A magnitude 6.6 earthquake occurred near 31 km ESE of Yilan, Taiwan on December 27, 2025 at 03:05 PM UTC. This shallow earthquake originated at a depth of 67.5 kilometers below the Earth's surface. The earthquake was recorded by 80 seismic monitoring stations operated by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). The mww magnitude measurement indicates this was a moment magnitude event, which is the standard measurement method for earthquakes of this size. A tsunami warning was issued for this earthquake. For current tsunami information, please refer to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Earthquakes of magnitude 6.0 and above are classified as strong earthquakes by the USGS. This event provides valuable data for seismologists studying earthquake patterns and tectonic activity in the region.
Saturday, December 27, 2025
Rumors Of War: Houthi leader says future rounds of fighting with Israel likely
The head of the Houthi terror organization, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, warned of potential future escalation with Israel during a speech broadcast on Houthi-owned news channel, Al-Masirah TV, on Friday evening.
Al-Houthi alleged that Israel, with American support, was preparing for further action against the terror organization, claiming that “upcoming rounds are certain.”
The terror head cited US and Israeli efforts to disarm the Houthis and other terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah and Hamas, as acts of “major aggression” and a “conspiracy” to deprive terrorists of their “legitimate rights.”
Al-Houthi additionally described the US and Israel as “satanic, oppressive, criminal forces,” urging his followers to remain in “a state of constant vigilance, with a high jihadist spirit” in response to the perceived military step-up.
The Houthis have also been preparing for escalation against the Southern Transitional Council (STC) on the ground in Yemen.
The STC is a United Arab Emirates-backed force that controls southern Yemen and has recently gained territory from the Houthis.
According to UAE-based news outlet Al-Ain News, Yemeni security and military sources have gathered information that the Houthis have begun deploying “unprecedented military reinforcements.”
Al-Ain reported that the preparations indicate that “a major military offensive towards southern Yemen” may soon be launched in response to the STC cutting off some of the terrorist organizations' supply lines.
A delegation of UAE and Saudi Arabian officials met in Yemen on Thursday to discuss soothing the rising tensions between the STC, the Houthis, and Yemen’s Saudi-backed official government.
The US Department of State released a statement on Friday expressing concern regarding the escalating military tensions, urging all involved parties to practice “restraint and continued diplomacy.”
“We are grateful for the diplomatic leadership of our partners, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates,” the statement read, affirming that the US will “remain supportive of all efforts to advance shared security interests” in pursuit of “reaching a lasting solution.”
Nuclear submarine arms race heats up between North and South Korea
An arms race for nuclear-powered submarines is accelerating between North and South Korea amid shifts in the United States' security strategy in the region.
North Korea's state media revealed on Thursday a picture of what it called a "8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided missile submarine." It's the first time North Korea disclosed the tonnage and the apparently completed hull of the submarine since it declared its pursuit for nuclear subs in 2021.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said that the new vessel will help defend his country against "the negative security situation that has come as present reality," according to the country's state media. Kim criticized South Korea's plan to build its own nuclear subs as "an offensive act … that must be countered."
South Korea has moved quickly to build its own nuclear subs, since receiving President Trump's approval in October. A pan-government task force launched last week in Seoul, while the country's national security adviser Wi Sung-lac said South Korea will work on a pact for the U.S. to supply it with military-use nuclear fuel.
The green light for South Korea's underwater ambitions came as the U.S. pushes its allies to shoulder more of their own security burden and spend more to beef up defense capabilities.
South Korea has sought to build nuclear subs for decades against North Korea's nuclear threats, which quickly expanded to the maritime sphere in recent years. In addition to making the nuclear-powered submarine, it has tested submarine-launched nuclear missiles and claimed to have developed a nuclear-capable torpedo.
South Korea's defense minister, Ahn Gyu-back, said in October that conventional, diesel-powered subs "can't compete with nuclear subs North Korea is building in underwater endurance and speed."
