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SEOUL, Nov. 26 (UPI) — South Korean tech giant SK hynix, the world’s leading high-bandwidth memory chipmaker, announced Wednesday it launched a new semiconductor-inspired crunchy snack in collaboration with convenience store chain 7-Eleven.

The snack, called “HBM Chips,” is a play on the company’s high bandwidth memory — or HBM — technology. In this case, the acronym stands for “Honey Banana Mat,” using the Korean word for “flavor.”

The square corn chips, coated with sweet honey-banana chocolate, are meant to resemble semiconductors.

SK hynix said the product aims to make its complex technology more accessible to everyday consumers, particularly younger generations who may become future semiconductor industry talent.

“Semiconductors feel too distant for most people, but snacks are something everyone can enjoy,” SK hynix said in a statement. “We decided to explain technology through a new language of taste.”

The company also introduced a new sunglasses-wearing humanoid mascot “equipped with the latest HBM” that it said will appear in future brand communications, social media content and merchandise.

The collaboration marks the first foray into consumer packaged goods for the business-to-business chipmaker.

SK hynix holds approximately 50% of the global HBM market and recently surpassed Samsung to become the world’s largest dynamic random access memory maker for the first time, capturing 36% market share in early 2025. The company pioneered HBM technology, which stacks layers of memory vertically, in 2013 and currently supplies major tech companies including Nvidia, Amazon and Microsoft.

HBM chips are critical components in AI servers and high-performance computing, enabling faster data transfer between processors and memory.

SK hynix recently logged record-high quarterly profits and said much of its high-end chip supply has already sold out through 2026 due to surging AI demand.

The new snack chips are now available at 7-Eleven stores across South Korea.

Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency says strict air quality standards were introduced without sufficient review.

United States President Donald Trump’s administration has moved to roll back tougher limits on deadly soot pollution, prompting condemnation from environmental groups.

The Trump administration’s latest bid to weaken environmental standards comes after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a court motion arguing that former President Joe Biden’s administration exceeded its authority when it tightened air quality standards in 2024.

In a motion filed on Monday, lawyers for Trump’s EPA asked a Washington, DC, appeals court to throw out the tougher standard, arguing it was introduced without the “rigorous, stepwise process” required under the 1963 Clean Air Act.

The EPA initially defended the tougher standard amid a flurry of legal challenges from Republican-led states and business groups, which argued the rule would raise costs, before reversing course under Trump appointee Lee Zeldin.

“EPA has concluded that the position it advanced earlier is erroneous,” lawyers for the EPA said in the filing, arguing that the agency should complete a “thorough review of the underlying criteria and corresponding standards” before revising the limit.

Under Biden appointee Michael S Regan, the EPA last year substantially lowered acceptable soot levels, from 12 micrograms per cubic metre of air to 9 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

The agency said at the time that the tougher standard would prevent up to 4,500 premature deaths and 290,000 lost workdays by 2032.

Upon taking office earlier this year, Zeldin, a former Republican lawmaker, pledged to roll back dozens of environmental regulations as part of what he dubbed the “largest deregulatory action in the history of the United States”.

Patrice Simms, an environmental lawyer at the nonprofit organisation Earthjustice, said lowering air quality standards would harm public health.

“Trump has made it clear that his agenda is all about saving corporations money, and this administration’s EPA has nothing to do with protecting people’s health, saving lives, or serving children, families or communities,” Simms said in a statement.

“We will continue to defend this life-saving standard.”

Patrick Drupp, the director of climate policy at the Sierra Club, also condemned the EPA’s move, calling it “reckless” and “a complete betrayal” of the agency’s mission.

“While this administration continues to strip away access to affordable healthcare, they are simultaneously allowing fossil fuel companies to cut corners and make Americans sicker,” Drupp said.

US President Donald Trump is sending senior negotiators to meet Vladimir Putin to push for a deal to end Russia’s war with Ukraine. Special envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to travel to Moscow next week, with Jared Kushner also involved in the process.

A special counsel team on Wednesday demanded a 15-year prison term for former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo on charges of abetting former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s imposition of martial law.

Special counsel Cho Eun-suk’s team made the request during the final hearing of Han’s trial at the Seoul Central District Court, making him the first of dozens of defendants in the martial law case to receive a sentencing recommendation.

“Though the defendant was, in fact, the only person who could have stopped the insurrection situation of this case, he abandoned his duty as a servant of the entire nation and took part in the insurrection crime through a series of acts before and after the declaration of martial law,” a member of the special counsel team said.

Han has been indicted on charges of abetting the ringleader of an insurrection, playing a key role in an insurrection and perjury, all in connection with the martial law imposition.

In addition to attending a Cabinet meeting shortly before Yoon declared martial law on Dec. 3, he allegedly revised the proclamation afterward to enhance its legitimacy, discarded it and lied under oath at the Constitutional Court.

The special counsel team asked the court to consider the immense damage to the nation and the people and his uncooperative attitude in the investigation process.

“This case was an act of terror on the democracy of the Republic of Korea, and the nation and the people as a whole were the victims,” the team member said.

“By strictly punishing the defendant, we must ensure this unfortunate history of the Republic of Korea does not repeat itself,” he added.

Han is expected to be the first to receive a verdict in the martial law case as the court previously stated plans to deliver its ruling on Jan. 21 or 28 next year.

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The Navy is ending its commitment to build the troubled Constellation class frigates, service secretary John Phelan announced today on social media. The move is the first of what Phelan said will be several changes designed to speed up Navy ship production.

“From day one, I made it clear: I won’t spend a dollar if it doesn’t strengthen readiness or our ability to win,” Phelan explained. “To keep that promise, we’re reshaping how we build and field the Fleet—working with industry to deliver warfighting advantage, beginning with a strategic shift away from the Constellation class frigate program.”

“The Navy and our industry partners have reached a comprehensive framework that terminates for the Navy’s convenience the last four ships of the class, which have not begun construction,” Phelan said in a video he posted on X. “We greatly value the shipbuilders of Wisconsin and Michigan. While work continues on the first two ships, those ships remain under review as we work through this strategic shift.”

The Navy first announced in 2020 that it had picked Marinette Marine in Wisconsin, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italy’s Fincantieri, to build the Constellation class, which was to be based on an off-the-shelf design. Construction of the USS Constellation began in August 2022. The Navy currently has a total of six of the ships on order, out of what was expected to be an initial tranche of at least 10 of the frigates. The first example was slated to be delivered in 2029, however, Phelan’s decision means the last four ships in this class will no longer be built.

As we have noted in the past: “Major changes to the Constellation‘s configuration compared to its parent Franco-Italian Fregata Europea Multi-Missione (FREMM) have already led to serious delays and cost increases, and there are growing questions about the program’s future. A key program goal had been to take an in-service design that would only need relatively minor modifications to make it ready for Navy use, which would help keep the work on schedule and budget. The opposite has now happened.”

The design changes have also contributed to major delays and cost growth. The original plan was for USS Constellation to be delivered in 2026. The Navy had also been aiming for a unit cost of $1 billion, or potentially even less, as production of the frigates ramped up. More recent estimates have put the price tag for each of the ships at around $1.4 billion.

