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Ricevuto oggi — 19 Gennaio 2026 Stampa Internazionale

Hong Kong authorities start 2-month inspection operation on building fire safety

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:58
Hong Kong authorities have launched a two-month operation to inspect fire safety equipment in residential and mixed-use buildings that are aged 39 years or older, in a continuing effort to strengthen oversight in the aftermath of the deadly Tai Po blaze. Law Kin-san, divisional officer for policy at the Fire Services Department, said on Monday that the department had started a two-month operation involving ad hoc checks on the inspection record and condition of fire safety equipment in those...

Nepali villagers gather for annual bullfighting event during Hindu harvest festival

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:48
In Taruka village in central Nepal, locals celebrated a yearly ancient bullfighting tradition on January 15. The event is held during the Hindu harvest festival of Maghe Sankranti which usually falls in January. But some animal activists warned that the activity amounted to animal cruelty.

Global memory chip crunch set to intensify amid Trump’s new industrial policy

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:00
The shortages and associated price increase in the global memory chip sector could potentially intensify, as the US government threatened to impose hefty new tariffs on some major foreign manufacturers. Speaking at Friday’s groundbreaking ceremony for Micron Technology’s US$100 billion factory in New York, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick warned that memory chipmakers – without naming any company – had two options: “They can pay 100 per cent tariff, or they can build in America.” He pointed...

Groenlandia: quando la sicurezza americana diventa una minaccia per la NATO

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00

La crescente rilevanza strategica dell’Artico ha riportato la Groenlandia al centro della pianificazione di sicurezza statunitense. Tuttavia, quando uno stato membro della NATO esercita pressioni politiche o strategiche per ottenere il controllo di un territorio appartenente a un altro alleato, la questione trascende la dimensione geopolitica e assume una valenza sistemica. Il caso groenlandese evidenzia così un cortocircuito politico e giuridico all’interno dell’Alleanza Atlantica, sollevando interrogativi sulla tenuta dei suoi principi fondanti e sulla credibilità della sicurezza collettiva. 

Groenlandia e Artico: il nuovo interesse strategico vitale.

Per gran parte del Novecento, l’Artico ha occupato una posizione marginale nel sistema internazionale: uno spazio periferico, ostile e scarsamente popolato, rilevante soprattutto come zona di cuscinetto strategico durante la Guerra Fredda. Oggi, questa rappresentazione appare superata. Il progressivo scioglimento dei ghiacci, l’apertura di nuove rotte marittime polari, la competizione per le risorse critiche e la crescente militarizzazione del Grande Nord hanno trasformato l’Artico in uno dei principali teatri della competizione sistemica tra grandi potenze, inserendolo stabilmente nel cuore delle dinamiche di sicurezza globale. 

In questo contesto, la Groenlandia ha assunto una centralità strategica senza precedenti. La sua posizione geografica – ponte naturale tra Nord America ed Europa – la colloca lungo le principali traiettorie dei missili balistici intercontinentali e delle nuove rotte aeree e marittime artiche, rendendola un nodo cruciale per la difesa avanzata del Nord Atlantico. Non a caso, già durante la Guerra Fredda Washington aveva investito sull’isola come avamposto della propria architettura difensiva; un ruolo che oggi si rafforza ulteriormente con la presenza della Pituffik Space Base, infrastruttura chiave per il sistema di allerta missilistica, il controllo spaziale e l’integrazione della difesa nordamericana. 

La rinnovata importanza della Groenlandia si inserisce in una più ampia ridefinizione delle priorità strategiche statunitensi, che ha progressivamente incorporato l’Artico nella sfera degli interessi vitali di sicurezza nazionale. Già nel National Security Strategy and Review 2022 Implementation Report, la regione viene trattata non più come dominio periferico, ma come uno spazio critico da proteggere e controllare, all’interno di una visione estesa di difesa emisferica che connette Atlantico, Artico e Pacifico in un unico continuum strategico. Nel novembre 2025, la nuova National Security Strategy elaborata dall’amministrazione Trump ha ribadito la centralità dell’Artico nella politica di sicurezza statunitense. In questa prospettiva, deterrenza nucleare, superiorità tecnologica e controllo degli spazi globali convergono nel Grande Nord, attribuendo alla Groenlandia una funzione strutturale nella protezione del potere statunitense

Questo orientamento dottrinale riflette le profonde trasformazioni del contesto strategico artico. La Russia ha investito in modo sistematico nella militarizzazione dell’Artico, riattivando infrastrutture ereditate dall’era sovietica, dispiegando sistemi missilistici avanzati e rafforzando la Flotta del Nord, con l’obiettivo di trasformare la regione in una piattaforma di protezione militare verso l’Atlantico settentrionale e di controllo delle rotte marittime lungo il Northern Sea Route. Parallelamente, la Cina, pur non essendo uno stato artico, ha ampliato costantemente la propria presenza economica, scientifica e infrastrutturale, consolidando interessi strategici attraverso programmi di ricerca, investimenti portuali e partecipazioni a progetti logistici e tecnologici nel quadro del cosiddetto Polar Silk Road

In questo scenario, la Groenlandia emerge come un asset critico multidimensionale, non solo sul piano militare, ma anche economico e tecnologico. Il sottosuolo dell’isola ospita un potenziale significativo di terre rare e materie prime critiche, fondamentali per la transizione energetica, l’industria della difesa e le tecnologie avanzate. La crescente attenzione di Stati Uniti ed Europa verso queste risorse riflette una consapevolezza ormai diffusa: il controllo delle catene di approvvigionamento è ormai parte integrante della sicurezza nazionale e della competizione geopolitica. Tuttavia, a questa crescente centralità strategica si accompagna una fragilità strutturale evidente. La Groenlandia presenta una popolazione estremamente ridotta, capacità militari limitate e una dipendenza strutturale dal Regno di Danimarca, pur godendo di un’ampia autonomia interna. Questo squilibrio alimenta le preoccupazioni di Washington sulla reale capacità europea di garantire la sicurezza dell’isola in un contesto segnato dall’intensificarsi della competizione strategica nell’Artico, dalla postura più assertiva della Russia e dalla progressiva penetrazione cinese nella regione. Non a caso, nel dibattito strategico statunitense la Groenlandia viene sempre più descritta come un possibile “ventre molle” della sicurezza euro-atlantica nel quadrante settentrionale. È proprio all’interno di questa tensione – tra valore strategico crescente e vulnerabilità strutturale – che maturano le posizioni più assertive emerse nel dibattito politico statunitense. Le dichiarazioni e le iniziative dell’amministrazione Trump sulla Groenlandia non rappresentano un’uscita estemporanea, ma si inseriscono in una traiettoria storica e strategica più ampia, che affonda le proprie radici nei precedenti tentativi statunitensi di acquisizione dell’isola e nella percezione della Groenlandia come asset chiave per la difesa del Nord America. 

La Groenlandia diventa così un punto di convergenza di interessi geopolitici, militari ed economici che travalicano la dimensione bilaterale tra Washington e Copenaghen. È questa centralità, unita alla collocazione dell’isola all’interno dell’Alleanza Atlantica, a trasformare la questione groenlandese in qualcosa di più di una disputa diplomatica: un fattore di stress strategico capace di mettere alla prova la coesione, la credibilità e la capacità di deterrenza della NATO nel Grande Nord

Sovranità, autonomia e influenza: la frattura politica tra alleati. 

La crisi groenlandese affonda le proprie radici in un quadro giuridico peculiare, che combina ampia autonomia interna e sovranità statale incompleta. Il rapporto tra Groenlandia e Regno di Danimarca è regolato dall’Act on Greenland Self-Government del 2009, che riconosce all’isola competenze estese in ambito politico, economico e amministrativo, mantenendo tuttavia a Copenaghen il controllo su difesa, politica estera e sicurezza. All’interno di questo assetto, viene sancito un principio di rilievo strategico: il diritto del popolo groenlandese all’autodeterminazione, incluso un potenziale percorso verso l’indipendenza. Tale possibilità, tuttavia, si scontra con limiti strutturali profondi. Il dibattito interno all’isola evidenzia come l’indipendenza rappresenti un obiettivo politicamente evocato ma materialmente complesso, condizionato dalla forte dipendenza economica dai trasferimenti danesi, da capacità amministrative limitate e da una vulnerabilità strategica accentuata dalla collocazione geografica della Groenlandia nel cuore della competizione artica. In questo equilibrio instabile tra autonomia e dipendenza si apre uno spazio di manovra per attori esterni, pronti a sfruttarne le ambiguità. 

È su questo terreno che si innestano le pressioni statunitensi, progressivamente evolute da retorica politica a postura strategica esplicita. Le dichiarazioni provenienti dall’entourage di Trump,  secondo cui l’uso della forza non potrebbe essere escluso, e la conferma che l’ipotesi di acquisizione dell’isola costituisca una “discussione attiva” alla Casa Bianca, hanno segnalato un salto qualitativo nella percezione europea della crisi, trasformando una controversia diplomatica in un problema di sicurezza collettiva. 

Particolarmente destabilizzante è risultata l’emersione di ipotesi di accordi diretti tra Washington e Nuuk, aggirando il governo danese. Una dinamica che non solo mette in discussione la sovranità di uno stato membro, ma introduce un precedente problematico all’interno dell’Alleanza Atlantica: la possibilità che una grande potenza alleata eserciti pressioni politiche e negoziali su un territorio formalmente appartenente a un altro alleato. Questo approccio si inserisce in una più ampia tendenza di disimpegno selettivo americano dalla sicurezza europea, in cui il rapporto transatlantico viene sempre più subordinato a logiche di interesse nazionale immediato. In questo quadro, le affermazioni secondo cui gli Stati Uniti potrebbero essere chiamati a scegliere tra la Groenlandia e la NATO hanno contribuito ad alimentare una percezione di frattura senza precedenti. 

Accanto alla pressione politica e diplomatica, la crisi groenlandese è stata accompagnata dall’emersione di dinamiche riconducibili a operazioni di influenza. In Danimarca, inchieste giornalistiche hanno segnalato  tentativi di infiltrazione politica legati a figure vicino all’amministrazione Trump, mentre in altre ricostruzioni delineano l’esistenza di una strategia più ampia volta a indirizzare il dibattito pubblico groenlandese sull’indipendenza e sul rapporto con Washington. Pur collocate in una zona grigia tra diplomazia informale e pressione politica, tali iniziative hanno contribuito ad accrescere il livello di sfiducia tra alleati, alimentando il sospetto di un utilizzo strumentale delle fragilità istituzionali e identitarie dell’isola. 

La reazione europea è stata rapida e relativamente compatta. L’Unione Europea ha ribadito con fermezza il principio del rispetto dell’integrità territoriale della Danimarca, sottolineando come la questione groenlandese non possa essere affrontata al di fuori dei quadri giuridici e politici condivisi. Parallelamente, diversi stati membri hanno espresso un sostegno politico esplicito a Copenaghen, sottoscrivendo una dichiarazione congiunta sulla Groenlandia in cui si riafferma la necessità di gestire le sfide di sicurezza nell’Artico all’interno del perimetro della cooperazione euro-atlantica, nel rispetto della sovranità e dell’unità politica degli alleati.  In questo clima, la questione groenlandese ha cessato di essere un dossier bilaterale, trasformandosi in una frattura politica intra-alleanza

La Groenlandia diventa così il simbolo di una tensione più profonda. Quando un alleato utilizza strumenti di pressione politica, diplomatica e potenzialmente coercitiva contro un altro alleato, il principio di fiducia reciproca – fondamento implicito della NATO – viene messo in discussione. È in questo spazio di ambiguità, tra sovranità formale, autonomia incompiuta e influenza esterna, che prende forma il paradosso destinato a esplodere nella dimensione militare e giuridica dell’Alleanza.  

Il paradosso dell’Articolo 5: quando il garante diventa il predatore.

La frattura politica emersa attorno alla Groenlandia produce effetti che travalicano la dimensione diplomatica e investono direttamente la struttura giuridica e strategica dell’Alleanza Atlantica. Nel momento in cui la pressione esercitata da uno stato membro assume caratteri coercitivi nei confronti di un altro alleato, la crisi si sposta dal piano della fiducia politica a quello della funzionalità del sistema di sicurezza collettiva. È in questo passaggio che la questione groenlandese si configura come uno stress test esistenziale per la NATO, mettendone in discussione i presupposti fondativi.

 L’Articolo 5 del Trattato Atlantico è stato concepito per fronteggiare minacce esterne in un contesto bipolare, fondandosi su un presupposto implicito ma essenziale: l’assenza di conflittualità strategica all’interno dell’Alleanza. Tale architettura mostra tuttavia limiti strutturali nel momento in cui il potere egemone dell’organizzazione esercita una pressione diretta o indiretta su un territorio appartenente a un altro stato membro. In uno spazio come l’Artico, dove deterrenza, sovranità e proiezione militare si sovrappongono in modo sempre più instabile, la Groenlandia emerge come un punto di frizione strutturale capace di evolversi in un potenziale proprio punto di rottura dell’equilibrio intra-alleanza. 

L’escalation retorica degli ultimi mesi ha contribuito a rendere questo scenario meno astratto. L’idea che un’azione militare in Groenlandia rappresenterebbe la fine stessa della NATO, unita alla riaffermazione che l’uso della forza resti un’opzione praticabile, ha incrinato il principio di prevedibilità strategica su cui si fonda la deterrenza collettiva. Parallelamente, è stato ribadito che la Groenlandia appartiene al suo popolo e che qualsiasi soluzione imposta dall’esterno sarebbe priva di legittimità politica e giuridica, posizione confermata anche dalle autorità di Nuuk, che hanno escluso l’ipotesi di entrare negli Stati Uniti o nell’Unione Europea

Se si ipotizza uno scenario di coercizione o intervento diretto, il cortocircuito dell’Articolo 5 diventa evidente. In termini formali, un attacco alla Groenlandia equivarrebbe a un attacco alla Danimarca, attivando il meccanismo di difesa collettiva. Tuttavia, quando l’attore responsabile coincide con il principale fornitore di deterrenza nucleare, capacità militari e leadership dell’Alleanza, il dispositivo perde ogni operatività concreta. L’Articolo 5 cesserebbe di funzionare come garanzia di sicurezza e si trasformerebbe in una contraddizione sistemica, incapace di produrre una risposta coerente senza dissolvere l’Alleanza stessa. Anche qualora le minacce rientrassero in una logica negoziale, il danno alla credibilità della NATO risulterebbe comunque profondo. Un’alleanza in cui uno stato membro teme il garante della sicurezza collettiva non può più essere definita una comunità di sicurezza, ma assume i tratti di un sistema gerarchico fondato sui rapporti di forza asimmetrici. In questo senso, la Groenlandia non rappresenta un’eccezione contingente, bensì un precedente potenzialmente destabilizzante per l’intera architettura euro-atlantica.

Le implicazioni strategiche di una simile crisi sarebbero immediate e profonde. Una NATO delegittimata o paralizzata offrirebbe vantaggi indiretti a Russia e Cina, riducendo la capacità dell’Alleanza di esercitare deterrenza credibile nei teatri chiave. Mosca, che ha rafforzato in modo sistematico la sua postura militare nel Grande Nord, potrebbe sfruttare la perdita di coesione euro-atlantica per ampliare i propri margini di manovra nell’Artico e lungo il fianco orientale europeo, consolidando una strategia di pressione multilivello. Parallelamente, Pechino troverebbe un contesto favorevole per accelerare la propria penetrazione economica, scientifica e infrastrutturale lungo le rotte polari emergenti e nei settori strategici legati alle risorse critiche, incluse le terre rare groenlandesi, sempre più centrali nelle catene del valore globali e nella competizione tecnologica tra grandi potenze. 

La crisi groenlandese apre così una riflessione di carattere sistemico sull’ordine internazionale. Se una grande potenza potesse ottenere un territorio strategico attraverso la coercizione, invocando esigenze di sicurezza nazionali o di difesa avanzata, quale precedente verrebbe creato? La Russia non potrebbe forse rivendicare una legittimazione analoga per proseguire la guerra in Ucraina e consolidare il controllo sulle regioni del Donbass, reinterpretando il concetto di sicurezza regionale in chiave espansiva? E la Cina non potrebbe richiamarsi a una propria lettura della sicurezza emisferica per giustificare un’azione su Taiwan, presentandola come misura preventiva e difensiva? 

In questo scenario, il diritto internazionale rischierebbe di perdere la propria funzione regolativa, riducendosi a un insieme di norme applicabili in modo selettivo e subordinate ai rapporti di forza. È qui che emerge con maggiore chiarezza la responsabilità strategica dell’Europa. Opporsi a qualsiasi soluzione coercitiva sulla Groenlandia non significa soltanto difendere la sovranità danese o preservare la NATO, ma evitare la creazione di un precedente capace di innescare una crisi sistemica dell’ordine internazionale basato sulle regole, già messo sotto pressione dal ritorno della geopolitica delle sfere di influenza

La Groenlandia, da periferia artica, diventa così il luogo simbolico in cui si misura la tenuta dell’Alleanza Atlantica e, più in generale, la credibilità dell’Occidente come attore normativo e garante di stabilità. In un contesto segnato dal nuovo grande risiko dell’Artico e dalla crescente competizione sulle risorse strategiche e sulle rotte polari, se il garante della sicurezza collettiva dovesse trasformarsi in un predatore, il contratto strategico che ha sostenuto l’ordine euro-atlantico dal secondo dopoguerra rischierebbe non solo di incrinarsi, ma di dissolversi definitivamente. 

Trump abandons ‘peace’ focus after Nobel snub in message to Norway PM: ‘World is not secure’

US President Donald Trump told Norway’s prime minister he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a message published on Monday. Trump went on to reiterate his desire for the United States to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, in the interest of world peace. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump...

Trump abandons ‘peace’ focus after Nobel snub in message to Norway PM: ‘World is not secure’

US President Donald Trump told Norway’s prime minister he no longer needed to think “purely of peace” after failing to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in a message published on Monday. Trump went on to reiterate his desire for the United States to take control of Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, in the interest of world peace. “Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace,” Trump...

PLA urged to find a way to operate effectively under the gaze of US and Japan

People’s Liberation Army activities in the Taiwan Strait are being closely watched by the United States and Japan and it needs to find a way to operate effectively while being surveilled, according to analysts. A report by Beijing-based defence think tank Lande said the PLA’s most recent large-scale drills around Taiwan – dubbed Justice Mission 2025 – were launched with no warning yet the response from the US and Japan was immediate. It said that highlighted the constant presence in the region...

IMF raises China’s 2026 growth forecast to 4.5%, citing US ‘truce’ and stimulus roll-out

The International Monetary Fund has raised its 2026 economic growth forecasts for both China and the United States by 0.3 percentage points, the latest sign that the pause in their trade war has eased pressure on both economies. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF’s flagship publication released on Monday, the Washington-based fund also upgraded its global economic growth estimate by 0.2 percentage points over its October forecast to 3.3 per cent this year. China’s economy is now...

China girl writes love messages to late grandpa, leads to calls for better grief education

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:00
An 11-year-old girl in China who often sends text messages to her dead grandfather has moved millions of internet users in the country. According to a report by media outlet The Cover, the girl’s mother known as Han, who lives in the southwestern Sichuan province, discovered the messages on her daughter’s phone-watch. The little girl has a careless personality and seldom talks about the grandfather’s death. As a result, Han was surprised and touched when she found the messages. She later shared...

PLA urged to find a way to operate effectively under the gaze of US and Japan

People’s Liberation Army activities in the Taiwan Strait are being closely watched by the United States and Japan and it needs to find a way to operate effectively while being surveilled, according to analysts. A report by Beijing-based defence think tank Lande said the PLA’s most recent large-scale drills around Taiwan – dubbed Justice Mission 2025 – were launched with no warning yet the response from the US and Japan was immediate. It said that highlighted the constant presence in the region...

IMF raises China’s 2026 growth forecast to 4.5%, citing US ‘truce’ and stimulus roll-out

The International Monetary Fund has raised its 2026 economic growth forecasts for both China and the United States by 0.3 percentage points, the latest sign that the pause in their trade war has eased pressure on both economies. In its latest World Economic Outlook, the IMF’s flagship publication released on Monday, the Washington-based fund also upgraded its global economic growth estimate by 0.2 percentage points over its October forecast to 3.3 per cent this year. China’s economy is now...

Japan’s Takaichi rolls dice on snap election, betting her popularity can save scandal-hit LDP

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has staked her political survival on a high-risk snap general election, wagering that her personal approval ratings can overcome the legacy of her scandal-plagued party. Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Takaichi confirmed she would dissolve the House of Representatives on Friday – the opening day of the parliamentary session – paving the way for a nationwide vote on February 8. “I will put my post on the line and seek the voters’ judgment on...

Hong Kong deports 113 failed asylum seekers in week-long operation

Hong Kong has deported 113 rejected non-refoulement claimants after a week-long operation, according to the Immigration Department. The operation codenamed “Shield” involved deporting a group of 68 men and 45 women, some of whom had completed prison sentences for criminal offences in the city. “A total of 113 unsubstantiated non-refoulement claimants who were illegal immigrants and overstayers were repatriated to their places of origin,” the department said on Monday. “The persons removed …...

China’s Shenzhou-20 spacecraft returns to Earth broken and unbroken

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 10:40
The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft returned to Earth with no astronauts inside – just metal, heat and a cracked window – touching down at the Dongfeng landing site in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Monday. The hull appeared to be darkened after enduring the intense heat and stress of re-entry, but on-site inspections revealed the uncrewed capsule’s exterior was generally intact and the returned items inside were in good condition, according to Chinese space authorities. In an...

Rule of law in Hong Kong ‘more robust than outcome of any single case’: chief justice

Hong Kong’s rule of law is “more robust and enduring than the outcome of any single case”, the city’s chief justice has declared after former media boss Jimmy Lai Chee-ying was found guilty in a landmark national security case that drew international scrutiny and criticism. Chief Justice Andrew Cheung Kui-nung on Monday also warned that any calls for the early release of a defendant based on his occupation or political causes were a strike against the city’s rule of law, and that any threat of...

China’s Shenzhou-20 spacecraft returns to Earth broken and unbroken

The Shenzhou-20 spacecraft returned to Earth with no astronauts inside – just metal, heat and a cracked window – touching down at the Dongfeng landing site in China’s northern Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Monday. The hull appeared to be darkened after enduring the intense heat and stress of re-entry, but on-site inspections revealed the uncrewed capsule’s exterior was generally intact and the returned items inside were in good condition, according to Chinese space authorities. In an...

The energy transition’s next big challenge is systems integration

For much of the past decade, the energy transition debate has largely revolved around one question: can clean technologies work at scale? That is increasingly being answered. Solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) have moved into the mainstream as key technologies become more cost-effective, efficient and faster to deploy. In many markets, these energy sources are no longer the future of energy; they are the present. The challenge is no longer simply proving that more...

Guatemala declares 30-day state of emergency after gangs kill 8 police officers

Guatemala’s president on Sunday declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused the groups of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons. The killings occurred in the Guatemalan capital and surrounding areas a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in the three prisons across the country to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower security facilities. President Bernardo Arevalo said...

Malaysia’s king vows wider ‘hunt for the corrupt’ as military scandal engulfs top ranks

Malaysia’s king has issued a blunt warning to officials, saying his “hunt for the corrupt” will reach all levels as the country reels from a corruption scandal inside the armed forces that has implicated senior ranks. A former army chief and dozens of other officers and civilians have been arrested in recent weeks as the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) seized 52 million ringgit (US$12.8 million) in cash, gold, cars and luxury watches. The anti-corruption body also froze 80 bank...

The energy transition’s next big challenge is systems integration

For much of the past decade, the energy transition debate has largely revolved around one question: can clean technologies work at scale? That is increasingly being answered. Solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) have moved into the mainstream as key technologies become more cost-effective, efficient and faster to deploy. In many markets, these energy sources are no longer the future of energy; they are the present. The challenge is no longer simply proving that more...

Guatemala declares 30-day state of emergency after gangs kill 8 police officers

Guatemala’s president on Sunday declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency to combat criminal gangs after authorities accused the groups of killing eight police officers and holding hostages at three prisons. The killings occurred in the Guatemalan capital and surrounding areas a day after gang-affiliated inmates took 46 people hostage in the three prisons across the country to demand incarcerated gang leaders be moved to lower security facilities. President Bernardo Arevalo said...

Silver steps out of gold’s shadow as Southeast Asian investors chase record prices

As silver prices surged past S$100 (US$78) an ounce in recent weeks, Singaporean Faris Ghani saw a long-running bet finally begin to pay off. The 35-year-old relocation consultant has been quietly accumulating the metal since he was 21, betting that silver – long overshadowed by gold – would one day have its moment. That moment appears to have arrived. On Monday, spot silver traded near record highs of about US$94 an ounce, more than tripling from around US$30 an ounce a year earlier. The surge...

Type 075 amphibious assault ship, the PLA ‘light aircraft carrier’ key to Taiwan strategy

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:06
December was a record-breaking month and busier than ever for the Hainan, China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship and one of Beijing’s most important assets in the event of any potential military operation against Taiwan. The Yushen-class vessel, one of the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, made an appearance during the People’s Liberation Army’s large-scale military drills around the self-ruled island in late December. It was the first time a Type 075 took part in such...

The energy transition’s next big challenge is systems integration

For much of the past decade, the energy transition debate has largely revolved around one question: can clean technologies work at scale? That is increasingly being answered. Solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles (EVs) have moved into the mainstream as key technologies become more cost-effective, efficient and faster to deploy. In many markets, these energy sources are no longer the future of energy; they are the present. The challenge is no longer simply proving that more...

Type 075 amphibious assault ship, the PLA ‘light aircraft carrier’ key to Taiwan strategy

December was a record-breaking month and busier than ever for the Hainan, China’s first Type 075 amphibious assault ship and one of Beijing’s most important assets in the event of any potential military operation against Taiwan. The Yushen-class vessel, one of the world’s largest amphibious assault ships, made an appearance during the People’s Liberation Army’s large-scale military drills around the self-ruled island in late December. It was the first time a Type 075 took part in such...

Hackers target Iran state TV with exiled crown prince’s message to forces

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people”, footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country. The hacking came as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher...

Hong Kong’s Taipan bakery ordered to wind up, Ocean Empire founder declared bankrupt

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:47
A Hong Kong court has ordered the winding-up of a bakery chain and declared a co-founder of a now-closed congee restaurant group bankrupt, highlighting the plight of the local retail and catering sectors amid shifting consumer patterns. The High Court on Monday granted a petition to liquidate Vast Luck Company Limited, the parent company of Taipan Bread & Cakes, after the firm failed to repay a debt of an unspecified sum despite repeated requests. Recognised as a top Hong Kong brand for its...

Prabowo nominates nephew to Bank Indonesia board amid independence fears

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:32
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has nominated his nephew to join the central bank’s board of governors, two sources said, amid growing concern about its independence as the government seeks more support for ambitious economic targets. Investors have worried that independent monetary policymaking in Southeast Asia’s largest economy might be under pressure as Prabowo targets economic growth of 8 per cent by 2029, ⁠from about 5 per cent now. Those fears grew after Bank Indonesia (BI) unveiled...

