WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The State of the World: Taiwan, Tensions, and Tuaregs

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

The State of the World breaks down top headlines in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. Key topics include Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, Taiwan, Malian air strikes, and M-23.

Hello, my name is Aaron Osborne, and this is the state of the world on WRFH 101.7 FM, where we talk about international news throughout the week. Starting off with Europe, it's been a tumultuous past couple weeks for the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which has been seeing the first glimpses of ceasefire negotiations. However, the United States has accused the Kremlin of stalling negotiations in the interest of a better situation in the region of Kursk, a Ukraine-occupied zone in western Russia. The Wall Street Journal reported, though, that Putin agreed to a limited ceasefire against Ukraine's energy infrastructure and smaller other concessions on Tuesday. In the Western region of Europe, governments continue to increase investment in defense. President Emmanuel Macron announced a plan to spend over $1.5 billion over the next 10 years on jets that he says will carry hypersonic missiles and nuclear warheads. In Asian news, the Washington Post reports that new North Korean troops have been active in the Kursk region of Ukraine-occupied Russia. Moscow and Pyongyang, however, have denied the presence of

North Korean troops in the region. Shifting to Southeast Asia, the small microchip-producing country of Taiwan has called for American assistance in defense against China. One of Taiwan's top microchip companies recently announced a plan to open a new. additional production facilities in the United States, but Taipei's defense ministry recently underscored the importance of American support and joint training exercises. China, meanwhile, in addition to the one-China policy, which would incorporate Taiwan into the Chinese government, has unveiled a 30-point special action plan to combat economic backsliding, according to the Washington Post. The move is considered part of the ongoing so-called trade war between China and

the United States. Middle Eastern tensions have been flaring in multiple fronts. this week as President Trump deployed massive airstrikes on the Houthi terrorist organization in Lebanon. Trump said he intends to combat Iranian influence in the region, the disruption of trade, and the spread of terrorism. The Houthis responded by launching a strike on Israel in the past couple days. In addition, the Israeli defense forces announced and executed a series of strikes in the Gaza Strip, killing several senior Hamas officials, including Esam al-Dalis, Hamas's Ghazan Prime Minister. However, the strikes have received widespread criticism

even as Hamas has repeatedly refused to prolong the ceasefire and failed to return the remaining 59 hostages, many of whom are believed deceased, who were captured on October 7th of 2023. This strike marks the largest military action since the ceasefire in January. In the African country of Mali, an ethnic Tuareg separatist group said that the Malian Army executed deadly airstrikes on a market in the Timbuktu region.

The army says it killed more than 10 terrorists after years of military coups and Islamic extremist groups in the country, and neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso have wreaked havoc. Mali contains a number of ethnic and religious minorities. The Tuarigs in particular are semi-nomadic herders who primarily live in northern Mali. Moving to the east of Africa, and following the M-20s, news Rwanda and Belgium have several diplomatic ties after Belgium expelled the Rwandan diplomats from the country over the support of their M23 armed militia group, which has been ravaging the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. M23 recently pulled out of peace talks

with the Congo after European Union sanctions against M23 and Rwandan officials. Last but not least, shifting to the Western Hemisphere, Peru's government has declared a state of emergency after increasing crime, murder, and extortion, up to four times the levels of 2017. According to the Associated Press, Peru's military will begin to deploy 1,000 soldiers to patrol key areas and support local police in Lima. The state of emergency is expected to be 30 days long and allows the government to search homes without warrant and suspend the right to assembly. The state of emergency that was recently announced also follows a similar decree made last year between September and December.

And in the midst of continued crisis in Haiti, gunmen attacked Doctors Without Borders Convoy in the capital of Porta Prince that was doing an evacuation. According to the Associated Press, this is the second time the organization has suspended operations in the past four months. My name is Aaron Osborne, and thank you for listening to the State Up for the World on Radio Free Hillsdale, WRFH 101.7 FM.