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Lai Ching-te(R) greeting the crowd with a crossed finger gesture after delivering his speech on Taiwan’s National Day, October 10, 2025.

When President Lai Ching-te unveiled Taiwan’s T-Dome air and missile defense system on National Day, October 10, 2025, the message to Beijing was unmistakable: Taiwan is done waiting to see what comes next.

Taiwan’s T-Dome, the island’s most up-to-date effort to build credible deterrence against China, is a sophisticated, multi-layered air defense network designed to counter diverse aerial threats, from drones to ballistic missiles, by integrating advanced radar systems, interceptor missiles like the domestically developed Sky Bow III and U.S.-supplied Patriot batteries, as well as short-range Stinger missiles. Its AI-driven ‘sensor-to-shooter’ architecture is particularly noteworthy for its capacity to fuse data from radar arrays and sensors to coordinate rapid, precise interception while utilizing mobile launchers and hardened command centers to ensure resilience during sustained attacks. Prioritizing overlapping protection of critical infrastructure and command nodes in strategic areas such as Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung, the Lai administration has positioned the T-Dome as the centerpiece of its defense modernization agenda, anchored in resilience and indigenous innovation. To maintain operational capacity amid growing Chinese military pressure, Taipei now aims to strategically invest in T-Dome. By 2026, Taiwan plans to push defense spending past 3 percent of GDP, targeting 5 percent by 2030.

The urgency in Taiwan demonstrated by the T-Dome is clear. Beijing now asserts sovereignty over Taiwan and continues to refuse to rule out the use of force to achieve unification. Throughout 2025, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) significantly expanded its operational reach around Taiwan. The Chinese air force deployed advanced fighter jets such as the J-10, J-16, and J-20, which can now reach Taiwan from bases deep within China without refueling. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense reported that PLA aircraft entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ) over 245 times per month in 2025, a steep increase from fewer than 10 times per month five years earlier. Alongside its increased intrusion into the ADIZ, it is estimated that PLA aircraft are crossing the Taiwan Strait median line roughly 120 times monthly, marking unprecedented levels of military pressure on Taiwan.

This heightened activity reached a new peak in early April 2025, when the PLA conducted its largest exercise to date, ‘Strait Thunder-2025A’ on April 1–2. This operation, the biggest since 2024’s ‘Joint Sword 2024B,’ further escalated tensions across the strait while politically propagandizing the Lai administration as ‘verminous insects’ conspiring for ‘Taiwan independence.’ The exercise simulated precision strikes against Taiwan’s energy infrastructure and ports, involving 76 aircraft sorties (37 crossing the Taiwan Strait median line), over 15 naval vessels including the Shandong carrier group, and coast guard ships extending outside the First Island Chain. The increasing instances of escalatory activities are part of the PLA’s broader “gray zone” campaign, designed to exhaust Taiwan’s defenses without triggering open warfare. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry analyzes that China is honing such capabilities for a possible military operation as early as 2027, aligned with major PLA modernization milestones.

The U.S. continuously seeks peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait

With respect to Lai’s announcement of the T-Dome, the U.S. Department of State expressed continuous American support for Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen its defensive and deterrence capabilities. Ensuring peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait remains the United States’ highest priority and serves as the fundamental purpose of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA). Enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1979, following President Jimmy Carter’s formal recognition of the People’s Republic of China, the TRA provides the essential legal framework that guarantees Taiwan’s ability to maintain adequate self-defense capabilities in response to evolving threats. The Act also underpins the continuation of robust U.S. commercial, cultural, and defensive relations with Taiwan. Since its enactment, key developments under the TRA include the establishment of the American Institute in Taiwan, which manages unofficial relations, and congressional mandates ensuring that the United States stays prepared to effectively respond to any threats to Taiwan’s security.

Across Asia, governments are learning to live with U.S. financial dominance – without depending on it.

Less than a week after visiting Donald Trump in the White House, Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev traveled to Russia to further the countries’ proclaimed “eternal alliance.”

Dans ce vaste atelier qu'était devenu le Jeu de Paume, l'exposition « Le monde selon l'IA » explorait les interactions entre l'intelligence artificielle et la création artistique. Un catalogue permet de retrouver et prolonger cette « expérience », pour reprendre son lexique, au fil des textes (…) / Technologie, Informatique, Internet, Art

Three prominent DPP politicians were in Europe this month.

