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Foreign Policy

  • Will Trump Go to War With Iran?

    2026-02-19

    The longer the talks with Iran go, the greater the set of targets the Iranians will seek. The U.S. would likely begin its assault by moving to cripple additional air defenses and missile launchers. Trump announced that nine members of his Board of Peace have pledged to provide $7 billion toward relief for Gaza.

  • Trump’s Board of Peace Takes on Gaza

    2026-02-19

    U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the inaugural Board of Peace meeting in Washington. The group aims to tackle reconstruction, disarmament, and governance in Gaza. Trump appointed himself as the body’s lifelong chair and gave himself unilateral authority to veto decisions, approve the agenda, and select his own successor.

  • How Chinese Espionage Eroded U.S. Power

    2026-02-19

    The FBI puts the amount of intellectual property theft by China in the U.S. at around $600 billion per year. The book includes two chapters of fiction at the end, with a fictional White House and corporate boardroom dealing with the China threat. The Chinese view this as an existential struggle, and they're willing to do whatever it takes to steal these secrets.

  • How to Actually Fix Foreign Aid

    2026-02-19

    The United Nations’ humanitarian funding has been slashed by nearly 40 percent compared to 2024. Americans collectively spend more on Halloween candy than tax-funded humanitarian assistance. For decades, the United States was an anchor in humanitarian aid.

  • Trump’s U.S. Mining Push Has a Big Problem

    2026-02-19

    The U.S. is now home to just 12 accredited mining schools. Graduations, too, have fallen in recent years. The Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration estimates that more than half of the current mining workforce will be retired and replaced by 2029.

  • Inside Iran’s Post-Massacre Power Struggle

    2026-02-19

    Rival factions within the Islamic Republic have sought to steer, contain, or exploit unrest to advance their own agendas. Iran has been mired in deepening economic distress for years. In the aftermath of historic protests, Iran has launched its largest purge of reformists since 2009.

  • The Seven Pillars of Populist Foreign Policy

    2026-02-19

    One year and one month into Donald Trump’s presidency, analysts continue to debate how to best understand his foreign policy. We maintain that the best approach to understanding Trump's diplomacy has less to do with the United States’ unique place in the world or the idiosyncrasies of Trump himself.

Politico

LRT

  • Lithuanian president strips former Ukrainian minister of state award

    2026-02-19

    Dmytro Tabachnyk was awarded the honour in 1996 for his contributions to developing relations between Lithuania and Ukraine. At the time, he served as head of the administration of then-Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.

  • Lithuania wants to balance ties with Taiwan and China, says president after policy meeting

    2026-02-19

    Lithuania wants to restore diplomatic relations with China, but also harness the economic potential of cooperation with Taiwan. President Gitanas Nausėda said broader expectations had not been fully met. Lithuania would like to see “more dialogue, less unilateralism, less attempts to impose one’s opinion” CNN.com will feature iReporter photos in a weekly Travel Snapshots gallery. Please submit your best shots for next week. Visit CNN.com/Travel next Friday for a new gallery of snapshots.

  • Vilnius prepares for possible Neris flooding as forecasters warn of thaw

    2026-02-19

    Vulnerable areas include parts of Grigiškės, Rasos, Naujoji Vilnia, Paupys and several pockets of the Old Town. Forecasters are not predicting a sharp warm-up in the coming days. Vilnius has also activated preventive operations at its Emergency Situations Centre. He added that thick ice on rivers and lakes and compacted snow accumulated over several weeks will require significant warmth to melt. “Spring will come, of course, as the days grow longer and the sun rises higher,” Valaika said.

  • Working group agrees on LRT mission, proposes governance changes

    2026-02-19

    A parliamentary working group is examining possible amendments to the law governing Lithuanian National Radio and Television, LRT. The group approved a proposed mission statement that LRT should ‘ensure the public’s right to reliable, objective and diverse information’ Members of the House of Representatives have voted down a motion to extend the term of members of the National Assembly to 20 years. The motion was passed by a vote of the members of both houses of parliament.

  • Lithuanian activist uses prank calls to allege violations in Nemunas Dawn campaign funding

    2026-02-19

    A Lithuanian communications specialist said he suspects supporters of the political party Nemunas Dawn may have been involved in opaque fundraising practices. The party’s vice chairman, Robertas Puchovičius, denied any wrongdoing and said both the commission and prosecutors had found no violations. Nemunas Dawn won 15 percent of the vote in Lithuania’s most recent general elections held in October 2024. It has 18 seats and the third-biggest parliamentary group in the 141-member Seimas.

  • Lithuanian-led defence tech startup raises 40 million euros

    2026-02-19

    Onodrim Industries, a European defence technology startup based in Amsterdam, has raised 40 million euros in new funding. The funds will be used to expand product development and manufacturing capacity and to hire additional specialists. The financing round was led by US venture capital firms Founders Fund and General Catalyst.

  • Lithuanian PM to boycott Paralympics over Russian, Belarusian participation

    2026-02-19

    Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė says she will boycott the upcoming Milan-Cortina Paralympic Games in protest of a decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags. She reiterated her criticism of the International Olympic Committee.

  • Taiwan, China, Belarus: Who is running Lithuania’s foreign policy?

    2026-02-19

    President Gitanas Nausėda and Foreign Minister Kęstutis Budrys lead Lithuania's foreign policy. Sources say a quiet rivalry has emerged between Prime Minister Inga Ruginienė and Budrys. Ruginienė’s advisers say her comments were intended to prod Taiwan into delivering on promised investment funds. Some politicians argue the debate is less about geopolitics and more about domestic political optics. Tensions have also surfaced over Lithuania’s treatment of Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. Lithuania downgraded her security detail, prompting her to move her main office from Vilnius to Warsaw.

Economist

📊 VoxEU

  • The venture capital challenge for Europe

    2026-02-20

    In recent decades, European firms’ share of global venture investment activity has remained flat or even declined. This gap is linked to a lower rate of return of European venture funds and concentrated AI investments by the US and China. The secret to creating a vibrant venture sector is not simply to spend public funds, but to craft policies that address the barriers that entrepreneurs face.

✍ Blogs

Paul Krugman

  • A Pause to Refresh

    2026-02-19

    Franz Kafka is taking a semi-break from the New York Times. He has been writing a weekly newsletter called Substack. The newsletter has become a tool for informing as well as influencing, he says.

Šeši Nuliai

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Buliaus anatomija