Author: Phillip Colon

Russia and Georgia are on the verge of resuming direct flights, Leonid Kalashnikov, head of the State Duma Committee on CIS Affairs, Eurasian Integration and Relations with Compatriots, said on March 22 during the economic forum “Prospects for the development of economic relations between Russia and Georgia.” “I spoke with many officials of the highest level, including on the issues that we touched upon. Very sensitive issues that we need to resolve are air travel and the abolition of visas in Russia. I must say that we are on the verge of these decisions,” – TASS quotes Kalashnikov. When these decisions will take place,…

The ToyotaGo project launched to ensure sustainable on-demand transport mobility in rural areas is being discontinued. The project was launched in the municipality of Kocevje in April 2022, but close to one year on the municipality said it had decided not to continue the project to the same extent due to the high costs, which are entirely shouldered by the municipality. “The goals of reaching not only the elderly but also younger users, parents who used the transport for their children’s mobility and daily migrants, have been achieved,” said mayor of Kocevje Vladimir Prebilic. However, Prebilic added: “The [lack of] economies…

The rectors of nine universities from Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Turkey, North Macedonia, Greece and Albania signed a Memorandum to establish a Balkan University Center. The event was held at VTU “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” in Veliko Tarnovo. The idea of ​​the Balkan University Center is to create opportunities for joint development of projects, for improving the material base, participation in educational programs, as well as applying to the EU structures for various funding programs in education and science, the rectors of the Balkan universities explained. At the signing of the memorandum, the rector of the University of Veliko Tarnovo, Prof. Hristo…

Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani urged the international community on Wednesday to pressure Serbia into implementing a EU-backed deal to normalize ties. “All the pressure should be directed at Serbia to make it implement the obligations it accepted. The International community should focus on (Serbian President Aleksandar) Vucic,” Osmani told Radio TV Kosovo. The leaders of Serbia and Kosovo agreed on how to implement the EU-backed deal in the last round of talks March 18 in North Macedonia. The agreement came after 12 hours of talks between Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and EU officials. ”What he…

LOS ANGELES — The union representing 30,000 education workers reached a tentative deal with the Los Angeles Unified School District on Friday, following a three-day strike that had closed hundreds of campuses and canceled classes for 422,000 students earlier this week. Local 99 of the Service Employees International Union, which represents support workers in the district, said that Los Angeles Unified, the second-largest school district in the nation, had met its key demands, including a 30 percent pay increase. The deal must still be voted on by the full union. Mayor Karen Bass announced the deal on Friday at City Hall with…

Last weekend, a leaked memo from four-star US Air Force Gen. Michael A. Minihan set Washington spinning, as Minihan predicted the United States would go to war with China in 2025. The proximate cause of this conflict would be a Chinese invasion of Taiwan. Then on Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a planned trip to China after a Chinese balloon was spotted sailing across the northern part of the United States and over a US strategic missile base in Montana. These are just more signs of an over-militarization of US China policy that dates to the National…

The agreement to expand cooperation in “strategic areas of the country” was made during a visit by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. It comes as the countries seek to repair ties that were fractured in recent years. Previous Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte favoured China over his country’s former colonial master, but the new administration of Ferdinand Marcos has been keen to reverse that. Beijing’s growing assertiveness on Taiwan and its building of bases in the disputed South China Sea have given fresh impetus to Washington and Manila to strengthen their partnership. Given its proximity to Taiwan and its surrounding waters,…

The sole winner of November’s record-breaking $2.04 billion Powerball jackpot was named Tuesday at a news conference in California. Edwin Castro won what is the largest-ever lottery jackpot, and he opted for the lump sum payout of $997.6 million, the California Lottery said. Castro purchased the winning ticket in early November in Altadena, California, matching all six numbers in the drawing. “That ticket is the sole winner of the largest jackpot in U.S. Lottery history! The ticket matched the numbers 10-33-41-47-56 and the Powerball number 10,” the California Lottery said at the time. Castro declined to appear at the news conference, the lottery said,…

If the Ukraine war has taught us anything, it is that any future military conflict especially in the South China Sea, the West Philippine Sea or the Straits of Taiwan will be a war primarily fought with short- and long-range missiles, even hyper-sonic missiles, together with all internet systems being disrupted by cyber-warfare. The growing tension in the Asia-Pacific region with the Philippines at the centre makes it time for Filipinos to start to worry about possible war over Taiwan that would rain down Chinese missile strikes on any of the US bases, now or in the future, in the…

Thank you Stephen, Michael, I am so pleased to be here at Asia House today. I was recalling that I thought I’d been here before, and then realised that I’d only been here virtually, so it’s lovely. I’m sorry for those of you who are virtual but it’s lovely to be actually here – the sense that we can gather once again and really share our thoughts and the work that you’re doing. At a personal level, it makes such a difference. We have got of course a phenomenal panel this morning, so many incredible experts and leaders around the…