International

Total global military expenditure increased by 3.7% in real terms in 2022, to reach a new high of $2.24 trillion. Military expenditure in Europe saw its steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years. The three largest spenders in 2022—the United States, China and Russia—accounted for 56% of the world total, according to new data published today by the Stockholm International Peace

A growing list of foreign Governments are evacuating their diplomatic personnel and nationals from war-ravaged Sudan as fighting has entered into the second week. The United States, Canada, U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain have been evacuating diplomats and other nationals from the north-eastern African country in response to the deteriorating security situation there. A vicious power struggle between the Sudanese army

Brazil announced on Friday (April 7) its official return to the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), from which it formally withdrew in April 2019. “As Brazil resumes its main international alliances, it will once again join the Union of South American Nations,” the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement. It added that the measure will take effect on May 6

Brazilian President Luiz da Silva, sworn in on January, will visit China between April 11 and April 14, according to a report from AFP news agency. Lula and business representatives from Brazil were scheduled to visit Beijing last weekend. However, the trip was postponed after the president was diagnosed with pneumonia. Earlier this week, Brazil and China stroke a trade deal agreement to carry

Britain has secured an agreement to join CPTPP and will be the first new nation to join the Indo-Pacific trade bloc since it was set up in 2018, Politico reported on Wednesday (March 29). Joining the bloc would be the culmination of years of diplomatic and political efforts and will supplement existing bilateral trade deals Britain has with several of the member

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has called on the government to stop the controversial judicial reform legislation that has provoked mass protests across the country. “At this time, we must stop the process and sit down to talk,” Gallant who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s own right-wing Likud party said. “I am committed to Likud values … and placing the

Tense protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to reform the French pensions system escalated overnight. The ninth day of nationwide protests and strikes over the issue saw Bordeaux city hall setting on fire, water cannon fired in Rennes, tear gas used in Nantes, a police station attacked in Brittany and large protests in Marseille, Nice and Toulon in the south. “There were many protests, which sometimes lasted until very late

Angry protests have erupted in Greece a day after a catastrophic train crash left 47 dead and dozens more injured. A high-speed passenger train from Athens to Thessaloniki with more than 350 people on board – many of them students returning from carnival celebrations – crashed head-on into a freight train near the city of Larissa shortly before midnight on Tuesday (Feb.

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi met China’s leader Xi Jinping Tuesday (Feb. 14) as part of a three-day high profile visit to help implement a 25-year cooperation alliance between the two countries. The Iranian President was trailed by a large trade and finance delegation including the new central bank governor as well as six members of his cabinet, in the first such visit for at least 20 years.

War and trade tensions trump cyber-fears for 2023, according to the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s (DTCC) annual Systemic Risk Barometer Survey. Almost 70% of respondents cited geopolitical risks and trade tensions as a top threat (up from 49% last year), with inflation (61%) a close second, (up from 34% last year). Respondents cited unknowns around how long inflationary pressures may last,