NATO. IL PROGETTO “DIANA” E LE TECNOLOGIE CRITICHE

FOCUS

La NATO, scrive Defense News, è pronta a stabilire una nuova iniziativa transatlantica volta ad accelerare lo sviluppo di tecnologie critiche, con un quartier generale a Londra e più di 60 siti partner intorno alla sua alleanza. La scorsa estate, al 31° vertice annuale della NATO a Bruxelles, il segretario generale Jens Stoltenberg ha annunciato l’intenzione di istituire il Defense Innovation Accelerator of the North Atlantic, o DIANA, basato sull’Agenzia per i progetti di ricerca avanzata della difesa degli Stati Uniti.

AROUND THE WORLD

China

• China ups ante in ensuring economic development, security as West remains obsessed with sanctions, April 7. With growing complexities, ranging from the Ukraine conflict to COVID-19 flare-ups across China, setting the scene for more unpredictability, the world’s second-largest economy is upping the ante in ensuring both development and security. (read more)

• Shenzhen pushes ahead with fintech innovation in capital markets, April 7. By Global Times. China’s tech hub Shenzhen has made a lot of progress in pushing fintech innovation in its capital markets such as conducting test runs on a number of new fintech applications, officials said on Thursday, as the city moves to empower its financial markets with enriched technological resources. (read more)

• North China’s energy center to launch a new coal mine with over 2 billion tons of reserves, April 7. By Global Times. Natural resources bureau in Ordos, North China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, allowed Baijiahaizi coal mine, a large coal mine in the region, with an annual capacity of 15 million tons, to enter legal operation, announced by the bureau on Monday. (read more)

• National agro and reserve system, needs-based imports ensure food security for 1.4 billion, April 7. By Global Times. As a country with a population of approximately 1.4 billion, China attaches great importance to food security. (read more)

China – Afghanistan

• China urges US to apologize, compensate Afghans for drug problems it inflicted on country, April 7. By Global Times. China expressed its appreciation for the Afghan interim government’s move to ban cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan and stated that the US should apologize and compensate for its dishonorable role in the Afghan drug problem, according to spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday. The Afghan interim government recently announced a ban on poppy cultivation throughout the country, along with a ban on the manufacturing, use and transportation of other narcotics. (read more)

Finland

• Finland to clarify next steps on possible NATO entry within weeks -foreign minister, April 7. By Reuters. (read more)

India – China

• Changing negative impression toward China: What lesson have Indians learned from their own experiences, April 7. Xing Xiaojing and Shan Jie, Global Times. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict looms over the international community, inside India, a growing wave of voices advocating for India to shun the West’s influence and even calls for a joining of forces with China and other developing countries, have started brewing. (read more)

Iran

• Iran says knife attack an attempt to divide Muslims and nations, April 7. By Maziar Motamedi, Al Jazeera. A deadly knife attack at a holy shrine in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad earlier this week was an attempt at driving a wedge between Muslims and nations, officials have said. (read more)

JCPOA

• Are Iran and the US close to a new deal on nukes and sanctions?, April 7. By Al Jazeera. The Vienna talks aim to bring an end to the US sanctions on Iran in exchange for limits on Iran’s nuclear programme. The original agreement between Iran and world powers – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – was signed in 2015, offering Iran sanctions relief at the time in exchange for Iran reining in its nuclear programme.  (read more)

Spain – Morocco

• Spain PM in Morocco to mend ties after Western Sahara shift, April 7. By Al Jazeera. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is set to meet Moroccan King Mohammed VI during a two-day visit to Rabat that seeks to mark an easing of diplomatic tensions centred on Morocco’s disputed region of Western Sahara. Spain’s government has called Thursday’s meeting an opportunity to open a “new stage” in ties with Morocco based on “mutual respect”, but also to discuss “restraint from any unilateral action to honour the importance of all that we share and to avoid future crises”.  (read more)

Sudan

• Jailed head of Sudan’s outlawed ex-ruling party to be freed -lawyer, April 7, 2022.  The jailed head of Sudan’s former ruling party is be freed, his lawyer told Reuters on Thursday, becoming the most senior figure from the deposed regime of Omar al-Bashir to have charges of crimes against the state dropped since a coup last October. (read more)

