Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Philippines and U.S militaries to join forces for combat drills amid Iran war As part of their annual combat exercises, over 17,000 American and Philippine military personnel will join forces to participate in one of the largest exercises to date. Known as the Balikatan exercise, the joint exercise will take place a

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Taiwanese Opposition Leader Visited Xi Jinping on a Rare Occasion Cheng Li-wun is the opposition leader and the chair of the Kuomintang party (KMT) of Taiwan. While current Taiwanese President Lai Ching–te of the Democratic Progressive Party has not visited China and there is no official diplomatic channel between h

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Sri Lanka and the IMF Struck an Initial $700 Million Deal As the war in Iran has dragged on over the past few weeks, the economic crisis in Sri Lanka has deepened. Since the country imports up to 60% of its energy needs, which has become increasingly difficult due to the war with Iran and the closure of the Strait

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Rohingya Refugees in Bangladesh Camp Face Consequences of U.S. Cuts to Foreign Aid Under the Trump Administration Rohingya refugees, a persecuted minority group from Myanmar, are facing an existential food crisis in Bangladesh camps this week. Earlier this month, the food assistance from the U.N. that they previous

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Southeast Asian Countries Revisit Nuclear Plants After Vietnam Signs Deals with Russia. While Southeast Asia has never produced nuclear energy, a newly advanced nuclear deal between Vietnam and Russia this week reignited conversations around nuclear energy production in the region. These conversations come in the m

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Japan-led Coalition to Sign $57 Billion Oil Deal with U.S Companies Weeks into the Iran conflict, tensions surrounding oil supplies are increasing all over the world, and so is the average price for an oil barrel. Since the start of the conflict, Iran has shut down the Strait of Hormuz, which is responsible for the

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu India’s PM Modi Paid a Rare Visit to Israel On Wednesday, February 25th, Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India arrived in Jerusalem and received a warm welcome from his Israeli counterpart, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. This marks only the second time Modi has visited Israel and the first since the beginning o

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu PM Takaichi Wins a Landslide Victory in Snap Election Less than four months after making history and taking over as the first female prime minister of Japan, Takaichi took a political risk and called a snap election to muster further support and mandate from voters. It is a move that would allow her to continue ca

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Xi Discussed Trade and Taiwan with Trump Following Putin’s Call Following a call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping hopped on another call on Feb. 4 to discuss trade and Taiwan with U.S. President Donald Trump. The call took place two months before Trump’s expected visit to Chin

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Top Diplomats Discuss Myanmar's Recent Election Top diplomats of ASEAN countries met in Cebu, Philippines, on Wednesday, January 28th, to attend their annual retreat and discuss all the critical issues in the region. These issues include the ongoing border war between Thailand and Cambodia, the recent military-run

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Emma Grace Jarvis, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, and Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Japanese and Filipino Foreign Ministers Sign New Security Pacts On a recent tour of Asia and the Middle East, which included stops in Israel and the Palestinian territory, Japan’s Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi met with his Filipino counterpart, Theresa Larazo, to sign two important security pacts. This event o

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Australia and Indonesia Agree on New Security Pact In a statement made to the press on November 12th, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a new, mutual security pact between Australia and Indonesia to be signed this upcoming January. The statement followed Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto's first visit to Australia.

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Taiwan Announces an Unusual Visit From Fiji’s UN Ambassador On November 5th, Taiwan’s presidential office announced a visit from Filipo Tarakinikini, Fiji’s permanent representative to the United Nations, of which Taiwan is not a member state. This visit is highly unusual as Fiji is an important ally of China in the Pacific and officiall

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Japan Elects Ultra-Conservative and First Woman to the Office of Prime Minister On Tuesday, October 21st, Japan made history and elected the first-ever woman prime minister. Having cleared a majority of votes in both the Lower and Upper Houses, Sanae Takaichi is now the prime minister of Japan. As the new Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, a staunch conserv

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Gooden, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet, Meera Srinivasan Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Taiwan's President Vows Defense Spending as China Increases Threats During an address to the nation on Taiwan National Day, President Lai stood strong against China's recent threats and announced a new air defense system known as the “T-Dome”. In the same address, President Lai called on China to withhold the use of force to seize Taiwa

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Wilson, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Australia and Papua New Guinea Sign a Mutual Security Defense Treaty For the first time in over 70 years, Australia formalized a mutual security pact with its nearest neighbor and former colony, Papua New Guinea. Other than the ANZUS treaty, which Australia signed with the U.S and New Zealand in 1951, this security agreement marks a rare occasion as it i

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Wilson, Ethan Joyce, Bianca Orfila-Molinet Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu South Korean...

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Wilson, Ethan Joyce Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Xi Jinping Becomes the First Chinese...

Edited by Mary Wahn, Grey Cohen, John Wilson, Ethan Joyce Asia and the Pacific Written by Jesse Vu Modern Problem Requires Modern...

Weekly News Digest for April 4th, 2025 Compiled by Lydia Wong, Trinity De Lima, Tobyn Smith, Nila Karunakaran, Layla Jeeth, Mary...