The Sunday Subject – April 14, 2024
Kishida Fumio, Japan’s prime minister, visited Washington for talks with Joe Biden and to address Congress.
America and Japan are strengthening their military alliance, including bolstering cooperation between their command structures. America, Japan, and the Philippines are also preparing for their first trilateral summit. The Global Times, a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party, wrote that the strengthening of the US-Japan alliance merely serves to further Japan’s role as a “tool” in America’s strategy to “suppress” China.
The first parents in America to be held criminally responsible for a mass shooting carried out by their child were sentenced to between ten and 15 years in prison.
In 2021 their 15-year-old son fatally shot four students at his school in Michigan. The parents were found guilty in separate trials earlier this year of involuntary manslaughter.
Joe Biden warned Binyamin Netanyahu that he must do more to protect civilians and negotiate a ceasefire with Hamas.
Israel said it would open the Erez crossing and allow in direct shipments, opening major new pathways for aid into Gaza. The following days saw a large increase in trucks entering Gaza with humanitarian aid.
Josep Borrell, the European Union’s top diplomat, warned that Russia’s ambitions to expand its reach outside Ukraine meant that war in Europe is a possibility.
Borrell described the situation as “existential.” He warned that Europe may not be able to count on America to defend it for the first time since the Cold War.
For regular UB news updates, check this out.
