WRFH/Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM - The State of the World: The Mafia, Trade Wars, and Wars in Question

Episode Date: February 13, 2025

The State of the World discusses this week's news in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and the Western Hemisphere. Highlights include crackdowns on the Sicilian mafia, trade wars, and military campaigns Gaza and Congo.

Hello, this is Aaron Osborne, and you're listening to the State of the World on WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM, where we talk about current events in American foreign policy and around the world. Starting off with Europe this week, the Trump administration's first NATO meeting will take place on February 13th. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegset is expected to bring up European defense spending, according to Radio Free Europe. NATO allies, as of the Wales conference in 2012, are expected to speak. spend at least 2% of GDP on defense per year, something the Trump administration called a priority. In Italian news, the Italian police have arrested over 180 people in recent weeks for rebuilding the Sicilian mafia's cupola or governing body. Police say they found the mob's encrypted chats but have yet to dismantle the mafia in its

entirety and have made over a thousand arrests thus far. In Asia, experts are concerned about a rising trade war between the United States and China. Despite the tensions and tariffs, Tesla just opened a megapak battery factory in Shanghai for $200 million. Elon Musk, company CEO and Trump advisor, has received criticism for opening the factory and did not attend the ceremony. Musk has been a key figure in the Second Trump administration, prompting concerns about conflict of interest. In India, Prime Minister Narenda Modi's party will form a government in Delhi for the first time in 27 years. The BJP won 48 seats of the 70-member Legislative Assembly based in Delhi, according to the BBC.

The party lost power in Delhi in 1998, and its clear. majority should increase Modi's control. The Middle East has seen a setback in hostage exchanges over the weekend. Hostages returned by Hamas terrorists captured international attention for their gaunt medical condition with several politicians comparing them to Holocaust victims. In response, Hamas has indefinitely postponed the next hostage release and accused Israel of breaking the ceasefire deal and providing in-ademic. levels of aid to

Gaza residents. As of February 11th, Israel has begun to move troops once again to the border with Gaza after withdrawing forces from the area as part of the ceasefire agreement, which began four weeks ago. President Trump, in increasing American attention on the region, has insisted that the hostages be returned as planned on Saturday and has also leveraged support for an American involvement in a hostage exchange program and Gaza security. Heavy shelling is resumed in the Congolese provinces of South Kivu as M23 pushes south from

occupied Goma in eastern Congo. This African group M23 is a Rwanda-backed Tutsi movement, which we've covered for some weeks now, and has killed an estimated 3,000 Congolese residents. An alliance of relative groups including M23, known as the Congo River Alliance, indicated that Bukavu, the capital of the South Kivu province, is next. In other African news, South Sudan's president Salva Kier sacked two of his five vice presidents and the South Sudanese spy chief. The BBC reports that the country was supposed to have elections in 2022, which have been rescheduled for 26 in light of the tumultuous civil war in Sudan proper.

The five vice presidents of South Sudan are part of the ceasefire agreement that ended South Sudan's civil war. In the Americas, Ecuador's government will go into a runoff presidential election in April after what electoral authorities called a technical tie. Center right incumbent Daniel Neboa and left-wing Luisza Gonzalez split the vote in a country that faces severe threats from gang violence and economic uncertainty. continuing with President Trump's economic policy, Trump proposed an aggressive 25% tariff on Mexican steel and aluminum imports. Mexico is the top American trading partner, and the Mexican President Gabriela Shinebaum has called the tariff unjustified, according to the BBC. Trump, however, says that the tariff is without exemptions or exceptions in a bid to help struggling American industries.

This has been the state of the world on WRFH Radio Free Hillsdale 101.7 FM.