In an exclusive interview with The War Zone in April from the sidelines of the Sea Air Space conference in Maryland, Mark Vandroff, senior vice president of Government Affairs at Fincantieri Marine Group, confirmed that little progress had been made on the first frigate of the class.

“First ship is under construction up in Marinette, roughly 10 percent done,” Vandroff said at the time. We’re “working to finalize the design with the Navy. That has been progressing. We’ve made a lot of progress in the last year, and we expect to have the functional design wrapped up here in late spring, early summer.”

“What I would say is, with the Navy, we’re converging the design,” Vandroff added when asked specifically for an update on changes to the Constellation class design from the parent FREMM. “You know, we’re responsible for producing the functional design. The Navy has to approve the functional design. So, as we go back and forth to get our design to be fully approved by the Navy, we’re converging on that final design.”

A big part of the problems with the Constellation class were the constant design changes, which prompted concerns about expected performance.

As far as what comes next, Phelan didn’t offer any specific examples.

“Shipbuilding is a foremost concern,” he posited. “The Navy needs ships, and we look forward to building them in every shipyard that we can. A key factor in this decision is the need to grow the fleet faster to meet tomorrow’s threats.”

“This framework,” he continued, “puts the Navy on a path to more rapidly construct new classes of ships and deliver the capability our war fighters need in greater numbers and on a more urgent timeline. This is an imperative, and I hope to have more to share very soon.”

We’ve reached out to the Navy for more details. 

Update: 5:03 PM Eastern –

A senior Navy official offered some additional context about what might come next.

“The Navy will work with Congress in the coming weeks to seek the reappropriation of a portion of the unspent frigate funds on more readily producible ships in Marinette,” an official confirmed to us. “We do hope to retain the unspent frigate funds, as I mentioned, and have them reallocated to other ships that can be built in Marinette and delivered to the fleet faster.”

Update: 5:16 PM Eastern –

Fincantieri provided the following statement on the program cancellation.

“As part of a general fleet review launched by the U.S. Navy, aimed at transitioning towards a future model focused on technological excellence, manned and unmanned vessels, and long-term sustainability, Fincantieri and the U.S. Navy have reached a significant agreement that provides for reshaping the future of the Constellation class Program, currently under construction at Fincantieri Marinette Marine (FMM), in Wisconsin. In this framework, Fincantieri is consolidating its strategic partnership with the Navy, confirming its role as a key player in defining the future of American maritime defense through advanced industrial capabilities and long-term investments.

Working closely with the U.S. Navy, the Group will help deliver new classes of vessels. Fincantieri is expected to receive new orders to deliver classes of vessels in segments that best serve the immediate interests of the nation and the renaissance of U.S. shipbuilding, such as amphibious, icebreaking and other special missions. Fincantieri is in fact ready to execute the contracts planned in coordination with the U.S. Navy. Entering the future and in alignment with the Group’s industrial capabilities and potential, Fincantieri will support the U.S. Navy as it redefines strategic choices in the Small Surface Combatants segment, manned or unmanned.  

Considering the above, the agreement encompasses the continuity of work for two Constellation class frigates currently under construction and provides for the discontinuity of the contract for the four other Constellation class frigates already under contract, reflecting the evolving strategic priorities of the U.S. Navy. On top of the aforementioned award of future orders, in order to cover the above, the agreement indemnifies Fincantieri Marine Group on existing economic commitments and industrial impacts through measures provided by the U.S. Navy, and as a result of the contractual decision made for its own convenience. 

This new arrangement guarantees continuity and workload visibility for Fincantieri’s personnel and the Wisconsin System of Yards – a vital pillar of the U.S. maritime industrial base – capitalizing on the investments and expertise developed to date. Over the past years, Fincantieri has invested more than $800 million in its four U.S. shipyards, including Marinette, Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay, and Jacksonville with the aim of ensuring maximum production efficiency, flexibility, and technological innovation. These investments have enabled the consolidation of an advanced industrial supply chain, capable of meeting the U.S. Navy’s new priorities, including rapid delivery, modularity, and scalability of naval platforms.

Fincantieri Marine Group currently employs approximately 3,750 highly skilled workers in the United States, having recently increased its workforce by 850 workers to meet demand and strengthen its industrial base. This significant expansion underscores the Group’s commitment to supporting the local economy and the broader national maritime supply chain.”

In addition, George Moutafis, CEO of Fincantieri Marine Group, also weighed in.

“The agreement reached with the U.S. Navy marks a new chapter in our strategic partnership, built on mutual trust, a shared vision and commitment to excellence. The path forward defined on the Constellation class program provides for the necessary stability for our teams and the entire Wisconsin System of Yards, allowing us to continue investing in innovation and skills. As the Navy transitions to new vessel types, we stand ready to support their evolving needs, leveraging the strength of our American facilities and the expertise we have fostered. Our investments in the U.S. shipyards are a testament to our long-term vision: to be a cornerstone of the U.S. maritime industrial base and a driving force to sustain the momentum of the national shipbuilding renaissance, the American shipbuilding renaissance.

In the future development model, Fincantieri positions itself as one of the reference shipyards for the U.S. Navy, confirming its strategic role in supporting the Navy’s evolving needs. The Group is looking forward to working with all stakeholders in the supply chain on the execution of the new redefined path forward, further developing the skills and expertise cultivated in its American facilities and supporting the sustainable growth of the sector.”

This is a developing story.

Contact the author: [email protected] 

Nov. 25 (UPI) — A coalition of 19 attorneys general and two state governors sued the Trump administration on Tuesday over changes to funding allocations and conditions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development that they say threaten thousands of formerly homeless people and families with eviction.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Rhode Island, alleges new restrictions and funding cuts announced by HUD earlier this month to its Continuum of Care program threaten housing stability and disadvantage services for people experiencing homelessness, including those with mental disabilities and substance use disorders.

The Democratic-led states allege that the changes have thrown CoC into “chaos” and that HUD was holding congressionally approved funds and vulnerable people hostage.

“Communities across the country depend on Continuum of Care funds to provide housing and other resources to our most vulnerable neighbors,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement.

“These funds help keep tens of thousands of people from sleeping on the streets every night. I will not allow this administration to cut off these funds and put vital housing and support services at risk.”

Founded by Congress in 1987, the CoC program provides states, local governments and nonprofits with funds to provide housing and support services to those experiencing homelessness.

Earlier this month, HUD Secretary Scott Turner criticized the CoC for prioritizing funds for organizations with Housing First policies, which provide housing to individuals without preconditions, such as sobriety or minimum income.

Turner said the policy ran counter to the department’s objective of selecting the most effective and innovative programs, and it would be instituting changes, including requiring that 70% of projects to be selected through competition.

In a statement, HUD said 90% of CoC awards went to support projects with “failed” Housing First ideologies, which the department said “encourages dependence on endless government handouts while neglecting to address the root causes of homelessness, including illicit drugs and mental health.”