Boualem Sansal a été embastillé à Alger pour avoir déclaré : « Quand la France a colonisé l’Algérie, toute la partie ouest de l’Algérie faisait partie du Maroc ».

En disant cela, Boualem Sansal donna une immense visibilité à ce que, hormis Benjamin Stora et son école, tous les historiens sérieux ne cessent d’écrire depuis des décennies, à savoir que l’Algérie, création coloniale a été formée de bric et de broc par le rattachement de pans entiers du Maroc, de la Tunisie et de la Libye. Selon Benjamin Stora, dire cela « blesse le sentiment national algérien ». Sans doute. Mais l’Histoire est l’Histoire, ce que, ayant les « yeux de Chimène » pour l’Algérie « révolutionnaire » , l’ancien militant trotskiste semble avoir oublié.

Le paradoxe est que l’Algérie qui demande un insolite référendum d’autodétermination pour un inexistant « peuple saharaoui », a, en revanche, toujours et avec constance, refusé qu’une telle consultation soit proposée aux populations originellement marocaines du Touat, du Tidikelt, du Gourara, de la Saoura, de Tindouf, de Béchar et de Tabelbala au sujet de leur volonté de rattachement national. Et que dire du refus opposé par Alger à toute demande de référendum d’autodétermination en Kabylie ?

Affaiblie diplomatiquement après son échec cuisant devant le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU au sujet du Sahara « occidental », l’Algérie est régionalement brouillée avec ses voisins - hormis la malheureuse Tunisie devenue une quasi willaya algérienne -, elle est en froid avec la Russie pourtant son allié historique, et elle vit un chaotique climat de fin de règne. Dans ces conditions, comment va-t-elle être en mesure de justifier aux yeux de ceux qui en sont les victimes, les acquis territoriaux hérités d’une colonisation française qu’elle voue aux gémonies et à laquelle elle doit tout, jusqu’à son nom et ses frontières. ?

Pour en savoir plus sur l’artificialité territoriale de l’Algérie voir :
Algérie l’histoire à l’endroit
Histoire des Algéries, des origines à nos jours

Der Euractiv vorliegende Entwurf des Cardiovascular Health Plans sieht zudem Maßnahmen bei Tabak, Screening und KI-gestützter Prävention vor.

The political space for action exists. What’s missing is leadership willing to act on what courts have already decided.

La France a rendu hommage jeudi aux 130 victimes des attentats du 13-Novembre qui avaient ensanglanté la capitale en 2015. Les autorités ont voulu mettre l'accent sur la fraternité et la résilience des Français face à l'obscurantisme des terroristes.

Japan is most likely to diverge from U.S. foreign policy positions when its energy security is at stake. 

Prosecutors and the opposition party are elevating their attacks on Lee over a recent court ruling.

Le ministre norvégien des finances, Jens Stoltenberg, lance un appel de dernière minute alors que les pays de l'UE s'apprêtent à approuver de nouvelles mesures de sauvegarde le 18 novembre.

The post La Norvège s’oppose aux droits de douane européens sur ses exportations de ferro-alliages  appeared first on Euractiv FR.

While the Quad leaders are unlikely to meet this year, Malabar 2025 is going ahead.

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Over ninety law students including faculty from Turkmenistan’s institutions of higher education learnt international human rights standards during pre-trial stages of criminal proceedings and investigations at an OSCE-organized lecture course that took place from 10 to 14 November 2025 in Ashgabat.

International experts introduced future diplomats, legal professionals and law-enforcement officers to the concept of human rights focusing on their observance in criminal law enforcement.

"This year, the OSCE participating States celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act, the Organization’s guiding document,” said Rune Castberg, Officer-in-Charge of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“The Helsinki Final Act was the first multilateral agreement on security where the obligation to respect human rights was mentioned alongside with traditional principles of international law such as the principle of non-interference in internal affairs or the principle of respect for territorial integrity,” added Castberg.

During the five-day course, students discussed the importance of ensuring the right to liberty during the preliminary criminal investigations and the right of suspects and accused persons to defense and qualified legal assistance.

The experts elaborated on the requirements related to the prohibition of ill-treatment applicable in the criminal law context and safeguards against ill-treatment. The lecture course also addressed the causes, consequences and methods of prevention of domestic violence.

