Egyik 19

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Hungary
17.04.2025  "It's shocking to see that while the entire world, including the Americas, Asia, and Africa, is in favor of peace returning to Europe, it is the European politicians going against peace,' says Hungarian top diplomat Szijjártó at a joint press conference with his Pakistani counterpart Dar, who is also the deputy prime minister, in the capital Islamabad. This attitude is "unacceptable," he remarked. He called on European politicians not to undermine US President Trump's efforts to restore peace in Central Europe. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

France
17/04/2025  US Secretary of State Rubio began talks in Paris today aimed at reviving stalled negotiations for a ceasefire in Ukraine and addressing growing tensions between the US and Europe. On his first official visit to France, Rubio met with French President Macron and Foreign Minister Barrot. He was accompanied by Witkoff, US President Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and the Middle East. High-level Ukrainian officials and ministers also arrived in Paris for separate meetings with US officials and representatives from France, Germany, and the UK. French Defense Minister Lecornu is in Washington for talks with US Defense Secretary Hegseth. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Tuesday 15 April 2025  Multiple prisons in France hit by co-ordinated attacks involving gunfire and arson. France’s anti-terrorism prosecutor’s department is investigating the attacks alongside the national security agency. Prisons were hit in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille, Valence and Nîmes, Luynes, Villepinte, and Nanterre. The wave of attacks comes as lawmakers are poised to approve a sweeping new anti-drug trafficking law that would increase the powers of police investigating narcos and create a new prosecutors’ office for organised crime. (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)

Germany
(Tuesday), /04/15/2025  On Sunday, 'conservative' leader Merz advocated sending Taurus missiles to Ukraine in an interview with broadcaster ARD. He argued that the advanced weapons systems would allow Kyiv to disrupt Russian military supply lines, particularly those linked to Crimea. Russia rebuked the statement, with Kremlin spokesperson Peskov telling that European countries were 'further provoking the continuation of the war'. Taurus missiles, with a range of more than 500 kilometers, are known for their precision in striking fortified targets such as bridges and deeply buried command bunkers. Under the new coalition, the Social Democrats will retain the Defense Ministry, with Pistorius expected to continue as defense minister. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Greece
Monday 14 April 2025  Greece continues to procure defences. It has signed a new deal with France to purchase dozens of anti-ship missiles. The southeastern European nation has already bought two dozen Rafale warplanes and three Belharra-class frigates. In addition, Greece has said it will buy a fourth Belharra frigate and cruise missiles from France, as part of a 25-billion-euro defence plan by 2036. Speaking in Parliament earlier this month, Defense Minister Dendias said Greece plans to shift from traditional defence systems to a high-tech, networked strategy centred on mobile, Artificial Intelligence-powered missile systems, drone technologies, and advanced command units - reducing reliance on conventional fleets. Greece's modernisation drive – launched after years of defence cuts during the 2010-2018 financial crisis – already includes all branches of the armed forces and focuses on cooperation with France, Israel, and the United States. (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)

Italy
18/04/2025  Italy, the world's fourth-largest exporter, sends around 10 percent of its exports to the United States. US Vice President Vance today met with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome to discuss tariffs and a ceasefire in Ukraine, ahead of celebrating Easter at the Vatican and a meeting with the pope's right-hand man. Meloni was the first leader from Europe to visit Trump since he imposed 20 percent tariffs on EU exports, which he has since suspended for 90 days. The two leaders struck a warm tone yesterday during a working lunch and a meeting in the Oval Office, with Trump hailing the 48-year-old Italian premier as "fantastic". Meloni shares conservative views with Vance and President Trump, whom she met in Washington just a day before on a charm offensive aiming for a US-EU tariffs deal. Casting herself as the only European who could de-escalate Trump's trade war, Meloni highlighted their conservative common ground and said she wanted to "make the West great again". Meloni's decision to personally intercede with Trump has caused some disquiet among EU allies, who are concerned that her visit could undermine the bloc's unity. While Trump expressed confidence about an eventual deal with the 27-nation bloc he has accused of trying to "screw" the United States, he said yesterday that he was in "no rush". Russia's war in Ukraine meanwhile remained a touchy subject between the US and Italian leaders. Meloni has been a staunch ally of Ukraine and Zelensky since Russia's invasion in 2022. Trump said with Meloni beside him that 'I don't hold Zelensky responsible but I'm not exactly thrilled with the fact that that war started,' adding that he was "not a big fan' of that leader. The 40-year-old Vance, who converted to Catholicism in his mid-30s, said he was "looking forward to spending Easter here". "This is a place that was built by people that love humans and love God," he said, adding that it "really lifts up the human spirit". He travelled to Rome with his wife and three children, with the family due to celebrate Easter at St Peter's on Sunday. Later today, Vance will attend Good Friday mass at St Peter's Basilica. Tomorrow he is due to speak with Cardinal Parolin, the Vatican's secretary of state, the second-highest official at the Holy See after Pope Francis. (Source: France 24 ’with AFP’)

Poland
April 18, 2025  ’We want French nukes, Polish president says.’ In March, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland was ’talking seriously’ with France about the possibility. French President Macron has suggested extending France’s so-called nuclear umbrella over its European allies to the European Union’s eastern flank. With around 300 nuclear warheads, France is the only EU member country to possess such weapons, and one of three NATO members along with the U.S. and the U.K. ’I believe we can accept both solutions,’ Duda said in remarks published today about hosting both U.S. and French warheads on Polish soil. ’These two ideas are neither contradictory nor mutually exclusive.’ Poland and Denmark have previously expressed openness to the idea of sheltering under France’s nuclear protection. Warsaw has dramatically upscaled its conventional military in recent years, ’with its fighting force of 200,000 now the largest in the EU - and it hopes to build an army half a million strong in the coming years’. (Source: Politico - based in U.S., owned by a German company)

European Central Bank
17/04/2025  The European Central Bank (ECB) today slashed its three key interest rates by 25 basis points. The key deposit rate now stands at 2.25%, its lowest level since February 2023. The interest rates on the main refinancing operations and the marginal lending facility were also cut to 2.40% and 2.65%, respectively. This marked the seventh consecutive rate cut since the ECB initiated its easing cycle last June. The bank stated that the disinflation process is well on track as inflation has continued to develop as it expected, with both headline and core inflation declining in March. "Most measures of underlying inflation suggest that inflation will settle at around the Governing Council’s 2% medium-term target on a sustained basis," it said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Commission
April 15, 2025  Work has started on a 17th package of sanctions against Russia focusing on the shadow fleet and other elements, EU High Representative Kallas announced after the European Foreign Affairs Council, convened on 14 April in Luxembourg. It is clear that all the EU member states want peace, Kallas told journalists after the meeting. 'The EU is the biggest provider of military aid to Ukraine, but also the greatest supporter of the Ukrainian defence industry, as European countries have so far committed over €23 billion for military aid to Ukraine this year, according to the High Representative. The Council also touched on the training of Ukrainian soldiers through the EU Military Assistance Mission to Ukraine (EUMAM Ukraine), which has so far trained over 73,000 soldiers. As to the initiative on delivering two million rounds of ammunition to Ukraine, the High Representative announced that two-thirds of the target had already been reached, and that ’a large majority of member states’ agreed that the EU needed to do more'. (Source: Eu Neighbours East – ’funded by the European Union’)

European Union
(15 April 2025)  Germany is the largest extra-EU exporter of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, with €67.9 billion of exports recorded in 2024. Ireland, with €56.6 billion worth and Belgium, with €41.4 billion of exports, rank second and third. In 2024, the EU exported €313.4 billion worth of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, which was a 13.5% increase on the previous year. Imports saw an increase of 0.5% last year, totalling €119.7 billion. The main destination for extra-EU exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products last year was the United States, which accounted for 38.2% of all exports outside the EU, or €119.8 billion. (Source: Europe-data - ?)

Russia
(Saturday), April 19, 2025  "Guided by humanitarian considerations, today from 18:00 to 00:00 from Sunday to Monday, the Russian side declares an Easter truce. I order that all military actions be stopped for this period," Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Gerasimov. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

15/04/2025  Moscow’s forces have pushed Ukrainian troops out of all but 50 square kilometres of Kursk region, according to data from the Institute for the Study of War, which has mapped the conflict and published daily updates since the start of the war. When visiting Kursk in March, Putin instructed military commanders to set up a buffer zone along the border to prevent further Ukrainian incursions. Pushing into neighbouring Sumy region, Moscow's army has also captured several border settlements and controls around 95 square kilometres in the Ukrainian oblast. Regional capital Sumy lies just 18 miles from the Russian border. (Source: France 24)

April 13, 2025  Dugin, a longtime fixture of Russian ’far-right’ politics, spent years calling for Moscow to reject Western-style liberal democracy and restore its lost empire. Some analysts have dubbed him “Putin’s brain,” although he says his influence over the Russian president is exaggerated. The 63-year-old Dugin has long promoted Orthodox Christian traditionalism and the reunification of former Soviet republics with large ethnic-Russian populations. After the collapse of the U.S.S.R., he became a fierce opponent of the pro-U.S. government of Yeltsin, Russia’s first post-Soviet president. Dugin published dozens of books and founded the Eurasia Party, a fringe group that advocates for the unification of former Soviet republics, as well as Serbia and Mongolia. Although Dugin has called homosexuality a perversion, his first wife became one of Russia’s earliest LGBTQ activists and helped organize an unsanctioned Moscow gay-pride parade in 2006. In 2014, after Russia annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and began to foment armed clashes in eastern Ukraine, Dugin demanded the annihilation of Kyiv’s pro-Western leaders and their supporters. “Kill, kill and kill. There should be no more discussions,” he said during a video interview with a Russian online news service. The remarks sparked a furor that resulted in Dugin’s removal from his post at Moscow State University. Dugin is now promoting a softer version of such ideas in U.S. right-wing media. Appearing on Jones’s website Infowars in February, he blamed “globalists” for driving a wedge between Russia and Ukraine. Dugin started to reach a broader U.S. audience last year when he was interviewed by Carlson, the former Fox News host with millions of followers on YouTube and X. Their video encounter, recorded in Moscow, came out after Carlson’s interview with Putin at the Kremlin. Appearing on their shows, he has attacked “wokeism,” transgender activists and Soros, winning praise from his hosts. Speaking in fluent but accented English, Dugin responded to Carlson’s opening question with a five-minute lecture that ranged from the Protestant Reformation to artificial intelligence to the LGBTQ movement. “Finally, family is destroyed in favor of individualism,” Dugin said. “What you’re describing is clearly happening and it’s horrifying,” Carlson replied. During the past two months, Dugin has sat for lengthy interviews with Greenwald, the journalist who hosts a show on Rumble, a video-streaming site popular with conservatives; podcaster Napolitano, a former Fox News legal analyst; and Nawfal, host of a popular show on X. Now, Dugin is trying to find common ground with supporters of President Trump. As Trump and Putin move their countries closer in the realm of geopolitics, Dugin is trying to do the same on a cultural level. “I am interested in Trump and Trumpism,” Dugin told. “And Trumpists themselves are probably interested, in turn, in my ideas, theories and philosophical-ideological explorations.” Dugin’s critics decry U.S. media figures who have given him a platform to reach an American audience. He sees Trump as helping Russia regain its sphere of influence by having the U.S. retreat from its role as a global superpower. In a new book, available in English, released in February through a small European publishing house that has long carried Dugin’s works, “The Trump Revolution,” Dugin hails the president’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development as “a missile strike on the headquarters of globalism.” (Source: WSJ - U.S.)

4/12/2025  Putin’s secret dealmaker emerges from the shadows in Ukraine peace talks: Col. Gen. Beseda. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U.S.)

Ukraine
April 17, 2025  Towards the clinching of an agreement on developing minerals in Ukraine: "We are happy to announce the signing, with our American partners, of a Memorandum of Intent, which paves the way for an Economic Partnership Agreement and the establishment of the Investment Fund for the Reconstruction of Ukraine," Ukraine's first deputy prime minister and economy minister Svyrydenko wrote on the social media platform X. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Sunday, April 13, 2025  At least 21 people were killed, a further 83 people were injured in a Russian missile strike on the city of Sumy today. Two ballistic missiles struck the heart of the city at around 10:15 a.m. (Source: NPR / The Associated Press = U.S.)

Sat 12 Apr 2025  US and Ukrainian officials met yesterday to discuss White House proposals for a minerals deal. Trump last week complained Zelenskyy was trying to back out of an agreement and said Ukraine’s president would have big problems if he failed to sign. On Thursday, Zelenskyy said that Ukraine could only agree if there was parity between the two sides, with revenues split '50-50'. The latest US draft is more maximalist than the original version from February, which proposed giving Washington $500bn worth of rare metals, as well as oil and gas. The most recent document includes a demand that the US government’s International Development Finance Corporation take control of the natural gas pipeline in Ukraine used to send Russian gas to Europe. It runs from the town of Sudzha in western Russia to the city of Uzhhorod, about 1,200km away, on the border with the EU. Built in Soviet times, the pipeline is a key piece of infrastructure and a major energy route. On 1 January, Ukraine cut off the supply of gas when its five-year contract with the Russian state energy company Gazprom expired. It had previously earned hundreds of millions of euros in transit fees, including during the first three years of full-scale war. Landa, a senior economist with the Centre for Economic Strategy, a Kyiv thinktank, said the Americans’ demands had little chance of being accepted by Kyiv. The US Treasury confirmed technical talks were ongoing. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom)

(Saturday), Apr 12, 2025  US and Ukrainian officials met last Friday to discuss a US proposal for access to Ukraine's mineral wealth. But prospects for a breakthrough seemed slim due to the meeting's ’antagonistic’ atmosphere. Tension stemmed from the Trump administration's latest draft proposal being more extensive than the initial version. Despite these challenges, discussions were confirmed by a Treasury Department spokesperson who described them as "technical in nature." Lieutenant General Kellogg, Trump's envoy to Kyiv, has suggested a possible partitioning of the country similar to Berlin's division post-World War II. As Russia has still not agreed on a truce, Kellogg said Ukraine could be divided into zones of control. British and French troops would make up a reassurance force in the west, while Russian forces would take over the east, he envisioned. US officials have disclosed that more than 100 Chinese nationals are fighting for Russia against Ukraine. These are mercenaries with no direct connections to China's government. However, it was confirmed that Chinese military officers have been fighting the war behind Russian lines with Beijing's approval, in order to gain tactical lessons from the conflict. The United States President's special envoy, Witkoff, and Putin talked for over four hours, discussing aspects of a potential Ukrainian settlement. Ukraine's allies pledged a record $24 billion in additional military support for Kyiv. The meeting, attended by over 40 countries, was jointly convened by the UK and Germany, but the US did not attend in person. (Source: NewsBytes – India)

11.04.2025  Defense Minister Umerov announced today that Norway will provide €7 billion ($7.9 billion) in military aid to Ukraine in 2025, following a meeting with Norwegian Defense Minister Sandvik. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Europe
April 14, 2025  Russia and China would respond to US base closures and troop withdrawals from Europe with euphoria, said Admiral (Ret.) Foggo, Distinguished Fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis, former Commander of US Naval Forces Europe, NATO’s Joint Force Command Naples, and the US Sixth Fleet. He did 40 years in the Navy - 12 years underwater, 12 years in the Pentagon, 12 years overseas. He had nine commands. His last command was Commander Naval Forces Europe, CINCUSNAVEUR, Commander Naval Forces Africa, all the Navy in Africa-US, and then Commander Allied Joint Force Command, Naples, Italy. That was the NATO command that went from the North Pole to Africa, to halfway across the Atlantic, to the shores of Iraq. He discussed the role of US military infrastructure in Europe and what the United States risks losing if it withdraws from the continent. ’My fear is that our allies, moreover, our adversaries would see us as a regional power focused only on the Indo-Pacific and not a global power focused on the Middle East, Africa, Europe, South America, anywhere where there are threats to our democracy and our lifestyle’, or that of our like-minded allies, partners, and friends, he said. Which US bases in Europe are most critical for military operations on and beyond the European continent, and which he considers the most vital? „First of all, the headquarters in Naples, Italy. In Naples, located at Capodichino, which is a dual-use airport. It’s a big footprint”. As the four-star Commander of Naval Forces Europe and Africa, he had a headquarters there. As the commander of the NATO command, he was in Lago Patria in a brand new NATO base, to conduct NATO operations, US operations in Europe and US operations in Africa, all self-contained in one area in Naples, that’s not far apart. ’When we did a joint task force, Odyssey Dawn, the strikes in Libya that later became the NATO operation Unified Protector, that was nine months of operating in the Mediterranean against Gaddafi and his forces who were killing civilians. We operated out of the command ship, which was in Gaeta, north of Italy, and we operated at sea. But we could not have done that without the Italians. When we did strike missions in Syria, the command and control for that was right there in Capodichino’. And the naval base in Rota - "It grew from one destroyer when I got there to now five. They’re multi-mission, USS Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and they’re responsible for, at the time, European missile defense, the phased adaptive approach. So, Rota is very valuable. It has a big air base. You have pier space, so you can go in and moor alongside. Ships can go in for refit, medical emergencies, to refuel, get supplies, and do training. Our destroyers there are what we call Forward Deployed Naval Forces (FDNF). We have them in Japan, we have them in Rota. It is a jewel in the western part of the Mediterranean that gives us access to the Atlantic, access to the Med, access to the Baltic. It’s unsurpassed”. „Then there’s Souda Bay, Crete. Crete is like a stationary aircraft carrier in the middle of the Mediterranean. You have an air base there, Iraklion, and you have a pier in a NATO facility, and the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center. It’s for amphibious ships that are going into areas of conflict, like the Arabian Gulf, and Marines are trained to do hostile vessel boarding, search, and seizure. They also have a carrier pier”. „Sigonella in Sicily has a long history. We have an air base there that’s invaluable. We occupied the base as a NATO partner and ally of Italy. It’s another stationary aircraft carrier. During Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector, we had all the sorties flying out of that base, flying off of aircraft carriers, refueling and rearming, and going in and striking targets in Libya. In nine months, we did something like 19,000 sorties, that’s an individual flight. I think we dropped almost 10,000 precision-guided munitions to take Gaddafi’s 32nd Brigade and the military capacity away from him’. ’If you didn’t have those bases, we’d be hard-pressed to do maintenance on ships, to get spare parts to ships. The bases like Sigonella and Crete, and Rota also have a role as a transloading facility. If you’re flying a big C-17 aircraft across from the United States, or a C-5 Galaxy, you could drop it in Rota, you could drop it in Heraklion, you could drop it in Sigonella, and it could move on later on, on a ship or on another aircraft. And for humanitarian supplies, when there’s a disaster, like the 2023 Turkish earthquake. The Greeks have Thessaloniki, which is a fuel hub where you can store fuel. They also have Alexandroupolis, which is a new port that’s getting a lot of notoriety. During the Ukraine war, some of the relief that was going in, whether it was military, non-military, was going to those two places and then moving on. This is an established footprint. We have people there”. Without missile defense in Redzikowo in Poland and Deveselu in Romania, what global threats become harder for the US to counter? „Missile defense ashore. That’s called Aegis Ashore. There’s one in Romania, one in Poland. The purpose is to knock down Iranian ballistic missiles. Back in 2014, when we were building the facility in Romania, and President Obama gave us a date of, I think, December 28, 2015, the thing will be done and ready for technical certification. It was a real rush. I would talk to the Europeans about it, and they’d go, so what’s the purpose of the base? And I would go, well, it’s to protect Europe against Iranian missiles. And a lot of people go, do you really think they’re going to do that? Nobody asks that today. Because what did the Iranians do? They’ve attacked Israel twice with 300 missiles aimed at Israel that we knocked down. Only 1% of those missiles got through. But they could also go on to Europe’. ’We have been there in Deveselu since 2014, and in Redzikowo since 2016. You can’t just build that trust in 48 hours. It takes time’. What unique advantages do US bases in Europe provide that Indo-Pacific or Middle East bases don’t? Foggo: „There is no NATO Alliance in the Pacific. There’s no alliance that holds 32 nations and the Pacific together against the Chinese. /Source: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) – with offices in Washington, D.C., U.S. and Warsaw, Poland/.

12 April 2025  Several European nations have been offering sobering guidance in recent months - envisioning garages and subway stations transformed into bunkers and promoting psychological resilience. Finland has been preparing for the possibility of a conflict with Russia for decades. Since the 1950s, the construction of bomb shelters under apartment blocks and office buildings has been mandatory. The state has been accelerating its state of readiness since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Two years ago, prompted by Russia's war, the Finnish government took stock of its available emergency shelters, finding it had a total of 50,500 - which could shelter a possible 4.8 million people in a country of 5.6m. Helsinki's interior ministry also issued new crisis guidance in November, giving readers advice on how to prepare for long power cuts, water outages, telecommunications disruptions, extreme weather events and military conflict. Last June, Germany updated its Framework Directive for Overall Defence, giving directions on what to do should conflict break out in Europe. The document envisions the complete transformation of daily life for German citizens in the event of war. A preparedness booklet 'If the crisis or war comes' was distributed to households in Sweden in November. That leaflet instructs Swedes on how warnings would be issued in the event of war, including an outdoor alert system which it says is operational in most areas. 'Go indoors, close all windows and doors and, if possible, switch off the ventilation. Listen to Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Radio, channel P4 for more information,' the pamphlet instructs. Specific advice is given to Swedish citizens regarding attacks using nuclear weapons, telling them: 'Radiation levels will lower drastically after a couple of days.' One overarching message is NATO Secretary-General Rutte’s who told security experts in Brussels in December: ’It is time to shift to a wartime mindset.’ The European Commission has urged all citizens to stockpile enough food and other essential supplies to sustain them for at least 72 hours in the event of a crisis in guidance released in March. How effective these contingency plans would really be, and will take civilians the guidance seriously? There remains no guarantee on how much attention individuals will pay to civilian protection guidance. The fine line is to increase preparedness without going into alarmism and catastrophising. In Finland - which lost territory to Russia during the Winter War in 1939-40 - and in the Baltic nations, which were annexed by the Soviet Union between 1940 and 1991, the threat from Russia is more embedded. ’They learned from history; nobody is going to help us. We have to do it on our own.’ In Portugal, Italy and the United Kingdom the threat from Russia is less present in the national consciousness. Italy is more concerned with the threat from terrorism and instability from fragile states close to the country's southern border. The mainland UK, an island nation, was last invaded by a foreign power in 1066, while for many countries in Western Europe, they were invaded during World War II. Living generations have less experience from which to draw on and its civilians may be less likely to take heed of any government advice. The civilian protection plans in the past, have even been met with ridicule. The British government’s pamphlet published in May 1980 included tips on how to build a makeshift fallout room in your home, including a so-called inner refuge to protect from radioactive dust. The UK government's advice to whitewash windows to help stop the spread of heat from a nuclear blast was one of the more comical suggestions. Civilians were instructed to 'coat windows inside with diluted emulsion paint of a light colour so that they will reflect away much of the heat flash, even if the blast which will follow is to shatter them'. The campaign became the subject of criticism for offering unrealistic advice and presenting a false sense of optimism in the face of nuclear annihilation. It was long satirised in British popular culture. The booklet was published at a time when there wasn't an imminent threat of attack. (Source: CNN - U.S.)