Changes to be implemented are to increase competition for grants, advance public safety, focus on self-sufficiency, encourage personal accountability and crack down on gender ideology, use of taxpayer dollars on undocumented migrants and diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

“Our philosophy for addressing the homelessness crisis will now define success not by dollars spent or housing units filled, but by how many people achieve long-term self-sufficiency and recovery,” Turner said.

In their lawsuit, the states allege that the changes mean only 30% of CoC funds may be used for permanent housing, a drop from roughly 90%.

HUD has also revised the scoring system used to grant awards. According to the lawsuit, the previous system encouraged CoCs to address needs of minority groups, such as the LGBTQ+ community, and the new changes arbitrarily disadvantage programs that provide supportive services for mental disabilities and substance use disorder

The policies also bar funding for applicants that acknowledge the existence of transgender and gender-diverse people and penalize homeless-service providers that pursue approaches to homelessness that do not align with the Trump administration.

In total, the changes will threaten housing stability and disadvantage services for people with mental disabilities and substance use disorder, the lawsuit states.

“This program has proven to be effective at getting Americans off the streets, yet the Trump administration is now attempting to illegally slash its funding,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement. “Those caring for our unhoused neighbors need the federal government’s continued support. Absent judicial intervention, the Trump administration’s actions would only worsen the homelessness crisis.”

Taiwan has unveiled a T$1.25 trillion (US$39.9 billion) supplementary defence budget, marking one of its most significant military spending increases in recent years. The announcement comes after a sustained period of Chinese military pressure, including near-daily incursions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone and expanding naval activities. Beijing continues to assert that Taiwan is its territory, while Taipei rejects these claims and argues that China’s actions threaten regional stability. President Lai Ching-te, who has previously signaled a desire to strengthen Taiwan’s defences, aims to increase military expenditure to 5% of GDP by 2030 a major shift for an island long reliant on the United States for support. The new spending plan reflects Taipei’s conclusion that the security environment has deteriorated to a point requiring a rapid buildup of deterrence capabilities.

WHY IT MATTERS

This defence package is significant because it signals that Taiwan is preparing for a prolonged period of heightened tension with China. By raising spending above 3% of GDP for the first time since 2009, Taiwan is accelerating efforts to modernize its armed forces and expand asymmetric capabilities a key strategy for countering a much larger Chinese military. The move also has implications for broader Indo-Pacific security, as Taiwan sits at the center of major global supply chains, especially semiconductors. Any conflict involving the island would have worldwide economic repercussions. Additionally, the announcement tests the United States’ commitment under its legal obligation to help Taiwan defend itself, particularly as the Trump administration has so far approved only a limited number of arms sales this year. The overall decision underscores the growing sense in Taipei that deterrence, rather than diplomacy alone, is essential for survival.

A range of actors will be directly affected by Taiwan’s expanded defence spending. For Taiwan itself, the budget reflects both political determination and public concern, as leaders balance the urgency of national security with domestic expectations about economic priorities. China stands on the opposite end of the debate, condemning the move as wasteful, provocative, and orchestrated by foreign powers, and warning that it will only destabilize cross-strait relations. The United States remains a pivotal player, as Taiwan’s primary security partner and arms supplier, and its actions in the coming months will shape Beijing’s and Taipei’s strategy alike. Regional governments such as Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asian nations are also stakeholders, because escalation in the Taiwan Strait would directly affect their own security and trade routes. Beyond governments, the global technology sector especially companies dependent on Taiwan’s semiconductor production is intricately tied to the island’s stability and therefore to its defence posture.

WHAT’S NEXT

The supplementary defence budget will now move to Taiwan’s legislature, where it is expected to pass given the governing party’s support for military strengthening. Once approved, the government is likely to detail specific procurement plans, which may include new air-defence systems, long-range missiles, drone platforms, and naval upgrades aimed at deterring a potential blockade or invasion. Attention will also focus on Washington, where upcoming decisions on arms transfers will indicate the level of U.S. engagement in Taiwan’s defence strategy. China is expected to respond with a combination of military signaling such as increased air and naval patrols and sharper rhetoric accusing Taiwan of escalating tensions. Regionally, allies and partners may adjust military planning and enhance coordination as they assess the implications of Taiwan’s defence buildup for broader Indo-Pacific stability. Over the next several months, the situation is likely to remain fluid as each stakeholder reacts to the shifting balance of power across the Taiwan Strait.

With information from Reuters.

Immigration rights advocates says the new policy aims to ‘bully some of the most vulnerable’ people in US society.

The administration of United States President Donald Trump has confirmed that it will retroactively vet refugees who have already been admitted into the country, prompting concern from immigrant rights groups.

“Corrective action is now being taken to ensure those who are present in the United States deserve to be here,” Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies had reported on Monday that they obtained a government memorandum ordering a review of more than 230,000 refugees who were legally resettled in the country under former President Joe Biden.

The memo, signed by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Joseph Edlow, said that refugees who are found to have failed to meet the standards for resettlement would have their legal status revoked.

“Given these concerns, USCIS has determined that a comprehensive review and a re-interview of all refugees admitted from January 20, 2021, to February 20, 2025, is warranted,” the memo stated.

“When appropriate, USCIS will also review and re-interview refugees admitted outside this timeframe.”

In 2024, the US admitted more than 100,000 refugees. The leading countries of origin for refugees were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Syria.

Unlike asylum seekers who apply for protections once they arrive in the US, refugees apply for legal status while they are outside of the country.

They are allowed to enter the US with the presumption that they will be longterm residents, safe from persecution in their home countries.

Refugee admission also offers a path to US citizenship, with newcomers able to apply for a legal permanent residency one year after arrival in the country.

Applicants for refugee admission undergo multiple levels of screening and interviews. That process often starts with a third party – usually the United Nations – referring them to the US refugee admissions programme.

Then, US immigration authorities rigorously vet the applicants, who must show they faced persecution for their race, religion, nationality, political beliefs or membership in a particular social group.

Sharif Aly, the president of the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), said refugees are the most highly vetted immigrants in the country.

“This order is one more in a long line of efforts to bully some of the most vulnerable members of our communities, by threatening their lawful status, rendering them vulnerable to the egregious conduct of immigration enforcement agencies, and putting them through an onerous and potentially re-traumatizing process,” Aly said in a statement.

Mark Hetfield, president of the humanitarian organisation HIAS, called the Trump administration’s move “unnecessary, cruel and wasteful”. His group assists new refugees in the US.

“Refugees have already been more vetted than any other group of immigrants,” Hetfield told Reuters.

Trump drastically reduced refugee admission during his first term and all but gutted the programme after his return to the White House in January.

The second Trump administration set a historic low of ​7,500 as the refugee admission cap for next year.

The president also ordered the programme to “primarily” resettle white South Africans, whom he says are facing discrimination by their government.

Overall, Trump has pushed to restrict new arrivals to the US and crack down on noncitizens in the country.

