The European Commission has announced plans to “strengthen” the borders of nine member states
The European Commission unveiled a strategy on Wednesday to reinforce nine EU member states bordering Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus, by means of the ‘European Drone Defense Initiative’. Previously dubbed the ‘drone wall’, the plan has faced criticism over its feasibility.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western claims of being a threat to NATO or EU nations, calling the narrative “nonsense” and “fearmongering” meant to justify inflated military budgets.
Announced by the commission’s executive vice president, Raffaele Fitto, the plan includes Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria. Brussels says that these nations are facing reduced investment, demographic pressure, and “hybrid” threats linked to the Ukraine conflict.
The new strategy includes a €28 billion ($33 billion) loan program, as well as commitments to implement “security and resilience” measures, which include the ‘drone wall’ plan that has drawn sharp skepticism from within NATO.
Romanian Defense Minister Radu Miruta had previously dismissed the concept as a “utopia,” while Bloomberg reported in October that EU officials privately called the idea a “PR label” masking a “complex reality.” They noted that the implementation of such a measure faces logistical hurdles and opposition from western and southern members reluctant to fund such projects......more below
Washington’s initiative seeks to secure a supply chain for AI, semiconductors, and critical minerals
India has joined the US-led Pax Silica alliance, which aims to secure a supply chain for artificial intelligence, chips, and critical minerals.
The Pax Silica declaration was signed on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit currently underway in New Delhi.
Australia, Greece, Israel, Japan, Qatar, South Korea, Singapore, the UAE, and the UK are the other signatories of the declaration, according to the US State Department.
Canada, the European Union (EU), the Netherlands, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Taiwan are non-signatory participants.....more below
Around ten F-16s reportedly flew close to Beijing’s air defense identification zone over the Yellow Sea
US and Chinese fighter jets faced off not far off the South Korean coast this week, according to local media outlets.
Approximately ten US Forces Korea (USFK) F-16 warplanes took off from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek – about 60km south of Seoul – and flew over international waters in the Yellow Sea, the Korea Herald reported, citing multiple sources. The mission reportedly took place in the airspace between South Korea’s and China’s respective air defense identification zones.
As the F-16s approached the Chinese coast, Beijing scrambled its own jets to the area, the article said, without clarifying how many planes were involved. The outlet noted that “a brief aerial face-off” ensued, but given that neither side violated the other’s airspace, the situation did not escalate.
The paper also noted an “unusual” number of US jets in the air, adding that it could suggest that the...
The proposed enrollment of thousands of newborns in a hepatitis B trial is “not going to happen,” Guinea Bissau’s foreign minister has said
Guinea-Bissau has stopped a controversial hepatitis B vaccine study funded by the administration of US President Donald Trump after the World Health Organization (WHO) raised ethical concerns about its design.
On Tuesday, the West African country’s foreign minister, Joao Bernardo Vieira, said the government has shut down the trial in response to the concerns.
“It’s not going to happen, period,” he said in an interview, according to Reuters.
The country’s former health minister, Magda Robalo, was a vocal critic of the project. She told the science journal Nature last month that the trial is “not acceptable and it should not go on.”
The study, backed by a $1.6 million grant from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was designed to enroll about 14,000 newborns in Guinea-Bissau, where hepatitis B rates are among the...