58% more applicants per job in Hong Kong in 2025 amid AI takeover of roles

Competition in the Hong Kong labour market intensified in the past year with applications per job advertisement surging by nearly 60 per cent, even as AI eliminated some positions, according a popular online employment marketplace. Jobsdb Hong Kong revealed on Monday that the average number of applications per advertisement on the platform rose 58 per cent year on year in 2025. Competition was even keener for frontline positions, where applications per advertisement increased 78 per cent over...

Fancl distributor couple buys Lippo Centre office, shop in US$38.3 million deal

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:20
The couple behind the Asia distributor of Japanese skincare brand Fancl has bought prime office and retail space in Hong Kong’s Admiralty district, highlighting selective bargain hunting by cash-rich local investors as commercial property prices remain under pressure. Gourmet Dining Group, owned by Christopher Chan and wife Michelle Ma-chan, agreed on January 5 to buy a shop and a unit on the first floor as well as part of the mezzanine on the second floor at Lippo Centre for HK$299 million...

Hackers target Iran state TV with exiled crown prince’s message to forces

Hackers disrupted Iranian state television satellite transmissions to air footage supporting the country’s exiled crown prince and calling on security forces to not “point your weapons at the people”, footage online showed early Monday, the latest disruption to follow nationwide protests in the country. The hacking came as the death toll in a crackdown by authorities that smothered the demonstrations reached at least 3,919 people killed, activists said. They fear the number will grow far higher...

China’s demographic alarms blare as births hit historic low and population shrinks again

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:09
China’s birth count plummeted to a record low last year, falling by about 10 million from its 2016 peak and slashing the total by more than half in less than a decade, as the country’s population shrank for a fourth consecutive year. Only 7.92 million babies were born in 2025, down 17 per cent from 9.54 million in 2024, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. This marked the lowest birth figure since records began in 1949 and broke the previous record low set...

China’s demographic alarms blare as births hit historic low and population shrinks again

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:09
China’s birth count plummeted to a record low last year, falling by about 10 million from its 2016 peak and slashing the total by more than half in less than a decade, as the country’s population shrank for a fourth consecutive year. Only 7.92 million babies were born in 2025, down 17 per cent from 9.54 million in 2024, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. This marked the lowest birth figure since records began in 1949 and broke the previous record low set...

In Cina e Asia – Pil cinese: centrato l’obiettivo del 5,5%, ma l’economia rallenta

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:42
In Cina e Asia – Pil cinese: centrato l’obiettivo del 5,5%, ma l’economia rallenta pil cina

I titoli di oggi:

Pil cinese: centrato l'obiettivo del 5,5%, ma l'economia rallenta
Drone cinese attraversa per la prima volta lo spazio aereo taiwanese
NYT: la Cina ha creato una barriera formata da centinaia di pescherecci nel mar Cinese orientale
Cina: è morto Nie Weiping, storico campione di Go
La Cina continua a puntare anche sul carbone
Cambogia, repressione sui “centri delle truffe”. Si sospetta collusione con le autorità
Vietnam, inizia la costruzione del primo impianto di produzione di microchip

L'articolo In Cina e Asia – Pil cinese: centrato l’obiettivo del 5,5%, ma l’economia rallenta proviene da China Files.

Chinese team restores legendary Tang dynasty ‘golden’ armour found in Tibetan tomb

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:52
“We will not leave the desert till we beat the foe, although in war our golden armour be outworn 100 times.” In this celebrated poem from China’s Tang dynasty, Wang Changling captured the unyielding spirit of soldiers in golden armour battling on the desert frontiers. But for centuries, the splendour of the Tang gold-plated armour lived only in poetry and imagination, as none had ever been unearthed. But that changed last week, when the Key Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences and Cultural...

19 dead, over 60 missing after Pakistan shopping centre fire smoulders for 24 hours

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:36
Pakistani firefighters ‌began pulling bodies from the smouldering remains of a sprawling Karachi shopping centre on Monday where more than 60 people were still missing after a ‍massive fire that killed at least 19 people. The fire started late on Saturday at Gul Plaza, which houses 1,200 shops in a multi-storey complex spread across an area larger than a football field. The blaze in Karachi’s historic centre raged for more than 24 hours before it was mostly extinguished. Videos showed fierce...

Malaysian reporter’s sedition arrest casts doubts on Anwar’s reform record

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s record on legal reforms has come under scrutiny after a journalist was detained under a colonial-era Sedition Act for asking a “sensitive question” linking the Gaza crisis to the treatment of ethnic Chinese in the Malay-majority country. Rex Tan, 31, a journalist for local news site Free Malaysia Today (FMT), was arrested early on Saturday morning after he asked the question at a public debate five days earlier in Kuala Lumpur. Tan is being investigated...

Chinese team restores legendary Tang dynasty ‘golden’ armour found in Tibetan tomb

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:52
“We will not leave the desert till we beat the foe, although in war our golden armour be outworn 100 times.” In this celebrated poem from China’s Tang dynasty, Wang Changling captured the unyielding spirit of soldiers in golden armour battling on the desert frontiers. But for centuries, the splendour of the Tang gold-plated armour lived only in poetry and imagination, as none had ever been unearthed. But that changed last week, when the Key Laboratory of Archaeological Sciences and Cultural...

China’s securities regulator clamps down on speculation to prevent sharp market swings

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00
China’s top securities regulator has signalled it wants a slower, longer-lasting stock market rally rather than a short-lived speculative surge as it steps up measures to curb excessive trading after activity and margin financing hit fresh highs early this year. The stance, reiterated at a securities watchdog meeting last week, drew renewed attention after regulators moved to cool pockets of overheating in the A-share market following a strong start to 2026. At its January 15 work conference,...

Chinese husband smashes up home after wife buys dishwasher without his consent

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00
A video clip released by a woman in China in which her husband is seen smashing up their home because she bought a 1,500-yuan (US$215) dishwasher has gone viral on social media. The woman, who lives in Guangdong province, southern China, said in a video posted on January 8, that she had bought the machine from an online platform without telling her husband. She said she needed it because the tap water in winter was too cold for her to wash by hand, the Dahe News reported. Her husband does not...

Harbouring ambitions: China’s port giants make waves with record growth

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 06:30
Even as global trade weathered extreme volatility in 2025, China is pressing ahead with port expansions, building bigger and more strategically positioned hubs to secure its trade future. In the first 11 months of 2025, China’s foreign trade container throughput jumped 9.5 per cent, year on year, to 320 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU), contributing to a record US$1.19 trillion trade surplus for the full year, according to official data. Major ports helped drive the records. Shanghai, for...

China’s UBTech partners with Airbus to bring humanoid robots to aviation manufacturing

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 06:05
Chinese humanoid developer UBTech Robotics has struck a deal to supply European aviation giant Airbus with robots for its manufacturing facilities, the latest step in efforts to expand industrial applications of its robots outside China. Airbus purchased UBTech’s Walker S2 robot as part of a plan to jointly explore robotics applications in aviation manufacturing, Shenzhen-based UBTech said in a statement on Sunday. The deal follows a similar partnership last month with US semiconductor maker...

China’s securities regulator clamps down on speculation to prevent sharp market swings

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00
China’s top securities regulator has signalled it wants a slower, longer-lasting stock market rally rather than a short-lived speculative surge as it steps up measures to curb excessive trading after activity and margin financing hit fresh highs early this year. The stance, reiterated at a securities watchdog meeting last week, drew renewed attention after regulators moved to cool pockets of overheating in the A-share market following a strong start to 2026. At its January 15 work conference,...

Harbouring ambitions: China’s port giants make waves with record growth

Even as global trade weathered extreme volatility in 2025, China is pressing ahead with port expansions, building bigger and more strategically positioned hubs to secure its trade future. In the first 11 months of 2025, China’s foreign trade container throughput jumped 9.5 per cent, year on year, to 320 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEU), contributing to a record US$1.19 trillion trade surplus for the full year, according to official data. Major ports helped drive the records. Shanghai, for...

2026 Hong Kong marathon, China pursues self-reliance: 5 weekend reads you missed

di:SCMP · SCMP
19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:30
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Japan urged to ‘correct historical errors’, return Tang dynasty stele to China 2. Melaku Belachew, Shitaye Eshete claim Hong Kong Marathon crowns - as it happened 3. Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’ 4. Philippines enters its ‘hour of danger’ in Marcos...

Divorced couple arrested in Malaysia for sharing hotel room under ‘khalwat’ rules

A divorced Malaysian couple looking to rekindle their relationship were arrested for being alone in a hotel room after religious enforcement officers raided their hotel room in Johor in the early hours of Sunday morning. Johor’s Islamic Religious Department (JAINJ) said on social media that officers detained the pair at 1.15am in a hotel in Kluang, following a tip-off about alleged immoral activity. They were suspected of khalwat, an Islamic moral offence under Malaysia’s state sharia laws for...

2026 Hong Kong marathon, China pursues self-reliance: 5 weekend reads you missed

di:SCMP · SCMP
19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:30
We have put together stories from our coverage last weekend to help you stay informed about news across Asia and beyond. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Japan urged to ‘correct historical errors’, return Tang dynasty stele to China 2. Melaku Belachew, Shitaye Eshete claim Hong Kong Marathon crowns - as it happened 3. Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’ 4. Philippines enters its ‘hour of danger’ in Marcos...

Mainland China’s home prices extend slide, adding strain to struggling property sector

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:14
Home prices in mainland China continued to decline at a rapid pace in December, posing challenges for an economy that is struggling to find new growth drivers. New home prices fell 0.4 per cent month on month on average across 70 cities, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The fall matched November’s drop and was among the steepest in more than a year. Prices slipped 3 per cent year on year in December, accelerating from a 2.8 per cent drop in November. Only...

2-day Hong Kong Marathon could boost mega-event economy: lawmakers

Hong Kong should expand its annual marathon into a two-day race and add more diverse routes to attract more participants and boost the city’s mega-event economy, two lawmakers have said. They also said on Monday that organisers of the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon could design routes through less urbanised areas, such as Kai Tak and the Northern Metropolis, to reduce traffic disruptions. Their calls were made a day after organisers pledged to set up a special task force to study the...

Japan’s Tepco delays Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear restart after alarm glitch

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:04
Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) will delay the restart of its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, public broadcaster NHK reported on Monday, after an alarm malfunction. It would have been the first reactor restart for Tepco since its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was hit by a powerful tsunami in 2011. The company had planned to restart Unit No 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa on Tuesday and Unit No 7 around 2030, as Japan seeks greater energy...

Mainland China’s home prices extend slide, adding strain to struggling property sector

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:14
Home prices in mainland China continued to decline at a rapid pace in December, posing challenges for an economy that is struggling to find new growth drivers. New home prices fell 0.4 per cent month on month on average across 70 cities, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday. The fall matched November’s drop and was among the steepest in more than a year. Prices slipped 3 per cent year on year in December, accelerating from a 2.8 per cent drop in November. Only...

China readies Davos sales pitch as US grants Beijing window of opportunity

As political and business leaders gather in the Swiss town of Davos for this year’s World Economic Forum, scheduled to begin on Monday, analysts expect China to continue positioning itself as a reliable trade partner and supporter of multilateralism – stances drawing an implicit contrast with the United States under President Donald Trump. This year’s meeting, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, will take place amid heightened global tensions in the wake of several controversial actions by Trump’s...

Leading quantum physicist You Chenglong joins cutting-edge Chinese research institute

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:00
Physicist You Chenglong has left the United States to take up a full-time position in China after working for more than a decade in the strategically important fields of quantum sensing and precision measurement. Previously based at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, You is regarded as a fast-rising researcher in his field. According to Chinese media reports, he joined the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu as a professor this month. UESTC has...

China readies Davos sales pitch as US grants Beijing window of opportunity

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:00
As political and business leaders gather in the Swiss town of Davos for this year’s World Economic Forum, scheduled to begin on Monday, analysts expect China to continue positioning itself as a reliable trade partner and supporter of multilateralism – stances drawing an implicit contrast with the United States under President Donald Trump. This year’s meeting, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, will take place amid heightened global tensions in the wake of several controversial actions by Trump’s...

Leading quantum physicist You Chenglong joins cutting-edge Chinese research institute

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:00
Physicist You Chenglong has left the United States to take up a full-time position in China after working for more than a decade in the strategically important fields of quantum sensing and precision measurement. Previously based at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, You is regarded as a fast-rising researcher in his field. According to Chinese media reports, he joined the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China (UESTC) in Chengdu as a professor this month. UESTC has...

China readies Davos sales pitch as US grants Beijing window of opportunity

As political and business leaders gather in the Swiss town of Davos for this year’s World Economic Forum, scheduled to begin on Monday, analysts expect China to continue positioning itself as a reliable trade partner and supporter of multilateralism – stances drawing an implicit contrast with the United States under President Donald Trump. This year’s meeting, themed “A Spirit of Dialogue”, will take place amid heightened global tensions in the wake of several controversial actions by Trump’s...

Japan’s year of the outsider: how anti-foreigner sentiment went mainstream

In Japan, “foreigner policy” has entered mainstream consciousness, with a politically middle-of-the-road newspaper concluding that xenophobia dominated the country’s “national conversation” last year. In a December 29 review of the year, the Mainichi reported that policies and attitudes towards foreign nationals “leapt to the forefront of Japanese politics and onto front pages”, propelled in part by the “xenophobic policies and rhetoric of the right-wing Sanseito party” in the July general...

Hong Kong eyes slice of booming ‘NewSpace’ economy as professional services hub

Hong Kong aims to develop its “NewSpace” economy by positioning itself as a leading hub for finance, insurance, legal and arbitration services, and materials application in alignment with the nation’s development plan. The Chief Executive’s Policy Unit revealed on Sunday that it had hosted a high-level round table on the space economy last week, inviting academics, investors and experts from mainland China and overseas to discuss Hong Kong’s strategic positioning and opportunities amid a global...

China hits 2025 GDP target – but quarterly growth drops to 3-year low

China has confirmed that it achieved its annual growth target last year as the economy weathered an unprecedented trade war with the United States, but growth slowed to a three-year low in the final quarter, dragged down by a series of domestic headwinds. Analysts expressed concern about China’s “lopsided” growth – with robust exports contrasting with soft internal demand – but pointed to the services sector as a “bright spot” as Beijing looks to shore up the economy heading into a new five-year...

Philippines’ first gas discovery in over a decade offers hope for looming energy crisis

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jnr said on Monday that a “significant” discovery of natural gas had been made near the country’s sole producing offshore site. About 2.8 billion cubic metres (98 billion cubic feet) of natural gas was found 5km (three miles) east of the Malampaya Field near the island of Palawan, Marcos said, or enough to provide power to 5.7 million homes for a year. The Philippines has some of the region’s highest energy costs and faces a looming crisis as the Malampaya...

Japan struggles to weed out plant threatening agriculture, ecosystems

The verdant green leaves and dainty white flowers of the alligator weed are becoming a common sight in waterways across Japan. But while the plant, whose scientific name is Alternanthera philoxeroides, may look innocuous, it is an absolute menace according to Koichi Goka, head of the Invasive Species Research Team at Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES). “We first had reports of alligator weed in Japan in Hyogo prefecture in 1989 and it quickly spread from there across...

Policy blowback shows why Hong Kong lawmakers must play a bigger role

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 02:30
The dust has settled on the election of the Legislative Council president, and committees and panels have settled into the new Legco. Most, it seems, are ready to hit the ground running. First on the agenda: dealing with the aftermath of the Tai Po fire. The more immediate matters involve the rebuilding of a community that has lost so much. Equally pressing are the long-standing issues laid bare by the tragic fire that demand the government fix the entire building sector. Consultations with...

China hits 2025 GDP target – but quarterly growth drops to 3-year low

China has confirmed that it achieved its annual growth target last year as the economy weathered an unprecedented trade war with the United States, but growth slowed to a three-year low in the final quarter, dragged down by a series of domestic headwinds. Analysts expressed concern about China’s “lopsided” growth – with robust exports contrasting with soft internal demand – but pointed to the services sector as a “bright spot” as Beijing looks to shore up the economy heading into a new five-year...

China, Chile to explore Atacama Trench in Pacific with ‘tools no other country possesses’

China and Chile are set to launch a three‑month expedition into the uncharted depths of the eastern Pacific Ocean – a “historic opportunity” to seek new forms of life and geological insights into the causes of earthquakes and tsunamis. Setting off aboard the Chinese research vessel Tan Suo Yi Hao on Monday, the researchers will cover 700km (435 miles) around the Atacama Trench, one of the deepest and least explored regions of the eastern Pacific. The expedition, three years in the making, is...

China wife sues after discovering late husband’s affair, US$2.8 million transfer to mistress

A Chinese woman was shocked to discover that her late husband had engaged in a seven-year affair and had transferred nearly 20 million yuan (US$3 million) to his mistress. The discovery prompted the cheated-on wife to file a lawsuit to reclaim the amount. The woman, surnamed Shen from Shanghai, married her husband, surnamed Jin, in July 1999. The couple had a son and a daughter. Jin died in May 2022, by which time the couple had been married for more than 20 years. Their ages have not been...

HKMA unveils 20-point road map to modernise Hong Kong’s trade finance ecosystem

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 01:30
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled a road map to introduce 20 measures under a five-year initiative aimed at modernising the city’s trade finance landscape and strengthening connectivity with mainland China and Asean trade corridors. Project CargoX, part of HKMA’s Fintech 2030 strategy, would use blockchain and data to help exporters secure bank loans more easily and strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an international trading hub, said Howard Lee Tat-chi, deputy chief executive of...

China, Chile to explore Atacama Trench in Pacific with ‘tools no other country possesses’

China and Chile are set to launch a three‑month expedition into the uncharted depths of the eastern Pacific Ocean – a “historic opportunity” to seek new forms of life and geological insights into the causes of earthquakes and tsunamis. Setting off aboard the Chinese research vessel Tan Suo Yi Hao on Monday, the researchers will cover 700km (435 miles) around the Atacama Trench, one of the deepest and least explored regions of the eastern Pacific. The expedition, three years in the making, is...

HKMA unveils 20-point road map to modernise Hong Kong’s trade finance ecosystem

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 01:30
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) has unveiled a road map to introduce 20 measures under a five-year initiative aimed at modernising the city’s trade finance landscape and strengthening connectivity with mainland China and Asean trade corridors. Project CargoX, part of HKMA’s Fintech 2030 strategy, would use blockchain and data to help exporters secure bank loans more easily and strengthen Hong Kong’s role as an international trading hub, said Howard Lee Tat-chi, deputy chief executive of...

Southeast Asia’s young farmers dig in for the future in ‘call to return to the land’

A typical day for Aizat Halim begins at 5am, as he sets out on a drive to his fruit farm in Janda Baik, about 50km (30 miles) from his home in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur – a distance that reflects the gap between his current and former lives. Farming, the 31-year-old said, was always his first career choice, despite graduating in marketing from colleges in the US and the United Kingdom. In 2020, he started a pineapple farm on family land, leaving a cushy air-conditioned job as a marketing...

Boy, 12, ‘fighting for life’ after Sydney Harbour shark attack

A 12-year-old boy was fighting for his life in hospital after being mauled by a large shark in Sydney Harbour, police in Australia said on Monday. The boy had been jumping off rocks with friends late on Sunday afternoon at Shark Beach in Vaucluse, around 9km (5.5 miles) from the central business district, when he was attacked by the shark. He ‍was pulled from the water by friends and emergency services with ‍severe injuries to both legs, and remains in a critical condition. “It was a horrendous...

Hong Kong police to expand drone patrols to Peak, Cheung Chau, Lamma Island

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:31
Hong Kong will expand drone patrols to all major police regions from Friday, including The Peak, Cheung Chau and Lamma Island, for crime prevention, crowd control and traffic monitoring. Superintendent Tango Ko Chung-ying of the force’s key points and search division said the second phase of the patrols, which would join existing operations in Heung Yuen Wai and Kowloon West, aimed to further test the capabilities of the drones. “Besides a more complex terrain, we will also be encountering more...

Most Singaporeans not upbeat on future of next generation: survey

19 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:00
Just under a third of Singapore residents in a recent survey by global communication firm Edelman believe that the next generation would be better off than the current one – a drop of 11 percentage points from last year’s findings. The Edelman Trust Barometer 2026 figures showed Singapore as being among four other Asian countries that registered a double-digit decrease, with the city state’s 31 per cent mark just under the global average of 32 per cent. The 26th edition of the annual survey,...

Chow Tai Fook’s Henry Cheng reveals Hong Kong empire’s win-win investment philosophy

Chow Tai Fook Enterprises (CTFE), the parent of embattled New World Development (NWD), will keep pursuing deals that create “win-win outcomes”, chairman Henry Cheng Kar-shun said as he revealed the private investment holding company’s philosophy for the first time. While all investors love to talk about mutual benefit, Cheng told the Post – in his first statement to the media in more than two years – that it was more than pretty words for CTFE. The organisation ran with the discipline of an...

Ricevuto ieri — 18 Gennaio 2026 Stampa Internazionale

Pentagon readies 1,500 troops for potential Minnesota deployment

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 23:26
The ‌Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government’s deportation drive, two US officials told ‍Reuters on Sunday. The US Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent. US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to use the Insurrection Act to...

Chile declares catastrophe as wildfires rage and kill at least 18

Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, authorities said, as the South American country sweltered under a heatwave. Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighbouring Nuble region, around 500km (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital. The emergency designation allows the suspension of constitutional...

Pentagon readies 1,500 troops for potential Minnesota deployment

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 23:26
The ‌Pentagon has ordered about 1,500 active-duty soldiers in Alaska to prepare for a possible deployment to Minnesota, the site of large protests against the government’s deportation drive, two US officials told ‍Reuters on Sunday. The US Army placed the units on prepare-to-deploy orders in case violence in the midwestern state escalates, the officials said, though it is not clear whether any of them will be sent. US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to use the Insurrection Act to...

China’s drug and medical device sector emerges as new engine of economic growth

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 23:00
China’s pharmaceutical industry, whose revenue is projected to rise by 50 per cent between 2024 and 2030, has emerged as a new growth engine for the national economy as leading players ramp up investment in research and production. The country’s drug and medical device businesses were forecast to top US$2.1 trillion in revenue by 2030 and US$3.2 trillion annually by 2050, according to estimates by UBS. In 2024, the sector generated about US$1.4 trillion in sales. “An ageing population offers the...

John Mearsheimer on Trump and why Iran isn’t Venezuela and Venezuela isn’t Panama

John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He has written extensively on security issues and international politics and is best known for his theory of offensive realism, which holds that to dominate the international system, great powers must constantly engage in security competition with each other, sometimes leading to war. In this, our 100th Open Questions interview,...

Chile declares catastrophe as wildfires rage and kill at least 18

Wildfires raging across central and southern Chile on Sunday left at least 18 people dead, scorched thousands of acres of forest and destroyed hundreds of homes, authorities said, as the South American country sweltered under a heatwave. Chilean President Gabriel Boric declared a state of catastrophe in the country’s central Biobio region and the neighbouring Nuble region, around 500km (300 miles) south of Santiago, the capital. The emergency designation allows the suspension of constitutional...

John Mearsheimer on Trump and why Iran isn’t Venezuela and Venezuela isn’t Panama

John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He has written extensively on security issues and international politics and is best known for his theory of offensive realism, which holds that to dominate the international system, great powers must constantly engage in security competition with each other, sometimes leading to war. In this, our 100th Open Questions interview,...

John Mearsheimer on Trump and why Iran isn’t Venezuela and Venezuela isn’t Panama

John Mearsheimer is the R. Wendell Harrison Distinguished Service Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, where he has taught since 1982. He has written extensively on security issues and international politics and is best known for his theory of offensive realism, which holds that to dominate the international system, great powers must constantly engage in security competition with each other, sometimes leading to war. In this, our 100th Open Questions interview,...

Death toll hits 39 in Spain high-speed rail disaster as more bodies recovered

Spanish police said on Monday that at least 39 people are confirmed dead in a high-speed train collision the previous night in the south of the country. Efforts to recover the bodies are continuing and the death toll is likely to rise. Some bodies were found hundreds of meters from the crash site, Andalusia regional president Juanma Moreno said. The crash occurred Sunday at 7.45pm when the tail end of a train carrying 289 passengers on the route from Malaga to the capital, Madrid, went off the...

How Trump’s Venezuela strike humiliated Russia and worried China

US President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, have put Russia and China – widely considered two of Caracas’ most important international partners – in a difficult position. If they do not significantly reduce ties with the Latin American nation, they risk Washington’s retaliation. But who has more to lose, Moscow or Beijing? Unlike previous American leaders, Trump has not made any pretence about protecting democracy and human...

How Trump’s Venezuela strike humiliated Russia and worried China

US President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, have put Russia and China – widely considered two of Caracas’ most important international partners – in a difficult position. If they do not significantly reduce ties with the Latin American nation, they risk Washington’s retaliation. But who has more to lose, Moscow or Beijing? Unlike previous American leaders, Trump has not made any pretence about protecting democracy and human...

Death toll hits 39 in Spain high-speed rail disaster as more bodies recovered

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 22:35
At least 39 people died in southern Spain after a ‍high-speed train derailed and collided with an oncoming one on Sunday night, marking the worst railway accident in the country since 2013. The accident happened at 7.45pm near Adamuz in the province of Cordoba, about 360km (223 miles) south of the capital Madrid. It left 122 people injured, with 48 still in hospital and 12 in intensive ⁠care, according to emergency services. Drone footage at the scene showed twisted carriages lying on their side...

How Trump’s Venezuela strike humiliated Russia and worried China

US President Donald Trump’s actions in Venezuela and the kidnapping of the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, have put Russia and China – widely considered two of Caracas’ most important international partners – in a difficult position. If they do not significantly reduce ties with the Latin American nation, they risk Washington’s retaliation. But who has more to lose, Moscow or Beijing? Unlike previous American leaders, Trump has not made any pretence about protecting democracy and human...

Top Ukrainian negotiator says talks with US to continue in Davos

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 21:49
Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov said ‍on Sunday that talks with US officials on a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war with Russia would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos. Umerov, writing on Telegram, said two days of talks in Florida with a US team ⁠including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine. He gave no indication...

Europe prepares retaliation as Trump wields tariff threat in bid for Greenland

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 21:05
European Union ambassadors reached broad agreement on Sunday to intensify ‌efforts to dissuade US President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on European allies, while also preparing retaliatory measures should the duties go ahead, EU diplomats said. Trump vowed on Saturday to implement ‍a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland, a step major EU...

Top Ukrainian negotiator says talks with US to continue in Davos

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 21:49
Ukraine’s top negotiator Rustem Umerov said ‍on Sunday that talks with US officials on a resolution of the nearly four-year-old war with Russia would continue at the World Economic Forum opening this week in the Swiss resort of Davos. Umerov, writing on Telegram, said two days of talks in Florida with a US team ⁠including envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, had focused on security guarantees and a post-war recovery plan for Ukraine. He gave no indication...

