🇯🇵🦠📃 — 📰 NHK: Doctors urge caution after measles outbreak in Japan

➡️ Measles outbreaks are on the rise worldwide. Multiple cases have been confirmed in Japan since February, and doctors are warning people to be on guard against possible infections.

➡️ Earlier this week, Japan had confirmed eight cases among people who were onboard a February 24 flight from UAE to Kansai Airport in Osaka, and one case involving a man who was at the airport when the flight arrived.

➡️ Doctors say the virus is highly infectious and can cause serious — and even fatal — symptoms.

➡️ Dr. Nakano Takashi, a professor at Kawasaki Medical School, is an infectious disease expert. He says, "It may not be an exaggeration to say that measles is the most contagious of infectious diseases. It has been afflicting people since the start of humanity."

🔗 Link
https://archive.is/8E0KE

BREAKING: 💰 Grayscale Record largest outflow from $GBTC today,

-642.5 million 📉

@News_Crypto | link

🇦🇷🇨🇺❌🛠 — The Argentine President, Javier Milei, made a statement supporting the protests in Cuba and called Miguel Díaz-Canel a "son of a bitch":

"Hello, I'm Javier Milei, the Libertarian Liberal, and this message is for all the Cuban brothers who are awakening to the ideas of freedom, who are rebelling against that regime, you son of a bitch who is screwing up their lives.

So don't give up in the fight for freedom, freedom will bring you prosperity, well-being, and above all, a lot of happiness. So Cuban brothers, don't give in, don't give in, it's your moment. Move forward! Long live freedom, damn it!"

🇫🇷❌🇷🇺❗️ — France is preparing a contingent to be sent to Ukraine, at the first stage it will amount to about 2 thousand (2,000) military personnel, said Russian SVR director Naryshkin.

At the same time, the French army is noticeably concerned about the increased number of French people killed in Ukraine, notes the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service.

https://news.1rj.ru/str/rian_ru/236494

🌐 Cables and Pipelines.

Updated this one to include both gas and oil pipelines.

🔗 Rhodes Cartography

🇺🇸🤝🇧🇭 — The United States has approved the sale to the Kingdom of Bahrain of 50 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tanks, four M88A2 ARVs, eight M1110 assault bridges and eight M1150 mine clearance combat vehicles worth $2.2 billion.

🇺🇸🤝🇧🇭 — 📰 The Insider's Colby Badhwar on Twitter/X:

The US State Department has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Bahrain of 50 M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams Main Battle Tanks, 4 M88A2 HERCULES Combat Recovery Vehicles; 8 M1110 Joint Assault Bridges; 8 M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicles; 8 Heavy Assault Scissor Bridge (HASB) and other associated equipment & services, for an estimated cost of $2.2 billion.

The prime contractors would be General Dynamics Land Systems; BAE Systems; Leonardo DRS; Honeywell Aerospace; RTX Corporation; and Lockheed Martin.

🔗 Colby Badhwar 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@ColbyBadhwar)

🇸🇮🏴❌🇷🇺 — 🇺🇦📰 Ukraine's Euromaidan Press: Putin, a dark conservative religious fanatic, must be stopped as quick as possible, and the West should even provide Ukraine with nuclear weapons if necessary, believes Slovenian leftist/Libertarian Marxist philosopher Slavoj Žižek.

🔗 Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress)

🇨🇦❌🇮🇱 — 📰 Ynets: Canada halts arms exports to Israel

➡️ Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly announced on Tuesday that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government will no longer allow weapon exports to Israel.

➡️ On Monday, the Canadian House of Commons called for a halt to weapon shipments, and Joly emphasized that although the decision is not binding, Canada has decided to stop future weapon shipments to Jerusalem.

➡️ Recently, Canada delayed a shipment of 11 armored vehicles to the Israeli police and another of night-vision devices. In both instances, these were defensive, not offensive, weapons. Nonetheless, Canada, which has stringent weapon export laws, has held them up.

➡️ The minister's announcement is reportedly in response to the ruling party's move to amend a bill initially set for the House of Commons. The amendment shifted from "officially recognizing the State of Palestine" to "actively working with international partners for a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace, including advocating for a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution through negotiations."

🔗 Link
https://archive.is/wip/XdxTM

🇵🇱🌐 ‘Alarm bells are ringing’: Poland’s president says NATO must urgently ramp up defense spending

Polish President Andrzej Duda said Monday that NATO must urgently increase its defense spending to ensure it does not become the next target of a Russian attack.

Speaking to CNBC, Duda reiterated his calls for NATO members to increase their military contributions to 3% amid new reports that Moscow could be readying to target the military alliance within two to three years.

Citing unspecified German research, Duda said new evidence suggested that Russian President Vladimir Putin is doubling down on his shift toward a war economy with a view to attacking NATO in 2026 or 2027. It follows Danish intelligence reports from February which suggested that Moscow could launch an attack on NATO within three to five years. CNBC was unable to verify the contents of either report.

“We have two or three years in which we can increase our efforts, stockpile ammunition and produce weapons to maximize European security, get ready and make sure the invasion does not happen,” he said.

“All this needs to be done in order not to have to get involved in a fight. The point is to create such a deterrent that ensures we are not attacked. This is the whole point because none of us want war,” he added.

🔗 https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/19/russia-ukraine-poland-says-nato-must-urgently-ramp-spending.html

🇫🇷❌🇷🇺 On French television scenarios for a French deployment in Ukraine were debated.

French Army Colonel Vincent Arbaretier talks about two scenarios for the actions of French troops in Ukraine:

[So, two main scenarios are being considered. The first is to concentrate troops along the Dnieper River. Colonel, what's the point? And why along the Dnieper River?] In fact, the main divide between Western and Eastern Ukraine runs along the Dnieper River. Historically, this location plays a role, in particular, it is located on easily recognizable terrain, which is important for soldiers. So, if France tells Russia that it is forbidden to cross the river on pain of retaliation, it will be immediately identified.

[Colonel, wouldn't the very fact of deploying troops along the Dnieper River, even if we say we won't shoot first, be considered a provocation by Russia?]

Absolutely not, because that would mean forcing Russia to debate from a position of equality. We have soldiers, we are a nuclear power, our soldiers can be quickly deployed, this is one of the main qualities of the French army compared to other armies, especially the German army.

[Now consider the second main hypothesis assumed in the event of the dispatch of Western ground forces - these are troops concentrated on the border with Belarus. Again, what is the point of stationing troops there?]

The interest here is twofold: firstly, to dissuade Belarus from lending a helping hand to the Russians, otherwise they too would be under the threat of French fire, but above all, it is the defense of Kyiv. I think that these two options can be mixed, that is, send French troops along the Dnieper and around Kyiv to tell the Russians: do not go further, otherwise you risk coming under our fire, including our unconventional fire.

@CIG_telegram

🇷🇺❌🇫🇷 Russian spy chief says French military in Ukraine would be priority target for Russia

Sergei Naryshkin, chief of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said on Tuesday that any French military sent to Ukraine to help fight Russia would be a priority target for Russian troops, the TASS news agency reported.

“It (a French contingent) will become a priority and legitimate target for attacks by the Russian Armed Forces. This means that the fate of all Frenchmen who have ever come to the territory of the Russian world with a sword would await it,” Naryshkin said.

🔗 https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2024/03/19/Russian-spy-chief-says-French-military-in-Ukraine-would-be-priority-target-for-Russia