Author: Pacocanas

Russia has reportedly lost a staggering amount of troops over the past 24 hours along with dozens of tanks and armoured vehicles as bloody fighting takes its toll on Vladimir Putin’s men. Russia lost a staggering 1,740 troops in a single day, the highest tally of casualties for Moscow since the start of the invasion in 2022, according to Ukraine. In the previous 24 hours, Ukraine also claimed Russia had lost 30 tanks and 42 armoured vehicles. Death toll and military hardware statistics are difficult to assess with both sides giving different or little information. However, Ukraine’s armed forces have claimed Russia has so far lost an eye-watering…

The head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency warned the country’s leading research universities on Thursday that foreign states are targeting their institutions and imperiling national security. “We know that our universities are being actively targeted by hostile actors and need to guard against the threat posed to frontier research in the most sensitive sectors,” said the deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden, who also attended the briefing. The threat requires “further measures,” said the deputy PM, who announced that the government was launching a consultation with the sector so it could “do more to support our universities and put the right…

Shares in Donald Trump’s media company soared as the firm made its formal debut on the stock market. Shares surged past $70 in early trade, giving the firm a market value of more than $9bn. They ended the day at about $58, still up more than 16%. The long-awaited moment will inject more than $200m into Trump Media & Technology Group and hands the former president a stake worth more than $4bn. Analysts say that is far more than the firm’s performance warrants. Trump Media’s Truth Social, a Twitter-like service, brought in just $3.3m in revenue in the first nine…

SINGAPORE – The U.S. Navy conducted a maritime exercise with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) in the South China Sea demonstrating the combined capabilities to counter regional threats, Dec. 7. Participating ships included the Independence-variant littoral combat ship USS Gabrielle Giffords (LCS 10) and the Murasame-class general-purpose destroyer JS Ikazuchi (DD 107) of the JMSDF. The exercise provided an opportunity to build on decades of regional cooperation allowing the maritime forces to sail together, conduct enhanced planning and advanced maritime communication operations. “I always look forward to opportunities to work with our friends in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. The…

In recent years, Japan has faced increased threats from various directions: from Russia to the north, and from North Korea and China to the west. No wonder, as John Mearsheimer once put it, Japan’s defense posture needs to be more like Godzilla and less like Bambi. This quandary is not new. In fact, for decades, Japan has been on a trajectory of adopting a more muscular defense posture. What is new, however, is Japan’s focus on Taiwan, and the possibility that Tokyo could intervene in a future conflict in the Strait. The shift toward Taiwan was given fresh impetus in…

DUBAI, Dec 10 (Reuters) – Argentina under incoming President Javier Milei will remain part of the Paris Agreement on climate change, the country’s new top climate diplomat told Reuters on Sunday, despite the leader’s past comments that global warming is a hoax. Veteran climate diplomat Marcia Levaggi said that she has the full support of the new government, which sent her as head of the Argentinian delegation at the United Nations COP28 climate talks underway in Dubai. She arrived on Sunday just as Milei was being inaugurated in Buenos Aires. “This is why I came to this COP, to reassure our party…

The Russian Ministry of Defense has officially acknowledged the damage sustained by an unnamed naval vessel at the Zaliv shipyard in Kerch following a missile strike. The Russian military has reported the use of 15 Storm Shadow missiles in what appears to be a large-scale missile strike, with their claims suggesting the successful interception of 13 of these missiles. The Russian Ministry of Defense maintains its stance that the majority of the incoming missiles were successfully intercepted, demonstrating their defense capabilities. However, numerous videos circulated on social media say otherwise. The attack on the Zaliv shipyard and this cutting-edge warship…

Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni has put into question his future at the national team in the middle of their qualification campaign for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A Copa America title, a World Cup trophy and now a first-of-a-kind win in Brazil has left Scaloni wondering whether he’ll stay on. Scaloni took the job after the 2018 World Cup, in which Argentina were eliminated in the last 16. Last year, Scaloni and his star captain, Lionel Messi, led the national team to their first World Cup title since 1986. His contract with the team runs until after the 2026 World Cup. “I need…

Argentina’s Economy Minister Sergio Massa plans to open talks with the International Monetary Fund over US$12 billion in maturities due in the next six months if he is elected as the country’s next president in the November 19 run-off. Despite paying the Fund US$2.6 billion in maturities this week, Argentina owes US$12 billion in due payments between the last two months of the year and April 2024. With Central Bank reserves at a historic low, that is a severe obstacle for the leader of the next government. With foreign currency income only trickling in until the agricultural harvest, Massa believes Argentina will…

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romanian authorities said Thursday they found a crater from a suspected drone that may have exploded on impact on its territory near the border with Ukraine, reviving concerns about possible spillover of Russia’s war in Ukraine onto a NATO member country. The pre-dawn discovery of the crater three kilometers (1.8 miles) west of the village of Plauru, which sits across the Danube River from the Ukrainian port of Izmail, was made after the Romanian Defense Ministry said it detected a series of drones heading toward Ukrainian river ports. The ministry said the drone possibly exploded on…