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Amid the unpredictable situation in the Middle East, French President Mark broke France's decades-long taboo on nuclear issues, promising to increase the number of nuclear warheads and clarifying France's role in European security.

According to CCTV News, on March 2, local time, French President Macron announced that he had ordered an increase in the number of nuclear warheads possessed by France. Macron said, "I have asked for an increase in the number of nuclear warheads." Macron emphasized that the specific number will no longer be announced to the outside world.

Macron said that in the context of the current increasingly tense international security situation and continued global instability, it is necessary to increase the size of France's nuclear arsenal.

It is worth noting that France and Germany also announced plans to deepen cooperation in the field of nuclear deterrence on the 2nd. According to a joint statement, the two countries will establish a high-level steering group to coordinate strategies. Germany will participate in French nuclear drills and inspections of strategic installations, while the two countries also plan to strengthen conventional and missile defense capabilities with other European partners.

"In response to the evolving threat landscape, France and Germany have agreed to cooperate more closely in the field of deterrence," the statement said.

Zhao Yongsheng, a researcher at the Global Value Chain Research Institute of the University of International Business and Economics and director of the French Economic Research Center who is conducting research in France, told China Business News that the war in the Middle East spilled over, causing the French military base in the United Arab Emirates to be raided. According to what he learned after talking to French policymakers, the French side was quite touched by this incident.

Zhao Yongsheng explained that the above-mentioned decision was announced in this context. Macron’s decision is one of the most significant changes in France’s nuclear strategy since the end of the Cold War. It can be seen from this move that “countries with nuclear weapons like France are increasingly worried about the current international situation. Moreover, unlike Venezuela and other South American countries, European countries in the Middle East have intricate and vital interests.”

France increases nuclear weapons

On the 2nd, Macron elaborated on France’s new nuclear deterrence strategy at the French Navy nuclear submarine base near Crozon on the Brittany Peninsula in western France. The base hosts four French nuclear submarines.

“It is imperative to increase our nuclear arsenal,” Macron said. When delivering his speech, Macron stood on a high platform in front of the black "Téméraire" ballistic missile submarine.

"One of our submarines, like the one behind me, can carry as much strike power as all the bombs dropped on Europe during World War II," he said.

In his speech, Macron also outlined plans for greater cooperation with European countries, naming Germany, Poland, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, which would include joint nuclear exercises and the eventual possible temporary deployment of French nuclear fighter jets to allies.

"I believe I can say that our partners are ready," Macron stressed.

Currently, France and the United Kingdom are the only two nuclear powers in Europe. In short, France's nuclear arsenal spans both air and sea, and it always has at least one submarine patrolling the seas. But unlike the United Kingdom, France is not a member of the NATO nuclear planning group, although successive French presidents have emphasized that France's major national interests have European significance.

An aide close to Macron said Monday's speech was the culmination of months of consultations with European allies.

As early as 2020, Macron proposed a strategic nuclear dialogue with European allies for the first time, but the proposal did not initially receive much support.

Zhao Yongsheng told reporters that the current international situation and changes in the United States' attitude towards NATO have led EU members in NATO countries to re-examine their security strategies and begin to accept Macron's ideas more openly.

Macron also emphasized this time that France has no intention to replace U.S. nuclear weapons and NATO as the ultimate guarantee of the security of the European continent.

"From the very beginning, it was clear to us and to our partners that this effort would complement NATO's nuclear mission," Macron stressed.

In order to appease the domestic public, he insisted that the final decision on whether to launch nuclear weapons will be firmly in the hands of the French president, who will continue to define France's so-called "core interests" alone.

Héloïse Fayet, an expert on nuclear deterrence at the French Institute of International Relations, said that Macron's speech "achieved success in a situation where France's domestic political environment was restricted and opposition was high. The speech struck a good balance between emphasizing French sovereignty and its contribution to European security, and proposed a new concept of forward deterrence, which seems to have been understood by allies."

According to reports, France currently has about 300 nuclear warheads, which is about one-tenth the size of the nuclear arsenals of the United States and Russia. Macron said France would not reveal how many nuclear weapons it had or how many more it planned to add, adding only that the increase was to maintain the "credibility" of its arsenal.

"This is not an arms race… What is crucial is that our opponents, or the alliance of opponents, do not dare to act even remotely and dare to attack France, and they will suffer irreparable losses," Macron said.