Europe prepares retaliation as Trump wields tariff threat in bid for Greenland

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 21:05
European Union ambassadors reached broad agreement on Sunday to intensify ‌efforts to dissuade US President Donald Trump from imposing tariffs on European allies, while also preparing retaliatory measures should the duties go ahead, EU diplomats said. Trump vowed on Saturday to implement ‍a wave of increasing tariffs from February 1 on EU members Denmark, Sweden, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Finland, along with Britain and Norway, until the US is allowed to buy Greenland, a step major EU...

Recovery continues after 8 skiers killed in avalanches in Austria

di:dpa · dpa
18 Gennaio 2026 ore 19:37
Eight people killed in three separate avalanche accidents in Austria were citizens of the Czech Republic and Austria, authorities said on Sunday. The deadliest incident on Saturday occurred in the Grossarl Valley in the state of Salzburg, where three men aged 53, 63 and 65 were killed. A 60-year-old woman also died after being buried by snow. The victims were part of a group on an alpine ski course offered by the Austrian Alpine Club, the organisation announced on Sunday. “Risk competence and...

Recovery continues after 8 skiers killed in avalanches in Austria

di:dpa · dpa
18 Gennaio 2026 ore 19:37
Eight people killed in three separate avalanche accidents in Austria were citizens of the Czech Republic and Austria, authorities said on Sunday. The deadliest incident on Saturday occurred in the Grossarl Valley in the state of Salzburg, where three men aged 53, 63 and 65 were killed. A 60-year-old woman also died after being buried by snow. The victims were part of a group on an alpine ski course offered by the Austrian Alpine Club, the organisation announced on Sunday. “Risk competence and...

A ‘Trump UN’ with US$1 billion entry? Nations cautious on Board of Peace plan

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 18:43
Governments reacted cautiously on Sunday to US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving conflicts globally, a plan that diplomats said could harm the work of the United Nations. Only ‍Hungary, whose leader is a close Trump ally, gave an unequivocal acceptance in response to the invitations, which have been addressed to some 60 nations and began arriving in European capitals on Saturday, according to diplomats. Other governments appeared...

A ‘Trump UN’ with US$1 billion entry? Nations cautious on Board of Peace plan

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 18:43
Governments reacted cautiously on Sunday to US President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace” initiative aimed at resolving conflicts globally, a plan that diplomats said could harm the work of the United Nations. Only ‍Hungary, whose leader is a close Trump ally, gave an unequivocal acceptance in response to the invitations, which have been addressed to some 60 nations and began arriving in European capitals on Saturday, according to diplomats. Other governments appeared...

Yemen’s leaders meet in Saudi Arabia after defeat of UAE-backed group

Yemeni politicians met on Sunday in Saudi Arabia’s capital in their first public gathering since a southern separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates was disbanded following weeks of clashes. The meeting in Riyadh discussed the future of southern Yemen ahead of a Saudi-sponsored conference, the dates of which have not yet been announced. The separatist demands in southern Yemen are one element in a complex civil war that has gripped the country since 2014, when Houthi rebels backed by...

Yemen’s leaders meet in Saudi Arabia after defeat of UAE-backed group

Yemeni politicians met on Sunday in Saudi Arabia’s capital in their first public gathering since a southern separatist group backed by the United Arab Emirates was disbanded following weeks of clashes. The meeting in Riyadh discussed the future of southern Yemen ahead of a Saudi-sponsored conference, the dates of which have not yet been announced. The separatist demands in southern Yemen are one element in a complex civil war that has gripped the country since 2014, when Houthi rebels backed by...

Iran warns against any US strike as judiciary hints at unrest-linked executions

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 15:11
Iran’s president warned on Sunday that any US strike would trigger a “harsh response” from Tehran after an Iranian official in the ‍region said at least 5,000 people - including about 500 security personnel - had been killed in nationwide protests. Iran’s protests, sparked last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic grievances, swiftly turned political and spread nationwide, drawing participants from across generations and income groups - shopkeepers, students, men and women, the poor and...

Hong Kong rolling out tender platform upgraded after Tai Po fire in second half of 2026

Hong Kong will launch an enhanced government-backed tendering platform for private building maintenance projects in the second half of the year to curb bid-rigging while tightening scrutiny of contractors, consultants and their leaders. Secretary for Development Bernadette Linn Hon-ho told the media that authorities aimed to launch the upgraded “Smart Tender” platform in the second half of the year. She added that under the new system, the Urban Renewal Authority (URA) would conduct strict...

Iran warns against any US strike as judiciary hints at unrest-linked executions

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 15:11
Iran’s president warned on Sunday that any US strike would trigger a “harsh response” from Tehran after an Iranian official in the ‍region said at least 5,000 people - including about 500 security personnel - had been killed in nationwide protests. Iran’s protests, sparked last month in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar over economic grievances, swiftly turned political and spread nationwide, drawing participants from across generations and income groups - shopkeepers, students, men and women, the poor and...

Why China may need to take the nuclear option for its next aircraft carrier

China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has significant design flaws that future carriers can overcome only by adopting nuclear power, according to a military magazine. The Fujian is the country’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier and was commissioned in November. With a displacement of over 80,000 tonnes, it is the world’s largest conventional warship and the first non-American ship to be equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults. However, the most advanced US ships – the...

Syrian government forces take Al-Omar oilfield as Kurds withdraw

Kurdish-led forces withdrew on Sunday from Syria’s largest oilfield, a conflict monitor said, as government troops extended their grip over swathes of territory in the country’s north and east. The push came after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition in an apparent goodwill gesture, even as his Islamist government seeks to assert its authority across Syria after the ousting of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The Kurds’ de facto autonomous...

Why China may need to take the nuclear option for its next aircraft carrier

China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, has significant design flaws that future carriers can overcome only by adopting nuclear power, according to a military magazine. The Fujian is the country’s first domestically designed aircraft carrier and was commissioned in November. With a displacement of over 80,000 tonnes, it is the world’s largest conventional warship and the first non-American ship to be equipped with advanced electromagnetic catapults. However, the most advanced US ships – the...

Syrian government forces take Al-Omar oilfield as Kurds withdraw

Kurdish-led forces withdrew on Sunday from Syria’s largest oilfield, a conflict monitor said, as government troops extended their grip over swathes of territory in the country’s north and east. The push came after President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a decree granting the Kurds official recognition in an apparent goodwill gesture, even as his Islamist government seeks to assert its authority across Syria after the ousting of long-time ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The Kurds’ de facto autonomous...

Greenland’s stress test of Nato will ripple beyond the Arctic

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:30
Talk of the United States acquiring Greenland has often been dismissed as rhetorical provocation. But the latest escalation is harder to wave away. President Donald Trump said it would be “unacceptable” if the US did not control Greenland only hours before Vice-President J.D. Vance hosted the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers. When territorial language is paired with senior-level diplomacy, it forces allies to draw public red lines, narrows the space for quiet crisis management, and turns...

‘If you don’t die, it’s an adventure’: Hong Kong blogger’s Iran trip sparks travel debate

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:26
A Hong Kong travel blogger whose brief disappearance during a solo trip to protest-hit Iran has triggered a heated online debate over the safety of women travelling alone to politically volatile nations. More female solo travellers took to the internet on Sunday to share their experiences and feelings on visiting Iran for leisure, as the country became embroiled in social unrest and was isolated from the rest of the world. Hong Kong authorities on Saturday night confirmed the missing blogger...

Greenland’s stress test of Nato will ripple beyond the Arctic

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:30
Talk of the United States acquiring Greenland has often been dismissed as rhetorical provocation. But the latest escalation is harder to wave away. President Donald Trump said it would be “unacceptable” if the US did not control Greenland only hours before Vice-President J.D. Vance hosted the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers. When territorial language is paired with senior-level diplomacy, it forces allies to draw public red lines, narrows the space for quiet crisis management, and turns...

How China is stepping up Africa charm offensive to boost cultural ties, deepen influence

China is rolling out hundreds of activities across Africa, including study trips and AI competitions, as part of what experts have described as a “soft power” charm offensive designed to deepen its influence across the continent. In moving beyond its traditional focus on infrastructure and high-level finance, Beijing is expanding its engagement through the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges – an initiative dedicated to cultural and social diplomacy. Announced by Chinese Foreign...

Australia faces record guns as Bondi massacre prompts reform

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:01
The number of firearms in Australia reached an all-time high of more than 4 ‌million in 2025, the centre-left government reported on Sunday, ‍a day after saying it would introduce a gun reform bill in parliament in response to the Bondi massacre. There were a record 4,113,735 guns in Australia last year, with ⁠1,158,654 of those in the most populous state of New South Wales where the Bondi attack took place, the government said, citing Department of Home Affairs data. The Labour government on...

How China is stepping up Africa charm offensive to boost cultural ties, deepen influence

China is rolling out hundreds of activities across Africa, including study trips and AI competitions, as part of what experts have described as a “soft power” charm offensive designed to deepen its influence across the continent. In moving beyond its traditional focus on infrastructure and high-level finance, Beijing is expanding its engagement through the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges – an initiative dedicated to cultural and social diplomacy. Announced by Chinese Foreign...

Are Western defence firms aiming at the Chinese navy in their promo videos?

Two Western defence companies appear to have Chinese warships in their sights, with promotional videos of their weapons systems targeting vessels that look a lot like those belonging to the PLA Navy. London-based BAE Systems posted videos on social media on Wednesday for “game-changing naval weapons and launching systems” it said it was showcasing at a US defence industry conference last week. One animated video simulated a naval base under attack. The base then launches missiles from containers...

How China is stepping up Africa charm offensive to boost cultural ties, deepen influence

China is rolling out hundreds of activities across Africa, including study trips and AI competitions, as part of what experts have described as a “soft power” charm offensive designed to deepen its influence across the continent. In moving beyond its traditional focus on infrastructure and high-level finance, Beijing is expanding its engagement through the 2026 China-Africa Year of People-to-People Exchanges – an initiative dedicated to cultural and social diplomacy. Announced by Chinese Foreign...

Are Western defence firms aiming at the Chinese navy in their promo videos?

Two Western defence companies appear to have Chinese warships in their sights, with promotional videos of their weapons systems targeting vessels that look a lot like those belonging to the PLA Navy. London-based BAE Systems posted videos on social media on Wednesday for “game-changing naval weapons and launching systems” it said it was showcasing at a US defence industry conference last week. One animated video simulated a naval base under attack. The base then launches missiles from containers...

Hong Kong police arrest 2, record 220 offences in illegal road racing crackdown

Hong Kong police arrested two drivers and found that motorists had committed about 220 traffic violations in a two-day crackdown on illegal vehicle modifications, speeding and other offences. Police said on Sunday the arrests were made during the force’s two-day operation called ‘Fossington’ over the weekend, targeting traffic violations across New Territories locations such as Tuen Mun, Yuen Long, Tolo Highway, Tai Mei Tuk, Luk Keng Road and Bride’s Pool Road. At around 9am on Sunday, transport...

Portugal’s presidential election heads to first run-off in 40 years

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:24
Moderate Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro came ‍out on top in the first round of Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday, followed by the far-right leader Andre Ventura, and the two will face off in a February 8 run-off. In the five decades since Portugal threw off its fascist dictatorship, a presidential election has only once before - in 1986 - required a run-off, highlighting ⁠how fragmented the political landscape has become with the rise of the far-right and voter disenchantment with...

Portugal’s presidential election heads to first run-off in 40 years

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:24
Moderate Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro came ‍out on top in the first round of Portugal’s presidential election on Sunday, followed by the far-right leader Andre Ventura, and the two will face off in a February 8 run-off. In the five decades since Portugal threw off its fascist dictatorship, a presidential election has only once before - in 1986 - required a run-off, highlighting ⁠how fragmented the political landscape has become with the rise of the far-right and voter disenchantment with...

Could China’s ion implanter ‘scalpel’ carve out secure hi-tech chip supply chains?

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:00
Chinese nuclear scientists have developed a world-class “microscopic scalpel” essential to various forms of chipmaking, potentially unblocking a bottleneck in the country’s efforts to fortify key supply chains. The China Institute of Atomic Energy said on Saturday that it had developed the nation’s first high-energy hydrogen ion implanter called the POWER-750H, saying it performed on a par with advanced international standards. Ion implanters are a critical part of some forms of semiconductor...

China Manchu ethnic group childbirth tradition hangs bow and arrow for boys, red strip for girls

China’s Manchu people have quirky child-rearing traditions known as Luocao and Caisheng which include hanging a wooden bow outside the front door when a boy is born, or a red cloth strip for a girl. The Manchu ethnic group, historically known for founding the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), now lives across various regions of China. According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2021, their population exceeds 10 million. In Manchu tradition, the birth of a baby is referred to as luocao, which literally...

Indonesia finds 1 body, wreckage from missing surveillance plane

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 10:24
Indonesian authorities said on Sunday they had located the wreckage of a fisheries surveillance plane that went missing in South Sulawesi province on the slope of a fog-covered mountain, and had recovered the body of one of the 10 people on board. The ATR 42-500 turboprop owned by aviation group Indonesia Air Transport lost contact with air traffic control on Saturday at about 1.30pm local time around the Maros ⁠region in South Sulawesi. There were seven crew members and three passengers on...

Paralysed Hong Kong dancer Mo Li set to undergo ‘intense’ cutting-edge treatment

A Hong Kong dancer paralysed from the neck down in an accident during a concert by popular local boy band Mirror is set to undergo a more intense rehabilitation programme, his father has revealed, calling for more financial support. Mo Li Ka-yin, 31, would embark on a three-year rehabilitation journey powered by advanced technologies, including regenerative medicine and an implantable microstimulator, his father, Reverend Derek Li Shing-lam, revealed in a prayer letter. “It is a thorny path we...

Hong Kong driver avoids injury after drone crashes onto Tesla roof

Hong Kong police are investigating after a drone fell out of the sky and damaged a car in Jordan. The force said it received a report from the owner of the Tesla at around 11.52am on Sunday. The driver said he was waiting at traffic lights along Cox’s Road in Jordan when the drone suddenly struck the roof of his car. The drone, measuring around 20cm (8 inches) wide, shattered the car’s glass roof and windscreen before bouncing onto the road. No one was injured in the incident, and officers were...

Could China’s ion implanter ‘scalpel’ carve out secure hi-tech chip supply chains?

Chinese nuclear scientists have developed a world-class “microscopic scalpel” essential to various forms of chipmaking, potentially unblocking a bottleneck in the country’s efforts to fortify key supply chains. The China Institute of Atomic Energy said on Saturday that it had developed the nation’s first high-energy hydrogen ion implanter called the POWER-750H, saying it performed on a par with advanced international standards. Ion implanters are a critical part of some forms of semiconductor...

US’ Venezuela raid shows geopolitics is now a contest between economic blocs

The latest developments in Venezuela are interpreted as part of a broader US strategy to secure access to major oil resources. They are much more than that: the US raid signals a transformation in the global economy wherein a country’s power is increasingly determined not by its political actions, but by its capacity to embed resource wealth within a self-sustaining production system. These deeper processes did not begin today, but rather around 2008-2009 when, according to an integrated...

Hong Kong hiker, 63, dies after collapsing on Robin’s Nest trail

A 63-year-old Hong Kong man has died after collapsing during a hike on Robin’s Nest Country Trail near the border with mainland China. Police received a call at 12.42pm on Sunday from a female hiker who said her male friend had collapsed and lost consciousness. He was hiking with two men and two women at Robin’s Nest Country Park in Sha Tau Kok, bordering the mainland city of Shenzhen. The unconscious man was transported by helicopter to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan for...

US’ Venezuela raid shows geopolitics is now a contest between economic blocs

The latest developments in Venezuela are interpreted as part of a broader US strategy to secure access to major oil resources. They are much more than that: the US raid signals a transformation in the global economy wherein a country’s power is increasingly determined not by its political actions, but by its capacity to embed resource wealth within a self-sustaining production system. These deeper processes did not begin today, but rather around 2008-2009 when, according to an integrated...

US’ Venezuela raid shows geopolitics is now a contest between economic blocs

The latest developments in Venezuela are interpreted as part of a broader US strategy to secure access to major oil resources. They are much more than that: the US raid signals a transformation in the global economy wherein a country’s power is increasingly determined not by its political actions, but by its capacity to embed resource wealth within a self-sustaining production system. These deeper processes did not begin today, but rather around 2008-2009 when, according to an integrated...

Hong Kong to enforce new seat belt rules on January 25: what you need to know

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:00
In just over a week, passengers on various modes of public and private transport in Hong Kong will be required to wear seat belts under new rules to enhance safety through stricter penalties for motorists and commuters. The Post looks at the new rules and what passengers, including those with special needs, should do in different scenarios. 1. What are the new rules? From January 25, all passengers must wear seat belts wherever available on public and private buses – including franchised and...

How can China help Uruguay battle beetles threatening to invade South America?

A tiny but destructive invader is threatening South America, and Uruguay’s iconic palm trees are on the front line. Since 2022, the National Emergency System in coordination with agricultural agencies and with operational support from the air force, has struggled to contain the red palm weevil outbreak, prompting them to call scientists to help. Experts from the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC) stepped in with an innovative detection strategy using drones and aerial imaging, but...

China office workers run to bond with peers, clients, pressured to meet speed expectations

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:00
Chinese office workers are literally switching to working on the run as the building of bonds with customers and colleagues becomes increasingly trendy. On mainland social media, increasing numbers of people say running has become their company’s work culture or helped them bond with clients. A woman based in Beijing said she first learned about the concept of “business running” two years ago when her client invited her on a 7am run. The woman, surnamed Peng, said the client was difficult, but...

Seoul takes aim at North Korea’s leadership bunkers with ‘monster missile’ Hyunmoo-5

South Korea has begun deploying its most powerful conventional ballistic missile, the Hyunmoo-5 – dubbed the “monster missile” for its massive warhead – to frontline units, military officials said on Sunday, a move that underscores Seoul’s effort to strengthen deterrence against North Korea. The ground-to-ground missile, capable of carrying a warhead of up to eight tonnes, began entering frontline units late last year and is expected to complete full operational deployment before the current...

Singapore’s Leader of the Opposition debate draws comparisons with Westminster system

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:21
A peculiar gridlock has settled on Singapore’s political scene with the position of Leader of the Opposition (LO) vacant after Pritam Singh was removed from the post by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, with public discourse now centred on the constitutional basis, or lack thereof, for the role. Created in 2020 by then prime minister Lee Hsien Loong after Singh’s party won a record 10 seats in parliament, the non-statutory position contrasts sharply with its counterpart in Westminster systems, where...

Exhibition on Hong Kong crime films at old Yau Ma Tei police station remains hot ticket

An exhibition on classic Hong Kong crime films at the former Yau Ma Tei police station has attracted higher-than-expected demand, with the show’s project supervisor saying she hopes visitors will go beyond taking selfies to learn more about the local movie industry. Commissioner for Cultural and Creative Industries Drew Lai Sai-ming said the exhibition had sold more than 80 per cent of tickets in the first month since its debut on January 2, adding that the new tourist attraction’s popularity...

How can China help Uruguay battle beetles threatening to invade South America?

A tiny but destructive invader is threatening South America, and Uruguay’s iconic palm trees are on the front line. Since 2022, the National Emergency System in coordination with agricultural agencies and with operational support from the air force, has struggled to contain the red palm weevil outbreak, prompting them to call scientists to help. Experts from the Technological University of Uruguay (UTEC) stepped in with an innovative detection strategy using drones and aerial imaging, but...

Chinese electric vehicle makers set to ‘crack open’ Western markets as trade barriers fall

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 08:00
This year is likely to be a watershed one for the global drive by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) makers, as more Western countries open up their markets to high-performance made-in-China models. Despite low expectations for a hefty jump in overseas sales, EV assemblers like BYD and Geely are expected to get off to a strong start in some of their untapped markets, honing their image as world leaders in terms of production and technology before establishing a long-term foothold, according to...

Last unregistered student union at Chinese University of Hong Kong disbands

The last unregistered student union at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has been dissolved after all its committee members resigned, leaving only two registered groups operational at the institution’s nine colleges. The demise of Chung Chi College’s student union followed a meeting on Saturday evening during which provisional administrators and relevant representatives said the body could no longer function and that they would resign. Only two college student unions remain, both of...

Hong Kong cyclist, 55, killed after being hit by van in Sheung Shui, driver arrested

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:18
A female cyclist died after being struck by a van in Hong Kong’s North district on Sunday. The driver of the vehicle was later arrested. Police said they received a report about the collision at the junction of Ma Sik Road and Tin Ping Road, at 8.41am. The van was travelling towards Sheung Shui and knocked down the woman, 55, on a bicycle as it approached Tin Ping Road at 8.37am. The cyclist was sent to North District Hospital unconscious, and was certified dead at 9.17am, after sustaining...

Tencent seeks collaboration with other major AI developers to improve tech for vulnerable users

Researchers at Tencent Holdings are looking to collaborate with other major artificial intelligence developers to improve how most generative AI services, such as chatbots, interact with the elderly, left-behind children and other vulnerable users in society. Specialised data sets can make AI services more helpful to vulnerable users who have become progressively reliant on them for emotional support and health assistance, according to Lu Shiyu, a senior researcher at Tencent Research Institute...

China actress loses brand partners for saying ‘hundreds of thousands’ a month is not enough

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00
A Chinese actress has apologised for making comments in which she flaunted her wealth, sparking a public backlash. Yan Xuejing made the controversial comments during a live-streaming session at the end of December when she said a couple should earn at least 800,000 yuan (US$115,000) a year to “maintain a family’s operation”, China Newsweek reported. Yan, 53, complained to her audience that her son earns little. “He is 32 years old. He and his wife both have a very low income,” said Yan. She...

Feathered fortunes: inside Asia’s richest pigeon race

Somewhere on the cavernous loft floor, cooing softly from inside a stack of crates, a feathered fortune waits for its moment to shine. It’s “basketing day” for Asia’s richest pigeon race, held in Pattaya, eastern Thailand. In 24 hours’ time, a US$2 million prize pot will be shared among the lucky owners of the birds that find their way home. For now, those hopes are packed tightly, wing to wing, into crates: more than 5,000 perfectly conditioned racers waiting to be scanned, logged and stamped...

PLA sends drone into airspace near Taiwan-held Pratas Island in South China Sea

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 06:22
The People’s Liberation Army said it sent a drone into airspace near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Island on Saturday, as Beijing ramps up military pressure amid soaring cross-strait tensions. The deployment was “a routine flight training in the airspace around China’s Dongsha Island, which was completely legitimate and lawful”, the PLA Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, said in a statement on Saturday. It came hours after the Taiwanese defence ministry reported that a...

Smart money: how Hong Kong charity makes finance lessons fun for pupils

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 06:15
How do you get youngsters interested in lessons about saving, budgeting and investing? Definitely not with lectures, said the founders of Talents Foundation, a Hong Kong charity that aims to teach young people how to manage their finances and achieve their career and life goals in a fun way. Founders Arthur Hui Ka-yu and David Wong have developed a curriculum, including a Monopoly-like board game, that teaches primary and secondary school students how to seize opportunities, such as job...

Tencent seeks collaboration with other major AI developers to improve tech for vulnerable users

Researchers at Tencent Holdings are looking to collaborate with other major artificial intelligence developers to improve how most generative AI services, such as chatbots, interact with the elderly, left-behind children and other vulnerable users in society. Specialised data sets can make AI services more helpful to vulnerable users who have become progressively reliant on them for emotional support and health assistance, according to Lu Shiyu, a senior researcher at Tencent Research Institute...

PLA sends drone into airspace near Taiwan-held Pratas Island in South China Sea

The People’s Liberation Army said it sent a drone into airspace near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Island on Saturday, as Beijing ramps up military pressure amid soaring cross-strait tensions. The deployment was “a routine flight training in the airspace around China’s Dongsha Island, which was completely legitimate and lawful”, the PLA Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, said in a statement on Saturday. It came hours after the Taiwanese defence ministry reported that a...

PLA sends drone into airspace near Taiwan-held Pratas Island in South China Sea

The People’s Liberation Army said it sent a drone into airspace near the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Island on Saturday, as Beijing ramps up military pressure amid soaring cross-strait tensions. The deployment was “a routine flight training in the airspace around China’s Dongsha Island, which was completely legitimate and lawful”, the PLA Southern Theatre Command, which oversees the South China Sea, said in a statement on Saturday. It came hours after the Taiwanese defence ministry reported that a...

As Trump’s threat grows, Greenlanders plot exit plan: ‘I’m thinking about where to hide’

Ulrikke Andersen has already made a plan. If the United States invades Greenland, she will flee her home with her daughter. “Before, I was ready to die for my country but when I had a kid that changed everything,” she said. The 40-year-old is one of many residents of the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, now weighing up options they would never have considered just a few months ago. But US President Donald Trump has been clear about his desire to seize the vast, self-governing Danish island, rich in...

Hong Kong steps up bid to become global gold trading hub with Shanghai agreement

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:24
Hong Kong will sign an accord with Shanghai next week to establish a cross-border gold trade clearing system, a move the finance chief has said will bolster the city’s push to become an international trading hub for the precious metal. Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po revealed on Sunday that the city and the Shanghai Gold Exchange would sign a memorandum of understanding at next week’s Asian Financial Forum to pave the way for greater connectivity between the two markets. “We are accelerating...

As Trump’s threat grows, Greenlanders plot exit plan: ‘I’m thinking about where to hide’

Ulrikke Andersen has already made a plan. If the United States invades Greenland, she will flee her home with her daughter. “Before, I was ready to die for my country but when I had a kid that changed everything,” she said. The 40-year-old is one of many residents of the Greenlandic capital, Nuuk, now weighing up options they would never have considered just a few months ago. But US President Donald Trump has been clear about his desire to seize the vast, self-governing Danish island, rich in...

Could flying wind farms be the future of energy generation in China?

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:00
A giant airship launched in a densely populated area of southwestern China earlier this month has set social media on fire. Footage of the S2000, the world’s most powerful flying wind farm, in the skies above Yibin, Sichuan province, prompted comparisons with an alien spaceship or the airships that featured in the animated film Big Hero 6. The white airship – measuring 60 metres (200 feet) in length and a width and height of 40 metres – was filled with helium on the ground before ascent,...

‘False pride’: Indonesia’s UN rights role clashes with its domestic record

Indonesia begins its tenure as president of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) this month under a cloud of contradiction, with officials hailing the prestige of the largely ceremonial role even as activists raise uncomfortable questions about the country’s own rights record. The 47-member body, a subsidiary of the UN General Assembly, has a mandate to promote and protect human rights globally. Indonesia’s ambassador was elected president on January 8 after being put forward as the Asia‑Pacific...

