Loading
Description: The Polish presidentship of the European Union has announced the decisions of the EU ambassadors to impose the 16th sanctions package on Russia. Sanctions would be additionally imposed on 73 ships of Russia’s shadow fleet used to transport goods such as LNG or LPG from sanctioned Russian companies as well as other legal entities and individuals. The sanctions package would also undertake the exclusion of 13 Russian banks from the SWIFT system while up to 8 Russian media outlets and 11 ports would also be added to the sanctioned list. The package comes on the brink of the three-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine and in line with recent rifts in pol
Description: The Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown has signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Chinese government that would see the islands cooperate with China on trade, tourism, education, seabed mining, infrastructure, fisheries and disaster management. The agreement has raised concerns with the islands closest ally New Zealand as recent ambitions show political will from the Cook Islands for secession. Protests were held in the capital Avarua opposing the China deal and requesting to remain in a free association bilateral relation with New Zealand. The agreement comes to light in a sensitive time especially with China enlarging its presence and expanding
Description: Director General of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) Mike Burgess presented the annual national threat report which focused on cyber-attacks, radicalization, sabotage and enhanced espionage attempts. Mark stated that Australia has been considerably targeted by opposing state – backed organizations through continuous cyber-attacks which targeted crucial infrastructure and used social media platforms to radicalize the Australian youth. Mark also mentioned that the AUKUS program, which is a strategic alliance between Australia, the UK and the US has been severely targeted especially with regional tensions on a historic high. Impact:
Description: US President Donald Trump’s executive order designating drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs) has come into effect. The designation was published through the US Department of State and named six larger Mexican drug cartels as FTOs. This would enable US authorities to subject the cartels under sanctions and persecute organizations or individuals that harbor material support for the cartels. Recent tensions between the US and Mexico saw Donald Trump and Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum trade blame over the fentanyl trade across the US – Mexico border. Impact: The listing of cartels as FTOs has raised several concerns, mainly th
Description: US special envoy Keith Kellog arrived on Wednesday 19 Feb in Kyiv amid extending talks with Ukraine’s President Volodymir Zelenskyy. The meeting comes after the US – Russia talks in Riyadh which excluded Ukrainian and EU representatives. US President Donald Trump has illegitimized Zelenskyy in the meantime calling him a dictator which doesn’t enjoy the support of the Ukrainian people. Trump also stated that the war could have been prevented and accused Ukraine of instigating the conflict. The arrival of Kellog is yet to become clear as it could mean the reinforcement of Trump’s isolationism in future negotiations, or it could also mean to provide reassurances to
Description: Syrian de – facto rulers, Haiat Tahrir Al – Sham led by Ahmed al – Sharaa has allegedly closed upon concluding an agreement with Russia for its military forces to remain in the country. Russian forces would aim at remaining in their naval base in Tartus and keep the remainder of the forces in the Hmeimim air base near Latakia. Previous contacts between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ahmed al – Sharaa were made upon which concessions were agreed upon. In the interim, Israel has increased its military presence in the southeastern parts of the country and imposed control of over 30% of the country’s water supply. US and Turkish troops are also located in the
Description: The meeting between US State Secretary Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ended on a positive note with winds of cooperation blowing from both the East and the West. With Ukraine being on the top of the agenda, both sides have stated they have laid the groundwork for a potential direct meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump in the near future. European countries and Ukraine have deemed the meeting illegitimate since all concerned parties weren’t present, however, US and Russian representatives have stated that they merely discussed diplomatic broad strokes so far. Information regarding future concessions was scarce but bot
Description: Israel and Hamas administrations have confirmed the presence of their respective special envoys in Cairo where negotiations would begin later this week regarding the second stage of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. So far despite several setbacks that threatened to end the ceasefire the hostage exchanges went uninterrupted as both sides delivered on their promises. Second phase negotiations are expected to be more complicated since additional exchanges are scheduled as well as the sensitive topic of deciding on the administrative governance of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Impact: With the Gaza ceasefire continuing, the second phase of the nego
Description: The civil war in Sudan between the RSF (Rapid Support Forces) – led coalition and the Sudanese army has entangled the country into a prolonged armed fighting and severe humanitarian crisis. Latest advances by the RSF in the villages of al – Gitaina left over 200 civilians dead over the past couple of days. The advance comes in light of recent attempts which were denied by the RSF to form a political charter of the organization which would fold all rebel forces under the RSF umbrella in forming a governance body in the territory the organization controls. Sudanese government officials have stated that much of the armed group forces supporting the RSF were indirec
Description: Following the trilateral diplomatic meeting between the US, Japan and South Korea in Munich on 15 Feb, the North Korean government has vowed to invest even more in future nuclear armament endeavors. The trilateral meeting was marked by statements from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio who pledged that the US would remain committed towards the denuclearization of North Korea. The latest information saw North Korean diplomats departing for Russia, as both North Korea and Russia aimed to further strengthen ties in light of recent developments on the global geopolitical stage. Further diplomatic pressure from the US over the North Korean denuclearization could also