‘The West Bank will ignite’: Israel’s operations spark anger in the territory

In their uncle’s house, next door to the ruins of their demolished home, two young boys from Aqbat Jaber refugee camp in the occupied West Bank were still asleep at midmorning.

A few nights ago, their own bedroom was blown up during an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) operation in the camp on the outskirts of Jericho: it was targeted because the boys’ father, Maher Shalon, has been arrested on suspicion of killing an Israeli settler. A 17-year-old Palestinian was killed during the raid on Friday, six people injured, and two arrested.

European leaders seethe over Putin-Orbán meeting

European leaders must not “fall” for the tactics of Vladimir Putin, the Czech president, Petr Pavel, has said, two days after Hungary’s prime minister shook hands with Russia’s leader.

Viktor Orbán, in a rare move for the leader of a country that belongs to the EU and Nato, met Putin in Beijing on Tuesday for what the Hungarian leader’s office described as a discussion on energy cooperation and peace.

China expanding nuclear arsenal much faster than predicted, US report says

A Pentagon report on China’s military power says Beijing is exceeding previous projections of how quickly it is building up its nuclear weapons arsenal and is “almost certainly” learning lessons from Russia’s war in Ukraine about what a conflict over Taiwan might look like.

The report released on Thursday also warns that China may be pursuing a new intercontinental missile system using conventional arms that, if fielded, would allow Beijing “to threaten conventional strikes against targets in the continental United States, Hawaii and Alaska.”

‘Major expansion’: China now has more than 500 nukes, Pentagon says

China has blown past previous projections for the size of its nuclear arsenal and is now producing even more weapons while expanding its navy, the Pentagon is warning in a new report released Thursday.

The Defense Department specifically believes China had more than 500 nuclear warheads in its arsenal as of May, roughly 100 more than last year, according to its annual China Military Power Report.

DOD also estimates China will likely double that to more than 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030, and the number is expected to grow, the report says.

Canada accuses China fighter jets of ‘reckless’ interception of military plane

Canada’s defence minister has accused China fighter jets of carrying out a “dangerous and reckless” interception of a Canadian military plane over international waters.

Bill Blair spoke after Canada’s Global News said a Chinese jet had come within five meters (16ft) of a Canadian surveillance plane taking part in a UN operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea.

The incident took place in international waters off the coast of China, said Global, which had a crew on the plane. Blair said that while the Chinese air force regularly interacted with planes on UN missions, the incident on Monday had put the Canadian aircraft at significant risk.

A spooked and lonely Taiwan looks for new friends

The words "democratic Taiwan" appeared more times in the island's national day celebrations this year than any other - by far.

"We have brought the international spotlight to Democratic Taiwan," declared President Tsai Ing-wen last week, in her last national day address before she steps down as the first democratically elected female president.

Transatlantic blame game: Trump, Merkel, Biden and the danger of Germany’s dependence on Huawei

Four and a half years ago, former President Donald Trump’s crusade to pressure U.S. allies into banning the Chinese tech company Huawei ran into a wall of resistance in Berlin.

Then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed Trump’s warnings that Huawei posed a grave security risk to the West — and defied his threat that the U.S. would curb intelligence sharing with allies who let the Chinese company build their future mobile networks.

Germany will not “exclude a company simply because it’s from a certain country,” Merkel declared at global policy conference in Berlin in March 2019.

Iran’s foreign minister warns Israel it could suffer ‘a huge earthquake’

BEIRUT — Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday called on Israel to stop its attacks on Gaza, warning that the war might expand to other parts of the Middle East if Hezbollah joins the battle, and that would make Israel suffer “a huge earthquake.”

Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters in Beirut that Lebanon’s Hezbollah group has taken all the scenarios of a war into consideration and Israel should stop its attacks on Gaza as soon as possible.

Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles, including precision-guided missiles that can hit anywhere in Israel. The group, which has thousands of battle-hardened fighters who participated in Syria’s 12-year conflict, also has different types of military drones.

Russia will revoke ratification of nuclear test ban treaty, envoy says

A senior Russian diplomat has said that Moscow will revoke its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), in a move Washington denounced as jeopardising the “global norm” against nuclear test blasts.

Mikhail Ulyanov, the Russian representative to the international nuclear agencies in Vienna, was speaking after Vladimir Putin suggested Moscow might resuming testing for the first time in 33 years, signalling another downward turn in relations between the world’s two biggest nuclear powers

Armenia’s parliament defies Russia in vote to join international criminal court

Armenia’s parliament has voted to join the international criminal court (ICC), obliging the former Soviet republic to arrest Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, if he were to visit the country.

Tuesday’s decision will further strain relations with Moscow, Armenia’s traditional ally. Ties are already badly damaged over the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine and Azerbaijan’s recapture of Nagorno-Karabakh.

