Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi:

With regard to China, it is the consistent policy of the Takaichi Cabinet to comprehensively advance a mutually beneficial strategic relationship and to build a constructive and stable partnership.

As China is an important neighboring country—and precisely because there are various outstanding issues and challenges between us—we will maintain close communication and respond calmly and appropriately from the standpoint of Japan’s national interests.

U.S. President Donald Trump gathered leaders from more than 40 countries in Washington for the inaugural meeting of the newly formed Board of Peace, pledging billions for Gaza reconstruction and signaling a tougher stance on Iran.

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Africa-Wide Anti-Cyber Scam Operation Arrests 651 Scammers

INTERPOL and 16 African countries arrested 651 suspects between December & January in Operation Red Card 2.0, recovering USD 4.3 million, seizing 2,341 devices, and shutting 1,442 malicious networks in a major push against online scams.

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RTX (formerly Raytheon) released a promo video showing CGI of the U.S. Air Force’s F-47 sixth-gen fighter under the NGAD program.

Boeing won the main F-47 airframe contract (2025).

RTX contributes engines (NGAP/XA103 adaptive engine via Pratt & Whitney).

First flight target: ~2028.

Designed for extreme stealth, long range, Mach 2+, and drone wingmen integration.

BIG: The Pentagon warned the EU it will retaliate if Brussels adds a strong “Buy European” clause to defense procurement rules, saying it “strongly opposes” limits on U.S. firms and rejects “protectionist and exclusionary policies” that “strong-arm American companies out of the market.”

If Europe moves ahead, Washington may review waivers under existing defense trade deals, potentially restricting EU firms’ access to U.S. contracts even as nearly two-thirds of EU imported weapons come from the U.S.

Source: Politico

Son of Former Zimbabwe President Arrested for Attempted Coup

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Türkiye’s Bayraktar KIZILELMA unmanned fighter jet completed a real-flight test of its Electronic Warfare Self-Protection System, validating onboard threat detection and countermeasures.

The platform features homegrown AESA radar (MURAD), Gökdoğan BVR missiles, IRST/EOTS sensors, and now integrated EW defenses.

FIFA pledged about $70–75 million to rebuild football infrastructure in Gaza.

Funding includes $50M for a 20–25k national stadium, $15M academy, 50 mini-pitches ($2.5M), and 5 full-size fields ($5M).

OpenAI's CEO Sam Altman on China:

The progress of Chinese tech companies across the entire stack and also not just in AI but in many fields is remarkable.

The reason I'm pushing back on underestimated is it feels like every conversation I have is like, "Oh, China's beating us. What do we do about it?" So, I think people are aware of what's happening there.

Yes, Chinese progress is amazingly fast.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi:

There is no military solution for Iran's nuclear program.

That was tested last year... they couldn't kill our nuclear program.

BREAKING:

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi:

The U.S. side has not asked for zero enrichment.

USS Ford is entering the Mediterranean.

Source

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi:

We don't consider Americans as our enemy.

We consider the American government's policies as hostile against Iran.

When those hostilities stop, then we can perhaps consider a different kind of relationship.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez:

The richest ten percent of the world's population today receives more than half of the income and holds seventy-five percent of the wealth.

That is to say, absolutely unsustainable figures—also immoral and, of course, outrageous. And from the democratic powers, what we have to do is try to solve this very dramatic reality.

And that is why Spain supports the creation of this intergovernmental group of experts against inequality.

Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez:

Those who have more must contribute more, and therefore Spain will not stop in ensuring that this endeavor is also fulfilled on a global scale.

German Chancellor Merz:

We stand on the side of the Ukrainian people without any ifs or buts.

We will never accept how a criminal Russian regime systematically wages war against the civilian population of this country, against old people, against women and against children.

The whole thing garnished with an almost unbearable Nazi propaganda against the Ukrainian people, a people that suffered under German and under Russian tyranny like hardly a second on earth.

This will always meet with our determined contradiction.

German Chancellor Merz on Russia:

History teaches us one thing: appeasement does not create peace. It only encourages the aggressor in the first place.

Whoever follows a naive pacifism today, who follows a naive pacifism today, promotes the wars of tomorrow.

German Chancellor Merz:

We no longer live in the old system, but also not yet completely in a new one.

We, in this part of Europe, we are not at war, but we are also no longer at peace.

The threat to our freedom, it is palpable.

German Chancellor Merz on relations with the US:

For all the political tensions we have, for all the political tensions we are currently experiencing with the United States of America, the Americans—that is at least my feeling—they are our friends, they are my friends, and they should also remain our friends.

That's why we don't give up this friendship lightly and we will always fight for it to stay.

But it's also true, the United States of America itself is increasingly losing interest in the role of a guarantor power for the international order and its interest in its role as a reliable trendsetter.

We would do well to make this clear to ourselves without illusions and without nostalgia.

German Chancellor Merz:

German business model was clear for quite a long time.

Strong exports, global markets, reliable supply chains, cheap energy, security above all through the Americans.

And with all of that, we wanted the greatest political restraint.

That will no longer work in the new world.

The competition has become harder, costs have risen and it is fought with hard bandages. The epochal break affects us all.

The decisive question is therefore not whether we change our economy, but how quickly we manage these changes and how successful we will be in the process.

German Chancellor Merz on China:

China today sees itself in explicit opposition to the U.S. and claims to define a new multilateral order according to its own rules.

Freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of the press do not occur in this understanding.

The commitment to the universal validity of human rights is rejected there as interference in internal affairs.

May I ask the question again?

Given this situation, couldn't it be right that we Europeans together with the Americans have to counter their common understanding of freedom, our common image of humanity with something better than what we hear from the Middle Kingdom?

That too belongs to the truth of our relationship.