Latest news for 27 February 2026

PAKISTAN

War with the Taliban.

Pakistan’s defence minister has declared “open war” against Taliban-run Afghanistan amid the latest cycle of retaliatory cross-border strikes. (BBC)

Comment: Pakistan has spent years backing the Taliban via the adjacent TTP as a cudgel to deter India, only for that cudgel to hit back: the risk of proxies. We explored this one back in October, and foreshadowed the inevitability of this sequel.

UNITED STATES

Anthropic doesn’t bow.

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has stated his company “cannot in good conscience” agree to the Pentagon’s demands for unfettered access to its AI models in “any lawful use”, reiterating his opposition to mass domestic surveillance and fully autonomous weapons. The Pentagon’s undersecretary moved to calm tensions by [*checks notes*] calling Amodei a liar with a God-complex — DC’s argument is US warfighters shouldn’t need Amodei’s permission to defend America. (TechCrunch)

Comment: The Pentagon’s comply-or-go deadline expires 5pm today (Friday). We wrote about this showdown here.

CHINA

That's gonna cost you.

China is considering joining the ~100 other nations already imposing taxes on sugary drinks: it’s both a health measure and a revenue-raiser. (FT $)

DENMARK

Oh, snap.

Prime Minister Frederiksen has called snap parliamentary elections for March 24, looking to pull a Carney and capitalise on high approvals amid her pushback on Trump’s Greenland talk. She warns her country is facing “the Russian war machine from the east, threats from the west and the risk of terror from the south.” (NYT $)

MYANMAR

Outer space.

Russia's space agency chief has paid a visit to junta-led Myanmar, offering to help train the nation’s first astronaut, while securing local agreement to host new ✌️ground-tracking and data-collection facilities✌️. (Reuters)

Comment: Those sassy air quotes are because these proposed assets would inevitably a) offer the Kremlin a strategic foothold to collect intelligence on Indian Ocean and Malacca Strait naval activity, plus b) it’s a big prestige flex for two pariahs.

VENEZUELA

Who’s picking up the tab?

Appearing back in a Manhattan courtroom, former dictator Nicolás Maduro has asked a US federal judge to dismiss charges against him, arguing US sanctions are blocking the Venezuelan state funds he needs to finance his defence. (AP)

Comment: It’s a quirky legal situation: Maduro’s lawyer warns he’ll resign if Venezuela can’t cover his fees, but any right to state finance stems from Maduro’s capacity as president, a status Trump has never recognised.

ANGOLA

Money honey.

Angola's state-owned oil company is in talks with China over a $4.8B loan for a planned new refinery in the Atlantic port of Lobito. (Business Insider Africa)

Comment: It’s interesting because after years of aggressively paying-down its debt to China, this circling back suggests the sheer economics of trying to curb Angola’s reliance on offshore refining now outweigh the risks of re-entering China’s debt orbit.