U.S. expects subs to help counter China
The U.S. expects future South Korean nuclear subs to do more in the region than countering North Korea. Admiral Daryl Caudle, the chief of naval operations of the U.S. Navy, said during his visit in Seoul in November that it's "a natural expectation" that they be used "to meet our combined goals on what the United States considers to be our pacing threat, which is China."
South Korea President Lee Jae Myung appeared to make a nod to that expectation, with a rare mention of China during his October summit with Trump. "The limited underwater range of diesel submarines restricts our ability to track subs on the North Korean or Chinese side," he said.
Yoon Sukjoon, a retired South Korean navy captain, tells NPR that it's a "given" that South Korean nuclear subs will operate in a wider underwater domain beyond the Korean Peninsula.
Yoon says the waters around the peninsula are too shallow for submarine operations. "But if the South Korean Navy expands its nuclear submarine operations to China," he says, "it can contribute some strategic deterrence against the Chinese Navy's threats in the Indo-Pacific."
The New Battle For The Americas: Why The Western Hemisphere Is Becoming A Global Flashpoint
The principal geopolitical foes of the US in the Western Hemisphere—Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua—are firmly in the China and Russia camp.
Other countries can shift depending on the outcome of recent elections.
Here’s an overview of some of the most geopolitically important countries in the Western Hemisphere to help frame the broader picture.
Venezuela
A military confrontation over Venezuela appears increasingly likely.
Since Hugo Chávez’s rise to power in 1999, Caracas has aligned itself with Russia and China. Venezuela’s vast oil and gold reserves make it a geopolitical prize. The country holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves—over 303 billion barrels, around 17 % of the global total—concentrated in the Orinoco Belt. That’s more oil than Saudi Arabia’s reported reserves.
For China and Russia, Venezuela represents a geopolitical foothold in America’s backyard—much like how the US uses Taiwan and Ukraine to do the same to Beijing and Moscow.
Trump’s renewed “war on drugs” is a thinly veiled pretext for the US to advance its geopolitical interests in the Americas.
Further, earlier this year, Washington labeled Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua and the Cartel de los Soles as “foreign terrorist organizations,” a dramatic escalation without precedent. The designations paved the way for military and covert actions under counterterrorism authorities.
The US has amassed an impressive naval force off Venezuela’s coast in what Trump described as a campaign against “narco-terrorism.”
In reality, this looks more like classic gunboat diplomacy—the drugs-and-terrorism narrative is merely a thin patina of propaganda used to justify the policy. Venezuela is not a major cocaine producer, nor does it play any significant role in fentanyl trafficking.
Venezuela now stands at the crossroads of a changing world order. It’s difficult to imagine the US securing its sphere of influence in the Western Hemisphere while Venezuela remains in its current geopolitical orientation—promoting an ideology that Latin America should be independent of the US.
Guyana
Guyana has quietly become one of the most geopolitically significant states in the Western Hemisphere. Its oil boom, its vulnerability to a long-running territorial dispute with Venezuela, and its growing alignment with the US situate it at the forefront of the conflict over control of the Western Hemisphere.
Washington’s recent deepening of economic and security ties signals recognition of that shift. Meanwhile, Caracas’s legislative and military moves to assert control over Guyana’s Essequibo region reflect a bold challenge—not just to Guyana, but to the US’s hemispheric influence.
Cuba
Cuba may look small on a map, but its position—just 90 miles from Florida—makes it one of the most strategically important pieces on the hemispheric chessboard.
In a world where geography still defines power, Cuba’s proximity to the US and its historic defiance of Washington give it an outsized geopolitical weight.
As the US refocuses on consolidating influence in the Western Hemisphere, Cuba is a challenge.
For Washington, the island’s alignment with China and Russia complicates efforts to assert control over the region.
For Beijing and Moscow, Cuba offers a rare foothold in America’s own backyard—a place to project soft power, intelligence, and potentially even military influence, without crossing direct red lines.
