Washington, United States | AFP | The Pentagon announced Thursday the deployment of 200 troops with Patriot missiles to Saudi Arabia to help with the country’s defense in the wake of last months attacks on oil installations blamed on Iran. “This deployment will augment the kingdom’s air and missile defense …
Read More »Trump orders increase in Iran sanctions as Germany extends Saudi arms ban
Washington, United States | AFP | Trump has ordered government to ‘substantially increase’ Iran sanctions but in Berlin, Germany has extended Saudi arms exports ban as tensions rise in the Middle East. Trump announced what he said would be substantial new sanctions against Iran in the first response to what US …
Read More »Eyeing China, US to hold missile drill in Japan’s Okinawa: report
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | The US military will this year conduct its first ever missile drill around the Japanese island of Okinawa, according to a report Thursday, as Washington seeks to counter an increasingly assertive China. The US military has told its Japanese counterpart it plans to deploy surface-to-ship …
Read More »‘Don’t fear death’: China’s Xi urges blunt call to PLA
Shanghai, China | AFP | President Xi Jinping has issued a blunt call for China’s military to be ready for war and unafraid to die defending the country, as geopolitical tensions mount in Asia. Xi’s exhortation to the world’s largest fighting force, parts of which were revealed only late Thursday, …
Read More »World’s largest amphibious aircraft takes off in China
Beijing, China | AFP | China’s home-grown AG600, the world’s largest amphibious aircraft in production, took to the skies on Sunday for its maiden flight. The plane, codenamed “Kunlong” according to state news agency Xinhua, took off from the southern city of Zhuhai and landed after roughly an hour-long flight. …
Read More »Qatar signs $8-bn deal to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from UK
Doha, Qatar | AFP | Qatar signed a multi-billion-dollar deal Sunday to buy 24 Typhoon fighters from Britain, its second major defence agreement this week, which comes during the worst political crisis in the region for years. The $8-billion (6.8-billion-euro) deal was signed in Doha by Qatar’s Defence Minister Khalid …
Read More »Israel says Iran missile test a ‘provocation’
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday denounced Iran’s testing of a medium-range missile as a “provocation” and said it was proof of Tehran’s ambition to become a world power. Iran on Saturday said it had successfully tested a missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres …
Read More »Iran’s Rouhani vows to strengthen missiles despite US warnings
Tehran, Iran | AFP | President Hassan Rouhani vowed on Friday that Iran would boost its missile capabilities despite warnings from Washington that it is ready to ditch a landmark nuclear deal over the issue. His comments came as Iran displayed a new missile at a military parade marking the anniversary …
Read More »US could sell S Korea billions of dollars of arms amid tensions
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Monday told his South Korean counterpart Washington was willing to approve arms sales worth “many billions of dollars” to Seoul following Pyongyang’s test of what it said was a miniaturized hydrogen bomb. President Trump “provided his conceptual approval for the …
Read More »Russia sends new submarines to Mediterranean
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia has sent two large newly-upgraded submarines to reinforce its naval presence in the Mediterranean, where it has a Syrian base, the defence ministry said Monday. “The Black Sea fleet’s new large diesel and electric submarines, Kolpino and Veliky Novgorod… have arrived in the Mediterranean,” the …
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