CCTV News reported that analysts believe that this statement shows that France is strengthening its nuclear deterrence capabilities in the face of geopolitical uncertainty and security challenges, and at the same time choosing to adopt a more confidential attitude in terms of the scale of its nuclear forces.

Zhao Yongsheng told reporters that, first of all, this statement is a response to the recent raid on the French military base in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East situation. Secondly, both Germany and France have been revitalizing their military industries recently, but German military industry companies are more eye-catching, and Germany's budget legislation is also relatively open. France is relatively low-key in comparison, but related work is also progressing steadily and its budget investment is large.

France and Germany announce the establishment of a joint "nuclear steering group"

Currently, with only 14 months left in Macron's term, he is accelerating the pace, emphasizing that the joint nuclear program should be launched this year, including hosting European allies in "strategic locations" and holding joint exercises.

As mentioned earlier, France and Germany announced the establishment of a joint "nuclear steering group" to discuss nuclear doctrine and "the appropriate combination of conventional, missile defense and French nuclear capabilities" in the strategic cooperation between the two countries.

"So, today, a new phase of French deterrence may be taking shape. We are starting what I call 'forward deterrence.'" Macron said, which means integrating more and more European countries into France's deterrence system – starting with participation in nuclear exercises.

"This will ultimately provide the conditions for deploying parts of our strategic air force to allies, depending on the situation," Macron added, referring to squadrons of nuclear-capable Rafale fighter jets.

A senior French official said after Macron's speech that Macron's pledges were designed to ensure that the next French president could not easily walk back them. He added that Macron's speech was actually "more consensus-based" than it appeared on the surface.

The official stressed that no president would dare reverse a decision to increase nuclear warheads.

German Chancellor Mertz said Paris and Berlin wanted to take "concrete measures, including Germany's regular participation in France's nuclear exercises." Germany and Belgium are members of the U.S. nuclear-sharing agreement under the NATO framework, and their fighter aircraft are equipped with equipment to carry U.S. nuclear warheads. Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson said in an online article that Macron's initiative "helps to supplement collective capabilities." “Since World War II, the importance of strengthening Europe’s collective defense capabilities has never been more prominent,” he wrote.

Polish Prime Minister Tusk said: "Poland is consulting with France and some of its closest European allies on an advanced nuclear deterrent plan."

Zhao Yongsheng told reporters that in recent years, we can see that France has loosened its concept. From the previous "only France possesses nuclear weapons" to the current trend of continued integration of the European Union, it has begun to think about cooperation with Germany and other European countries in nuclear technology. "In addition to technology, financial investment is also a practical issue. The development of nuclear weapons costs a lot. France also has practical considerations in this regard when cooperating with EU countries."

Two people familiar with the matter said that in order to determine Khamenei's whereabouts, Israel's signal intelligence agency Unit 8200, the Israeli Intelligence and Special Missions Directorate (Mossad) and military intelligence have continued to collect information on Tehran for years. Israeli intelligence agencies hacked into almost all road surveillance in Tehran, and the footage captured by the cameras was encrypted and transmitted to a server in Israel.

One of the people familiar with the matter said that on Pasteur Street, where many important government agencies are located in Iran, the angle of a camera is particularly critical. Israeli intelligence agencies can determine where Iranian government personnel park their vehicles and monitor the operations of parts of Pasteur Street.

They revealed that Israel used complex algorithms to construct a "behavioral profile" of Iranian security personnel, including their addresses, duty hours, commuting routes, and those usually responsible for protecting and transporting them. Israel also uses a mathematical method called "social network analysis" to mine Iran's decision-making focus from large amounts of data and identify new surveillance and strike targets.

According to reports, the strike had been planned for months, but after U.S. and Israeli intelligence agencies confirmed that Khamenei and a number of senior Iranian officials would meet on February 28, the two countries adjusted their action plans. Before the operation, Israel used Tehran's road surveillance system and deeply penetrated mobile communication networks to determine that Khamenei and Iranian officials would meet as scheduled.

Another former senior Israeli official added that in order to ensure that the attack was launched on time, Israeli warplanes had taken off several hours in advance and then launched more than 30 precision-guided munitions towards Khamenei's location.

According to people familiar with the matter, Israel also successfully interfered with more than a dozen base stations near Pasteur Street to prevent Khamenei's security personnel from receiving early warning information.

