Month: December 2025
China has condemned Trump’s Venezuela blockade
China has ample reason to oppose the ramp-up of American military pressure on Venezuela and the recent US interceptions of tankers tied to its oil. The US manoeuvres, part of President Donald Trump’s “total and complete blockade” of sanctioned vessels around Venezuela, strike at the economic heart of one of Beijing’s closest Latin American partners
Israel accuses Hamas of violating Gaza truce
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas on Wednesday of violating the Gaza ceasefire agreement after a military officer was wounded by an explosive device in Rafah and Israel vowed retaliation. His office said in a statement that Hamas must fully uphold the October agreement, noting that it envisaged the militant group being removed from
US and Ukraine edge closer to joint plan to end war
Washington and Kyiv have edged closer to a jointly agreed formula to end the war in Ukraine amid continuing uncertainty over Moscow’s response and a number of unresolved issues. Revealing the latest status of the peace talks, brokered by Washington, Ukraine’s president, Volodmyr Zelenskyy, appeared to have secured several important concessions from earlier versions of
US VISA ban against European citizens
The European Union, France and Germany condemned U.S. visa bans on European citizens combating online hate and disinformation, with Brussels saying on Wednesday it could “respond swiftly and decisively” against the “unjustified measures”. The visa bans are likely to exacerbate growing divergences between Washington and some European capitals over issues including free speech, defence, immigration,
Accounts banned by WhatsApp in India.
Concerns about digital fraud are sharpening even as WhatsApp ramps up enforcement in India, banning nearly a crore accounts each month. WhatsApp publishes monthly compliance reports, but does not share the mobile numbers that were banned, citing end-to-end encryption and legal constraints.The government is in discussions with WhatsApp and other platforms to strike a balance
Taiwan needs to flood the battlefield with cheap electronics to counter China
Asymmetric warfare is a strategy that uses large numbers of inexpensive, mobile, hard-to-target systems — like drones, missiles, and dispersed units — to blunt a larger military’s advantages by denying it easy targets and inflicting outsized damage. Think drones blowing up tanks in Ukraine or sinking Russian warships. Taiwan’s government budgets for defense have increased
Google’s and OpenAI’s Chatbots Can Strip Women
Some users of popular chatbots are generating bikini deepfakes using photos of fully clothed women as their source material. Most of these fake images appear to be generated without the consent of the women in the photos. Some of these same users are also offering advice to others on how to use the generative AI
Ukraine security Deal
We’ve just had an update from Zelensky on the latest talks between US and Ukrainian officials. The Ukrainian president – after meeting with his negotiating team – says these documents are focused on “security guarantees for Ukraine, on recovery, and on a basic framework for ending this war”. US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve
Dollar falls
The dollar trims losses while Treasury yields rise after U.S. GDP data shows stronger-than-expected growth in the third quarter. The U.S. economy expanded at an annual rate of 4.3% in the July to September quarter, above the 3.2% forecast by economists in a WSJ survey. The DXY dollar index rises to 98.070 following the data
Passkeys over passwords
When a public key and a private key combine, they create a passkey that can unlock your account. The Fast Identity Online (FIDO) Alliance developed passkeys several years ago, and many companies are already implementing them. For example, Microsoft deleted passwords from its authenticator app in August but left support for passkeys in place, and