Wow. A direct exchange (on Twitter) between the leaders of India and Taiwan.

Later this month three finalists in this year’s The Orwell Prizes will be on stage at Foyles for a discussion about the art of political storytelling and the urgent themes raised in their shortlisted work. Not to be missed! Tickets 👇

🕖Wed 26 June, 7pm
🎫bit.ly/3wSvRfJ

'The scale [of Russia's destruction in Ukraine] is hard to comprehend. More buildings have been destroyed in Ukraine than if every building in Manhattan were to be leveled four times over.' Impressive The New York Times data story. nytimes.com/interactive/20…

Long-delayed U.S. permission to use HIMARS GMLRS to strike across the Russian border starts to bring results. Here is footage of an S-300/S-400 missile system that Russia also uses in surface-to-surface mode to pummel Kharkiv. Location said to be in Belgorod region. Source:

The Philippines may be interested in hearing about how a country without much of a navy managed to defang a nearby naval power.

This used to be a pretty little town just three weeks ago. It had the misfortune of being near Russia. Vovchansk, Ukraine.

Guess which country 🇨🇳 they come from?

Zelensky in Singapore blasts China for becoming “an instrument of Putin,” says Beijing has frozen meaningful contact since his phone call with Xi in April 2023. wsj.com/world/zelensky…

Italian exports to Kyrgyzstan in January and February 2024 are up 2200% from the same two months in 2019. It's an open secret that these exports are going to Russia, where they help keep Putin's war economy going. It is beyond baffling that Europe's policy makers do nothing...

A U.S. official reacts to the remarks of Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun here at #sld24 :

“Every year for three years, a new Chinese defense minister has come to Shangri-La. And every year, they’ve given a speech at complete odds with the reality of the PLA’s coercive activity

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun speech IISS News #SLD24 was a mix of ‘win-win’ ‘common development’ carrot and warnings against ‘bloc confrontation’, ‘small circles targeting other countries’, ‘hegemonic powers’, a ‘tech blockade’ preventing China’s tech development and a

I guess he doesn’t have a habit of replying to unscripted questions…

And after being interrupted again, and asked to address Ukraine and the Middle East, Dong Jun starts talking about the South China Sea…

Interrupted by the moderator after a long monologue on Taiwan and asked to address questions on the issues of Ukraine and the Middle East, Dong Jun refuses to switch course and continues his tirade…

China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun speech: against back ground of Putin’s nuclear threats to Ukraine, Dong warns that ‘nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought’.

IISS News #SLD24

Zelensky arrives in Singapore. #SLD2024