In addition, two people familiar with the matter told the Financial Times that the United States had more specific intelligence through an informant. The CIA declined to comment.

On March 1, Tehran, Iran, satellite images showed damage to the complex of Khamenei’s official residence IC photo

Senior Israeli intelligence officer Itai Shapira said: "In Israeli intelligence culture, target intelligence is the most core tactical issue and is designed to serve the overall strategy. If the decision-maker decides to assassinate someone, the principle is: We will provide the intelligence support needed to achieve this goal."

Another Israeli intelligence official said: "Long before the bombs fell, we were as familiar with Tehran as we were with Jerusalem. When you are as familiar with a place as the streets where you grew up, you can detect even slight differences immediately."

The airstrikes targeting Khamenei were a political decision, according to six current and former Israeli intelligence officials. Both the CIA and Israeli intelligence agencies believe that once the war begins, Iran will immediately take steps to move Khamenei and the Iranian leadership into underground bunkers that can withstand air strikes. Therefore, they regard the February 28 meeting as the best time to take action.

Killing a foreign leader is not only extremely dangerous but also operationally challenging. Over the past few years, Iranian intelligence agencies have also demonstrated considerable capabilities. For example, in 2022, a group related to Iran's security services released data allegedly stolen from the mobile phone of the wife of the Mossad director; in 2025, during the Israel-Iraq conflict, Iran hacked into Jerusalem's surveillance system to determine Israel's losses.

However, former Mossad official Sima Shain said that in recent years, Israeli intelligence agencies have successfully carried out operations such as assassinating Palestinian Islamic resistance leader Ismail Haniyeh and planting explosives in Lebanese Hezbollah pagers. These achievements are tempting in themselves, "Hebrew proverb says, 'Appetite follows food.' In other words, the more you have, the more you want."

However, while Israel was showing off the results of its "decapitation operation", the Financial Times also pointed out that Khamenei had publicly discussed the possibility of his own death, saying that his personal life and death were "insignificant" to the fate of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Some experts on Iran said that Khamenei had expected to die as a "martyr."

After Khamenei's death, Iran has established an interim leadership council composed of President Pezeshizyan, Justice Director Ghulam Hussein Mohseni Ejei and Deputy Chairman of the Guardian Council of the Constitution Alireza Alafi. The Interim Leadership Council temporarily performs the duties of the Supreme Leader until Iran appoints a new Supreme Leader.

Iranian Foreign Minister Araghchi said in an exclusive interview with Qatar's Al Jazeera on the 1st that he expects a meeting of Iranian experts to determine the candidate for the next supreme leader in a "very short time." "Perhaps one to two days later, they will choose a new national leader."

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Pay attention to the situation in Iran

A very obvious change in Dong Xuan and Zhang Weiyi's post-marriage status recently is that the two began to appear together in the right places, no longer deliberately separated, and no longer regarded being in the same frame as something to be explained.

A few days ago, she went to his place to meet relatives. She stood directly in a family photo of 21 people. She hugged the younger one and supported the older one. She did not fight for her position or dodge her movements. This gave her enough face and made her relationship clear.

Then the camera turned to the meal on February 28, Yu Zheng’s birthday, and he posted the group photo just after midnight. The accompanying sentence did not go around, "Birthdays happen every year, but the people I love most are the most complete this year." This sentence set the tone of the scene. In the group photo, you can see people like Gu Li Nazha, Zhang Huiwen, Dong Xuan, Zhang Weiyi, and Zhao Qing. It looks like a party to outsiders, but it looks like a list to those in the circle.

As soon as the group photo came out, discussions started to follow: who sat in the middle, who stood in the front row, who was close to whom, who was next to whom. The popularity depended on these details. Some reports directly stated that Nazha occupied the C position in the photo, and Zhang Huiwen was also in the middle of the photo.

The fact that Dong Xuan and Zhang Weiyi appeared together was singled out for discussion. The reason is simple. Everyone has seen Dong Xuan appear alone a lot, so her appearance with Zhang Weiyi is new information.

Talking back to Dong Xuan's actions, when she took Zhang Weiyi to such a situation, it was easy for the outside world to translate it according to their own understanding. Some translated it as showing affection, some translated it as bringing her husband to the house, and some translated it as paving the way for her husband. These translations are not important.

