By Alexandra Sharp
Welcome back to World Brief, where we’re looking at Russia’s explicit nuclear threat against NATO, deadly chaos at a food distribution site in Gaza, and a U.S. investigation into Chinese automotive software.
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Kremlin Nuclear Scare Tactics
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers his annual State of the Nation address in central Moscow on Feb. 29.Alexander Nemenov/AFP via Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to use nuclear weapons against NATO members that deploy forces to Ukraine in his annual State of the Nation address on Thursday. The more than two-hour-long speech contained one of Putin’s most explicit nuclear warnings yet against the West. “All this really threatens a conflict with the use of nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization. Don’t they get that?” he said.
Putin’s comments were in reference to French President Emmanuel Macron suggesting on Monday that NATO should not rule out deploying foreign troops to Ukraine. Leaders of other Western powers, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and senior U.S. officials, quickly rejected that possibility. Putin, meanwhile, dismissed the idea that Russia would spread the conflict into other European countries, calling it “nonsense.” But he added that “tragic consequences” would occur if foreign troops were to become involved in the war.
NATO members have previously warned that Russia could test the alliance’s collective defense clause (known as Article 5) within the next three to five years. If that were to occur, experts believe that Russia might seize NATO territory in one or more of the Baltic states and then try to force NATO to back down for fear of nuclear retaliation. “If NATO acquiesces, its credibility would be destroyed for good,” Franz-Stefan Gady argued in Foreign Policy.
Leaked Russian classified intelligence revealed to the Financial Times on Wednesday showed that Russia’s threshold for using tactical nuclear weapons is lower than previously stated publicly. (Tactical nuclear weapons are designed to be used on the battlefield and are smaller than so-called strategic nuclear weapons, such as the warheads that can be put on an intercontinental ballistic missile; however, tactical nuclear weapons can still release far more energy than the weapons that the United States dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.)
According to 29 secret military files created between 2008 and 2014, Russia would consider launching a nuclear strike if there was an enemy incursion on Russian soil or 20 percent of its strategic ballistic missile submarines were destroyed, among other triggers. The documents showed that Russia has rehearsed launching tactical nuclear weapons against a major power at a conflict’s early stages.
Russia’s “strategic nuclear forces are in a state of full readiness” and can hit targets in the West, Putin said on Thursday. These include the hypersonic nuclear weapons that Putin first mentioned in 2018. Last year, Moscow transferred tactical nuclear weapons to neighboring Belarus in a widely condemned move that shifted the region’s security status. And in recent weeks, reports indicated that Russia may be planning to deploy a nuclear space weapon that could destroy Western satellites.
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What We’re Following
Palestinian deaths at aid convoys. Dozens of Palestinians were killed awaiting food deliveries in Gaza City on Thursday. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, more than 100 Palestinians were killed and around 760 others injured after Israeli troops opened fire on a large crowd, resulting in aid trucks ramming into people in their attempt to escape. An Israeli spokesperson, however, said the casualty count was much lower and resulted from two separate incidents: one involving hundreds of Palestinians rushing a large aid convoy, resulting in trampling, and another involving a group of Palestinians who approached Israeli forces nearby and posed a security threat.
“Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed,” Martin Griffiths, the United Nations undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, wrote on X, formerly Twitter. U.S. President Joe Biden said his administration is investigating the food distribution incident, and a senior U.S. official told CNN that the attack gives “added urgency” to ongoing efforts to secure a six-week cease-fire and hostage release deal.
At least one-quarter of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents (or around 576,000 people) are nearing famine, U.N. officials warned on Tuesday. Yet aid convoys are struggling to deliver essential supplies, with the World Food Program suspending operations in northern Gaza last week after looting and “complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order” threatened the security of its workers. On Thursday, the Gaza Health Ministry announced that more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed since war broke out nearly five months ago.
Chinese auto threats. Biden ordered the U.S. Commerce Department on Thursday to investigate foreign-made software in automobiles that could pose a national security threat. He specifically targeted internet-connected Chinese cars, including electric vehicles (EVs), that could collect sensitive data on U.S. citizens and infrastructure. Beijing produces nearly half of the world’s EV stockpile. “China is determined to dominate the future of the auto market, including by using unfair practices,” Biden said. “I’m not going to let that happen on my watch.”
The probe is the latest U.S. effort to crack down on Chinese technology amid growing cyber threats, with Biden announcing another executive order on Wednesday to combat Chinese data security risks.
U.N. milk aid. The Cuban government asked the World Food Program (WFP) to help maintain subsidized milk distributions for children under age 7 late last year, state media reported on Wednesday. This was the first time that Havana requested U.N. food support and comes as the country struggles to cope with an acute economic crisis. This month, the WFP delivered 144 tons of skimmed-milk powder to benefit nearly 48,000 children—barely 6 percent of the minors who need it.
Cuba’s so-called ration book system was developed in 1962 to provide subsidized food prices, but bureaucratic mismanagement, delays, and dwindling supplies have all exacerbated shortages. Havana blames U.S. sanctions for its economic crisis, but senior officials have conceded that the lack of government progress in Cuba has hurt growth efforts.
Odds and Ends
For a time that only rolls around once every four years, leap day lacks grandeur. One Baltimore resident, though, is hoping to change that by establishing a new holiday on leap day: National Poor Choices Day. Dug Retzler, a 70-year-old community activist and artist, came up with the idea as a way to encourage people to reflect on bad decisions that they may have made that still produced positive outcomes—such as his first marriage, which didn’t last but gave him two beloved children. Festivities include wearing holiday-themed buttons, reflecting on past regrets, and drinking unusual (and strong) cocktails at local bars. “If you’re open to it, there’s a lesson to be learned out of every experience,” Retzler said.
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