WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers landed in Guam this week in the long-range aircraft’s second deployment to the island this year amid regional tension over Taiwan and the looming prospect of a new North Korean nuclear test. The U.S. military confirmed their deployment to the U.S. Pacific territory as part of a “bomber task force” mission on Thursday, a day after aircraft-spotting websites reported their flight from home bases in the United States. North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year, including launching one over Japan. Officials in Washington and Seoul say North Korea also appears prepared to resume nuclear testing for the first time since 2017. North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests since 2006. The United States and its allies in South Korea and Japan have stepped up displays of military force in response to North Korea’s missile tests, including conducting naval drills with a U.S. aircraft carrier and staging major field exercises for the first time in years.  B-1B bombers have participated in shows of force against North Korea in previous years. North Korea denounces military exercises by the United States and its allies as provocative and proof of hostile intentions.

 

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PERTH (AFP) – Australia and Japan agreed to share more sensitive intelligence and deepen military cooperation Saturday, signing a security pact aimed at countering China’s military rise. Prime ministers Fumio Kishida and Anthony Albanese inked the accord in the Western Australian city of Perth, revamping a 15-year-old agreement drafted when terrorism and weapons proliferation were the overriding concerns. “This landmark declaration sends a strong signal to the region of our strategic alignment”, said Albanese, hailing the “Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation”. Under the accord, the two countries agreed military forces would train together in Northern Australia, and would “expand and strengthen cooperation across defence, intelligence sharing”, Australian officials said. Without citing China or North Korea by name, Kishida said the agreement was a response to an “increasingly harsh strategic environment”.

 

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ROME (AP) — Giorgia Meloni, whose political party with neo-fascist roots secured the most votes in Italy’s national election last month, was sworn in Saturday as the country’s first far-right premier since the end of World War II. She is also the first woman to serve as premier. Meloni, 45, recited the oath of office before President Sergio Mattarella, who on Friday formally asked her to form a government. Her Brothers of Italy party, which she co-founded in 2012, will rule in coalition with the right-wing League of Matteo Salvini and the conservative Forza Italia headed by former Premier Silvio Berlusconi, whose parties had lost popularity with voters in recent years. Meloni signed a pledge to be faithful to Italy’s post-war republic, and Mattarella counter-signed it. As head of state, the president serves as guarantor of the Italian Constitution, drafted in the years immediately after the end of World War II and the demise of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The 24 ministers in Meloni’s government also were sworn into office in a sumptuous room of the Quirinal Palace.

 

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CARACAS (FT) – Venezuelan opposition political parties are discussing plans to oust the current opposition leader Juan Guaido, according to a report. The alliance of Venezuelan opposition parties decided to move on without U.S.-backed Guaido as their so-called “interim president”, the report said, citing a senior member in one of Venezuela’s opposition parties. Guaido could be removed from his role as the Venezuelan opposition leader within the next two weeks, the report said. A majority of the opposition parties believe that Guaido and his government are at odds with reality in Venezuela, the report added. Three of the four major opposition parties in the alliance that backed the decision to oust Guaido include Primero Justicia, Accion Democratica and Un Nuevo Tiempo. Earlier this year, Guaido made headline news after a group of demonstrators had ambushed him at a restaurant in Venezuela’s Cojedes state and proceeded to fling several chairs in his direction. At the time, the POLITICO had announced that he was in the area as part of his initiative to “consolidate unity” and “defeat” President Nicolás Maduro administration.

 

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Hurricane Roslyn grew to Category 3 force on Saturday as it headed for a collision with Mexico’s Pacific coast, likely north of the resort of Puerto Vallarta. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Roslyn’s maximum sustained winds had increased to 120 mph (195 kph) early Saturday, and it was expected to grow still further. The storm was centered about 200 miles (320 kilometers) south-southwest of Cabo Corrientes — the point of land jutting into the Pacific south of Puerto Vallarta — and moving northwest at 7 mph (11 kph). The forecast called for Roslyn to begin shifting to a northward movement and then northeast, putting it on path that could take it close to Cabo Corrientes and the Puerto Vallarta region on Saturday night or early Sunday before making landfall in Nayarit state on Sunday morning.