What matters is the result. The result is that he is standing in that photo, in the same frame as a table of people, and his name is written out by the media one by one. This means that he has stepped out of Dong Xuan's life into a more public lens.

Yu Zheng was actually very good at taking this group photo. He didn't need to write too much. He just had to gather the people together, put out the group photo, and hang the phrase "the most complete" on it. The rest of the interpretation was left to the audience. The media also conveniently made this meal a hot topic. Who came and who didn't come, who was in the middle and who was on the side. Even the words "private party" can give it the flavor of a public event.

If you move the time forward a little further, you will understand Dong Xuan's rhythm better. She first completes the tasks at home, takes photos, meets the elders, does what she needs to do, and then releases the same frame at work.

This order is very realistic and more trouble-free. If the family recognizes it and the people in the circle see it, there will naturally be less speculation from the outside world. The rest depends on how the two people appear in the future, how many times they appear, and on what occasions.

Be it Nazha, Zhang Huiwen, or Zhao Qing, if these names appear in the same group photo, it will naturally trigger discussions. Some discussions focus on appearance, some discuss positioning, and some discuss resources. These are all regular functions of a group photo.

Yu Zheng's group photos with human hair are never just records. He knows very well what a photo can bring, who can be seen, who can be mentioned, and who can be tied to the same topic.

In the end, it comes back to Dong Xuan and Zhang Weiyi. The outside world will habitually look for drama when they are together after marriage, but many times the real drama is not in the words, but in the actions, such as when she went to take a photo with him.

For example, he followed her to the birthday party, and neither of them was in a hurry to explain. This lack of explanation was more like a settled state. There will continue to be photos and dinner parties. Whether he is still there in the next group photo is a stronger signal later.

The "15th Five-Year Plan" proposal proposes to "promote the healthy development of flexible employment and new employment forms." Around the Spring Festival, Nanning City, Guangxi, led by the human resources and social security department and jointly implemented the "Spring Breeze Action" with multiple departments, carried out employment assistance and employment assistance, and launched a package of heart-warming employment measures such as providing jobs, training, warmth, and services, covering key groups such as returning migrant workers, unemployed people, flexible employment people, and people out of poverty, so as to provide good services for the masses to find a good job in the new year.

01

Housekeeping training delivered to your doorstep

True love warms people’s hearts

During the Spring Festival this year, Li Haiyuan, who lives in Nanning, Guangxi, received holiday condolences from the local social department, along with a special home cleaning service provided by a professional housekeeping company.

47-year-old Li Haiyuan has a family of three. After losing her job a few years ago, she found a job as a clothing shopping guide on the recommendation of the employment department. Her husband works odd jobs in the goods yard. Both of them are flexible employment personnel. Last year, their child was admitted to college, and Li Haiyuan was eager to find a more stable job.

Li Haiyuan, a citizen of Nanning City: I heard they said there was training in housekeeping skills, and I was very interested, so I came to learn. I hope I can learn it and see if I can find a suitable position.

The "door-to-door learning" Li Haiyuan mentioned is exactly the "free cleaning experience + precise job matching" employment promotion action launched this year by the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Nanning, Guangxi. The action provides door-to-door housekeeping training services to 100 families with employment difficulties who are interested in engaging in domestic service. From various cleaning tools and the allocation and use of each dry and wet rag, to the standardized procedures, time allocation, cleaning techniques and specifications for household cleaning, volunteers from the housekeeping company demonstrated step by step during the service process, and patiently answered core questions such as income structure and working hours, so that people with employment difficulties who received the service not only had personal experience of housekeeping services, but also clarified their misunderstandings.

Wang Zhen, Chief of the Employment Section of the Nanning Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau in Guangxi: Ordinary citizens have misunderstandings about this industry. They think that the threshold is relatively low and the income may also be relatively low. In fact, Nanning's housekeeping industry can basically earn between 4,000 and 7,000 yuan a month. Taking orders is more flexible and the work is relatively stable, because there are orders basically every day. Housekeeping agencies can provide free training. After passing the training, he can directly take orders online and achieve employment nearby.

02

Visiting companies and positions

Build a bridge between employment and employment

During the Spring Festival, the Guangxi Human Resources and Social Security Department also seized the opportunity of migrant workers returning home in large numbers and launched a special service activity called "Employment Warming Gui Zai Action". It organized returning migrant workers and job seekers to visit the production workshops of key local enterprises. They also participated in policy consultations at the event site and learned about recruitment information of key enterprises, building a bridge between job seekers and recruiting companies.

