Japan approves 2025 draft budget with record defense spending
The Japanese Cabinet on Friday approved a record 8.7 trillion yen ($55 billion) defense budget for 2025 as Japan accelerates building up its strike-back capability with long-range cruise missiles
- UK reps call for public inquiry on Starmer’s complicity with crime gangs
- South Korean presidential guards prevent arrest of impeached Yoon after tense stand-off
- French Foreign Minister J.N Barrot & his German counterpart A. Baerbock are visiting Assad’s infamous Sednaya prison.
- Syria’s Kurdish-led SDF repels Turkish-backed faction attacks in Manbij countryside, killing and injuring dozens. Escalation includes heavy use of drones, tanks, and artillery.
- Russian gas has stopped passing through Ukraine after a five-year deal expired, leaving Moldova at risk of a crisis.
