DefenceTalkEven as the pandemic raged and economies around the world were devastated, nuclear-armed countries last year increased spending on atomic weapon arsenals by 1.4 billion dollars, campaigners said Monday. In a fresh report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) detailed how the world’s nine nuclear-armed states continued to swell their spending on such […]

DefenceTalkFrench arms exports fell by 41 percent in 2020 to 4.9 billion euros, with negotiations for major contracts disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, a defence ministry report showed Wednesday. The report, submitted to parliament and seen by AFP before publication, said the sharp drop “does not reflect a fundamental trend”, with significant new deals clinched […]

DefenceTalkPresident Donald Trump on Thursday laid out guidelines for a gradual reopening of the United States after the battering of the coronavirus pandemic, saying normal life should resume quickly in some states. Trump’s new push came as he saw progress in his campaign to pressure China, with fellow Western leaders agreeing that Beijing has not […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-outlines-phased-reopening-as-china-faces-virus-ire-75208/

DefenceTalkAnger is rising in Taiwan over China continuing to buzz the island with fighter jets and warships even as they both fight the global coronavirus pandemic. The self-ruled democratic island has had to scramble its own fighter jets in response to recent Chinese manoeuvres, designed to show that Beijing’s military might remains unbowed by the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/taiwan-anger-over-china-military-drills-during-virus-outbreak-74952/

DefenceTalkBoeing lost $52 billion on the stock market in a week, a rout that underscores the challenges facing the aircraft manufacturer amid setbacks over the 737 MAX and the coronavirus pandemic. But Boeing remains a business behemoth key to the American economy. The industrial giant has lost all the gains amassed since President Donald Trump […]https://www.defencetalk.com/economic-heavyweight-boeing-hammered-by-dual-crises-74832/

DefenceTalkA Chinese government campaign to cast doubt on the origin of the coronavirus pandemic is fueling a row with the United States, with a Beijing official promoting conspiracy theories and Washington calling it the “Wuhan virus”. The spat comes as China tries to deflect blame for the contagion and reframe itself as a country that […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-us-spar-over-origin-of-coronavirus-74815/