Author: Enrique Collier

MANILA, Philippines — The success of the just concluded Balikatan exercise was “a testament to the strength of the US-Philippine alliance,” US Ambassador MaryKay Carlson said yesterday. “Balikatan is an incredible accomplishment,” she said in her remarks during the ceremony at Camp Aguinaldo marking the conclusion of the 38th iteration of the Philippine-US joint military exercise. Carlson called the joint drill “a milestone,” considering the number of personnel involved – 17,600 Filipino, American and Australian military forces – assembled for an endeavor aimed at “increasing our capability to work together on land, at sea and in the air.” She noted…

The swearing-in ceremony had an unusual guest. Hundreds of New Zealanders were about to take an oath to become Australian citizens, and cheering them on in their pursuit of dual citizenship was the head of the New Zealand government. There was reason for all to celebrate. Australia was about to reverse a two-decade-old policy and restore rights for the almost 700,000 New Zealanders living in Australia to easily gain citizenship, putting them on par with Australian migrants across the Tasman Sea in New Zealand. Australia and New Zealand often describe each other as their closest international partners. But in recent…

SEATTLE — The U.S. Army identified on Saturday the three soldiers who were killed when two helicopters collided in Alaska while returning from a training mission. The helicopters were headed to Fort Wainwright from a mission in the Donnelly Training Area when they crashed at 1:39 p.m. Thursday, about 50 miles east of Healy. The U.S. Army announced Friday that it has grounded aviation units for training after 12 soldiers died within the last month in helicopter crashes in Alaska and Kentucky. “The move grounds all Army aviators, except those participating in critical missions, until they complete the required training,”…

The young US airman accused of leaking Pentagon documents is alleged by prosecutors to have researched mass shootings, discussed violence and murder online, and kept a large arsenal of weapons. Jack Teixeira, 21, had a top-secret security clearance which gave him access to sensitive and highly classified government documents. The case has prompted questions about the clearance process and the subsequent red flags that seem to have gone unnoticed after it was granted. What gets checked for a security clearance In 2018, a year before he joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard, Mr Teixeira was suspended from high school after…

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti addressed parliament on Thursday about the details of a meeting he had with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic last week, saying he had received guarantees from the EU and the US to implement the deal normalizing bilateral relations. of the two states. Although nothing was signed during the meeting in Ohrid, North Macedonia, the EU announced that the annex to the deal had been agreed. Kurti underlined that there will be mutual recognition of all government documents and symbols, including passports, diplomas, driving licenses and customs stamps. The two countries will also exchange permanent missions and…

Volkswagen recently announced its intention to build a plant in St. Thomas, Ont. for electric vehicle batteries. While the news is being described as a major victory, until more information emerges, the deal raises lots of questions about what we actually won, why we won it and whether it was worth the price — which I assume is the range between $1 billion and $10 billion. What does it mean? Let’s start with the good news. First, Volkswagen chose a Canadian location over jurisdictions across the United States and Mexico, affirming our residual competitiveness for automotive manufacturing. “Residual” because Canadians now make about half…

In their first match since a historic trip to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, the Canadian men’s national team eased past 10-man Curaçao, 2-0, in Concacaf Nations League A (Group C) action Saturday evening, securing a berth in the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup this summer. The victory sets up a high-stakes encounter with Honduras on March 28 (8 pm ET | OneSoccer) at BMO Field, home of Toronto FC, as a win or draw for Les Rouges means they would top the group and advance to June’s Nations League Finals, a four-team, single-elimination tournament. Jonathan David opened the scoring for Canada via an assist from Toronto FC fullback Richie Laryea, continuing his…

China’s military said guided-missile destroyer USS Milius intruded into China’s territorial waters near the contested Paracel Islands The United States has denied Chinese claims that a US destroyer was driven out from waters around the contested Paracel Islands after it “illegally” entered the area in the South China Sea. In a statement on Thursday, the Chinese military said the guided-missile destroyer USS Milius illegally intruded into China’s territorial waters, without the approval of the government, undermining peace and stability in the busy waterway. The United States Navy, however, declared this to be false. “The USS Milius is conducting routine operations in…

An Ottawa councillor is calling on the Ottawa Senators and Canadian Tire Centre to cancel controversial psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson’s book tour stop in Ottawa next week. The former University of Toronto professor-turned-YouTube personality is visiting Ottawa on Monday as part of his Beyond Order tour. In an open letter to the Senators, Canadian Tire Centre and Creative Artists Agency, Somerset Coun. Ariel Troster expresses her disappointment in the decision to host the event. “Ottawa has seen a rise in hate against 2SLGBTQ+ people in recent years, Jordan Peterson’s event undermines the work that the city and community…

Following the deaths of more than 300 children from contaminated cough syrups in several countries, Health Canada says it’s been more than a decade since similar cases were identified here. The children died in 2022 in Gambia, Indonesia and Uzbekistan after taking over-the-counter cough syrups tainted with high levels of diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol. “These contaminants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal even taken in small amounts, and should never be found in medicines,” the World Health Organization (WHO) warned in a statement this week. “Since these are not isolated incidents…