Missing Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma dies of heart attack in Saudi Arabia

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 04:38
Malaysian actress Nadia Kesuma, who went missing upon arrival at King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, was confirmed to have died of a heart attack. The news was announced by her daughter via social media, according to Astro Awani. “Assalamualaikum everyone, I would like to inform you that my mother, Nadiah Kasumawati Abdul Karim, has returned to Rahmatullah on January 15 at around 8.05am,” she said. “Thank you to all of you who have not stopped praying for Mama. Please pray that her...

US blows past another deadline to field its first hypersonic missile

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 04:30
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US blows past another deadline to field its first hypersonic missile

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 04:30
The army has once again missed its own deadline for fielding the first US hypersonic weapon, in a sign that one of the Pentagon’s top priorities is still running late. The unit responsible for using the advanced weapon is trained and ready, but the missile – part of a US$10.4 billion hypersonic programme – is not ready for use. And while the army as recently as last month said that it planned to field the weapon by the end of 2025, the army acknowledged this week that it missed that...

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Mainland Chinese buyers pour US$2 billion into Hong Kong super-luxury homes

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 03:30
After several subdued years, 2025 marked a turning point for demand in Hong Kong’s most prestigious housing enclaves, as mainland buyers streamed back into scarce ultra-luxury homes once prices stabilised and transaction momentum rolled into the new year. That shift was most visible in The Peak and Southern district – two low-density, ultra-wealthy neighbourhoods on opposite ends of Hong Kong Island. Mainland purchasers bought about HK$16 billion (US$2.05 billion) worth of homes in the areas in...

Trump’s Greenland bid might force EU to stop placating him and fight back

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 03:03
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Trump’s Greenland bid might force EU to stop placating him and fight back

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 03:03
US President Donald Trump’s fixation on Greenland offers an ice-cold reminder to leaders in Europe and abroad: no deal is ever final. Trump announced a 10 per cent tariff, rising to 25 per cent in June, on eight European nations, including Denmark, for saying they would undertake token Nato military exercises in Greenland in response to US sabre-rattling. While the tariffs are not certain to take effect, the threat was a brazen escalation and insult to close US allies, trampling over the US-EU...

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18 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:45
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Trump wants nations to pay US$1 billion to stay on his Board of Peace

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:45
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La violenza ha creato il capitalismo?

18 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:10
DAL WEB –  ARTICOLO PUBBLICATO SU THE ECONOMIST 

Come molti piantatori della Giamaica del XVIII secolo, Thomas Thistlewood si arricchì costringendo altri a lavorare per lui sotto la minaccia delle armi. A differenza della maggior parte dei proprietari di schiavi, teneva un registro dettagliato della propria crudeltà. I suoi diari, mai destinati alla pubblicazione, offrono preziose testimonianze sugli orrori quotidiani della schiavitù. In una prosa pragmatica, Thistlewood descrive la fustigazione degli schiavi e lo sfregamento di peperoncino sulle loro ferite; lo stupro di oltre cento donne; e la punizione di un fuggitivo, incatenato, cosparso di melassa ed esposto “nudo alle mosche per tutto il giorno”.

Clifton Crais, storico dell’Università di Emory, utilizza la terribile storia di Thistlewood — e molte altre simili — per sostenere un argomento sorprendente. A suo avviso, brutalità come quella di Thistlewood non furono solo una cicatrice del mondo moderno, ma un elemento essenziale della sua nascita. In The Killing Age afferma che “senza la violenza globalizzata, la Rivoluzione Industriale non sarebbe avvenuta”.

Crais costruisce il suo ragionamento su due idee da tempo popolari nella sinistra accademica. La prima è che l’Occidente sia responsabile della maggior parte dei mali del mondo. Come scrive lo stesso Crais, “uccidere è stato il contributo più profondo dell’Occidente alla storia mondiale”. La seconda è che il capitalismo sia intrinsecamente negativo. “Questo sistema economico è la causa della violenza”, afferma la piattaforma dei Democratic Socialists of America, un movimento politico che include tra i suoi membri Zohran Mamdani, il carismatico nuovo sindaco di New York.

È sempre allettante descrivere il passato in modi che riflettano il presente. Shakespeare accentuò la ripugnanza morale di Riccardo III perché non poteva permettersi di screditare la dinastia Tudor che aveva deposto il re gobbo. Gli imperialisti britannici lodarono l’Impero romano come modo indiretto di giustificare la propria missione “civilizzatrice”.

Quest’anno, mentre gli Stati Uniti celebrano i 250 anni dalla loro fondazione, il mondo MAGA promuove una versione autocelebrativa della storia nazionale. La “Taskforce 250” della Casa Bianca invita a un entusiasmo senza freni per “il più grande viaggio politico” di tutti i tempi. All’opposto, il 1619 Project del New York Times fa risalire la vera nascita della nazione al giorno in cui la prima nave negriera attraccò sulle sue coste e descrive l’ingiustizia razziale come il fatto centrale della storia americana.

Crais avanza un’argomentazione ancora più audace, applicandola su scala globale. In oltre 700 pagine intrise di sangue, sostiene che “il ‘big bang’ del capitalismo — un punto di svolta nella storia del pianeta — non fu altro che l’uso globalizzato della violenza a fini di profitto”.

Il suo ragionamento è il seguente. Alla fine del XVIII secolo la tecnologia delle armi migliorò drasticamente in Occidente. Nuove armi da fuoco, spesso impiegate da compagnie private come la British East India Company, furono utilizzate per conquistare e saccheggiare territori stranieri. Altre vennero vendute a signori della guerra locali, che le usarono per depredare i vicini. Il commercio globale fu così alimentato da una corsa agli armamenti. In tutto il mondo, le popolazioni compravano armi o venivano derubate da chi le possedeva. Per raccogliere i fondi necessari, vendevano ciò che avevano: cera, canfora e nidi di rondine dalle giungle del Borneo; avorio dall’Africa; schiavi provenienti da quasi ogni regione.

Con una raffica di statistiche, Crais mostra che le armi rappresentavano davvero un enorme giro d’affari. Nel XIX secolo, osserva, le importazioni annuali britanniche di nitrato di potassio dall’India erano sufficienti a produrre polvere da sparo per uno o tre miliardi di colpi di moschetto, più dell’intera popolazione mondiale dell’epoca. I profitti derivanti dal commercio di armi, dal saccheggio e dalla schiavitù furono enormi e parte di quel denaro venne investita nelle fabbriche e nelle ferrovie a carbone che diedero forma alla Rivoluzione Industriale. In questo senso, “la distruzione ha creato il mondo moderno” e ha seminato i presupposti della minaccia esistenziale contemporanea, il cambiamento climatico.

Questo argomento presenta però gravi lacune. Non è affatto evidente che il mondo sia diventato più violento dopo la fine del XVIII secolo. Le torture inflitte da Thistlewood, per quanto abiette, non risultano palesemente peggiori di quelle praticate in epoche precedenti o in altri contesti. I Romani, ad esempio, facevano largo uso della crocifissione. I signori della guerra e gli imperialisti del XIX secolo non furono manifestamente più brutali o predatori di quelli del passato, dai crociati che saccheggiarono Costantinopoli ai Mongoli che attraversarono l’Eurasia seminando sangue.

I dati sul passato remoto sono incerti e controversi, ma studiosi come Steven Pinker dell’Università di Harvard sostengono che, nel corso dei secoli, la violenza sia drasticamente diminuita. Nel XIV secolo, i tassi di omicidio in Germania, Italia e Spagna erano rispettivamente circa 70, 200 e 50 volte superiori a quelli attuali. In alcune società di cacciatori-raccoglitori premoderne, fino a un terzo della popolazione moriva in modo violento.
Per i 18 secoli successivi alla nascita di Gesù, il reddito globale pro capite rimase pressoché stagnante. Poi, dopo il 1820, aumentò di quattordici volte. Non è plausibile attribuire questo improvviso arricchimento alla violenza. Ciò che cambiò non fu “l’inhumanity of man to man”, come scrisse Robert Burns nel 1784, ma un’esplosione di innovazione prodotta dai suoi contemporanei. In un solo decennio, ad esempio, vennero inventati il telaio meccanico, il battello a pale, la trebbiatrice e gli occhiali bifocali.

Il motore principale della Rivoluzione Industriale fu l’invenzione, la diffusione e l’applicazione di nuove idee. Questo processo si basava su una tecnologia precedente — la stampa — che ridusse il costo dei libri da mesi di salario a poche ore di lavoro. La conoscenza si accumula e accelera man mano che sempre più persone hanno accesso agli strumenti per apprendere, assimilare e sviluppare le idee esistenti.

I profitti derivanti dalla schiavitù e dal colonialismo accelerarono questo processo, come alcuni sostengono? Forse, ma con ogni probabilità in misura limitata. Le potenze europee con vasti imperi coloniali si industrializzarono più o meno allo stesso ritmo di quelle con colonie marginali. Il commercio degli schiavi non ebbe un peso maggiore nell’economia britannica rispetto all’allevamento ovino, eppure pochi affermano che “l’allevamento delle pecore abbia finanziato la Rivoluzione Industriale”, osserva uno studio di Kristian Niemietz dell’Institute of Economic Affairs.

The Killing Age è un’opera minuziosamente documentata e contiene passaggi affascinanti su chi uccise chi e chi rubò cosa in regioni del mondo spesso trascurate, dal Darfur alla Nuova Zelanda. Offre digressioni interessanti sui danni ambientali causati dai balenieri e dai cacciatori di elefanti del XIX secolo. Ma l’autore, che spesso usa “infinitamente” quando intende semplicemente “molto”, tende all’esagerazione. E la sua tesi centrale non regge. Il mondo moderno è stato maledetto dagli assassini, ma è stato costruito dai tecnici.

L'articolo La violenza ha creato il capitalismo? proviene da Il Blog di Beppe Grillo.

Ricevuto prima di ieri Stampa Internazionale

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Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely”, Khamenei said without offering details in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic had evidence to support the claim. Iran did not intend to push the country towards...

China-led SCO warns against Iran ‘interference’ in veiled swipe at US

The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has warned against external “interference” in Iran’s governance, offering support to Tehran in a thinly veiled rebuke of Washington. In a statement issued on Friday, the security bloc led by China and Russia expressed “grave concern” over the “recent tragic events in the Islamic Republic of Iran”, saying they had caused “casualties among civilians and law enforcement officials”. “The SCO opposes interference in the internal affairs of the Islamic...

Chinese, Japanese groups issue joint call for Japan to return Tang dynasty stele

Chinese researchers and Japanese activists have renewed calls for Japan to return a Tang dynasty relic looted over 120 years ago. The effort to recover the Tang Honglu Well Stele comes amid rising regional tensions and Beijing’s ongoing national campaign to reclaim cultural heritage. Shanghai University’s Research Centre for Chinese Relics Overseas and Japanese cultural groups issued a joint declaration on Friday urging Tokyo to “correct historical errors” and return the stone monument, Chinese...

Iran’s leader says ‘thousands’ killed in protests, Trump a ‘criminal’

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:18
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday said “several thousand people” died in this month’s anti-government demonstrations, his first acknowledgment of the deadly scale of the unrest. Some of those were killed “brutally and inhumanely”, Khamenei said without offering details in a public meeting broadcast on state TV. He accused the US and Israel of aiding the killings and said the Islamic Republic had evidence to support the claim. Iran did not intend to push the country towards...

Chinese, Japanese groups issue joint call for Japan to return Tang dynasty stele

Chinese researchers and Japanese activists have renewed calls for Japan to return a Tang dynasty relic looted over 120 years ago. The effort to recover the Tang Honglu Well Stele comes amid rising regional tensions and Beijing’s ongoing national campaign to reclaim cultural heritage. Shanghai University’s Research Centre for Chinese Relics Overseas and Japanese cultural groups issued a joint declaration on Friday urging Tokyo to “correct historical errors” and return the stone monument, Chinese...

Will US exit from world bodies deal fresh blow to Taiwan’s push to raise global profile?

The United States’ decision to withdraw from dozens of UN and other international organisations may have dealt another blow to Taiwan’s efforts to raise its global profile amid mounting pressure from Beijing. While Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s government has sought to play down the impact, observers have warned that Washington’s retreat could further squeeze the island’s already narrow international space. US President Donald Trump on January 7 ordered the US to exit 66 international...

Hong Kong public hospital pricing reform slashes less urgent A&E visits by 24%

Hong Kong’s health minister has revealed that the number of less urgent patients seeking treatment at public hospital accident and emergency (A&E) departments has dropped by 24 per cent in the first 10 days of a new pricing regime. Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau also said in a television interview on Saturday that authorities had so far approved 60,000 people for fee waivers, with about 80 per cent processed on the same day of application. Under a public hospital fee overhaul implemented on...

Will US exit from world bodies deal fresh blow to Taiwan’s push to raise global profile?

The United States’ decision to withdraw from dozens of UN and other international organisations may have dealt another blow to Taiwan’s efforts to raise its global profile amid mounting pressure from Beijing. While Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s government has sought to play down the impact, observers have warned that Washington’s retreat could further squeeze the island’s already narrow international space. US President Donald Trump on January 7 ordered the US to exit 66 international...

Will US exit from world bodies deal fresh blow to Taiwan’s push to raise global profile?

The United States’ decision to withdraw from dozens of UN and other international organisations may have dealt another blow to Taiwan’s efforts to raise its global profile amid mounting pressure from Beijing. While Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te’s government has sought to play down the impact, observers have warned that Washington’s retreat could further squeeze the island’s already narrow international space. US President Donald Trump on January 7 ordered the US to exit 66 international...

China’s AI and EV boom drives record power demand, widening energy gap with US

China’s total electricity consumption hit a record high of 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025, more than double that of the US, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Saturday. The 5 per cent jump from the previous year marked the first time in China’s history that annual electricity consumption had surpassed 10 trillion kWh – the highest in the world and more than the combined total of the European Union, Russia, India and Japan, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing NEA...

As Trump urges cap on credit card rates, could China follow suit for online loans?

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:00
US President Donald Trump’s call for American credit card interest rates to be capped at 10 per cent for a year has sparked a debate in China about whether Beijing should impose a similar limit on online loans. The discussion comes as many in China – especially younger people – are being enticed by credit offers amid a weak job market and a boom in online loan services. “Apps now keep luring young people into borrowing,” a finance blogger with nearly 500,000 followers wrote in a social media...

Murder suspect who fled to mainland China handed over to Hong Kong police

A murder suspect who fled across the border late last month after allegedly killing his girlfriend in a public housing flat has been handed over to Hong Kong police following his capture by mainland Chinese law enforcers. The Hong Kong identity card holder, 28, was wanted in the city in connection with the murder of a woman, 35, whose body was hidden in the storage compartment of a bed in his Ngau Tau Kok flat. He was arrested by Hong Kong police on Friday and is expected to be charged with...

Japanese tattoo artists still face stigma despite landmark legal victory

di:Kyodo · Kyodo
17 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:39
Walk into any public bath in Japan, and you are liable to see a sign banning any visible tattoos. Even as Japan opens up to more international tourists and residents, body art remains taboo, not only at baths but gyms, swimming pools and other businesses. The strong stigma, which also extends to tattoo artists and can result in difficulties finding jobs, comes from its historical link with the yakuza and other criminal elements of Japanese society, dating back to the Edo period (1603-1868). The...

Hong Kong to fast-track safety guideline updates after 3 construction site deaths

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:29
Hong Kong authorities will expedite updates to safety guidelines for elevated work platforms and launch a large-scale inspection campaign after three workers died in accidents involving work at height or lifting devices. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han on Saturday expressed grave concern over the string of industrial fatalities, vowing that the government would take follow-up action. “We will expedite updates for the guidelines for elevated work platforms, such as highlighting...

China’s AI and EV boom drives record power demand, widening energy gap with US

China’s total electricity consumption hit a record high of 10.4 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 2025, more than double that of the US, the National Energy Administration (NEA) said on Saturday. The 5 per cent jump from the previous year marked the first time in China’s history that annual electricity consumption had surpassed 10 trillion kWh – the highest in the world and more than the combined total of the European Union, Russia, India and Japan, state broadcaster CCTV said, citing NEA...

As Trump urges cap on credit card rates, could China follow suit for online loans?

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:00
US President Donald Trump’s call for American credit card interest rates to be capped at 10 per cent for a year has sparked a debate in China about whether Beijing should impose a similar limit on online loans. The discussion comes as many in China – especially younger people – are being enticed by credit offers amid a weak job market and a boom in online loan services. “Apps now keep luring young people into borrowing,” a finance blogger with nearly 500,000 followers wrote in a social media...

‘Love yourself’ – young China’s new wellness mantra to cope with the rat race

For 26-year-old Tianjin office worker Celine Wang, it is an extra cup of milk tea. “One for me and the other for lao ji,” she said, placing the double order on a workday afternoon in January. “After going through all the difficulties from trying to be the best performer at school to surviving at my workplace, I feel tired. “I’ve decided to treat myself well … ai ni lao ji,” she said, using a buzzword that took off in the gaming world and has become a mantra for personal wellness in China. The...

Chinese man earns US$39,000 in 2 years teaching adults to ride bicycles amid surging demand

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 11:00
A master’s degree student in China, who has taught hundreds of adults and children to ride bicycles over the past two years and earned 270,000 yuan (US$39,000) from it, recently went viral on social media. The man, whose surname is Li, is a third-year master’s degree candidate at Shanghai University of Sport (SUP) majoring in sports education, as reported by the news outlet The Cover. Li shared that years ago, he and a friend recognised the demand for bike-riding instruction and decided to...

South American bloc and EU sign long-awaited FTA amid Trump’s tariffs

South American and European Union officials on Saturday signed a major trade deal, which they hailed as sending a powerful message at a time of tariff threats, global uncertainty and protectionism. The deal between the 27-nation European Union and Mercosur bloc members Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay creates one of the world’s largest free trade areas after 25 years of tricky negotiations. It was given fresh impetus amid the sweeping use of tariffs and trade threats by US President...

Ex-Hong Kong youth cricketer completes run across Sri Lanka in world-beating 6½ days

A former Hong Kong youth cricketer has set a world record after running the length of Sri Lanka in just over six and a half days, overcoming a journey beset by problems, during which “nothing went to plan”. Rahul Sharma, 24, said he faced a slew of obstacles along the way – from logistical chaos to unbearable heat and physical exhaustion – but eventually overcame them with strong faith and support from people around the world. He completed the journey in six days and 13 hours, and was confirmed...

‘Love yourself’ – young China’s new wellness mantra to cope with the rat race

For 26-year-old Tianjin office worker Celine Wang, it is an extra cup of milk tea. “One for me and the other for lao ji,” she said, placing the double order on a workday afternoon in January. “After going through all the difficulties from trying to be the best performer at school to surviving at my workplace, I feel tired. “I’ve decided to treat myself well … ai ni lao ji,” she said, using a buzzword that took off in the gaming world and has become a mantra for personal wellness in China. The...

South American bloc and EU sign long-awaited FTA amid Trump’s tariffs

South American and European Union officials on Saturday signed a major trade deal, which they hailed as sending a powerful message at a time of tariff threats, global uncertainty and protectionism. The deal between the 27-nation European Union and Mercosur bloc members Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay creates one of the world’s largest free trade areas after 25 years of tricky negotiations. It was given fresh impetus amid the sweeping use of tariffs and trade threats by US President...

‘Love yourself’ – young China’s new wellness mantra to cope with the rat race

For 26-year-old Tianjin office worker Celine Wang, it is an extra cup of milk tea. “One for me and the other for lao ji,” she said, placing the double order on a workday afternoon in January. “After going through all the difficulties from trying to be the best performer at school to surviving at my workplace, I feel tired. “I’ve decided to treat myself well … ai ni lao ji,” she said, using a buzzword that took off in the gaming world and has become a mantra for personal wellness in China. The...

China keeps pressure on Cambodia to target cross-border fraud and trafficking

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 10:00
Beijing is urging Phnom Penh to broaden its crackdown on Cambodia’s online fraud industry, keeping up pressure following the arrest and extradition to China of alleged fraud kingpin Chen Zhi. In a meeting with Phnom Penh’s interior and foreign ministers, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin said criminal acts of online fraud, illegal detention and related transnational crimes “posed a serious obstacle” to deepening cooperation between the two countries. “Recent incidents involving Chinese...

China keeps pressure on Cambodia to target cross-border fraud and trafficking

Beijing is urging Phnom Penh to broaden its crackdown on Cambodia’s online fraud industry, keeping up pressure following the arrest and extradition to China of alleged fraud kingpin Chen Zhi. In a meeting with Phnom Penh’s interior and foreign ministers, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin said criminal acts of online fraud, illegal detention and related transnational crimes “posed a serious obstacle” to deepening cooperation between the two countries. “Recent incidents involving Chinese...

China keeps pressure on Cambodia to target cross-border fraud and trafficking

Beijing is urging Phnom Penh to broaden its crackdown on Cambodia’s online fraud industry, keeping up pressure following the arrest and extradition to China of alleged fraud kingpin Chen Zhi. In a meeting with Phnom Penh’s interior and foreign ministers, Chinese ambassador to Cambodia Wang Wenbin said criminal acts of online fraud, illegal detention and related transnational crimes “posed a serious obstacle” to deepening cooperation between the two countries. “Recent incidents involving Chinese...

Scam and corruption cases spark debate in China over cryptocurrencies’ future

The seizure of enormous cryptocurrency caches in two high-profile criminal cases in China – a former head of the central bank’s digital currency research institute accused of corruption, and an alleged scam centre kingpin linked to about US$15 billion in bitcoin – have sparked questions in the country about the safety and future of virtual money. But analysts said the long-term trend for the assets, especially bitcoin, depended on institutional capital, interest rate expectations and the...

US airlines warned of ‘potential risks’ when flying over Mexico, South America

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:34
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned airlines on Friday to exercise caution when flying over Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing the risks of potential military activities and GPS interference. The FAA said it had issued “Notices to Airmen” covering Mexico and Central American countries, as well as Ecuador, Colombia and portions of airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean. They say: “Potential risks exist for aircraft at all altitudes, including during...

Perché Cina e Canada rilanciano i rapporti

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 04:43
Perché Cina e Canada rilanciano i rapporti

Il premier canadese Mark Carney è stato ricevuto dal presidente cinese Xi Jinping. Ottawa cancella i dazi sui veicoli elettrici di Pechino, che a sua volta rimuove molte tasse aggiuntive. Siglato un memorandum di cooperazione sull'energia. Il riavvio delle relazioni dopo diversi anni di gelo è motivato dai dazi di Trump, la cui dottrina Monroe subisce un colpo nel vicinato più immediato

L'articolo Perché Cina e Canada rilanciano i rapporti proviene da China Files.

CO2 + H2O = cleaner recycling of dead lithium batteries?

Chinese scientists have found a way to recycle lithium batteries using only carbon dioxide and water – eliminating the need for harsh, polluting chemicals to extract the lithium and upcycle cathode materials. The team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Beijing Institute of Technology said they used a “three-in-one” strategy to improve lithium recovery, upgrade transition metals like cobalt and nickel, and sequester carbon to eliminate waste by-products. Their method achieved a lithium...

Smartphone e salute mentale dei giovani: un equilibrio difficile ma necessario

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 00:00

Negli ultimi mesi il tema dell’accesso dei più giovani ai social network e all’uso degli smartphone è entrato con forza nell’agenda politica internazionale. In Australia il governo ha introdotto un limite minimo di 16 anni per l’uso dei social media, affidando alle piattaforme l’obbligo di impedire l’accesso ai minori. La misura nasce dalla preoccupazione per l’aumento di ansia, depressione e disturbi del sonno tra gli adolescenti, oltre che per il ruolo degli algoritmi nel favorire dipendenza e esposizione a contenuti dannosi. Un dibattito simile è in corso anche in Unione europea. Accanto alle norme già introdotte con il Digital Services Act, che rafforzano la tutela dei minori online, diversi Paesi e gruppi politici stanno discutendo la possibilità di fissare un’età minima più alta per l’accesso ai social network, ipotizzando soglie comprese tra i 15 e i 16 anni.

Per quanto riguarda l’uso degli smartphone, diversi Paesi, come Francia, Paesi Bassi e Ungheria, hanno già introdotto divieti parziali o totali sull’uso nelle scuole, mentre altri, come la Gran Bretagna, stanno valutando misure simili. La motivazione principale? Migliorare la concentrazione degli studenti, ridurre l’uso dei social media e contrastare fenomeni come il bullismo online.

Ma vietare gli smartphone è davvero la soluzione ai problemi di salute mentale che affliggono le nuove generazioni? Oppure si tratta di un approccio semplicistico a una questione molto più complessa?

Secondo un rapporto del chirurgo generale americano Vivek Murthy, tra il 2009 e il 2019 i sentimenti persistenti di disperazione tra gli adolescenti americani sono aumentati del 40%, mentre il numero di quelli che hanno preso seriamente in considerazione l’idea di suicidarsi è cresciuto del 36%. Ancora più inquietante è il fatto che quasi la metà dei problemi di salute mentale che emergono durante l’adolescenza continuano a influenzare le persone per il resto della loro vita.

Non sorprende, quindi, che molte di queste tendenze siano state associate all’aumento della diffusione degli smartphone e dei social media nello stesso periodo. Tuttavia, stabilire una connessione causale diretta non è facile. Gli smartphone, infatti, “contengono moltitudini”: possono essere usati per scopi educativi o ludici, ma anche per navigare compulsivamente sui social media, un’attività che studi recenti indicano come particolarmente problematica.

Uno studio condotto da Amy Orben dell’Università di Cambridge, pubblicato su Nature Communications, ha analizzato i dati di oltre 17.000 adolescenti di età compresa tra 10 e 21 anni. I risultati mostrano che l’uso intensivo dei social media durante momenti critici dello sviluppo cerebrale – per le ragazze tra gli 11 e i 13 anni e per i ragazzi tra i 14 e i 15 anni – è associato a una significativa diminuzione della soddisfazione personale. Questo evidenzia quanto le transizioni adolescenziali siano fasi vulnerabili, in cui l’uso eccessivo dei social media può avere un impatto più marcato.

Un altro studio condotto da Sapien Labs ha rivelato che l’uso precoce degli smartphone può causare problemi come aggressività e ansia, specialmente tra gli adolescenti più giovani. Tra i 10.500 adolescenti studiati negli Stati Uniti e in India, il 37% dei tredicenni ha riportato comportamenti aggressivi, mentre il 20% ha riferito episodi di allucinazioni. Questi dati suggeriscono che l’età di primo accesso agli smartphone gioca un ruolo determinante nella loro influenza sullo sviluppo psicologico.

Tuttavia, uno studio pubblicato su The Lancet ha dimostrato che vietare gli smartphone nelle scuole, da solo, non è sufficiente per migliorare la salute mentale degli studenti. Lo studio ha monitorato scuole con politiche restrittive sugli smartphone e scuole più permissive, senza trovare differenze significative nel benessere mentale o nel rendimento accademico degli studenti. Questo suggerisce che la chiave non risieda solo nel divieto, ma in un approccio integrato che consideri anche il ruolo educativo delle famiglie e delle scuole.