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Africa

Democratic Republic of Congo
April 15, 2025  Act or watch? The Democratic Republic of the Congo is offering the United States significant mining rights in exchange for military support. In February 2025, President Tshisekedi wrote to President Trump asking for help pushing back the M23 rebel group. It is using access to cobalt, copper and lithium as leverage. The DRC hosts more than 1,100 different minerals and precious metals – including tin, tungsten and tantalum – and is also the world's fourth-largest diamond producer. The country holds an estimated $24 trillion in untapped mineral wealth. It produced 244,000 tonnes of cobalt in 2024, almost 80% of the global supply. The deal could help Kinshasa reduce its dependence on China. Officials in Washington have signalled a willingness to consider multibillion-dollar investment in return. The discussions form part of a broader push to secure new supplies of battery metals as demand for electric vehicles and energy infrastructure accelerates. US support in the DRC has primarily taken the form of traditional development aid, focusing on health and education rather than strategic commercial engagement. They have done little to advance trade, investment or mineral security goals. The Export-Import Bank of the US (EXIM) offers no coverage for the DRC. The Development Finance Corporation (DFC), Washington's development finance institution, has focused narrowly on the Lobito Corridor. China has a dominant interest in the DRC's mining sector. Over the past two decades, China has seized the opportunity to fill the vacuum left by American absence from the country. The landmark 2007 Sicomines deal – a resource-for-infrastructure agreement – granted Chinese companies access to copper and cobalt in exchange for a $3bn infrastructure commitment. The deposits near Kolwezi – one of the DRC's most important mining regions in the south of the country – are estimated to be worth around $93bn. China's dominance was further cemented in 2016 when US-based Freeport-McMoRan sold its majority stake in Tenke Fungurume (TFM) – the world’s largest cobalt mine and seventh-largest copper mine – to China Molybdenum Company (CMOC). Freeport, heavily indebted following misjudged oil and gas acquisitions before the 2014 price crash, announced the $2.65bn sale in May 2016. Canadian firm Lundin Mining, which held a 24% stake, declined its right of first refusal. CMOC stepped in, backed by $1.59bn in financing from six Chinese banks, including state-owned giants such as the Bank of China and China Development Bank. It then facilitated the purchase of Lundin's stake by Hong Kong-based BHR, which used $700mn in Chinese bank financing. CMOC later took over BHR's interest, securing 80% control of TFM. Gécamines, the DRC's state miner, retained 20%. Chinese state-owned banks financed $2.48bn of the $2.68bn in credit used for the TFM deal (adjusted to 2021 prices). Washington’s failure to contest the TFM sale is arguably the most significant commercial misstep it has made in Africa. Today, China owns or holds stakes in 15 of the DRC's largest copper and cobalt mines. Glencore, the country's last major Western mining investor, is reportedly weighing the sale of its $6.8bn Mutanda and Kamoto operation – raising the prospect of another strategic asset falling into Chinese hands. The most significant Chinese mining projects include the Kamoa-Kakula copper project, Tenke Fungurume mine and Kamoto copper. The Kamoa-Kakula copper project is owned by a joint venture comprising Ivanhoe Mines (39.6%), Zijin Mining Group (39.6%), Crystal River Global (0.8%) and the DRC government (20%). The project is among the world's most significant undeveloped high-grade copper discoveries, with measured resources of 90mn tonnes at 3.13% copper and probable mineral reserves of 235mn tonnes. The mine started producing concentrates in May 2021, with commercial production beginning in July 2021. It is being advanced through a phased approach, with peak production estimated at 800,000 tpy. This would make the project the second-biggest copper complex globally. The Tenke Fungurume mine is a copper-cobalt project owned by Chinese private holding company CMOC (80%) and Gécamines (20%). CMOC acquired controlling interests in the mine in 2017 in a $3bn transaction, and in August 2021 it announced plans to double production with a $2.51bn investment. The investments will raise output from 183,000 tpy of copper to 383,000 tpy, and from 15,400 tpy of cobalt to 32,400 tpy, bringing total mineral production to 415,400 tpy. It is the world’s second-largest cobalt mine. The Kamoto Copper Company (KCC) is owned by a joint venture comprising Glencore (75%), Gécamines (20%) and Simco (5%). It is the largest active cobalt mine in the world. KCC owns two open-cast mines (KOV and Mashamba East), one underground mine (Kamoto concentrator) and the Luili refinery in Kolwezi. KCC targets an annual nameplate capacity of 300,000 tonnes of copper and 30,000 tonnes of cobalt. Much of the mineral production is concentrated in the southern provinces of Haut-Katanga and Lualaba, where established industrial operations operate alongside thousands of artisanal miners. The country was attracting more than $130mn in exploration investment in 2024. In the same year, it secured $1.8bn in foreign direct investment (FDI). Vast areas remain underdeveloped, particularly in the east, where insecurity, poor roads and overlapping concessions deter formal investment. North Kivu and Ituri are thought to hold significant untapped reserves. Cobalt is essential to lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles (EVs), while copper underpins power grids, electric motors and charging infrastructure. By 2030, global cobalt demand is expected to double and the DRC is forecast to contribute 44% of the supply growth. Lithium and tantalum – of which the DRC is also a leading producer – are critical to semiconductors, smartphones and defence applications. Kinshasa faces increasing pressure to scale up production, strengthen governance and broaden its investor base beyond Chinese state-backed operators. The DRC dominates global cobalt reserves, holding 6mn tonnes out of a total of 11mn tonnes worldwide. Two other mines Mutanda and Kamoto also hold significant reserves. Australia and Indonesia follow with 1.7mn tonnes and 500,000 tonnes respectively. In copper, the DRC’s ore bodies grades exceed 2.5%, more than four times the global average and eight times higher than at Morenci, the largest copper mine in the US. The DRC is dubbed 'the Saudi Arabia of electric vehicle age'. The global thirst for copper is expected to jump by 20% by 2035. The country also has vast coltan reserves and is a significant, though underdeveloped, source of lithium. Manono-Kitolo, in the southern province of Tanganyika, is believed by some to be the world’s largest lithium deposit. It contains an estimated 120mn tonnes of lithium ore grading 0.6%, yielding around 720,000 tonnes of lithium. The project remains stalled due to a dispute between China’s Zijin Mining and Australia’s AVZ Minerals. In the country's eastern areas armed groups have disrupted mining zones. As of April 2025, the DRC is battling its most serious escalation of violence in years, with the M23 rebel group launching a renewed and highly coordinated offensive in the east. Since January, the group has overrun large parts of North and South Kivu, seizing control of strategic cities including Goma and Bukavu. The offensive has killed an estimated 7,000 people and displaced more than 450,000. M23, composed mainly of Congolese Tutsi fighters, as intercepted communications suggest, is receiving direct military support from Rwanda – including the deployment of an estimated 4,000 Rwandan troops. The DRC accuses Rwanda of seeking control over key mineral zones, including coltan, gold and cobalt areas. President Tshisekedi has turned to Washington. The move highlights Kinshasa's effort to shift away from reliance on Chinese and Rwandan-backed operators in the mining sector. Peace talks in Doha between Kinshasa and M23 have stalled. The conflict could spill across borders and further destabilise the Great Lakes region. American firms have remained marginal players in the Congolese mining sector. At the start of December 2024 President Biden visited Angola to promote the Lobito Corridor – a $4bn rail and port project aimed at channelling copper and cobalt from central Africa – including the DRC – to global markets through the Port of Lobito, the Angola harbour located on the Atlantic Ocean. The corridor is a strategic alternative to Chinese-dominated logistics. An additional $600mn in funding was pledged during Biden’s visit, and US diplomats confirmed in April 2025 that financing remains on track. The goal is to streamline mineral exports from Zambia and southern DRC, improving transparency and making the region more attractive to Western investors. If successful, the corridor could shift trade patterns and reduce reliance on routes controlled by state-linked Chinese companies. It is unclear whether the Trump administration will back the project. Trump’s Africa advisers have favoured more direct exchanges – military or diplomatic support in return for resource access – and Tshisekedi’s proposal appears to follow that logic. The president's advisers have openly framed resource access as a foreign policy priority, particularly in countries where traditional development models have struggled. The Congolese side is pressing for clear timelines and deliverables. China has also announced plans to invest $1.4bn in the ageing railway that links Dar es Salaam in Tanzania with Zambia's Copperbelt. The investment was unveiled on 20 March 2025 during the Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference. Under a trilateral deal with Tanzania and Zambia, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will rehabilitate the 1,860-km TAZARA line over three years and operate it for 30 years. The agreement includes $1bn for infrastructure upgrades and $400mn for new rolling stock, including 32 locomotives and 762 wagons. Originally built with Chinese support in the 1970s to bypass white-ruled southern Africa, the TAZARA line remains a strategic outlet for Zambian copper exports via the Indian Ocean. It terminates at Kapiri Mposhi, connecting with Zambia's north-south rail grid and facilitating indirect freight access to the DRC. However, there is no dedicated spur from TAZARA into the DRC, and the upgraded route is not expected to extend across the border, the line passes within the logistical range of the DRC frontier. American companies remain cautious about operating in volatile jurisdictions without guarantees. Political risk insurance, development finance backing and credit support are likely prerequisites. Adesina, the co-founder and president of Sabi, a Nigerian company that connects African small-scale and artisanal miners with global buyers, said in a recent article in Semafor that the real opportunity lies in working with artisanal and small-scale miners in Africa, who play a crucial role in the global critical minerals supply chain. In the DRC, such small-scale operations contribute up to 30% of the world's cobalt supply. "Across the continent, two-thirds of lithium supplies come from small-scale miners, as does 60% of the global supply of tantalum, he writes. „The work of these operators could be boosted through targeted investment, transparent logistics and predictable payment structures that meet US regulatory and technical standards." He adds that The US government can help by establishing direct purchasing relationships and deploying financing and technical assistance. (Source: bne IntelliNews - Germany)

Nigeria
20/04/2025  Attacks believed to have been carried out by nomadic cattle herders killed at least 56 people in the Ukum and Logo local government areas in central Nigeria in the Benue state in one night earlier this week. Two attacks by unidentified gunmen earlier this month in neighbouring Plateau state left more than 100 people dead. That figure could rise as search-and-rescue operations continue. Since 2019, the clashes have claimed more than 500 lives in the region and forced 2.2 million people to leave their homes. With many herders belonging to the Muslim Fulani ethnic group, and many farmers Christian, the attacks in Nigeria's so-called Middle Belt often take on a religious or ethnic dimension. Plateau state authorities have claimed the killings were part of a 'genocide' that was 'sponsored by terrorists'. (Source: France 24 „with AFP and Reuters”)

Asia

Afghanistan
April 19, 2025  Around half of the nearly one million pieces of weaponry and military equipment, which the Afghan Taliban obtained following the United States’ hasty departure in 2021, have been lost, sold or smuggled to militant group. (Source: Dawn - Pakistan)

China
April 18, 2025 The trade war worsens. Which is a really powerful form of geopolitical currency? China processes almost all the world’s rare earths, a group of 17 metals used in a wide array of products in the defense, health-care and technology sectors. But as part of its retaliation against escalating U.S. tariffs, Beijing this month restricted the export of several rare earth minerals, raising the risk that U.S. industries will face shortages. Many in Washington have focused on how the new Chinese regulations will affect the U.S. military products like missiles and drones. Beijing has banned the export of critical minerals used in the defense industry — but also for some cancer treatments and MRI exams. Critical rare earths have properties like heat resistance and magnetism that make them useful components of advanced technologies. China dominates the global supply chain because of its processing capability: About 90 percent of refined rare earths came from China in 2023. The second countries start to have disruptions to medical services or medical supplies, particularly for things like cancer care. China deploys carrots and sticks to persuade countries in Asia and Africa to take its side in the superpower standoff. Even if rare earths are mined in other countries, the materials are often sent to China for refining, according to Mei a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, which is affiliated with the Ministry of Commerce. Beijing has used this dominance for political purposes before. It blocked critical mineral exports to Japan in 2010 after a territorial dispute. It also banned exports to the United States of three critical metals - gallium, germanium and antimony, which are important components of electronics, fiber optics or semiconductors - last year after the Biden administration tightened China’s access to advanced technology. This month, Beijing imposed export restrictions on seven more rare earths, including gadolinium and yttrium, citing their dual use nature, meaning that the materials have both civilian and military applications. This applies to shipments globally, not just to the United States. Companies will now be required to apply for permission to export the metals from China, which could take up to 45 days, according to the Commerce Ministry. Curbing exports of rare earths, Mei said, is a targeted strategy to bring Trump to the negotiating table, “minimizing the impact on the economy and population of our trading partners.” Some worry that the impact won’t be minimal. Rare earths are a critical not only for diagnostics but also treatment. Americans suffering from brain tumors, liver cancer and heart attacks may find their medical care disrupted. The U.S. imports a large - and increasing - swath of Chinese medical goods, including antibiotics, pain relievers and bandages, as well as precursor chemicals required to make finished drugs. Chinese pharmaceutical exports to the United States grew 11 percent in 2024 to reach $19 billion. Trump pledged to implement tariffs on foreign-made pharmaceuticals. Gadolinium is used to produce a contrast fluid that is injected into some patients before MRI exams. The fluid helps doctors more easily diagnose brain tumors. It’s a very important agent to enhance contrast for MRI. There are no direct alternatives. The global biotech industry is following the new Chinese regulations closely. Bayer, a German pharmaceutical company that sells a contrast solution, said it is actively monitoring the situation. While the firm’s gadolinium originates in China, Bayer “utilizes a diverse network of suppliers of gadolinium around the world” and doesn’t expect “any immediate impact related to contrast supply for U.S. customers and patients” based on its current supply. Other rare earths on China’s restriction list, including lutetium and yttrium, are used in cancer drugs called radiopharmaceuticals and medical tools like lasers that shrink lung tumors. From 2020 to 2023, 93 percent of U.S. imports of yttrium compounds came from China. It has recently invested in expanding its radiopharmaceutical manufacturing. A subsidiary of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. unveiled a large production base in southwestern Sichuan in December, aimed at producing lutetium-based drugs for breast cancer and prostate cancer treatment, according to a company news release. It remains unclear exactly how the new regulations will filter into U.S. health-care supply chains. Some Chinese exporters are already feeling the change since the April 4 restrictions. Shanghai-based Greenearth Chemicals, which exports rare earth materials including gadolinium and yttrium for medical applications, had stopped all exports after the policy change. New Radiomedicine Technology, a company in Chengdu that is developing pharmaceuticals using rare earths, said it hadn’t begun exporting yet but selling overseas would now be impossible with the regulations. China’s export control authorities will fully consider the humanitarian needs of American patients, said Mei. China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, an industry group, said in an April 6 statement that the export controls “will not affect regular business activities or normal corporate operation and trade.” Chinese suppliers will continue to strengthen the win-win cooperation with friendly countries, it said, unless the trading partner is engaged in activities that harm China’s national sovereignty, security and development interests. (Source: The Washington Post - U.S.)

April 18, 2025  While backing away from other levies on individual countries beyond the 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports to the United States announced earlier this month, Trump has imposed 145 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. China has retaliated with its own 125 percent tariffs on imported American goods. Beijing may be better equipped to withstand the negative economic shocks caused by the tariffs. Trump's trade war with China could push the foreign creditor country-the second-largest holder of U.S. debt after Japan - to dump its Treasury holdings, sending mortgage rates skyrocketing for millions of Americans. China's President Xi has promised to fight the Trump administration's escalation of tariffs to the end - and there is a chance he might do so through a very dangerous weapon the country has in its arsenal as of early 2025: more than $760 billion in holdings in U.S. Treasury securities. Just weeks ago, the 10-year yield rose by 50 basis points to 4.49 percent, the biggest weekly jump since 2001. This happens when someone sells bonds-lots of them, in this case. While it is not known precisely where the spike in activity came from, its timing suggests that Beijing may have been behind it. About a decade ago, China used to hold even more U.S. debt, at over $1.3 trillion. Considering the ongoing trade war with the U.S., it is hard to predict what it could now do. China seems willing to sell U.S. treasuries, even if it means absorbing capital losses, Blanchard, the Robert M. Solow Professor of Economics emeritus at MIT, wrote in a post on X on April 10. There have been big movements in bonds overnight recently when the China market is open, and ours is closed, suggesting that China is selling U.S. treasuries. If there is a large sale, that could depress prices and increase yields, Cohn, regional vice president of William Raveis Mortgage, told. According to Golara, an assistant professor of supply chain and operations management at Georgia State University's Robinson College of Business, the risk of a sudden, large-scale sell-off remains low, as such a move would damage China's own financial interests by devaluing its remaining holdings and destabilizing global currency markets. But Beijing could still use the threat of a treasury sale as a bargaining chip, he told. 'The broader risk lies in this gradual shift away from U.S. Treasuries'. Recent trends show China reallocating reserves into gold and other non-dollar assets, signaling a long-term diversification strategy, he said. A China-led sell-off of U.S. Treasury bonds would have enormous consequences for the global and U.S. domestic markets. Treasuries are not just safe assets - they are the foundation of global finance, serving as pristine collateral in lending and trading, Golara said. 'If China off-loads a significant share of its holdings, Treasury prices would fall, yields would rise and the value of collateral would decline. This could trigger margin calls and forced liquidations across the world, accelerating financial stress and sell-offs,' he explained. Treasuries bonds are the risk-free benchmark in financial asset pricing, Golara said. If they are perceived as volatile or politically weaponized, their credibility erodes. As a result, discount rates would rise globally, reducing the present value of future earnings and dragging down asset prices across the board-stocks, real estate, corporate bonds, and more, he said. 'A loss of confidence in Treasuries could also accelerate global diversification away from dollar assets, putting the U.S. reserve currency status at risk.' In the U.S., rising Treasury yields would mean higher borrowing costs for the federal government and businesses, tighter financial conditions, and a heavier fiscal burden. "With about 36 trillion of US government debt outstanding, the interest on the debt weighs heavily on the federal budget," Golara said. If bond yields rise, the U.S. could have compounding troubles in paying interest on the debt, leading to larger budget deficits. Mortgage rates-which closely track the 10-year Treasury yield-would also climb as a result of a possible sell-off of U.S. Treasuries by China, further weakening an already fragile housing market and dampening consumer spending. These effects could magnify recessionary pressures, Golara said. For China, a sudden sell-off of U.S. Treasuries would also be extremely costly, increasing the value of its currency and, thus, the cost of Chinese exports even further. "First, if they do this, this amounts to a capital war, not just a trade war. And they risk fierce retaliation by the U.S.," Golara said. "Also a stronger yuan would hurt export competitiveness, reduce the value of its remaining reserves, and introduce instability into its own economy. Ultimately, a Treasury sell-off would inflict mutual economic damage, and turmoil in the broader global system," he said. Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, told that the risk of China weaponizing its U.S. Treasury holdings is overhyped and overblown. China's real weapon, Hanke said, is the uncertainty that [Beijing] can create with its large Treasury holdings. Investors are worried about a 'sudden Chinese Treasury dump, he said. "However, such a dump could backfire on the People's Bank of China's exchange rate management regime, which is a sensitive operation that is enhanced by low volatility". As a result, China's weaponization of its U.S. debt holdings is much ado about nothing. The real risk of weaponization, he said, is in the United States' hands. 'The United States Treasury could simply decide to cancel China's debt holdings, although this would have drastic consequences for the Treasury market, broader financial markets and the U.S. economy.' During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump promised to bring down mortgage rates, which have remained historically high since the Federal Reserve began its aggressive rate-hiking campaign to combat inflation in 2022. As of April 10, mortgage rates on 30-year fixed home loans averaged 6.62 percent. While mortgage rates have been declining recently due to uncertainty surrounding the impact of Trump's tariffs on the market, an increase linked to the U.S.-China trade war is likely to make the president take a step back. The only keys to the exit door from this trade war "are in President Trump's desk drawer," added Hanke, who served on President Ronald Reagan's Council of Economic Advisers. 'At present, it appears that Trump has no intention of abandoning what is probably the dumbest economic policy move of the last century,' he added. 'In fact, the last time beggar-thy-neighbor policies were embraced was at the onset of the Great Depression, when Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, which crashed the stock market and drove the U.S. into a catastrophic economic plunge.' (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

(17 April 2025)  US says Chinese firm is helping Houthis target American warships. Satellite company linked to People’s Liberation Army has supplied images to Iran-backed group in Yemen, say officials. The Trump administration has repeatedly warned Beijing that Chang Guang Satellite Technology Co Ltd, a commercial group with ties to the People’s Liberation Army is supplying Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen with imagery to target US warships and international vessels in the Red Sea. CGSTL has previously come under US scrutiny, and was among groups hit by sanctions in 2023 for allegedly providing high-resolution satellite imagery to Wagner Group, the Russian mercenary army. The Chinese company was established in 2014 as a joint venture between the provincial government in Jilin and a branch of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Changchun, the province’s capital. Chang Guang is one of a handful of ‘ostensibly’ commercial Chinese satellite companies that are in fact deeply embedded in the military-civil fusion ecosystem, supplying global surveillance capabilities to both civilian and military customers, said Mulvenon, an expert on the Chinese military and intelligence services at Pamir Consulting. Under China’s military-civil fusion programme, companies must share technology with the PLA when ordered by the government. Bruzzese, a China defence expert at BluePath Labs, a consulting firm that works with the US government, last year said CGSTL had 100 satellites in orbit, although it plans to have 300 by the end of 2025 which would enable it to take repeat images of any location in the world every 10 minutes. Bruzzese said CGSTL had close connections to the Chinese government, communist party and military. Bruzzese added that CGSTL had provided briefings to senior Chinese officials about its applications, including those for military intelligence and had demonstrated its technology before several top PLA officers, including Zhang, the top general in the Chinese military who is second-in-command after President Xi. The concern about CGSTL comes amid a deepening trade war between the Washington and Beijing. Trump has made tackling Red Sea instability a priority, amid concerns that the Houthis continue to pose a threat to the global economy. US concerns about CGSTL come as the Pentagon increasingly focuses on Chinese military activity in space. (Source: Financial Times - United Kingdom)

April 11, 2025  China today escalated tariffs on imports from the United States to 125 percent, in response to U.S. President Trump's punishing regime against Chinese goods higher and higher to 145 percent earlier this week in response to what it alleges is Beijing’s complicity in the flow of fentanyl to the U.S. If the U.S. insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counterattack and fight to the end, Beijing's economic mandarins said. While other countries have been granted a 90-day partial reprieve on the so-called reciprocal tariffs - with a 10 percent baseline remaining - China was excluded. (Source: Politico - based in U.S., owned by a German company)

April 11, 2025  During a today meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing, China’s leader Xi called on the EU to join forces against the U.S, telling Sánchez that there are no winners in a trade war, and going against the world will only lead to self-isolation. Xi urged China and the EU to jointly safeguard the trend of economic globalization and a fair international trade environment, and jointly resist unilateral and intimidating practices. (Source: Politico - based in U.S., owned by a German company)

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United States
Apr 20, 2025  The Trump administration attempts to choke off exports of strategically important computer chips to China. Silicon Valley semiconductor star Nvidia is one of the most important pieces in this (US) chess game with China. Nvidia and its US rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) expect big financial hits from new US licensing requirements for semiconductors exported to China, they notified US Securities and Exchange Commission this week. Nvidia expects the new rules to cost it US$5.5 billion, while AMD has forecast they could sap as much as US$800 million from the company’s bottom line, according to filings. Administration officials told Nvidia it must obtain licences to export its H20 chips to China because of concerns they may be used in supercomputers there, the company said. The United States has already restricted exports to China, the world’s biggest buyer of chips, of Nvidia’s most sophisticated graphics processing units (GPUs), designed to power top-end artificial intelligence models. Nvidia essentially developed the H20 chip for the Chinese market. The new licensing requirements pose a roadblock. For AMD, the new US export control measure applies to its MI308 GPUs, which are designed for high-performance applications like gaming and artificial intelligence, it said in a filing. It noted that there is no guarantee licences for sales to China will be granted. Independent tech analyst Enderle predicted Chinese chip makers – likely led by tech behemoth Huawei – will ramp up efforts to snatch the lead in the market. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore)

04/18/25  President Trump’s top economic adviser Hassett, chair of the White House National Economic Council, told yesterday the White House is exploring how to fire Federal Reserve Chair Powell despite the legal guardrails on his position. Hassett served as the chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers during Trump’s first term. A 90-year-old Supreme Court precedent likely protects Powell from being fired by the president for anything other than misconduct or severe neglect of office. The Fed chief is a lifelong Republican whom Trump himself appointed to the job in February 2018 and presided over four rate hikes, three of which were reversed the following year. (Source: The Hill - U.S.)