China’s Foreign Ministry said Trump initiated call with Xi Jinping and that communication was crucial for developing stable US-China relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has “more or less agreed” to increase purchases of goods from the United States, President Donald Trump said, a day after a phone call between the two leaders was described by Beijing as “positive, friendly and constructive”.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One on Tuesday evening, Trump said he asked the Chinese leader during the call to accelerate purchases from the US.

“I think we will be pleasantly surprised by the actions of President Xi,” Trump said.

“I asked him, I’d like you to buy it a little faster. I’d like you to buy more. And he’s more or less agreed to do that,” he said.

Trump’s upbeat forecast on trade with China comes after Beijing announced last month that it would resume purchases of US soya beans and would halt expanded curbs on rare earths exports to the US amid detente in the tariff war with Washington.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that China had pledged to buy 12 million metric tonnes of soya beans from US farmers this year, but the Reuters news agency reports that the pace of Chinese purchases had been less than initially expected.

China has so far ordered nearly two million metric tonnes of US soya beans, according to data by the US Department of Agriculture, Reuters reports.

The call on Monday between Trump and Xi comes just weeks after the two leaders met in South Korea, where they agreed to a framework for a trade deal that has yet to be finalised.

“China and the United States once fought side by side against fascism and militarism, and should now work together to safeguard the outcomes of World War II,” Xi was quoted as telling Trump in the call, China’s official Xinhua news agency reports.

Xi also told Trump that “Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the post-war international order”.

China regards Taiwan as part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to unite the self-ruled, democratic island with the Chinese mainland.

The US has been traditionally opposed to China’s potential use of force to seize Taiwan and is obligated by a domestic law to provide sufficient military hardware to Taipei to deter any armed attack.

But Trump has maintained strategic ambiguity about whether he would commit US troops in case of a war in the Taiwan Strait, while his administration has urged Taiwan to increase its defence budget.

Trump made no mention of Xi’s comments on Taiwan in a later post on Truth Social, where he spoke of a “very good” call with the Chinese leader, which he said covered many topics, including Ukraine, Fentanyl and US farm products.

“Our relationship with China is extremely strong! This call was a follow up to our highly successful meeting in South Korea, three weeks ago. Since then, there has been significant progress on both sides in keeping our agreements current and accurate,” Trump said.

“Now we can set our sights on the big picture,” he said.

The US leader also said that he had accepted Xi’s invitation to visit Beijing in April, and had invited Xi for a state visit to the US later in the year.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that Washington had initiated the call between Trump and Xi, which spokesperson Mao Ning called “positive, friendly and constructive”.

Mao also said that “communication between the two heads of state on issues of common concern is crucial for the stable development of China-US relations”.

Additional reporting by Bonnie Liao.

Nov. 25 (UPI) — The families of hundreds of U.S. citizens killed or injured by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, accuse cryptocurrency exchange Binance of supporting terrorism.

The families of 306 U.S. citizens harmed or killed during the attack filed a 272-page federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of North Dakota on Monday.

They say Malta-based Binance marketed its services to “terrorist organizations, narcotics traffickers and tax evaders” by emphasizing that Binance is “beyond the reach of any single country’s laws or regulations,” the lawsuit says, as reported by The New York Times.

The plaintiff families accused Binance of conducting transactions that totaled more than $1 billion on behalf of Hamas and other terrorist organizations.

Binance officials handled the transactions despite being warned of potential illegality by its compliance vendors and did not use common security checks, according to the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs also claim Binance willfully handled at least $50 million in transactions for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and other terrorist organizations after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israeli civilians that killed 1,200 and kidnapped 254 others.

The lawsuit was filed a month after President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao after he earlier pleaded guilty to money laundering charges, according to CNBC.

Zhao is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, along with Guangying Chen and Binance Holdings Ltd., who are accused of intentionally creating Binance to serve as a “criminal enterprise to facilitate money laundering on a global scale.”

The plaintiffs say the Binance officials knew Hamas and other designated foreign terrorist organizations regularly used the cryptoexchange and actively assisted them “at a time when Hamas, in particular, was publicly directing its donors to send funds” to its Binance cryptowallets.

Binance officials also disregarded filing required suspicious activity reports and manipulated how qualifying transactions were reported to prevent any scrutiny by U.S. banking regulators, the plaintiffs argue.

Binance “actively tried to shield its Hamas customers and their funds from scrutiny by U.S. regulators or law enforcement — a practice that continues to this day,” the plaintiff families say.

The plaintiffs seek compensatory damages in amounts to be determined at trial, treble damages due to alleged international terrorism-related activities, legal costs and other damages.

Binance officials told UPI they are aware of the federal complaint but cannot comment on active litigation.

The crypto exchange said it fully complies with internationally recognized sanctions laws and in 2025 had a direct exposure to illicit flows of less than 0.02% of platform volume, which it said is significantly below the industry average.

“We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars, expanded our global compliance-related workforce to over 1,280 specialists (22% of our entire workforce), and built real-time intelligence-sharing partnerships with law enforcement worldwide,” Binance said.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to working with regulators, law enforcement and our users to protect the integrity of the global digital-asset ecosystem.”

Nine of the top 10 mega-cities are in Asia, with Bangladesh’s Dhaka projected to be the world’s largest city by 2050.

A new United Nations report has found that Indonesia’s capital Jakarta is the world’s largest city with 41.9 million people living there, followed by Dhaka in Bangladesh, which is home to 36.6 million.

A low-lying coastal city located in the west of the densely populated island of Java, Jakarta rose from second place to replace Tokyo, which had been named the world’s largest city in the UN’s most recent assessment published back in 2000.

The Japanese capital’s relatively steady population of 33.4 million saw it fall to third place behind Bangladesh’s densely populated capital, Dhaka, which jumped to second place from ninth and is now projected to become the world’s largest city by 2050.

The World Urbanization Prospects 2025 report from the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs also found that the number of megacities – urban areas with more than 10 million inhabitants – has increased to 33, four times more than the eight megacities that existed worldwide in 1975.

Asia is home to 19 of the world’s 33 megacities, and nine out of the top 10. In addition to Jakarta, Dhaka and Tokyo, the other Asian cities in the top 10 are: New Delhi, India (30.2 million); Shanghai, China (29.6 million); Guangzhou, China (27.6 million); Manila, Philippines (24.7 million); Kolkata, India (22.5 million); and Seoul, South Korea (22.5 million).

With a population of 32 million people, Egypt’s Cairo is the only city in the top 10 that is outside Asia, according to the UN.

Sao Paulo in Brazil, with 18.9 million people, is the largest city in the Americas, while Lagos in Nigeria also grew rapidly, making it the largest city in sub-Saharan Africa.

Still growing

Dhaka’s rapid growth has partly been driven by people from rural areas moving to the capital, searching for opportunities or fleeing hometowns due to problems including flooding and rising sea levels, made worse by climate change.

Jakarta is also facing problems due to rising sea levels. It is estimated that up to one quarter of the city could be under water by 2050.

The problem is so serious that Indonesia’s government is building a new purpose-built capital city in Nusantara in Borneo island’s East Kalimantan province. Yet while the city’s officials and parliamentary buildings will have a new home, the UN estimates that 10 million more people will be living in Jakarta by 2050.