In the Yongning Emerging Industrial Park in Nanning City, Guangxi, buses are full of 500 job seekers from nine counties and districts under the jurisdiction of Nanning City. Under the unified organization of the local social affairs department, we walked into the production workshop and experienced the company's working environment and production process up close.

Lai Sumei, a migrant worker from Guangdong: They are all modern. I never expected that we also have such automated operation positions in Nanning. If there is a suitable position in Nanning, I can stay and develop in Nanning. I don't have to travel so far and I am close to home.

According to reports, Guangxi is a traditional labor export province. In the past, a large number of migrant workers would return home from other places during the Spring Festival every year, and then leave home again after the festival. In recent years, the local area has targeted future industries such as artificial intelligence, green manufacturing, and low-altitude economy for layout, and has increased the recruitment of local talents. By providing attractive and competitive positions, it not only allows migrant workers to find employment at home, but also prepares talent reserves for the development of local enterprises. Organizing migrant workers and job seekers to visit companies is an empirical measure for Guangxi to promote accurate and efficient employment matching.

Wu Xinhua, Deputy Director of the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Nanning City, Guangxi: Our main goal is, first, to enable migrant workers and returnees to achieve higher-quality and more secure employment. On the other hand, we hope to ensure the employment of key enterprises, key parks and key industries, and also achieve the resonance of rural revitalization and industrial revitalization through such employment and industry docking.

This employment service activity kicked off the "sending workers to work" in Guangxi during the Year of the Horse. This year, Guangxi plans to carry out more than 5,000 special recruitment activities in the park and provide more than 100,000 migrant workers to enterprises in the park.

03

Multiple channels for job supply

Employment is at your doorstep

In addition to door-to-door job delivery and company visits, Nanning City, Guangxi also held more than 200 online and offline job fairs during the Spring Festival, especially focusing on launching a large number of local jobs to help migrant workers achieve "doorstep employment."

At an employment service station near a university town in Nanning City, a leading local catering company reached a recruitment intention with a job seeker.

In recent years, the human resources and social security department of Nanning, Guangxi has vigorously developed a "15-minute" employment service circle and built more than 30 employment service stations and gig markets across the city. Service station staff continue to discover job needs by proactively visiting companies. The service station can not only provide city-wide networked employment big data services, but also provide small-scale recruitment services to enterprises at any time, and organize special employment guidance, pre-job training and rights protection services for workers.

In addition to employment service stations and service halls throughout the main urban area, the local area also organizes a number of online and offline special job fairs. In particular, online recruitment activities are called "live broadcast promotion". Just like live broadcast delivery, company representatives enter the live broadcast room to introduce job information, work location, salary and benefits.

Liu Xin, director of the recruitment live broadcast: We want to give jobs to job seekers without leaving home. The live broadcast room has just launched and has already been viewed by 16,000 people.

This live broadcast carried out job recruitment for 7 high-quality local companies. The 2-hour live broadcast attracted a total of 42,100 online views, providing assistance to companies in the Year of the Horse to recruit new people and find workers.

The United States, Israel and the United Arab Emirates have not yet confirmed this statement.

A U.S. military transport aircraft unloads the THAAD system launcher (data map)

The UAE's missile defense network consists of a multi-layered defense system, including multiple US-made "THAAD" systems for high-altitude interception and the "Patriot" system for lower airspace.

"THAAD" is equipped with the X-band tracking radar AN/TPY-2, which can track small high-speed targets at long distances. The cost of a single interceptor in the system is US$12 million. It can destroy incoming missiles with kinetic energy collision at Mach 8 speed, which is equivalent to "hitting a bullet with a bullet."

On the evening of March 1, the "True Commitment 4" action notice released by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on its official channel stated that in the morning of that day, Iran launched the seventh and eighth waves of attacks on enemy targets by continuously launching missiles and launching drones on a large scale.

The notice stated that in this attack, the Ali Salem US military base in Kuwait "completely lost its combat capability", and three US maritime infrastructure at the Mohammed Ahmed base in Kuwait had been destroyed; the US military base in Port Salman, Bahrain, was attacked by four drones, and the command and logistics center was "seriously damaged."

Related news

What are the tactical characteristics of the US-Israeli raid on Iran? How does Iran fight back?

