South Korea, US to conduct major joint military drills
The 11-day annual exercise, called Ulchi Freedom Shield, will be adjusted this year by rescheduling 20 out of 40 training events to September, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-jun said at a briefing on Thursday.
The decision to spread out the scheduling included reasons such as extreme weather, he said, denying there were any political factors behind the move.
This year's drill will test upgraded responses to heightened North Korean nuclear threats as well as cutting-edge technologies used in modern warfare, Lee said, citing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
The exercise will include a scenario involving a North Korean missile launch, but would not cover a potential nuclear test by Pyongyang, he added.
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Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
World must come to the aid of Myanmar's starving civilians
In the western reaches of Myanmar, the people of Rakhine State — both ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims — are staring down the barrel of famine. Entire towns and villages are now cut off from the outside world by a military blockade that has brought the delivery of food, medicine and humanitarian assistance to a complete standstill. These are not the chaotic conditions of war, where supply lines have simply broken down. This is a deliberate strategy — a calculated decision by the Myanmar junta to use starvation as a weapon against its own people, echoing the most chilling episodes of modern conflict. Reports describe desperate civilians living off rice husks, wild plants and whatever scraps they can barter in local markets — if they can find any at all. Aid workers have been shut out entirely. The UN, nongovernmental organizations and local charities are blocked from entering the hardest-hit areas. Hospitals are running out of even the most basic medicines. Pregnant women, children and the elderly are dying from preventable causes. Yet the world's attention remains elsewhere, distracted by other crises. This is not the first time Myanmar's military has resorted to siege tactics. During the height of the campaign against the Rohingya in 2017, the army systematically destroyed food sources, razed farmland and poisoned wells to drive entire communities out of the country. What we are witnessing now in Rakhine is the same strategy repackaged — but this time the blockade affects everyone in its path, regardless of ethnicity. Starvation is being wielded not as an incidental tragedy, but as a means of control and punishment. In some areas, the Arakan Army — the dominant armed group in Rakhine — has consolidated power, promising to govern more responsibly than the junta. Yet even under its control, aid flows remain perilously thin. The Arakan Army's own political calculations and military priorities often mean that humanitarian needs take a back seat. The result is that civilians are squeezed between two forces: a junta that uses hunger as a weapon and local armed groups that are unwilling or unable to ensure the delivery of lifesaving supplies. The global response has been tepid at best. Statements of concern have been issued; little else has been done Dr. Azeem Ibrahim International law is unequivocal on this point. Article 54 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions explicitly prohibits the starvation of civilians as a method of warfare. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court classifies it as a war crime. The blockade of Rakhine meets every definition of this crime. Yet, despite the legal clarity, the global response has been tepid at best. Statements of concern have been issued; little else has been done. If the moral imperative to act were not enough, regional powers must also consider the strategic consequences of doing nothing. Rakhine is not an isolated pocket of suffering; it is a geopolitical fault line. The longer the blockade persists, the greater the risk of mass displacement into neighboring countries. Bangladesh, already hosting nearly a million Rohingya refugees, will bear the brunt of any new influx. India will face instability along its northeastern frontier. And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose credibility has already been tarnished by its ineffective handling of the Myanmar crisis, will find itself further sidelined. The urgency of this moment demands a shift in thinking. The traditional model — negotiating humanitarian access through the junta in Naypyitaw — has failed repeatedly. Every delay buys the regime more time to tighten its stranglehold. Instead, regional actors must explore alternatives that bypass the junta entirely. Cross-border aid corridors from Bangladesh and India could be established with the support of the UN and willing donor countries. These lifelines would require political courage and coordinated diplomacy, but they are both feasible and necessary. Bangladesh has historically been reluctant to engage directly with armed actors inside Myanmar for fear of diplomatic repercussions. But the scale of the crisis now unfolding in Rakhine may leave Dhaka with little choice. By working with neutral humanitarian intermediaries, it could facilitate the delivery of aid without becoming entangled in the politics of the conflict. India, with its extensive border in the northeast and influence in the Bay of Bengal, could also play a pivotal role — both as a logistical partner and as a counterweight to Chinese influence in Myanmar. The traditional model — negotiating humanitarian access through the junta in Naypyitaw — has failed repeatedly Dr. Azeem Ibrahim ASEAN, for its part, must move beyond its consensus-bound inertia. If the bloc cannot agree on a united approach, its more capable members — Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand — should lead a coalition of the willing to coordinate cross-border relief efforts. Humanitarian intervention in this form is not an act of aggression; it is an act of survival. The alternative is grimly predictable. If the blockade continues unchecked, tens of thousands will die, not from bullets or bombs but from the slow agony of starvation and untreated disease. Entire communities will be hollowed out, creating a vacuum that will be filled by criminal networks, armed militias and extremist groups. The spillover will destabilize the region for years to come, fueling refugee flows, trafficking and insurgency. History will not judge this moment kindly if we fail to act. The world stood by in 2017 when the Rohingya were driven from their homes in an act of genocide. Promises of 'never again' rang hollow then and they will ring hollow now unless they are matched by decisive intervention. The people of Rakhine have a saying that has now become a grim refrain: 'If we die, we die.' It speaks of the resignation among those who have been abandoned by their government, their would-be liberators and the international community. That resignation should shame us into action. It is within our power to pierce the blockade, deliver aid and save lives. The question is whether the political will exists to do so before it is too late. Rakhine is not yet a famine zone in the technical sense — but famine is not declared by those who starve; it is declared by those who count the dead. By the time the world's bureaucracies are ready to acknowledge what is happening, the graves will already be full. The time to act is not when the last warning signs flash red; it is now. Regional leaders, humanitarian agencies and the broader international community must treat Rakhine's blockade as the war crime it is and respond with the urgency that such a crime demands. If they fail, the words 'if we die, we die' will become not a lament, but an epitaph. • Dr. Azeem Ibrahim is the director of special initiatives at the Newlines Institute for Strategy and Policy in Washington, DC. X: @AzeemIbrahim