China says drills around Taiwan to ‘combat arrogance of separatists’

China has said its recent military activity around the self-ruled island of Taiwan was intended to “combat the arrogance” of alleged separatists.

Beijing claims the democratic island, which lies about 160 kilometres (100 miles) from China’s eastern coast, as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to achieve its goals.

It claims President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) are “separatists” and has sought to isolate the island internationally since she was first elected in 2016, mounting large-scale drills after her meetings with prominent United States politicians Nancy Pelosi and Kevin McCarthy.

‘Empire of lies’: Russia’s Lavrov slams West in UN speech

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has called the West an “empire of lies” and accused it of adopting a neo-colonial mindset in its overtures to the Global South to win backing for Ukraine in the war.

Speaking after a week of intense global diplomacy at the annual gathering of world leaders at UN headquarters in New York, where Ukraine and its Western allies sought to drum up support for Kyiv as it fights against Russia’s invasion, Lavrov said a “global majority” was being duped by the West.

Taiwan urges China to stop ‘destructive’ military activities as fighter jets cross median line

Taiwan’s defence ministry has urged China to stop “destructive, unilateral action” after reporting a sharp rise in Chinese military activities near the island, warning such behaviour could lead to an increase in tensions.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, has in recent years regularly carried out military drills around the island as it seeks to assert its sovereignty claims and pressure Taipei.

‘A small fish in a sea of sharks’: The isle caught between China and Taiwan

Kinmen Islands, Taiwan – On a warm, still evening in early June, Jason Lu parks his electric scooter near a beach on the small Taiwanese island of Kinmen. Lu, who wears a black T-shirt and glasses, pulls a bag out from under his scooter seat then heads down to the beach.

“Oh!” exclaims the 43-year-old once making it down to the shore.

Lu bends down to pick up a worn plastic bottle that has washed up beside his foot and puts it in his bag. “Wet Chinese plastic,” he says flatly. He points to the simplified Chinese characters on the packaging indicating the bottle’s origin – mainland China. Taiwan and Hong Kong use traditional Chinese characters.

China unveils Taiwan economic ‘integration’ plan as warships conduct manoeuvres off coast

China’s government has unveiled a “new path towards integrated development” with Taiwan, including proposals to make it easier for Taiwanese people to live, study and work in China.

At the same time, it sent the largest number of warships to gather in years to the waters on Taiwan’s east, in what analysts said signalled a choice between peaceful “reunification” and military violence, just months out from Taiwan’s presidential election.

Putin wants more land. The EU is racing to get there first

Vladimir Putin’s warmongering land grab has pushed European Union leaders to make their own plans to expand. Moves are now under way to bring as many as eight new members into the 27-country bloc. 

But the historic drive for enlargement poses its own risks for the EU. 

Adding new states — potentially including the agricultural powerhouse of Ukraine — would open a Pandora’s Box of challenges. Sweeping internal reforms would be required, and that would likely trigger years of toxic infighting between current EU members. 

Why is China so angry about Taiwan’s William Lai visiting the US?

China has launched military drills around Taiwan in what its described as a “stern warning” to so-called separatist forces on the self-governed island.

This tension between China and Taiwan on Saturday comes a day after Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai returned to Taipei after making two stopovers in the United States as part of a trip to Paraguay.

Lai’s transits through the US have angered Beijing which considers Taiwan part of its territory and Lai a “troublemaker” working in collusion with Washington to push separatism on the democratically-run island.

China military drills send ‘stern warning’ to Taiwan after US visit

China has launched air and sea military exercises around Taiwan to send a “stern warning” to separatist forces on the island following a recent visit by Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai to the United States.

Taiwan responded on Saturday saying the drills highlighted Beijing’s “militaristic mentality” and that combat aircraft, naval ships and land-based missile systems had been tasked with monitoring Chinese forces.

Russia’s Lavrov says West needs continual reminder of risks of nuclear war

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that possession of nuclear weapons protects Russia from security threats and that Moscow continually reminded the West of the risk of a nuclear conflict.

Lavrov’s comments are the latest reference by Russian officials to their country’s nuclear weapons arsenal, a rhetoric of military escalation by Moscow that has gained tempo and frequency since Russian forces 

Last month, former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would have to use a nuclear weapon if Ukraine’s counteroffensive against Russian troops was a success.

Taiwan’s VP defies Beijing with New York City transit stop

Taiwan’s vice president Lai Ching-te defied pressure from Beijing to make a transit stop in New York City on Saturday en route to a state visit to Paraguay.

Lai, the leading presidential candidate in Taiwan’s upcoming election, is using the Big Apple layover to meet with members of the Taiwanese American community. On Saturday, China began conducting a three-day military exercise in the East China Sea a few hundred miles from Taiwan — a typical show of force from Beijing to express its displeasure with the island’s foreign political activities — and followed up Lai’s arrival with strong verbal denunciation.