The city’s growing population will also have to contend with concerns over inequality and affordability, which saw thousands of people take to the streets of the Indonesian city earlier this year, reflecting rising anger over the conditions of low-income workers, including app-based motorcycle ride-share and delivery riders.

Meanwhile, according to the UN report, Iran’s capital Tehran, which is facing water rations because it is close to running out of water, currently has a population of nine million people.

The new assessment also saw changes as the UN adopted new measures to try to address inconsistencies in how different countries defined urbanisation.

The UN also said that in most cases its report reflected the size of individual cities, rather than two cities that have grown together, with a small number of exceptions.

The new definition defined a city as a “contiguous agglomeration” of one-kilometre-square grid cells with a density of at least 1,500 inhabitants per square kilometre and a total population of at least 50,000.

Nov. 25 (UPI) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is planning to cut ties with Scouting America for attacking what he called “boy-friendly spaces,” according to leaked documents made public Tuesday.

In the documents, first reported by NPR, Hegseth criticizes Scouting America, formerly known as the Boy Scouts, for straying far from what he characterized as its original mission and promoting “gender confusion.”

Since taking office, Hegseth has opened a new front in the culture war as he’s tried to weed out initiatives he’s argued have prioritized political correctness at the expense of military readiness. Now, Hegseth appears to be coming for the military’s century-old relationship with the organizations.

“The organization once endorsed by President Theodore Roosevelt no longer supports the future of American boys,” Hegseth reportedly wrote.

The documents are draft memos to Congress arguing the Pentagon should ban Scout troops from meeting at military bases while severing congressionally mandated support to the National Jamboree, an event that attracts as many as 20,000 scouts to a location in West Virginia, according to NPR.

Scouting America responded with a statement expressing surprise and sadness over the documents, saying that scouts still “swear a duty to God and country.”

The organization noted that “an enormous percentage of those in our military academies” come from scouting programs and many go on to serve in the armed forces. It also pushed back on Hegseth’s assertion that Scouting America is “no longer a meritocracy,” saying that badges and ranks are earned.

“Scouting will never turn its back on the children of our military families,” the organization said in the statement. “Just as we always have, Scouts will continue to put duty to country above duty to self and will remain focused on serving all American families in the U.S. and abroad.”

Scouting America has seen significant changes since it was first founded in 1910 with the aim of instilling good citizenship in boys with outdoor-oriented activities and community service projects. In 2013, it allowed gay members, followed by allowing girls to join years later and adopting its gender neutral name last year.

The Pentagon declined to comment to NPR on the memos, describing them as “leaked documents that we cannot authenticate and that may be pre-decisional.”

Here are the key events from day 1,371 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here’s where things stand on Wednesday, November 26.

Fighting

• Russian attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv killed seven people and injured 21, the state emergency service said in a post on Facebook on Tuesday. Emergency services also pulled at least 18 people from the rubble, officials said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the missile and drone attacks on Kyiv and surrounding areas caused “extensive damage to residential buildings and civilian infrastructure”.
• Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed that Russian forces launched a “massive strike” targeting military installations in Ukraine, including “defence industry facilities, energy facilities and drone storage sites”, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
• A Ukrainian drone attack on Russia’s Krasnodar region injured at least nine people, TASS reported, citing the regional task force.
• A Ukrainian attack left about 40,000 people without electricity in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region, Yevgeny Balitsky, a Moscow-installed official in the region, said in a post on Telegram.
• Ukrainian battlefield analysis site DeepState said that Russian forces have advanced near the city of Siversk and the villages of Novoselivka, Zatyshya, Novoekonomichne and Myroliubivka in the east of the country.
• Russian forces shot down four long-range missiles and 419 drones launched by Ukrainian forces in a 24-hour period, TASS reported, citing Russia’s Defence Ministry.

Peace plan

• United States President Donald Trump said that “tremendous progress” had been made in negotiations on a peace plan, with “only a few remaining points of disagreement” remaining.
• In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump added that he had directed his special envoy, Steve Witkoff, to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and his army secretary, Dan Driscoll, to meet at the same time with Ukrainian officials “in the hopes of finalising this Peace Plan”.
• Trump later on Tuesday backed away from his earlier deadline of Thursday for Ukraine to agree to the US-backed peace plan, saying “the deadline for me is when it’s over”.
• President Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, later said he had spoken to Driscoll on the phone and expected him in Kyiv this week, adding: “We are ready to continue working as quickly as possible to finalise the steps necessary to end the bloodshed.”
• In his nightly address, Zelenskyy said he hopes to see “continued active cooperation with the American side and President Trump”, noting that “much depends on the United States because it’s America’s strength that Russia takes most seriously”.
• The latest update on the peace talks came as representatives from the US, Ukraine and European countries met in Geneva to continue talks on ending the war.
• The United Kingdom, France and Germany issued a joint statement after the meeting, saying that “meaningful progress” had been made and that they had agreed for their militaries to begin “planning on security guarantees”. However, they also reiterated that any resolution to the war should preserve Ukraine’s sovereignty and its long-term security.
• They also confirmed that long-term financing will be made available for Ukraine, including the use of frozen Russian assets to fund reconstruction.
• Ukraine’s Deputy Presidential Chief Ihor Zhovkva met with the European Commission’s Gert Jan Koopman to discuss progress on European Union membership. The proposed peace plan reportedly leaves the door open for Ukraine to join the EU, but not NATO.

For the second time in a week, Japanese fighters scrambled to intercept a suspected Chinese drone flying near the island of Yonaguni. The events come amid growing tensions between the Asian neighbors and highlight the increasing strategic importance of Japan’s southernmost island, which has seen an expanded presence of Japanese and U.S. forces.

Located just 70 miles east of Taiwan, Yonaguni is an increasingly important part of the allied effort to defend the so-called first island chain from Chinese aggression. It is roughly seven miles long and three miles across at its widest point, it has two small ports and an airfield. It’s where Japan wants to set up an air defense system. It’s also where the U.S. Marine Corps recently set up a forward arming and refueling point (FARP), its first that close to the breakaway Chinese nation.

Amid all this tumult, U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with leaders of both nations today and Monday to discuss the future of Taiwan, among other issues. We’ll address that more later in this story.

“On November 24…we confirmed that an estimated Chinese unmanned aerial vehicle had passed between Yonaguni Island and Taiwan, and in response,” the Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) stated on X. “We scrambled fighter jets from the Air Self-Defense Force’s Southwest Air Defense Force to intercept it.”

Once detected, the suspected drone flew south for about 250 miles, then cut east for about another 100 miles before returning along the same route, according to a map published by the Japanese MoD, which provided no additional details about the incident.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense reported a Chinese drone and a helicopter traveled along a similar route on Monday, but it is unclear if the two incidents are related.

Monday’s interception by Japan followed a similar incident a week earlier.