Un esperimento condotto per il programma Swiped di Channel 4 ha esplorato cosa accade quando gli adolescenti rinunciano agli smartphone per tre settimane. In una scuola dell’Essex, gli studenti hanno riportato miglioramenti significativi: meno ansia e depressione, un sonno più regolare e persino la scomparsa di attacchi di panico. Questo dimostra che una pausa dall’uso compulsivo dello smartphone può avere effetti positivi, ma anche che l’intervento deve essere accompagnato da educazione e consapevolezza.

Un punto di riferimento in questo dibattito è Serge Tisseron, psichiatra francese e autore del progetto “Diventare grandi con gli schermi digitali”, di cui ne abbiamo parlato qui nel 2018. Tisseron propone regole precise per accompagnare bambini e ragazzi verso un uso consapevole delle tecnologie, articolate nel suo metodo 3-6-9-12: fino ai 3 anni, evitare l’uso degli schermi, se non in presenza di un adulto e in modo eccezionale; fino ai 6 anni, introdurre gradualmente l’uso di schermi, ma solo per attività interattive e sotto supervisione; fino ai 9 anni, consentire l’uso di internet, ma sempre in compagnia di un adulto; dai 12 anni in poi, permettere l’accesso ai social media, ma con regole chiare e dialogo costante. Secondo Tisseron, la chiave per mitigare i rischi degli smartphone non è solo imporre divieti, ma insegnare ai giovani a usarli in modo responsabile e consapevole. Questo richiede un’educazione digitale integrata, sia a scuola che a casa, e il coinvolgimento attivo di genitori e insegnanti.

Tisseron sottolinea che i divieti scolastici possono essere utili per stabilire regole chiare, ma non bastano. Gli smartphone sono ormai parte integrante della vita quotidiana, e ignorare questo fatto significa rinunciare a preparare i giovani a gestire le sfide del mondo digitale. Per Tisseron, genitori e insegnanti hanno un ruolo fondamentale: i genitori devono stabilire limiti chiari sull’uso dello smartphone e favorire attività alternative che promuovano la socialità offline; gli insegnanti devono integrare la tecnologia in modo costruttivo, mostrando come usarla per apprendere e sviluppare competenze critiche.

Vietare gli smartphone nelle scuole può limitare alcune distrazioni e abusi, ma non risolve il problema alla radice. La vera sfida è educare i giovani a un uso consapevole e responsabile della tecnologia, coinvolgendo tutta la comunità – famiglie, scuole e istituzioni. Come ci ricorda Serge Tisseron, gli smartphone non sono nemici da combattere, ma strumenti che richiedono educazione e consapevolezza per essere gestiti al meglio. Solo così potremo garantire un futuro digitale più sereno per le nuove generazioni.

 

L'articolo Smartphone e salute mentale dei giovani: un equilibrio difficile ma necessario proviene da Il Blog di Beppe Grillo.

Thank you, David Webb, you made Hong Kong a better place

17 Gennaio 2026 ore 02:30
Like many long-time reporters in Hong Kong, I had occasional dealings with David Webb, the market transparency and shareholder rights crusader who died this week of prostate cancer at the relatively young age of 60. Almost all of my encounters with him over the years were annoying and slightly unpleasant. But they made me respect him all the more. He once chastised me for misstating a relatively obscure Nasa space mission in the 1960s and demanded a print correction. I thought, who cares? But I...

Musk’s xAI sued over Grok deepfakes – this time, by mother of his child

The mother of one of Elon Musk’s children is suing his AI company, saying its Grok chatbot allowed users to generate sexually exploitative deepfake images of her that have caused her humiliation and emotional distress. Ashley St Clair, 27, who describes herself as a writer and political strategist, alleged in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in New York City against xAI that the images have included a photo of her fully dressed at age 14 that was altered to show her in a bikini, and others showing...

Man found guilty of involuntary manslaughter of San Francisco Thai grandfather

A man has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of an elderly Thai man whose 2021 killing in San Francisco helped spark a national movement against anti-Asian-American violence. A jury did not find Antoine Watson, 24, guilty of murder when it returned a verdict on Thursday for the January 2021 attack on Vicha Ratanapakdee, 84. Jurors found Watson guilty on the lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and assault. The office of San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins...

Trump names Blair, Rubio to Gaza ‘board of peace’

US President Donald Trump on Friday gave a key role in post-war Gaza to former British prime minister Tony Blair and appointed a US officer to lead a nascent security force. Trump named members of a board to help supervise Gaza that was dominated by Americans, as he promotes a controversial vision of economic development in a territory that lies in rubble after two-plus years of relentless Israeli bombardment. The step came after a Palestinian committee of technocrats meant to govern Gaza held...

Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’

US President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside concerns over a Canada-China trade deal involving Ottawa agreeing to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying it was “a good thing” for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to pursue the deal. “That’s OK. That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” Trump said, when asked about the agreement announced earlier in the day. The remarks not only...

Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’

US President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside concerns over a Canada-China trade deal involving Ottawa agreeing to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying it was “a good thing” for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to pursue the deal. “That’s OK. That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” Trump said, when asked about the agreement announced earlier in the day. The remarks not only...

Over 100 dead in torrential rains and floods across southern Africa

Army helicopters rescued people stranded on rooftops and hundreds of tourists and workers were evacuated from one of the world’s biggest game reserves, as torrential rains and flooding in three countries in southern Africa killed more than 100 people, authorities said on Friday. The death toll across South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe is an accumulation after weeks of heavy rains. Weather services issued warnings that more rain was on the way, possibly bringing more destructive...

Trump shrugs off concerns over Canada-China EV deal, calls it a ‘good thing’

US President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside concerns over a Canada-China trade deal involving Ottawa agreeing to reduce tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, saying it was “a good thing” for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to pursue the deal. “That’s OK. That’s what he should be doing. It’s a good thing for him to sign a trade deal. If you can get a deal with China, you should do that,” Trump said, when asked about the agreement announced earlier in the day. The remarks not only...

Counting China’s wins and losses among ‘swing nations’ in new era of power rivalry

It took the United States less than three hours to stun the world with its abduction of the sitting leader of a sovereign state, but the strategic ramifications of that dramatic operation are likely to reverberate for decades. In laying bare the limits of China’s economic-centric diplomacy towards third countries in its competition with the US, the Venezuela crisis has delivered a stark reminder that spheres of influence continue to shape global politics in this new era of great power...

Counting China’s wins and losses among ‘swing nations’ in new era of power rivalry

It took the United States less than three hours to stun the world with its abduction of the sitting leader of a sovereign state, but the strategic ramifications of that dramatic operation are likely to reverberate for decades. In laying bare the limits of China’s economic-centric diplomacy towards third countries in its competition with the US, the Venezuela crisis has delivered a stark reminder that spheres of influence continue to shape global politics in this new era of great power...

Machado says Venezuela will be free with support of Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Friday her country was starting a “true transition” to democracy and would become free with support from the US and President Donald Trump. Trump, however, has sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and backed former vice-president Delcy Rodriguez as interim leader of the oil-rich country following the January 3 US military operation that seized Nicolas Maduro. “We are definitely now into the first steps of a true transition to democracy,”...

Trump thanks Iran for ‘cancelling’ hanging of hundreds of political prisoners

US President Donald Trump took the unusual step on Friday of thanking the Iranian government for not following through on executions of what he said was meant to be hundreds of political prisoners. “Iran cancelled the hanging of over 800 people,” Trump told reporters while leaving the White House to spend the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida. He added, “and I greatly respect the fact that they cancelled”. The Republican president also suggested on his social media site...

Trump says he may tariff countries that don’t back US controlling Greenland

US President Donald Trump suggested on Friday that he may punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the US controlling Greenland, a message that came as a bipartisan Congressional delegation sought to lower tensions in the Danish capital. Trump for months has insisted that the US should control Greenland, a semi-autonomous territory of Nato ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in US hands would be “unacceptable”. During an unrelated...

Groenlandia: una prospettiva centroeuropea

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 14:53

La sicurezza dell’Artico e le minacce di Trump di prendersi la Groenlandia anche con la forza scopre un fronte fino a quel momento marginale per l’Europa centrale. La Polonia ha risposto in maniera più energica alla provocazione di Washington. Tuttavia, la cautela delle altre cancellerie centroeuropee vanifica un possibile contributo subregionale alla sicurezza artica.

L’Artico è il leitmotiv geopolitico che sta caratterizzando l’inizio del 2026 nonché l’ennesima sfida per la coesione euro-atlantica lanciata dal presidente USA, Donald Trump. In Europa, l’evento sta alzando un moto di solidarietà nei confronti della Danimarca che si traduce concretamente nel rinnovamento della presenza militare in Groenlandia. Il vertice statunitense-danese di Washington dello scorso 14 gennaio scorso indica che la questione è destinata a rimanere aperta ancora a lungo.

In questo scenario, il Gruppo di Visegrád (V4) — il forum centroeuropeo formato da Slovacchia, Polonia, Ungheria e Repubblica Ceca — appare come un attore geograficamente distante e strategicamente impegnato – spesso a dividersi — su altri teatri, in primis quello ucraino. Ciononostante, i membri del Gruppo mostrano alcuni segnali che confermano le tendenze divisive preesistenti all’interno del formato V4. Varsavia emerge come l’attore più attivo sulla scena mentre le altre cancellerie, per motivi diversi, si defilano dalla questione. Pur non essendoci un documento definisca una Arctic policy centroeuropea, l’assenza di una postura V4 riflette coerentemente la complessità e la sporadicità con cui questi Paesi si affacciano alla sicurezza artica.


La posizione polacca


Varsavia si è dimostrata il membro V4 più attivo sulla questione groenlandese accodandosi in maniera attiva alla posizione europea. Da subito, il Primo Ministro (PM) polacco, Donald Tusk, ha avvisato che l’Unione europea (Ue) è tenuta ad unirsi nel sostegno a Copenaghen. Il Paese ha firmato congiuntamente con gli alleati europei la “Dichiarazione congiunta sulla Groenlandia” nella quale si afferma che l’Artico sia una questione di sicurezza collettiva dentro la NATO ribadendo con forza il principio di sovranità della Danimarca e della Groenlandia sul territorio. Il 7 gennaio, il ministro degli affari esteri, Radosław Sikorski, ha ribadito il concetto durante un incontro con gli omologhi francese, tedesco ed indiano a Parigi dove ha ricordato che le questioni territoriali, negli USA, sono decise in ultima istanza dal Congresso. Al contempo, Sikorski ha sostenuto la linea del suo omonimo francese, Jean-Noël Barrot per cui Parigi, Berlino e Varsavia elaboreranno una risposta congiunta alle mire di Trump che verrà poi estesa a livello europeo.


All’atto pratico, tuttavia, la posizione polacca risente della difficile coabitazione tra governo e Presidente della Repubblica, espressione di schieramenti politici contrapposti. Il Presidente polacco, Karol Nawrocki, ha mantenuto una posizione più cauta sollecitando una soluzione diplomatica che si svolga dentro il framework della NATO. Nei giorni successivi, la posizione di Nawrocki si è indurita arrivando ad affermare in un’intervista alla BBC Radio Four che la Polonia (e gli europei) debbano rimanere fuori dalla questione groenlandese affermando che sia solo un affare tra Copenaghen e Washington. Tale posizione rappresenta un ostacolo all’azione del governo, che evita fughe in avanti per scongiurare i veti, limitando tuttavia la propria capacità di tradurre il sostegno in azioni rilevanti. Ad esempio, Tusk ha negato la possibilità di qualsiasi coinvolgimento militare polacco in Groenlandia, scelta che cozza con le decisioni di altre cancellerie europee di rafforzare la presenza nell’Artico.

L’interesse della Polonia verso la regione polare non è frutto della contingenza attuale ma è un interesse di lungo periodo. La presenza polacca è stata per lungo tempo di carattere scientifico ma si è sviluppato a livello strategico dopo la Guerra Fredda a partire dall’acquisizione dello status di osservatore permanente presso il Consiglio Artico nel 1998. Ad oggi, la Polonia è l’unico Paese V4 a godere di questo status permettendole di partecipare ai vertici regionali. Lo sforzo diplomatico è andato definendosi nel tempo e le sue coordinate si sono strutturate in due documenti chiave: la “Strategia della ricerca polare polacca 2017-2027”, elaborato dall’Accademia delle Scienze della Polonia e il Polish Polar Policy del 2020 redatto dal ministero degli esteri. Quest’ultimo definisce quattro priorità strategiche: garantire la partecipazione attiva e l’influenza politica di Varsavia nella regione tramite diplomazia pubblica, scientifica ed economica; rafforzamento della ricerca scientifica polacca; coordinamento degli sforzi per la regione con altre politiche e strategie nazionali; e mantenere costante l’attività delle analisi delle attività socio-politiche. A queste si aggiungono obiettivi specifici quali la tutela ambientale e la valorizzazione della diaspora polacca nei Paesi della regione artica.

Cautele centroeuropee


L’attivismo polacco rappresenta un’eccezione nella realtà del Gruppo in quanto Slovacchia, Ungheria e Repubblica Ceca non hanno aderito alla Dichiarazione congiunta mantenendo una linea più neutra. Le motivazioni, come il grado di coinvolgimento nella regione artica, differiscono tra loro ma tutte condividono un elemento comune, il timore di innervosire Washington.


La postura di Praga assomiglia a quella polacca in quanto essa risente di una coabitazione politica antagonista tra governo e Presidente della Repubblica. Da un lato, il governo sovranista del neo PM, Andrej Babiš, si è distanziato dalla questione. In particolare, il ministro degli esteri, Petr Macinka, ha incontrato l’ambasciatore statunitense in Repubblica Ceca, Nicholas Merrick, e il suo vice, David Wisner con cui si è registrata una sostanziale convergenza tra Washington e Praga. Dall’altro lato, Petr Pavel, Presidente della Repubblica ed esponente dell’attuale opposizione, ha espresso vicinanza alla Danimarca invitando ad aderire alla Dichiarazione congiunta, invito rimasto disatteso. L’indirizzo di Pavel risulta più vicino al mainstream della strategica artica ceca basata sul coordinamento con l’Unione europea e sulla costruzione di relazioni scientifiche e diplomatiche con i partner euro-atlantici, finalizzate all’ottenimento dello status di osservatore presso il Consiglio Artico. Le azioni dell’esecutivo, quindi, sconfessano questa linea a favore di una vicinanza agli USA.


Bratislava e Budapest, invece, non hanno interessi strategici significativi nella regione che riflette la scarsa tradizione scientifica dei due Paesi. Ciononostante, non sono completamente fuori dalla partita. Il PM ungherese, Viktor Orbán, ha invitato le parti a discutere della questione groenlandese all’interno della NATO. Tale linea è una versione più morbida delle parole, dette a gennaio 2025, dal ministro degli esteri di Budapest, Péter Szijjártó, il quale sminuiva le parole di Trump sulla Groenlandia. A Bratislava, solo il ministro degli affari esteri, Juraj Blanár, si è esposto sulla vicenda mostrando solidarietà a Copenaghen tramite una telefonata all’omologo danese, Lars Løkke Rasmussen. Di contro, il PM slovacco, Robert Fico, non si è ancora ufficialmente esposto sulla vicenda.

Il distacco dell’Ungheria e della Slovacchia, manifestato dalla loro non partecipazione alla Dichiarazione congiunta, è strumentale alla loropolitica di non allineamento alle posizioni europee sulle questioni di sicurezza internazionale. Lo scopo è duplice: ottenere credito presso Washington da spendere sulle discussioni diplomatiche riguardanti il conflitto in Ucraina, confermando il loro ruolo di attori destabilizzanti dentro l’Ue, e disimpegnarsi dalle faccende internazionali a favore di questioni domestiche che siano elezioni (Ungheria) o crisi di consensi (Slovacchia).


Perciò, la frammentazione V4 sulla Groenlandia rappresenta un nuovo capitolo della paralisi che caratterizza il Gruppo. Nonostante il tema della sicurezza artica sia marginale nella sicurezza centroeuropea, l’incapacità di formulare una prospettiva sub-regionale compromette ulteriormente la rilevanza come attore geopolitico. Nei fatti, i V4 stanno dissipando nuovamente il potenziale di essere una voce dialogante dentro un legame euro-atlantico più che mai fragile.

La NSS 2025 parla di un mondo cambiato e del nuovo approccio Trumpiano

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00

La pubblicazione della National Security Strategy rappresenta un cambiamento ideologico significativo nella politica estera americana. Il documento è caratterizzato da una maggiore focalizzazione sugli interessi visti come strettamente nazionali. Non solo, il documento riflette una visione strumentale agli interessi della Amministrazione e del bisogno di adattarsi a sfide emergenti. La NSS è utile per capire come l’Amministrazione Trump interpreta lo scenario internazionale e racconta di come gli Stati Uniti intendono rispondere e guidare, in parte, tale cambiamento.

La pubblicazione della National Security Strategy del 2025 segna uno dei momenti più rilevanti nella definizione del pensiero strategico statunitense sotto la seconda Amministrazione Trump. Con questo documento viene ripensata la gerarchia degli interessi nazionali e viene posto l’accento su priorità direttamente collegate ai mezzi a disposizione del Paese. Non solo, nel documento trovano conferma i nuovi equilibri creatisi nei mesi passati e continuamente evocati dai membri dell’Amministrazione, come il disimpegno dal continente europeo e un focus maggiore sul continente americano. Inoltre, l’analisi della NSS 2025 e unconfronto con le strategie precedenti e in particolare la NSS 2017, aiuta a comprendere come la seconda Amministrazione Trump intende approcciare uno scenario internazionale profondamente mutato, alla luce della sua stessa interpretazione. 

La NSS 2025 come la strada “necessaria” da seguire 

“L’America è forte e rispettata di nuovo e per questa ragione, stiamo costruendo la pace in tutto il mondo”. Con questa frase nel paragrafo introduttivo, la National Security Strategy del 2025 mette subito in chiaro il tono del documento: un ritorno all’idea che la ristabilita forza economica, industriale e militare degli Stati Uniti, sia la precondizione della stabilità internazionale. Prima ancora però di delineare le nuove priorità, la strategia sceglie di guardare indietro. L’introduzione, dal titolo “How American Strategy Went Astray”, è una spiegazione di come, negli ultimi decenni, la politica di sicurezza degli Stati Uniti si sia progressivamente ampliata fino a diventare troppo vaga e incapace di stabilire confini chiari tra ciò che è vitale e ciò non lo è, finendo, appunto, fuori strada. 

In generale, la NSS stabilisce che cosa gli Stati Uniti vogliono ottenere in termini di sicurezza, interessi nazionali e ruolo internazionale, dove la sicurezza è intesa come il perseguimento degli interessi nazionali all’interno di un ruolo internazionale che ne è al tempo stesso guida e risultato. Nella NSS 2025 si inizia proprio dal concetto di strategia, e viene illustrato come ciò che la rende realistica sia l’esistenza di una connessione fra gli obiettivi e i mezzi; inoltre, una strategia deve essere in grado di delineare delle priorità. Si spiega poi che i “best interests” per l’America siano quelli legati direttamente alla sicurezza nazionale, e non un generico “caricarsi degli oneri globali”. 

Il testo sostiene poi che Washington si sia caricata di missioni troppo ambiziose, come ad esempio mantenere l’ordine globale e intervenire in crisi lontane. Tale ambizione è stata perseguita inoltre senza assicurarsi di avere i mezzi necessari per sostenerla. I problemi elencati possono essere ricondotti a tre punti riassuntivi: troppe ambizioni, eccessiva dipendenza da supply chains globali vulnerabili e incapacità di svincolarsi da concetti come globalism o free trade. La NSS 2025 si propone dunque di intrecciare in modo pragmatico la politica di sicurezza con cambiamenti all’agenda industriale, fra cui la ricerca di maggiore indipendenza produttiva. L’Amministrazione Trump sostiene poi di aver dimostrato, nel suo primo mandato, che è possibile sottrarsi a impegni troppo ampi e a visioni generiche, preferendo un orientamento più aderente alle risorse disponibili. 

È dunque significativo osservare come la strategia della NSS 2017 enfatizzasse, ad esempio, il ruolo degli Stati Uniti nel favorire la stabilità di fragili. Il paragrafo Encourage Aspiring Partners affermava che tra alcuni dei maggiori successi della diplomazia americana vi era l’aiuto dato ai Paesi in via di sviluppo a diventare società prospere, creando mercati redditizi, alleati capaci di sostenere equilibri regionali favorevoli e partner per condividere responsabilità internazionali, un elemento evidentemente mancante nella strategia dell’attuale Amministrazione come anche dimostrato dal precedente smantellamento dello USAID e dalla recente comunicazione di ritiro da 66 organizzazioni internazionali

Il destino di Europa e Medio Oriente e il “pivot to West” 

Nella NSS 2017, la sezione dedicata all’Europa sottolineava che un continente forte e libero e basato sui principi condivisi di democrazia e libertà era di vitale importanza; e veniva ricordato il ruolo centrale degli Stati Uniti nella ricostruzione e nello sviluppo dell’area. Nel 2025, al contrario, la strategia si allontana da questa visione piuttosto tradizionale. L’Europa, tenendo fede anche a una serie di dichiarazioni recenti, è ora considerata meno centrale per gli interessi degli Stati Uniti e valutata soprattutto in funzione della capacità dei governi nazionali, intesi come singoli, di contribuire alla stabilità regionale. L’attenzione strategica viene allora spostata verso l’emisfero occidentale, con l’obiettivo di affrontare flussi migratori, cartelli, rotte marittime e crisi locali. Ed è proprio in ragione di questo pivot strategico o revisione della Dottrina Monroe, che l’Amministrazione Trump dichiara di voler dare maggiore centralità al continente Americano, con una postura definita come neo-imperialista. Concentrarsi verso Ovest significa vedere come assolute priorità tre minacce principali (nell’emisfero occidentale): migrazione, droga e criminalità, e Cina. Un esempio di questa postura o “Corollario Trump” lo offrono sia la recente operazione speciale condotta in Venezuela, dove proprio queste tre minacce si intrecciano, unite allo sfruttamento delle risorse, sia le ultime dichiarazioni riguardo alla volontà di “prendere” la Groenlandia per “questioni di sicurezza nazionale”.

L’elemento di maggiore discontinuità rispetto alla prima Amministrazione Trump riguarda proprio il ruolo attribuito all’Europa. Nella NSS 2017, il continente europeo era concepito come un pilastro strategico della politica americana: la stabilità e la prosperità europea venivano considerate essenziali per la sicurezza nazionale, e veniva attivamente promossa la cooperazione. Nella NSS 2025, sebbene non venga negato il legame “sentimentale” tra il vecchio Continente e gli Stati Uniti, l’Europa viene letta attraverso le lenti della debolezza economica, della stagnazione industriale e soprattutto della limitazione delle libertà nazionali da parte di organizzazioni transnazionali come l’Unione Europea. Il documento denuncia come regolamentazioni interne ed europee compromettano la produttività, mentre politiche migratorie, censura, calo demografico e perdita di identità nazionale minacciano la coesione e la capacità strategica del continente. In particolare, si fa implicitamente riferimento a regolamenti come il Digital Markets Act e il Digital Services Act che sono stati interpretati dall’Amministrazione come atti di economic warfare.  È evidente poi che gli interessi condivisi siano considerati come subordinati rispetto agli interessi esclusivamente americani. Nel complesso, l’analisi riguardante il continente europeo risulta guidata da evidenti principi ideologici. 

Anche sul Medio Oriente vi è un tentativo di inversione di rotta rispetto al passato. La NSS 2025 afferma l’intenzione di far passare in secondo piano la regione nella pianificazione strategica. Il documento sostiene che, per almeno mezzo secolo, la politica estera americana abbia attribuito al Medio Oriente una priorità superiore a quella di tutte le altre regioni, in ragione dell’importanza energetica, della competizione tra superpotenze e della natura potenzialmente espansiva dei conflitti locali. Almeno due di queste dinamiche non risultano più valide: la forte diversificazione delle forniture energetiche, che ha permesso agli Stati Uniti di tornare a essere un esportatore netto di energia, e il mutamento del contesto strategico verso una competizione tra grandi potenze in cui Washington mantiene una posizione di vantaggio. 

La scomparsa della Great Power Competition e l’approccio alla Cina

Nella National Security Strategy del 2025 vi è un cambiamento significativo del linguaggio utilizzato per affrontare le questioni riguardanti la Cina, sia rispetto all’Amministrazione Biden, sia rispetto al 2017. La nuova impostazione non elimina del tutto la competizione, ma la declassa a questione soprattutto economica e tecnologica, collegata alla protezione dell’apparato industriale nazionale e alla riduzione della dipendenza in vari settori. La Cina rimane dunque un attore rilevante, senza però essere la priorità assoluta dell’attuale agenda strategica.

Il documento insiste piuttosto sulla necessità di rapporti commerciali più equilibrati, menzionando appena le storiche preoccupazioni, come Taiwan, di natura economica, geopolitica e ideologica. Anche la dimensione militare è decisamente circoscritta: la deterrenza nel Pacifico è menzionata, ma senza porre l’attenzione sulla rivalità sistemica come fatto invece negli anni precedenti. Anche su questo tema, nel confronto con la NSS 2017 emerge un distacco evidente. Quel documento identificava la Cina come potenza revisionista e la collocava al centro della competizione strategica globale. Gli Stati Uniti nel 2025 non costruiscono più la propria architettura strategica attorno a Pechino. Ne deriva una postura più selettiva e mutata nella valutazione del peso reale che la competizione sino-americana dovrebbe avere nella definizione degli obiettivi nazionali. Un’anomalia degna di nota, anche rispetto alla NSS del 2017, è l’assenza di una menzione alla One China Policy, in linea però con l’atteggiamento di Trump di incoerenza e noncuranza verso impegni strategici, anche quelli vecchi di mezzo secolo. Inoltre, sebbene da un lato venga enfatizzata la cooperazione quadrilaterale, la deterrenza, la protezione delle Island Chains e l’importanza del contributo degli alleati per il raggiungimento di questi scopi; dall’altra non vengono menzionate le Filippine e l’AUKUS. 

Nel documento viene poi abbandonata anche la retorica dello scontro tra grandi potenze che ha fortemente caratterizzato le relazioni sino-americane in passato. Come sottolineato in un’analisi sul The Diplomat però, la logica profonda della NSS 2025 potrebbe essere meno favorevole alla Cina di quanto non sembri. “Questo cambiamento potrebbe essere meno carico di ideologia rispetto ai documenti NSS del 2017 e del 2022, ma è anche più attuabile”, infatti, questa attenuazione del linguaggio non implica necessariamente un ammorbidimento sostanziale dell’approccio statunitense nei confronti della Cina. La competizione viene riorientata sul piano economico-industriale, ma non scompare. 

