short takeoff from the USS America with an external weapons load.Lockheed Martin While North Korea  feverishly works to perfect intercontinental ballistic missile technology , the US and its allies are putting the finishing touches on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter that will soon be patrolling the Pacific. Japan and South Korea, the US's principal allies the region, will both deploy over 100 F-35s by 2021,  according to Aviation Week . This follows the US choosing Japan as the site of its first-ever deployment of operational F-35Bs, which are  particularly well-suited  to combat in the Pacific region. The F-35, with its stealth characteristics and ability to improve the performance of the legacy jets it flies with, presents technical challenges that even the world's best air forces can't yet overcome. Against North Korea's rudimentary air force and air defenses, the F-35 would dominate and lead South Korean, Japanese, and US legacy fi...

  After  another North Korean missile launch  on Friday, the US and South Korean military responded by holding a joint missile exercise "to exercise assets countering North Korea's missile launch," a joint statement read. The exercise utilized the Army's Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and South Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II - which were said to be capable of rapidly deploying in order to provide "deep-strike precision capability." The missiles were also said to have been  fired  into the East Sea, where North Korea's latest missile was also rumored to have landed. ATACMS missiles can carry a 500-pound high-explosive warhead and can travel up to a distance of 186 miles. The newest provocation from North Korea appeared to demonstrate the country's advances in its missile program, given that the latest missile was estimated to be capable of reaching major US cities, such as New York and Washington, D.C.,  according to experts . President Donald...

The United States on Thursday hit out at Iran over its test of a satellite-launch rocket, calling it an act that undermined regional stability and saying it appeared to violate UN Security Council resolutions. "We consider that to be continued ballistic missile development," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters. "We consider this to be provocative action." Nauert added that if confirmed, the test could be a "violation of UN Security Council resolutions." Iranian state television broadcast footage of the takeoff from the Imam Khomeini space center, named after the late founder of the Islamic republic, in Semnan province in the east of the country. The report said the launch vehicle, named Simorgh after a bird in Iranian mythology, was capable of propelling a satellite weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds) to an altitude of 500 kilometres (300 miles) above earth. Western states suspect Iran of developing the technology capable of l...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test of a new-type anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) May 28, 2017. KCNA/via          North Korea fired a missile on Friday in an unusual late-night test launch, and details announced by Japanese officials and media suggested it could be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The launch from North Korea's northern Jangang province took place at 11:41 p.m. (1441 GMT), an official at South Korea's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The U.S. Defense Department confirmed the launch, saying it was making further assessments.       "As a result of their launches of ICBM-level missiles, this clearly shows the threat to our nation's safety is severe and real," Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said that the...

HMS Queen Elizabeth, one of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers, on a sea trial this week. (Photo by the Press Association)  At a time of rising tensions between China and the US, a move likely to anger Beijing. The UK would increase in presence in the waters after it sent four combat aircraft for joint exercises with Japan in the region last year, British Defense Minister Michael Fallon said Thursday. "We hope to send a warship to region next year. We have not finalized exactly where that deployment will take place but we won't be constrained by China from sailing through the South China Sea," Fallon told Reuters. "We flew RAF Typhoons through the South China Sea last October and we will exercise that right whenever we next have the opportunity to do so, whenever we have ships or planes in the region,” he added. UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also said Thursday that Britain plans to sail two new aircraft carriers through contested Asian waters. “One...

Chinese troops march during the military parade marking the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Beijing, China, September 3, 2015.Reuters Buried in the Himalayas in the Siliguri Corridor, also known as the Chicken's neck, Chinese and Indian military forces sit on the respective sides of their vague borders and entrench themselves for what could become a shooting war between nuclear powers. Both Beijing and New Delhi see the conflict as a shoving match for dominance in the Himalayas, an age-old struggle between the two states that most recently went hot in 1962, before either state had perfected nuclear bombs. But now a Chinese construction project aiming to build a road that can support 40 ton vehicle traffic threatens a critical passage in India and risks alienating New Delhi from its ally, Bhutan. As China asserts sovereignty over the disputed border zone with the building project, Indian troops have entrenched themselves, according to  a dispatch from the South...

Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki (Photo by Reurters) Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has called for “substantial” Russian military and political presence in the terror-ravaged country, saying this would bring “balance” to the entire region. “It’s well known that Russia has historically strong relations with Iraq, therefore we would like Russia to have a substantial presence in our country, both politically and militarily,” said the senior Iraqi official during a Monday meeting with speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, Valentina Matviyenko, in Moscow, RT reported. “This way, a balance would be established that would benefit the region, its peoples and its countries” added Maliki, saying his country believes “in Russia’s role in solving most of the key international issues as well as improving stability and balance in our region and worldwide.” Matviyenko, in turn, welcomed Baghdad’s desire to boost ties with Moscow and said, “Russia is also determined to expand...

Hawaii's  Emergency Management Agency released  an ominous statement on how to survive and proceed in the event of a nuclear attack. Citizens of Hawaii are advised to look out for emergency sirens, alerts, wireless notifications, or flashes of "brilliant white light" that will indicate that a nuclear detonation is incoming or underway. From there, the agency instructs citizens to get indoors, stay indoors, and stay tuned via radio as "cell phone, television, radio and internet services will be severely disrupted or unavailable." Instead, expect only local radio stations to survive and function. If indoors, citizens should avoid windows. If driving, citizens should pull off the road to allow emergency vehicles access to population centers. Once inside, Hawaiians should not leave home until instructed to or for two full weeks, as dangerous nuclear fallout could sicken or kill them. Read the full release below:

The file photo shows Iranian fishing boats. Saudi Arabia’s coastguard has opened fire on Iranian fishing boats in the waters south of Iran, killing a fisherman, a senior border official of the Islamic Republic says. The incident happened after two Iranian boats fishing in the Persian Gulf strayed from their course due to big sea waves, the Iranian Interior Ministry’s director general for border affairs Majid Aqa-Babaei said on Saturday. “Accordingly and without establishing whether the Iranian boats had crossed Saudi borders, the coastguard of this country opened fire on the Iranian boats and an Iranian fisherman was killed due to a bullet hitting him in the waist,” he added. “This Saudi move is not compatible with human principles and even assuming that the boats had crossed Saudi borders due to sea waves, they were not authorized to shoot at the Iranian boats,” the official said. Aqa-Babaei noted that the Islamic Republic is following up on t...

Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe give a press conference following their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on April 27, 2017. (Photos by AFP) Leaders of Russia and Japan have called for an urgent resumption of multi-party talks to find a solution to the current crisis in the Korean Peninsula. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday that they were seeking de-escalation in the Korean conflict, admitting that the situation had seriously deteriorated over the past weeks. Putin urged all sides of the crisis to refrain from any provocation that could further deteriorate the situation. He also said the surge in hostilities had made it necessary for all stakeholders to embark on renewed efforts to find a solution to the conflict.  Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe following their meeting at the Kremlin in Mos...

REUTERS/Carlos BarriaU.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, U.S., April 27, 2017. President Donald Trump appeared to commend North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's ability to control his country. "Not many 27-year-old men could go in and take over a regime," Trump said in a  Reuters  interview published Thursday night. "Say what you want, but that's not easy - especially at that age." "I'm just telling you, and I'm not giving him credit or not giving him credit - I'm just saying that's a very hard thing to do." Trump has praised the North Korean dictator's unmerciful rule  in the past . During a campaign stop in Iowa in 2016, he was reported to have said, "You gotta give him credit." "How many young guys - he was, like, 26 or 25 when his father died - take over these tough generals, and all of a sudden ... he goes in, he takes over, ...

President Donald Trump will huddle with chief executives of major U.S. companies on Friday as the business community finds itself increasingly split over how to respond to his policies. Uber CEO Travis Kalanick on Thursday quit the business leaders' group, a panel selected by Trump in December, under pressure from activists over Trump's week-old executive order halting travel to the United States for people from seven Muslim-majority countries. Executives from Ford Motor Co and Tesla Inc also criticized Trump's travel ban, but other advisory group members, including General Motors Co and JPMorgan Chase & Co have not taken a position. Trump previously met with executives from the U.S. pharmaceutical and auto industries as part of a push to step up U.S. job creation. U.S. companies of all political stripes want Trump, a Republican, to fulfill a campaign pledge to slash corporate taxes, but a schism has developed over how to do it. The splits highlight business leader...