Transnational Thursday is a thread for people to discuss international news, foreign policy or international relations history. Feel free as well to drop in with coverage of countries you’re interested in, talk about ongoing dynamics like the wars in Israel or Ukraine, or even just whatever you’re reading.
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Notes -
Some headlines I'm reading:
AI getting good at detecting bugs and vulnerabilities in curl
UN imposes 'snapback' sanctions on Iran
NATO boosts Baltic surveillance as drone threats rise in Europe
US Marines set to conduct joint exercises to gether with Panamanian security forces. This announcement comes at a precarious time, with fears escalating regarding a potential U.S. military action against Venezuela, which is situated approximately 925 kilometers east of Panama. Donald Trump has increased U.S. military presence in the Caribbean, dispatching eight warships, a nuclear submarine, and ten fighter jets to Puerto Rico, supposedly to combat drug trafficking but likely targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. This naval build-up marks the most substantial in the region since the U.S. invasion of Panama in 1989, an event that left hundreds of civilians dead.
Fears of disaster as Russian nuclear submarine reports major malfunction in Mediterranean | The Standard
Dozens dead from hunger and disease as devastation decimates North Darfur
Russia a ‘paper tiger’: How Trump changed his position on Ukraine, NATO Russia-Ukraine war News Al Jazeera
Tony Blair in discussions to run transitional Gaza authority
Putin Orders Highest Fall Conscription Target in 9 Years, 135K men
Widespread anti-Israel protests after it stops an aid/PR flotilla
Eurovision Song Contest: Organisers EBU to hold vote on Israel's participation
Trump gives Hamas ‘three or four days’ to respond to Gaza peace plan or face ‘a very sad end’
More kids with the flu are getting severely ill or dying as vaccine rates fall, CDC reports
CDC reports highlight 2024-25 flu season's deadly impact on US kids; highest since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009-10. Not significant shares of the population though.
Electronic Arts Sold to Saudi Arabia and Trump's Son-in-Law (Jared Kushner) for $55B
Peace in Democratic Republic of Congo Mostly a Promise, Mission Head Tells Security Council, Stressing That Reality Still Marred with Violence
Congo’s Former President Sentenced to Death in Absentia
India released some statistics for 2023. Dowry-related cases rose by 14%, with 6.1K women killed.
UN approves larger force to combat Haiti gang violence
This triggers my submarine autism. To be fair, I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming The Standard (or rather, its headline writer, the article correctly points out the subtleties).
When someone says "nuclear submarine" without any qualifier, it means "nuclear-powered submarine". Though I would usually cut some slack if someone meant "ballistic missile submarine with nuclear weapons".
The Kilo is neither, it's a fast attack diesel-electric submarine. If it had one, which I wouldn't think likely, the Kilo could, in theory, fire a Kalibr cruise missile holding a smallish tactical nuclear warhead. By that token, every single platform that is capable of firing a Tomahawk is nuclear, seeing how they could technically fire a TLAM-N (I think they were officially retired, but I mean, the technical capability is still there, and if any still exist covertly...)
Mmmh, thanks!
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