April 18, 2025  President Trump’s meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. /Video/ (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Friday, 18 April 2025  Trump said the US is considering backing out of the peace process, negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him. It follows comments by US Secretary of State Rubio, who said earlier today, following talks in Paris among US, Ukrainian and European officials that the US may be ready to move on from efforts to secure a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine if progress is not made within the coming days. Rubio issued the same warning in a phone call today with NATO Secretary-General Rutte, telling him that if a clear path to peace does not emerge soon, the United States will step back from efforts to broker peace. Another meeting is expected next week in London, and Rubio suggested it could be decisive in determining whether the Trump administration continues its involvement. Trump told reporters today that he backed Rubio's remarks but that he remained "hopeful" that a peace deal could be reached. “Now, if for some reason, one of the two parties makes it very difficult, we’re just going to say you’re foolish. You are fools, you horrible people,” he said. “And we’re going to just take a pass. But hopefully, we won’t have to do that”. When asked about Rubio’s comments today, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told reporters that fairly complex negotiations are ongoing between Russia and the US. He said no direct talks between Trump and Putin are scheduled in the coming days. Trump said “Marco is right” that the dynamic of the negotiations must change, but stopped short of saying he's ready to walk away from peace negotiations. “Well, I don’t want to say that,” Trump said. “But we want to see it end.” (Source: ITV – United Kingdom)

16 April 2025  „Trump puts nuclear weapons on the agenda. The world should listen”. The US President has again stated his decades-long-held belief that he could strike a deal to rid the world of nuclear weapons. Trump has a dim view not only of the threat posed by the possession of nuclear weapons, but also the waste involved in keeping them. “We’re all spending a lot of money that we could be spending on other things that are actually, hopefully, much more productive,” he said in February, soon after returning to office. Trump failed during his first term to seriously engage with Russia on a nuclear control treaty (New START expires in 2026), or to influence his “friend” North Korean leader Kim whose arsenal has grown exponentially. Neither did Trump find an alternative to Obama’s Iran nuclear deal. But the point is that he took a personal interest in each. Trump may try again. But he would do so in the face of a belligerent Putin ’who has threatened to drop a nuclear bomb on Ukraine’ – the likes of which had not been heard since the Cuban missile crisis. In addition, by 2035, China may have 1500 nuclear warheads with world-class delivery systems – missiles, bomber aircraft and submarines – according to US estimates. American nuclear expert Gottemoeller recently outlined during a visit to Australia and in a speech at the Lowy Institute, a window of opportunity may open amid the global trauma. The nuclear triumvirate of the United States, Russia and China could work on parallel tracks to advance nuclear reductions (US and Russia) and secure measures of nuclear control (China). The US and Russia would publicly assure the world they will continue to abide by New START’s deployed nuclear warhead cap of around 1,550 each, and 800 delivery vehicles each. Meanwhile over the decade – such negotiations will take years – China’s total arsenal could be within reach of 1500 nuclear warheads, deployed and not deployed. The three would thus be closer to parity, although US and Russian arsenals, comprising deployed and non-deployed warheads and delivery vehicles, would be greater – thus continuing to provide the strategic equilibrium achieved under successive bilateral arms limitation treaties since the height of the Cold War when their stockpiles measured over 32,000 for the US and 46,000 for Russia. Russia and the United States have led global verification work for decades but confidence among other allies and partners increases with transparency in this meticulous process. The accounting, reductions and limitations of warheads and delivery systems must entail verification that the countries concerned have done what they have promised. Russia and the United States have led global verification work for decades but confidence among other allies and partners increases with transparency in this meticulous process. Although others are unlikely to invited to join in, the actions of Russia and the US could generate conditions for China – with state media previously asserting that its nuclear silos visible from space were in fact windmills – to deduce that the time has arrived to be more transparent and reiterate its adherence to adequate controls. Talks on a New START replacement treaty could also be possible after in parallel with a process to halt the war in Ukraine. Achieving these steps would send an electric current through the world of nuclear watchers. Commentary in Europe, Japan and South Korea is growing along lines previously unthinkable – that their countries should build their own nuclear weapons to fill any void opening in the US extended nuclear deterrent guarantee to its allies. The triumvirate would put paid to murmurings by other countries with nuclear weapons that they need to further build their arsenals. A tough appraisal of each of the three countries’ fundamental interests: The critical point is that the US, Russia and China all adhere to the belief that nuclear weapons pose an existential threat to humanity. /Source: The United States Studies Centre (USSC) - Australia/
by Hardy, a former Australian senior career diplomat and Australian Government official. Over three decades, she served in seven Australian embassies in the Indo-Pacific region, the United States and Europe, four at ambassador level.

April 15, 2025  Zelensky told CBS's 60 Minutes program that he believes 'Russian narratives are prevailing in the U.S.' and that he understood Vance to be 'somehow justifying [Russian President] Putin's actions' by presenting Ukraine as an aggressor, too. "I've also tried to apply strategic recognition that if you want to end the conflict, you have to try to understand where both the Russians and the Ukrainians see their strategic objectives," Vance told an interview with UnHerd published today morning. "That doesn't mean you morally support the Russian cause, or that you support the full-scale invasion, but you do have to try to understand what are their strategic red lines, in the same way that you have to try to understand what the Ukrainians are trying to get out of the conflict." He added: "I think it's sort of absurd for Zelensky to tell the [American] government, which is currently keeping his entire government and war effort together, that we are somehow on the side of the Russians." Vance said Zelensky's rhetoric "is certainly not productive". (Source: Miami Herald - U.S.)

(15 April, 2025)  Trump administration freezes $2.2 billion in grants and $60 million in contracts Harvard funding, for refusal to curb campus activism, combating antisemitism, reforming university governance, admissions and hiring practices. (Source: Scroll - India)

Tue 15 Apr 2025  ’The Silicon Six’ American tech firms - Amazon, Meta, Alphabet, Netflix, Apple and Microsoft - generated $11tn of revenue and $2.5tn of profits in the past decade. They have been accused of avoiding almost $278bn in US corporation income taxes over 10 years. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom)

Apr 15, 2025  The Federal Reserve is resisting pressure from the White House and Washington to spur big banks to buy more Treasury bonds. Still, the Fed isn’t accelerating regulatory changes that would encourage banks to load up on government debt, even though Treasury Secretary Bessent and JPMorgan CEO Dimon both support the idea. Wild swings in Treasury prices forced President Trump to reverse course on his sweeping tariffs, and investors remain spooked even after his backtrack. (Source: Semafor – website; it’s organization based in New York City, U.S.)

Apr 14, 2025  On March 21, Treasury Secretary Bessent announced that U.S. shell companies and their owners can once again conceal their identities. Critics warn the move could weaken national security and spur illicit financial activity that puts the American public at risk. Treasury’s initial beneficial ownership information (BOI) disclosure requirement for all companies with less than 20 employees garnered bipartisan support and Trump’s approval during his first administration. But it was short-lived. American beneficial owners of foreign shell companies that register in the U.S. have been granted anonymity. Arms traffickers are one of the many malicious actors who have used U.S.-based shell companies to their benefit. Bout, a former Soviet intelligence officer turned 'merchant of death' is the kingpin of examples. Extradited to the United States in 2010 to stand trial on terrorism charges, Bout utilized a global network of shell companies, including 12 companies incorporated in Delaware, Florida, and Texas, to facilitate weapons trafficking to armed groups in Africa, Colombia, Afghanistan, the Middle East, and elsewhere. 'Bout may be the poster boy for U.S. shell companies engaged in black market arms sales, but he is only the tip of the iceberg', explained Austin, Executive Director of the Conflict Awareness Project. From a U.S. company in Maine tied to a Mauritius arms trafficking operation, to the convicted arms traffickers Soghanalian and Acelor who facilitated weapons air drops to the FARC rebels in Colombia, the shell game is what they were banking on - however unsuccessful in these instances - to hide from investigators’ eyes. And hide they do. U.S. shell companies have been successfully used as cover for illegal arms sales for decades. Asked during his confirmation process in January if anonymous shell companies pose threats to national security and public safety, in the final ruling, Secretary Bessent cited President Trump’s Executive Order 14192, entitled “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” and the administration’s policy to significantly reduce the private expenditures required to comply with Federal regulations to secure America's economic prosperity and national security as the reasoning behind the ruling. The original BOI requirements enjoyed widespread public approval. Now with only foreign nationals forced to register BOI, U.S. citizens may be used as legal fronts for international entities looking to benefit from the U.S.’s financial system and it wouldn't be the first time. According to investigations conducted by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, some Pentagon suppliers have used U.S. front companies to win manufacturing bids. The contractors have obscured the fact that they were making U.S. military equipment abroad, risking equipment quality as well as national security while defrauding the U.S. out of millions of dollars. In one case, a contractor who used a U.S. shell company was secretly manufacturing safety gear for F-15 fighter jets in India while illegally exporting 'technical drawings for aircraft parts, nuclear submarine torpedo systems and attack helicopters.' Financial secrecy facilitates illicit activities, including defrauding the U.S. government. 'America’s retreat from leading efforts to uncover these shadowy financial networks is an unforced error that enriches and empowers our worst enemies,' warned Sibley, fellow and director of Hudson Institute’s Kleptocracy Initiative. „Treasury Secretary Bessent should reverse this interim ruling so that the American public and the U.S. financial system can enjoy more thorough protection against criminal actors who seek to hide their activities behind opaque American shell companies”. (Source: Responsible Statecraft - U.S.)
by Gate, a Research Intern with the Democratizing Foreign Policy program at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft who holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from City University Law School, London. Her research focuses on the nexus between international law and U.S. foreign policy.

April 14, 2025  You cannot defend the United States from Texas or North Carolina or Florida only, former Commanding General of US Army Europe (2014–2017) Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Hodges said when asked about the role of US military bases on the continent. US forces are not in Europe to protect Europeans, he says. You have to have forward presence and forward capability to project air, sea, and land power, not just in Europe, the Mediterranean, Central and Eastern Europe, but into Africa, the Middle East, and the Arctic. Which US bases in Europe does he consider most critical for military operations on and beyond the continent? „It should be based on a strategic analysis that says: here’s our priorities, here’s our resources, here’s what we need”. But you still should be thinking about what risk you are taking and what you would lose. „We have such a small footprint in Europe, and we only have one of everything”. ’We had almost 300,000 troops during the Cold War, mostly in West Germany, Italy, and Turkey. We don’t need that anymore. Almost all of those bases have been turned over”. There are different arrangements on who pays for what. „We can’t just assume that we’re going to put a naval base in Italy or Greece and that they have to accept it. These are sovereign nations”. You need trust. Intelligence sharing is also a big factor. The intelligence capabilities are not just based on American satellites, but on ground stations inside European countries, strong intelligence sharing and bilateral agreements with countries like Germany and Poland. And, of course, you need headquarters to manage everything. „You could forget dominating the Mediterranean or being able to project power into Africa if you don’t have the access that we get from Italy, Spain, Greece, and Turkey. Most of the US Navy in Europe is based in Rota, Spain. The headquarters is in Naples. And we have Crete. That’s an important part of the Navy’s ability to protect our interests in the Eastern Mediterranean. The distances, maintenance, fuel, and all the stuff required to do what they do are based on having these airports and seaports. If you want to have sea power in the Mediterranean to help protect our interests, you have to have a presence”. This is huge money, and you have to have existing contracts and the maintenance when the ship pulls in. And what is the importance of the Eastern flank for overall US security? ’The ability to get there for deterrence’. If the missile defense systems in Poland and Romania were to close, what global threats would become more challenging for the US to counter? ’We brought back the Army Preposition Stock, in Europe, equipment for an armored division stored in Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Mihail Kogălniceanu (MK) Airbase, for example, in Romania, has developed over the last 10 years as a power projection platform into the Black Sea because of the airfield there, but also the troops that are there, the headquarters, the maintenance, the contracts, all of that. That’s the best place on the Black Sea for the United States. It’s also where NATO’s Black Sea air police mission flies from. It would leave a huge hole for the United States if we left MK. Now, of course, it’s a Romanian base. We are a tenant there. The French or the Brits could be there. I don’t know how that helps advance America’s interest, but the capabilities could eventually be replaced by another ally. In Poland, of course - where it sits on the map - being there with our Polish allies, right in the middle of where, if there was going to be a Russian attack somewhere, US forces could respond, be based at the V Corps headquarters in Poznan. It’s there to provide the leadership, command, and control for all the US forces on the Eastern flank. If you close that down, then you’ve got to come up with another way to provide that”. „Going back to President Obama, they wanted to shift out to the Pacific more. And then, of course, Russia had different plans. Russia invaded Ukraine, and we had to stop. It’s interesting to me that all the stuff that Russia has done happened after the US downsized, handed over bases, sent all the tanks home, and reduced our ability to deter and defend because we thought we’d never have to do this again. We thought it was over. But we don’t have unlimited resources. If the administration makes the strategic decision to prioritize the Indo-Pacific region, which is legitimate and is the prerogative of any administration to do that, then they have to start looking at, okay, what do they cut? My guess is that what gets cut first will be the rotational forces because that’s a lot of money. They use assets that already exist in Poland, Germany, and Lithuania. So if they’re cut, we’d lose capability, but you wouldn’t necessarily have to get rid of bases. If the Army as a whole, as I think it is going to happen, is going to take a major cut, then for sure, US Army Europe will be a billpayer. But because there’s only one of everything, one signal brigade, one artillery brigade, one air defense battalion, one combat striker unit, one airborne, one aviation, if you get rid of any of those, that’s a capability that’s gone. But I’d have to say that everything is on the table here”. Russia and China would watch to see US-based closure and troop withdrawals from Europe whether Europe could fill that gap, or if the US does something to mitigate that risk. Keeping in mind that US forces are not in Europe to protect Europeans. „They’re there for our strategic interests”. „As our presence in Europe gets smaller, the language from the administration downplays the importance of our European allies. Less people appreciate the benefit of forward presence in Europe and how we benefit from intelligence sharing and access. There’s always talk about the Arctic. There are several NATO allies in the Arctic, and you can’t replace that by seizing Greenland. It’s having the presence that the UK allows us to have, Iceland allows us to have, or Norway. There’s not much that we have in Europe that are needed in the Pacific from the army. „So, the administration would have to be asking Europe to protect our interests”. /Source: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) – with offices in Washington, D.C., U.S. and Warsaw, Poland/.

April 12, 2025  Witkoff travelled to Russia yesterday to meet Putin and is expected in the Middle East for talks with Iran today, effectively leading yet another top priority national security assignment. Witkoff and Trump still maintain a strong personal relationship, according to multiple people familiar with their relationship. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

Friday, April 11, 2025  Illegal production and distribution of deadly fentanyl netted traffickers an estimated $1.4 billion in 2024, most of which was funneled through U.S. banks, according to the report by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). It said the estimate is based on 1,246 bank secrecy reports about suspected fentanyl-related activity. 57% of the suspicious bank reports on fentanyl trafficking originated from U.S. banks, savings and loan associations, or credit unions. A total of 32% came from check cashing, money orders, or similar services. “Mexico and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the top two foreign countries identified in subject address fields of [Bank Secrecy Act] reports analyzed, play key roles in the production of fentanyl and subsequent money laundering activity,” the report, made public on Wednesday, said. The 1970 Bank Secrecy Act requires financial institutions to report suspicious activity and transactions over $10,000. The operations of the fentanyl trade involve chemical brokers using front companies, money mules and U.S.-based intermediaries who buy fentanyl precursor chemicals from Chinese suppliers. Chinese chemical suppliers use e-commerce platforms to market fentanyl precursor chemicals. Payments were traced to bank wire transfers and online electronic funds transfers. The traffickers mainly deal in cash and peer-to-peer transfers. Other drug deals bitcoin payments, including suspected Darknet marketplace drug sales. Some of the money laundering of fentanyl proceeds took place through professional Chinese money laundering organizations that potentially facilitated the movement of illicit fentanyl proceeds on behalf of the cartels. Chinese groups rely on underground banking that allows Chinese nationals to acquire dollars in the U.S. while evading official curbs on acquiring foreign funds. The report identified the main cartels involved in the fentanyl trade as the Sinaloa Cartel and the Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generacion, both labeled as foreign terrorist organizations by the U.S. The two cartels largely control the fentanyl supply chain in Mexico and use precursor chemicals and manufacturing equipment from China The activities by the cartels are mainly carried out in Sinaloa and Jalisco. The drug is produced in clandestine laboratories, the report said. In addition to Mexico and China, other foreign nations involved in the fentanyl trade include Canada, the Dominican Republic, and India. Those nations have been linked to alternative sources of supply for precursor chemicals and fentanyl and through illegal online pharmacies. China remains 'the primary source country for fentanyl precursor chemicals and pill press machinery,' with nearly 50% of the chemicals traced to the fentanyl trade located in Guangdong, Zhejiang and Hebei provinces in eastern China, the report said. The cities of Wuhan and Shijiazhuang were linked to the most banking reports for fentanyl precursor sales. In the United States, states playing a key role in the fentanyl trade include California, Florida and New York. The areas served as collection points for illicit proceeds. FinCEN analysis also noted a substantial number of subjects in southwest border counties in California and Arizona. Treasury Secretary Bessent said in a statement that the data “ultimately aids in the effort to save American lives.” Last week the Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Mexican national Beltran Guzman, a leader of the Beltran Leyva Organization, known as BLO, for his alleged role in trafficking fentanyl, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine into the U.S., ranking among the largest suppliers of cocaine for the past two decades, operating with violent impunity, threatening communities, and targeting key officials, all while profiting from their criminal schemes. The BLO has been linked by authorities to shootouts, murders, kidnappings, torture, and the violent collection of drug debts. Beltran Guzman is the nephew of Guzman Loera, the U.S.-imprisoned leader of the Sinaloa Cartel known as El Chapo. In December, Mexican police made the largest seizure of fentanyl in the nation’s history in Sinaloa, netting over a thousand kilos of the drug. That is calculated to amount to 20 million doses of fentanyl. The Drug Enforcement Administration said 70% of the 107,000 drug overdose deaths in 2023 were the result of abuse of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl. China’s continuing role in providing precursor chemicals to Mexican drug cartels involved in the fentanyl trade was a major reason President Trump imposed heavy tariffs on Beijing in what is now a full-fledged trade war. (Source: The Washington Times - U.S.)

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NATO

April 14, 2025  Asked about the most critical US bases in Europe, retired lieutenant general Twitty, a distinguished fellow at CEPA and former Deputy Commander of US European Command said that all of them are 'pretty doggone' essential, provide a strategic depth, ’in terms of influence, deterrence, logistics, and because the US doesn’t fight wars on its homeland, but away from it’. ’If the US is in Europe, it is deterring our adversaries such as Russia, China, Iran, and others’. ’Whether you look at bases such as in Vicenza, Italy, which houses our 173rd Airborne Division, or in Vilseck, which houses our cavalry regiment, or Ramstein Air Base, which brings in strategic airlift and support. They’re critical.’ The Sixth Fleet, for example, in Spain or down in Naples, are critical ports and airports „where we have long-term basing relationships that are available for US contingencies because of agreements with the host community”. ’These are critical facilities that allow us to deploy at a moment’s notice, we don’t have to wait for permission’ to have access. ’By being stationed in Europe, it provides the gateway into other areas where we may need to operate. Case in point: When we invaded Iraq, we used many of our European bases as a stepping off point to conduct that invasion and to support logistics and maintenance into the Middle East theater. It was easier to use our Europe bases instead of our US bases to do that type of work’. „Another case in point: Landstuhl hospital. When our soldiers go into combat, the fastest way to get them to a level of care necessary is to fly them to Landstuhl, not the US”. ’These bases provide reassurance to our allies and partners over in Europe’. How would Russia and China interpret US Base closure and troop withdrawal from Europe? Over 600,000 Americans were killed as a result of World War II. They made a terrible sacrifice. „We can never forget that. And we have got to stay strong in Europe, in my mind, as a result of it’, he said. 'Our European partners will be the folks who we’ll be counting on to help us, just as they helped us after 9/11', Twitty added. „They did not have to do that, but NATO voted on Article 5, and they jumped in behind us in both Afghanistan and Iraq. We can never forget that'. „We drew down from 200,000 soldiers to between 60,000 to 100,000 soldiers in Europe today”. Now, there’s a significant disruption and ’there’s a threat to stability in Europe from Russia’. ’We still have some naysayers who think that this war is just a regional war, and it really does not impact Europe. So why do we need all that military capability there? Because in the big scheme of things, when folks look at it, Ukraine’s not part of NATO. Why do we care? Why should we get involved? On and on and on. And so, I think you have those things that are playing against our bases, against our military capability in Europe, and how important both are”. Pulling away from that now „we’re going to walk away from everything we stand for in terms of what we put in place in the Marshall Plan.” ’Our European bases provide us the geopolitical wasta [influence]’. We want to fight our wars not here on the homeland, but away. We want to play an away game. Our European bases allow us to do that’. /Source: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) – with offices in Washington, D.C., U.S. and Warsaw, Poland/.

