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| Ukrainian President announces new plan to resolve conflict. (Source: AP) |
The World & Vietnam Newspaper highlights some of the day's international news highlights.
Asia-Pacific
*China announces plan for joint military exercise with Singapore: On November 15, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang announced that the Chinese and Singaporean armies will conduct a joint exercise called Cooperation-2024 in Henan province, central China, at the end of November.
Zhang Xiaogang said the upcoming exercise, focusing on urban counter-terrorism operations, will be held according to the annual plan and consensus of both sides. The purpose of the exercise is to enhance practical cooperation between the two militaries and strengthen their capabilities in joint counter-terrorism operations. (TTX)
*Philippines appoints new navy commander: On November 15, Philippine President Romualdez Marcos appointed Rear Admiral Jose Ma. Ambrosio Ezpeleta as the country's new navy commander.
Mr. Marcos presided over the appointment of Mr. Ezpeleta after a transfer of command ceremony at the Navy headquarters in Manila. Mr. Ezpeleta was appointed to replace Vice Admiral Toribio Adaci Jr., who retired on November 15. (Strait Times)
*North Korean self-propelled artillery appears on Russian territory: The 170 mm caliber M1989 Koksan self-propelled artillery produced by North Korea was filmed on a military train in the city of Krasnoyarsk in the Siberian region of Russia.
The Russian Telegram channel reported that the supply of Koksan self-propelled guns to Russia could be linked to the expansion of military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
The Koksan self-propelled howitzer first came to light in the 1980s, when it was used by the Iranian military during the Iran-Iraq War. To date, this is the only confirmed case of its use outside of North Korean territory.
According to military experts, the Koksan has a long range and powerful firepower, making it a useful tool in conflict situations. (Yonhap)
*Sri Lanka: NPP wins parliamentary elections: Vote counting results showed that the National People's Power (NPP) coalition of new Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake won a resounding victory in the snap election on November 14, securing power to push through anti-poverty plans in the island nation recovering from the financial crisis.
According to the results of the vote count on November 15, the NPP won 137 out of 196 votes. Previously, local media predicted that the party would have more than 150 seats in the 225-member National Assembly thanks to the proportional allocation system.
The NPP won nearly 62% or 7 million votes in the election, up from the 42% that Mr Dissanayake's party won in September. This shows that he has attracted wider support, including from minority groups. (Strait Times)
Europe
*European Parliament calls for banning Russian oil tankers from passing through the English Channel: The European Parliament (EP) on November 14 passed a resolution calling on European Union (EU) member countries and the United Kingdom to ban Russian oil tankers from passing through the English Channel.
The resolution also recommends that other countries controlling strategic straits take similar measures to restrict the movement of Russian tankers. MEPs stressed that such measures would increase economic pressure on Russia and complicate the export of its oil resources to the world market.
The EP's decision, although non-binding, demonstrates the EU's desire to continue to apply sanctions and limit Russia's financial resources from oil exports. (Sputniknews)
*Ukraine to unveil new 'plan' for conflict: Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky said on November 14 that he would present a new plan for Ukraine.
In a video posted on his Telegram channel, Mr. Zelensky said: “A total of 10 points will be presented next week,” and included categories on security, energy and weapons.
In the arms part, the plan will involve production in Ukraine and cooperation with partners. Although earlier, Verkhovna Rada (parliament) deputy Alexey Goncharenko admitted that any Kiev initiative would depend on the actions of Western partners.
Additionally, one of the points of the new plan will be “cultural sovereignty.” Specifically, this provision will regulate “the production of content in the Ukrainian language.” (Reuters)
*Former NATO official outlines Russia's possible concessions to US President-elect: The Financial Times (FT) quoted former NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller outlining three concessions that Russia could make to US President-elect Donald Trump.
The first concession, according to Ms. Gottemoeller, is the interpretation of the ceasefire in Ukraine – specifically, the description of the situation as West Germany after World War II.
The second concession was that Ukraine could join NATO, but the date of entry would be postponed indefinitely. The third concession was Russia's willingness to resume nuclear arms control talks. According to the former politician, such agreements would not cause significant difficulties for Russia but would help strengthen Mr Trump's position. (AFP)
*Russia increases attacks on Ukraine with UAVs: ABC News reported that the Russian military has significantly increased the frequency of attacks using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on Ukrainian territory after Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election.
