Author: Willard Adam Webster

Today we are announcing the next package of military assistance to aid Ukraine as it defends its territory and protects its people. This package contains important capabilities to help Ukraine on the battlefield. It includes AIM-9M missiles for air defense, munitions for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition, mine-clearing equipment, Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets, over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, ambulances, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, as well as spare parts, services, training, and transportation. This package of weapons and equipment, which are valued at $250 million, is being executed under…

Japanese government bond yields fell from multi-month highs on Monday, mirroring a sharp retreat in their U.S. peers at the end of last week after data showed U.S. jobs growth had cooled. The 30-year JGB yield fell 2 basis points (bps) to 1.595 per cent, after reaching 1.63 per cent in the previous session for the first time since mid-January. The Finance Ministry’s auction of about 900 billion yen ($6.33 billion) of the tenor on Tuesday will be closely watched as a litmus test of demand in the sector. The 20-year yield declined 1.5 bps to 1.32 per cent. It…

The United States has returned more than 250 ancient artefacts to Italy after police discovered that they had been stolen. The art unit of Italy’s police force found the items had been looted and sold to US museums and private collectors in the 1990s. Among the precious artefacts include pots, paintings and sculptures – some up to 3,000 years old. Several of the mosaics are worth tens of millions of euros. The oldest item dates back to the Villanovan age (1000 – 750BC), while other artefacts were from the Etruscan civilisation (800 – 200BC), Magna Graecia (750 – 400BC) and…

Republican lawmakers have blocked a plan to fast-track sales of US attack submarines to Australia, urging the White House to approve additional military spending to expand America’s own fleet. The move is being led by GOP Senator Roger Wicker, the ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, who outlined his rationale during an interview with Politico on Friday, RT reported. “It makes sense to be sure we have enough submarines for our own security needs before we endorse that pillar of the (AUKUS) agreement,” he told the outlet, referring to the submarine sale. “The president needs to submit a…

Some of the food on U.S. tables has a high probability of having been picked, prepared or processed by Americans who were forced to do it, a new study has found. And because the U.S. attempts to keep forced labor out of the food supply chain and focus on other countries, coercion in this country may go unpunished.  That’s the unpleasant conclusion of a multi-university study into forced labor in the U.S. food system published Monday in the journal Nature Food. About 62 percent of the commodities likely to have been made by workers laboring under duress come from within the U.S., the…

China’s Defense Ministry accused the United States of turning Taiwan into a powder keg on Wednesday with its latest sales of $440 million in military equipment to the self-governing island democracy. The U.S. State Department approved of the sale of 30 mm ammunition and related equipment, along with spare parts for Taiwan’s vehicles, small arms, combat weapon systems, and logistical support items. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei responded that “the U.S. ignores China’s core concerns, crudely interferes in China’s internal affairs, and deliberately escalates tensions across the Taiwan Strait.” China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be…

The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) has arrested the mastermind of a plan to smuggle a large amount of cannabis into Taiwan that was foiled by a joint effort by the United States and Taiwan late last year. The ring leader, a 64-year-old man surnamed Kao (高), was arrested by police in late June and has been held since then for his suspected role in the smuggling of nearly 1,200 kilograms of marijuana with a market value of NT$1.8 billion (US$57.8 million), said Dustin Lee (李泱輯), head of the CIB’s International Criminal Affairs Division, on Monday. The shipment, concealed in a…

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) – For over 40 years, a landmark agreement between the United States and China has yielded cooperation across a range of scientific and technical fields, a powerful sign that the rivals could set aside their disputes and work together. Now with bilateral relations in their worst state in decades, a debate is underway within the U.S. government about whether to let the U.S.-China Science and Technology Agreement (STA) expire later this year, three officials familiar with the discussions said. With Antony Blinken in Beijing on the first visit by a secretary of state in five years…

Raising the debt ceiling is not guaranteed to relieve the American economy, and some painful financial and political pressure is likely to take place, especially on the administration of US President Joe Biden and national banks, Politico said in a report on Wednesday. Warnings issued by US Secretary Janet Yellen of the “catastrophic” disaster of a debt default are not the end of the problems ahead. Raising the debt ceiling would lead to an abrupt increase in borrowing by the Treasury and would leave financial institutions, which are already in a fragile state after the record crash of three major banks in March,…

JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment (EI&E) and Chief Sustainability Officer Meredith Berger announced a key commitment of $6 million to an historic Oahu community that the Navy long called home. Working with Hawaiian Electric (HECO), Hawaii Community Development Authority, Hawaii Congressional delegations, local elected officials, and other community partners, the Department of the Navy’s commitment of funding will modernize the electrical grid supplying the Kalaeloa community. Specifically, this financial support will enable the design and construction of a new distribution system to improve reliability, facilitate the transition of all…