Global

April 14, 2025  Maintaining a robust US presence in Europe is essential to defending American interests, said retired from the U.S. Army as a Major General, " Skip" Davis, a non-resident senior fellow at CEPA, former deputy chief of staff for operations and intelligence at NATO’s Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe and director of operations at US European Command. European basing offers distinct strategic advantages. US bases - particularly in countries like Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Italy, and Romania - ’deter aggression, especially from Russia’. They reassure allies under NATO’s Article 5 and enable rapid response via land, air, or sea due to geographic proximity to potential crises. Their presence supports diplomacy, enhances influence in institutions like NATO and the EU. The US presence contributes to stability in tense regions like the Balkans, the Aegean, and the Black Sea. Europe hosts the most developed US alliance network, with shared command and logistics structures. This strengthens NATO, supports Israel, and bolsters regional partners’ defenses. ’Several European nations host US nuclear weapons and provide dual-capable aircraft, reinforcing nuclear deterrence under NATO’. Europe’s location  -  at the intersection of Africa, the Middle East, 'and Central Asia' - makes it ideal for rapid deployment in all directions. US Army stocks and Navy sustainment capabilities in Spain, Italy, and Greece lower the time and cost of mobilization, air bases like Ramstein (Germany), Aviano and Sigonella (Italy), and Mihail Kogălniceanu (Romania) support rapid ’global response’. ’Globally’, the strategic objectives of US bases in Europe serve as launch points for operations. The bases support ’global’ logistics, airlift, and refueling, many house critical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities, essential for ’global awareness’. They also offer joint and multinational training that boosts coalition interoperability - ’a necessity for global missions’. Beyond defending Europe, US forces in Europe directly support homeland security - enable early warning and reduce the distance between emerging threats and the US ISR capabilities based in Europe. Bases also serve as hubs for missions targeting transnational terrorist threats that could impact the US directly. Davis cautions that a large-scale withdrawal – „drawdown” - could embolden Russia and China, ’it would make US power projection slower, costlier, and less effective. ’It would diminish US credibility, hinder crisis prevention. 'Russia would likely view it as a weakening of US commitment to NATO and a chance to expand its influence in Central and Eastern Europe. This could embolden Russia to increase military pressure on vulnerable NATO members or non-members like Moldova or Georgia. 'It could build up forces near NATO’s borders or in Kaliningrad and increase naval activity in the Atlantic or Mediterranean. China would exploit the perceived power vacuum to present itself as a stable, alternative global partner, using tools like foreign investment, technology, and trade - especially in Southern and Eastern Europe, targeting economically vulnerable nations. /Source: Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) – with offices in Washington, D.C., U.S. and Warsaw, Poland/.

Space

Sunday, 20 April 2025  A Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft carrying American Pettit and Russians Ovchinin and Wagner landed in Kazakhstan today. It was the fourth time in space for Mr Pettit and Mr Ovchinin, while it was Mr Vagner's second spaceflight. The crew's seven-month science mission started on 11 September 2024. They orbited the Earth 3,520 times over 220 days in space. Mr Pettit, who returns from space on 70th birthday, had been conducting research to enhance in-orbit metal 3D printing capabilities, advance water sanitisation technologies, explore plant growth under varying water conditions and investigate fire behaviour in microgravity, according to NASA. It was the fourth time in space for Mr Pettit and Mr Ovchinin, while it was Mr Vagner's second spaceflight. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)

.5 4 25 01:44

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 Europe

Pope Francis’s humility and life’s work at the heart of condolences from European royalty. Monarchs have shared tributes to the late Pontiff.

Belgium
21st April 2025  King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, who were the last royals to welcome a visit from Pope Francis last September, penned a heartfelt tribute, writing, “We share the grief of all Catholics around the world and all who loved and appreciated him. We also express our gratitude for the honor he gave us by visiting our country.” The Belgian royals added that Pope Francis was “a great man, close to the most humble and concerned about the problems of the world.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Denmark
21st April 2025  King Frederik and Queen Mary wrote of their “profound sorrow” learning about the death of Pope Francis and that they will remember him “as a Pope dedicated to promoting peace, justice, and always advocating for people living in vulnerable situations.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Luxembourg
21st April 2025  Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa shared that their grief “is all the greater given that we had the honor and immense joy of welcoming him on an official visit to Luxembourg last September.” The couple added: “Pope Francis was a man of great compassion, sharing the pain and suffering of others. Constantly concerned about the problems of the most disadvantaged and refugees, he was devoted to the most vulnerable, while remaining attentive to the hopes of young people.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Monaco
21st April 2025  Prince Albert and Princess Charlene wrote of their “infinite sadness and deep sorrow” upon learning that Pope Francis had passed on Easter Monday. The Monegasque royals added: “In this time of pain and mourning, we keep in mind and in our hearts the apostolic blessings which the Holy Father lavishly bestowed upon us during his Pontificate and fervently pray for the repose of his soul. May his unrelenting message of love, brotherhood, peace, faith, justice, mercy, compassion, and respect for our nature continue to nourish our thoughts and commitments to the service of the common good and radiate upon a world he will leave his mark on. With profound gratitude, we pay tribute to the very great servant of mankind who has just left us.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

the Netherlands
21st April 2025  King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands shared their memories of meeting Pope Francis in 2017, and wrote: “Pope Francis radiated mercy in everything. From a rock-solid belief in God’s love, he advocated compassion and humanity. Living a sober and simple life, he always sided with the vulnerable and needy. He was deeply convinced that God works in humility and compassion. In doing so, he actively sought connections with other faith communities around the world. He embodied the listening and loving Church and in doing so won the hearts of many – both within the Roman Catholic Church and beyond. We cherish his memory with gratitude.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Norway
21st April 2025  King Harald shared his “deepfelt condolences” on behalf of the people of Norway for Pope Francis, who was “highly respected and loved for being a passionate and clear voice for the most vulnerable in society.” The King added that he sends his sympathy to “all Catholics in Norway and around the world on this sad occasion.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Spain
21st April 2025  King Felipe and Queen Letizia wrote that they wished to convey their sadness to “the entire Catholic Church our condolences and affection, as well as our prayers for his eternal rest.” “Throughout his pontificate, His Holiness Pope Francis has borne witness to the importance of love of neighbor, fraternity, and social friendship for the world of our century,” King Felipe wrote. “We will always continue to be inspired by his conviction in the need to bring encouragement and comfort to the poorest and most needy, and by the importance he placed on dialogue and consensus to achieve a more just and united world.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Sweden
21st April 2025  King Carl XVI Gustaf said, on behalf of himself and Queen Silvia, that they were remembering Pope Francis “with great respect and warmth.” They continued: “By virtue of his natural charisma, deep humility, and unwavering defense of human dignity, the Pope was a significant leader.” The Swedish royals remembered Pope Francis’s historic visit to Lund, where Lutherans and Catholics were encouraged to come together “in a spirit of reconciliation and understanding,” and how the Pope met with Queen Silvia to discuss “the many injustices that the world’s children are forced to endure.” King Carl XIV Gustaf and Queen Silvia concluded: “Our thoughts go out to Catholics around the world who have lost a great leader and role model.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

Asia

As the world mourns Pope Francis, who died on 21 April at the age of 88, monarchs around the world have shared tributes to the late Ppontiff.

Jordan
21st April 2025  From Jordan, King Abdullah and Queen Rania shared separate remembrances of Pope Francis. The Jordanian king wrote: “My deepest condolences to our Christian brothers and sisters around the world on the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis, a man of peace who was beloved by the people for his kindness, humility, and tireless efforts to bring everyone together. His memory will live on in the hearts of millions.” Queen Rania wrote: “In a world that can often feel heartless, Pope Francis always had love to spare - for the less fortunate, refugee families, and children in war zones, in Gaza and around the world. Humanity has lost an invaluable champion for peace and compassion today. May he rest in peace.” (Source: Royal Central - United Kingdom)

* * * * *

Vatikán
2025. IV. 21. 12:47 Hárman voltak napjainkban elkötelezetten a béke híveiként elismerhető kezdeményezők. Egyikük, Ferenc pápa ma, Húsvét hétfőn, reggel 7 óra 35 perckor elhunyt. 88 évet élt. 2013. március 13.-a óta állt a katolikus egyház élén. Isten nyugosztalja!

                   J.

.5 4 21 12:47

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Gaza
(19 April 2025)  Israel’s continuous blockade of Gaza has been disastrous for all areas of life in the Strip. (Video/) /Source: The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - Headquarters New York, U.S. Geneva, Switzerland/
by Whittall - an official with UN OCHA -  from Rafah, in southern Gaza.

Iran
(Sunday), April 20 2025  On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Rubio urged European countries to decide whether to trigger the snapback mechanism under the 2015 agreement, which would automatically reinstate UN sanctions on Iran over its non-compliance. The option to trigger the mechanism expires in October. Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material. On Friday U.S. ally Israel affirmed its commitment to preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, saying it had a clear course of action to do so - a stance Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated yesterday. ’I will not give up on this, I will not let go of it, and I will not retreat from it - not even by a millimetre,’ he said. Iran’s FM Araghchi said yesterday the U.S. side had not raised any issues unrelated to the nuclear topic so far. The United States and Iran made progress in a second round of high-stakes talks on Tehran's nuclear programme yesterday and agreed to meet again next week, both sides said. The Oman-mediated talks in Rome lasted about four hours. After yesterday's talks, Oman's foreign ministry said Araghchi and U.S. Middle East envoy Witkoff had agreed to keep negotiating. The talks, it said, "aim to seal a fair, enduring and binding deal which will ensure Iran (is) completely free of nuclear weapons and sanctions, and maintaining its ability to develop peaceful nuclear energy". Oman said the third round would be (on April 26) in Muscat, returning to the site of the first talks a week ago. (Source: Huriyet Daily News - Turkey)

4/19/2025  President Trump is calling for Iran to “go fast” to secure a new nuclear accord. U.S. Special Envoy Witkoff has said the Trump administration’s red line is to prevent Iran from being able to produce a nuclear weapon. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Grossi said this week the Iranians 'aren’t far away' from being able to do it. Grossi called on Iran to step up cooperation to show its nuclear program is peaceful. There are critical gaps in the world’s understanding of Iran’s nuclear inventory. Tehran in recent years has restricted United Nations atomic agency oversight of its nuclear activities - a key requirement under the 2015 accord, and stifled an agency probe into undeclared nuclear material found in the country. At various points, it has removed cameras intended to monitor key parts of its nuclear infrastructure and effectively banned inspectors from those sites. Iran has stopped the agency from inspecting nonnuclear sites since 2021, curtailing the IAEA’s insight into Iran’s ability to build a bomb. The IAEA has since September 2023 said that it no longer has fully updated information about a range of Iran’s nuclear work and can’t confirm Tehran’s claim that its program is purely for peaceful purposes. U.S. intelligence officials said last month they don’t believe Iran has made a decision to build a nuclear weapon but U.S. officials think it would only take a few months for Tehran to build one. U.S. and Iranian officials convened in Rome for a second round of discussions today, after meeting in Muscat last weekend. This weekend’s talks are expected to include discussion on a timeline for negotiations and potentially a general framework for a new deal, U.S. and Iranian officials have indicated. “Trump’s given a two-month deadline to get a deal done,” said Albright, a former weapons inspector who heads the Institute for Science and International Security think tank. “Iran needs to start cooperating more fully with the IAEA in order to develop confidence that any deal is water-tight.” The U.S. and European powers have repeatedly called on Iran to step up its cooperation with the agency in recent years. They have censured Iran for not doing so at the IAEA three times since November 2022. The critical gap in IAEA knowledge of Iran’s nuclear program is Iran’s inventory of centrifuges, machines that spin uranium into higher levels of enrichment. In 2021, three years after the Trump administration quit the nuclear deal, Iran stopped handing over to the agency footage and measurements from the cameras installed at the facilities. Later that year, following an attack on its Karaj centrifuge site, which Tehran blamed on Israel, Iran went several months without cameras monitoring its centrifuge production. Iran removed cameras monitoring its centrifuge sites again in June 2022. It only started to replace some a year later. The IAEA still has frequent access to Iran’s two enrichment sites and is confident Iran hasn’t diverted fissile material from them. However, the agency said in February that it has 'lost continuity of knowledge' of Iran’s production and inventory of centrifuges and their key parts: rotors and bellows. Would it retain a critical component of its ability to produce weapons-grade enriched uranium? The agency can carry out a range of inspections which could take as much as six months, and it is unlikely to get a complete picture. Trump has warned he would hit Iran militarily if it refuses a deal. On Thursday he denied he had waved off an Israeli attack to strike Iran’s nuclear plants but said he is “not in a rush to do it.” Iran must settle another issue before a deal can be implemented: resolving ’an IAEA probe into undeclared nuclear material’ found in Iran, likely originated in past nuclear weapons work Iran did in the 1990s and 2000s. Tehran has repeatedly denied it has ever conducted such work. ’Without detailing why it has the material and where it is now’, Iran may not be able to close down the probe. (Source: MSN / The Wall Street Journal = U. S.)

(Thursday), April 17, 2025  The United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). warned yesterday that Iran was not far from possessing a nuclear bomb, shortly before he arrived in Tehran for talks. “It’s like a puzzle. They have the pieces, and one day they could eventually put them together,” Grossi told yesterday. He arrived yesterday in Tehran and met Foreign Minister. Araghch and Eslami, who heads Iran’s nuclear energy agency. Grossi’s visit comes ahead of a second round of talks between Iran and the United States on Saturday. Earlier, Araghchi said Iran’s enrichment of uranium under its nuclear programme was non-negotiable after US Middle East envoy Witkoff called for it to end. “We are ready to build confidence in response to possible concerns, but the issue of enrichment is non-negotiable.' His remarks came after Witkoff said on Tuesday that Iran must stop and eliminate enriching uranium as part of any nuclear deal. The day before, Witkoff had urged only that Iran return to the 3.67% enrichment ceiling set by its 2015 accord with major powers. In its latest report, the IAEA said Iran had an estimated 274.8 kilos of uranium enriched to up to 60%. That level still falls short of the 90% threshold required for a nuclear warhead. Ahead of Saturday’s new round of talks, Araghchi condemned what he called the Trump administration’s contradictory and conflicting positions. He said he hoped to start negotiations on the framework of a possible agreement, but that this required constructive positions from the United States. Yesterday, Iranian state media said Saturday’s talks would be held in Rome with Omani mediation, as an Italian spokesman also confirmed the location. However, US and Iranian officials have not officially confirmed the venue. (Source: Gulf Times - Qatar)

Apr 12, 2025  “The current focus of the talks will be de-escalating regional tensions, prisoner exchanges and limited agreements to ease sanctions (against Iran) in exchange for controlling Iran’s nuclear programme,” an Omani source told. Iran and the US held talks in Oman today and agreed to reconvene next week, the Iranian side said. “After the end of more than 2½ hours of indirect talks, the heads of the Iranian and American delegations spoke for a few minutes in the presence of the Omani foreign minister as they left the talks, it said. Failure would aggravate fears of a wider conflagration across a region that exports much of the world’s oil. Iran has ruled out negotiating its defence capabilities such as its missile programme. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore )

Apr 12, 2025  The Iranian negotiating team consists of the top Iranian diplomat, Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ravanchi, and Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Gharibabadi. Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Baghaei, is also accompanying the negotiating delegation. The Iranian delegation arrived in Muscat, the capital of Oman, today morning. In 2018 and during his first term in office, US President Trump withdrew the United States from a previous agreement on Iran’s nuclear program – formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – and launched a maximum pressure campaign against the country. Trump restored that policy after returning to the White House for a second term in January, but he has since signaled a willingness to make a new deal to replace the JCPOA. Iran has ruled out direct negotiations with the US under pressure and threats but says indirect talks remain an option. (Source: MEHR News - Iran)

2025-04-12  Iranian officials said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has given Foreign Minister Araghchi full authority to lead the negotiations, while US Middle East envoy Witkoff is set to lead the American side. National Security Council senior official Trager and nuclear experts from the US State Department will also participate in the discussions. Witkoff has conveyed that the US seeks a diplomatic resolution while ensuring Iran cannot obtain nuclear weapons. He told that Washington’s red line remains to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb and that dismantling Tehran’s nuclear program is a key demand. Tehran insists its nuclear activities are solely for peaceful purposes, but Western nations argue that its uranium enrichment has exceeded civilian needs - enrichment levels have reached 60%, approaching weapons-grade material. Israel, a close US ally, continues to view Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an existential threat and has warned it would act militarily if diplomacy fails. Iran enters the talks under pressure, with its regional influence diminished in recent months. It’s military capabilities and its warnings to US bases in the region could strengthen its negotiating position. (Source: Shafaq News - Iraq)

April 12, 2025  US special envoy Witkoff is set for talks today with an Iranian delegation in Oman. Iranian state media said Iran would be represented by Foreign Minister Araqchi, with Omani Foreign Minister Busaidi as intermediary. Ahead of talks today between US and Iranian delegations. Trump in February restored his 'maximum pressure' campaign on Iran, which includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero, in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said earlier this week that if the talks are unsuccessful, 'Iran is going to be in great danger.' Yesterday, White House press secretary Leavitt said Trump's "ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon" and that Trump believes in diplomacy, but that 'all options are on the table' if diplomatic efforts fail. „You can agree to President Trump's demand, or there will be all hell to pay, and that's how the president feels’, Leavitt said. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Syria
April 17, 2025  Operation Assad. As his enemies closed in on Damascus, Assad used a private jet to spirit away cash, valuables and confidential documents mapping the corporate web behind his wealth. Ibrahim, who ran the economic and financial office of the presidency arranged the leasing of the plane to transport Assad's treasured assets, relatives, aides and presidential palace personnel to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) aboard four flights. The Embraer Legacy 600 jet made the four back-to-back trips to Syria in the 48 hours before the regime's fall. The plane, which has the tail number C5-SKY, is registered in Gambia. The fourth flight departed on Dec 8 from the Russian-operated Hmeimim military air base, near Latakia, on Syria's Mediterranean coast. Assad fled to Russia on the same day from the same base. The jet carried unmarked black bags of cash holding at least US$500,000 as well as documents, laptops and hard drives with key intelligence about "The Group", the codename Assad and Ibrahim's associates used for the intricate network of entities spanning telecoms, banking, real estate, energy and other activities. Assad’s whereabouts was kept secret from even close family members in the last frantic days of his regime. On Dec 6, as rebels led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham marched towards the capital, the 13-seater Embraer jet approached Damascus International Airport. More than a dozen staff in the camouflage uniforms of Syria's Air Force Intelligence, mobilised to guard the Hall of Ceremonies, the airport's VIP section, and its access route. A handful of civilian cars with tinted windows approached the area. The cars belonged to the elite Republican Guard, tasked to protect Assad and the Presidential Palace. The guard answered only to its commander, Assad's cousin General Makhlouf, or Assad himself. The head of airport security, Brigadier-General Ali, told airport staff that Air Force Intelligence personnel would handle the aircraft. "You have not seen this plane." Ali, a senior Air Force Intelligence officer, took orders directly from the Presidential Palace. The C5-SKY plane flew each time to Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen Executive Airport, used by dignitaries and known for its strict privacy, Flightradar24 data show. At first, the jet left Dubai on Dec 6 and landed in Damascus around noon. It then flew to Al Bateen airport and was back in Damascus just after 10pm. Each time it landed, cars rushed towards the plane, staying for a short time. Ali told Air Force Intelligence staff that Presidential Palace personnel and relatives of Assad - including teenagers - were due to board the first two flights that left Damascus on Dec 6, which also carried cash. The second flight from Damascus also transported paintings and some small sculptures. On Dec 7, the jet was back in Damascus around 4pm and left for Al Bateen for a third time over an hour later, this time loaded with bags of cash as well as hard drives and electronic devices containing information about Assad's corporate network. The stored information included financial records, minutes of meetings, ownership of companies, real estate and partnerships, as well as details of cash transfers and offshore companies and accounts. This time, vehicles belonging to the UAE embassy in Damascus approached the VIP airport area before the jet took off. Early on Dec 8, rebel fighters reached Damascus, prompting Assad to flee for his coastal stronghold of Latakia, in coordination with Russian forces. Damascus airport stopped operating. Shortly after midnight that day, the C5-SKY jet left Al Bateen one last time. After passing over the city of Homs, north of Damascus, at around 3am local time, the plane dropped off flight tracking coverage for about six hours before reappearing over Homs, headed back to Abu Dhabi, data from Flightradar24 show. During that window, it landed at the Hmeimim base in the Latakia province. A satellite image taken at 9.11am by Planet Labs captured the plane on the runway at Hmeimim. The jet was the only private plane flying in and out of Syria between Dec 6 and Dec 8, flight tracking data show. Aboard the flight from Hmeimim was Khalil, a close associate of Ibrahim active inside Assad's network. Khalil is under Western sanctions for supporting the former regime by operating and controlling several businesses in Syria. He had reached the Russian base in an Emirati embassy armoured car and was carrying $500,000 in cash. Khalil had withdrawn the money two days earlier from an account with the Syria International Islamic Bank (SIIB). The account belongs to Damascus-based Al-Burj Investments. The company is 50 per cent owned by Ibrahim. The Embraer jet was operating under a 'dry lease', in which the owner provides the aircraft, but no crew, pilot, maintenance, ground operations or insurance. Ibrahim reached Abu Dhabi on Dec 11. Ibrahim leased the jet from Lebanese businessman Wehbe. In the WhatsApp conversation the jet was described by one of Ibrahim's associates as the Lebanese plane. (Source: AsiaOne – Singapore / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Turkey
April 15, 2025  Turkey’s interior minister Yerlikaya announced today a massive operation into organized crime in five countries that led to over 200 arrests, primarily in Turkey. “This morning, a total of 234 high-level members of an organized crime group were detained, nine of whom were abroad and 225 were at home,” he told. Simultaneous raids were carried out in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Belgium and Turkey. Officials shared documents and intelligence with a number of countries, including France and Britain. Some 21.2 tons of drugs were confiscated, the minister said. Turkish authorities targeted four international organized crime groups as part of the operation. “These criminal organizations were seeking to ship cocaine to our country and Europe by sea and land from South American countries and heroin from Iran and Afghanistan, skunk cannabis through the Balkans and ecstasy through Europe,” Yerlikaya said. (Source: Turkish Minute - Turkey / Agence France-Presse)

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Hungary
(April 8, 2025)  Trump tariffs: Hungary is in the process of negotiating an agreement on a bilateral cooperation framework with the US, Foreign Minister Szijjártó says. “We are on very good terms with the Trump administration,” Szijjártó  explains in an interview on Bloomberg Television, adding that the discussed bilateral framework includes “economic elements.” He also defends Hungary's ties with China and Russia. /Video/ (Source: YouTube / Bloomberg Television = U.S.)
Since 8 April, 2025: 15 218 views

04.04.2025  Europe hates Trump, would like to see his peace efforts fail, claims Hungarian premier Viktor Orbán. He told public broadcaster MTI that Hungary has worked out a peace plan, while Western Europe has drafted a war plan aimed at keeping the Ukrainian army engaged in a prolonged conflict with Russia. Reiterating his support for US President Trump’s peace plan and negotiations, Orbán said: “If there’s anyone who can achieve peace, it’s him. And since we want peace, our job isn’t to hinder, criticize, or obstruct him, but to support him.” He claimed that Trump’s efforts had already ensured the war would not spread to other parts of Europe. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

April 3, 2025  Hungary exits International Criminal Court (ICC) as Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu arrives for state visit. The United States, Russia, China and Israel are among dozens of countries that are not signatories to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC and do not recognize its jurisdiction. (Source: UPI - U.S.)