The course was hosted by the Institute of International Relations (IIR) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkmenistan, and brought together law students and faculty from the IIR, the Magtymguly Turkmen State University, the Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the International University for Humanities and Development of Turkmenistan.

Despite a recent de-escalation, China-EU relations are far from normal.

If we do not have our land and healthy territory, we do not have healthy food, and without food we do not survive. Food must become a centerpiece in the global climate discourse, and it is not just about any food, but healthy food that aligns with our ancestry and local traditions and spirituality. —Juliana Kerexu Mirim Mariano, activist

Les ministres de l'économie de l'UE envisagent de prendre des mesures contre l'afflux de colis chinois bon marché, mais ils ont encore besoin de se mettre d'accord sur un texte juridique.

The post Les pays de l’UE veulent supprimer l’exonération des droits de douane sur les colis d’une valeur inférieure à 150 euros appeared first on Euractiv FR.

As fans in Ghana debate bringing in diaspora players for the World Cup, Crystal Palace's Eddie Nketiah does not rule out switching allegiance to the Black Stars.

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Some thirty-five students and faculty from the State Energy Institute discussed best practices in the implementation of innovative energy efficiency technologies at an OSCE-organized seminar that took place on 13 and 14 November 2025 in Mary, Turkmenistan.

Held in a blended format with online participation of international experts, the seminar provided a platform for discussing innovative energy-efficient technologies and exploring strategies for their implementation.

International experts shared insights into global trends in the area of energy efficiency and elaborated on strategic planning and stakeholder engagement in the implementation of energy efficient technologies.

“Promoting modern energy-efficiency technologies in Turkmenistan strengthens economic resilience while reducing environmental vulnerabilities,” said Olivera Zurovac-Kuzman, Economic and Environmental Officer of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“With this goal in mind, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat facilitates access to international expertise and cutting-edge technologies, offering national partners with new opportunities for sustainable growth,” she added.

“By advancing sustainable energy practices together, we enhance security, stability, and long-term prosperity across the region,” stressed Zurovac-Kuzman.

The seminar provided a comprehensive overview of effective pilot projects in the area of energy efficiency with a special emphasis on a new trend of solar hydrogen panels and explored the linkage of hydrogen and energy efficiency. A national expert facilitated discussions on the role of energy storage systems and new energy-efficient systems. The seminar participants emphasized the importance of the integration of renewable energy and the impact of decarbonization on energy systems.

The activity is a component of the Centre’s continuous support to Turkmenistan in advancing the implementation of the National Strategy for the Development of Renewable Energy until 2030, as well as the effective enforcement of the Law on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency.

Some thirty-five students and faculty from the State Energy Institute discussed best practices in the implementation of innovative energy efficiency technologies at an OSCE-organized seminar that took place on 13 and 14 November 2025 in Mary, Turkmenistan.

Held in a blended format with online participation of international experts, the seminar provided a platform for discussing innovative energy-efficient technologies and exploring strategies for their implementation.

International experts shared insights into global trends in the area of energy efficiency and elaborated on strategic planning and stakeholder engagement in the implementation of energy efficient technologies.

“Promoting modern energy-efficiency technologies in Turkmenistan strengthens economic resilience while reducing environmental vulnerabilities,” said Olivera Zurovac-Kuzman, Economic and Environmental Officer of the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat.

“With this goal in mind, the OSCE Centre in Ashgabat facilitates access to international expertise and cutting-edge technologies, offering national partners with new opportunities for sustainable growth,” she added.

“By advancing sustainable energy practices together, we enhance security, stability, and long-term prosperity across the region,” stressed Zurovac-Kuzman.

The seminar provided a comprehensive overview of effective pilot projects in the area of energy efficiency with a special emphasis on a new trend of solar hydrogen panels and explored the linkage of hydrogen and energy efficiency. A national expert facilitated discussions on the role of energy storage systems and new energy-efficient systems. The seminar participants emphasized the importance of the integration of renewable energy and the impact of decarbonization on energy systems.

The activity is a component of the Centre’s continuous support to Turkmenistan in advancing the implementation of the National Strategy for the Development of Renewable Energy until 2030, as well as the effective enforcement of the Law on Energy Saving and Energy Efficiency.