MIDDLE EAST
Trump claims he is considering a “large-scale attack” against Iran, as Tehran has not “yet suffered enough damage”. This comes after the United States launched air strikes against Iran for the thirteenth consecutive night. Meanwhile, the Gulf States and Jordan have reaffirmed their right to self-defence against Iranian attacks, urging the UN Security Council to adopt an urgent resolution to put an end to Iranian attacks on their territories. In a joint statement issued on Thursday by the secretariat of the Gulf Cooperation Council, they emphasised their united stance against the Iranian attacks, warning that they threaten peace and security.
BANGLADESH
The President of Bangladesh, Mohammed Shahabuddin, is set to resign, whilst his former ally, the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, may return to the country from exile. The move comes just days after Hasina told Reuters that she would return to Bangladesh, where she faces the death penalty for cracking down on student-led protests in 2024, which led to the fall of her government. Since then, Shahabuddin has been under pressure from leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) to resign. A senior official told the BBC: he will tender his resignation to the Speaker of Parliament, who is due to return to Bangladesh on Friday.
INDIA
Representatives of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) are to hold talks with the government today after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended his 26-day hunger strike in solidarity with the protests. However, CJP spokespeople have stated that they will continue to protest until Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigns. Last night, Modi posted a video message, filmed in portrait format (apparently an attempt to reach young protesters active on Instagram), in which he announced the drafting of a new, strict law against the leaking of exam results.
CHINA – UNITED STATES
A White House adviser has accused the Chinese company Moonshot AI of undertaking a “large-scale” initiative aimed at extracting the capabilities of the best US artificial intelligence (AI) models. In particular, Moonshot AI carried out a campaign using so-called ‘distillation’, the process by which a less powerful AI model extracts answers from a more powerful one. Moonshot also gained access to restricted, state-of-the-art Nvidia servers to train its own models.
VIETNAM
Vietnam intends to oblige social media platforms to prevent users under the age of 16 from posting content, commenting or reacting to posts, thereby joining a growing international trend aimed at restricting the use of social media by minors.
The proposed regulations would require social media accounts belonging to children under the age of 16 to be registered using the details of a parent or legal guardian, who would be responsible for supervising the content viewed and the time spent on the platforms.
SINGAPORE
A recent study conducted by SG Her Empowerment found that the most pronounced gender disparity is found among members of Generation Z: young women are more likely to reject traditional gender roles, whilst young men are more inclined than older men to tolerate domestic violence. In general, young people in Singapore hold more divergent views on traditional gender roles than older generations. This is particularly relevant given the rise of male radicalisation online, such as the ‘incel’ subculture.
UKRAINE – RUSSIA
Within 48 hours, Ukrainian drones attacked 13 vessels of the Russian ‘shadow fleet’ in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, as reported by Rbk-Ukraine, citing a statement by Robert ‘Madyar’ Brovdi, commander of the remotely piloted systems forces. The aim of the attacks was to prevent them from operating in Ukrainian waters to the advantage of the aggressor country. During ‘Operation Moločka’ in July, a total of 196 enemy vessels were destroyed in the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea.
GEORGIA
The mayor of Tbilisi, former footballer Kakha Kaladze, has announced the complete reconstruction of Prospekt Rustaveli, the main boulevard in the Georgian capital, where protests have been taking place continuously for two years. The works will cover the stretch from Tamar Čovelidze Street to Freedom Square, spanning almost 2 kilometres, and traffic will be partially restricted for at least four months for all vehicles along the entire construction site prior to the start of the works. Obviously, it will no longer be possible to hold rallies there.
