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Description: Amid growing pressure from Chinese influence, the Taiwanese government would apparently conclude a deal in the billions in order to appease the new Trump administration into further defense support. The deal would focus on the island’s coastal defense with cruise ballistic missiles as well as HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocker System) rockets. Recent tensions arose with heightened level of military drills in the South China Sea as well as the removal of the statement from the US State Department’s website which entailed the recognition of Taiwan’s independence. Impact: Taiwan is crucial for US regional interests in the South China Sea as it
Description: South Korea’s government has suspended the use of the Chinese AI – based application DeepSeek citing severe privacy policy concerns. The ban came as government and regulatory bodies in South Korea determined stipulations in DeepSeek’s user manual not to be in line with privacy laws in South Korea. The country joins the US which has recently banned the usage of DeepSeek on government issued devices also citing privacy concerns. Recent research also indicated that DeepSeek has learned to collect data from its users which ended up on Chinese data farms ultimately owned by the Chinese Ministry of Defense. Impact: The application that disrupted the t
Description: On the precipice of the Munich Security Conference, EU and NATO members were left out in cold by the US and most notably their Vice – President JD Vance. The Conference mostly entailed conversations regarding the war in Ukraine, the upending of military spending and the dissolution of EU – US bilateral relations. Vice – President Vance had practically criticized the entire EU and all of NATO’s member countries for not showing initiative and not involving themselves into the global issues on the level that the US have. The Conference ultimately showed the discombobulated state of affairs in the multilateral relations between EU and the US and emphasized an adopti
Description: The three – month protest spree has continued in the city of Kragujevac as student protest amassed and grew larger by the day. The protests, instigated by the fatal disaster of a railway canopy in Novi Sad, have gained serious traction and are becoming increasingly threatening towards President Aleksandar Vucic’s political establishment. The students were joined by farmers and teachers as their demands have remained adamant and unchanged. The protesters demanded from Vucic’s government a public and transparent probe into the investigation regarding the accident and have also accused the entire political establishment of grand – corruption. Impact:
Description: Democratic Republic of Congo’s government has directly accused Rwanda of territorial incursion as the Rwandan national army has been identified to have entered the country on 16 Feb. Rwanda has been previously accused of harboring M23 rebels and facilitating military equipment, logistics and intelligence support in the DR Congo. On 15 Feb, M23 rebels announced they have conducted a military offensive on the city of Bukavu after which they seized control of a larger part of the North and South Kivu province since occupying the city of Goma previously. The conflict has so far internally displaced over 6.4 million people, while in the past month over 3,000 people h
Description: The US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov where discussions were held regarding the overcoming of several global geopolitical obstacles between the superpowers. The phone call represented a follow up on Trump and Putin’s conversation held on 12 Feb where the headline was the war in Ukraine. Rubio and Lavrov discussed the current provisions the countries would have to make regarding Ukraine, the situation in the Middle East and the overcoming of trade, economic and diplomatic barriers set by ex – President Biden’s administration. Impact: Setting the stage for reignition of diplomatic ties wi
Description: Google has been involved with plethora of authoritarian regimes and upheld requests for removal of posts and videos from Russia, China, the Taliban and even Iran. The tech company through its digital omnipresence exemplified by Google search engines has removed up to 200 videos from China, while Russian removal requests constituted up to 60% of the total requests for removal within the company. Videos and media articles have been removed from various digital operators that mostly concerned the criticizing of the governments in Moscow and Beijing. Google also upheld a request from the Taliban’s police forces since their retake of Afghanistan in 2021 and the reint
Description: The Gaza ceasefire agreement has continued as Israel and Hamas have agreed upon the 6th hostage exchange. The exchanges happened in the Khan Younis province of the Gaza Strip where three hostages have been exchanged in return for 369 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The ceasefire agreement was deemed to fail the past week as both Hamas and Israel withdrew their pledges to continue the exchanges and enter the second and third phase of negotiations. Hamas later last week announced their intention to withhold their end of the bargain while Israel supported by the US threatened to continue its war campaign in the enclave if the hostages weren’t relea
Description: The Gaza ceasefire agreement has continued as Israel and Hamas have agreed upon the 6th hostage exchange. The exchanges happened in the Khan Younis province of the Gaza Strip where three hostages have been exchanged in return for 369 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. The ceasefire agreement was deemed to fail the past week as both Hamas and Israel withdrew their pledges to continue the exchanges and enter the second and third phase of negotiations. Hamas later last week announced their intention to withhold their end of the bargain while Israel supported by the US threatened to continue its war campaign in the enclave if the hostages weren’t relea
Description: Google has been involved with plethora of authoritarian regimes and upheld requests for removal of posts and videos from Russia, China, the Taliban and even Iran. The tech company through its digital omnipresence exemplified by Google search engines has removed up to 200 videos from China, while Russian removal requests constituted up to 60% of the total requests for removal within the company. Videos and media articles have been removed from various digital operators that mostly concerned the criticizing of the governments in Moscow and Beijing. Google also upheld a request from the Taliban’s police forces since their retake of Afghanistan in 2021 and the reint