Russian finances. Russia’s budget deficit in 2022 totaled 3.3 trillion rubles ($47.5 billion), about 2.3 percent of gross domestic product, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said. It’s one of the largest deficits in the country’s history; by comparison, the deficit was 4.1 trillion rubles in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic broke out. Spending increased last year […]
Last week, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited President Xi Jinping in China, where they agreed to cooperate in peace and security operations and...
Strikes in Ukraine. Following a Moscow-declared cease-fire over Orthodox Christmas celebrations, Russia launched an airstrike on the eastern Ukrainian town of Kramatorsk in retaliation...
On Dec. 27, the Islamic State’s franchise in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for an attack that killed the highest-ranking Taliban security official in Badakhshan province,...
Ukraine update. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a 36-hour cease-fire, to begin Friday, along the front lines in Ukraine during Orthodox Christmas celebrations. Putin...
Meeting in Damascus. The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Wednesday, another step toward normalization between...
Since the beginning of the Ukraine war, political analysts have asserted that a Russian victory would lead to a multipolar international system, ending the...
Iran and the UAE. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian met with the United Arab Emirate’s ambassador to Iran, Saif Mohammed al-Zaabi, to discuss...
Diplomats hailing from Bahrain, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Jordan, Iran and France recently convened in the King Hussein Bin Talal...
Russian warnings. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko warned against Japan’s move toward militarization, saying Moscow may be forced to take retaliatory measures. Among...
