"Re-educating" Children

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Global Recap
September 17, 2025 • Read in: 10 minutes

Hi Global Recap readers,

Imagine you are Trump, facing a congressional mandate that TikTok be sold to a US company or have it shut down.

  • That was in January, and now the year is nearly over.

  • You must either shut down an app used by millions of Americans or force a sale while Xi Jinping refuses to yield.

So what do you do? Here's Trump's decision and it' understandable why he did it. 👇🏼

🌐 WORLD
Fast Scroll News

🇺🇸 Trump Extends TikTok Deadline

President Donald Trump just extended TikTok’s US shutdown date for the fourth time, now pushing it to December 16 after striking a "framework deal" with China.

  • Order: Trump signed the extension on Tuesday, bypassing the original January 19 deadline set by Congress for TikTok to sell its US assets or face a ban.

  • Talks: The framework emerged from a Madrid meeting between US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

  • Goal: The plan aims to shift TikTok’s American operations to US ownership, though officials have not disclosed the buyer or deal terms.

  • Politics: Trump said he values the app’s reach with younger voters and will discuss it directly with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday.

  • Skepticism: Experts warn the app’s once-feared algorithm has lost its edge, making the deal more about user base than groundbreaking tech.

📌 Context: US lawmakers passed a law requiring TikTok’s sale over national security concerns tied to its Chinese parent company ByteDance, citing risks from data collection and potential foreign influence.

🇨🇳 China Blasts Philippine Ships

China’s coast guard fired water cannon at more than 10 Philippine vessels near Scarborough Shoal, injuring one crew member and damaging a fisheries boat.

  • Trigger: Beijing accused the ships of illegally entering what it calls its territorial waters from multiple directions.

  • Clash: Philippine vessel 3014 allegedly rammed a Chinese coast guard ship, scraping its deck railing during the encounter.

  • Mission: Manila says its ships were on a humanitarian run to resupply over 35 fishing boats operating at the shoal.

  • Damage: Two Chinese vessels targeted 3014 with water cannon, shattering glass and injuring a crew member.

  • Denial: The Philippine Maritime Council dismissed Beijing’s claims as disinformation and propaganda.

📌 Context: Scarborough Shoal sits inside the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone but is claimed by China, which rejects a 2016 Hague ruling that invalidated its sweeping South China Sea claims. The atoll is a flashpoint in a region carrying over $3 trillion in annual trade.

🇮🇱 Israel Hits Houthi Port

IDF’s Arabic evacuation warning for those living in the area
Click for post

Israel struck Hodeidah Port in Yemen (yet again), the Houthis' main supply hub, after warning civilians and ships to clear out.

  • Target: The IDF hit up to 10 sites at the port, including three docks recently repaired after earlier Israeli attacks.

  • Trigger: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strike answered repeated Houthi launches of drones and surface-to-surface missiles toward Israel.

  • Duration: Residents report that the bombardment lasted about 10 minutes, sending thick smoke over oil storage tanks.

  • Link: The operation follows earlier September strikes on Sanaa that hit Houthi army camps, propaganda offices, and fuel depots.

  • Range: Pilots flew 2,350 km (1,460 miles) to complete the mission, the longest Israeli flight since the war began.

📌 Context: The Houthis, backed by Iran, have targeted Israel's Ramon Airport in Eilat in recent weeks, prompting Israel to expand its campaign deep into Yemen.

🇷🇺 Russia Runs Child Camps

Ukrainian children at one of Russia’s re-education camps

Russia is operating over 200 sites to re-educate and militarize Ukrainian children, according to a Yale-led investigation using satellite imagery and Russian records.

  • Scale: At least 130 facilities focus on indoctrination with pro-Russia narratives, while 39 run military programs for children as young as eight.

  • Training: Activities include weapons handling, grenade-throwing contests, tactical medicine, and drone assembly for the Russian armed forces.

  • Expansion: Nearly a quarter of the sites have expanded since 2022, and at least two new camps are under construction.

  • Control: About half of the locations are directly run by the Russian government, confirmed through incorporation documents.

📌 Context: Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kyiv has accused Moscow of systematically deporting children from occupied territories.

🇧🇾 BELARUS
US Officers at War Games

Three and a half years into Russia’s Ukraine invasion, two American military officers just showed up at joint Belarus-Russia drills (the same drills originally designed to simulate a NATO attack).

An Unlikely Sight

US Military observer (left)

It is not every day you see US uniforms at a Russian-aligned exercise.

  • On Monday, September 15, 2025, two US military observers stood on a viewing platform in Borisov, Belarus, during Zapad 2025, a quadrennial Belarus-Russia war game.

  • Belarus’s Defense Ministry called their visit a "happy surprise" and told them they could "see whatever you want."

  • One was identified as Lt. Col. Brian Patrick Shoupe, the US defense attaché to Belarus, whose embassy has been operating from Lithuania since early 2022.

From NATO Foe to Host

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko (left) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (right)

But here's the irony: Zapad was built to rehearse defending Russia from NATO. "Zapad" translates to "West."

  • The US last attended in 2017, when Belarus had much warmer ties with Washington and the EU.

  • Beyond the obvious tonal shifts this year, Russian drones entered Polish airspace last week and flew over Romania days later.

    • In response to Zapad, Poland deployed 40,000 troops to its border with Belarus and Russia.

  • This year’s drills played out a scenario where a Belarus-like country repels invaders with help from a larger neighbor.

Lukashenko’s Balancing Act

Yevgeny Prigozhin greeting his fans in Rostov after his uprising failed

So why invite Americans now? Most likely optics and leverage.

  • President Aleksandr Lukashenko has been courting the Trump administration, freeing hundreds of political prisoners in exchange for partial sanctions relief.

    • Remember when Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched his “March of Justice” toward Moscow in 2023, and Lukashenko stepped in to broker a settlement between him and Putin?

    • Lukashenko is a close ally of Putin, yet he is often portrayed as the more "reasonable voice," positioning himself as a middle ground between Russia and the West.

  • Last week, Trump envoy deputy John Coale met Lukashenko with a letter from the president, as 52 Belarusian prisoners were sent to Lithuania.

📌 Context: Belarus has been a key staging ground for Russian forces since 2022, hosting troops and selling equipment to Moscow, while also signaling openness to Western engagement.

Scaled-Down Russian Role

Soldiers at the war games

The drills looked different this year—smaller and more international.

  • Belarus said 6,000 of its own troops participated, plus about 1,000 Russians, though analysts say the Russian number was likely lower.

    • During the previous Zapad exercise, around 200,000 troops participated (~30x)

    • Although smaller than the 2021 exercise, this year’s Zapad was initially projected to involve a five-figure number of troops.

  • Observers from 23 countries attended, including China, Cuba, Serbia, Turkey, and Hungary.

Moscow’s Message

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov

While Belarus played a more "middle ground" host, the Kremlin kept its tone hard.

  • Spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters “NATO is de facto involved in this war” and is “fighting against Russia.”

  • The statement underscores Moscow’s framing of NATO as a direct combatant, despite the optics of US officers on Belarusian soil.