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MANILA (Reuters) – The Philippines is looking to buy heavy-lift Chinook helicopters from the United States, after scrapping a deal with Russia worth 12.7 billion pesos ($227.35 million) in order to avoid sanctions, Manila’s ambassador to Washington said on Monday. In June, days before President Rodrigo Duterte ended his six-year term, the Philippines scrapped a …

Philippines in talks to buy U.S. helicopters after dropping Russia deal Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin told North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that the two countries will “expand the comprehensive and constructive bilateral relations with common efforts,” Pyongyang’s state media reported on Monday. In a letter to Kim for North Korea’s liberation day, Putin said that closer ties would be in both countries’ …

Putin says Russia and North Korea will expand bilateral relations – KCNA Read More »

By Ben Blanchard and David Shepardson TAIPEI/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A delegation of U.S. lawmakers arrived in Taiwan on Sunday for a two-day trip during which they will meet President Tsai Ing-wen, the second high-level group to visit while there are military tensions between the self-ruled island and China. Beijing, which claims democratically governed Taiwan as its …

U.S. lawmakers arrive in Taiwan with China tensions simmering Read More »

By Nathan Layne (Reuters) -Salman Rushdie, the acclaimed author who was stabbed repeatedly at a public appearance in New York state on Friday, 33 years after Iran’s then-supreme leader called for him to be killed, is off a ventilator and his health is improving, his agent and a son said on Sunday. “He’s off the …

Salman Rushdie off ventilator and ‘road to recovery has begun,’ agent says Read More »

(Reuters) – The White House is planning to circulate a memo in the U.S. Congress defending President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan a year ago, Axios reported on Sunday. The memo said Biden’s move strengthened national security by freeing critical military and intelligence agents, the report said, citing a copy of the …

White House to circulate Afghanistan memo defending U.S. withdrawal -Axios report Read More »

By Jonathan Landay WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former Afghan security personnel with sensitive knowledge of U.S. operations left behind by the American evacuation operation are vulnerable to recruitment or coercion by Russia, China and Iran, Republican lawmakers said on Sunday, noting that President Joe Biden’s administration failed to prioritize evacuating them. “This is especially true given …

U.S. adversaries could exploit former Afghan commandos -U.S. Republican report Read More »

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China’s financial hub Shanghai said on Sunday it would reopen all schools including kindergartens, primary and middle schools on Sept. 1 after months of COVID-19 closures. The city will require all teachers and students to take nucleic acid tests for the coronavirus every day before leaving campus, the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission said. …

Shanghai to reopen all schools Sept. 1 as lockdown fears persist Read More »