France’s military budget for the next seven years has been increased to $420 billion in light of the “rapid deterioration of the geopolitical context” due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The new budget aims to counter “operational emergencies.”
India is increasing its monitoring and surveillance activities by updating infrastructure in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands to keep a close eye on the Coco Islands in Myanmar. In particular, the Indian government is looking to monitor China’s activities in the Islands.
Militants from Gaza fired a barrage of rockets at several towns in southern Israel on Wednesday, following clashes between security forces and Palestinians inside the Al Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Israeli police said it was forced to enter the mosque after Palestinians brought fireworks, sticks, and stones inside the mosque for rioting.
The tenth edition of the India-Sri Lanka bilateral maritime exercise — SLINEX-23 — started on Monday and will end on 8 March, the Indian Defence Ministry announced on Tuesday. “SLINEX aims at enhancing interoperability, improving mutual understanding and exchanging best practices while jointly undertaking multi-faceted maritime operations,” the ministry stated.
A Manhattan court charged former US President Donald Trump with 34 felony counts of “falsified New York business records” to “undermine the integrity of the 2016 presidential election and other violations of election laws” on Tuesday. Trump is accused of paying porn actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal “hush money” — recorded as payments for a “retainer agreement” with his lawyer Michael Cohen — to prevent them from speaking of their sexual encounters with him. The falsification of business records to cover up other crimes is a felony punishable with up to four years in prison. The next hearing is set for 4 December.
Malaysian PM Anwar Ibrahim said Tuesday that China’s leadership has expressed concerns regarding Malaysian state energy firm Petronas’ activities in the disputed South China Sea. Although Petronas’ oil and gas fields lie within Malaysia’s 200-mile exclusive economic zone, the company has had several encounters with Chinese vessels in recent times.
French President Emmanuel Macron will begin his three-day state visit to China on Wednesday, during which the Ukraine war and ongoing trade disputes will be on the agenda. The French leader is also expected to reissue the West’s warning against sending weapons to Russia and convince Beijing to wield its influence in supporting peace efforts.
Russian Defence Ministry Spokesperson Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov stated Tuesday that the Russian air defence forces destroyed three Ukrainian army unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and intercepted three rockets from the US-made HIMARS multiple-launch rocket system. Konashenkov confirmed the destruction of Ukranian UAVs near the Donetsk and Kherson regions.
On Tuesday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for assistance in controlling fentanyl shipments sent across the Pacific. In a letter to his Chinese counterpart, López Obrador defended his country’s efforts to address the issue in the face of certain US critics advocating Washington to intervene militarily to solve the problem. Although the Mexican president claims that fentanyl is not domestically produced but sourced from Asia by the cartels, the US opposes this view and instead believes that the drug is mass-produced in Mexico using Chinese chemicals.