The president of the Philippines is meeting his US counterpart in Washington as the two countries draw closer together against what they say is growing aggression and harassment by China. Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Joe Biden will meet in the Oval Office on Monday, during the Philippine president’s four-day US tour. They are expected to discuss the security situation, with the US hoping to strengthen longstanding ties between the two nations as it battles Beijing for influence in Asia. The US has been a vocal supporter of the Philippines against…
Tag: Joe Biden
When Macron met Xi: welcome to the new world disorder
It is perhaps no surprise that Emmanuel Macron is in the middle of another big international row. France’s president likes to stir things up. It is his penchant, his trademark foible. Re-elected in 2022 despite a disappointing first term, he has four years left to make a difference. After that, political oblivion beckons – and Macron will still be under 50 in April 2027. Maybe this ticking clock helps explain why he courts danger like a bare-chested surfer riding the waves on the beach at Biarritz. At home, Macron has…
The Guardian view on the world economy: another bleak era beckons | Editorial
Remember the roaring 20s? Even as Covid gripped the world, optimists piped up that the economy would come roaring out of the pandemic, bolstering incomes and kickstarting an almighty boom. Harking back to the Spanish flu pandemic of a century earlier, they saw a decade of glorious growth ahead. Well, they were wrong. Ahead lies not roaring but snoring; no boom, but ever-deepening gloom. That is the message from the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which are holding their spring meetings in Washington DC this week. In its…
Biden orders release of intelligence on potential links between Covid and Wuhan lab
A bill requiring the release of intelligence materials on potential links between the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and a laboratory in the Chinese city of Wuhan has been signed into law by US president Joe Biden. “We need to get to the bottom of Covid-19’s origins … including potential links to the Wuhan Institute of Virology,” Biden said in a statement. “In implementing this legislation, my administration will declassify and share as much of that information as possible. “I share the Congress’s goal of releasing as much information as…
The US was prepared to bomb the Middle East into shape. In Ukraine, it seems no less self-serving | Randeep Ramesh
In the two decades since the second Iraq war, the United States appears like the Bourbon kings who had learned nothing and forgotten nothing. The illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq was a story of geopolitical failure and domestic political disaster. To understand the foolhardy decision to launch the war, one must first understand the US grand strategy of global hegemony, which Washington has pursued since 1945. The “war on terror” provided political cover for the further pursuit of supremacy, despite threatening democratic government with lies, fraud and violence. George…
US, UK and Australia embarking on a ‘path of error and danger’, says China – video
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that the US, UK and Australia ‘are walking further down the path of error and danger’. The comments were made in a press conference in response to the Aukus partners’ announcement of a multibillion-dollar deal on nuclear-powered submarines. The deal, made by leaders during a meeting in San Diego, will provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines in an effort to counter the rise of China in the Indo-Pacific. The Chinese government accuse the three countries of pursuing a deal ‘for the sake of…
What is the Aukus submarine deal and what does it mean? – the key facts
In a tripartite deal with the US and the UK, Australia has unveiled a plan to acquire a fleet of up to eight nuclear-powered submarines, forecast to cost up to $368bn between now and the mid-2050s. Australia will spend $9bn over the next four years. From this year Australian military and civilian personnel will embed with US and UK navies, including within both countries’ submarine industrial bases. From 2027 the UK and the US plan to rotate their nuclear-powered submarines through HMAS Stirling near Perth as part of a push…
Australia news live: Aukus nuclear powered subs deal revealed with $368bn price tag over next three decades
From 26m ago Key points of Aukus submarine deal Daniel Hurst has also broken the announcement down into key points for you: Australia’s entire nuclear-powered submarine program – including acquisition, construction and sustainment – is forecast to cost $268bn to $368bn between now and the mid 2050s, most of it beyond the first four-year budget period. This includes $9bn over the initial four-year budget period. The $9bn over the forward estimates is an increase of $3bn compared with the $6bn earmarked for the abandoned French project – and Defence is…
Rishi Sunak unveils £5bn extra defence spending ahead of US Aukus summit – UK politics live
From 3h ago Rishi Sunak unveils £5bn extra defence spending ahead of Aukus summit in US Good morning. Rishi Sunak is in San Diego, California, where today he will meet Joe Biden, the US president, and Anthony Albanese, the Australian prime minister, for an Aukus meeting. Aukus is the Australia/US/UK security pact, primarily focused on providing Australia with nuclear-powered submarine capacity. It was set up when Boris Johnson was prime minister, and now provides him with the material for one of his most over-used jokes. The meeting will coincide with…
How to break the Xi-Putin axis? Biden must engage with Beijing
Is there a school for autocrats? As if by rote, authoritarian leaders around the world trot out remarkably similar justifications for their repressive actions, democratic deficits and policy failures. These typically include scary claims that their country is under attack by foreign forces and saboteurs or is the victim of a global conspiracy. Perhaps they have all taken an online correspondence course for aspiring dictators. Tyrants R Us. China produced classic examples of the genre last week. Accepting a third term, President Xi Jinping urged the country to unite behind…