Chinese drone flights are fairly routine along this path around Taiwan and during major drills, the skies see a heavier presence of Chinese military aviation assets. However, tensions have increased between the two nations with a long history of sometimes violent enmity. In particular, Beijing is enraged by Tokyo’s announcement that it will place surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) on Yonaguni and Japan considers any attack on Taiwan an existential threat. China has made no secret about wanting to subsume Taiwan, by force if necessary, a concern we have frequently addressed.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to Yonaguni on Sunday, Japan’s defense minister said his country is moving forward with plans to deploy an unspecified number of air defense systems on the island.

“The deployment can help lower the chance of an armed attack on our country,” Shinjiro Koizumi explained. “The view that it will heighten regional tensions is not accurate.” 

In January, former Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said Tokyo wanted to base Type 03 Chu-SAM missiles on Yonaguni, Bloomberg News noted. 

The medium-range Chu-SAM was first introduced in 2003, according to the U.S. Army, and its missiles can hit aerial targets up to roughly 30 miles away.

“The SAM’s vehicle chassis is based on the Kato Works Ltd/Mitsubishi Heavy Industries NK series heavy crane truck,” the Army explained. “It uses a state-of-the-art active electronically scanned array radar.”

The Chu-SAM system includes a command center, radar unit, launcher, and transloader, with each unit equipped with six missiles that travel at Mach 2.5, the Army noted, adding that it “can track up to 100 targets simultaneously and target 12 at the same time, engaging fighter jets, helicopters, and cruise missiles.”

Given its stated range, the Chu-SAM system can engage aerial targets roughly halfway between Yonaguni and Taiwan’s east coast (likely even farther in reality), an area Chinese aviation assets are likely to fly should it plan to invade the island nation.

Once again, this could be just one system, Japan also has the U.S. Patriot system, as well.

Koizumi’s comments about the Chu-SAM raised hackles in Beijing.

“Japan’s deployment of offensive weapons in the southwest Islands close to China’s Taiwan region is a deliberate move that breeds regional tensions and stokes military confrontation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters on Monday. “Given Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s erroneous remarks on Taiwan, this move is extremely dangerous and should put Japan’s neighboring countries and the international community on high alert.”

Mao was referencing another Chinese point of contention.

The newly elected Japanese Prime Minister recently stated that a Chinese military blockade of Taiwan would constitute a “survival-threatening” situation, thereby enabling “collective defense” alongside U.S. military forces, Newsweek reported.

“It was the first time such an explicit remark had been made by a sitting prime minister of Japan, which like the United States has long been deliberately vague as to whether it would intervene militarily in the event of an attack on Taiwan,” NBC News posited.

As this turmoil unfolded, a Chinese company released a video simulating an attack on Japanese ships and other targets using its newly introduced YKJ-1000 hypersonic missile. Although it isn’t clear if the timing is related, it is another indicator of the increasingly bellicose messaging between the two neighbors.

Trump has taken a mixed approach toward Taiwan.

The American president has at times expressed a degree of thinly veiled skepticism about Taiwan’s value to the U.S., The Diplomat noted. He has also implied the U.S. is committed to Taiwan’s freedom. In his latest administration, Trump has signed off on a $700 million deal to sell Taipei National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) medium-range air defense systems, a plan first put forward under the Biden administration. In addition, Trump authorized a $330 million deal to sell Taiwan aircraft parts.

Meanwhile, as we mentioned earlier in this story, the Trump administration has also authorized the temporary deployment of Marines to Yonaguni to set up a FARP to extend the range of helicopter patrols from the island.

“No U.S. Marine CH-53E has ever before landed that far southwest in Japan, nor has a FARP ever been established there,” Maj. Patrick X. Kelly, executive officer of Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron (HMH) 462, said in a statement. “This evolution not only validated that MAG’s [Marine Aircraft Group 36] organic heavy-lift assault support helicopters, in support of its adjacent units and our JGSDF [Japan Ground Self-Defense Force] partners, can generate tempo anywhere the commander should choose, but also served as a huge leap forward in our relations between the U.S. Marines and the JGSDF.”

“FARPs significantly extend MAG-36’s operational reach,” said Col. Lee W. Hemming, commanding officer of MAG-36. “Our ability to rapidly establish and disassemble these sites in austere environments enhances our capacity to respond to, and support, disaster relief and other critical operations throughout the region – particularly in conjunction with our Japanese Self-Defense Forces partners. This collaborative FARP capability underscores our commitment to regional security and humanitarian assistance.”

Given its proximity to Taiwan, Yonaguni also makes sense as a forward staging area for standoff weapons to strike Chinese targets, including ships, and advanced radars to track their movement, if Japan decides to go that route. Marine Corps doctrine calls for troops to be staged in China’s weapons engagement zone ahead of any conflict, and more islands in the region will likely become increasingly armed, but none are as close to Taiwan as this one.

The U.S. Army’s Typhon ground-based missile system, which can fire Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 multi-purpose missiles, was recently deployed to Japan, but some 1,200 miles to the northeast on Honshu Island. Last year, we wrote about reported plans for the U.S. Marine Corps units and their High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to be rushed to the southwestern Japanese islands near Taiwan in case of a Chinese invasion. The anonymously sourced Kyodo News report about that move didn’t specifically mention Yonaguni, but it makes sense that it could be a destination for such future efforts.

Another Marine weapons system that might even make more sense for Yonaguni is Navy-Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) armed with Naval Strike Missiles (NSMs). In previous reporting, we noted that these highly mobile missile systems have been deployed to Luzon in the Philippines. The NSM is well suited for fighting in the littorals. With the baseline NSM’s range of around 110 nautical miles, placing these systems on Yonaguni would hold Chinese vessels operating near the northern part and the backside of Taiwan at risk. They can also strike fixed targets on land. NMESIS is highly mobile on land, making its launchers very hard to target at distance by adversary forces.

While weapons like NMESIS on Yonaguni could pose a real threat to Chinese forces trying to take the island, getting them there in the case of a Chinese move on Taiwan will likely be a great challenge. The idea would be to have them there permanently or rush them there at the start of a crisis, before the shooting begins. This would work as a deterrent to keep the fighting from starting, as well as tactical capability once the fighting begins.

Still, Beijing has a very large arsenal of missiles, aircraft and ships on hand and in development that could rain fire on Yonaguni. Any U.S. logistic missions having to push materiel forward in a time of crisis to the island would be traveling deep within China’s anti-access bubble, as well, which may be entirely unsurvivable. So, once things light off, if weapons are fired from the island, or even preemptive action by China, could widen the conflict significantly, and any forces on the island could be cutoff and under fire.

As previously mentioned, amid the boiling tensions, Trump spoke with both Chinese President Xi Jinping and Takaichi on Monday.

“Taiwan’s return to China is an important component of the post-war international order,” Xi told Trump, according to an official account of the conversation by China’s state media. For his part, Trump affirmed that the U.S. “understands the importance of the Taiwan issue to China,” Chinese media said.

“Takaichi said Trump briefed her on his overnight phone call with China’s Xi and the current state of U.S.-China relations,” according to The Associated Press. “She said that she and Trump also discussed strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance and ‘development and challenges that the Indo-Pacific region is faced with.’”