02.04.2025  The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged Hungary to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he sets foot in the country. Hungary should deny entry to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or arrest him if he enters the country, the New York-based rights group said yesterday. At the time arrest warrants were issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Orbán said he will invite Netanyahu to visit, and will guarantee him that if he comes, the warrant will no effect in Hungary. He called the warrants cynical political interference in the ongoing Middle East conflict under the pretext of law. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

April 1, 2025  Parliament, dominated by Orbán's Fidesz party, passed a law last month to ban the Pride march on the grounds that it could be harmful to children. The law says police can use facial recognition cameras to identify people who attend the event, and impose fines on participants. Thousands protested in Budapest today, against a law that aims to ban the annual Pride march by LGBTQ+ groups. Orbán has said the fact that rallies such as the one today could take place meant there was no threat to democracy, calling opposition protests against the new law "provocation." A group of embassies in Budapest, including European states but not the United States, has also expressed concern over the changes. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)
by "Szakacs'

Germany
1 Apr 2025  Germany has launched its first deployment abroad since World War II. The country's parliament said troops will be sent to eastern Lithuania, which is NATO's eastern flank. The unit is to be fully operational by 2027. (Source: Mirror - United Kingdom)

Italy
(5 April 2025)  On March 28, Italy curtailed who could obtain citizenship through jure sanguinis, citing concerns that people with tenuous ties to the country have been taking advantage of the process to reap the benefits of an Italian passport. Previously, the law permitted those who could prove they had ancestors born in Italy after March 17, 1861 - when the Kingdom of Italy was founded - to apply for citizenship. Now, eligibility is restricted to individuals who have at least one parent or grandparent born in Italy. From 2014 to 2024, the number of Italian citizens living abroad rose from around 4.6 million to 6.4 million, according to Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. The ministry estimates that if jure sanguinis continues without generational limits, 60 million to 80 million people would be eligible to apply for citizenship. (Source: The Washington Post - U.S.)

Poland
08.04.2025  An NBC News report signaled a possible US withdrawal of up to half of the 20,000 troops that the Biden administration stationed in Eastern Europe in 2022. The report said talks on reducing US troop levels in Romania and Poland are taking place as President Trump seeks to persuade Russian President Putin to agree to a ceasefire with Ukraine. 'Defense minister says US troops to stay in Poland after talk of withdrawal from Eastern Europe. Troops to be relocated from Jasionka Airport to elsewhere in Poland, according to Polish Defense Ministry.' (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Romania
Apr 6, 2025  The Netherlands is engaged in discreet negotiations to permanently transfer a fleet of F-16 fighter jets to Romania by the end of the year. Transferring these jets to Romania sheds maintenance costs while reinforcing a NATO partner - a win-win on paper. This move aligns with the Netherlands’ broader military expansion, aiming to grow its armed forces from 74,000 to 200,000 by 2030. Freeing up resources for F-35 integration could accelerate that shift, while Romania inherits a proven, if aging, platform. This development, if finalized, could see Romania’s air force swell to nearly 70 F-16s. The transfer includes at least 18 Dutch F-16s currently involved in a training program for Ukrainian pilots at Romania’s 86th Air Base in Borcea. The Dutch F-16s in question are likely the Block 20 Mid-Life Update [MLU] versions, which underwent significant upgrades in the 1990s and 2000s. Romania’s current fleet includes aircraft acquired from Portugal - primarily the Block 15 variant, an early model from the 1980s - and a purchase of advanced Block 70 jets from Norway approved by the U.S. in 2022, expected to arrive later this year. The technical implications of managing nearly 70 F-16s are daunting. Romania’s existing Block 15 jets, while reliable, lack the advanced sensors and weapons integration of the Block 20 MLU and Block 70 variants. Maintenance crews must juggle distinct spare parts inventories, software updates, and training protocols, a task that could stretch Romania’s resources thin. Romania’s defense budget pegged at 2.5% of GDP in 2025 per NATO commitments, supports a range of priorities, from Patriot missile systems to naval upgrades. (Source: Bulgarianmilitary - Bulgaria)

European Parliament
April 5, 2025 6:24pm EDT  Eight people have been charged with corruption, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization following a probe into suspected bribery at the European Parliament, Belgium's public prosecutor said in a statement today. Prosecutors have said the alleged bribery is said to have benefited Huawei. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Russia
April 10, 2025  At the start of the Ukraine War, SpaceX head Musk granted Kyiv access to his Starlink satellite network sending the Kremlin, and the world a clear wake-up call about the immense value of satellites in war. Ukraine’s un-jammable communications access seriously complicated Russia’s invasion plans. The Russians have spent the last several years perfecting methods for disabling Starlink. Having already spent the better part of the last decade developing a robust arsenal of counterspace weapons specifically designed to stunt U.S. military power projection from space, Moscow may have just created an entirely new set of systems that can drastically degrade a capability that the rest of the U.S. military was investing heavily in. Russia’s Kalinka and Tobol advanced electronic warfare (EW) systems developed to disrupt satellite communications and navigation, are reflecting Russia’s significant and ongoing investment in counterspace capabilities. The actual “Starlink Killer” is the Kalinka system, which can detect and disrupt signals to and from Starlink satellites - aiming to interfere with Ukrainian military communications and drone operations. What’s more, the Kalinka is supposedly able to disrupt the functioning of Starlink’s sister constellation, the system that SpaceX specifically designed for the United States military to use, Starshield. Designated as 14Ts227, the Tobol system is a stationary EW platform originally designed to protect Russian satellites from jamming by monitoring and countering interference. It has been repurposed for offensive operations, targeting satellite signals such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Starlink. Tobol operates by jamming signals, either through downlink jamming (disrupting signals from satellites to ground receivers) or uplink jamming (interfering with signals sent to satellites). There are believed to be only seven Tobol stations across Russia, according to a 2024 report. One of the most prominent locations is in Kaliningrad. The Tobol system has been linked to widespread GPS jamming in the Baltic region, affecting thousands of flights and ships since at least 2023. It is such a threat that Finnair suspended flights to certain airports in the Baltic region in 2024 to avoid any life-threatening disruptions to their civilian flight operations. In Ukraine, meanwhile, this system is believed to have targeted Starlink nodes, disrupting synchronization between satellites and ground terminals. The Tobol’s range and power even allow it to create an electromagnetic shield, potentially protecting Russian assets from satellite-guided munitions. While Tobol disrupts broader GPS signals, Kalinka’s precision targeting could pose a more direct threat to specific military operations - although, of course, its full effectiveness remains unconfirmed in open sources. Unlike Tobol, which broadly jams satellite navigation, Kalinka reportedly has the ability to identify and target specific terminals, including those with enhanced security features. It could undermine critical battlefield connectivity among the Ukrainian Armed Forces spread across a brittle frontline with Russia. If Russia really does have a Starlink and Starshield killer, then they have caught up to the United States in a very real, disturbing way. And that means, it is now time to go back to the drawing board. If Russia has overcome these new satellite capabilities, then the Chinese certainly can as well - and all the money spent on reforming the satellite constellations by making them survivable will have to be spent enhancing their survivability once more. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert, a Senior National Security Editor at The National Interest. His books include Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower, Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life, and The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy. His newest book, A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

Apr 6, 2025  According to posts on X by AMK Mapping, an unofficial source tracking the conflict using open-source intelligence, Russia fired eight Iskander-M missiles - mobile short-range ballistic missile systems designed to strike with devastating accuracy with a circular error probable of just 16 to 23 feet when fully optimized - at targets in Kyiv, with claims that none were intercepted. Iskander-M boasts a range of up to 310 miles with a speed exceeding 2 kilometers per second and ability to maneuver during flight releasing decoys to confuse air defenses. It can carry a payload of nearly 1,800 pounds, including conventional warheads like high-explosive fragmentation or cluster munitions. In this assault, the combination of drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles suggests a deliberate attempt to saturate Ukraine’s defenses, potentially signaling Russia’s confidence in its ability to penetrate even advanced Western defenses. Estimated in November 2023, Russia manufactured 30 Iskander-M missiles monthly, per the Institute for the Study of War. The cost is roughly $3 million per missile. (Source: Bulgarianmilitary - Bulgaria)
by Nikolov
See also: Russian 9K720 ISKANDER-M tactical missile: Load launch impact /Video/ (Source: YouTube)
Since September 19, 2019: 8 229 305 views

(1 April 2025)  President Putin has called up 160,000 men aged 18-30, Russia's highest number of conscripts since 2011. Russia calls up conscripts in the spring and autumn. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Ukraine
(5/4/2025)  'Concerns persist about Ukraine becoming a significant source of illicit firearms and ammunition … in the short to medium term' - Ukraine ‘risks becoming global arms trafficking hub’ after war ends, Europol, the EU’s law enforcement wing warns. Stockpiles of military-grade weapons, drones and ammunition left behind on battlefields risk being exploited by organised crime groups when the hostilities cease, according to a 100 page Europol report titled 'The changing DNA of serious and organised crime'. The US, the largest single donor of military aid to Ukraine, said in March it had provided $66.58bn (€60.44bn) in military assistance to the country since Russia invaded in February 2022. This includes 500 million rounds of small arms ammunition and more than 50,000 grenade launchers. The ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine is a source of ever new threats to our internal security', Siemoniak, Poland’s interior minister, said. “Aware of this fact, we must identify and monitor these threats on an ongoing basis, reacting quickly and adequately". Spanish police have already uncovered evidence of drug gangs arming themselves with weapons donated by Nato members to Ukrainian forces. The arms are believed to have been advertised for sale and purchased on the dark web. (Source: MSN - U.S. / Irish Independent - Ireland)
The report (Source: Europol)

Thursday 03 April 2025  Ukraine has branched out into a new treatment for its traumatised and damaged troops – ketamine. Ukrainian medics are treating veterans with PTSD at the Lisova Polyana psychiatric hospital. Up to 80 per cent of the troops who come through Lisova Polyana end up back in the army. Ukraine’s pioneer in psychedelic therapy Dr Metranitsy says that he is seeing successful treatment of about 70 per cent of PTSD patients. (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)

United Kingdom
Saturday, 05 April 2025  British and French military chiefs have met their counterparts in Ukraine to discuss how Stramer’s ’coalition of the willing’ can build on the capabilities of the Ukrainian army. Admiral Radakin, the chief of the UK defence staff, was in Kyiv this week for talks on the structure, size and make-up of the Ukraine force, in the event of a peace deal between Zelensky and Putin. Defence secretary Healey will host counterparts in a 30-strong ’coalition of the willing’ meeting in Brussels next week. ’We will continue to ramp up our military planning, exploring the air, sea and land forces that could support a lasting peace in Ukraine’. ’However, we will not jeopardise the peace by forgetting about the war.’ (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)

Saturday 05 April 2025  Former MI6 boss says Britain ’must get ready for war’, it needs to rearm and build reserves through a form of national service. The threat from Russia – and its closeness to the US – is real, Younger said. “We have, for many years, been completely free of any form of existential threat. ’We’ve unforgivably… launched a set of wars of choice, which have imposed sacrifice needlessly on young people and there’s great cynicism about this idea of collective effort to defend your’ country. He gave a distinctly British establishment response to the question of whether or not, after backing Putin so publicly, ’Trump could be working for Russia’, an allegation which has been made against the US president in the past, without any evidence. ’I personally don’t think he’s a Russian agent. I went out of my way not to find out because why would you want to know? So I don’t know’. „The point is he agrees with Putin”. He agrees that big countries get additional rights over small countries, particularly in their own backyard.” He said Britain had fallen behind other European nations in its ability, and willingness, to defend itself. “I think the UK is quite conflicted as well. We’ve got this astonishing history, which makes people readier to conceive of Britain playing a much more active role, but I think here too, there’s real concern about being asked to actually do stuff.” The longstanding issue of trust is now being undermined by the US, both in terms of military doctrine, as shown by Nato’s Article 5, and in the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing system between the UK, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It has been badly damaged by the recent Signal messaging group scandal, Younger said. Dr Ellehuus, now director general of the Royal United Services Institute, Britain’s leading security think tank, laid out the threat that has intensified following the sudden change in strategic ideology in Washington under Trump. She said that while the threat posed by the Kremlin had been persistent, it has been the dramatic shift in Washington that has been the greatest strategic shock. “President Putin is trying to redraw the map. Some of the changes that were made at the end of the Cold War that left Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova as not part of the Soviet Union but neither part of Nato or the European Union, left them in a kind of limbo. [It] created an opportunity for him to chip away at the margins of those countries and create pockets of instability or insecurity that would prevent them from fully integrating into Nato or the EU. He is going to test the boundaries of what we call Article 5, which is the commitment that an attack against one Nato ally is an attack against all of them. He’s already been pushing the boundaries of that through below-the-threshold activities that aren’t conventional attacks.” (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)
A comment:
' ’We have, for many years, been completely free of any form of existential threat. ’We've unforgivably… launched a set of wars of choice, which have imposed sacrifice needlessly on young people and there's great cynicism about this idea of collective effort to defend your country." He's right on that, but we got there by listening to the exact same people like Mr Younger’.

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Cambodia
April 5, 2025  The completion of China-funded facilities at the Ream Naval Base in Cambodia was celebrated by the two countries today. The completed facilities include a new 650-meter-long deep-water pier, a dry dock with a capacity of 5,000 tons, a warehouse and a number of other buildings. Prime Minister Hun Manet affirmed that the facilities can be used by all friendly countries in the wake of concerns that the Chinese military will establish a presence at the base in southwestern Cambodia. (Source: Mainichi / Kyodo = Japan)

China
April 9, 2025  China is expanding its military reach and presence within and beyond the western Pacific Ocean with the largest navy in the world by hull count-which has more than 370 vessels, including 12 nuclear-powered submarines. Last summer, three Chinese research vessels were tracked operating in the Indian Ocean for suspected survey missions, which could be used to aid in China's submarine warfare. The mother ship of two types of submersibles, a Chinese vessel is suspected of mapping the seafloor around U.S. allies Australia and New Zealand to support submarine deployments. Its voyage comes after China sent a flotilla for an unprecedented circumnavigation of Australia and the deployment of an American nuclear-powered submarine to Australia. Operated by the state-run Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Deep-Sea Science and Engineering, all observed activities conducted by the ship, Tan Suo Yi Hao, - "Discovery One" in English - "appear to be in accordance with international law," the Australian Defense Department told. A map shows the Chinese ship was outside the Australian 200-nautical-mile (230-mile) exclusive economic zone (EEZ). It previously transited the Great Australian Bight off Australia's southern coastline and the country's EEZ after leaving New Zealand. The Chinese vessel did not take the most direct route back to China, where it is expected to arrive on April 30. The "dual-purpose" ship, which is reportedly capable of gathering intelligence, has another objective: surveying the Diamantina Trench, which has a depth of 8,047 meters. This could indicate the deployment of submersibles, which can reach 10,000 meters below sea level, according to its operator. Prior to its voyage near Australia, the Chinese vessel conducted a joint research expedition from January to March with scientists from New Zealand at the Puysegur Trench's deepest point, located 6,208 meters below sea level and to the southwest of New Zealand. The most obvious reason for China to carry out deep-sea research off Australia and New Zealand would be to facilitate its submarine force deployments, including submarines that are armed with nuclear missiles, at "strategic deep-sea locations," analyst Powell, the director of the Stanford University-affiliated SeaLight maritime analysis organization concluded. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

09 April, 2025  The first WTO complaint against the new set of US tariffs was brought by China in response to President Trump’s Executive Order (effective 4 February), imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese goods. This 10% tariff is additional to any other tariffs that the US already imposes on goods from China, as well as any fees and applicable charges on the same goods. In addition to imposing retaliatory tariffs, on 4 February China requested WTO consultations with the US. Consultations take 60 days, and if they fail, the next step will be for China to request a WTO panel. In its request, China argues that the US’s tariffs violate GATT rules. On 14 February, the US responded to China’s request for consultations. The US’s longstanding position is that security measures are “political matters not susceptible of review or capable of resolution by WTO dispute settlement”. On 4 March President Trump increased the tariffs on Chinese goods from 10% to 20%, again claiming that China had not taken adequate steps to alleviate the illicit drug crisis. China then lodged a second request for consultations. The US responded on 18 March, again citing a national security rationale. On 4 April, China requested WTO consultations with the US in respect of the tariffs President Trump announced on ‘Liberation Day’. In addition to raising the same GATT legal arguments included in its previous requests, China also claimed that the tariffs breach Article X:3(a) claiming that the US “does not administer the measures at issue in a uniform, impartial, and reasonable manner.” China also announced that it would be imposing additional tariffs of 34% on US imports. In response, the Trump administration will impose an additional 50% tariff on China effective from 9 April. China has responded by increasing tariffs on US goods to 84% and filing another consultation request with the US at the WTO. President Trump announced that the tariff on China would be immediately increased to 125%. The ‘reciprocal’ tariff rates announced on 2 April will be paused for 90-days for all countries other than China. /(Source: Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) - Headquarters London, United Kingdom/

09-Apr-2025  China's State Council Information Office today released a white paper titled "China's Position on Some Issues Concerning China-U.S. Economic and Trade Relations" (April 2025) /Source: CGTN - China/
The full text of the paper.

08-Apr-2025  The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed today that China, Iran, and Russia will hold trilateral consultations on the Iranian nuclear issue in Moscow from April 7 to 8. (Source: CGTN - China)

Apr 04, 2025  China's additional tariffs of 34% on all US goods will come into effect from April 10. Beijing also announced controls on exports of medium and heavy rare earths. The latest tariffs bring average US tariffs on all Chinese products to as high as 65%, according to Bloomberg. That rate includes existing tariffs from the first Trump term that were maintained by the previous Biden administration. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

(2 April 2025)  China's military conducted a live-fire exercise codenamed Strait Thunder in the Taiwan Strait to simulate strikes on key ports and energy facilities, it said today. A video by the PLA, titled 'Subdue demons and vanquish evils', likened the military's capabilities to the magical powers of the Monkey King, a mythical Chinese character. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

01-Apr-2025  Today morning, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command began joint exercises around Taiwan Island, organizing its army, navy, air and rocket forces to close in on Taiwan Island from multiple directions, according to Senior Colonel Shi, spokesperson for the theater command. Military exercises by the PLA around Taiwan Island serve as a resolute punishment for Lai authorities' blatant Taiwan secession provocations, and are a necessary action to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity, Zhu, Chinese mainland spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stated today. 'She warned that Taiwan secession means war'. (Source: CGTN - China)

Gaza
03.04.2025  Hamas urged the Hungarian government to 'immediately rescind this biased and shameful decision, fulfill its legal obligations, and hand over the war criminal Netanyahu to the ICC to hold him accountable for his crimes and receive just punishment for the massacres and genocide he committed against our Palestinian people,' the Palestinian resistance group Hamas said in a statement. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Iran
(Wednesday), April 9, 2025  Trump has recently pushed for a new agreement limiting Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi says that Tehran is "ready to engage in earnest and with a view to seal a deal," in upcoming nuclear talks but stressed they will be indirect due to a deep wall of mistrust with Washington. As tensions escalate and with Trump threatening military action, the outcome of the Oman talks could reshape the geopolitical balance in the Middle East and beyond. Araghchi said removing the threat of force is essential for talks to succeed. Addressing long-standing allegations about Iran's nuclear ambitions, Araghchi reiterated that Tehran's program is peaceful. He quoted language from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) also known as the Iran nuclear deal (2015), affirming Iran's pledge never to pursue nuclear weapons. He pointed to recent congressional testimony from intelligence chief Gabbard, who said the Iranian leadership has not authorized a return to nuclear weapons development since suspending the program in 2003. U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East Witkoff will represent Washington in the negotiations. Talks are scheduled to begin on Saturday in Oman. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

