Author: Defenceline Webdesk

Tekever AR5 UAS. Credit: TEKEVER. Tekever, a developer of AI-driven autonomous systems, has finalised the first stage of its $580m Series D fundraising, drawing investment from both new and long-standing supporters.  Announced on 23 September, the fundraising was led by UC Investments (University of California) and Baillie Gifford, with Merlyn Advisors joining as a first-time strategic investor.   Discover B2B Marketing That Performs Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms. Find out more Existing shareholders Crescent Cove, Ventura Capital and Iberis Capital have also renewed their investment.  Tekever said the new funding, which…

More than 160 civil society organizations yesterday urged Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to halt plans to deport ​Rohingya refugees to Myanmar, saying that they could face severe risks including ongoing violence ‌and forced conscription into the military. Last week, Anwar said that he planned to invite military-appointed leader Min Aung Hlaing to Malaysia, in a bid to expedite the repatriation of tens of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have sought sanctuary in Malaysia over the past decade. Anwar’s government has already reached a deal with Naypyidaw for the “voluntary” repatriation of some 5,000 refugees, which make up around half…

The organizers of a Cambodian beauty pageant have been forced to acknowledge their use of a historical photograph from Thailand, saying the mistake was unintentional and resulted from “insufficient verification” of the original sources. The Miss Universe Cambodia pageant came under fire on social media after images of women dressed in traditional attire were displayed on stage during the pageant’s preliminary round last week, along with a description saying they were wearing traditional Khmer clothing. One of the photographs, which showed seven Thai women in traditional dress, was taken in Kamphaeng Phet province in 1906, during the reign of King…

In an address to Vietnam National University in Hanoi in May, Japan’s Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae affirmed Japan’s commitment to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) concept. Tokyo pledged to increase its political, economic, and defense cooperation with ASEAN so that each ASEAN state can “acquire autonomy and resilience” in the face of intensifying geopolitical competition. It was Takaichi’s first public address on updating her predecessor Abe Shinzo’s FOIP vision, and her decision to deliver it in Vietnam says a lot about the current state of Japan-Vietnam ties. The reconciliation between Japan and Vietnam since the end of the Cold…

In April of 2026, 23-year-old Nway became scared of the dark for the first time in her life. She would lie awake at night, jumping at the noise of a car engine humming past the house she shared with her single mother, anxious that she could be dragged from her bed as she slept. Her fear of the dark was not unfounded. As a Burmese political activist who had spent the last four years of her life in prison until April of this year, she was a high-profile target for forced conscription into the Myanmar military, which seized power in…

Pakistan struck 10 sites across Afghanistan’s Khost, Paktia, and Kandahar provinces early on 24 September. Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said the targets were “identified military objectives” linked to eight drones Pakistan intercepted near Kohat and Torkham a day earlier. Afghan officials reported strikes in Khost’s Gurbaz, Ismail Khel, and Mandozai districts and in Kandahar city’s 9th district. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said four civilians were killed, while Pajhwok reported no casualties. These strikes followed a 21 September round on Kunar and Paktika, where Pakistan claimed 28 militants killed and Kabul reported three civilian deaths. They also came after the Pakistan…

Last summer a shipment of F-35 parts was reportedly re-routed to Hong Kong from its intended destination in Australia. Australia is a partner in the F-35 program; the People’s Republic of China is not. U.S. authorities are reportedly trying to recover the parts and prevent future breaches. The incident has caused consternation in the United States and Australia, both of which have effectively committed to the F-35 as the foundation of their future airpower. And yet the mis-shipment has made clear a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the F-35 project; high tech proprietary classification does not go well with an…

When Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae sat down with U.S. President Donald Trump in New York on September 22, the timing itself was the message. Chinese President Xi Jinping would arrive in Washington, D.C. the next day for state visit to Washington and his second summit with Trump this year. Takaichi said afterward that holding the talks at such a moment demonstrated the strength of the Japan-U.S. alliance. But the most important audience may have been Trump himself. Tokyo’s anxiety is not hard to understand. Trump personally greeted Xi on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews, an unusually warm welcome…

On September 18, President Lee Jae-myung convened a press conference. Unlike his other public appearances, this one was devoid of smiles. There were no pleasantries floated. He just trudged to the podium in his crisp dark navy suit, his presence and the ambience made heavier by the royal blue of the presidential office draped in the backdrop. “I have been lacking fear and humility,” he said. “I shall revive the fear for the people and tackle every task more meticulously and fiercely, from a lower position of service.”  The administration’s poor performance in opinion polls prompted this sense of crisis…

The fifth edition of SEMICON India closed on September 19 in New Delhi, after featuring a massive scale of over 600 exhibitors and 300 international companies across 52 countries. Themed “Silicon to Systems: Building the Ecosystem,” the exhibition-cum-conference served two objectives. For industry, it showcased expansion in India’s indigenous technology, ranging from high-performance computing and domestic processor design to system-on-chip design automation tools. On the policy front, the platform highlighted the evolution of India’s semiconductor ecosystem, stressing its expanding capabilities and role in the global semiconductor landscape. Semicon 2.0, the second phase of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), was approved…