OSINTSUM: Thursday 11 April 2024

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OSINTSUM
Global Situation Update
Thursday 11 April 2024

Africa

Sudan: A senior official from the Sudanese Armed Forces has praised Iranian-made drones for their role in helping turn them turn tide of the conflict and halting the progress of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Force in the country’s civil war.
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Asia

India: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India and China should “urgently” address the “prolonged situation” on their mutual border, in an apparent softening of tone towards Beijing.
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Japan: Japan’s military has converted its warship Kaga has been converted into the country’s first full-fledged aircraft carrier since World War 2, allowing it to accommodate the F-35 Lightning 2 stealth fighter, signalling a further shift away from its defence-oriented military policy.
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South Korea: Liberal opposition parties have won more than three-fifth of seats in the country’s national assembly elections, severely weakening conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol and causing Prime Minister Han Duk-soo to tender his resignation.
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US: President Joe Biden hosted a three-way summit with the leaders of Japan and the Philippines to show support for Manila against growing Chinese assertiveness in the South China Sea.
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China

China: China added 47.4 Gigawatts of new coal power capacity in 2023, more than double the amount added by the rest of the world combined, despite a pledge to “strictly control” the most polluting fossil fuel.
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China: Ratings agency Fitch has cut its outlook on China’s sovereign credit rating to negative, citing risks to public finances in the face of increasing economic uncertainty, following a similar move by fellow ratings agency Moodys in December.
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Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has told China “enough is enough” over Beijing’s recent uptick in aggressive posturing in disputed South China Sea territory which has seen a number of Philippine soldiers injured.
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US: The US has aded four more Chinese companies to an export blacklist for attempting to acquire artificial intelligence chips for use in China’s military.
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Europe

European Union: The European Union has adopted a law which will place methane limits on Europe’s oil and gas imports from 2030 in an attempt to pressure energy companies to take more robust action against leaks of the greenhouse gas.
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European Union: The European Parliament has voted in favour of sweeping reforms to the European Union’s migration and asylum rules which aim to manage the impact of migration on the bloc by accelerating the rejection of invalid applications and sharing the burden of processing asylum claims more evenly among member states.
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Switzerland: The government has announced steps to strengthen its “too big to fail” rules aimed at protecting the Swiss taxpayer and economy from any fallout from the failure of major banks in response to the close call last year caused by the potential collapse of Credit Suisse.
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Israel/Hamas Conflict

Ireland: Foreign Minister Michael Martin said the conflict in Gaza meant Ireland was expediting its recognition of Palestine as a nation state, and that it would do so "in the coming weeks”.
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Israel: Intelligence reports from the US show that an attack on Israel or Israeli assets by Iran or its proxies in revenge for an Israeli strike on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, is imminent.
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Gaza: Hamas says it does not have the 40 hostages required who meat the proposed criteria for releasing captives in exchange for a ceasefire. At least 98 hostages are presumed to be alive, but many are soldiers who are excluded from the terms of the proposed deal.
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Gaza: Three sons of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and four of his grandchildren have been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip.
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US: Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant that the US will “stand with Israel against any threats by Iran and its proxies”.
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Middle East

Iran: The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ navy said Tehran views Israel’s presence in the United Arab Emirates as a threat, and that it could close the Strait of Hormuz if necessary.
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Iran: Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency and US and European security agencies warn Iran is “slowly but confidently accumulating the means for a future (nuclear) weapon while making no overt move to build one”.
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Saudi Arabia: Plans to create a 170km-long city in the desert called The Line that could be home to 9 million people have been scaled down, meaning it is now expected to be only 1.5km long by 2030.
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Russia/Ukraine

Middle East: Russia’s foreign ministry has warned its citizens against travel to the Middle East, in particular Israel, Lebanon, and the Palestinian territories.
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Ukraine: The use of around 500 “fire-and-forget” guided bombs - which contain foreign components and have a range of around 40-60km - per week is aiding advances by Russian troops in Ukraine according to government analysts.
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US: The Department of Defense has stated it cannot force SpaceX to prevent Russia’s military using its Starlink internet service in Ukraine after some politicians questioned whether the company was doing enough to prevent Russian troops exploiting the technology.
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US/Canada

Canada: The federal government has warned Canada risks another “catastrophic” wildfire season due to the El Nino weather system causing higher-than-normal temperatures in spring and summer across most of the country.
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US: President Joe Biden said he is considering a request from Australia to drop a decade-long attempt to prosecute WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for publishing classified US documents.
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US: General Stephen Whiting has warned Russia and China are escalating their space capabilities at the Space Symposium, highlighting increasing concerns over the potential for conflict above Earth’s atmosphere.
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