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Russian influence  

The Kremlin is spreading hyperlocal disinformation in the US  

 

The Kremlin is using hyperlocal propaganda campaigns to spread disinformation and create division in the United States, according to a report by AI analytics firm Logically.  

 

An example is a separatist movement for people of African descent in the city of Jackson, Mississippi, which claims to have the support of Wagner and the Russian government. Another Russian influence campaign is underway in Texas, which, among other things, is fueling a "civil war" due to border politics. 

 

Politico writes that what from the outside may look like "eccentric grassroots campaigns" is in fact a new front for Russian disinformation.  

According to Logically, the campaigns in the US follow the same pattern as Russian influence operations in Africa, but are loaded with issues of ethnicity instead of anti-colonial messages.

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The EU election|The electoral movement in Europe  

Macron searches and searches but finds no top candidate  

 

Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party has on several occasions postponed the announcement of its top candidate for the EU elections in June, writes Euractiv. Several key figures are said to have turned down the job. 

 

First, the person was to be presented in January, then it was February. Now March 9 seems to be the new deadline. The delay raises concerns that the party may have a difficult election campaign.  

 

- We have lost time, said the French member of parliament Bernard Guetta on French television last week.  

 

Macron's party is part of the Renew Europe party group in the European Parliament, the same group as the Swedish Center Party and the Liberals. 

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The China-Taiwan relationship  

Taiwan's statement: Chinese boat "lost balance"  

 

Taiwan's coast guard says the Chinese boat that capsized last week "lost its balance" while trying to escape from a patrol boat, AFP reports. Two people on the Chinese boat died after they ended up in the water, leading to increased tensions between China and Taiwan.  

 

The statement from Taiwan comes after China on Wednesday accused Taiwanese authorities of "hiding the truth" about the incident.  

 

The atmosphere between Taipei and Beijing has deteriorated since the presidential election in Taiwan in January. Lai Ching-Te, who won the election, advocates Taiwanese sovereignty, which runs counter to China's view of Taiwan as part of Chinese territory.

  

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Japanese mafia boss charged with uranium smuggling  

 

The United States accuses the 60-year-old Japanese Takeshi Ebisawa of trying to smuggle uranium and plutonium, write several media.  

 

According to the US Department of Justice, Ebisawa and his accomplices showed the core material to an American police officer under false identities in Thailand. The American posed as an arms and drug smuggler who had contacts with an Iranian general.  

 

Ebisawa is also accused of procuring large quantities of military weapons for an unspecified rebel group in Myanmar.  

 

According to the prosecutors, Ebisawa has a high-ranking role within the Japanese crime syndicate Yakuza, a mafia that operates in Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand and the United States, among others.

 

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School violence in Wuppertal, Germany - information on four injured  

 

At least four people are injured after a stabbing at a high school in the German city of Wuppertal, reports Bild and other German media. 

 

Some of them are believed to have serious injuries, but no one is reported to have died. It cannot currently be ruled out that a shooting has also taken place at the scene, the police state. 

 

A teenage student at the school has been arrested for the attack. He is considered to have planned and carried out the act himself, but there is no information about the motive.