politics

Taiwan Fires Live Ammunition at Chinese Drone for First Time

Taiwan’s military fired live ammunition on a Chinese drone on Tuesday after the drone intruded into the airspace above one of the sovereign island nation’s outer islets, the online newspaper Taiwan News reported, noting that the incident marked the first time Taipei has used live ammunition to fire warning shots on a Chinese drone.

A Yilong II (Wing-Loong II) unmanned reconnaissance-strike drone demonstrates on the opening day of the 13th China International Aviation and Aerospace Exhibition (Airshow China 2021) on September 28, 2021 in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province of China. (Photo by VCG/VCG via Getty Images)

Kenya Finds 3 Venezuelans Breached Its Election Servers Illegally

The Kenyan national police service’s investigative unit, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), allegedly determined in recent days that three Venezuelan nationals had illegal access to Kenya’s electoral commission servers five months ahead of the country’s general election on August 9, during which a disputed presidential vote occurred, Kenya’s the Nation newspaper reported on Monday.

General Service Unit soldiers stand guard as election officials and party agents verify the vote-tallying at the electoral commission's national tallying center in Nairobi, Kenya Sunday, Aug. 14, 2022. Kenyans are waiting for the results of a close presidential election in which the turnout was lower than usual. (AP Photo/Sayyid …

Conservative South Korean President Welcomes Bill Gates to Talk Vaccines

Conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with billionaire Microsoft founder and vaccine advocate Bill Gates on Tuesday to discuss Seoul’s current and future plans to cooperate with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to further vaccine research and development both within South Korea and worldwide, Yonhap News Agency reported.

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - AUGUST 16: Microsoft Corp co-founder Bill Gates (L) talks with South Korea's National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo (R) during their meeting at the National Assembly on August 16, 2022 in Seoul, South Korea. Bill Gates was set to deliver a speech at the National Assembly on …

United States and India to Hold Military Drills in Himalayas near China Border

Soldiers of the U.S. Army will deploy to a region of northern India’s Uttarakhand state — located 60 miles from India’s disputed Himalayan border with China — in October to participate in an annual joint military exercise with the Indian Armed Forces called Yudh Abhyas, the U.S. Army Pacific confirmed to Japan’s Nikkei Asia on Wednesday.

A U.S. Soldier with 5-20th Infantry Regiment, 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team, teaches an Indian soldier with 12 Madras how to fire an M249 Squad Automatic Weapon Sept. 18, 2016, at Chaubattia Military Station, India. This was part of Yudh Abhyas 2016, a bilateral training exercise geared toward enhancing cooperation …

Argentina: Prosecutor Accuses Socialist VP of Massive Corruption

Argentine socialist Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner once again faced charges of extreme corruption this week, the Argentine news site Infobae reported on Monday, citing accusations by prosecutor Diego Luciani that Fernández engaged in an “extraordinary” level of corruption during her presidency from 2007 to 2015.

Former President and current Senator Cristina Fernandez speaks during the first day of the so-called Vialidad (Road Works) corruption case in front of Federal Crime Tribunal number 2 at AMIA room of Comodoro Py Federal Courthouse on May 21, 2019 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This case involves allegations that former …

Kenya Threatens to Ban Facebook over ‘Hate Speech’

A Kenyan government agency threatened Facebook with a suspension last week if it did not promptly remove advertisements that allegedly breached Kenyan hate speech laws ahead of a Kenyan general election on August 9, though Kenyan government ministers said on Monday that such a suspension would not occur, Voice of America (VOA) reported.

A Kenya Kwanza Political Alliance supporter cheers during a campaign rally in Salgaa Trading Centre ahead of the general elections. Kenya is heading to a highly contested presidential race, with opinion polls showing Raila Odinga and William as the front runners in the election with four presidential candidates. (Photo by …

Stranded Afghan Refugees Protest for U.S. Visas in Madagascar

Several Afghan refugees living in Madagascar staged a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, the African island nation’s capital, on Monday to protest what they described as stalled efforts by the embassy to process their refugee visa applications, Al Jazeera reported.

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Report: Putin Sends Cuba 700,000 Barrels of Fuel Oil

A Liberia-flagged tanker carrying about 700,000 barrels of Russian fuel oil arrived in Cuba last week, the Latin American news website Infobae reported on Sunday, noting that the shipment demonstrated that Moscow was not only supporting Cuba’s communist regime but also finding outlets for oil stock shunned by the West in response to Russia’s latest war with Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Cuban counterpart Miguel Diaz-Canel at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on October 29, 2019. (Photo by Alexander NEMENOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ALEXANDER NEMENOV/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

India PM Narendra Modi Calls China Nemesis the Dalai Lama to Wish Him Happy Birthday

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi publically wished the Dalai Lama good health on his birthday on Wednesday, the Times of India reported on Thursday, noting that Modi may have intended the gesture as a signal to Beijing that New Delhi maintains a firm diplomatic footing in the Himalayas despite an ongoing border dispute between India and China along unmarked sections of the mountain range.

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Chinese Warships Circle Japan, Provoking ‘Strong Concern’

Japan’s government said this week it spotted three Chinese warships “sailing an unusual route around the archipelago,” the South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported on Wednesday, noting that the sighting comes amid heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over maritime territorial disputes.

AT SEA, OCTOBER 19: China's type 055 guided-missile destroyer Nanchang sails during the naval exercise Joint Sea-2021 on October 19, 2021 in the Western part of the Pacific Ocean. (Photo by Sun Zifa/China News Service via Getty Images)