“We confirmed the close coordination between Japan and the United States,” the Japanese leader added, declining to give any other details of her talks with Trump, citing diplomatic protocol.

Regardless of diplomatic platitudes, when it comes to Yonaguni Island, moving surface-to-air missiles there is largely a defensive overture. It’s also the first step in providing protection for additional assets, should Japan choose to allow their deployment. But for now, it certainly has gotten Beijing’s attention.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Nov. 25 (UPI) — Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday President Donald Trump is likely to select the next chair of the Federal Reserve before Christmas.

Bessent made the remarks in an interview on CNBC, where he offered an update on his work overseeing the search for a successor to Jerome Powell, the current chair whose term ends in May 2026. Trump has pressured Powell to lower interest rates, raising questions about the independence of the nation’s central bank.

In the interview, Bessent said he was seeking a simpler and more subtle role for the Fed, which plays a pivotal role in financial markets and the economy.

“I think we’ve got to kind of simplify things,” he said. “I think it’s time for the Fed just to move back into the background, like, it used to do, calm things down and work for the American people.”

Since returning to the White House, Trump has lobbed criticisms at Powell over his cautious approach to lowering interest rates after a period of high inflation. Trump, who first appointed Powell, has called him a “clown” and openly talked about wanting to fire him.

Inflation is currently at 3%, just shy of the Fed’s 2% target. But members of the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s primary monetary policy-setting body, were divided on whether to support rate cuts at its December meeting.

Further complicating the Fed’s work is news that the ​​Consumer Price Index report for October will not be available for its upcoming meeting. The monthly report presents a snapshot of consumer prices, but the recent government shutdown delayed its release.

Bessent said the list of candidates for Fed chair has been narrowed to five and work was progressing well. But he noted the final pick is up to Trump “whether it’s before the Christmas holidays or in the new year.”

US and China have long competed to become world powers, particularly in the technology sector. Since 2022, the US has systematically restricted the supply of high-performance NVIDIA chips to China. In today’s world, competition for power is no longer achieved through traditional means, such as military power. The US uses chips (semiconductors) as an instrument of political pressure. This policy is not just about economic or trade value, but has become part of technological statecraft designed to counter China’s military potential and its use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Semiconductors as a Provision of Power

The US policy of restricting high-end semiconductors to China shows a paradigm shift, chips (semiconductors) are not only industrial commodities, but have shifted to become a tool for achieving power. Export controls on high-performance chips and components that enable their production have been implemented by the Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS). These steps show that the US is restructuring the geopolitical arena of technology.

AI today relies heavily on chips that can process vast amounts of data. The US restricts the export of high-end chips, such as the NVIDIA H100 and A100. A country’s AI development capacity could be severely compromised without access to these chips. The H100 is more than just a technological component; it serves as a strategic enabler that determines a country’s ability to maintain military dominance.

NVIDIA and the Security Logic Behind Export Control

The Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on 2023 announcement expanded export oversight, not only targeting on specific chip models but also on component values, most notably in frontier algorithm development. The NVIDIA A100 and H100 are highly advanced datacenter and AI chips. The guidelines are particularly high for training complex AI models on supercomputers, even for military applications or demanding research.

To prevent misuse, the US government has implemented licensing requirements for chips like the A100 and H100 chips, which have put chips like the A300 and H800, made by NVIDIA, under increased scrutiny, despite being categorized as “weak service” chips. Export restrictions stem from concerns that NVIDIA GPUs could be used by China in training AI models related to the US military, not only to slow China’s technological progress but also to safeguard its own national interests.

The US understands very well that high-performance chips are “brain machines” that can accelerate the development of military superiority, intelligence analysis, and even autonomous systems. So it is very clear that limiting the capacity of computing and high-performance hardware is the way to go. To delay a rival’s capabilities without resorting to direct military confrontation. This is a concrete manifestation of the shift in the “battlefield” taking place in the technological and regulatory arenas.

Vulnerable Supply Chains and Dependence on Taiwan

In chip control, the US must recognize that there are undeniable realities. NVIDIA’s chip production goes through a fabrication process that is almost entirely carried out in Taiwan, a country that lies in the geopolitical conflict between Washington and Beijing. The Congressional Research Service (2024) shows that approximately 90% of global advanced semiconductor chip production is based in Taiwan, manufactured by the leading Taiwanese foundry, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd. (TSMC). This creates a structural dependency that poses serious risks to US economic and technological security.

If semiconductor production were concentrated in a single region, it would create vulnerabilities that could destabilize the global technological system. Therefore, any tensions in the Taiwan Strait would disrupt US access to the computing infrastructure it maintains. Export restrictions are just one step in a much more complex strategy, requiring the US to diversify production locations and ensure that the chip supply chain is not concentrated in a single region.

Effectiveness and Adaptation Room for China

NVIDIA’s chip restrictions were intended to curb the pace of AI modernization in China, but China was still able to optimize the model’s efficiency. This demonstrates that limiting hardware performance doesn’t always equate to limiting innovation. On the other hand, unofficial market entities have emerged, allowing NVIDIA GPUs to remain accessible through third parties. This adaptation demonstrates that hardware control has limitations, especially when demand remains high and global distribution networks are not always transparent.

Looking at its overall effectiveness, US policy has been effective in slowing China’s computing capabilities, but it hasn’t stopped its strategic potential. Instead, it’s encouraging China to be self-sufficient in strengthening its technological foundation, even though the quality of local chips hasn’t yet matched NVIDA’s standards. In other words, restricting NVIDIA’s chip exports isn’t meant to end competition, but rather to transform it into a race toward technological independence. The policy’s effectiveness will only last as long as China finds a way to adapt, while China is working to fill that gap.

Policy Directions with Greater Strategic Opportunities

The effectiveness of the compute policy is based on a governance architecture that holds every allied country accountable to the same standards. Without a disciplined framework, export controls on China are merely an illusion that is easily penetrated by gaps in different economic and regulatory interests. By creating strategic alignment, which forces every democratic country to reduce the fragmentation of interests, it can open up greater policy opportunities to emerge. Many developing countries see this semiconductor race as a competition for dominance, not as an effort to maintain security.

In other words, a successful computing policy is not one that simply limits China’s space, but one that manages technological gaps without creating competing computing blocs. The geopolitical challenge is maintaining superiority without forcing the world into two technological divides that would be difficult to control. The US strategy to secure a leading position in future technologies requires flexibility in responding to global dynamics.

A Future Determined by Computational Capacity

The debate over NVIDIA chips demonstrates the growing integration of political and technological power. US policy aims not only to restrain the flow of strategic goods but also to build a new computing-based power architecture. However, this policy also presents challenges, including dependence on Taiwan, China’s flexibility, and economic pressure on US chip companies.

In a global world that continues to move toward an AI-driven economy, the future will be determined by who can manage geopolitical risks, understand supply chain dynamics, and design visionary policies. Ultimately, GPU regulation is no longer simply a matter of export control; it demonstrates how countries navigate a power struggle now measured in microchips.