(Monday), Apr 7 2025  Tehran was slapped with a chilling deadline to either hold direct talks and sign a new nuclear agreement or potentially face military action. Khamenei strongly refused to agree to Trump's demands, saying that Iran will not engage in any direct negotiations and strike up a new nuclear deal with the US. Iran wants to continue indirect negotiations through Oman - a longtime channel for messages between the rival states. Trump vows ‘there'll be bombing’ if Iran doesn’t fall in line as US masses B2 jets. Meanwhile, Khamenei ordered Iran's armed forces to abandon Houthi terrorists and leave Yemen. Tehran wants to focus more on the threat from Trump rather than spending its resources on its proxy network. Ayatollah braces for looming Trump onslaught. Iran's ally Russia said on Thursday that any US threats of military strikes against it were unacceptable, before ’desperately’ calling for restraint on Friday. Iran has placed its military troops on full alert amid looming threats of a devastating strike attack from the US. Moscow's commitment to its ally depends on the dynamics of the relationship between Trump and Putin. It comes just days after The Sun exclusively revealed how the US and Israel are planning to blitz in an attack which was "long overdue". The US amassed at least five B-2 strategic bombers on the British island of Diego Garcia. Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei responded to Trump's threat. 'They threaten to attack us, which we don't think is very probable, but if they commit any mischief, they will surely receive a strong reciprocal blow. Iran sent a chilling strike threat to neighbouring countries, warning that any support for a US attack on Iran would be seen as an act of hostility using their air space or territory by the US military during a potential attack. Senior Israeli diplomatic sources say Iran is closer than ever to developing nukes. Iran is believed to have accelerated its nuclear weapons development and is building nuclear warheads for solid-fuel missiles with a range exceeding 3,000km. They are being developed at two sites in Shahrud and Semnan, which were previously pinned as rocket or space satellite launch sites. A third site, Sorkheh Hesar, is also said to be carrying out projects, including research on nuclear power and underground explosions. Nukes are being created under the watchful eye of the regime's nuclear weaponization entity, the Organization for Advanced Defense Research (SPND). Bosses are developing nuclear warheads for the solid-fuel Ghaem-100 missiles, which are equipped with mobile launch platforms at the Shahrud site. Iran's rocket designers have used North Korea's missiles as a guide to develop the Ghaem-100 missile, which was in a very early testing stage in 2011, when dozens of missile experts were killed at the Modarres site in Tehran. Personnel vehicles are banned from entering the Shahrud site and are forced to park at a checkpoint before people are transported in. They are using the liquid fuel missile Simorgh to develop nuclear warheads in Semnan. Iran has staged three successful Ghaem-100 missile launches over the past two years, enhancing the regime's capability to deploy nuclear weapons. Iran is said to be readying itself by setting up missiles with the capability to strike US positions. A significant number of these weapons are located in underground facilities scattered across the country, designed to withstand airstrikes. The US amassed at least five B-2 strategic bombers on the British island of Diego Garcia - all aimed at Iran. Iran is over 2,300 miles from where the bombers are stationed - but the B-2s have a massive 6,900-mile range. The heavy bombers can obliterate targets with their huge 25-tonne bomb payload per jet. Amid the potential strike threat, Kayhan - a hardline Iranian official propaganda newspaper managed by Khamenei's representative - issued a column calling to assassinate Trump. The chilling threat was written in retaliation to the 2020 killing of IRGC's Soleimani by US airstrikes. President Trump has given his team strict instructions to obliterate Iran if the country ever assassinates him. (Source: The U.S. Sun)

03.04.25  Iran considers pre-emptive strike on Diego Garcia as US bombers mobilise. The Shahid Mahdavi and an Iranian Navy corvette visited Port Klang in Malaysia in February before sailing off the coasts of Pakistan, India, and Sri Lanka. The flotilla reportedly came within 1,300km of Diego Garcia near the equator. (Source: The Telegraph - India)

Kazakhstan
April 8, (2025)  A Russian spacecraft safely delivered an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) today, a flight hailed by Moscow as an example of fruitful Russia-U.S. space cooperation. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Syria
April 10, 2025  A week after Israel increased air strikes in Syria, declaring the attacks a warning to the new government in Damascus and accusing Turkey of trying to turn the country into a protectorate, Turkey and Israel have held technical talks yesterday in Azerbaijan, to avoid military misunderstandings that could start a conflict in Syria, Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan and Israeli officials confirmed. “While we are conducting certain operations in Syria, there needs to be a non-conflict mechanism with Israel, which flies aircraft in that region, similar to mechanisms we have with the US and Russia,” Mr Fidan told. “There are technical contacts to prevent combat elements from misunderstanding each other.” Turkey could set up a military base in Syria's desert city of Palmyra and is studying the possible use of a Turkish-produced air defence system known as Hisar, a senior Syrian military commander told last week. The Turkish Defence Ministry official said Ankara was looking to set up bases for training purposes in Syria and was providing support to increase Damascus's defence capacities in line with the demands of the new government in the Syrian capital. A delegation led by the Chief of the National Security Staff, Hanegbi, along with senior representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the security branches, met last night with a parallel Turkish delegation, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office also confirmed the talks. Israeli officials are now concerned that Turkey's newfound weight in Syria could be used against it as Ankara builds influence in the country, where Israel has also expanded military operations into a UN-patrolled buffer zone in the occupied Golan Heights. Mr Fidan said Ankara's military activities in Syria were aimed at avoiding instability that could impact Turkey. (Source: The National – United Arab Emirates)

Turkey
April 10, 2025  Over the course of the last 22 years, President Erdoğan of Turkey has fought and endured a great deal in order to remain in power. Through it all, he has grown more powerful. The events of the last month may prove to be among the most decisive moments of Erdoğan’s era. In the middle of March, an Istanbul court ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the city’s mayor, Imamoğlu. With Imamoğlu’s removal from office, many assume that Erdoğan may run against a weaker opposition candidate in his pursuit of a third presidential term after 2028. Other events appear to favor Erdoğan’s plans for stronger, more regionally powerful Turkey which had helped protect Sharaa’s rebel stronghold in Idlib for much of the civil war. Turkish commentators agreed: The victory in Syria belonged to both Ankara and Sharaa. News reports circulated that Turkish troops would remain in Syria and assist the government in Damascus in reconstituting its military. An end to the fighting likely meant that millions of Syrian refugees residing in Turkey could soon return home and relieve the country of large number of unwanted immigrants. Economic opportunities appeared to accompany the war’s conclusion, with U.N. officials estimating Syria’s reconstruction costs topping $400 billion. Other issues remained. The Netanyahu government has remained steadfast in its contention that Turkey has provided critical aid to Hamas. In January the Knesset’s defense and budget committee issued a scathing report on Turkey’s influence in Syria. Among the committee’s findings is the assertion that Israel "must be prepared for war” with Turkey over its support for Sunni militants in Syria and its potential desire “to restore the Ottoman Empire to its former glory.” Turkish senior officials have countered that Israel intends to undermine Turkish security by establishing ties with Syria’s Kurdish militias - belief crystalized around the theory that Tel Aviv intends to occupy and partition Syria by linking Kurdish-held areas with the Golan Heights. The realization of this “David’s Corridor,” as it is termed in the Turkish press, is believed to be a part of a broader Israeli agenda to redraw the map of the Middle East. Damascus signed an agreement in February with the largest Kurdish-dominated faction, the Syrian Democratic Forces, aimed amalgamating it into the regular Syrian army. In February, reports circulated that Sharaa and Erdoğan were seeking a joint defense pact. Elements of this agreement would see Turkey establish new air bases in Syria, use Syrian airspace for military purposes, and take a lead role in training troops in Syria’s new army, leading to further speculation that the Turkish navy would take over Russia’s basing rights on the Syrian coast. Recent Israeli airstrikes against military installations in central Syria raise the possibility that a shooting war between Israel and Turkey is not idle talk. For Turkey, a costly war with Israel is only one hazard that lies ahead in Syria. Recent waves of sectarian violence in the country have underscored the fragility of the peace the Sharaa government has forged. To date, no state in the region, including the wealthy Gulf monarchies, have followed through on promises to aid Sharaa in rebuilding the country. It appears likely that much of Turkey’s Syrian diaspora will not return home. Turkey may end up owning a thoroughly broken situation in Syria. These revelations followed increasing signs that Turkey’s greatest security threat, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, was at the threshold of disbanding. With the prospect of ending the 40-year insurgency within reach, pro-government have rejoiced. Erdoğan publicly voiced his hope that a “Turkey without terror” was just on the horizon. The government allowed a series of official meetings between representatives of the Peoples’ Democratic Party - an opposition party, which chiefly represents the interests of Kurdish civil rights movement - and the imprisoned founder and leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, Öcalan. In late February, he was issuing a page-and-a-half written statement outlining his desire for his fighters to lay down their arms. How perceives Erdoğan’s administration the implications of Öcalan’s historical statement? After a “wait-and-see” period lasting several months, a “democratization” process would proceed within Turkey’s Grand National Assembly. Among the aims of this process, would be the reformation of the country’s constitution and one likely item to be a constitutional amendment allowing Erdoğan the option to stand again for election in three years’ time. To ensure passage of such an amendment, Erdoğan’s coalition requires the support of one of the assembly’s main opposition parties. Giving concessions to the Peoples’ Democratic Party may secure Erdoğan the votes he needs. The chief victim is Turkey’s largest opposition party, the Republican Peoples’ Party. The arrested Istanbul mayor Imamoğlu is both more popular than Erdoğan and more likely to win in a head-to-head matchup for the presidency in 2028. Peoples’ Democratic Party leaders have voiced support for the protests and have called for Imamoğlu’s release. Republican Peoples’ Party chairman Özel has now called for early elections. Added to these dates are concerns that the dissolution of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party may not be so certain. Neither the Syrian Democratic Forces nor other Kurdish factions have official acknowledged Öcalan’s calls for dissolution. May have Turkey arrived at some kind of moment of reckoning? Establishing a firm foothold in Syria while neutralizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party likely will have a dramatic effect upon Turkey’s regional influence. Success in Syria also may further whet Turkey’s appetite for adventurism. Demobilizing the Kurdistan Workers’ Party and resolving its problems with Kurdish militants in Syria may incentivize Erdoğan to resume his aggressive behavior towards Athens. The road to success in Syria is potentially fraught with danger. Should Sharaa’s government stumble or fall, Turkey again may be saddled with an unstable neighbor and a tidal wave of new refugees in need of care. Successfully insisting upon a permanent military presence in Syria may also spur a war against Israel. Unlike Ankara’s recent conflicts in Libya, Syria, or Armenia, the Turkish armed forces may struggle against a far more capable opponent. Erdoğan’s dual efforts to strengthen his hold on power, while boosting Turkey’s influence in the Middle East, may precipitate far more severe crises. At this stage, given global conditions, it seems easier to imagine Turkey growing more unpredictable. (Source: War on the Rocks - U.S.)
by Gingeras, a professor in the Department of National Security Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, an expert on Turkish, Balkan, and Middle East history, the author of seven books, including the forthcoming Mafia: A Global History and Sorrowful Shores: Violence, Ethnicity, and the End of the Ottoman Empire

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Asia

Yemen
09:43-9 April 2025  The Iran-backed Houthis are in disarray over escalating American strikes targeting military and security sites, as well as weapons depots belonging to them, Yemeni Minister of Information Eryani said, revealing that the group has lost nearly 30% of its military capabilities. Al-Eryani told that the recent strikes have directly hit "the military capabilities of the Houthi group, targeting mainly infrastructure related to ballistic missiles and drones, which were used to threaten international maritime navigation in the Red Sea, Bab el-Mandeb, and the Gulf of Aden." US President Trump had ordered the start of the military campaign against the Houthis on March 15. In the past four weeks, the Houthis have been hit by 365 air and naval strikes, especially in the group's strongholds in the governorates of Saada, Sanaa, Amran, and Hodeidah. (Source: Asharq Al-Awsat – Headquarters London, United Kingdom, owned by a member of Saudi royal family.)

Caribbean

Dominican Republic
Thursday 10 April 2025  Death toll hits 184 two days after the roof came crashing down on some 300 people enjoying a live music show at the Jet Set nightclub. The nightclub was packed with musicians, retired Major League Baseball players and government officials for a concert by Pérez, known as the “loudest voice in merengue”, on Tuesday night, when the entire roof collapsed. 145 people had been rescued. Search and rescue work would now transition to recovery of the bodies as any hopes of finding survivors had faded, exhausted. "All rescue agencies have provided the necessary assistance and are working tirelessly. Our prayers are with the affected families”, President Abinader said on X. (Source: Independent – United Kingdom)

North America

Canada
09 April, 2025  On 1 February, President Trump issued an Executive Order imposing a 10% tariff on Canadian energy products and a 25% tariff on all other Canadian products. These tariffs were set to take effect on 4 February. After reaching an agreement with Canada on border enforcement, President Trump announced that the tariffs would be suspended for 30 days. Canada committed to implementing a $1.3 billion border security plan and launching a Canada-US Joint Strike Force on organised crime, among other measures. On 4 March, the suspension ended and the tariffs came into force. On the same day, Canada imposed an additional 25% tariff on $30 billion worth of US goods. Canada also lodged a request for consultations with the US before the WTO. Canada raised the same Article I:1 and II:1(a) and (b) GATT legal arguments as China but also alleged that President Trump’s measures fail to “provide, to the extent possible, for a de minimis shipment value or dutiable amount for which customs duties and taxes will not be collected”. Canada additionally claims that the measures breach Article V:3 GATT as the measures “at issue apply a customs duty to goods in transit.” Canada also claims that its request is a matter of urgency on the basis that the tariffs apply to agricultural “perishable goods.” In such cases, a WTO panel is required to issue its report within three months, instead of the usual six months. Prompted by concerns raised by US car manufacturers whose supply chains stretch across North America, on 6 March, the US exempted products that satisfy the ‘rules of origin’ requirements under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), covering a significant proportion of Canadian imports. This did not affect Canada’s retaliatory measures, nor its WTO action. On 14 March, the US responded to Canada’s request for consultations on the same basis as its response to China. On 12 March the US imposed a 25% tariff on aluminium and steel products from all sources. Canada was lodging another request for consultations, repeating the same arguments in its other request. On 20 March, the EU submitted a request to join Canada’s consultations, citing its “substantial trade interest” in the dispute given that the US steel and aluminium tariffs also affect a total of €26 billion of EU exports. In its response, the US reiterated the claim that the measures taken relate to issues of national security. As of 9 April, the US has yet to respond to the EU’s consultation request. A 25% tariff on imports of automobiles came into effect on 2 April (and will come into effect on certain automobile parts no later than 3 May). These tariffs are additional to the current tariffs that the US already charges on imports of automobiles and automobile parts - the US’ most-favoured nation tariff on automobiles is 2.5%. The tariffs that Trump separately announced on China, Canada and Mexico in February and March are payable in addition to this tariff. The Section 301 tariffs that were announced under the Biden administration on electric vehicles and lithium-ion vehicle batteries from China will also need to be added on top of this additional 25% tariff. These tariffs are origin-neutral, and the basis for these tariffs is that protecting the US automobile industry is vital to national security. On 3 April Canada requested WTO consultations with the US, raising the same Article I:1 and II:1(a) and (b) GATT legal arguments included in its previous requests. In addition, Canada alleges that the tariffs are inconsistent with Article VIII:3 GATT as the measures “impose substantial penalties for minor breaches of customs regulations or procedural requirements.” /Source: Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) - Headquarters London, United Kingdom/

United States
April 10, 2025  Speaking in the Oval Office yesterday, U.S. President Trump said was not concerned about the economic conflict with China escalating further, calling Chinese President Xi "one of the very smart people of the world." He has dismissed concerns of his trade war with China escalating beyond the exchange of ’eye-watering tariffs’. I don't think he would allow that to happen, Trump said. The U.S. is far more powerful than people understand, he added. ’We have weaponry that nobody has any idea what it is and it is the most powerful weapons in the world that we have.’ So nobody is going to do that, Trump told reporters. (Source: Miami Herald - U.S.)

April 9, 2025  The military use of space is evolving quickly, necessitating not only new capabilities but also creating entirely new missions, securing greater funding. The chief of space operations (CSO) noted in April 2025 that “overly restrictive space policy and outdated ways of thinking” are holding back U.S. military space power. The Space Force has proposed establishing a new command, called Space Futures Command, to assess the long-term capabilities required to maintain the U.S. edge in space. New capabilities are important, but so are new missions. The military use of space is in such an early stage that no one has perhaps quite figured out all the military space missions and functions themselves. During congressional testimony on April 3, 2025, the CSO directly spoke about this, suggesting there might be a need for a “process by which we will evaluate new missions”. There are already several new missions on the horizon. The Golden Dome initiative, specifically missile intercept from space, is one such mission. Space sensing will play a critical role in Golden Dome, as it does today in the U.S. early warning architecture, with satellites used to detect and track missile launches. But Golden Dome is a paradigm shift because it includes the deployment of space-based missile interceptors, potentially orbiting Earth somewhere between 300 kilometers and 500 kilometers in altitude, designed to counter ballistic missiles during the boost phase of their trajectories when they pass through space, opening the door to a new chapter in how the U.S. military uses space for space control. Space-based missile interceptors can perform both space control roles: the counterspace mission, stopping adversaries from using space for their own operations. and the counter-counterspace mission, to defeat counterspace weapons employed by an adversary, protecting and defending U.S. space assets. Space mobility and orbital global strike would also be two other entirely new military space missions, not just new capabilities. For years, U.S. Transportation Command, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), and the Defense Innovation Unit have been working on developments that would fit into a space mobility mission. Since 2022, AFRL has been budgeted to pursue the rocket cargo program, which aims to move goods and material from one point on Earth to another using suborbital rocket flights. Commercial reusable rockets, including Blue Origin’s New Shepard and SpaceX’s Falcon 9, testify to the feasibility of this concept. The ability to deliver cargo (or possibly in the future soldiers) anywhere in the world in less than 90 minutes, it would have value when speed is key. NASA’s OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample-return mission, SpaceX’s Dragon and Boeing’s Starliner capsules, and Varda’s return vehicle, among others, offer recent examples of existing capabilities that lay the groundwork for another variation of space mobility, one involving orbital flight and reentry through Earth’s atmosphere. Supplies in orbit for later delivery (i.e., warehousing in space), could reduce delivery times still further than what is possible using rocket cargo. Since March 2023, the Air Force has funded work at four companies to look at this concept, which has been called orbital cargo drop. ’A vehicle in orbit that is capable of surviving reentry could deliver weapons’. This was most recently tested by China in 2021, designed to deliver a warhead to its target using low Earth orbit. This is a type of system the U.S. military has not pursued. Orbital global strike, a space-to-Earth fires concept of a capability based on satellite constellation, with each satellite having some type of space-to-Earth weapon. Today, an intercontinental ballistic missile is on average the fastest way to deliver a munition to the other side of the globe, capable of reaching its target in about 30 minutes. For a weapon of an orbital global strike, the time to reach the target could be as fast as a projectile falling from orbit to the ground at Mach 10, a time measured in mere minutes. Weapons launched from satellites in orbit could include solid projectiles) or drones or air-breathing missiles that deploy from reentry vehicles. ’Orbital global strike could be used for strategic purposes, meaning to target an adversary’s war-making and other infrastructure, or tactical purposes in direct support to armed forces in combat’.’Creating an orbital global strike mission would be akin to the evolution of air power from mainly a tool of reconnaissance to one oriented around long-range bombardment’. The same technology that produced commercial satellite constellations hints at the possibility of ’an orbital global strike network consisting of a similar number of satellites’.  (Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies - U.S.)
by Swope, the deputy director of the Aerospace Security Project and a senior fellow in the Defense and Security Department at the CSIS.

April 9, 2025  Might someone have stolen the gold reserves from Fort Knox, Kentucky, the fortress that holds the government’s gold bars? At least a dozen times since mid-February, President Trump and his billionaire adviser Musk keep fanning flames of Fort Knox gold conspiracy theory - rumor about America’s gold reserves - that the Fort Knox gold might be gone. In 2017, Trump’s treasury secretary at the time, Mnuchin, visited the Kentucky fortress and came away satisfied. Trump’s current treasury secretary, Bessent, told in February: “All the gold is present and accounted for.” No visit has materialized in the nearly two months since then, and it’s not clear why. ’The gold theft rumors have come in several varieties, all without evidence, among them that European bankers took the gold or that the Rockefeller banking family did’. The U.S. Mint says Fort Knox holds about 147.3 million ounces of gold currently, or about half the Treasury’s total gold reserves. That’s worth about $450 billion at the current market price. Formally known as the U.S. Bullion Depository, the gold reserve site is next to the Army base Fort Knox. It was built in 1936, and President Roosevelt was the only visitor until the tour for media and members of Congress in 1974. The gold reserve used to have a practical purpose: to allow foreign governments to swap their dollars for gold. But President Nixon ended the practice in 1971. Now, its value is mainly symbolic of U.S. wealth, and other countries, such as China, have recently sought to build up their own reserves. The Treasury Department’s nonpartisan inspector general audits the gold every year, said Thorson, a former inspector general who’s now retired. He said that he sent teams of about three people every year and that he went personally once in 2011. On Feb. 15, Zero Hedge posted a suggestion on X and tagged Musk directly. “It would be great if @elonmusk could take a look inside Fort Knox just to make sure the 4,580 tons of US gold is there. Last time anyone looked was 50 years ago in 1974,” the account posted. It had 3.3 million views as of Friday. “Surely it’s reviewed at least every year?” Musk responded to the post. X’s owner, Musk, has 218 million listed followers. Google Trends data shows that after the interaction, web searches for the term “Fort Knox” hit their highest level since Google began collecting data in 2004 and kept rising for several days. On Feb. 17, Musk posted on X about the gold: “Maybe it’s there, maybe it’s not.” He spoke about it on Rogan’s podcast and at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, often mixing the conspiracy theory with attempts at humor. Musk reiterated his intention to inspect the goal as recently as March 30 at a town hall-style event in Wisconsin. “We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold, tons of gold,” Trump said. ’There is no evidence that any gold is missing, and there’s no indication that Musk or Trump has taken any concrete steps toward visiting Fort Knox’. Questioning the gold as having been ‘lost’ or ‘stolen’ is part of a series of actions that undermine confidence in America, said Klein, who served in the Obama Treasury Department. Paul, the former congressman wants Trump and Musk to perform lab tests known as assays to determine the exact composition of the gold bars. The price of gold soared to record highs in recent days amid concerns about Trump’s trade wars before they fell again along with other asset prices since last week’s tariff announcement. And the longer the visit doesn’t happen, the more useful the rumors become for anyone who benefits from them. “If the intent is to undermine the financial system, you don’t actually want anyone to go there and look,” said Schafer, of the German Marshall Fund. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

09 April, 2025  On 2 April, President Trump announced a global baseline 10% tariff on all imports into the US (effective from 5 April) and a range of additional ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on numerous countries and the EU (effective from 9 April). These reciprocal tariffs – which will be payable in addition to tariffs that the US currently levies – range from 10% (the minimum baseline) to 73%. According to the administration, these tariffs are calculated by reference to the size of that country’s trade deficit with the US. All countries will face steeper tariff rates, including China which was hit with a 34% tariff (but the total tariff rate on China has since risen to 125%), while the EU will face an additional 20% tariff on top of the tariffs the US already imposes on the EU. These reciprocal tariffs have been paused for 90-days for all countries, other than China. The 10% baseline tariff will continue to apply to most countries during the 90-day period. No additional tariffs were announced on Mexico and Canada. The ‘reciprocal’ tariffs apply to all products, but exclusions exist for certain medical items (including pharmaceuticals), as well as agricultural and technology items (including semiconductor chips) and certain raw materials. President Trump has indicated that the US will soon impose tariffs on semiconductor chips and pharmaceuticals. The ‘reciprocal’ tariffs also do not apply to automobiles and automobile parts, as well as steel and aluminium products, which remain subject to the specific tariff rates for these products. /Source: Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) - Headquarters London, United Kingdom/

4/9/2025  FBI Director Patel was removed as the Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, an arm of the U.S. Justice Department, and replaced by U.S. Army Secretary Driscol, who will continue to serve as Army Secretary while he also oversees the ATF. Patel was sworn in as ATF's acting director in late February, just a few days after he was also sworn in as FBI Director. Senior Justice Department officials are weighing whether to merge the ATF with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration as part of an effort to cut costs. (Source: MSN - U.S. / Reuters - United Kingdom)

8 April 2025  The Trump administration is finding justifications to revoke student visas. Students at over 50 universities across the US reported that their student visas were canceled around April 4. They were impacted at several major institutions in California - UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, Stanford – and at Arizona State University, Harvard University, Columbia University, the University of Tennessee, among others. Some students report having their visa revoked over a speeding ticket. This recent wave of visa revocations has also renewed alarm about the State Department's "Catch and Revoke" program. The approach uses AI to scour the social media of visa holders, determining whether they show support for US-designated terrorist groups such as Hamas. Last month, FM Rubio said at a press conference that he had revoked the visas of over 300 international students, specifically for pro-Palestine protest activity. „Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa," Rubio said in Guyana on March 27. (Source: allAfrica - a website which operates from offices in Cape Town, Dakar, Abuja, Monrovia, Nairobi and Washington, D.C.)