Quanto la NSS è coerente e concreta

Nel complesso, la principale differenza tra la NSS del 2025 e altre pubblicate in passato, non sta tanto nel non porre l’America al centro del contesto internazionale, ma nel ridurre il numero di interessi vitali per il Paese. Il documento non rivela poi nulla di nuovo rispetto agli atteggiamenti e alle ambizioni sia della prima Amministrazione Trump che di quella attuale. Alcune analisi hanno però messo in luce l’incoerenza e l’ipocrisia della visione del mondo dell’Amministrazione. Sebbene Trump si sia presentato più volte come il Presidente della Pace, ha poi “ordinato operazioni militari illegali e inutili contro i trafficanti di droga civili nei Caraibi”; sebbene il documento dichiari di voler evitare di impegnarsi in guerre infruttuose e di non voler imporre il cambiamento in altri Paesi, Trump ha ordinato l’avvio di un’operazione speciale in Venezuela dagli esiti dubbi. L’operazione denominata Absolute Resolve, condotta il 3 gennaio 2026 a Caracas e nel nord del Paese, e che ha portato alla cattura di Nicolás Maduro, rappresenta infatti una palese violazione del principio di non ingerenza, pietra miliare del diritto internazionale. 

Inoltre, l’enfasi posta sulla sovranità risulta essere debole di fronte, ad esempio, all’atteggiamento lassista verso l’invasione su vasta scala dell’Ucraina avviata dalla Russia. Il documento ricorda poi, nella sezione peraltro intitolata “Predisposition to Non-Interventionism”, che “tutti gli esseri umani possiedono uguali diritti naturali dati da Dio”, che è in forte contrasto con le politiche migratorie recentemente adottate. 

Sotto certi punti di vista, la NSS 2025 è più retorica che concreta, ed è naturale porsi degli interrogativi su quanto il documento rifletta realmente una strategia nuova o pragmatica, piuttosto che una giustificazione ideologica di decisioni già prese o in corso d’opera. 

Nel complesso, la NSS 2025 si configura come un documento caratterizzato da una forte componente ideologica, in cui la riaffermazione di principi quali pace, sovranità e non interventismo entra in tensione con le scelte operative effettivamente adottate dall’Amministrazione. Questa discrepanza evidenzia limiti di coerenza interna e riduce la capacità della strategia di fornire indicazioni concrete sulla politica estera, confermando come il documento serva più a legittimare decisioni già prese che a delineare un percorso strategico realmente operativo.

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Putin offers Moscow as mediator in Iran crisis amid tensions with Israel, Trump threat

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 12:45
President Vladimir Putin is mediating in the Iran situation ‍to try to quickly de-escalate tensions, the Kremlin said on Friday, after the Russian leader spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. Moscow, an ally of Tehran, has condemned US President Donald Trump’s threats of new military strikes after Iran cracked down on protests that broke out late last month. Israel and the US last ⁠year both bombed Iranian nuclear sites, and Iran fought a...

Chinese scientists unlock possible key to dark matter after almost 90 years

Chinese scientists have made the first direct observation of a quantum effect that was proposed almost 90 years ago and could help detect dark matter, the universe’s invisible “glue”. Soviet physicist Arkady Migdal developed a theory in Leningrad in 1939 about what would happen when a neutral particle – such as dark matter – collided with an atomic nucleus. Migdal believed that the collision would cause the nucleus to recoil and trigger a secondary electronic recoil, generating a detectable...

Trump pick for South America command sidesteps China questions at Senate hearing

Days after the operation that abducted then Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump’s nominee to command US forces in Latin America dodged pressure from senators to endorse a military-first plan to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Lieutenant General Francis Donovan, who is nominated to lead US Southern Command (Southcom), repeatedly declined to say whether Washington should rely mainly on force projection to push back against Beijing’s expanding footprint. The...

Trump pick for South America command sidesteps China questions at Senate hearing

Days after the operation that abducted then Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, President Donald Trump’s nominee to command US forces in Latin America dodged pressure from senators to endorse a military-first plan to counter China’s growing influence in the region. Lieutenant General Francis Donovan, who is nominated to lead US Southern Command (Southcom), repeatedly declined to say whether Washington should rely mainly on force projection to push back against Beijing’s expanding footprint. The...

Why is China’s Xi Jinping putting the political heat back on illegal villas and resorts?

Chinese President Xi Jinping has refocused national anti-corruption efforts on illegal villas and “private resorts”, luxury developments that have come to symbolise excess and graft over the past two decades. According to newly released excerpts of a speech, Xi singled out the developments for special mention at the central urban work conference in July, highlighting them as examples of the need to improve governance, combat corruption and promote sustainable urban development. “[Officials must]...

Canada, China hit reset button on relations with tariff agreement

China and Canada have agreed to remove the triple-digit tariffs imposed on each other’s imports – a major thaw in relations after years of icy diplomatic and trade ties – as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up his state visit in Beijing. Canada will remove the additional 100 per cent in tariffs it had levied on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports – imposed in 2024 following a similar move from the United States – while China will lower its tariffs on Canadian canola, Carney said on...

China dominates global humanoid robot market with over 80% of installations

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 10:00
China accounted for more than four out of five humanoid robot installations globally in 2025, driven by domestic start-ups AgiBot and Unitree Robotics, as mass production and commercialisation accelerated, according to a report by Counterpoint Research. A total of 16,000 humanoid robots were installed globally in 2025, mainly for data collection and research, as well as in the logistics, manufacturing, and automotive sectors, according to Counterpoint data released on Wednesday. The market was...

China’s 7,000-year-old sunmao woodwork leads to world’s most efficient DNA editing tool

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:48
How to beat the United States in gene editing? A research team from Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences had struggled with this question for three years, with no results. Then they decided to draw inspiration from an ancient woodwork tradition and cut DNA like wood. It led to a gene-editing tool with unprecedented efficiency. In the Chinese mortise-and-tenon joint technique known as sunmao, no nails or glue are used. Instead, a protruding “tenon” on one piece fits securely into...

Canada, China hit reset button on relations with tariff agreement

China and Canada have agreed to remove the triple-digit tariffs imposed on each other’s imports – a major thaw in relations after years of icy diplomatic and trade ties – as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney wrapped up his state visit in Beijing. Canada will remove the additional 100 per cent in tariffs it had levied on Chinese electric vehicle (EV) imports – imposed in 2024 following a similar move from the United States – while China will lower its tariffs on Canadian canola, Carney said on...

Why is China’s Xi Jinping putting the political heat back on illegal villas and resorts?

Chinese President Xi Jinping has refocused national anti-corruption efforts on illegal villas and “private resorts”, luxury developments that have come to symbolise excess and graft over the past two decades. According to newly released excerpts of a speech, Xi singled out the developments for special mention at the central urban work conference in July, highlighting them as examples of the need to improve governance, combat corruption and promote sustainable urban development. “[Officials must]...

Una banca pubblica di cellule per mangiare carne senza allevamenti

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 10:10

Una banca del cibo del futuro può somigliare a una banca dei semi, solo che al posto dei semi conserva cellule, linee cellulari pronte a crescere in laboratorio e a diventare carne coltivata. Il progetto è stato realizzato dal Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture insieme al Good Food Institute, con l’obiettivo di salvare e rendere accessibili tecnologie sviluppate da startup che hanno chiuso o ridotto le attività, trasformandole in un bene pubblico per la ricerca e l’industria alimentare.

Negli ultimi anni molte aziende che lavoravano sulla carne coltivata hanno prodotto linee cellulari, protocolli e terreni di crescita avanzati, poi si sono fermate per mancanza di fondi. Invece di lasciare andare persi anni di lavoro, il Good Food Institute ha acquistato queste risorse e le ha affidate a Tufts, che le conserva, le valida e le rende disponibili attraverso una cell bank aperta, con pochi vincoli d’uso. Tra i materiali raccolti ci sono linee cellulari bovine capaci di crescere indefinitamente e colture adattate alla crescita in sospensione, una caratteristica fondamentale per la produzione in bioreattori su larga scala, oltre a formulazioni di terreni di crescita senza componenti animali.

Per capire perché una banca di cellule alimentari conta fuori dai laboratori basta guardare i numeri. A livello globale, la disponibilità media di carne è di circa 44 kg per persona all’anno. In Europa si sale a circa 78 kg per persona all’anno, quasi il doppio della media mondiale. Una parte di questa carne non viene nemmeno mangiata, perché si perde lungo la filiera o finisce tra gli sprechi domestici, ma l’impatto ambientale della sua produzione resta comunque intero.

L’allevamento occupa oltre il 75% delle terre agricole mondiali, tra pascoli e colture destinate ai mangimi, eppure fornisce meno di un quinto delle calorie globali. È un uso enorme di suolo per una resa relativamente bassa, che spinge deforestazione, perdita di biodiversità e competizione diretta tra cibo per animali e cibo per persone. A questo si aggiunge il peso climatico. Le catene di fornitura del bestiame generano circa 7 miliardi di tonnellate di CO₂ equivalente ogni anno, intorno al 14–15% delle emissioni globali di origine umana. Se si guarda all’intero sistema agroalimentare, dalle stalle ai campi fino alla distribuzione, si arriva a circa un terzo delle emissioni mondiali.

La carne coltivata può ridurre alcune di queste pressioni. Coltivare cellule invece di allevare animali interi significa usare meno terra, meno acqua e ridurre drasticamente le emissioni di metano. Il problema è sempre stato la scala, i costi e l’accesso alla tecnologia. Una cell bank aperta interviene proprio lì, abbassa la soglia di ingresso, evita duplicazioni inutili e accelera la ricerca condivisa. In pratica funziona come un’infrastruttura pubblica. Chi fa ricerca o sviluppo può partire da linee cellulari già testate invece di ricominciare da zero. Chi lavora su bioreattori e processi industriali può concentrarsi sulla produzione invece che sulla biologia di base. È un cambio di paradigma, meno segreti industriali chiusi in cassaforte e più conoscenza che circola.

In un mondo che consuma sempre più carne e allo stesso tempo fatica a stare dentro i limiti climatici e ambientali, anche una banca di cellule diventa un pezzo di politica industriale e ambientale. Non risolve tutto, però evita che il futuro del cibo venga rallentato da fallimenti, sprechi di ricerca e barriere artificiali. Una biblioteca biologica per mangiare meglio, con meno impatto e più intelligenza collettiva.

L'articolo Una banca pubblica di cellule per mangiare carne senza allevamenti proviene da Il Blog di Beppe Grillo.

China warns of ‘honey trap’ risks in defence sector after official jailed for espionage

Chinese state security authorities have warned of the risk of “honey traps” in the defence and technology sectors, saying that in one case a public official was blackmailed into surrendering state secrets following a trip abroad. In an article published on Wednesday, a social media account affiliated with the National Administration of State Secrets Protection said defence industry personnel were becoming targets of honey traps set by foreign intelligence agencies. According to the account...

Turkey, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia plan defence pact as US-Iran row threatens Middle East

As tensions between the United States and Iran threaten to plunge the Middle East into chaos again, regional military powers Turkey and Pakistan have revealed they are planning a tripartite defence partnership with Saudi Arabia. Thursday’s disclosure comes as Iran’s neighbours await clarity on US President Donald Trump’s announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on the Islamic Republic’s trading partners earlier in the week – a measure which threatens to disrupt supply chains across the region. The...

In Cina e Asia – Raggiunto accordo commerciale Usa-Taiwan

16 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:27
In Cina e Asia – Raggiunto accordo commerciale Usa-Taiwan TAIWAN ACCORDO DAZI

I titoli di oggi:

Raggiunto accordo commerciale Usa-Taiwan
Cina, sviluppatori di chatbot fanno ricorso contro accuse di pornografia basata su IA
Cina, Huawei torna al primo posto nel mercato smartphone
Cina, “ripartenza” nelle relazioni con la visita del premier canadese Carney
Giappone, opposizioni verso un nuovo partito in vista delle elezioni anticipate
Giappone-Filippine, nuovi accordi di sicurezza mentre crescono le tensioni regionali
Myanmar, la giunta rivendica la chiusura di maxi laboratori di metanfetamina

L'articolo In Cina e Asia – Raggiunto accordo commerciale Usa-Taiwan proviene da China Files.

China’s US envoy says world faces ‘stark choice’ as 2026 opens with instability

China’s top diplomat in the United States delivered a sharply worded rebuke on Thursday over US President Donald Trump’s tumultuous approach to global relations, laying out a stark choice between a world informed by China-led stability and one battered by Washington. Chinese ambassador Xie Feng’s comments to the 1,000-member China General Chamber of Commerce come two weeks into Trump’s second year of his latest term in the White House. The past fortnight has already seen the Trump administration...

China’s US envoy says world faces ‘stark choice’ as 2026 opens with instability

China’s top diplomat in the United States delivered a sharply worded rebuke on Thursday over US President Donald Trump’s tumultuous approach to global relations, laying out a stark choice between a world informed by China-led stability and one battered by Washington. Chinese ambassador Xie Feng’s comments to the 1,000-member China General Chamber of Commerce come two weeks into Trump’s second year of his latest term in the White House. The past fortnight has already seen the Trump administration...

Xi Jinping and Mark Carney refresh China-Canada ties with ‘historic’ state visit

China and Canada have embarked on a new strategic partnership, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the Chinese capital on Friday as he announced a series of deals and suggested that Beijing was a “more predictable” partner than Washington. After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney, whose four-day visit to China ends on Saturday, said the two countries made “significant progress” on key issues during a “historic and productive two days”. He said bilateral ties had been...

Xi Jinping and Mark Carney refresh China-Canada ties with ‘historic’ state visit

China and Canada have embarked on a new strategic partnership, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in the Chinese capital on Friday as he announced a series of deals and suggested that Beijing was a “more predictable” partner than Washington. After talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Carney, whose four-day visit to China ends on Saturday, said the two countries made “significant progress” on key issues during a “historic and productive two days”. He said bilateral ties had been...

China’s quantum warfare weapons; ‘rising star’ quits US: SCMP’s 7 highlights

di:SCMP · SCMP
16 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:12
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line...

Chinese power stocks surge on State Grid’s record US$574 billion investment plan

Shares of Chinese electricity and grid equipment makers surged after State Grid unveiled a 4 trillion yuan (US$574 billion) plan to upgrade the country’s power networks, as surging demand and the global race in artificial intelligence drive investment in energy infrastructure. Transformer makers Sieyuan Electric and Shanghai Guangdian Electric triggered the trading halt mechanism after surging 10 per cent on Friday morning. At least 11 mainland-listed companies rose 10 per cent or more in the...

China’s supercooling tech packs 40% more punch into chips used in military radar

Chinese scientists have unlocked a revolutionary supercooling innovation in semiconductor technology, paving the way for a 40 per cent leap in the performance of gallium nitride-based radar systems, which are widely used in China’s most advanced stealth aircraft. The new Chinese-made chips can handle extreme power loads in the X and Ka bands – frequencies critical for advanced radar systems, satellite communications and next-generation wireless computer networks. “This is the most significant...

China’s quantum warfare weapons; ‘rising star’ quits US: SCMP’s 7 highlights

di:SCMP · SCMP
16 Gennaio 2026 ore 05:12
We have selected seven stories from this week’s news across Hong Kong, mainland China, the wider Asia region and beyond that resonated with our readers and shed light on topical issues. If you would like to see more of our reporting, please consider subscribing. 1. Chinese military says it is developing over 10 quantum warfare weapons The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line...

US ambassador to China David Perdue to visit Hong Kong at the end of January, sources say

America’s ambassador to China, David Perdue, will visit Hong Kong at the end of January to speak at a business conference, according to sources. Perdue will address the Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference Asia-Pacific 2026 on January 27, several people familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post. They said the envoy was expected to spend “several days” in the city. The US consulate in Hong Kong, the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese foreign ministry in Hong Kong and the Hong...

US ambassador to China David Perdue to visit Hong Kong at the end of January, sources say

America’s ambassador to China, David Perdue, will visit Hong Kong at the end of January to speak at a business conference, according to sources. Perdue will address the Goldman Sachs Global Macro Conference Asia-Pacific 2026 on January 27, several people familiar with the matter told the South China Morning Post. They said the envoy was expected to spend “several days” in the city. The US consulate in Hong Kong, the Commissioner’s Office of the Chinese foreign ministry in Hong Kong and the Hong...

Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda driving countries closer to China: survey

United States President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda is helping to make China great again and ushering in a “truly multipolar world”, according to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations. “A year on from Trump’s return, in countries across the globe, many people believe China is on the verge of becoming even more powerful,” the think tank said after surveying 25,949 people from 21 countries, including the US, China, Russia, Britain and Brazil. Most respondents thought...

Trump’s ‘America first’ agenda driving countries closer to China: survey

United States President Donald Trump’s “America first” agenda is helping to make China great again and ushering in a “truly multipolar world”, according to a survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations. “A year on from Trump’s return, in countries across the globe, many people believe China is on the verge of becoming even more powerful,” the think tank said after surveying 25,949 people from 21 countries, including the US, China, Russia, Britain and Brazil. Most respondents thought...

China’s slowing growth, bilateral tensions top American business concerns in 2026

Concerns about China’s slowing economic growth and “strained” Beijing-Washington relations rank as the top two concerns among members of the American Chamber of Commerce in China this year, according to a chamber survey released on Friday. The growth concern was raised by 64 per cent of the 368 respondents, making it the leading issue, the annual China Business Climate Survey found. Fifty-two per cent of respondents reported being profitable or very profitable last year, 6 percentage points more...

Could China’s Yaogan-47 satellite have a lens as wide as the Hubble Telescope?

One of China’s latest Earth observation satellites operating in low orbit could feature an optical aperture at a two-metre scale with “global leading” remote sensing capabilities, according to a China Science Daily report on Thursday last week. The report refers to the Yaogan-47 satellite, which was launched aboard a Long March 4B carrier rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre on December 9. For comparison, the Hubble Space Telescope and likely the US KH-11 spy satellite have main...

China pushes slow bull run with tightened margin financing rules to fight overheating

China’s move to raise margin requirements for leveraged stock trading signalled regulators’ push to steer clear of boom-and-bust cycles, while strengthening the stock market’s role in funding the country’s tech self-sufficiency efforts, according to analysts. “The signal from regulators was crystal-clear: guide the market towards a stable transition to a slow bull run,” said Wang Jun, a strategist at BOC International in Shanghai. “Investors should reduce their leverage levels to guard against...

Brazil’s Bolsonaro sent to prison with roomier cell, more perks

Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro was on Thursday transferred to prison, where he will serve his sentence for orchestrating a failed coup in “more favourable” conditions, according to a court order. The 70-year-old former leader was sentenced to 27 years in prison last year for his attempts to cling to power following his narrow 2022 re-election loss to Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro’s family has repeatedly complained on podcasts and social media about the conditions in which he was...

Exiled crown prince’s plan for Iran seen as mostly aimed at Trump

No pursuit of nuclear weapons. Confronting drug trafficking. An immediate recognition of the state of Israel. Exporting copious amounts of oil and gas. Exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi laid out his aspirations on Thursday for Iran if its theocracy is toppled – and experts say they sound exactly like what US President Donald Trump wants to hear. That plan is probably aimed at trying to secure support to lead Iran if the nationwide protests succeed in ousting the Islamic Republic. Activists...

Venezuela’s Machado says she ‘presented’ her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she presented her Nobel Peace Prize medal to US President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday even as he has questioned her credibility to take over her country after the US ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. The Nobel Institute has said Machado could not give her prize to Trump, an honour that he has coveted. Even if it the gesture proves to be purely symbolic, it was extraordinary given that Trump has effectively sidelined Machado, who...

Lutnick warns Taipei to keep Trump ‘happy’ as US chip deal draws Beijing rebuke

Blending economic nationalism with geopolitical leverage, US President Donald Trump’s top trade official delivered a pointed message to Taiwan shortly after Washington announced an ambitious deal on Thursday to bring critical technology manufacturing, including semiconductors, back to the United States. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the massive reshoring initiative as not just a business transaction, but as a strategic imperative for Taiwan to maintain favour with the “America...

US bill approving US$300 million for Taiwan’s military passed in House

A US spending bill approving US$300 million in cash assistance for Taiwan’s military has passed the House of Representatives and is expected to become law. On Wednesday, the House passed a two-bill government spending package that would fund the Departments of the Treasury and State through September, along with other federal agencies, bringing the total to eight of 12 annual spending bills needed by January 30, to avoid a government shutdown. The bills must now clear the Senate before they can...

China’s Zhejiang targets 3- to 7-nanometre AI chip breakthroughs to counter US chokehold

China’s eastern tech powerhouse Zhejiang, home to giants like Alibaba and the humanoid robotics start-up Unitree, has set clear targets to develop cutting-chips and chipmaking equipment over the next five years. The province is the latest locality to prioritise innovation under its new five-year plan. It joins other hubs, including Shenzhen and Shanghai, that have thrown their weight behind Beijing’s nationwide strategy to develop indigenous technologies amid an intensifying rivalry with the...

Lutnick warns Taipei to keep Trump ‘happy’ as US chip deal draws Beijing rebuke

Blending economic nationalism with geopolitical leverage, US President Donald Trump’s top trade official delivered a pointed message to Taiwan shortly after Washington announced an ambitious deal on Thursday to bring critical technology manufacturing, including semiconductors, back to the United States. US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick framed the massive reshoring initiative as not just a business transaction, but as a strategic imperative for Taiwan to maintain favour with the “America...

US bill approving US$300 million for Taiwan’s military passed in House

A US spending bill approving US$300 million in cash assistance for Taiwan’s military has passed the House of Representatives and is expected to become law. On Wednesday, the House passed a two-bill government spending package that would fund the Departments of the Treasury and State through September, along with other federal agencies, bringing the total to eight of 12 annual spending bills needed by January 30, to avoid a government shutdown. The bills must now clear the Senate before they can...

US lawmakers propose US$2.5 billion agency to boost production of rare earths

A bipartisan group of lawmakers has proposed creating a new agency with US$2.5 billion to spur production of rare earths and the other critical minerals, while the Trump administration has already taken aggressive actions to break China’s grip on the market for these materials that are crucial to hi-tech products, including mobile phones, electric vehicles, jet fighters and missiles. It is too early to tell how the bill, if passed, could align with the White House’s policy but whatever the...

Why China’s next development priority must be secondary education

If you were asked which middle-income country has one of the lowest levels of educational attainment, very few would say China. We continually hear stories about mass university expansion, record numbers of annual graduates and elite institutions that rank among the world’s best. Despite these impressive strides, gaps in education remain a large roadblock for China’s further economic development. The country remains largely undereducated for its level of economic development: only about 31 per...

China-linked hackers targeted US agencies with Venezuela-themed phishing: report

A hacker group with links to China recently used Venezuela-themed phishing emails in a malware campaign targeting US government-related entities, as cyberattack campaigns increasingly leverage geopolitical materials, according to Swiss cybersecurity firm Acronis. A malware campaign has used recent developments between the US and Venezuela as “thematic lures” to attack US government and policy-related entities with a back door that has espionage-focused capabilities, including basic remote...

US says Iran halted 800 protester executions after Trump warnings

The United States on Thursday said Iran halted 800 executions of protesters under pressure from President Donald Trump, after Gulf allies appeared to pull him back from military action over Tehran’s deadly crackdown on demonstrations. Iran was shaken over the last week by some of the biggest anti-government protests in the history of the Islamic republic, although the demonstrations appear to have diminished over the last few days in the face of repression and a week-long internet...

Washington completes first sale of Venezuelan oil in US$500 million deal, says US official

The United States has finalised a sale of Venezuelan oil – the first since Washington took control of the sector following the toppling of Nicolas Maduro, a US official told Agence France-Presse on Thursday. According to the official, who did not identify the buyer, the deal is worth US$500 million, and additional sales could take place in the coming days or weeks. “President Trump brokered a historic energy deal with Venezuela, immediately following the arrest of narcoterrorist Nicolas Maduro,...

Britain’s surging Reform UK party draws big-name Tory defector

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 18:34
Britain’s former ‍Conservative Party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick became the biggest-name defector to Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform UK on Thursday, saying the nation was broken and its two mainstream political parties rotten. Sacked by the Conservatives when his potential switch was leaked, Jenrick appeared alongside Farage at a press conference, the latest of 21 current ⁠or former Conservative lawmakers to join Reform. Farage’s anti-immigration party was ahead of both Prime Minister...

US charges 26 people with rigging college, Chinese basketball games

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 17:48
Pennsylvania federal prosecutors on Thursday announced charges against 26 people for allegedly rigging bets on college and Chinese professional basketball games, the latest case to accuse athletes of cheating at legalised sports betting that ⁠has exploded in popularity in the US. A 70-page indictment names more than a dozen former National Collegiate Athletic Association basketball players, a former NBA player and two sports-betting influencers who were previously charged in a sweeping NBA...

Trump admin closer to deporting pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil after court ruling

A federal appeal panel on Thursday reversed a lower court decision that released former Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil from an immigration prison, bringing the government one step closer to detaining and ultimately deporting the Palestinian activist. A three-judge panel of the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeal in Philadelphia did not decide the key issue in Khalil’s case: whether the Trump administration’s effort to throw Khalil out of the US over his campus activism and...

Minneapolis on edge as Trump threatens to use Insurrection Act and send in troops

Minneapolis was on edge as US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to the city to enforce his administration’s massive immigration crackdown. The threat came a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and...

Europeans send military personnel to Greenland in message to Trump

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 15:11
European countries sent small numbers of military personnel to Greenland on Thursday as ‌Denmark said it was pressing on with plans for a “larger and more permanent” Nato presence to secure the island coveted by US President Donald Trump. The modest European deployments, meant to help ‍Denmark prepare military exercises, sent a strong message of support a day after a meeting of officials from the US, Denmark and Greenland failed to reach any breakthrough on the impasse. After that meeting, Trump...

US seizes sixth sanctioned tanker as it tightens grip on Venezuela’s oil

US forces in the Caribbean Sea have seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says has ties to Venezuela, part of a broader US effort to take control of the South American country’s oil. The US Coast Guard boarded the tanker, named Veronica, early Thursday, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem wrote on social media. The ship had previously passed through Venezuelan waters and was operating in defiance of US President Donald Trump’s “established quarantine of...

The US has sent a ‘dangerous’ message in Venezuela and China must act, legal expert warns

China needs to legislate to protect itself against the risk of “external suppression” and safeguard its technology and supply chains, a legal expert with a top Beijing think tank has warned. Li Honglei, head of a Communist Party committee that oversees two law institutes under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said tighter national security legislation was needed to make the country more “resilient”. He said the risks had been laid bare by America’s abduction of the former Venezuelan...

China warns against the ‘law of the jungle’ amid anti-government protests in Iran

China has warned that the “law of the jungle” must not apply in Iran amid the current wave of anti-government protests. Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke to his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi, by phone on Thursday, telling him that Beijing was willing to play a “constructive role” in resolving differences through dialogue. Some observers have described the recent protests in Iran as the largest since the 1979 Islamic revolution with an estimated death toll ranging from 2,000 to...

Kremlin warns Ukraine running out of time to accept peace terms as winter crisis deepens

The Kremlin said on Thursday that Ukraine was running out of options to strike a deal to end almost four years of war with Russia, as thousands were without heating in Kyiv in -12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) temperatures following waves of Russian strikes on the country’s energy grid. Moscow has not backed down from its intention to seize the rest of east Ukraine as the fourth anniversary of its offensive – Europe’s worst war since World War II – looms. “The situation is...

