Coming Near You: China-Cuba Military Compound

Hello again, Global Recap readers! Buckle up, we are breezing through stories from Putin’s secret masterplan all the way to China-Cuba military compound. 🏎️💨

Russia
Is Putin Secretly a Genius?

In recent months, analysts have been predicting an imminent downfall of Putin as internal cracks between Russian officials and the Wagner Group started emerging. Well, now Chechnya’s Kadyrov is also trying to win Putin’s love.

🔥 But this infighting among subordinates may be exactly what Putin wants. According to Dr. Peter Duncan at UCL’s School of Slavic and Eastern European Studies, Putin has rigged the political system to work for him since he came to power in 1999, setting different groups of people who are subordinate to him against each other so he can stay in power.

♟️ You’ve heard of “divide and conquer” right? Putin may secretly be a grandmaster at political chess, dividing his subordinates so they are too busy fighting each other, preventing them from uniting against him. What do you think?

Russia-China
China Shuts Down Russia’s Sanction Dodge in Fear

🏦 Bank of China halts Chinese Yuan transactions between Russian clients and banks in the US, EU, UK, and Switzerland over fears of secondary sanctions from the West. Russia has been using the Chinese Yuan to get around Western sanctions, but this move will surely sever alternative channels involving the Yuan. Do they have other ways of facilitating affected transactions?

US-China
Is the US Bowing Down to the CCP?

🔥 China snubs US request for greater military communication. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a press conference after the XI-Blinken meeting that the US does not support Taiwan’s independence.

🚨 Now, you might be alarmed by this, but this rhetoric has been used for years by many countries around the globe to 'officially' say that they want to keep things the way they are - ambiguous. Besides, Blinken’s comment is a counterbalance to Biden’s previous comments about his unwavering willingness to send troops to aid Taiwan if China were to invade it - a comment that made China furious.

World
Top of the News World

✈️ Modi’s on the move. Indian Prime Minister Modi left for his trip to the US for a state visit from June 21-24, his first with full diplomatic status. It is expected to deepen cooperation in defense and high technology sectors, with India getting access to critical US technologies. As of now, it seems like Modi is playing the BRICS and US cards just about right to reap the benefits of both worlds.

🚨 China-Cuba military training facility, coming near you! According to a senior US official, China and Cuba are in talks to create a military compound just 100 miles from the US.

🔥 Ukraine hits back hard. Ukrainian President Zelensky has announced that Kyiv has lost no terrain in its counteroffensive to reclaim territories occupied by Russia since its invasion. Zelensky promised that Ukrainian flags would soon be flying over Russia-occupied territories.

🤑 Intel is making it rain in Germany. The US tech giant has signed a deal with the German government to build two semiconductor facilities in Magdeburg, costing an estimated €30 billion and creating 3,000 jobs - subsidized by the German government of course.

🔥 Israeli raid in West Bank kills 6 Palestinians and wounds at least 91 others, including a 15-year-old. Israeli helicopters opened fire on gunmen in a rare Israeli Air Force operation in the area.