WASHINGTON, 09 December 2021, (TON): Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken will travel to the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Hawaii from December 9-17, 2021.

Secretary Blinken will first travel to Liverpool, United Kingdom, December 10-12 to attend the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers’ Meeting.

The Secretary looks forward to speaking with G7 members and additional countries joining as guests, including Australia, India, the Republic of Korea, and members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Secretary Blinken will discuss a range of issues, including geopolitical and security matters, the buildup of Russian forces on Ukraine’s border, development infrastructure through the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative and global health security, and growth in the Indo-Pacific region.

Secretary Blinken will then travel to Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand, December 13-16. In Jakarta, the Secretary will deliver remarks on the significance of the Indo-Pacific region and underscore the importance of the U.S.-Indonesia Strategic Partnership.

In Malaysia, he will advance the U.S.-Malaysia partnership on addressing shared challenges, building resilient supply chains, and ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

In Thailand, Secretary Blinken will reaffirm the U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Thailand treaty alliance, working toward post-pandemic economic recovery, and addressing the climate crisis. In each country, Secretary Blinken will address the worsening crisis in Burma. Throughout the trip, Secretary Blinken will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, business stakeholders, and U.S. embassy personnel.

WASHINGTON, 09 December 2021, (TON): According to a report issued “a US-based think tank has called on the international community to ease restrictions on Afghanistan to avoid "state failure and mass starvation.”

The report issued by Washington-based transnational think tank, International Crisis Group (ICG) said “International actors must ease restrictions to avoid state failure and mass starvation in Afghanistan.”

It warned that hunger and destitution in the wake of the Taliban's takeover could "kill more people than all the bombs and bullets of the past two decades.”

ICG projected that up to one million Afghan children could die of starvation this winter if not helped, urging the US, Europe, and other donor nations to find ways to keep Afghanistan from imploding without endorsing the Taliban regime.

Other relief agencies have also warned that providing only humanitarian aid to Afghanistan was like a band-aid at best and that economic engagement with Afghanistan was necessary to prevent a collapse of the Afghan state.

ICG, other think tanks and relief agencies have asked for a “humanitarian-plus” approach to prevent the collapse of the Afghan state. The suggested “humanitarian-plus” initiative includes providing salaries for doctors and teachers, sending hospital supplies and restoring electricity.

LONDON, 09 December 2021, (TON): The United Kingdom and Denmark are close allies and friends. We share democratic values of freedom, rule of law, and tolerance. We have a long history of working closely together in tackling security problems, both in the framework of NATO, in coalitions and bilaterally.

Statement issued by UK government said “we are both proud seafaring nations with common interests in global safe and free navigation upon the seas.”

The recent weaponisation of migration against our Polish and Lithuanian allies, along with an aggr-essive pattern of Russian military build-ups near Ukraine’s border and in illegally-annexed Crimea, cyber-attacks, the use of disinformation, and the deployment of novel weapons systems, add to heightened tensions in Europe.

These concerning developments call for close cooperation among allies. They show us that threats are real and that we need to be alert. In an era of systemic competition, states are becoming increasingly assertive in how they advance their own objectives and while their actions may fall short of open conflict, they can nonetheless threaten our security and risk escalation into conflict.

We must work together to act in response to aggression across the range of state and non-state threats: our collective response is greater than the sum of its parts, Malign and destabilising Russian and Belaru-ssian behaviour is unacceptable and any Russian military incursion onto Ukrainian territory will have dire consequences for Russia’s relationship with the West. We are proud to offer our continued support to Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

RIYADH, 09 December 2021, (TON): Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman arrived in the Qatari capital, Doha, on the third leg of his official tour of neighboring Gulf countries.

Prince Mohammed and Sheikh Tamim reviewed relations between their two countries and ways to enhance cooperation in various fields, as well as the latest regional and international developments.

The crown prince and emir signed the minutes of the Saudi-Qatari Coordination Council meeting at the end of the session.

Sheikh Tamim said the prince’s visit will deepen the strong ties, especially in light of the conditions in the region.

He said in a tweet “the relations of brotherhood and cooperation between Qatar and Saudi Arabia are based on solid foundations of a common history and destiny.”

