Author: Dwight Mills

Niger’s ousted leader has urged the US and “entire international community” to help “restore… constitutional order” after last week’s coup. In an opinion piece in the Washington Post, President Mohamed Bazoum said he was writing “as a hostage”. He also warned that the region could fall further under Russian influence, via the Wagner Group which already operates in neighbouring countries. Niger’s West African neighbours have threatened military intervention. Defence chiefs from the region finished a three-day meeting in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, on Friday saying they had drawn up a detailed plan for the use of force for leaders from the regional bloc…

The US dispatched four destroyers and aircraft after 11 Russian and Chinese ships went close to Alaska state, according to a report by WSJ. The United States deployed four navy warships after Russian and Chinese naval forces conducted joint patrols near the Alaskan coast, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). At least 11 Russian and Chinese ships went close to the Aleutian Islands in the northern US state of Alaska, the WSJ report said, adding that the ships never entered US territorial waters and left. They were shadowed by four US destroyers and P-8 Poseidon aircraft. “It is…

As the U.S. struggles with prescription drug shortages, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has advanced a modest plan that she hopes will prod Washington to take decisive action to address weaknesses in the international pharmaceutical supply chain. Noem told reporters at a pharmacy in Sioux Falls last week that her state will expand its stockpiles of certain medications that have been in short supply. The Republican former congresswoman also used the occasion to turn up the heat on the federal Food and Drug Administration, urging the agency to make the U.S. less dependent on foreign suppliers like China and India.…

The “climate crisis” demands that Washington and Beijing “work together,” the US president’s climate envoy, John Kerry, said on Monday. After holding around a four-hour meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Beijing, Kerry said: “The climate crisis demands that the world’s two largest economies work together to limit the Earth’s warming.” China and the US on Monday resumed talks on how to combat climate change after a hiatus of nearly a year. Pointing out record-breaking daily temperatures, Kerry tweeted: “We must take urgent action on a number of fronts, especially the challenges of coal and methane pollution.” The…

Donanemab has proven to slow disease progression by several months in some patients but has also shown serious side effects. Another experimental Alzheimer’s drug can modestly slow patients’ inevitable worsening by about four to seven months, researchers reported on Monday. Eli Lilly and Co. is seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of Donanemab. If cleared, it would be only the second Alzheimer’s treatment convincingly shown to delay the mind-robbing disease — after the recently approved Lecanemab, which is sold under the brand name Leqembi, from Japanese drugmaker Eisai. “Finally there’s some hope, right, that we can talk about,” Lilly’s Dr…

Frankfurt, Brussels (21/7 – 37) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has once again reversed course, approving Sweden’s bid to join the legacy European military bloc, having been promised a brace of classic F-16 fighter jets. This new deal was hammered out at the recent NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, and included a vow by Türkiye to avoid quarrels with ancient enemy Greece also a NATO member. During a 12 July press conference on in Vilnius, Erdogan touched on several issues important for Türkiye, including ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid, its F-16 jet deal with the US, and a “balancing act” between…

Lawmakers in Congress last week approved an appropriations bill for the 2024 fiscal year that would rescind $80 million in funding for the United States Digital Service, if it passes into law in its current form. The Senate Committee on Appropriations on Thursday waved through language in the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act that would claw back the sum, which was awarded to USDS as part of a funding package included in the American Rescue Plan. The move to recoup funds from the executive branch-housed technology unit comes amid concerns from senior leaders within the federal IT community…

Recent high-level visits from the US to China show that the rival superpowers are talking again. But they must listen to each other too – for the sake of the world. Imagine this scenario: China and Mexico establish a military alliance, training military personnel along the 3,145km (1954-mile) border shared by the United States and Mexico. Such an eventuality is not so far-fetched. In recent years, both China and Russia have massively increased their investments in Mexico (particularly in minerals, energy and technology). China and Russia are major economic trade partners for Mexico. So, how would Washington react to that…

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will travel to China this weekend as part of the Biden administration’s push to repair deteriorating ties between Washington and Beijing and keep lines of communication open, the State Department said Wednesday. Blinken will be the most senior U.S. official to visit China since President Joe Biden took office. His visit had initially been planned for earlier this year but was postponed indefinitely after the discovery and shootdown of what the U.S. said was a Chinese spy balloon over the United States. Since then, however, there have been lower-level engagements between the U.S. and…

In an unanimous decision, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled Friday that the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) between Canada and the United States is constitutional, at least in part — a legal victory for the federal government as it seeks to continue the practice of returning refugees who have tried to cross into this country from the U.S. The STCA, a bilateral deal first signed in 2004, recognizes both Canada and the U.S. as “safe” countries for migrants and states that refugee claimants are required to request asylum in the first country where they arrive. Under this agreement, refugee…