WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The State of the World: Russia, Riyadh, and Rebels

Episode Date: February 20, 2025

The State of the World discusses this week's news in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. Highlights include Russo-American Ukraine talks, the Munich Security Conference, and Taiwanese rhetoric.

Hello, my name is Aaron Osborne, and you're listening to the State of the World on WRFH 101.7 FM. Starting off this week with Europe, the Secretary of State Marco Rubio has met twice with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov in the past week, most recently, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in person. Russia and the United States have agreed to re-establish bilateral diplomatic relations in Moscow and Washington and have discussed efforts to end the Ukraine war. Ukrainian President Volonimir Zelensky, by contrast, has criticized the talks and said that he will not recognize any treaty that Ukraine is not actively involved in negotiating. The diplomatic talks come on the heels of the annual Munich Security Conference where American officials criticized limitations on European defense spending

and recent crackdowns in the EU on free speech. In addition, NATO leader Mark Ruta called on Europe to spend more money on defense. There was a bit of hubb over the weekend regarding Taiwan in Asia. The United States Department of State deleted the text on a U.S. relations with Taiwan fact sheet page, according to the BBC, that said that the U.S. does not support Taiwanese independence. While the U.S. government does not have any formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, a Beijing spokesman said the People's Republic of China, quote, urges the U.S. to immediately correct its mistakes and adhere to the one China principle.

Taiwan has been a soft spot for the recent years, especially with the new administration, as they attempt to juggle a delicate foreign policy situation in Japan. The Ministry of the Economy, Trade, and Security announced that Japan will double its reliance on nuclear energy and a dramatic policy shift. Outside of the Russo-American talks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, tensions continue to flare in the Middle After a tense halting of ceasefire and hostage exchange proceedings last week, Hamas released additional Israeli hostages, including an American citizen, over the weekend. During negotiations in Cairo, Egypt, Hamas also announced that an additional four dead hostages and six living hostages will be released on Saturday. One of the dead hostages is the youngest, who at the time he was captured was only nine months old.

His father was released in a previous trade, although the whereabouts of his mother and siblings are as of the present unknown. The Egyptian officials also have proposed a different settlement plan for the Gaza Strip, as world leaders can begin to speak about ways to secure the region after the war. The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo continues to deteriorate due to M23 in Africa, as we've discussed in previous episodes, M23 is a Rwanda-backed Tutsi movement. The United Nations announced that M23 members recently shot three children who put on clothes left behind by the Congolese army. In addition, people are concerned due to the fact that Burundi has begun the process of withdrawing troops from the country where it is fighting against M23 and Burundian rebels for several years.

Regarding yet another long-term conference, in Africa, in Sudan, the rapid support forces soldiers are suspected of killing over 200 unarmed civilians recently in a war that is displaced over 12 million people. It continues to be incredibly deadly and a heartbreaking humanitarian situation. In conjunction with President Trump's crackdown on drug cartels, the Mexican army said that it seized more than four tons of methamphetamines in the violence-ridden Sinolae state over the weekend. And in Colombia, the National Liberation Army Rebel Group has announced a three-day armed strike, confining citizens to their homes and closing schools and other industries.

This is not the first time that this has happened in the region, but regional security continues to diminish in the poorer region of Colombia, known as the Choco region right on the coast, which struggles to combat drug trafficking and smuggling industries. And to wrap us off with a little bit of lighter news for the week that is somewhat international, a Venezuelan kayaker has survived being swallowed by a whale off of Chile's Patagonia Coast. Thank you so much for listening to State of the World on WRFH 101.7 FM.