🇯🇵 🇨🇳 🇹🇼 Japan's Self-Defense Forces miss recruiting target by more than half

Ukraine war, Taiwan tensions may be influencing decision not to enlist

The SDF aimed to enlist 9,245 such personnel for the year ended in March, but recruited only about 4,300. Reaching less than half of the goal was well below the previous low of 72% set in fiscal 2018.

Some at Japan's Defense Ministry think Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year and China's military exercises around Taiwan contributed to the drop by increasing the perceived risk of war.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/Japan-s-Self-Defense-Forces-miss-recruiting-target-by-more-than-half

https://archive.ph/Ck5Rz

https://archive.ph/Ck5Rz

🇲🇽 🇺🇸 Mexican President AMLO: "We are being spied on by the Pentagon and many media outlets in Mexico are leaking information provided by the DEA."

📎 COMBATE

🚨 UN ready to completely abandon Afghanistan in May unless the Taliban lifts restrictions on women. 🇺🇳⚡️🏳️

The UN’s withdrawal would have a devastating impact on the people of Afghanistan, who are already facing a humanitarian crisis. The UN provides essential services to millions in the country, including food, water, healthcare, and education. A withdrawal would leave millions of people without access to these essential services. 🇦🇫👥

🔗 Kabul Now

🚨 As the UN effectively threatens to pull out of #Afghanistan over women education ban, Taliban declares 'we don't care' -- closes all private educational institutions in two provinces. 🇦🇫🏳️

🔗 AKI Press

#Sudan 🇸🇩: Rapid Support Forces (#RSF) relesed a video from air base captured from Sudanese Army.

RSF members apparently burned several Mil Mi-24 attack helicopters at the military base.

https://twitter.com/war_noir/status/1648302288048357376

#Syria 🇸🇾: #Turkistan Islamic Party (#Uyghur sub-group of #HTS) released a video of their attack on an SAA position in Sahl Al-Ghab, W. #Hama.

Militants appear to be using a technical armed with a possible 73mm Iranian "AMIG SPG-9" recoilles rifle captured from SyAA.

https://twitter.com/war_noir/status/1647941965625933827

🇷🇸❌🇪🇺— Serbian FM, Ivica Dacic: "It's humiliation and a message to Kosovo that it can do whatever it wants. If these announcements [about Kosovo being admitted into the Council of Europe] are true, I won't go to Strasbourg tomorrow."

🇷🇸❌🇪🇺— Serbian FM, Ivica Dacic: "The Council of Europe has never before admitted something that is not a country"

🇽🇰🇪🇺🇷🇸— The European Parliament approved visa liberalization (entry without visa) for Kosovar citizens beginning with 1st January 2024

🇷🇸🤝🇪🇺— Serbian FM, Ivica Dacic has arrived in Strasbourg, there he told the following to Serbian press: “The fact that anyone is talking about [Kosovo], as well as visa liberalisation for Kosovo, in the days around the 10th anniversary of signing the Brussels agreement, is an act of hypocrisy and insolence towards Serbia”