U.S.

May 7, 2024 10:25 AM

Rise of Sea Drone Warfare Challenges U.S. Navy Strategy

The U.S. Navy's efforts to build a fleet of unmanned vessels are faltering because the Pentagon remains wedded to big shipbuilding projects, according to some officials and company executives, exposing a weakness as sea drones reshape naval warfare. The lethal effectiveness of sea drones has been demonstrated in the Black Sea where Ukraine has deployed remote-controlled speed boats packed with explosives to sink Russian frigates and minesweepers since late 2022. Yemeni-backed Houthi rebels hav...

SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA - 2024/02/27: Trees are decorated with Taegeukgi, South Korea's national flags at the entrance to Hyochang Park in the center of Seoul to commemorate Korean Independence Movement Day. The Korean Independence Movement Day, also known as the March 1st Movement, was an important protest movement of Koreans in early 1919 demanding independence from Japan and an end to forced assimilation into Japanese culture. (Photo by KIM Jae-Hwan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

May 1, 2024 11:24 AM

South Korea discusses joining part of AUKUS pact with US, UK and Australia

South Korea has held talks about joining part of the AUKUS defence deal between the U.S., Britain and Australia, Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said on Wednesday, only weeks after the pact said it would consider including Japan. Formed in 2021, AUKUS is a two-stage security pact to counteract China's growing power in the Asia Pacific region. While a first stage to give Australia nuclear submarine technology is limited to the core trio, they have raised the possibility of other countries j...

April 19, 2024 3:19 PM

Tehran plays down reported Israeli attacks, signals no further retaliation

Explosions echoed over an Iranian city on Friday in what sources described as an Israeli attack, but Tehran played down the incident and indicated it had no plans for retaliation - a response that appeared gauged towards averting region-wide war. The limited scale of the attack and Iran's muted response both appeared to signal a successful effort by diplomats who have been working round the clock to avert all-out war since an Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel last Saturday. Ir...

April 15, 2024 6:19 PM

World Bank sounds alarm on ‘historical reversal’ of development for poorest nations

Half of the world's 75 poorest countries are experiencing a widening income gap with the wealthiest economies for the first time this century in a historical reversal of development, the World Bank said in a report on Monday. The differential between per capita income growth in the poorest countries and the richest has widened over the past five years, according to the report. The report said the 75 countries eligible for grants and zero-interest loans from the World Bank's International Devel...

April 15, 2024 5:42 PM

Trump makes history with New York hush money criminal trial

Donald Trump becomes the first former president to face a criminal trial on Monday when jury selection begins in Manhattan in a case involving hush money paid to porn star Stormy Daniels, with the U.S. election looming in less than seven months as he seeks a return to the White House. Trump, 77, has three other criminal cases that are bogged down by legal wrangling and may not occur before the election in which he is the Republican candidate challenging Democratic President Joe Biden. Two of th...