Lin Sen, staff writer for The Paper

According to Xinhua News Agency's report on March 1, Iranian media confirmed on the 1st that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. The Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning. The Israeli Defense Minister stated on February 28 that Israel had launched an attack on Iran and declared a national state of emergency.

Israel stated that the first phase of its attack on Iran will last for four days, and that all leaders, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, will be targeted. The Pentagon stated on the 28th that the United States named the air strike against Iran "Epic Fury." Israel has announced that its new campaign against Iran will be called "Roaring Lion," according to the Prime Minister's Office.

This time the United States and Israel jointly launched a raid on Iran, which was like detonating a blockbuster bomb in the Middle East. Iran's counterattack was faster and more powerful than before. So, what are the tactical characteristics of this joint US-Israeli air strike on Iran? What about Iran’s counterattack?

The United States used Tomahawk cruise missiles in the first round of strikes

US-Israeli air strikes adopt "old routines" but on a larger scale

According to senior Israeli defense officials, Israel's attack on Iran began at 8:10 a.m. local time. Unlike the previous Israeli sneak attacks on Iran and the US military's "Midnight Hammer" operation, which was carried out at night, this operation was carried out during the day. Considering that the first round of air strikes by the United States and Israel was a "decapitation operation," it is very likely that the United States and Israel obtained relevant information about the whereabouts of Iran's spiritual leader and President of Iran and took action in advance. Prior to this, high-level officials from Israel and the United States publicly stated that the goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli action was to get the Iranians to cooperate in overthrowing the current regime.

The United States and Israel have been preparing militarily for more than a month. Iran has sufficient preparation time. In order to avoid being assassinated, the whereabouts of Iran's senior political and military leaders are Iran's top secrets. They may change their residences multiple times in a day and may be in reinforced bunkers. They are "time-sensitive targets" for the United States and Israel. If it is determined to attack Iran, the strike time will be launched at any time based on intelligence.

U.S. Navy F-35Cs participate in strikes against Iran

However, the results of the operation were initially divided. The United States and Israel claimed that "Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an Israeli air strike on Iran that day," and Israel also claimed that "many Iranian military leaders were killed." The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Pezhichiyan were both "safe and sound." Iranian media confirmed on the 1st that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed. The Iranian government declared 40 days of national mourning.

According to Israeli media reports, a total of about 30 targets in Iran were attacked after the war began, including the Iranian Presidential Palace and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and National Security. The main purpose of the US military strike is to "eliminate the threat posed by the Iranian regime to the American people." According to the US president, this attack will destroy Iran's missile industry, eliminate the Iranian navy, and ensure that Iran cannot obtain nuclear weapons. U.S. officials said the attack was expected to be much larger than the U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities in June last year.

Basically consistent with outside speculation, if the United States and Israel go to war with Iran, air strikes will be the main method of combat. In the past month or so, the U.S. Navy and Air Force have assembled at least 280 tactical aircraft, more than 50 special aircraft and drones, and more than 100 aerial tankers. Bombers deployed in the United States can also participate in strikes at any time.

The U.S. Navy has assembled two aircraft carrier strike groups (one aircraft carrier and three escort destroyers), at least six deployed destroyers, three littoral combat ships and support ships. There are at least two attack nuclear submarines and one cruise missile nuclear submarine underwater. These ships are deployed in the Arabian Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean respectively. The combat style has not changed much: the first round of out-of-defense precision guided munitions + stealth fighter jets, combined with electronic warfare + network warfare, carried out large-scale attacks on Iran’s senior leaders and important military targets (command posts, radar stations, air defense missile systems, military ports, ballistic missile launch vehicles and storage bases), aiming to paralyze Iran’s command and control, air defense, anti-missile and strategic counterattack capabilities.

Iranian missile strikes US military base in Bahrain

If there is any change, it is that the US military has used improved Tomahawk missiles and suicide drones. The U.S. Central Command says it has used suicide drones to attack Iran. The U.S. Central Command announced in December last year that it had established the first suicide drone squadron in the Middle East, the "Task Force Scorpion Strike (TFSS)". This unit is equipped with LUCAS suicide drones, including low-end models and high-end models. The low-end model is equipped with a camera on the nose and is used for reconnaissance or suicide attacks, with a range of about 800 kilometers. The high-end model is equipped with a rotatable photoelectric turret on the head and a satellite communication antenna on the tail. It can carry a 50kg warhead and has the function of "inspection and attack", with a range of more than 1,500 kilometers. Because its appearance is very similar to the Iranian "Witness-136" suicide drone, it is called the American version of the "air scooter" by the outside world.

