The European Commission on Wednesday introduced a comprehensive plan to enhance the European Union’s (EU) defense capabilities, aiming to bolster military readiness and reduce reliance on non-EU allies amid uncertainty over future U.S. support for NATO.
“The security architecture that we relied on can no longer be taken for granted. Europe is ready to step up. We must invest in defense, strengthen our capabilities, and take a proactive approach to security,” Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

A Japanese panel of experts issued guidance to greater Tokyo residents on Friday in the event Mount Fuji erupts, telling them to stay indoors unless the ashfall becomes severe.
The guidelines were issued to the region’s more than 44 million residents by experts, convened by the Cabinet Office. The panel also called on municipalities and households to maintain emergency supplies like food and water in case the 3,776-metre volcano were to erupt.

A year after ousting ArcelorMittal, Italy moved Thursday to start handing over control of its giant ex-Ilva steelworks — one of Europe’s largest — to Azerbaijan’s Baku Steel.
State commissioners running the plant in the southern city of Taranto asked the government to authorise “preferential negotiations” with a consortium led by Baku Steel and the state-owned Azerbaijan Investment Company.

ELECTRIC vehicles including the Chinese-made Geely Geometry E, have arrived at Yangon Port. Premier Automotive Limited imported these vehicles with the approval of the National Electric Vehicle and Related Industry Development Committee. They have been cleared for release yesterday according to the standard procedures. — MNA/KZL

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

INLAY fall in Nyaungshwe, a popular summer destination, is attracting a lot of visitors from Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw, said Ko Jimmy from the Kalaw Car Rental & Photo Free Service.
The route to the waterfall from Kalaw is about three or four furlongs from the arrow shown on the road from the Bawasansara Bridge to the Khaung Taing hot spring.
“As this is a new destination near Kalaw, many people are interested to visit. People from Yangon, Mandalay, and Nay Pyi Taw came. Yangon tops among them. It is a mountain waterfall.

It is imperative to fight fake news, develop the art of propagating via media and counter efforts to exert foreign influence.

North Korea says it has conducted a test-firing of its latest anti-aircraft missile system with the country's leader Kim Jong Un overseeing the launch.

MOSCOW, March 21 

Russia's foreign ministry said Thursday that Ukraine had breached a proposed 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure by striking a Russian oil depot, according to media reports.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told Russia's Channel One that the United States, which had proposed the ceasefire, was responsible for holding Ukraine accountable for its actions.

The European Council, which convened on Thursday, failed to make any practical decisions on more military aid to the Kiev government.

The final statement of the meeting makes no mention of the 40-billion-euro military aid package, proposed by EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, or its reduced variant worth five billion euro.

Britain's defense ministry says up to 250,000 Russian troops have died since Russian forces invaded Ukraine in 2022.

The ministry posted on social media on Thursday that Russian forces have likely sustained about 900,000 casualties, and 200,000 to 250,000 of these have been killed. It says the deaths are Russia's largest losses since the World War Two.