World News

China, Taiwan and the Fishing Community Caught In Between

In the latest escalation of tensions between the two, China seized a fishing vessel from Taiwan while it was in Taiwanese territorial waters. This is seen as Beijing sending a message that it plans to assert more control over Taiwan, which China claims as it's own. Our correspondent travels to a small Taiwanese island near where the boat was seized and finds residents who know they would be on the front line of any future military action that could erupt between China and Taiwan.
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Palmer Luckey, 31, founder of Anduril Industries, stands in front of the Dive-LD, an autonomous underwater drone at company headquarters in Costa Mesa, Calif. Anduril recently won a U.S. Navy contract to build 200 of them annually.

This U.S. company is helping arm Ukraine against Russia — with AI drones

Palmer Luckey launched his first tech company as a teenager. That was Oculus, the virtual reality headset for gaming. Soon after, he sold it to Facebook for $2 billion.

Now 31, Luckey has a new company called Anduril that's making Artificial Intelligence weapons. The Pentagon is buying them – keeping some for itself and sending others to Ukraine.

The weapons could be instrumental in helping Ukraine stand up to Russia.

Ukraine needs more weapons – and better weapons – to fight against Russia. Could AI weapons made by a billionaire tech entrepreneur's company hold the answer?

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Heads of state pose for a group photo during the NATO 75th anniversary celebratory event at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C. (July 9, 2024)

Russia is Top of Mind at NATO summit

Four years after World War II, leaders from Europe and North America formed an alliance largely aimed at deterring Soviet expansion — the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — NATO.

Seventy-five years later the member states of that organization have come together in Washington to celebrate NATO and plan for its future.

As they did in 1949, the NATO allies believe Russia presents the largest security threat to their world order. The immediate threat is Russia's war with Ukraine, but the allies also worry about the future of America's leadership.

Eight diplomats from the nations closest to Russia weigh in on the threat the country poses to them and the world order.

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Email us at considerthis@npr.org.
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