 Sheikh Tamim said “today, I discussed with my brother, Prince Mohammad bin Salman, ways to enhance this cooperation between our two countries (and) I also affirmed with him our common concern to support security and stability in our region and the region.”

He added “welcome my brother Mohammad to Qatar.”

WASHINGTON, 09 December 2021, (TON): The Ceres-1 launch vehicle of the Chinese aerospace company Galactic Energy has successfully launched five satellites into orbit for reconnaissance and scientific purposes.

The US fears that Beijing will overtake Washington in the space race, and this may have a military dimension.

Speaking at the annual Reagan National Defense Forum, US Deputy Chief of the US Space Force, General David Thompson, warned that by the end of the decade, China could “overtake the US in space capabilities.”

According to the general, the Chinese “on average create, deploy and upgrade their space capabilities twice as fast as the United States.”

The Director of the Institute of Asian and African Countries (ISAA) told “yes, China really pays a lot of attention to the development of its space program. In fact, they actively mix civilian and military launches. Over the past five years, China has dramatically increased them. All these facts give rise to concerns in the US.”

Maslov said “however, there is no exact answer to the question of how effective Chinese space technology can be in real combat conditions, since Beijing does not publish most of the technical parameters of what exactly it is launched into space.”

BAMAKO, 09 December 2021, (TON): Seven peacekeepers from the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) were killed and three more severely injured in an improvised bomb explosion on a highway in the central part of the country.

This was announced on Wednesday on the mission’s Twitter page.

Reads the short message “A MINUSMA logistics convoy, en route from Duenza to Sevara, was blown up by an improvised explosive device on the RN16 highway near the town of Bandiagara.”

WARSAW, 09 December 2021, (TON): The Polish army has acquired from the United States 300 used wheeled armored vehicles with enhanced mine protection, which will be used on the eastern flank of the country. The corresponding statement was posted on Twitter by Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak.

He wrote “we have signed an agreement with the United States for the supply of 300 used MRAP (mine-resistant ambush-protected) vehicles. The vehicles, along with a logistics and training package, will arrive at the Polish Army in the first quarter of 2022 and will strengthen capacity units stationed in eastern Poland.”

WASHINGTON, 09 December 2021, (TON): President Biden said the United States is not considering sending troops to Ukraine amid rising fears about the possibility of a Russian military invasion there.

Biden told reporters at the White House before departing for a trip to Kansas City “that is not on the table.”

He added “we have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to our NATO allies if they were to attack under Article 5, it’s a sacred obligation. That obligation does not extend to Ukraine.”

Biden said it would “depend upon what the rest of the NATO countries were willing to do as well” but rejected the idea that the U.S. would “unilaterally use force to confront Russia” if it were to invade.

The president’s comments came a day after his tense two-hour virtual meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin during which White House officials said the American president warned his Russian counterpart of harsh economic sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine.

Biden described the meeting as “straightforward” and said there were no “minced words” with Putin.

Biden said “I made it very clear, if in fact he invades Ukraine there will be severe consequences.”

He added that Russia would incur economic penalties “like none he has ever seen.”

LONDON, 09 December 2021, (TON): British foreign minister Liz Truss urged Iran to sign up to the 2015 nuclear deal, saying it was the last chance to do, just a day before talks were expected to resume.

She told the Chatham House think tank "this is really the last chance for Iran to sign up and I strongly urge them to do that because we are determined to work with our allies to prevent Iran securing nuclear weapons.”

"So they do need to sign up to the JCPOA (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) agreement, it's in their interests to do so."

MOSCOW, 09 December 2021, (TON): Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would send ideas to Washington within a week to follow up his talks with US President Joe Biden on the Ukraine crisis.

Neither side spoke of a breakthrough after the two-hour video call but they agreed to keep talking about what the Kremlin called "this complex confrontational situation".

Putin told reporters "we agreed we will continue this discussion and we'll do it in a substantive way. We will exchange our ideas in the very near future. Russia will draw up its ideas literally in the coming days, within a week we will give this to the US side to consider.”

The two leaders used Tuesday's call to set out their opposing positions on Ukraine, which says it is braced for a possible invasion by tens of thousands of Russian troops close to its border.

Biden warned Putin that the West would impose "strong economic and other measures" on Moscow if it invaded, while Putin demanded guarantees that NATO would not expand eastward. read more