An internally split Europe can never fully engage China and Asia

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:30
When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction. For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role. One Europe, embedded...

China and Canada at ‘new starting point’ as Mark Carney breaks ice with state visit

China and Canada are at a “new starting point” and the two countries should deepen cooperation to protect multilateralism and free trade. That was the message Premier Li Qiang had for Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney in Beijing on Thursday, on the second day of a four-day state visit to China. “Standing at a new starting point, China is willing to work with Canada to uphold the strategic partnership, strengthen dialogue and communication, enhance political mutual trust, respect each other’s...

An internally split Europe can never fully engage China and Asia

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 13:30
When contemporary Europe engages with the world, it increasingly presents as two distinct Europes operating within the same institutional framework. This duality – a Europe of strategic dependence vs a Europe of normative assertion – creates a contradiction. For partners, particularly in China and across Asia, this is not merely an abstract identity crisis but a practical geopolitical puzzle that complicates engagement and challenges assumptions about Europe’s global role. One Europe, embedded...

Nie Weiping, Chinese Go master known for dramatic victory over Japanese rival, dies at 73

Nie Weiping, a legendary Go master in China, died in Beijing at the age of 73 on Wednesday. Nie is best remembered for his dramatic victory in the first Japan-China Super Go in 1985. Few had hope that China would win because its players had long lagged behind Japanese competitors in the strategy board game. By the time it was Nie’s turn to play in Tokyo, Japan’s top player, Kobayashi Koichi, had already won six straight games against his Chinese counterparts. Nie was the only Chinese player left...

How Chinese corruption busters are tracking down bribes paid in cryptocurrency

Beijing has revealed how its graft-busters are investigating bribes paid in hard-to-trace cryptocurrencies by tracking the ways in which corrupt officials have been spending the proceeds. A documentary shown on state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday highlighted the case of Yao Qian, the former director of the digital currency institute at the People’s Bank of China. Investigators became suspicious when Yao bought a villa in Beijing for more than 20 million yuan (around US$2.9 million) under the...

Groenlandia: nuova presenza militare europea di fronte alle mire USA

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:45

Il dossier Groenlandia si conferma anche nel 2026 come uno dei principali fattori di attrito
nelle relazioni tra Stati Uniti ed Europa. Negli ultimi mesi, infatti, la pressione esercitata
dall’amministrazione Trump su questo fronte si è ulteriormente intensificata, con il ricorso a
una retorica sempre più assertiva da parte della Casa Bianca. L’obiettivo proclamato è
l’acquisizione dell’isola, parte integrante del Regno di Danimarca, al fine di rafforzare la
posizione strategica americana nell’Artico.

Tale atteggiamento ha suscitato crescente preoccupazione tra gli alleati europei, a partire da Copenaghen, sia per la messa in discussione dell’integrità territoriale danese sia, più in generale, per le potenziali ripercussioni dell’approccio di Washington sulla coesione dell’alleanza transatlantica.

L’incontro tenutosi a Washington il 14 gennaio tra rappresentanti statunitensi, danesi e groenlandesi non ha prodotto risultati risolutivi, confermando la persistenza di significative divergenze tra le parti. Gli Stati Uniti, infatti, hanno ribadito il proprio interesse a rafforzare l’influenza sulla Groenlandia, mentre la Danimarca non ha ottenuto rassicurazioni e non è riuscita a smussare la posizione degli interlocutori americani. 

Al contempo, Copenaghen e alcuni alleati europei hanno annunciato una rinnovata presenza militare sull’isola, destinata a concretizzarsi con effetto immediato. Da un lato, dunque, la Danimarca manda un segnale a Washington sul proprio impegno a tutelare la sicurezza della Groenlandia, rispondendo così a uno dei temi della retorica di Trump utilizzato per legittimare le pretese americane sull’isola (con riferimento alla presunta inadeguatezza dello sforzo danese volto a salvaguardare sicurezza la Groenlandia); dall’altro, anche gli alleati europei compiono un salto di qualità nella loro postura rispetto al dossier in questione, aggiungendo al supporto diplomatico a Copenaghen e all’integrità territoriale danese una presenza militare concreta sul terreno. Parallelamente, le cancellerie europee hanno cercato di mantenere aperti i canali di dialogo con Washington, nel tentativo di scongiurare una crisi irreversibile e di individuare soluzioni condivise capaci di garantire sicurezza, stabilità e rispetto delle regole nell’Artico.

Il vertice USA-Danimarca e la risposta europea

L’incontro tenutosi a Washington tra i rappresentanti statunitensi e danesi–groenlandesi, che ha visto la partecipazione, da un lato, del vicepresidente J.D. Vance e del segretario di Stato Marco Rubio e, dall’altro, del ministro degli Esteri danese Lars Løkke Rasmussen e della ministra degli Esteri groenlandese Vivian Motzfeldt, non ha prodotto risultati risolutivi. Al termine dei colloqui, Rasmussen ha riconosciuto l’esistenza di “disaccordi fondamentali” tra le parti, ammettendo il fallimento del tentativo di smussare la posizione americana. In particolare, il capo della diplomazia danese ha affermato che “è chiaro che Trump intende prendere possesso della Groenlandia”, pur sottolineando come una simile prospettiva appaia “non necessaria” alla luce della già consolidata presenza militare statunitense sull’isola.

Nelle stesse ore, la Danimarca e alcuni Paesi europei hanno annunciato l’intenzione di rafforzare la presenza militare in Groenlandia. Il Ministero della Difesa di Copenaghen, proseguendo sulla linea del potenziamento avviato già nel 2025, ha comunicato l’avvio di una nuova fase di dispiegamento di forze, in particolare in vista dell’esercitazione militare Arctic Endurance. Questa nuova presenza si concretizzerà principalmente attraverso l’invio di aerei, navi e soldati, accompagnate da unità di Paesi alleati appartenenti alla NATO. Tali forze saranno impiegate per intensificare la sorveglianza dei siti considerati più sensibili e per fornire assistenza alle autorità locali, comprese quelle di polizia. Secondo quanto dichiarato dal ministro Poulsen, nel corso delle prossime settimane verranno studiate, insieme agli alleati europei, ulteriori misure operative volte a incrementare la presenza danese ed europea nella regione artica, con l’obiettivo di rafforzare la difesa e la sicurezza della Groenlandia. La ministra degli Esteri groenlandese Motzfeldt, a sua volta, ha ribadito che la tutela della sicurezza dell’isola rappresenta una “priorità fondamentale” per il governo di Nuuk e ha accolto positivamente la messa a punto di una presenza militare europea.

La Germania, in questo contesto, ha fin da subito assunto un ruolo attivo annunciando l’invio, dal 15 al 17 gennaio, di una squadra di ricognizione composta da tredici unità. Questo gruppo è stato incaricato di esplorare e valutare le condizioni necessarie per un eventuale contributo militare tedesco a supporto della Danimarca nell’isola, con particolare attenzione al settore della sorveglianza marittima. Tale passo rappresenta un primo segnale concreto di coinvolgimento tedesco nella difesa della regione artica e nella tutela dell’integrità territoriale danese.

Anche la Francia ha confermato la propria partecipazione. Il Presidente Emmanuel Macron ha annunciato l’invio immediato di un primo gruppo di truppe, preannunciando l’aggiunta di ulteriori unità in seguito. Nei mesi scorsi, Parigi aveva già assunto una postura diplomatica chiara con riguardo al dossier groenlandese: nell’aprile 2025, infatti, Parigi e Copenaghen avevano siglato una Partnership Strategica che, tra l’altro, riaffermava l’importanza del rispetto dell’integrità territoriale degli Stati, anche alla luce delle dichiarazioni di Trump sulla Groenlandia espresse fin dai primi mesi del suo secondo mandato. Più recentemente, la decisione di aprire un consolato francese in Groenlandia, prevista per il 6 febbraio, conferma la volontà di rafforzare anche sul piano politico e diplomatico il ruolo di Parigi nella regione.

La Svezia, attraverso l’annuncio del primo ministro Ulf Kristersson, ha confermato la propria partecipazione alla missione congiunta, dimostrando la compattezza dei partner nordici ed europei. È previsto, infatti, anche il coinvolgimento della Norvegia, mentre la Finlandia, tramite il ministro degli Esteri Elina Valtonen, ha dichiarato di aver ricevuto una richiesta formale in questo senso e che sono in corso le valutazioni su una possibile partecipazione. Per il resto, fonti internazionali, tra cui POLITICO, riportano inoltre la possibilità che anche Paesi Bassi e Canada aderiscano all’iniziativa, ampliando ulteriormente il fronte degli attori coinvolti.

Nel complesso, la reazione europea alla crisi groenlandese si sta configurando come un’azione congiunta e rapida, anche se dalla portata numerica per il momento limitata, incentrata sulla difesa dell’integrità territoriale della Danimarca e sulla riaffermazione del ruolo collettivo della NATO nella sicurezza della regione artica. 

Europa, Groenlandia e USA: prospettive e divergenze

La posizione della Danimarca e dell’Unione Europea di fronte agli eventi in corso si caratterizza per una crescente preoccupazione rispetto all’escalation retorica e politica proveniente da Washington. La premier danese Mette Frederiksen ha dichiarato che un’eventuale acquisizione della Groenlandia da parte degli Stati Uniti rappresenterebbe una minaccia di portata sistemica, tale da mettere in discussione non solo l’integrità territoriale del Regno di Danimarca, ma anche la stessa tenuta della NATO e, più in generale, l’architettura di sicurezza internazionale consolidatasi nel secondo dopoguerra.
Tali timori hanno trovato conferma anche presso volti di primo piano dell’UE, tra i quali il Presidente del Consiglio europeo António Costa e il Commissario europeo per la Difesa Andrius Kubilius, che hanno ribadito la centralità del rispetto del diritto internazionale con riguardo alle mire espresse da Washington.

In questa direzione si colloca anche la “Dichiarazione congiunta sulla Groenlandia” del 6 gennaio, firmata dai leader di Danimarca, Francia, Germania, Regno Unito, Italia, Polonia e Spagna, nella quale si afferma che la sicurezza della Groenlandia deve essere garantita collettivamente nell’ambito della NATO, nel rispetto della volontà della popolazione locale e in piena coerenza con i principi sanciti dalla Carta delle Nazioni Unite, in particolare quelli relativi alla sovranità, all’integrità territoriale e all’inviolabilità dei confini.

Allo stesso tempo, secondo quanto riportato da POLITICO, i leader dell’Unione Europea starebbero esplorando soluzioni volte a ridimensionare i toni e la portata delle mire espresse da Donald Trump. Tra le opzioni prese in considerazione figurano sia un rafforzamento della presenza NATO nell’Artico, di cui il dispiegamento delle forze europee costituirebbe una prima manifestazione, sia possibili concessioni agli Stati Uniti in ambito economico, in particolare nel settore dell’estrazione mineraria. Tale approccio segnala il tentativo europeo di privilegiare la conciliazione e la gestione negoziale della crisi, così come di scongiurare una svolta negativa e un contrasto aperto con Washington.

Il governo groenlandese, da parte sua, ha inquadrato la situazione in corso come una vera e propria “crisi geopolitica”. In questo contesto, il governo di Nuuk, verso il quale le capitali europee e la stessa UE hanno a più riprese espresso solidarietà e sostegno, ha assunto una posizione chiara: il 13 gennaio, il premier Jens-Frederik Nielsen, nel corso di una conferenza stampa congiunta con la premier danese Frederiksen, ha ribadito la volontà di appartenere al Regno di Danimarca, respingendo al contempo in modo esplicito qualsiasi ipotesi di assoggettamento agli Stati Uniti o di integrazione nel territorio americano.

Dal punto di vista statunitense, infine, il presidente Donald Trump ha giustificato la necessità di acquisire la Groenlandia presentandola come un tassello fondamentale del progetto “Golden Dome”, inserendo la questione all’interno di una narrativa di sicurezza nazionale. Secondo Trump, un mancato controllo americano dell’isola aprirebbe la strada a una possibile penetrazione strategica di Russia e Cina nella regione artica, con conseguenze potenzialmente negative per gli interessi di sicurezza degli Stati Uniti.

La natura particolarmente assertiva dell’approccio americano è stata descritta in termini espliciti nell’Intelligence Outlook pubblicato nel dicembre 2025 dai servizi danesi. Nel documento si afferma che gli Stati Uniti stanno facendo ricorso, anche nei confronti dei propri alleati, al proprio potere economico e politico per imporre le proprie posizioni, per esempio attraverso la minaccia dell’imposizione di dazi sui beni esportati, e che non escludono più, almeno a livello teorico, neppure il ricorso alla forza militare.

In linea con questa impostazione, Trump ha dichiarato di voler valutare “tutte le opzioni” per assumere il controllo della Groenlandia, senza escludere apertamente l’impiego della forza. Tra le ipotesi ventilate figura anche quella dell’acquisizione dell’isola attraverso un esborso economico: secondo quanto riportato da Reuters, l’eventualità di un pagamento diretto ai residenti sarebbe stata presa in considerazione a Washington, confermando l’intenzione dell’amministrazione americana di esplorare ogni possibile strada per raggiungere l’obiettivo prefissato.

Quali implicazioni per i rapporti Europa-America?

Il dossier groenlandese si configura oggi come uno dei principali banchi di prova per la solidità delle relazioni transatlantiche. La crescente assertività statunitense nei confronti dell’isola, giustificata in nome di imperativi di sicurezza nazionale e della competizione con Russia e Cina nell’Artico, si scontra infatti con i principi fondanti dell’ordine internazionale basato sulle regole storicamente propugnati dai Paesi occidentali: il rispetto della sovranità, dell’integrità territoriale e delle norme del diritto internazionale. La risposta europea, dettata anche dalla preoccupazione per ripercussioni negative sulla coesione della NATO, mira a contenere l’escalation e a preservare la cornice alleata, evitando una frattura irreversibile con Washington.

Le dinamiche in atto, oltre a confermare la crescente rilevanza della Groenlandia nella competizione tra potenze nell’Artico, evidenziano come il dossier groenlandese costituisca un indicatore particolarmente sensibile dell’evoluzione dei rapporti tra Stati Uniti ed Europa. Le modalità di gestione e l’esito dell’attuale confronto su questo tema sono infatti destinati a incidere in modo significativo sulla traiettoria delle relazioni transatlantiche nei prossimi anni.

Groenlandia, la nuova frontiera dell’egemonia americana: oltre la retorica della difesa

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 09:37

L’insistenza dell’amministrazione Trump sull’acquisizione della Groenlandia rivela dinamiche geopolitiche che trascendono la giustificazione militare. L’isola artica rappresenta un nodo strategico per il controllo delle risorse critiche, delle nuove rotte commerciali e per l’indipendenza tecnologica degli Stati Uniti dalla Cina, con implicazioni ambientali di portata globale.

L’interesse statunitense per la Groenlandia non costituisce una novità nella storia diplomatica americana. Già nel 1946, l’amministrazione Truman aveva avanzato un’offerta di acquisto alla Danimarca, proposta che venne respinta. Tuttavia, l’attuale pressione esercitata dall’amministrazione Trump per acquisire il controllo dell’isola presenta caratteristiche inedite che meritano un’analisi approfondita. La motivazione ufficiale addotta da Washington ruota attorno alla necessità di garantire la difesa del territorio artico dalle crescenti ambizioni di Cina e Russia. Questa giustificazione risulta tuttavia parziale e solleva interrogativi sulla reale portata degli obiettivi strategici americani.

La Groenlandia è già inserita nel perimetro difensivo della NATO e ospita dal 1951 la base spaziale di Pituffik, precedentemente nota come base aerea di Thule, che rappresenta una delle installazioni militari più settentrionali degli Stati Uniti. Gli accordi bilaterali vigenti tra Washington e Copenaghen consentirebbero già un’espansione significativa della presenza militare americana sull’isola senza necessità di modifiche sostanziali dello status giuridico del territorio. L’enfasi posta sulla dimensione securitaria appare quindi insufficiente a spiegare l’intensità della pressione diplomatica esercitata dall’amministrazione statunitense, suggerendo l’esistenza di motivazioni strategiche più complesse e articolate. Ed anzi, un atteggiamento tanto aggressivo da parte di Washington potrebbe avere, come in effetti sta avendo, l’effetto opposto di allontanare in maniera irreparabile Stati Uniti sia dalla Groenlandia, sia dall’Europa.Il monopolio cinese sulle terre rare e la sicurezza tecnologica

La questione delle risorse naturali costituisce probabilmente il vero fulcro dell’interesse americano per la Groenlandia. Il progressivo scioglimento della calotta glaciale, conseguenza diretta del riscaldamento globale, sta rendendo accessibili giacimenti minerari di portata straordinaria che fino a pochi decenni fa rimanevano impraticabili. La Groenlandia custodisce nel proprio sottosuolo risorse strategiche fondamentali per l’economia del ventunesimo secolo, trasformando l’isola in uno degli ultimi territori vergini disponibili per lo sfruttamento minerario su scala industriale.

Il controllo cinese sulla catena produttiva delle terre rare rappresenta una delle principali vulnerabilità strategiche degli Stati Uniti e dell’Occidente. Pechino controlla attualmente tra l’ottanta e il novanta per cento della raffinazione mondiale di questi elementi chimici, essenziali per la produzione di componenti elettronici avanzati, veicoli elettrici, turbine eoliche e sistemi d’arma di nuova generazione. Questa dipendenza tecnologica costituisce un rischio geopolitico che Washington intende eliminare attraverso la diversificazione delle fonti di approvvigionamento. L’acquisizione della sovranità sulla Groenlandia permetterebbe agli Stati Uniti di spezzare questo monopolio cinese senza dover sottostare alle stringenti normative ambientali europee o danesi che attualmente vincolano lo sfruttamento delle risorse dell’isola.

Le stime geologiche attribuiscono al sottosuolo artico, e groenlandese in gran parte, circa il tredici per cento delle riserve mondiali di petrolio non ancora sfruttate e il trenta per cento di quelle di gas naturale, oltre a quantità significative di uranio, zinco, oro e altri minerali strategici. Il giacimento di Kvanefjeld, situato nella parte meridionale dell’isola, rappresenta uno dei più grandi depositi al mondo di terre rare e uranio, con un potenziale produttivo che potrebbe soddisfare una quota rilevante del fabbisogno occidentale. La valorizzazione di queste risorse richiederebbe tuttavia la rimozione degli ostacoli normativi attualmente esistenti, obiettivo che potrebbe essere raggiunto solo attraverso un cambiamento radicale dello status politico del territorio.

L’impatto ambientale come variabile sacrificabile

L’estrazione e la lavorazione delle terre rare comportano processi industriali ad altissimo impatto ambientale, caratterizzati dalla produzione di ingenti quantità di scarti tossici e radioattivi. Molti giacimenti groenlandesi, incluso quello di Kvanefjeld, contengono concentrazioni significative di uranio e torio, elementi che richiedono specifici protocolli di sicurezza e producono fanghi di lavorazione altamente contaminanti. La raffinazione delle terre rare genera residui chimici pericolosi che devono essere stoccati in appositi bacini di contenimento per periodi prolungati, con rischi ambientali che le normative europee e danesi considerano inaccettabili.

Nel 2021, il governo locale della Groenlandia ha approvato una legge che vieta espressamente l’estrazione di uranio, decisione motivata dalla volontà di preservare l’ecosistema incontaminato dell’isola e di proteggere le comunità Inuit dalle conseguenze sanitarie dell’inquinamento industriale. Questa normativa ha di fatto bloccato progetti minerari di grande portata che avevano raccolto l’interesse di investitori internazionali, generando tensioni tra le autorità locali e i sostenitori dello sfruttamento delle risorse naturali come strumento di sviluppo economico.

L’acquisizione della sovranità statunitense sulla Groenlandia potrebbe consentire a Washington di aggirare questi vincoli normativi attraverso l’istituzione di zone economiche speciali o aree di interesse nazionale dove le leggi ambientali locali verrebbero subordinate alle esigenze della sicurezza nazionale americana. La Groenlandia potrebbe così trasformarsi nell’hub industriale necessario per la transizione tecnologica degli Stati Uniti, ospitando processi produttivi che risulterebbero politicamente insostenibili se localizzati in Stati come il Maine o la California. La vastità del territorio groenlandese e la sua bassissima densità demografica renderebbero più facilmente gestibili le conseguenze ambientali dello sfruttamento minerario, delocalizzando i costi ecologici lontano dagli occhi dell’elettorato americano.

Il controllo delle nuove rotte marittime artiche

Oltre alle agevolazioni in ambito minerario, lo scioglimento progressivo dei ghiacci artici sta determinando l’apertura di nuove rotte marittime commerciali che potrebbero ridisegnare i flussi del commercio globale nei prossimi decenni. Il Passaggio a Nord Ovest, che attraversa l’arcipelago artico canadese collegando l’Oceano Atlantico al Pacifico, sta diventando navigabile per periodi sempre più prolungati durante l’anno, riducendo drasticamente le distanze (nell’ordine dei 7-8000 km), e quindi i tempi e i costi di trasporto tra Europa e Asia rispetto alle rotte tradizionali che transitano attraverso il Canale di Suez o il Canale di Panama.

Il controllo della Groenlandia garantirebbe quindi agli Stati Uniti anche una posizione dominante lungo questa nuova autostrada commerciale del ventunesimo secolo. La possibilità di gestire direttamente i porti strategici dell’isola e di poter controllare il transito sulle acque territoriali circostanti rappresenta un vantaggio economico e geopolitico che non può essere assicurato attraverso i semplici accordi di cooperazione militare attualmente in vigore con la Danimarca. La sovranità territoriale consentirebbe inoltre a Washington di impedire che altre potenze, in particolare la Cina, possano acquisire posizioni di influenza lungo queste rotte attraverso investimenti infrastrutturali o accordi commerciali con un’eventuale Groenlandia indipendente.

La questione dell’indipendenza rappresenta infatti un elemento centrale nell’analisi delle motivazioni americane. La Groenlandia sta progressivamente intensificando le richieste di piena sovranità nei confronti della Danimarca, e il conseguimento dell’indipendenza politica esporrebbe l’isola a pressioni economiche che potrebbero renderla vulnerabile all’influenza cinese. Pechino ha già dimostrato interesse per investimenti strategici in Groenlandia, inclusi progetti per la costruzione e l’ammodernamento di infrastrutture aeroportuali che avrebbero accresciuto la presenza economica cinese nell’Artico. Un’eventuale Groenlandia indipendente e priva di risorse finanziarie adeguate potrebbe trovare nella diplomazia del debito cinese una soluzione attraente, scenario che Washington intende prevenire attraverso un’acquisizione preventiva del territorio.

L’attuale presenza militare americana in Groenlandia si basa su trattati bilaterali con la Danimarca che richiedono rinegoziazioni periodiche e che potrebbero essere messi in discussione da un cambio di status politico dell’isola. L’acquisizione della sovranità eliminerebbe questa incertezza giuridica e garantirebbe agli Stati Uniti un controllo permanente su un territorio che riveste importanza crescente per gli equilibri strategici globali. La Groenlandia rappresenta per l’amministrazione Trump quello che l’Alaska rappresentò nel 1867 quando gli Stati Uniti la acquistarono dall’Impero Russo, un investimento territoriale di lungo periodo le cui potenzialità strategiche ed economiche si sono rivelate nel corso dei decenni successivi, in piena coerenza con l’annunciata adesione alla dottrina Monroe in salsa trumpiana.

La convergenza tra sicurezza energetica, indipendenza tecnologica dalla Cina, controllo delle nuove rotte commerciali artiche e possibilità di delocalizzare processi industriali ad alto impatto ambientale configura un quadro strategico nel quale la retorica della difesa militare assume una funzione prevalentemente strumentale. L’acquisizione della Groenlandia costituirebbe per gli Stati Uniti un’opportunità per consolidare la propria egemonia in un’area geografica destinata ad assumere rilevanza centrale negli equilibri geopolitici del ventunesimo secolo, ridefinendo al contempo i termini della competizione tecnologica ed economica con la Cina.

Resta tuttavia una domanda fondamentale: gli Stati Uniti si possono permettere il deterioramento significativo delle relazioni con i partner europei e, al peggio, la sostanziale fine della NATO (probabilmente conseguente ad una acquisizione della sovranità sulla Groenlandia con la forza), per soddisfare queste esigenze strategiche?

Piano Mattei per l’Africa: un’analisi sul potenziale e sulle debolezze della strategia italiana per implementare i rapporti con i Paesi africani

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00

Lo scorso fine ottobre si è tenuta una missione di tre giorni in Mauritania del ministro degli Esteri Antonio Tajani e del ministro dell’Interno Matteo Piantedosi la quale ha segnato una nuova stagione politica per l’Italia. Tale missione si inserisce nel quadro più ampio del piano Mattei che ha come obiettivo principale quello di rafforzare la presenza italiana nel continente africano, specialmente nell’area subsahariana. Tra le priorità principali che si è dato il governo italiano implementando questo piano vi è il rilancio dei rapporti economici, il contrasto all’immigrazione irregolare, la creazione di centri di eccellenza e formazione professionale, lo sviluppo di energie rinnovabili, investimenti in infrastrutture fisiche e digitali. Vi è anche lo sviluppo di piattaforme di telemedicina e servizi sanitari in un’ottica in cui l’Italia possa diventare la portavoce dell’Africa in Europa. In questo articolo verrà presentato il piano Mattei e verranno approfonditi i recenti sviluppi che hanno contraddistinto i rapporti italo-africani all’interno della strategia nazionale nella seconda metà del 2025.

Cos’è, quali sono i principali obiettivi e settori d’intervento?