April 8, 2025  The Trump administration plans to fine migrants under deportation orders up to $998 a day if they fail to leave the United States and to seize their property if they do not pay. The Trump administration plans to apply the penalties retroactively for up to five years. Trump turns to rarely used 1996 law that was enforced for the first time in 2018, to fine and potentially seize migrant assets. Immigrants in the U.S. illegally should use a mobile app formerly known as CBP One - rebranded as CBP Home under Trump - to "self deport and leave the country now." The White House has pressed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to handle the issue of penalties, property seizures for migrants who don't pay, and the sale of their assets. The Department of Justice’s civil asset forfeiture division could be another option for the seizures. The planned fines target the roughly 1.4 million migrants who have been ordered removed by an immigration judge. The immigration advocacy group FWD.us estimates that some 10 million migrants with no legal status or temporary protections are living with U.S. citizens or permanent residents in what are known as 'mixed status households.' (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Apr 08, 2025  In Silicon Valley, tech giants rely heavily on H1B visas to employ thousands of workers and immigrant tech community is confronting growing challenges. Amazon tops the list of big tech companies in terms of H1B approvals, followed by Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Apple. Tesla, under CEO Musk’s leadership, approved 1,767 H1B visas in the fiscal year ending September 2024. Each year, around 65,000 H1B visas are granted through a lottery system, with India leading the list of recipients, followed by China and Canada. The debate over H1B visas has brought to light a growing division within Trump’s coalition, with tech leaders pushing for more immigrant talent while others advocate for stricter immigration measures. Experts warn that limiting visas for immigrant tech workers could undermine the industry's ability to compete with China. Amidst the Trump administration’s stricter immigration policies, leading tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple, and Microsoft are advising their H-1B and green card visa holders to refrain from international travel. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

(Tuesday), 08 April, 2025  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his second visit to Washington in the first 10 weeks of Trump's second term. On the agenda was Netanyahu's determination to reverse Trump's newly imposed tariffs, and discussions on Iran's nuclear ambitions, Gaza, and Syria. Trump said that he would be meeting with the Iranians on Saturday and dealing with them directly, possibly a major step following years of cautious indirect talks. "Maybe a deal is going to be made. That would be great," Trump told reporters. "Don't forget, we help Israel a lot. You know, we give Israel $4 billion a year. That's a lot," Trump said. Trump repeatedly said that Israel should have never "given up" Gaza in its land-for-peace deal. He suggested a post-war plan of beachside resorts administered by the US. He then invited Netanyahu to answer a reporter's question about an "immigration plan" to relocate Palestinians from Gaza. His answer seemed to differ from Trump's plan for beachfront development, suggesting that Palestinians in Gaza would return after a period of post-war reconstruction. (Source: The New Arab - based in London, United Kingdom, owned ba a Qatari company)

Apr 07, 2025  The Trump administration has placed the staff of the Office of the Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS) Ombudsman on a 60-day administrative leave. The office, which was known for its independence from the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), assisted around 30,000 people annually. The March 21 move by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could be a step toward dismantling the independent immigration oversight body. The move also affected the Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties - which is required to exist by law - and the Office of the Immigration Detention Ombudsman. The removal of the neutral watchdog could lead to unchecked administrative power over immigration matters. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

Saturday 05 April 2025  The U.S. Agency for Global Media ended RFE/RL satellite contracts on Thursday, possibly impeding the broadcasting of Russian-language programs. Around 40 stations in Europe that broadcast RFE’s live Russian programs use satellites. 'RFE/RL reports in almost 30 languages and reaches about 47 million people weekly in 23 countries, such as Russia, Hungary, and Afghanistan.' (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)

Fri, Apr 4 2025  President Trump says Fed Chair Powell should cut interest rates and ‘stop playing politics’. (Source: CNBC - U.S.)

4 April 2025  The Trump administration has fired General Haugh, the head of both the National Security Agency and US Cyber Command, after a meeting between President Trump and ’far-right’ activist Loomer yesterday. She posted on X that Gen Haugh and his deputy, Noble, 'have been disloyal to President Trump. That is why they have been fired." At least three other officials at the White House National Security Council (NSC) were fired: Walsh, a director for intelligence; Boodry, a senior director for legislative affairs; and Feith, a senior director overseeing technology and national security. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

Apr 04, 2025  Yesterday the US President levied a 26% tariff on India, 34% on China, 46% on Vietnam, and 10% on the UK. The EU has been slapped with a 20% tariff, while 49% has been levied on Cambodia. Imports from South Korea will attract 25% tariffs. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

NATO

03.04.2025  At a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, US underlined 'NATO members should spend up to 5% of GDP on defense'. 'Ground war in the heart of Europe is a reminder that hard power is still necessary as deterrent,' said Secretary of State Rubio. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

United Nations

05 April 2025  New thinking is needed on disarmament. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) race needs to slow down and IT firms should instead be focusing on the bigger picture to ensure that the technology is not misused on the battlefield, UN disarmament experts and leaders of ‘big tech’ companies have insisted, speaking at the recent Global Conference on AI Security and Ethics hosted by UNIDIR in Geneva. AI has already created a security dilemma for governments and militaries around the world. The dual-use nature of AI technologies – where they can be used in civilian and military settings alike – means that developers could lose touch with the realities of battlefield conditions, where their programming could cost lives, warned Valli, Head of Public Affairs at Comand AI. The tools are still in their infancy but have long fuelled fears that they could be used to make life-or-death decisions in a war setting, removing the need for human decision-making and responsibility. Hence the growing calls for regulation, to ensure that mistakes are avoided that could lead to disastrous consequences. “We see these systems fail all the time,” said Sully, CEO of the London-based company Advai, adding that the technologies remain “very unrobust”. “So, making them go wrong is not as difficult as people sometimes think,” he noted. (Source: The United Nations Office at Geneva)

Global

09 April, 2025  China, Canada, and the EU have responded to the tariffs which President Trump has imposed by commencing dispute settlement proceedings before the World Trade Organization (WTO). For other WTO members, the WTO remains an important part of the international architecture for free trade. The US’s commitment to WTO rules and the WTO as an institution is not what it once was. The US has even stopped paying into the WTO budget. The future? After 60 days of WTO consultations, complainant countries can request a WTO panel. These dates fall on 6 April – for China in respect of the 20% tariff on Chinese goods; 3 May – for Canada in respect of the 25% tariffs on Canadian goods (and 10% on Canadian energy goods and potash); 12 May – for Canada in respect of the 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium products; 3 June – for Canada in respect of the 25% tariffs on automobiles and automobile parts; 4 June – for China in respect of the ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on Chinese goods. "It is to be expected that the US will avoid a negative WTO panel ruling being formally adopted, which it can do by ‘appealing into the void’. This is now possible because there are currently no Appellate Body members, due to the US having blocked all appointments since 2019. However, some WTO Members, including the EU, have adopted legislation permitting them to retaliate against unsuccessful respondent WTO members in such circumstances. It would further be expected that the EU, at least, would retaliate against the US should it be successful in any WTO proceedings. This is not however necessarily the case for other WTO members, including China and Canada". /Source: Freshfields LLP (formerly Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer) - Headquarters London, United Kingdom/

April 9, 2025 10:10 AM CET U.S.  President Trump said overnight that global leaders are willing to do anything to make a trade deal with him as American tariffs come into force. “They are dying to make a deal. 'Please, please sir, make a deal. I’ll do anything sir,' he imitated a begging foreign leader during a speech at the National Republican Congressional Committee Dinner in Washington. Tariffs announced by Trump on April 2 which took effect today morning include massive 104 percent duties on Chinese goods, while dozens of other nations, plus the European Union, will face tariffs ranging from 11 percent to 50 percent. Asian stocks collapsed today morning as the new tariffs kicked in with key markets already open. In Japan, the Nikkei index dropped over 5 percent, while the broader TOPIX index fell by 4.6 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost 4.3 percent and Taiwan's market plunged more than 5.7 percent. Speaking at the event yesterday night, Trump also announced plans for additional tariffs on pharmaceutical imports. We’re going to tariff our pharmaceuticals and once we do that they’re going to come rushing back into our country because we’re the big market, he said. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

April 8, 2025 11:59 PM GMT+2  The United States said today that 104% duties on imports from China will take effect shortly after midnight in response to countertariffs Beijing announced last week. China has vowed to fight to the end. U.S. stocks dropped today for a fourth straight trading day since Trump's tariffs announcement last week. S&P 500 companies have lost $5.8 trillion in stock market value since Trump's tariff announcement last Wednesday, the deepest four-day loss since the benchmark was created in the 1950s. "We've had talks with many, many countries, over 70, they all want to come in. Our problem is, can't see that many that fast," Trump said at a White House event, where he signed executive orders aimed at boosting coal production. "Right now, we've received the instruction to prioritize our allies and our trading partners like Japan and Korea and others," White House economic adviser Hassett said. Trump's tailor-made approach to negotiations with individual countries could take into account foreign and military aid as well as economic factors, White House spokeswoman Leavitt said. Trump's lead trade negotiator, Greer, told Congress that his office is trying to work quickly but is not facing a particular deadline. Global oil prices steadied after falling to four-year lows. European pharma companies, fearful of the tariff fallout, warned the president of the European Commission, der Leyen, in a meeting that Trump's tariffs would expedite the industry's shift away from Europe and toward the United States. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

07/04/2025 - 09:09 US  President Trump refused to back down on sweeping tariffs. China retaliated. Many fear the escalating trade war could spark a global recession.    Stock markets:    Asia:    China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war that many fear could spark a recession. Equities collapsed. Wave of selling as investors fled to the hills. Hong Kong's loss of 12 percent its worst in more than 16 years; Taipei tanked more than nine percent; Tokyo more than seven percent.    Europe:    European shares plunge to 16-month low. Frankfurt slumping as much as 10 percent; Paris diving more than six percent; London sliding nearly six percent; Amsterdam and Oslo: losses of more than five percent; Milan down over three percent. (Source: France 24)

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Europe

France
(31 March 2025 13:14 CEST)  French court today barred Le Pen from seeking public office for five years, with immediate effect, for ’embezzlement’. Although she can appeal the verdict, such a move won’t suspend her ineligibility - which could rule her out of the 2027 presidential race. As the judge went into greater detail with the verdict, saying Le Pen’s party had illegally used European Parliament money for its own benefit, “Incredible,” she whispered at one point. The judge said Le Pen and other co-defendants didn't enrich themselves personally. Le Pen and 24 other officials from the National Rally were accused of having used money intended for EU parliamentary aides to pay staff who worked for the party between 2004 and 2016, in violation of the 27-nation bloc’s regulations. The judge also handed down guilty verdicts to eight other current or former members of her party who, like her, previously served as European Parliament lawmakers. Le Pen and her co-defendants face up to 10 years in prison. They can appeal, which would lead to another trial. The court also convicted 12 other people who served as parliamentary aides for Le Pen and what is now the National Rally party, formerly the National Front. Le Pen, 56, was runner-up to President Macron in the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections, and her party’s electoral support has grown in recent years. Prosecutors requested a two-year prison sentence and a five-year period of ineligibility for Le Pen. She said she felt they were only interested in preventing her from running for president. “There are 11 million people who voted for the movement I represent. So tomorrow, potentially, millions and millions of French people would see themselves deprived of their candidate in the election,” she told the panel of three judges. (Source: Africanews, located in Lyon, France)

(Monday), 31/03/2025 - 04:20 CEST  French ’far-right’ leader Le Pen faces a pivotal moment today as a court decides her fate in an embezzlement case, potentially barring her from the 2027 presidential race. Le Pen, head of the ’far-right’ National Rally (RN), her party and two dozen party figures are accused of diverting over 3 million euros of European Parliament funds to pay France-based staff. The defendants say the money was used legitimately and the allegations define too narrowly what a parliamentary assistant does. Prosecutors have asked that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, regardless of any appeal process, using a so-called provisional execution measure. Judges can adopt, modify or ignore the prosecutors' request. The party has called the trial a witch hunt. The leader transformed the RN into the biggest single party in France's parliament. Le Pen, 56, a three-time presidential contender is a front-runner in polls ahead of the 2027 vote. Her political fate is in court's hands. Le Pen’s removal from the race would intensify debate about how judges police politics. The National Rally, which sees her as a leading contender, has denounced the trial as politically motivated, since Le Pen, the main opposition leader would be prevented from running by the judges. Le Pen accuses prosecutors of seeking her political death, alleging a plot to keep the RN from power. "With provisional execution, the judges have the power of life or death over our movement," Le Pen said in an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, published on Saturday. Senior RN figures do not expect Le Pen to be barred. Her protege, 29-year-old party president Bardella, will take her place if she is, they say. Prosecutors and a judge involved in the trial have received online death threats, part of a growing international backlash against judges seeking to rein in political wrongdoing. ’Far-right’ expert and political scientist Camus said a five-year ban could anger Le Pen's supporters. RN voters are quite prone to thinking they are victims of the 'elite', he said. "An immediate ineligibility verdict could reinforce this sentiment of being ostracised." (Source: France 24 "with Reuters" - United Kingdom)

European Union

March  31, 2025  EU received 4.3 million immigrants in 2023 from non-EU countries. This figure does not include asylum seekers and/or refugees from Ukraine under temporary protection. Additionally, 1.5 million people migrated between EU countries. Compared with 2022, the number of people who immigrated to the EU decreased by 17.9%, down from 5.3 million. The number of people migrating between EU countries remained stable at 1.5 million. There was an estimated 10 immigrants from non-EU countries per 1,000 residents in the EU in 2023. Relative to the size of the resident population, Malta recorded the highest rate of immigration from EU and non-EU countries in 2023 (76 immigrants per 1,000 residents), followed by Cyprus (43) and Luxembourg (40). By contrast, Slovakia registered the lowest rate of immigration, with 1 immigrant per 1,000 residents, followed by France (6) and Italy (7). The highest proportions of immigrants from countries outside the EU were recorded in Czechia (89.2%), Lithuania (88.9%) and Ireland (87.2%). (Source: EU Reporter, based in Brussels, Belgium)

See also: Statistics Explained article on Migration to and from the EU - Data extracted in March 2025 (Source:Eurostat):

Russia
(31 March 2025)  Russia’s next spring conscription campaign begins on April 1. Based on open sources, Mediazona [independent Russian media outlet] and BBC News Russian, together with volunteers, have verified the names of 100,001 Russian fighters killed in Ukraine, including 11,628 mobilized soldiers. (Source: Conflict Intelligence Team – Headquarters Tbilisi, Georgia)

Asia

Israel
March 31, 2025  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left his corruption trial abruptly today to give evidence in a separate investigation into possible ties between his aides and Qatar. Two suspects in the investigation, dubbed "Qatar-gate" in Israel, had been arrested earlier today. Israel's public broadcaster Kan said Netanyahu was not a suspect and would provide testimony at his office in Jerusalem. Netanyahu, who is on trial over a separate series of corruption charges which he denies, has rejected the accusations regarding his aides and Qatar as "fake news" and a politically motivated campaign against him. A Qatari official also dismissed the accusations as part of a "smear campaign" against Qatar. Qatar is not defined by Israel as an enemy state but is home to some Hamas leaders. Along with Egypt, it has been mediating indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group for a ceasefire in Gaza. According to recent investigations by Kan and the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper, the aides are suspected of having orchestrated or been involved in a campaign to improve Qatar's image abroad. They deny any wrongdoing. Earlier today, Netanyahu named a new chief to take over Israel's domestic intelligence agency after a bitter standoff with the current head who has been presiding over the Qatar investigation, together with police. Netanyahu tapped a former commander of Israel's navy, Sharvit, to replace Shin Bet head Bar, who remains in office pending a Supreme Court decision over legal challenges to his dismissal. Government moves to dismiss Bar, have provoked street protests in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Netanyahu said he had lost his confidence in Bar over the October 7, 2023, security failure. The Supreme Court has frozen Bar's dismissal and is due to hear petitions against it on April 8. Netanyahu's Likud party said today that the investigation, today's arrests, were part of a plot to halt Bar's dismissal and oust the prime minister. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

North America

United States
(Monday), March 31, 2025  U.S. President Trump said yesterday that Zelensky is trying to back out of a minerals deal with the United States. On Friday, Zelensky said that Ukraine would not accept any minerals deal that threatens its future accession to the European Union. “He's trying to back out of the rare earth deal and if he does that he’s got some problems, big, big problems,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. He added that Zelensky ’wants Ukraine to be a member of NATO, but he's never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that.” Publicly, Trump has only referred to rare earth metals when discussing the deal. Media reports last week indicated that he has been pushing for an agreement that would give Washington vast control over Kyiv’s critical energy and mineral resources via a joint investment fund. During the same exchange with reporters, Trump addressed a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, saying there is a psychological deadline for Moscow to reach an agreement. For now, he said he believes Russian President Putin "wants to make a deal." (Source: Meduza - based in Riga, Latvia / Reuters - United Kingdom)

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Europe

Greenland
(Sunday, March 30, 2025)  On Thursday, four of the five parties elected to Greenland's parliament earlier this month have agreed to form a coalition that will have 23 of 31 seats in the legislature. The following day, Danish King Frederik X posted on Facebook: " There should be no doubt that my love for Greenland and my connectedness to the people of Greenland are intact." Hundreds of protesters demonstrated yesterday outside the U.S. Embassy in the Danish capital Copenhagen. Usha, the vice president's wife, who was originally scheduled to attend the Greenland's national dogsled race opted out when her husband decided to join the trip and visit the military base instead, reducing the likelihood that they would cross paths with Greenlanders. Danish FM Rasmussen, in his video, reminded viewers of the 1951 defense agreement between Denmark and the United States. Since 1945, the American military presence in Greenland has decreased from thousands of soldiers over 17 bases and installations on the island, he said, to the remote Pituffik Space Base in the northwest with some 200 soldiers today. The 1951 agreement "offers ample opportunity for the United States to have a much stronger military presence in Greenland," he said. "If that is what you wish, then let us discuss it." Rasmussen added that Denmark has increased its own investment into Arctic defense. In January, Denmark announced 14.6 billion Danish kroner (US$2.1 billion) in financial commitments for Arctic security covering three new naval vessels, long-range drones and satellites. (Source: NPR – U.S.)

Russia
30 March 2025  A ceasefire in Ukraine may not come into effect this year, top Kremlin official Karasin, a former ambassador to the UK, who led Russia's negotiating team with the US earlier this month, has warned. He said that the talks had not led to "any radical breakthrough yet, but the opportunities are there". (Source: LBC - United Kingdom)

Ukraine
30.03.25  Zelensky predicted that Russia could experience a decisive setback in the war. 'Putin will die soon,' calling it a 'fact' as per a report by the Mirror. Zelensky went on to add, ‘…it will come to an end,' while pleading with the United States to stay strong and continue the pressure on Moscow to stop its aggression. (Source: The Telegraph - India)

Asia

Iran
(Sunday), March 30, 2025  Iran's president said today that the Islamic Republic rejected direct negotiations with the United States over its rapidly advancing nuclear program, offering Tehran's first response to a letter President Trump sent to the country's supreme leader. Trump's letter came as both Israel and the United States have warned they will never let Iran acquire a nuclear weapon, leading to fears of a military confrontation as Tehran enriches uranium at near weapons-grade levels of 60% purity - something only done by atomic-armed nations. Iran has long maintained its program is for peaceful purposes, even as its officials increasingly threaten to pursue the bomb. A report in February, by the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Iran has accelerated its production of near weapons-grade uranium. Pezeshkian had left open talks up until Iran's 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei came down hard on Trump in February and warned talks ’are not intelligent, wise or honorable’ with his administration. The Iranian president then immediately toughened his own remarks on the U.S. The last time Trump tried to send a letter to Khamenei, through the late Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in 2019, the supreme leader mocked the effort. Trump's letter arrived in Tehran on March 12. He offered little detail on what he exactly told the supreme leader. Iran's reluctance to deal with Trump likely also takes root in his ordering the attack that killed Iranian Gen. Soleimani in a Baghdad drone strike in January 2020. The U.S. has said Iran plotted to assassinate Trump over that prior to his election this November, something Tehran denied though officials have threatened him. Now, as the U.S. conducts intense airstrikes targeting the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen, the risk of military action targeting Iran's nuclear program remains on the table. President Pezeshkian said Iran's response, delivered via the sultanate of Oman, left open the possibility of indirect negotiations with Washington. Such talks have made no progress since Trump in his first term unilaterally withdrew America from Tehran's nuclear deal with world powers in 2018. Trump said before Pezeshkian's comments he was considering military action and secondary tariffs if Iran does not agree to a nuclear deal. Press TV, the English-language arm of Iranian state television, published an article last week that included listing U.S. bases in the Middle East as possible targets of attack. The list included Camp Thunder Cove on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, where the U.S. is basing stealth B-2 bombers likely being used in Yemen. The Americans themselves know how vulnerable they are, warned Iranian parliament speaker Qalibaf on Friday. ’If they violate Iran's sovereignty, it will be like a spark in a gunpowder depot, setting the entire region ablaze. In such a scenario, their bases and their allies will not be safe.’ Tehran's two recent direct attacks on Israel with ballistic missiles and drones caused negligible damage, while Israel responded by destroying Iranian air defense systems. (Source: NPR / The Associated Press = U.S.)

