Situation Reports

The U.S. Department of Defense is planning to deploy a brigade combat team from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported on March 24.

Benin's ruling party presidential candidate Romuald Wadagni pledged to create new municipal police forces in northern border towns to counter growing jihadist attacks as part of his platform ahead of the April 12 election, Reuters reported on March 23.

Chinese Vice President Han Zheng is conducting an Africa tour through Kenya, South Africa and the Seychelles during which he will meet his local counterparts through March 30, Radio France Internationale reported on March 23.

South African farmers may not press ahead with their winter planting season if crop prices do not rise enough to offset their expected increase in fuel and fertilizer costs linked to the Iran war, Bloomberg reported on March 24.

The Afghan Taliban released Dennis Coyle, a U.S. academic the group had detained since January 2025 for unspecified reasons, The New York Times reported on March 24.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine and the United States still needed to finalize an agreement on security guarantees, despite earlier claims that it was ready, Reuters reported on March 24.

NASA announced on March 24 that it plans to spend $20 billion over the next seven years to develop a lunar base on the surface of the moon and will pause plans to build the Gateway space station that would have orbited the moon and served as a ferrying point for manned missions to the lunar surface.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military will occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River, marking the first clear indication of Israel's intent to seize territory amounting to nearly a 10th of Lebanon, Reuters reported on March 24.

Vietnam and Russia signed an agreement to build the Ninh Thuan 1 nuclear power plant in Vietnam, with Russia's Rosatom slated to construct reactors with a total capacity of roughly 2,400 megawatts, Bloomberg reported on March 24.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said energy supply risks stemming from the war in the Middle East could spur renewed discussions with China on joint energy development in the South China Sea, Bloomberg reported on March 24.