Come descritto dal Governo Italiano, il Piano Mattei per l’Africa è una strategia nazionale con l’obiettivo di imprimere una modifica dei rapporti con il Continente africano e di costruire partenariati su base paritaria creando benefici e opportunità reciproche. Tale piano è stato presentato dal nostro Governo alle nazioni africane in occasione del vertice Italia-Africa del 29 gennaio 2024. A tale vertice parteciparono i rappresentanti di 46 Nazioni africane, oltre 25 Capi di Stato e di Governo, i tre Presidenti delle istituzioni europee nonché i vertici delle Nazioni Unite, dell’Unione Africana, di svariate istituzioni finanziarie e Banche multilaterali di sviluppo. Il piano prende il suo nome da Enrico Mattei, fondatore dell’ENI, per rimandare ad un modello di collaborazione equo dato che si è caratterizzato da un cambio di paradigma che vuole superare la logica donatore-beneficiario creando delle partnership win-win. In concreto, il piano Mattei si articola in sei principali aree di intervento: sanità; acqua; agricoltura; energia; infrastrutture fisiche e digitali. Al contempo vi sono anche progetti in fase di sviluppo che trattano di cultura, sport, IA e cooperazione nel settore spaziale. Il Piano permette al governo italiano di condividere con le Nazioni africane le fasi di elaborazione, definizione e attuazione dei progetti per poter assicurare dei ritorni sia economici che sociali che rimangano sul territorio e siano la base per successive espansioni. Vi è la partecipazione di tutto il Sistema Italia, a partire dalla rete diplomatico consolare, e il potenziamento delle sinergie con le iniziative strategiche a livello europeo e internazionale che hanno un focus sull’Africa, in particolare con le Istituzioni Finanziarie Internazionali, il Global Gateway dell’Unione europea e la Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment del G7. Nella sua prima fase, l’iniziativa si è declinata attraverso progetti pilota che hanno coinvolto nove Nazioni: quattro del quadrante nordafricano (Egitto, Tunisia, Marocco e Algeria) e cinque del quadrante subsahariano (Kenya, Etiopia, Mozambico, Repubblica del Congo e Costa d’Avorio). Nella sua seconda fase, il Piano Mattei, secondo una logica incrementale, ha coinvolto anche l’Angola, il Ghana, la Mauritania, il Senegal e la Tanzania. In contemporanea, il Piano Mattei sostiene anche progetti strategici transnazionali quali il corridoio di Lobito, ovvero una rete infrastrutturale per la connettività in Africa. L’obiettivo principale è collegare infrastrutture ferroviarie esistenti nelle regioni orientali dell’Angola e dello Zambia passando per la Repubblica Democratica del Congo. La nuova linea sarà di circa 800 km e collegherà i centri di Luacano (Angola) alla città di Chingola (Zambia) e comprenderà anche numerosi progetti di rafforzamento delle connessioni digitali ed energetiche, con iniziative che tengono in debito conto le esigenze delle comunità locali attraversate dal Corridoio. Inizialmente la partecipazione finanziaria italiana al progetto potrà ammontare fino a 320 milioni di dollari.

Le attività di definizione e attuazione del Piano Mattei per l’Africa sono esercitate dalla Cabina di Regia, presieduta dal Presidente del Consiglio dei Ministri. Nella sua composizione, la Cabina di Regia svolge i seguenti compiti: coordina le attività di collaborazione tra Italia e Stati africani, svolte, nell’ambito delle rispettive competenze, dalle amministrazioni pubbliche; promuove gli incontri tra rappresentanti della società civile, imprese e associazioni italiane e africane con lo scopo di agevolare le collaborazioni a livello territoriale e promuovere le attività di sviluppo; finalizza il Piano Mattei e i relativi aggiornamenti; monitora l’attuazione del Piano, anche ai fini del suo aggiornamento; approva la relazione annuale da trasmettere al Parlamento; promuove il coordinamento tra i diversi livelli di governo, gli enti pubblici e ogni altro soggetto pubblico e privato interessato; promuove le iniziative finalizzate all’accesso alle risorse messe a disposizione dall’Unione europea e da organizzazioni internazionali; coordina le iniziative di comunicazione relative all’attuazione del Piano.

Come previsto da un decreto-legge, entro il 30 giugno di ogni anno, il Governo trasmette alle Camere la relazione sullo stato di attuazione del Piano Mattei, approvata dalla Cabina di regia, che reca anche l’indicazione delle misure volte a migliorare l’attuazione del Piano Mattei e ad accrescere l’efficacia dei relativi interventi rispetto agli obiettivi perseguiti. L’ultima relazione annuale presentata lo scorso maggio, ha sottolineato come il Piano Mattei si inserisce in un contesto geopolitico in continuo mutamento che ha visto l’aggravarsi del conflitto in Medio Oriente che, dopo le ostilità in Israele, a Gaza e in Libano, si è esteso all’Iran, interessando anche i Paesi del Golfo e minacciando la libertà di navigazione nello stretto di Hormuz; la caduta del regime di Assad e l’avvio in Siria di una transizione dopo un’ultra-decennale guerra civile; la continua instabilità in Yemen che minaccia direttamente la navigazione nell’Oceano Indiano e nel Mar Rosso, dove transita circa il 14% del commercio marittimo globale e il 30% del traffico mondiale via container. Tale contesto instabile si sviluppa vicino all’Africa con impatti diretti su diversi ambiti cruciali per lo sviluppo del continente. Pertanto, l’implementazione del Piano Mattei nell’ultimo anno ha affrontato sfide complesse come quella di continuare a lavorare su progetti concreti sulla base di un partenariato paritario e di una logica di crescita condivisa; dall’altro mantenere l’Africa al centro della politica estera italiana anche a fronte del moltiplicarsi di crisi ed emergenze che rischiavano di distoglierne l’attenzione. Per fronteggiare le sfide di sviluppo del continente africano, sono state delineate delle linee d’azione quali l’estensione del Piano Mattei andando in controtendenza con il trend globale di riduzione degli aiuti allo sviluppo, lo sviluppo di partenariati e nuove sinergie a livello internazionale e l’intervento del debito in Africa. Ad inizio 2025, è stata annunciata l’adesione al Piano di 5 nuovi Paesi africani: Angola, Ghana, Mauritania, Senegal e Tanzania. La missione in Mauritania ha voluto ribadire l’interesse dell’Italia nella regione dell’Africa subsahariana, attraverso incontri con le autorità istituzionali, esponenti della comunità imprenditoriale locale e italiana e rappresentanti della collettività. Punti salienti sono stati il rilancio dei rapporti economici e il contrasto all’immigrazione irregolare. In questo senso – ha annunciato il ministro dell’Interno – saranno siglati anche accordi bilaterali per favorire i flussi regolari. Tutto questo, in un’ottica non predatoria: perché “noi consideriamo i Paesi africani nostri amici. E siamo anche pronti a trasformarci sempre più in portavoce dell’Africa in Europa”, ha riferito il titolare della Farnesina. “Io credo che un continente ricco come l’Africa, che ha grandi risorse di materie prime, possa avere delle grandi prospettive. Noi possiamo esportare in questi Paesi il nostro saper fare e penso per quanto riguarda le materie prime, se abbiamo un’ottica assolutamente anticoloniale, dobbiamo aiutare al recupero, all’estrazione delle materie prime, trasformarle qui e poi acquistarle e portarle in Italia”, ha spiegato Tajani. A tal proposito, l’Italia è il 24esimo fornitore e il quinto cliente della Mauritania, con cui l’interscambio bilaterale si è attestato a circa 157 milioni di euro nel 2024, con esportazioni pari a 29 milioni di euro e importazioni a 128 milioni. Nel periodo gennaio-luglio 2025, ha registrato 113 milioni di euro, in aumento del +18% sui ai primi sette mesi dell’anno prima. “Ma vogliamo dare un altro segnale di grande attenzione e 

pensiamo di poter esportare di più, ma anche importare di più in questo Paese con grandi potenzialità: contiamo di fare accordi vincenti, ha sottolineato Tajani. L’interesse italiano per la regione ha anche l’obiettivo di rafforzare le relazioni politiche con l’Africa Occidentale attraverso iniziative e progetti congiunti per promuovere sicurezza e stabilità nella regione. Come affermato da Piantedosi: “Vogliamo fare anche qui” collaborazioni per “trasformare i flussi in possibilità di migrazione legale per i ragazzi, per i giovani, per coloro che hanno progetti di migrazione positiva”. Dal punto di vista finanziario, in occasione degli Springs Meetings di aprile 2025 è stata formalizzata la collaborazione con la Banca Mondiale (“BM”) attraverso la firma di un accordo quadro di co-finanziamento sviluppando una consultazione regolare per individuare iniziative e programmi da cofinanziare in settori e Nazioni africane di interesse comune. Ancora nel contesto della collaborazione con la Banca Mondiale, l’Italia ha svolto, attraverso la Presidenza G7, un ruolo chiave di coordinamento nel corso dei negoziati per la ricostituzione dell’International Development Association (IDA), gruppo Banca Mondiale. L’Italia ha aumentato di circa il 25% il proprio contributo al rifinanziamento triennale dell’IDA con 733 milioni di euro, anche al fine di permettere alla BM, che destina il 75% delle sue risorse alle Nazioni africane a basso reddito, di rafforzare il proprio sostegno ai progetti realizzati nel quadro del Piano Mattei. Rilevante è anche la collaborazione con la Banca Africana di Sviluppo attraverso un fondo che conta 140milioni di Euro provenienti dai contributi del Fondo Italiano per il Clima, dal MASE e dal MAECI, cui si aggiunge un primo contributo degli Emirati Arabi Uniti di 25 milioni di dollari per progetti negli ambiti delle infrastrutture, dei trasporti, e della gestione delle risorse idriche. 

L’internazionalizzazione del Piano Mattei

Nel corso del 2025 ci sono state varie iniziative volte all’internazionalizzazione del Piano Mattei per l’Africa, nella convinzione che il suo successo dipenda anche dalla capacità di costruire collaborazioni concrete ed efficaci con i partner internazionali, con condivisione degli sforzi e delle iniziative. Si è pertanto consolidata la cooperazione con il Global Gateway dell’Unione Europea – attore di primo piano nelle iniziative di sviluppo in Africa – con particolare riferimento ai settori delle infrastrutture fisiche e digitali, dell’energia sostenibile e della produzione agroalimentare. Se l’Unione Europea, attraverso il Global Gateway, rappresenta un partner “naturale” per la strategia nazionale nei confronti dell’Africa, l’azione di internazionalizzazione del Piano Mattei si è arricchita di importanti iniziative per coinvolgere le Nazioni del Golfo, attori sempre più protagonisti sulla scena internazionale e che rivolgono una crescente attenzione all’Africa. In tale contesto, di assoluto rilievo sono state la visita del Presidente del Consiglio in Arabia Saudita (25- 26 gennaio) e la visita di Stato in Italia del Presidente degli Emirati Arabi Uniti (24 febbraio). Tali visite hanno consentito di concludere complessivamente dieci intese per il sostegno di progetti di comune interesse in Africa nei settori dell’energia e dell’acqua, coinvolgendo sia le istituzioni pubbliche sia il settore privato e finanziario. Sempre parte del processo di internazionalizzazione troviamo anche il contributo dell’iniziativa G7 Adaptation Accelerator Hub – lanciata sotto la Presidenza italiana del Gruppo dei Sette e in collaborazione con il Programma delle Nazioni Unite per lo Sviluppo (UNDP) – che sostiene le Nazioni in via di sviluppo più vulnerabili nell’attuazione di misure di adattamento climatico, mirando a trasformare i Piani Nazionali di Adattamento in progetti concreti attraverso la definizione di piani di investimento e la mobilitazione di supporto tecnico e finanziario. L’Etiopia, con il quale è in corso di definizione un Memorandum d’Intesa, sarà la prima Nazione beneficiaria dell’assistenza tecnica e il MASE ha già stanziato sei milioni di euro per finanziare l’inizio delle attività.

Analisi conclusiva dei punti di forza e dei limiti della recente missione in Mauritania del Piano Mattei

Dopo aver fatto una panoramica del Piano Mattei e dei suoi settori di applicazione, facciamo infine un’analisi dei principali punti di forza e di debolezza emersi durante la missione in Mauritania dei ministri Antonio Tajani e Matteo Piantedosi, svoltasi nell’ottobre 2025. Innanzitutto, la missione ha incluso l’inaugurazione dell’Ambasciata d’Italia a Nouakchott, rafforzando la presenza istituzionale in Mauritania. Questo segnale simbolico è importante per consolidare relazioni politiche e cooperazione bilaterale. Negli ultimi 10 anni, l’Italia ha aperto Ambasciate in Niger, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Mali e Mauritania per consolidare i rapporti con la regione. Quella in Mauritania é la prima tappa di una missione che porterà i due Ministri anche in Senegal e Niger, segno concreto di quanto l’Africa sia una priorità strategica per il Governo. La Mauritania svolge un ruolo importante per la stabilità e la sicurezza dell’interna regione ed è partner politico ed economico di crescente interesse. Obiettivi principali sono stati rafforzare il partenariato con tre Paesi chiave dell’Africa Occidentale, ponendo al centro della collaborazione la stabilizzazione istituzionale, lo sviluppo socio-economico, la lotta alla violenza jihadista e il contrasto ai traffici illeciti di armi, droga, esseri umani. Inoltre, il rafforzamento delle relazioni è visto come un’opportunità per espandere l’interscambio commerciale e favorire investimenti italiani nei settori strategici (materie prime, energia, infrastrutture), in un paese considerato stabile e ricco di risorse. Con Piantedosi presente, la missione ha affrontato anche temi sensibili come la sicurezza regionale e i flussi migratori, traducendo l’impegno in un dialogo diretto con le autorità mauritane su immigrazione irregolare e terrorismo per i mesi a venire. Infine, la scelta della Mauritania, assieme a Senegal e Niger, ha dato al nostro Paese l’occasione di riaffermare la propria rilevanza nei corridoi strategici dell’Africa occidentale e del Sahel, con un mix di diplomazia e cooperazione politico-economica. Nonostante i buoni risultati di questa recente missione in Mauritania, secondo vari analisti, il Piano Mattei può risultare troppo eterogeneo o poco specifico nei progetti concreti rispetto alle aspettative delle istituzioni africane e degli osservatori. La sua attuazione rimane in larga parte una sfida pratica. Inoltre, alcuni osservatori e comunità accademiche sottolineano che il piano rischia di non coinvolgere adeguatamente partner africani e società civile locali nella definizione dei progetti, potendo apparire un’iniziativa top-down piuttosto che una vera co-progettazione. Critiche consistenti riguardano l’assenza di un sistema di monitoraggio indipendente per valutare effettivamente i risultati dei progetti: senza ciò, c’è il rischio che si privilegino interessi economici italiani piuttosto che obiettivi di sviluppo sostenibile e benefici reali per le comunità locali. Connesso a questo punto, degli osservatori affermano che il piano sia stato disegnato con scarso coinvolgimento di partner africani e della diaspora, rendendo difficile raggiungere un vero “ownership” africano. Il Piano Mattei, pur dotato di un ammontare di risorse significative (circa 5,5 miliardi di euro complessivi secondo fonti di riferimento), rischia di essere insufficiente per affrontare le dimensioni delle sfide africane, soprattutto se confrontato con investimenti cinesi o multilaterali. A questo si aggiunge anche un’incertezza causata dalla fragilità politica, povertà, conflitti e scarsità di infrastrutture. Vi è quindi il rischio che senza stabilità politica e istituzionale, progetti anche ben finanziati possano rimanere sulla carta. Infine, vi sono diverse critiche sia in Africa che in Europa che segnalano come alcune iniziative possano essere viste come strumenti di influenza politica o di accesso alle risorse naturali, piuttosto che vere partnership paritarie, con sospetti di finalità “strumentali” (es. gestire migrazioni o favorire ENI e altre imprese italiane). In conclusione, possiamo affermare che la missione di ottobre in Mauritania, Senegal e Niger si è posta come obiettivi principali il dialogo politico, la sicurezza, la migrazione e il commercio coinvolgendo alte cariche istituzionali e un forum imprenditoriale. 

Questa missione ha suscitato una reazione da parte dei governi locali positiva con un’attenzione particolare a cooperazione e sviluppo. Possiamo quindi affermare che, nonostante molti aspetti e obiettivi del Piano Mattei in generale siano ancora astratti, tale missione di ottobre ha segnato un’evoluzione rispetto ad esempio alla precedente missione di maggio 2025 in Ghana, CI e Guinea che ha avuto come priorità il consolidamento dei progetti iniziali, lo sviluppo e la cooperazione tecnica del piano e che ha visto la partecipazione di team di cooperazione e meeting settoriali.

Absolute Resolve e l’evoluzione dell’impiego offensivo del cyber power statunitense

15 Gennaio 2026 ore 07:00

Con l’operazione Absolute Resolve, gli Stati Uniti potrebbero aver segnato un punto di svolta nell’impiego del cyber power. Le allusioni pubbliche di Donald Trump al blackout venezuelano rompono la tradizionale ambiguità sull’uso offensivo del cyberspazio, contribuendo a normalizzare la cyber warfare come strumento centrale della coercizione strategica americana.

It was dark, the lights of Caracas were largely turned off due to a certain expertise that we have. It was dark, and it was deadly.” Con queste parole pronunciate il 3 gennaio 2026, poche ore dopo l’operazione Absolute Resolve, il presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump ha offerto una delle descrizioni pubbliche più suggestive — e controverse — di un’azione militare statunitense nell’era moderna. La frase, pronunciata durante una conferenza stampa a Mar-a-Lago a commento del blitz che ha portato alla cattura di Nicolás Maduro, sta alimentando un acceso dibattito politico e militare proprio perché Trump ha collegato esplicitamente il blackout di Caracas a una “expertise” di Washington, suggerendo in modo implicito il possibile impiego di capacità cibernetiche offensive nel corso dell’azione. Questo tipo di allusione pubblica è inusuale per operazioni che coinvolgono potenzialmente strumenti digitali, dato che gli Stati Uniti raramente riconoscono apertamente l’uso di cyber power contro un altro Stato, nel solco di quella che in dottirna viene definita come “plausible deniability”.

Se questa ricostruzione trovasse conferma – come numerosi indizi operativi e dichiarazioni ufficiali lasciano intendere – ci troveremmo di fronte a uno dei casi più espliciti e politicamente rivendicati di impiego offensivo del cyber power statunitense contro una nazione sovrana. Un precedente di rilievo, destinato non solo a riaprire il dibattito sui limiti giuridici, strategici ed escalation-related dell’uso della forza nel dominio digitale, ma anche a segnare un punto di svolta nella piena maturazione delle Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) come paradigma operativo integrato e politcamente perseguito.

In questo senso, risultano particolarmente significative le parole del generale Dan Caine, Chairman del Joint Chiefs of Staff, pronunciate nel corso della medesima conferenza stampa. Caine ha infatti dichiarato che lo U.S. Cyber Command, lo U.S. Space Command e i comandi operativi regionali avevano “iniziato a stratificare effetti differenti” con l’obiettivo di “creare un corridoio operativo” per l’ingresso delle forze statunitensi nel Paese. Pur evitando deliberatamente di precisare la natura di tali effetti, la dichiarazione conferma implicitamente il ricorso a una pianificazione multidominio in cui le capacità cyber e spaziali hanno svolto un ruolo abilitante fin dalle fasi iniziali dell’operazione.

Da quanto emerge, Absolute Resolve non è stata una semplice operazione cinetica, bensì un’azione pianificata e condotta attraverso la sincronizzazione intenzionale di molteplici leve operative distribuite su diversi domini. Le capacità di HUMINT sono state impiegate per penetrare e destabilizzare la cerchia più ristretta del regime venezuelano, mentre la SIGINT ha permesso l’identificazione, il tracciamento dinamico del bersaglio in tempo quasi reale. A queste dimensioni si sono affiancate operazioni di cyber warfare offensiva, orientate alla neutralizzazione di nodi infrastrutturali critici e alla degradazione dell’ambiente informativo, nonché attività di guerra elettronica e Navigation Warfare, finalizzate a erodere e sopprimere la bolla difensiva costruita attorno al regime con sistemi di origine russa e cinese.

Questa convergenza multidimensionale restituisce l’immagine di una trasformazione profonda del modo di fare la guerra: i domini informativo e digitale non operano più come semplici moltiplicatori di efficacia a supporto delle operazioni cinetiche, ma assumono una funzione strutturale e abilitante del disegno strategico complessivo, contribuendo in modo determinante a modellare il campo di battaglia prima, durante e dopo l’impiego della forza militare tradizionale.

L’elemento cyber più evidente di Absolute Resolve è rappresentato dal blackout che ha colpito Caracas intorno alle 02:00 locali, proprio mentre le forze statunitensi si avvicinavano alla capitale. Secondo numerosi osservatori e specialisti, l’interruzione dell’energia elettrica non appare riconducibile a bombardamenti fisici diretti, ma piuttosto a un attacco cyber mirato contro i sistemi industriali di controllo (SCADA) che regolano la distribuzione dell’energia dalla diga di Guri — principale fonte elettrica del Paese. Questa interpretazione è coerente con dichiarazioni ufficiali che includono lo U.S. Cyber Command tra le forze coinvolte nella creazione di “effetti stratificati” a supporto dell’azione militare, pur senza dettagli operativi precisi. 

Seguendo questo ragionamento, il blackout non sarebbe stato il risultato di un evento improvviso o isolato, bensì la fase finale di una campagna informatica pianificata con mesi di anticipo. Tale attacco avrebbe richiesto, difatti, un accesso prolungato ai sistemi di controllo della rete elettrica venezuelana e un’attenta mappatura delle dipendenze tra tecnologie IT e OT, al fine di individuare i punti critici da colpire e ottenere una paralisi mirata e temporanea della rete.  

L’accesso iniziale agli asset strategici sarebbe stato ottenuto attraverso tecniche di compromissione della supply chain e furto di credenziali, seguito da una fase di deep reconnaissance volta a comprendere le relazioni di controllo tra dispositivi e processi industriali. In quella fase preparatoria, gli attaccanti avrebbero potuto alterare gradualmente configurazioni, inserire codice malevolo e creare condizioni di vulnerabilità difficili da rilevare. La sequenza operativa finale si sarebbe svolta in tre fasi distinte: preparazione dell’ambiente, modellamento delle relazioni di controllo e attivazione sincrona dell’interruzione dei servizi. Nel momento in cui i blackout si sono verificati, alle 02:00, gli elicotteri e i mezzi aerei delle forze statunitensi stavano già entrando a Caracas solamente un minuto più tardi, alle 02:01.  

Questa lettura – sebbene non ancora confermata ufficialmente nei dettagli tecnici – sembra rafforzata dal fatto che l’infrastruttura elettrica venezuelana, fortemente dipendente da un unico nodo come la diga di Guri, ha già una storia di frequenti interruzioni strutturali negli anni precedenti, dimostrandosi particolarmente vulnerabile a interferenze da remoto e attacchi cyber,

Un ulteriore elemento di analisi riguarda, come accennato, l’impiego di tecniche di Navigation Warfare (NavWar), coordinate presumibilmente dallo U.S. Space Command, che sembrano aver accompagnato le fasi di avvicinamento all’operazione. Diverse ricostruzioni riportano che nei giorni precedenti all’attacco si siano verificati episodi di jamming e spoofing del segnale GPSl ungo la costa venezuelana, con un duplice effetto operativo: da un lato, degradare la capacità di navigazione e sincronizzazione dei sistemi civili e militari del regime; dall’altro, garantire alle forze statunitensi una superiorità informativa e operativa grazie all’uso di segnali GPS protetti e resistenti alle interferenze, facilitando così il movimento e l’impiego di assetti terrestri, aerei e navali in un ambiente ostile.

Questa manipolazione deliberata del dominio della navigazione radio evidenzia come, già prima dell’inizio dell’azione cinetica, siano stati messi in atto strumenti non convenzionali per erodere la capacità di comando e controllo venezuelana e per rafforzare la precisione e la sicurezza delle operazioni.

A rafforzare questa interpretazione contribuisce anche il dato relativo alla connettività di rete: il gruppo giornalistico di monitoraggio di Internet NetBlocks ha registrato una marcata riduzione dell’accesso a Internet in vaste aree di Caracas proprio durante le ore in cui si svolgeva l’operazione, in coincidenza con i blackout elettrici. Questa corrispondenza temporale difficilmente può essere spiegata come un evento puramente accidentale e risulta più coerente con un’azione deliberata di degradazione delle comunicazioni e dell’infrastruttura informativa, capace di ostacolare la capacità di comando e controllo delle forze venezuelane e di indebolire la reattività del regime. 

Particolarmente significativa è stata anche l’integrazione tra SIGINT e cyber-intelligence, che ha costituito l’ossatura operativa “invisibile” di Absolute Resolve. Le attività plausibilmente condotte includono l’intercettazione delle telecomunicazioni venezuelane, sfruttando la configurazione delle dorsali regionali che transitano per nodi situati negli Stati Uniti, nonché l’impiego di falsi ripetitori (IMSI catcher) e veicoli aerei unmanned SIGINT (come i droni MQ-9 Reaper) per monitorare lo spettro elettromagnetico e/o identificare e triangolare i dispositivi mobili appartenenti all’entourage di Nicolás Maduro. 

Questo uso assertivo del cyber power non nasce nel vuoto. Già nel 2018 l’amministrazione Donald Trump aveva adottato un memorandum riservato volto ad ampliare significativamente l’autonomia del Pentagono nella conduzione di operazioni informatiche offensive, successivamente affinato sotto l’amministrazione Biden. La vera discontinuità, tuttavia, non risiede tanto nel quadro dottrinale o autorizzativo, quanto nel livello di esposizione e rivendicazione politica di tali capacità.

I commenti di Trump successivi all’operazione rappresentano infatti uno dei rari casi in cui un presidente degli Stati Uniti abbia alluso in modo così esplicito all’impiego di cyber offensive operations contro un altro Stato sovrano. È una scelta comunicativa che contribuisce a normalizzare l’uso del dominio digitale come strumento di coercizione strategica, collocandolo apertamente sullo stesso piano — se non addirittura in posizione prioritaria — rispetto alla forza cinetica tradizionale. Ed è anche un avvertimento a Cina, Russia Iran, e a tutti i principali cyber competitors di Washington.

Absolute Resolve segna un passaggio cruciale nella storia recente della guerra contemporanea per almeno tre ragioni fondamentali.

In primo luogo, rappresenta un salto di qualità nella cyber warfare, dimostrando come le operazioni cibernetiche possano essere impiegate non solo come strumenti di disturbo o sabotaggio episodico, ma come armi strategiche capaci di modellare l’ambiente operativo in modo decisivo, selettivo e temporalmente sincronizzato con l’azione militare convenzionale.

In secondo luogo, l’operazione costituisce una maturazione concreta delle Multi-Domain Operations, non più intese come mera giustapposizione di domini, ma come integrazione funzionale in cui effetti cyber, spaziali, informativi ed elettromagnetici precedono e abilitano l’impiego della forza cinetica. 

Infine, Absolute Resolve segna un avanzamento politico e normativo implicito: l’uso pubblico e rivendicato delle capacità cibernetiche offensive contribuisce a ridefinire le soglie di accettabilità e legittimità dell’azione statale nel cyberspazio, accelerando un processo di normalizzazione della cyber wardare che avrà implicazioni durature sul piano della deterrenza, dell’escalation e della stabilità strategica.

Absolute Resolve dimostra che il dominio cyber non è più uno strumento autonomo o meramente preparatorio, ma una capacità integrata, sincronizzata e politicamente spendibile, impiegata per generare effetti operativi immediati e abilitare l’azione militare convenzionale. Non più dunque “plausible deniability” ma “persistent engagement” e “defend forward”. A rendere questo passaggio particolarmente significativo è il fatto che, per la prima volta, una capacità cyber offensiva plausibile viene non solo impiegata, ma implicitamente rivendicata a livello politico, rompendo la tradizionale ambiguità che aveva finora accompagnato l’uso della forza nel dominio digitale. È questa convergenza tra dottrina, operazione e comunicazione strategica a segnare il vero salto di qualità rispetto al passato.

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