Israel
30 March, 2025  As Israel resumed its war on the Gaza Strip, scores of brigade and battalion commanders said they were seeing an increased number of reservists saying they would not serve, due to Israel shattering the ceasefire deal with Gaza and failing to free captives held in the enclave. The army has also noted a marked decrease in reservists’ motivation, while scores of commanders and soldiers are reportedly exhausted after having to serve for hundreds of days in the past year. There was also a rise in ’gray refusals’, due to health, financial or family reasons, but in fact the decision stems from moral or political reasons. Some of the reasons include fear of the government ignoring rulings of the High Court of Justice, the government’s decision to oust Shin Bet chief Bar and the intention to remove the attorney general. Reserve units are now being forced to take reservists from other units not currently engaged in combat. (Source: The New Arab - based in London, United Kingdom, owned by a Qatari company)

Yemen
2025-03-30  Today, Yemen’s Houthi group's military spokesperson reported that a Dhu al-Fiqar ballistic missile had successfully targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. In a separate attack, Houthi forces reportedly engaged US warships in the Red Sea, striking the USS Harry S. Truman three times within 24 hours using ballistic missiles, drones, and naval units. Yesterday, Houthi-affiliated media reported 13 US airstrikes on northern Yemen’s Saada province. Houthi officials estimate that at least 60 people have been killed since the US-led military campaign began on March 15. (Source: Shafaq News - Iraq)

North America

United States
Mar 30 2025  A confidential Pentagon document - a leaked memo from Defense Secretary Hegseth - focuses on deterring China's seizure of Taiwan and bolstering defense measures on U.S. soil. The interim guidance spans nine pages and bears striking resemblances to a more extensive report set for 2024 by the Heritage Foundation, involved with Project 2025, with several sections appearing almost verbatim when compared by The Washington Post. In the document, Trump insists that U.S. forces must be "ready to defend American interests wherever they might be threatened in our hemisphere, from Greenland, to the Panama Canal, to Cape Horn." The document underscores the importance of increased defense contributions from European nations, stating that this "will also ensure NATO can reliably deter or defeat Russian aggression even if deterrence fails and the United States is already engaged in, or must withhold forces to deter, a primary conflict in another region.' The United States, the guidance suggests, will provide nuclear deterrence against Russia but will only commit forces that are not essential for homeland security or missions related to China. (Source: The Mirror - United Kingdom)

March 30, 2025  'In Trump’s dragnet'. On March 14 the Republican-led Congress approved a $9.9 billion budget for immigration enforcement, an increase of about $500 million. Over the past two months, the president has been doing just what he promised during his campaign: assaulting every aspect of the US immigration system. (Source: The New York Review of Books - U.S.)

Oceania

Tonga
(Sunday), 30 March 2025 6:48 pm  In the early hours of Monday (local time) a 7.1-magnitude earthquake occurred about 100 kilometres northeast of Tonga’s main island. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center issued an alert, warning that hazardous waves could affect coastlines within 300 kilometres of the epicentre. (Source: Outlook - India)

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Europe

France
29/03/2025  The American embassy in Paris asked French companies holding US government contracts to guarantee their compliance with an executive order banning diversity, equity and inclusion programmes. The letters included an attached questionnaire asking firms to certify that they "do not practice programmes to promote diversity, equity and inclusion", or DEI. The questionnaire added that such programmes "infringe on applicable federal anti-discrimination laws" in the United States, where Trump signed an order banning federal DEI programmes the day he returned to office for his second term as president. "We inform you that Executive Order 14173, Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-based Opportunities, signed by President Trump, applies to all suppliers and service providers of the US Government, regardless of their nationality and the country in which they operate," reads the letter. As published in the press, the letter was not on a US embassy letterhead. In that format, it's not an official communication, much less a diplomatic one. Economy Minister Lombard's office said the letter reflects the values of the new US government. 'They are not ours,' it said and the minister will remind his US counterparts of that. (Source: France 24 "with AFP - France and Reuters" - United Kingdom)

Greenland
(29 March 2025)  "We need to wake up from a failed, 40-year consensus that said that we could ignore the encroachment of powerful countries as they expand their ambitions," Vance told US troops at America's Pituffik military base. "We can't just bury our head in the sand - or, in Greenland, bury our head in the snow - and pretend that the Chinese are not interested in this very large landmass." On his visit, Vance mentioned Greenland's aspirations for independence, and implied that America's real intention was not a sudden annexation of the island, but something far more patient and long-term. "Our message is very simple, yes, the people of Greenland are going to have self-determination. We hope that they choose to partner with the United States, because we're the only nation on earth that will respect their sovereignty and respect their security." Under its new government, and with overwhelming public support, Greenland is beginning a slow, very cautious move towards full independence from Denmark. A recent poll showed just 6% of the population support the idea of being part of the US. Washington was cancelling a planned cultural tour by Vance's wife, Usha, to Nuuk and another town in the face of planned local protests. There are still large reserves of goodwill towards the US here, and a keen interest in doing more business with American companies. A slower, more respectful, behind-the-scenes sort of engagement would, surely, make more sense. On the security front, a 74-year-old treaty with Denmark permitting the US to increase its military presence in Greenland at any time – from new bases to submarine harbours - should surely take care of Washington's concerns about countering the threat from China, just as it did during the Cold War years. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

29.03.2025  US President Trump posted a documentary-style video on X yesterday, calling for renewed unity between the US and the island amid what he described as rising threats from Russia and China. The video, which came alongside US Vice Vance’s visit to Greenland, narrated over historical footage, cited World War II cooperation. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
03/29/2025  United States and Russia in search of paradise lost. Russians love to mirror themselves directly in the Americans. (Source: AsiaNews, an official press agency of the Catholic Church's Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). Headquarters Rome, Italy)
by Caprio

Asia

Myanmar
March 29, 2025  The aftermath of the earthquake in Myanmar and Thailand
/Photo(s)/ (Source: NPR - U.S.)

Pakistan
Saturday, 29 March 2025  'The World Has Failed' Pakistani Christians
(Source: Newsmax - U.S.)

North America

United States
Sat 29 Mar 2025  The Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and promise to carry out mass deportations has already led to a surge in the detention population. The network of remote immigration detention centres stretch between Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, known as “Detention Alley” – where 14 of the country’s 20 largest detention centres are clustered. Louisiana now holds the second largest number of detained immigrants, behind only Texas. Almost 7,000 people were held as of February 2025 at nine facilities in Louisiana, all operated by private companies. Almost 50% of immigrants currently detained by Ice had no criminal record. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom)

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Europe

Hungary
28/03/2025  Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán was the first national leader to react to the EU Commission's advice for people to prepare a 72-hour survival kit for emergency situations. The EU wants every member state to develop a 72-hour survival kit for citizens to face any new crisis that might emerge. Viktor Orbán denounced those plans in his weekly address on national radio. He said he does not think that Europe is threatened by war from outside, as no one would attack a NATO country. Orbán added that if someone is making war preparations, that means they are preparing for war actions. „I see that Brussels is preparing for war’, he said. Brussels wants to continue the current war by supporting Ukraine. According to Orbán, the emergency kits proposal is preparation for a deeper involvement in the war. He recalled that Hungary did not deliver any weapons to Ukraine and will not send any troops in the future. "Now this seems funny, that Brussels then sends a message to all European families to keep enough food with them for 72 hours, but if you look behind it, you are rather horrified to see what is on these people's minds’. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

Germany
28.03.2025  According to German intelligence agency BND, Russia 'could develop capacity to wage large-scale conventional warfare by end of this decade', public broadcasters report According to financial data in the assessment, Russia's military spending would reach approximately €120 billion ($130 billion) by 2025, 'with plans to recruit up to 1.5 million additional soldiers by 2026'. The report's leak to the media coincides with NATO discussions about increasing defense budgets and military aid commitments to Ukraine. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Russia
(28 March 2025)  Putin has suggested that Ukraine should temporarily be placed under UN control to elect what he called a more "competent" government. Moscow says the current Ukrainian authorities are illegitimate as Zelensky has stayed in power beyond the end of his term and is therefore not a valid negotiating partner. Putin said that this proposal was only one of many options, but pointed out that there were international precedents for UN control such as East Timor and parts of the former Yugoslavia. At the same meeting, the Russian leader said that Moscow had the "strategic initiative" all along the front line in the war and "there are reasons to believe that we can finish off" Ukrainian forces. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

28 March 2025  Putin, aboard a new nuclear submarine during a visit to an Arctic naval base, yesterday claimed Russian forces have the "strategic initiative" along the Ukrainian front line and had reason to believe his army would "finish them off". He previously issued a stark warning to Nato countries, declaring that Russia is ready to protect its land in the arctic if Trump goes ahead with his plan to purchase Greenland. "It would be a grave mistake to think that this is just some eccentric talk of the new American administration, nothing of the kind," Putin said. He added that the US had previously drawn up plans to take Greenland in the nineteenth century, but these were abandoned. "As for Greenland, I think that this is an issue that concerns two states and has nothing to do with us". "However, we are concerned by the fact that the Nato countries increasingly identify the far north as a foothold for possible conflicts." (Source: LBC - United Kingdom)

28.03.25 Russian President Putin suggested Ukraine be placed under temporary administration to allow for new elections and the signature of key accords to reach a settlement in the war. "In principle, of course, a temporary administration could be introduced in Ukraine under the auspices of the U.N, the United States, European countries and our partners," he was quoted as saying in talks with seamen at the port, during a visit to the northern port of Murmansk. "Throughout the entire line of military contact, our troops are holding the strategic initiative," Putin said. "We are gradually - perhaps not as quickly as some might like - but still persistently and with confidence moving towards achieving the goals set out at the beginning of this operation," the agencies quoted him as saying. Putin praised the efforts in seeking a solution from the BRICS grouping it promotes as an alternative to traditional alliances - singling out China and India for praise. He said Russia was ready to cooperate with many countries, including North Korea, to help end the war. "In my opinion, the newly elected president of the United States sincerely wants an end to the conflict for a number of reasons," the agencies quoted Putin as saying. Trump has said a minerals deal will help secure a peace agreement by giving the United States a financial stake in Ukraine's future. The Trump administration has proposed a new, more expansive minerals deal with Ukraine. France and Britain tried to expand support for a foreign "reassurance force" in the event of a truce with Russia, although Moscow rejects any presence of foreign troops in Ukraine. Putin said Russia was also ready to work with Europe, but adding that Europe "conducts itself in inconsistent fashion". „I hope that we won't make any mistakes based on excessive trust in our so-called partners", he said. (Source: Telegraph India / Reuters - United Kingdom)

Friday 28 March 2025   Russian President Putin, speaking to the crew of a Russian nuclear submarine in televised remarks broadcast early today, suggests putting Ukraine under U.N.-sponsored external governance as part of efforts to reach a peaceful settlement. “Under the auspices of the United Nations, with the United States, even with European countries, and, of course, with our partners and friends, we could discuss the possibility of introduction of temporary governance in Ukraine,” he said, adding that it would allow the country to “hold democratic elections, to bring to power a viable government that enjoys the trust of the people, and then begin negotiations with them on a peace treaty.” Putin reaffirmed his claim that Zelenskyy, whose term expired last year, lacks the legitimacy to sign a peace deal. He added that such external governance is just “one of the options.” (Source: Independent - United Kingdom / The Associated Press - U.S.)

Ukraine
Friday 28 March 2025  Trump’s new mineral deal forces Ukraine to choose between becoming a US or Russian colony. The latest US offer to trade Ukraine’s minerals for back pay is nothing short of a colonial protection racket. On top of that it demands that the US, under Delaware law, controls most of Ukraine’s industrial output and much of its transport and communications system. Ukrainian parliamentarians told it would stand no chance of ratification by Ukraine’s legislature. It completely ignores international law and the Ukrainian constitution and Ukrainian law, said Morezkho, chairman of the Ukrainian parliament’s foreign affairs committee. He said that he hoped the Trump scheme was a negotiating tactic and did not reflect an ultimatum to withhold military and intelligence aid, as the US has threatened, if Kyiv does not sign the contract. Ukraine’s mineral and agricultural wealth have been seen by Russian colonialists as an essential part of Russian regional dominance. The Trump administration clearly now sees vast rewards for American business if it can trade the commanding heights of the Ukrainian economy for back payment on war donations and a long-term non-military US presence. The minerals deal takes the form of a business contract under US law which has no jurisdiction in Ukraine. It sets out that Ukraine and the US would split the royalties from oil, gas, and all minerals. The profits would be paid to the US, in dollars, and put into a joint investment fund which would be run by Americans holding three of five seats on the governing board. It further demands that the US contribution to Ukraine’s war effort be paid back immediately. The truth is closer to $130bn’. The US deal covers all infrastructure used for the exploitation of mineral products – trains, roads, airports, ports, pipelines, processing plants and refineries - and gives America veto power over the sale of resources to other nations or entities. Recent estimates by the Kiel Institute suggest that the US supplies about 30 per cent of Ukraine’s military equipment and ammunition. Intelligence support from the US has been, and will continue to be, critical. It’s a near hopeless effort for Ukrainian politicians to avoid antagonising Trump’s administration. Ukraine has signed up to a US proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in the Black Sea, and on attacks against energy sectors in Ukraine and Russia. The Kremlin has refused the proposal and demanded the lifting of some banking sanctions – which the European Union has refused. The demand to give the US control over Ukraine’s economy, forever, without even security guarantees, reveals ’how little the Trump administration understands the country’, said Yasko, another member of the Ukrainian parliament. She said the American deal was certain to be rejected because it conjured up memories of the Holodomor, when the Kremlin ordered the expropriation of grain from Ukraine to Russia, killing and starving more than three million Ukrainians to death in the early 1930s. We shouldn’t ever allow anyone to have full control over our soil, she warned. (Source: Independent - United Kingdom)
(by Kiley)

United Kingdom
28.03.2025  Confidential military documents found scattered on a city street in Newcastle, spilling out of a black bin bag on March 16. They contained details such as soldiers’ ranks, email addresses, shift patterns, weapon issue information, material related to accessing weapons storage and an intruder detection system, linked to British Army regiments and barracks at Catterick Garrison. A document, marked “official – sensitive,” contained details that, according to government guidelines, could pose a ’threat to life’ if exposed. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Asia

India
28 March 2025  On March 17, India’s Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) in the western state of Gujarat said it had arrested two people linked to Surat-based pharmaceutical companies for allegedly exporting illicit fentanyl precursors to Mexico and Guatemala. India has been identified as an emerging player in the illicit fentanyl trade, according to a new U.S. intelligence report. Fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid up to 100 times stronger than morphine, is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the U.S. (Source: Outlook - India)

Lebanon
28/03/2025  The Israeli military said today it was striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, hours after missiles were fired from Lebanese territory into Israel. Shortly before the strike, Israel's army issued an evacuation order to residents of Hadath in Beirut's southern suburbs. The military told them to leave the area around 'Hezbollah facilities' immediately. The order came as Lebanese President Aoun - making his first trip to a Western nation - began talks in Paris on Friday with French President Macron to discuss economic reforms and efforts to stabilise the country. (Source: France 24 "with" Reuters - United Kingdom, AFP - France and AP - U.S. )

Myanmar
March 28, 2025 / 7:34 AM  The main tremor, which occurred at around 12:20 local time, struck close to the Irrawaddy River in Sagaing Region, just west of Mandalay, a city of more than 1.7 million, followed 11 minutes later by a 6.4 magnitude aftershock 20 miles away to the south in Mandalay Region. Two further 4.6 shocks were recorded minutes apart an hour later. All the quakes were along the Sagaing Fault, a major 750-mile north-south fault that runs virtually the entire length of Myanmar, of a population of 57 million. The office of Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra said in a post on X that airports, hospitals, and transport had been placed on standby. The quake also rocked China's Yunan Province. The main shock registered at a magnitude of 7.9, according to their instruments. (Source: UPI - U.S.)

(March 28, 2025) 17:25  The 7.7-magnitude tremor hit north-west of the city of Sagaing, Myanmar. At the 1,000-bed Naypyitaw hospital – a ‘mass casualty area’ - the wounded are being treated in the street outside. /Photo(s)/ (Source: The Straits Times – Singapore -/ Reuters – United Kingdom)

Mar 28, 2025 17:08 IST  1,000-bed Myanmar hospital sees rows of injured lay outside after earthquake. /Photo(s)/ (Source: India Today / Agence France-Presse)

(March 28, 2025 12:19 CET)  7.7 magnitude earthquake jolts Myanmar, struck near central Myanmar’s Mandalay city today morning at 11.50 am local time. An aftershock, measuring 6.4 struck, at 12.02 pm. The devastating quake destroyed the major Naypyidaw hospital, lot of heritage sites including Mandalay Royal Palace and many other historical landmarks, homes, apartment buildings, airport, Sagaing Ava Bridge. /Video *, photo(s) **/ (Source: Scroll - India / X - U.S.)
* 1 100 000 views
** 192 views; 119 100 views.

Nepal
Mar 28, 2025  Curfew was imposed in Kathmandu after pro-monarchy protests demanding restoration of Hindu kingdom turned violent, leading to arson and clashes with police. Security forces used tear gas. Nepal abolished its 240-year-old monarchy in 2008 through a parliamentary declaration, transitioning into a secular, federal democratic republic. However, monarchists have been demanding its restoration, especially after former King Gyanendra called for public support in a video message on Democracy Day (February 19). On March 9, pro-monarchy activists held a rally in support of Gyanendra, who had returned to Kathmandu after visiting religious sites. Meanwhile, thousands of anti-monarchy protesters, led by the Socialist Front, gathered at Bhrikutimandap, chanting slogans like 'Long live the republic,' "Punish the corrupt," and 'Down with monarchy.' Political parties such as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) and CPN-Unified Socialist backed the demonstration. (Source: Hindustan Times - India)

Thailand
(March 28, 2025) 17:25  Quake - the under-construction 30-storey skyscraper building collapsing in the Chatuchak district, Bangkok, Thailand. /Video * / (Source: The Straits Times – Singapore -/ X – U.S.); Photo(s) / (The Straits Times – Singapore -/ AFP - France, Reuters - United Kingdom, …)
* 6 200 000 views /

(March 28, 2025 12:19 CET)  A 30-storey under-construction skyscraper collapses * and a roooftop infinity pool turns into a waterfall ** in Bangkok, about 1,000 km away from Mandalay, Myanmar where a 7.7 magnitude earthquake jolted. /Video(s)/ (Source: Scroll - India / X - U.S.)
* 928 000 views
** 95 500 views

North America

United States
03-28-2025  White House Press Secretary Leavitt says "spiritual warfare" is real and has seen ’evil forces’ at work against President Trump. At the age of 27, White House Press Secretary Leavitt approaches the podium with confidence and a smile. She has proved to be unflappable, her approach is no-nonsense and fearless. How she draws that strength immediately before each briefing? "I think that team prayer before is just a moment to be silent and still and ask God for confidence and the ability to articulate my words, knowledge, prayer, protection, and it is a nice moment to reset. It's the last thing I do before I go out there, and then it just gives me the confidence to do a briefing," she says. Growing up in New Hampshire, "I think that value of hard work and determination and drive was instilled in me in a very young age, just by watching my parents work so hard to earn a living," Leavitt says. Catholic education instilled discipline and shaped who she is today. „It could be difficult for someone who doesn't have faith but with faith, all things are possible." Sports played a role as well. She excelled on her high school softball team and received a scholarship from Saint Anselm college in Manchester. She ran for Congress in 2022 and lost the general election. „So God knew what He was doing, I believe, and you just have to trust the process and trust that he's working in your life, and stay grounded in your faith throughout the way." "The game of softball in sports prepared me for the game of politics, no doubt about it," Leavitt says. "Discipline, hard work, teamwork and also competing against yourself to be the best that you can in athletics, I think, has prepared me especially for this job now. Every day is a new game in this job." Leavitt pulls one off each day in her high-level role that includes being a full-time mom to an eight-month-old baby boy. "It's certainly challenging. I think every working mother understands the demands. And no matter where you are, what you're doing, there is a sense of guilt," she says. "But I spend every second that I possibly can with my son when I'm home on weekends and evenings. I try to make it home for bedtime as much as I can throughout the week." Which doesn't leave too much time for sleep. "Actually, it's usually about five to six hours a night is what I'm doing, which is all we need. As President Trump says, when you love your job and you love your life, you don't need to sleep much." How does Karoline define Karoline? "I hope people just view me as a hard worker who wants to get the job done and a good mother, and good at my job”. She leans on that faith inside the briefing room as questions come fast and furious from all directions. Leavitt says she's ready for what's coming. "Oftentimes, the questions are predictable." With liberal reporters everywhere in the press briefing room, it begs the question: Is political journalism dead in America today? "I think there are true journalists out there that still exist," she says. "They are few and far between. I think many people in the briefing room here are trying out for their next big show...so I think the media has had to take a look in the mirror, especially after President Trump's resounding victory on November 5th, and the American public sent a very strong message to the anti-Trump media that we don't listen to you." Legacy media often still push back. New York Times Reporter Baker has complained that outlets are losing direct access to the president if they print something the White House doesn't like. "That is utter fallacy and completely ridiculous,” Leavitt says. “We have expanded the pool to new voices, independent journalists, podcasters, social media content creators, while continuing to invite legacy media outlets like the one Baker works for". In the middle of these ongoing battles, this administration is also facing rogue judges it sees as trying to stop the Trump agenda. Leavitt labels them part of the ’resistance movement.’ "Almost every single one of them is a registered Democrat, has been involved in Democrat campaigns or causes, have donated to Democrat candidates. Some of them have even put their anti-Trump bias on social media. They have not been shy about their hatred for this president and his policies, and they are abusing their judicial power." She also sees a much larger fight taking place: the one between good and evil. "I certainly believe in spiritual warfare. And I think I saw it firsthand, especially throughout the campaign trail with President Trump. And I think there certainly were evil forces. And I think that the president was saved by the grace of God on July 13th in Butler, Pennsylvania, and he's in this moment for a reason." /Source: Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) - U.S./
By Brody, an Emmy Award-winning news journalist with more than two decades of experience, the Chief Political Analyst for CBN News.

Friday 28 March 2025  In his executive order, President Trump said the Smithsonian used to be seen as "a symbol of American excellence and a global icon of cultural achievement". But in recent years, it said, it has 'come under the influence of a divisive, race-centred ideology'. He accused it of advancing narratives that portray American and Western values as 'inherently harmful and oppressive'. Vice President Vance will be in charge of removing 'improper ideology' from all areas of the institution, which receives 62% of its funding from the federal government. Mr Trump recently had himself installed as chairman of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and replaced board members with political loyalists. The Smithsonian describes itself on its website as "the world's largest museum, education, and research complex, with 21 museums, 14 education and research centres", established in 1846 by the US Congress. It also manages the National Zoo in Washington. (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)

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Russia
24.03.2025  The Kremlin today said that both Russia and the US want to reach a settlement about the Ukraine war, as delegations from Moscow and Washington are holding a new round of bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia. Kremlin spokesman Peskov noted that the agenda of the talks is the issue of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, as well as all other topics related to the grain deal’s revival was proposed by US President Trump and that Putin gave his consent to this. He also said that Putin has not changed his order for Russian forces not to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities. The grain deal, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war. On July 17, 2023, Russia withdrew from the deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement. (Source: Anadolu Agency – Turkey)

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