Between October 1 and November 5, the Russian military deployed more than 2,200 UAVs against Ukrainian targets. However, in the week after the election, the number of such attacks increased sharply, with 641 UAVs launched, equivalent to about 90 UAVs per day.
The increased intensity of the attacks is intended to make life more difficult for Ukrainian infrastructure and civilians, which analysts say could affect Kiev’s willingness to negotiate. The surge in attacks could be due to expectations of possible changes in US foreign policy after Trump takes office. (ABC)
Middle East – Africa
*Disagreements within the Israeli government continue to grow: Israel's Channel 12 news channel reported on November 14 that the country's Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara asked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to re-evaluate the tenure of National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing Mr. Ben-Gvir's apparent interference in police matters.
Channel 12 published a copy of a letter from Attorney General Baharav-Miara to Prime Minister Netanyahu, in which she described incidents of Mr. Ben-Gvir “illegally interfering” with the professional activities of the police. According to Ms. Baharav-Miara, the Israeli government’s lack of response was a show of support for Mr. Ben-Gvir.
Earlier, Prime Minister Netanyahu fired Defense Minister Yoav Gallant due to internal disagreements. (Al Jazeera)
*Iran sets conditions in nuclear negotiations: On November 14, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi announced that his country is ready for nuclear negotiations if other parties are serious about this issue.
According to the announcement of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Araghchi made this statement after meeting with Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, who is visiting the Iranian capital Tehran.
“Since we are certain of the peaceful nature of our nuclear program, we have no problem cooperating with this agency and can continue these cooperative activities. However, for that purpose, other parties should also fulfill their obligations and responsibilities,” the Iranian foreign minister said . (Reuters)
*Hezbollah retaliates against Israeli military bases: Hezbollah forces in Lebanon have carried out new retaliations against Israeli targets deep inside the occupied territories, attacking several important military bases of the Jewish State in Tel Aviv and Haifa.
In the latest series of retaliation moves that took place on the night of November 14, Hezbollah targeted Israel's Tel Haim base in Tel Aviv with a barrage of missiles. The base is 120 km from the Lebanese border.
Hezbollah also fired a barrage of rockets at the Stella Maris naval base, northwest of Haifa, with a barrage of missiles. The Islamist movement attacked the Eliakim base, south of Haifa, with drones. Several Israeli military gatherings in several settlements including Hanita, Kiryat Shmona, Yi'ron, Shlomi, Sa'sa and Dishon were also attacked. (Al Jazeera)
America – Latin America
*The US considers expanding its nuclear arsenal: The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) quoted senior US officials as saying that the country may decide to increase its nuclear arsenal due to threats believed to come from China, the Russian Federation and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
However, the source said that this decision still belongs to the future administration of Mr. Donald Trump, who won the recent presidential election.
START-3 or New START is the Strategic Offensive Arms Reduction Treaty. This treaty limits the number of intercontinental ballistic missiles and some other types of missiles and nuclear warheads for Russia and the United States. In February 2023, President Putin announced that Moscow would stop participating in the START-3 Treaty but not withdraw from it. (Sputnik/ WSJ)
*US to provide weekly military aid to Ukraine: The US has switched to a weekly schedule of providing military aid to Ukraine to ensure the transfer of all remaining aid before Donald Trump takes office as US president.
The Pentagon press service said the US government plans to transfer $7.1 billion worth of remaining weapons and military supplies to Ukraine by January 20. However, the US military admitted that this would be difficult to do, and that some weapons would have to be transferred to Kiev under the new president, which could face some “difficulties”.
The US intention to transfer all remaining military aid to Ukraine before Mr. Trump officially takes office was confirmed by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrei Sibiga, who recently had a conversation with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. (Reuters)
*US intelligence official arrested in Cambodia: The Khmer Times reported on November 14 that a US intelligence official was arrested in Cambodia and charged with espionage, following an investigation into the leak of classified documents last month detailing Israel's plan to attack Iran.
Asif William Rahman, a CIA employee, was arrested by FBI officials at an undisclosed location in Cambodia on November 12. Rahman was then taken to Guam, where he was charged with two counts of knowingly storing and transmitting national defense information. Rahman was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia.
Mr. Rahman is believed to have leaked information regarding the Israeli military’s plan to retaliate against Iran after the October 1 ballistic missile attack, in which Tehran launched nearly 200 projectiles at Israel. (Khmer Times)
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