Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told President Barack Obama he’ll consider sending the country’s maritime forces to back up U.S. operations in the South China Sea. Japan and the U.S. have occasionally conducted joint exercises, but never in such close proximity to features claimed by China. Source: Bloomberg
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is offering 11 million barrels of oil for sale from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) ahead of sanctions on Iran that are expected to reduce global supplies of crude. Source: Reuters
The number of Venezuelans entering Brazil is rising, officials say, despite Saturday’s attacks on makeshift migrant border camps. Source: BBC
Taiwan lost another ally to Beijing on Tuesday when diplomatic ties with El Salvador were severed, as China presses the remaining nations with diplomatic links to Taipei to end them. Source: France24
