JAPAN — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will not run for a second term as leader of the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) next month following a series of political scandals that have fueled calls for him to resign. In a press conference on Wednesday, Kishida said it is necessary to present the LDP as a “changed party. Transparent and open elections and a free and vigorous debate are more important than ever,” he said. “The most obvious first step, to show that the LDP will change, is for me to step aside.”

The LDP, which has held power almost continuously since its founding in 1955, has in recent months been embroiled in one of Japan’s biggest political scandals in decades. Two of the most influential factions in the LDP have been accused of failing to properly declare their income and expenditure and, in some instances, allegedly rerouting political funds to lawmakers as kickbacks.

During nearly three years in office, Kishida has vowed to take anti-corruption measures and institute party reforms, including dissolving factions and taking disciplinary action against any corrupt lawmakers. Concerns about Japan’s economy, including the weakening of the yen against the US dollar, have also undermined confidence in Kishida’s economic policies. He had previously denied he would step down as party leader despite public criticism and sinking disapproval ratings. His decision to quit comes a month before LDP elections are slated, with the date in September yet to be announced.

His successor will be tasked to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy at a time of increasing living costs, which has been exacerbated by a weak yen. Japan has been at the center of US President Joe Biden’s alliance building in the Indo-Pacific. American officials have seen a willing partner in Kishida, who has significantly shifted the country’s defense posture in recent years and provided ongoing support to Ukraine amid Russia’s invasion of its neighbor. (CNN)…[+]

KYIV – It is another coin-flip in a conflict punctuated with at least annual reminders of how frail Vladimir Putin’s Russia truly is. Two months ago, as Russian troops poured into Kharkiv region, Kyiv was eyeing its borders, concerned at where else Russia might find vulnerabilities. Yet instead, Ukraine appears to have looked at the map, decided Russia was equally exposed, and turned Moscow’s gambit on its head.

A week in, and whatever the final outcome of Ukraine’s invasion of Russia, Kyiv’s initially perplexing, perhaps even rash, decision to send thousands of troops into the Kursk region and beyond is paying stark dividends. For the second time in just over a year, the Kremlin has a hostile force marching in its south, and very little it can do about it. Last June, it was the homegrown rogue mercenaries of Wagner, headed to Rostov and on, to decapitate Russia’s top brass. Now, it is Ukraine’s own military, scything off what they claim is 1,000 square kilometers of border territory.

Some analysis at the weekend put the figure at about a third of that. Nevertheless, the ability of Ukraine’s commander Oleksandr Syrskyi to even float this claim is a remarkable win in the information war for Kyiv, even if Moscow severely limits what information Russians are exposed to.

“Bold, brilliant, beautiful,” was what veteran US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham called Ukraine’s cross-border operation during a visit to Kyiv Monday. Meanwhile, US Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal called it “historic” and a “seismic breakthrough.”

The events are remarkably similar in how they expose the gulf between the veneer of impregnability the Kremlin tries to portray, and the ramshackle reality of its power. And while Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin’s march on Moscow fell apart when the former chef finally seemed to realize he was on his own – and had enraged Putin, rather than gaining his approval for tackling the failing top brass head-on – Ukraine’s forces seem to have little but their own supply lines and ambition holding them back. (CNN)…[+]

PARAMARIBO —The U.S. Embassy in Paramaribo is announcing the start of ‘Gran Mati’ 2024 in partnership with the Surinamese Ministry of Defense.  Thirty-two medical providers, medics, dentists, and behavioral health specialists from the South Dakota Army National Guard and 114th Fighter Wing will provide free healthcare for citizens of Suriname as part of Operation ‘Gran Mati’. 

Services will be provided at Heilig Hart School, La Vigilantia; St. Wilhelmus School, Powakka; and a special unit of JTV Dental Clinic at the Military Hospital, Paramaribo from August 19 through August 26.  Medical operations at the sites in Para will be from 08:00-16:00 hrs. on weekdays and 08:00-14:00 hrs. on Saturday and Sunday. Dental care at the Military Hospital will be provided from 08:00-14:00 hrs. on weekdays only.

‘Gran Mati’, which means ‘good friend’, is a military operation for medical outreach to the interior of Suriname, where healthcare is limited. Free medical treatment will be provided to citizens of Suriname by the Surinamese and United States Armed Forces. This will be the fourth edition of Operation ‘Gran Mati’.  In previous years the operation took place in Albina, District Marowijne; Apoera, Resort Kabalebo, District Sipaliwini; and Langa Tabbetje, Resort Pamacca, District Sipaliwini…[+]

MOSCOW- Russian President Vladimir Putin has told Palestinian Authority PA President Mahmoud Abbas he is concerned about the high number of Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza. In a meeting in Moscow on Tuesday, Abbas said that Russia was considered one of the “dearest friends of the Palestinian people, while Putin reaffirmed Russia’s support for a two-state solution.

Everyone is well aware that Russia today, unfortunately, must defend its interests and defend its people with arms in hand. But what is happening in the Middle East, what is happening in Palestine, of course, does not go unnoticed on our part,” Putin said, according to a Kremlin transcript.

And of course, we are watching with great pain and anxiety the humanitarian catastrophe that has unfolded in Palestine,” he added. The meeting takes place amid rising regional tensions, with Israel preparing for anticipated retaliatory attacks from Iran and Hezbollah following a series of assassinations of high-level Hamas and Hezbollah leaders.

Russia, which has long sought to balance cordial ties with both Palestinian groups and Israel, has drawn the ire of Israel since the beginning of the war in Gaza by hosting delegations from Hamas and underscoring civilian suffering in Gaza, where Israel’s campaign has killed nearly 40,000 people and displaced more than 90 percent of the population. While Russia has tried to position itself as a potential peacemaker in the conflict, its energies are largely focused on Ukraine, where its forces have failed to overcome fierce Ukrainian opposition after invading that country in February 2022.    (Al Jazeera)…[+]