Geoshawk No.6 / 2 February

Hey! Welcome to Geoshawk, by Shawknews. Geoshawk curates recent information operations and geopolitics-related headlines in the Caucasus, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia, MENA, and the US.

Global:

• There’s So Much Data Even Spies Are Struggling to Find Secrets (Bloomberg) (paywall)

• China approves over 40 AI models for public use in past six months (Reuters)

US:

• US approves $4 billion drone sale to India for maritime security needs (thehill)

• E.U. throws Ukraine $54 billion lifeline after Hungary drops opposition (WaPo)

Russia:

• Russian banks made a record $36.8 billion in profit last year, and even the central bank is surprised by it (Africa businessinsider)

• Estonian general: Russia likely responsible for uptick in GPS jamming in Eastern Europe (yahoo)

• Russia’s Attempt to Link Il-76 and MH17: Smart Disinfo or Self-Incrimination? (polygraph)

• Russia bans Germany-based Russian Election Monitor as ‘undesirable’ organization (medusa)

• Thousands from Russia-friendly party join anti-government protest in Moldova's capital (abcnews)

MENA:

• Pro-Israel ‘surveillance’ group turning attention to Australia, leaked posts show (theguardian)

• Live: Israel vows to move on to Rafah as Hamas weighs ceasefire proposal (france24)

• Iran Slows Production of Enriched Uranium, the U.N.’s Nuclear Watchdog Says (NYT) (paywall)

Caucasus:

• Billionaire taps ruling party chair as Georgia's next PM (eurasianet)

• BP launches biggest ever survey of Azerbaijan oil field (eurasianet)

• Armenia Proposes Updated Peace Terms to Azerbaijan, Baku Rejects (caucasuswatch)

Central Asia:

• Kyrgyzstan, China to be joined by third border crossing