Japan and China to Discuss Security Issues in 2025

Leaders of the two traditional East Asia rivals will meet to discuss a number of security and other pressing issues sometime in 2025. Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya, on his first trip to China since assuming the post in October, sounded positive after meetings with Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi, saying the talks were “very candid” …

American PMCs Are On the Way to Ukraine

Shortly before the November election, U.S. President Joe Biden quietly authorized the DoD to send maintenance contractors to the war-torn country. The decision was made before Tuesday’s election as a way to provide Ukraine with specific technical expertise needed for weapons like F-16 fighter jets and Patriot air defense systems, said the official, who was granted anonymity to speak about …

Violence Continues After Shakeup in Syria

In December 2024, Assad loyalists ambushed a team of law enforcement officers in western Syria. At least 14 people died. The attack in the countryside of the Tartus region also injured 10 officers, according to the ministry. It came hours after the new government’s military operations command said its forces killed “a besieged group of remnants of the former regime” …

VA Continues Burn Pit Research

Researchers at the Veterans Administration acknowledge that burn pit smoke could cause DRLD, but they insist that other causes are just as common. VA established the Airborne Hazards and Burn Pits Center of Excellence (AHBPCE) in 2019 at VA’s War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC) in New Jersey. Environmental health specialists, epidemiologists, and other experts from the Center …

Escalating Violence in Haiti

Wars between rival gangs and a crumbling supply chain forced some 35,000 Haitians to flee their homes in November 2024 alone. Haiti has faced instability since the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moïse. The current wave of displacement, the largest since August 2023, comes as armed gangs who have joined forces strengthen their grip on the capital, leaving the national …