Author: thaobh.leo@gmail.com

Conventional wisdom has long held that China would never become a technological powerhouse. From the late 1970s to the early twenty-first century, despite the country’s rapid economic growth, its technology base lagged decades behind that of the United States. Many prominent social scientists assumed that China would be unable to catch up: the country’s authoritarian institutions, they argued, stifled innovation through repression, censorship, and corruption, which would prevent it from ever truly competing with the United States. China, unable to keep pace with the United States technologically, would thus be no match for it economically or militarily.But seemingly in the…

Prime Miinister’s Office – Islamic Republic of Pakistan February 03, 2026 Islamabad: 03 February 2026 A high-level Libyan delegation called on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif at Prime Minister’s House, today. The Libyan delegation included H.E. Dr. Osama Saad Hamad, Prime Minister of the Libyan Government, Field Marshal Khalifa Abu-al-Qasim Haftar, Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces and Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Libyan Arab Armed Forces. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, NI (M), HJ, COAS & CDF, were also present during the meeting.…

Mario Bautista and Kyoji Horiguchi emerged victorious as part of the UFC Vegas 113 mixed martial arts (MMA) event last weekend in “Sin City” and as such, were able to improve their positions in the official UFC rankings. Bautista rose to No. 8 at 135 pounds, while Horiguchi jumped all the way to No. 6 in the flyweight class.Their opponents, Vinicius Oliveira and Amir Albazi, fell to No. 12 and No. 8, respectively.Elsewhere on the charts, heavyweight hurter Rizvan Kuniev debut at No. 6 in the heavyweight division after turning away Brazilian bruiser Jailton Almeida. As a result, “Malhadinho” will…

The Hawks aerobatic team of the Royal Saudi Air Force performed at World Defense Show 2026. (Gordon Arthur)Asian Military Review spoke to Andrew Pearcey, CEO of the World Defense Show, shortly before the event kicked off near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.World Defense Show is still a relatively new entrant on the global defence exhibition calendar. What was the original vision behind launching WDS, and what gap was it designed to fill?World Defense Show was established to address a clear gap in the global defence exhibition landscape. While many established events focus on individual domains or specific technologies, WDS was conceived as…

Report February 10, 2026 • 7:01 am ET Print this page By Aubrey Hruby Bottom lines up front In December 2025 the US and the DRC signed a strategic partnership agreement giving the US preferential access to Congolese mineral deposits.The next step should be to build the infrastructure necessary for African nations to derive sustainable wealth from their mineral assets, and for the US to reap the benefits of the strategic partnership agreement.The financing approach and public-private cooperation used to build the Lobito transportation corridor offers a playbook for the US and African governments and investors. Executive summary In an…

Aljamain Sterling has defeated some of the best fighters in UFC history at bantamweight, including former and future champions Petr Yan, Henry Cejudo and Renan Barão, but he wouldn’t say any of those are the “best” moment of his professional career.Sterling was coming off back-to-back title wins over Yan when he was paired up against former titleholder T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280, the co-main event for Charles Oliveira vs. Islam Makhachev in October 2022. Dillashaw had moved back up to bantamweight after a failed attempt to win the flyweight belt from Henry Cejudo and beat Cory Sandhagen in his return…

Kyiv isn’t just another dot on a battlefield map. It’s a nerve center. A symbol. A lever. And depending on who you ask in Moscow, it’s either a lost limb or a door that must never fully close.When people ask, “Why is Kyiv important to Russia?” the usual answers sound familiar, NATO, history, security, politics. All true, but also incomplete. Kyiv’s importance runs deeper, into how Russia sees itself, how it measures power, and how it reads the future through the lens of the past.Think of Kyiv less as a city and more as a switchboard. Political authority flows through…

February 10, 2026 | Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Founded by the General Authority for Military Industries (GAMI), World Defense Show 2026 entered its third day with a focus on diverse air and land demonstrations, alongside broad participation from official delegations, government entities, and international companies specializing in defense, security, and advanced technologies. Day Three featured the launch of key programs designed to bring government end-users, international industry leaders, innovators, and suppliers into direct dialogue – reflecting the show’s role as a global platform linking operational needs with emerging technologies, in line with Saudi Vision 2030. The “Meet the KSA Government” program, held…

As underwater threats grow quieter, faster, and more networked, navies require an integrated approach that combines long-range detection, rapid classification, and decisive countermeasures. ASELSAN has built a comprehensive naval underwater warfare and torpedo defense portfolio that addresses this need end-to-end, covering surface ships, submarines, unmanned platforms, and maritime patrol assets. Designed for modern combat management systems and multi-static operations, these solutions emphasize adaptability, automation, and survivability in high-sea-state environments. Long-Range Detection and Situational Awareness At the heart of ASELSAN’s underwater domain awareness are its low-frequency towed sonar systems. DÜFAS 100/LR is a long-range active/passive towed sonar optimized for detecting and…

The future of artificial intelligence will be controlled by the United States and China. The two countries employ 70 percent of the world’s top machine learning researchers, command 90 percent of global computing power, and attract the vast majority of AI investment—more than twice the combined total of every other state combined. In past technological revolutions, powers that were not at the frontier could gradually adopt new capabilities and catch up. But the AI revolution will be different, locking those countries into a strategic trap that could consign much of the world to technological vassalage.This trap particularly affects what might…