Author: AFP

Australia, Japan and the US on Sunday committed to closer military cooperation in training their forces as the countries deepened their ties in a bid to counter China’s military strength. Australia’s Minister of Defence Richard Marles hosted the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, Sunday for the trilateral ministers’ meeting — the first to be held in Australia. Under the new agreement, Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade — an elite marine unit — will be deployed to Darwin to regularly work and train alongside Australian and US forces. “It is a very important statement to…

Australia, Japan and the US on Sunday committed to closer military cooperation in training their forces as the countries deepened their ties in a bid to counter China’s military strength. Australia’s Minister of Defence Richard Marles hosted the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Japan’s Defence Minister Gen Nakatani, Sunday for the trilateral ministers’ meeting — the first to be held in Australia. Under the new agreement, Japan’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade — an elite marine unit — will be deployed to Darwin to regularly work and train alongside Australian and US forces. “It is a very important statement to…

Hezbollah said it hit an Israeli tank in south Lebanon on Saturday near a village around five kilometres (three miles) from the border with Israel. Hezbollah fighters targeted “a Merkava tank on the eastern outskirts of the village of Shamaa with a guided missile, causing it to catch fire”, the Iran-backed group said in a statement. Lebanon’s official National News Agency had reported on Saturday morning that Israeli troops “renewed their incursion towards the outskirts” of Shamaa.

The Greek government said Saturday it has expelled former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras from the New Democracy ruling party after he criticised the government for being too conciliatory with Türkiye. Samaras had called on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to oust the country’s foreign minister for allegedly giving in to Turkish demands in ongoing talks between the countries dubbed “calm waters”. Samaras, a hardline conservative who served as prime minister from 2012 to 2015, has in recent months openly criticised the government for being too soft with Türkiye as well as for pursuing a so-called woke agenda in domestic social matters.…

Hundreds of protesters marched in support of Palestinians in Rio on Saturday, in a demonstration aimed at world leaders about to converge on the city for a G20 summit. The march, held peacefully under constant rain along Copacabana Beach, was watched by dozens of police and soldiers deployed as security for the summit to be held Monday and Tuesday. The meeting will see heads of state and government, including US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, discuss coordination on international issues. The Rio protesters, a few wearing Arabic keffiyeh scarves, held aloft the Palestinian flag and banners, including…

US President Joe Biden warned Friday of an era of political change as he held his last meeting with key allies at an Asia-Pacific summit overshadowed by Donald Trump’s looming return to power. “We’ve now reached a moment of significant political change,” Biden said as he met the leaders of Japan and South Korea in Lima, adding however that their three-way alliance was “built to last.”

A senior Hamas official said Friday that the group is “ready for a ceasefire” in Gaza and urged US President-elect Donald Trump to pressure Israel to end the war. “Hamas is ready to reach a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip if a ceasefire proposal is presented and on the condition that it is respected” by Israel, Hamas political bureau member Bassem Naim told AFP. “We call on the US administration and Trump to pressure the Israeli government to end the aggression. “Hamas informed the mediators that it is in favour of any proposal submitted to it that would lead to…

Russia will stop delivering gas to Austria from Saturday, said a spokeswoman for OMV, the Alpine nation’s energy company. “We have been informed” by Russian energy giant Gazprom that it will no longer deliver Russian gas, the OMV spokeswoman told AFP on Friday.

Ukraine said on Friday that phone conversations with Vladimir Putin brought no added value on the path to achieving a “just peace” in Ukraine, after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke to the Russian leader. “For more than two decades, Putin has used lengthy conversations as a resource to advance his interests. Currently, conversations only give Putin hope of weakening international isolation,” the foreign ministry’s spokesman, Heorhii Tykhyi, said in a statement.

UEFA has appointed an ethics and disciplinary inspector to investigate Premier League referee David Coote after a video emerged of him allegedly snorting a white powder during Euro 2024. It comes after English referees body PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) said it was taking fresh allegations about Coote “very seriously”. The 42-year-old was suspended by the PGMOL on Monday after different video footage was posted on social media appearing to show him making disparaging remarks about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. Coote’s comments about the German are also being investigated by the Football Association. On Wednesday another video appeared…