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Western alliance

September

Shigeru Ishiba (centre) celebrates after he was elected new head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

‘Asian NATO’ backer to become Japan’s new PM

The country’s ruling party picked former defence minister Shigeru Ishiba as leader, setting him up to become prime minister, a move that risks irritating China.

  • Alastair Gale and Yuki Hagiwara
Volodymyr Zelensky will visit the Scranton Army ammunition plant.

Zelensky to push Biden for advanced weapons to end war

The Ukraine president will meet Joe Biden in Washington this week, and will ask him to provide an official invitation to join NATO.

  • Daryna Krasnolutska
Admiral Rob Bauer: “Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation.”

NATO official backs long-range strikes on Russia despite risk of war expanding

“Every nation that is attacked has the right to defend itself. And that right doesn’t stop at the border of your own nation,” said the head of NATO’s military committee.

  • Lolita Baldor
A Russian frigate during exercises this week.

US accuses China of directly supporting Russia’s ‘war machine’

Kurt Campbell said China was supplying Moscow with items that were directly helping the Russian military as it prosecutes its war of aggression in Ukraine.

  • Henry Foy, Polina Ivanova, Kathrin Hille and Demetri Sevastopulo
A photo released by an official Russian media channel of a damaged residential building following a Ukrainian drone attack in Ramenskoye, outside Moscow.

Massive Ukrainian drone strike on Russia kills one and closes airports

Russia said it destroyed at least 20 drones over the Moscow region, which has a population of over 21 million, and 124 over eight other regions.

  • Guy Faulconbridge
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Andrii Sybiha’s most important qualification may be proximity to Ukraine’s wartime power centre.

Ukraine’s new foreign minister Is Zelensky’s latest power play

Ukraine’s new foreign minister has cultivated deep contacts in NATO states during postings to Ankara and Warsaw. He’s also close to Ukraine’s wartime power centre.

  • Volodymyr Verbianyi and Natalia Ojewska
Firefighters extinguish a fire after a rocket hit a building of a higher education institution in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

Russia pounds Kyiv with missiles, Ukraine’s military says

Ukraine’s air defence units have destroyed more than 10 cruise missiles and nearly 10 ballistic missiles, says the city’s military administration.

  • Pavel Polityuk and Valentyn Ogirenko

August

Protesters march during a demonstration outside the Democratic National Convention.

Harris embraces Gaza balancing act despite anger

With her party torn between pro-Israel Democrats and younger progressives, she’s looking for a way to quieten one major issue until after the election.

  • David E. Sanger
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s new propaganda effort is designed to paint the occupation as the “new normal”.

Putin tells Russians get over it, as anxiety grows over Ukraine

The Kremlin’s messaging suggests it expects Ukraine’s surprise occupation of Russian territory to last for months, so people should get used to it.

  • Liz Cookman
A damaged monument to Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin stands in a central square in Sudzha, Kursk region.

‘People are horrified’: Moscow turns to reluctant conscripts to defend Kursk

Despite Ukraine’s advances, Vladimir Putin appears unwilling to divert more significant resources from the eastern front, leaving him with few options.

  • Anastasia Stognei
In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Defence Ministry Press Office, a strategically important bridge over the river Seym is destroyed in Russia.

Ukraine blows up key Russian bridge in tactical push

The bridge’s destruction is a setback for Russian supply lines as Ukraine seeks to consolidate its territorial gains in the Kursk region of western Russia.

  • Constant Méheut
Russian President Vladimir Putin leads the meeting with top security and defence officials about the situation in the Kursk and Belgorod border regions.

Ukrainian commander details captured Russian territory

Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to the surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.

  • Samya Kullab
An Israeli tank near a border crossing to the southern Gaza Strip.

20,000 missiles, drones: What a new Israel war could look like

The country’s military capabilities have evolved since it last fought Hezbollah, but so have those of the Iran-backed “axis of resistance”.

  • Updated
  • Raya Jalabi, Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper and Andrew England
Former US Secretary of Defence Chris Miller is more of a rebel than you would think.

‘You don’t embarrass the New Yorker in Trump’ says military adviser

Chris Miller, a former acting secretary of defence and Project 2025 contributor, says the AUKUS military alliance will be fine if Donald Trump wins the election, but Vladimir Putin could be in a jam.

  • Kevin Chinnery

July

Vice President Kamala Harris speaks at a recent campaign event.

‘Vague, tactless’: Can Kamala Harris overhaul her image to beat Trump?

The vice president’s strengths and failings are under renewed scrutiny by Democrats as Joe Biden backs her to replace him as president.

  • Rozina Sabur
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President Joe Biden walks down the steps of Air Force One at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Wednesday.

Democrats know that this fight is done

No matter how much Joe Biden points to falling inflation and violent crime rates and rising real wages, too many voters are looking in the other direction.

  • Jennifer Hewett
US President Joe Biden made two blunders while speaking in Washington.

Biden’s performance unlikely to stop the bleeding

The US president’s challenge after the debate debacle is that every public appearance between now and November will be scrutinised for evidence of infirmity.

  • Peter Baker
Armin Papperger, chief executive of Rheinmetall.

Russia behind plot to kill Europe’s top defence CEO: NATO officials

The German company produces artillery shells and tanks that Ukraine has used in its war against Russia.

  • Julian E. Barnes, Lara Jakes and Christopher F. Schuetze
George Clooney has withdrawn his support for Joe Biden’s presidential candidacy.

Democrats simmer over no-win dilemma as Biden support ebbs away

President Joe Biden is losing political traction on Capitol Hill as congressional Democrats count the cost of his determination to stay in the race.

  • Jennifer Hewett
US President Joe Biden, from left, Keir Starmer, UK prime minister, and Jens Stoltenberg, secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), participate in a welcome handshake during the NATO Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, July 10, 2024. President Joe Biden and NATO’s 31 other leaders had hoped their summit would celebrate fresh unity against Russia’s Vladimir Putin, send a warning to China and prove the alliance is as strong as ever in its 75th year, but the three days of pageantry will be overshadowed by domestic turmoil across the alliance. Photographer: Ting Shen/Bloomberg

NATO accuses China of fuelling Putin’s war in Ukraine

In a strongly worded statement, NATO leaders have taken aim at Beijing, saying its “no-limits partnership” with Vladimir Putin is prolonging the war.

  • Updated
  • Matthew Cranston, Andrew Tillett and Jessica Sier

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/western-alliance-1mp3