US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said on Thursday that Washington and New Delhi would sign an MoU on semiconductors during her four-day visit to India. She said India is seeking to become a key player in the semiconductor supply chains.
On Thursday, the incumbent Georgian Dream party announced that it would “unconditionally withdraw” the foreign agents bill after thousands of protesters gathered in Tbilisi to oppose the proposal over civil liberties concerns. The bill mandated organisations receiving over 20% overseas funding to declare themselves as foreign agents, failing which, they would attract hefty fines.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called on the country’s fire assault sub-units to be “strictly prepared” with the “greatest perfection” in carrying out two “strategic missions,” comprising deterring war and “steadily intensifying various simulated drills for real war.”
Xi Jinping began a historic third term as China’s president today, following a unanimous vote from the 2,977-member National People’s Congress. Additionally, former executive vice-premier Han Zheng was appointed vice-president.
In its annual threat assessment report on Thursday, the US Intelligence Community warned that Iran will try to erode American interests and influence in the Middle East and “entrench its influence and project power in neighbouring states.” Furthermore, the report noted that Tehran would continue to threaten US citizens and military personnel stationed in the Middle East, mainly via proxy attacks.
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on Thursday to discuss security ties, tensions with Iran, and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Austin reaffirmed the US commitment to never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon and condemned the Russia-Iran military cooperation, particularly Tehran’s supply of drones to Moscow. The secretary also called on Netanyahu to immediately de-escalate violence in the West Bank.
Mexican cartel members published a letter of apology and turned in five alleged henchmen on Thursday in connection with last Friday’s abduction of four American citizens, two of whom had been subsequently killed along with a Mexican woman. According to a Reuters witness, US authorities in Matamoros received the two bodies and transported them across the border into the US. The other two Americans, who survived, returned to their country earlier this week.
During a news conference on Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador rejected calls for intervention by the US military to stem drug cartel violence in Mexico. Obrador added that the proposed action by US lawmakers would threaten the sovereignty of his country. Further, he said that Mexico “does not take orders from anyone,” and would conduct a public information campaign about the Republican-led proposal. Last week’s cartel kidnapping of four Americans, two of whom were killed, could further complicate relations between both countries.
Italian Navy Captain Walter Biot was sentenced on Thursday to 30 years in prison by a military tribunal for trading secrets to Russia. Biot’s lawyer denied the accusations and said that he would seek an appeal for the verdict. Further, it was revealed that the Russian contact was given a memory card with 181 files, of which 47 were marked as “NATO secret” and 57 “NATO confidential.” Biot was developing national security policy and handling relations with Italy’s allies at the time of his arrest.