Taiwan

• China strongly opposes latest US arms sales to Taiwan island, vows to take powerful measures, April 7. By Global Times. China expressed firm opposition to the latest US arms sales to the island of Taiwan and has lodged solemn representations with the US, the Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday.  (read more)

• China will respond with ‘resolute and forceful measures’ if Pelosi visits Taiwan, April 7. By Yang Sheng, Wang Qi  and Guo Yuandan, Global Times. If US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visits the island of Taiwan, as some media have reported, China will definitely respond with “resolute and forceful measures,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Thursday. Chinese experts said China will and must retaliate; otherwise the US will make more provocations in the future, and the consequences that could be caused by the potential visit would bring a “disruptive impact” on the foundation of China-US relations. (read more)

USA – Kazakhstan – Kyrgyzstan

• Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Zeya Travel to Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic, April 7. By US Department of State. (read more)

USA – India

• U.S.-India 2+2 Ministerial Press Announcement. April 7. By US Department of State. (read more)

Yemen 

• Yemen president cedes powers to council as Saudi Arabia pushes to end war, April 7. By  Mohamed Ghobari and Ahmed Tolba, Reuters. Yemen’s president delegated power to a presidential council and dismissed his deputy on Thursday in moves aimed at supporting U.N.-led efforts to revive negotiations to end a bitter seven-year war. (Reuters)

DEFENSE – MILITARY – SECURITY – CYBER – SPACE

• German Air Force banks on Israel’s Arrow-3 for national missile shield. April 6. By  Sebastian Sprenger and Seth J. Frantzman, Defense News. The German Air Force is looking to the Israeli Arrow-3 system to quickly field a defensive weapon against Russian Iskander and other missiles, according to a service spokesman. The push follows the “informal” approval by political leaders in Germany to initiate more concrete acquisition plans, the spokesman told Defense News. Internally, plans to erect a defense system for Germany and, potentially, neighboring countries, goes by the working title of “German Iron Shield.”. (read more)

• Pentagon launches 5G challenge with millions up for grabs, April 6. By Colin Demarest, Defense News. The Department of Defense unveiled a multimillion-dollar 5G challenge this week that it says will promote the growth and adoption of a fifth-generation open ecosystem and related technologies. The competition, conducted in collaboration with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, focuses on open interfaces, swappable and compatible parts, and the development of a diverse, multi-vendor community. (read more)

• Textron drone deploys on US Navy destroyer as contractor-operated ISR node, April 6. By Megan Eckstein, Defense News. Textron Systems has its Aerosonde Small Unmanned Aircraft System deployed on one U.S. Navy destroyer in the Pacific and will be operating on a second by the end of the year, a company official told Defense News. The Aerosonde system had been operating off the Navy expeditionary sea base Hershel “Woody” Williams for three years, with the system carrying an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) payload and a wide-area search payload to support maritime operations in the Atlantic, Wayne Prender, Textron’s senior vice president for air systems, said in a March 31 interview. (read more)

PERSPECTIVES

• Bloc’s global expansion brings clashes, undermines regional security: expert, April 7. By Liu Xin and Xu Yelu, Global Times: South Korean and Japanese foreign ministers were invited to join the high-profile NATO session on Thursday for the first time as NATO seeks to gain cooperation from Asia to isolate Russia and pressure China over the Ukraine crisis. But analysts said the US is coercing more countries to choose sides in the crisis and using it as an opportunity to help NATO’s global expansion. (read more)

RUSSIA – UKRAINE (impact, reactions, consequences)

• Key Events and Statements Summarizing China’s Position on Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, April 1. By US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. (read more)

• Russia facing most difficult situation in three decades, PM says, April 7. By Reuters. Russia is facing its most difficult situation in three decades due to unprecedented Western sanctions, but foreign attempts to isolate it from the global economy will fail, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday. (read more)

• Intelligence agencies accelerate use of commercial space imagery to support Ukraine, April 6. By  Courtney Albon, Defense News. Since before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, space imagery, remote sensing and communications satellites have been informing the public and helping keep Ukrainian forces and civilians connected. Because of its partnerships with commercial industry, the U.S intelligence community was positioned to quickly leverage those capabilities to increase its own support in the region, accelerating several in-the-works acquisition efforts and increasing the capacity of planned procurements. (read more)