Ukraine says it supports the “essence” of a United States plan to end its war with Russia, as US President Donald Trump said “progress” is being made on securing a deal and that he would dispatch his special envoy to Russia for talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Tuesday saw a flurry of diplomatic activity after US and Ukrainian negotiators met two days earlier in Geneva to discuss Trump’s initial peace plan, which had been seen in Ukraine as a Russian wish list calling on Kyiv to cede territory to Moscow, limit its military and give up on joining NATO.

The plan has since been modified, with the emerging proposal reportedly accomodating concerns of Ukraine and its European allies.

Speaking at a video conference of the so-called coalition of the willing – a group of 30 countries supporting Ukraine – President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv was ready to “move forward” with the as-yet-unpublished “framework”, though he still needed to address “sensitive points”.

Earlier, a Ukrainian official had told the Reuters news agency that Kyiv supported “the framework’s essence”. Building on that sense of momentum, Andriy Yermak, Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, who led negotiations in Geneva, told US news website Axios that the security guarantees Ukraine was seeking looked “very solid”.

Speaking at the White House, Trump conceded that resolving the Ukraine war was “not easy”, but added, “We’re getting close to a deal.”

“I thought that would be an easier [deal], but I think we’re making progress,” he said.

Taking to his Truth Social platform later on, he said that he would send envoy Steve Witkoff to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow to iron out “a few” remaining differences over the deal.

He said he hoped to meet “soon” with Putin and Zelenskyy, “but ONLY when the deal to end this War is FINAL or, in its final stages”.

Russia, which had hammered Ukraine’s capital Kyiv with a deadly barrage of missiles the previous night, seemed unconvinced of progress.

Russia has not yet seen the modified plan, which remains unpublished, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov underlined that it should reflect the “spirit and letter” of an understanding reached between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin at their Alaska summit earlier this year.

“If the spirit and letter of Anchorage is erased in terms of the key understandings we have established, then, of course, it will be a fundamentally different situation [for Russia],” Lavrov warned.

Reporting from Moscow, Al Jazeera’s Yulia Shapovalova said there was a lot of “uncertainty” at the Kremlin, though there had allegedly been “behind-the-scenes interactions” between Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev and US counterpart Steve Witkoff, “who reportedly worked on the initial stage” of Trump’s plan.

The Russian side, she said, was not happy about revisions to the peace plan.

“Unlike the initial American plan presented by Donald Trump, which consisted of 28 points, the so-called European version doesn’t include withdrawing the Ukrainian armed forces from Donbas, it allows Kyiv to join NATO, and it doesn’t limit the size of its armed forces,” Shapovalova said.

Still, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll had earlier emerged upbeat from meeting with Russian officials in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, with his spokesman saying: “The talks are going well and we remain optimistic.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on X that there were “a few delicate, but not insurmountable, details that must be sorted out and will require further talks between Ukraine, Russia and the United States”.

Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said it was “unclear when those talks will happen, who will be involved, and what they will look like”. But, she added, it was clear they would not be imminent, given the upcoming American Thanksgiving holiday on November 27.

Macron urges ‘pressure’ on Putin

As the US strained to bridge the gap between Ukraine and Russia, leaders in the coalition of the willing, who have pledged to underwrite and guarantee any ceasefire, moved fast on security guarantees and a reconstruction plan for Ukraine.

In the video meeting, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with Zelenskyy and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in attendance, the leaders decided to set up a task force between the US and coalition countries to “solidify” security guarantees.

Trump has not committed to providing back-up for a post-ceasefire “reassurance force” for Ukraine. The plan for the force involves European allies training Ukrainian troops and providing sea and air support, but would be reliant on US military muscle to work.

Speaking after the video call, Macron said discussions in Geneva had shown that there should be no limitations to the Ukrainian army, contrary to what had been outlined in the initial draft of the US plan.

He also said a decision on using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s reconstruction, at the heart of a political and legal impasse in a Europe seeking funding for Ukraine, would be “finalised in the coming days” with the European Commission.

Western countries froze approximately $300bn in Russian assets in 2022, mostly in Belgium, but there has been no consensus on how to proceed. Some support seizing the assets, while others, like Belgium, remain cautious owing to legal concerns.

According to reports, Trump’s plan would split the assets between reconstruction and US-Russia investments.

Macron hit out at Russia, saying “continued pressure” should be put on Moscow to negotiate. “On the ground, the reality is quite the opposite of a willingness for peace,” he said, alluding to Russia’s overnight attacks on Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, which left seven dead and disrupted power and heating systems.

In his daily evening address, Zelenskyy said: “What is especially cynical is that Russia carried out such strikes while talks are under way on how to end the war”.

FIFA Club World Cup champions Chelsea of the English Premier League beat Spain’s Barcelona 3-0 in the Champions League.

Defensive lapses cost Barcelona and Manchester City dearly as both teams slumped to notable losses in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Chelsea comfortably beat 10-man Barcelona 3-0 to earn its third league-phase win and move closer to the top.

It was the second loss for Barcelona, which went down a man after defender Ronald Araujo was shown a second yellow card just before half-time.

The hosts scored with an own-goal by Jules Kounde in the 27th, a nice strike by Estevao in the 55th and a close-range shot by Liam Delap in the 73rd.

Leverkusen continue Man City woes

In Pep Guardiola’s 100th Champions League game as City coach, his team struggled to cope with Bayer Leverkusen’s quick transitions in a 2-0 defeat, while Barcelona had an own goal and a red card in its 3-0 loss at Chelsea.

Guardiola made 10 changes to his starting lineup following Saturday’s loss to Newcastle in the Premier League, with Erling Haaland among those on the bench, but it didn’t have the desired effect.

Alejandro Grimaldo fired home Leverkusen’s first goal with a low shot into the far corner in the 23rd, and Patrik Schick headed in a second in the 54th.

City could have moved atop the table with a win, but the night ended with the top three unchanged. Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Inter Milan all play on Wednesday.

Benfica and Napoli also record wins

Jose Mourinho picked up his first Champions League win with his new club Benfica as Samuel Dahl’s early goal set the stage for a 2-0 win over troubled Ajax. It was No 36 vs No 35 in the pre-game standings as the two winless teams met in the Netherlands.

Left back Dahl scored an unstoppable volley on the rebound after Ajax goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros had saved a header from Benfica’s experienced defender Nicolas Otamendi. Leandro Barreiro added a second goal in the 90th.

Ajax has lost all five of its Champions League games and won only one of its last 10 games in all competitions.

Canadian forward Promise David scored the only goal as Belgium’s Union Saint-Gilloise won 1-0 at injury-depleted Galatasaray. The Turkish club was without injured Champions League top scorer Victor Osimhen, and finished with 10 men after 18-year-old defender Arda Unyay picked up two yellow cards.

Scott McTominay scored the opening goal as Napoli won 2-0 against Azerbaijan’s Qarabag. Napoli fans commemorated the fifth anniversary of club legend Diego Maradona’s death.