The US president said military action is likely if current talks fail. Iran's parliament speaker says Tehran is preparing "new cards on the battlefield" if fighting resumes. A two-week ceasefire is due to expire at the end of Wednesday, with Pakistan hosting the latest round of negotiations between US and Iranian envoys. Both sides appear to be making concessions behind the scenes, but the situation remains volatile.
PM Sanae Takaichi's cabinet approved the biggest overhaul of Japan's defense export rules in decades, opening the door to selling warships, missiles and fighter jets to allied nations. The move breaks from Japan's post-WWII pacifist constitution and comes as the country faces rising threats from China and unpredictability from its main ally, the United States. Japan can now sell weapons to more than a dozen countries — a historic shift for a nation that hasn't exported lethal arms since 1967.
Source: Al Jazeera · NPR · Reuters
The International Monetary Fund downgraded its 2026 global growth outlook from 3.3% to 3.1%, pointing to fallout from the Middle East conflict and renewed inflationary pressures. The Fund warns that rising defense spending worldwide is complicating central banks' efforts to bring inflation down. The report comes ahead of the Spring Meetings with the World Bank in Washington.
AI, quantum computing and space technology are no longer just about competition for the best model — they're becoming tightly bound to energy infrastructure, supply chains, and national security. The shift is most visible in the AI infrastructure debate: governments are now explicitly asking who controls the data centers, who sets post-quantum security standards, and who has sovereign launch capacity. The conversation has moved from innovation to strategic independence.
Source: World Economic Forum
The 2026 Stanford AI Index documents systems that match or exceed human performance on PhD-level science exams and competition mathematics — while still failing at basic real-world tasks. Corporate investment in AI has surged, and early evidence points to significant workforce disruption. The key decisions now aren't just about capability, but about governance, collaboration vs. rivalry between major powers, and how to handle the uneven pace of AI deployment globally.
Source: ETC Journal