Economically, Cuba’s partnerships with China and Russia help it survive under US sanctions. Beijing has become Cuba’s largest trading partner and a major investor in telecommunications, ports, and infrastructure. Moscow, meanwhile, has pledged more than $1 billion in economic cooperation and continues to strengthen energy and defense ties. These relationships allow Havana to maintain political autonomy and serve as a symbolic anchor for anti-US sentiment across Latin America.
In short, Cuba is more than a relic of Cold War geopolitics—it’s a live variable in today’s multipolar order.
Cuba is also a stark reminder of the limits of the US government’s power. Since 1959, Washington has unleashed covert operations, economic embargoes, and numerous attempts to topple the Cuban regime—and yet it remains.
What new move could the US now deploy that it hasn’t already tried?
Short of a full-scale military invasion—which would itself offer no guarantee of success—I don’t see any viable alternative.
That means the Cuban government is likely to maintain its current geopolitical orientation and continue serving as a thorn in the side of US ambitions in the Western Hemisphere.
Colombia
Colombia has long been one of Washington’s most reliable allies in Latin America. Hugo Chávez famously—and derisively—referred to it as “the Israel of South America.”
That pattern has shifted under the country’s current left-wing president, Gustavo Petro. Earlier this year, he traveled to China and signed a cooperation plan marking Colombia’s formal accession to the Belt and Road Initiative—a move that rattled Washington. In response, Trump announced the suspension of US aid and threatened tariffs against Colombia, accusing Petro’s government of failing to curb narcotics.
The key question now is whether Colombia’s pivot toward Beijing marks a lasting strategic realignment or simply a temporary detour under Petro’s leadership. The direction Colombia ultimately takes will carry major geopolitical implications for the Americas—especially given its position bordering both Venezuela and Panama.
AI’s thirst for power is testing grids worldwide
A power supply crisis is unfolding beneath the glow of server racks, as the world’s booming artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency sectors place unprecedented strain on electricity systems. From the eastern United States to the tropics of Southeast Asia, power grids are grappling with a surge in demand driven by energy-hungry data centers. This collision of rapid technological expansion and aging energy infrastructure is forcing an urgent reckoning on reliability, cost and the very future of digital innovation.
The scale of this new industrial power demand is now visible from orbit. This month, thermal imaging satellites operated by UK-based firm SatVu captured a stark picture of the energy intensity at a Bitcoin mining campus in Rockdale, Texas. The facility’s heat signature, a proxy for its massive electricity consumption, is estimated to draw about 700 megawatts—equivalent to the power needs of a small city. This image offers a rare, objective glimpse into a global trend: data centers, crypto mines and AI training facilities are becoming the industrialized world’s newest and most voracious electricity consumers.
Compounding the problem is the geographic placement of many new facilities. An analysis by Rest of World, using data from late 2025, mapped nearly 9,000 operational data centers globally against optimal temperature ranges. The industry standard for efficient operation is between 18°C and 27°C (64°F to 81°F). Yet, the analysis found that to meet local data sovereignty laws and booming regional demand, hundreds of centers are being built in climates far hotter than recommended.
- In 21 countries, including Singapore, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates, every data center is located in a region with an average annual temperature above 27°C.
- In Singapore, where humidity and heat create a "permanent peak summer" for servers, data centers already accounted for 7% of national electricity use in 2020, a share projected to hit 12% by 2030 without intervention.
- Cooling equipment in these environments requires significantly more energy, placing a double burden on local grids already struggling with reliability, as seen in parts of India and Africa.
The consequences of this demand surge are not theoretical. In the United States, PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for 13 states and Washington, D.C., has issued stark warnings
The region faces a capacity crunch as data center growth collides with the retirement of traditional fossil fuel power plants. The intermittent nature of renewable energy sources like wind and solar adds another layer of complexity to maintaining grid stability. This pressure recently manifested in a capacity auction where costs skyrocketed to $14.7 billion, a spike largely attributed to the need to secure power for proliferating data centers. The situation illustrates a national security and economic vulnerability: an overstretched grid risks blackouts, stifles technological progress and inflates electricity costs for all consumers.
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