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
Moscow strikes kill five in Ukraine, refinery hit in Russia
KYIV: A new round of Moscow's shelling and drone attacks killed five people in Ukraine Sunday, authorities said, while Kyiv hit an oil refinery in Russia's Saratov was no reduction in hostilities on the frontline, even as the United States and Russia agreed to hold a summit in a bid to resolve the conflict, which so far does not include Ukraine.'Three people killed, one wounded in Zaporizhzhia region as a result of Russian shelling,' Ukraine's national police said, adding that two more civilians died in the highly contested Donetsk region in the east.A Russian glide bomb hit a busy bus station in the city of Zaporizhzhia in a separate afternoon strike, wounding 12 people at once, the local officials said, adding that a search and rescue operation was still from the site shared by the authorities showed rescuers pulling people from the rubble in the shattered central bus station beachgoers were killed earlier in the Black Sea coastal city of Odesa, after they triggered a mine while swimming in a prohibited area which was Ukrainian army claimed its drones had hit a large oil refinery in Russia's western Saratov region, almost 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) away from the front Saratov governor, Roman Busargin, only gave a vague comment, saying that 'one of the industrial enterprises was damaged' and adding that one person died as a result of the drone woman died in Russia's region of Belgorod, often under Ukrainian fire due to its proximity to the frontline, the local governor is trying to hamper Moscow's ability to fund the more than three-year war of attrition by attacking its oil and gas facilities, the key sources fueling the state military claimed to have taken back the village of Bezsalivka in the Sumy region from the Russian army, which has made significant recent focus of the Russian offensive is on eastern Ukraine, where it has stepped up gains in recent months against its less well-equipped Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump will meet in the US state of Alaska this Friday to try to resolve the grinding conflict, despite warnings from Ukraine and Europe that Kyiv must be part of negotiations.
Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
US trade deal likely to bring huge investments to Pakistan, army chief tells overseas Pakistanis
KARACHI: Pakistan's recent trade deal with the United States (US) is expected to bring huge investments to the South Asian country, Pakistani military sources said on Sunday, citing Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir who is on a visit to the US. Field Marshal Munir has engaged with senior American military and political leadership during his ongoing visit, after years of strained relations mainly due to disagreements over counter‑terrorism issues. Pakistan eyes greater collaboration with the US under President Donald Trump and both nations have appeared to be keen to rebuild their military and economic relationship in recent months. On Sunday, the army chief met a group of overseas Pakistanis and spoke with them about his visits and a host of issues of national significance for Islamabad, according to Pakistani military sources. 'My second visit after a gap of just one and a half months marks a new dimension in Pakistan-US relations,' Field Marshal Munir was quoted as saying. 'The aim of these visits is to take the relationship on a constructive, sustainable and positive path. A possible trade deal with the US is expected to bring in huge investments.' Both countries last month reached a trade deal according to which the US will charge a 19 percent tariff on imports from Pakistan, compared to a 29 percent reciprocal tariff announced in April that had raised alarm in Islamabad. Separately, President Trump has highlighted a partnership with Pakistan to develop the country's oil reserves. Field Marshal Munir said the implementation of various Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with the US, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China was underway to promote economic cooperation and investment. 'Our progress and prosperity are linked to Pakistanis living around the world,' he said, adding the country's 64 percent young population has immense potential to build a promising future of the country. Under Trump's renewed outreach, Washington has praised Pakistan's leadership and reinstated military cooperation previously curtailed over Afghanistan-related concerns. Islamabad, in turn, seeks to balance its longstanding partnership with China, including arms supply and defense infrastructure, with growing engagement with the US. Pakistan's powerful military, which has ruled the country directly for nearly half of its history and holds sway in political matters even when not in power, plays a central role in shaping its foreign and security policies. This is the Pakistani army chief's second visit to the US since June, when Trump hosted him for an unprecedented lunch at the White House, signifying growing closeness between the two countries. Both leaders discussed the tensions in the Middle East, particularly the 12-day Iran-Israel military conflict. During his ongoing visit, Field Marshal Munir also attended the retirement ceremony of outgoing United States Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander General Michael E. Kurilla and witnessed the handover of command to Admiral Brad Cooper in Tampa, according to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military's media wing. Munir lauded General Kurilla's leadership and his contributions to strengthening bilateral military cooperation between Pakistan and the US. He extended his best wishes to Admiral Cooper, expressing confidence in continued collaboration to address shared security challenges. The Pakistani army chief also met US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine and discussed with him matters of professional interest. 'On the sidelines, COAS (chief of army staff) interacted with Chiefs of Defense from friendly nations,' the ISPR said on Sunday, without mentioning the names of the countries.