According to US media reports, US Defense Department officials revealed that in the initial stage of the operation, the US military carried out nearly 900 strikes, which came from land, sea, air and drones. At the same time, it defended against hundreds of Iranian missile attacks. Israel said it dispatched more than 200 aircraft and attacked 500 targets, which means that Iran was hit nearly 1,400 times in 12 hours, and the losses may be considerable.

Iranian drone locked on screen

Iran's counterattack speed and scale exceed last year's "12-Day War"

Iran's counterattack was faster than the "12-Day War" that broke out in June last year. It started launching ballistic missiles at Israel within two hours, and the counterattack was even stronger. The Israeli military assessed at local time that since the morning of that day, Iran had launched about 150 missiles and dozens of suicide drones towards Israel. Israel said that its anti-aircraft system intercepted several missiles and the rest fell into open areas. Iran claimed that more than 90% of its missiles hit targets in Israel. Multiple sources of information show that the anti-missile systems of the United States and Israel intercepted some missiles, and some missiles successfully penetrated the defenses and hit the Israel Defense Forces headquarters building and the General Directorate of Surveying and Mapping.

These statements are not unexpected. Psychological warfare and public opinion warfare are part of war. Both sides exaggerate their own results and belittle the effects of the other side's actions as "basic operations." This is constantly happening in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, especially in the early stages of the war.

Judging from the pictures released by Iran, Iran mainly used liquid ballistic missiles such as "Meteor-3" and "Kadr" to attack Israel in the early stage, and used a small amount of "Conqueror" hypersonic missiles and "Segil" solid missiles. For Iran, the United States and Israel have been preparing for nearly more than a month and have made extensive preparations for anti-missile missiles. On land, they have deployed an anti-missile system consisting of "Patriot", "THAAD", "Arrow" series and "David's Sling" missiles. At sea, the US "Aegis" warship is equipped with "Standard" series interceptors, which can carry out multi-layer interception of missiles launched by Iran. The initial use of some relatively backward liquid missiles can consume the US-Israeli anti-missile system, laying more possibilities for subsequent improvement of strike effectiveness.

The AN/FPS-132 radar is a strategic early warning radar. It adopts an active phased array system and has a detection range of more than 5,000 kilometers. It is an important equipment deployed by the US military in the Middle East to detect and monitor Iranian missile launches.

Senior officials of the Iranian armed forces also conveyed this information to the outside world. Senior commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Jabari issued a stern warning to US President Trump. He publicly stated that the missiles used by Iran in today's counterattack were just "old stocks in the warehouse," implying that Iran's real strategic trump card has not yet been played. Jabari further revealed that Iran is about to display and deploy a series of "mysterious weapons that have never been seen before" on the battlefield. He emphasized that the power and technical level of these cutting-edge equipment will far exceed the imagination of the outside world, and are designed to deliver a devastating blow to the invaders.

In addition to launching attacks on Israel, Iran has also carried out extensive attacks on U.S. military bases in the Middle East. The main weapons used include short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, suicide drones, and rockets. Iranian military sources said that 14 US military bases in the Middle East have been attacked by Iran. According to media reports from Middle Eastern countries and regions, explosions were also heard in the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and other countries that day. Iranian media reported that Iran is attacking US military bases in the Middle East.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed on February 28 that its missile attack caused "at least 200 US military casualties" and destroyed the US military's radar system in Qatar. The U.S. Central Command stated on March 1 that Iran’s missile and drone attacks did not cause any U.S. military casualties, only caused minor damage to facilities, and did not affect combat operations.

Judging from the available information, the U.S. Fifth Fleet Military Base Service Center in Bahrain, Zafra Air Base south of Abu Dhabi, Ali Salem Air Base, and the AN/FPS-132 radar base in Qatar were determined to have been attacked, and relevant videos and photos have been leaked. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated on the 28th that the US AN/FPS-132 radar with a detection range of 5,000 kilometers and related equipment used to track ballistic missiles located in Qatar had been completely destroyed. Qatar later confirmed that an early warning radar in the northern region had been attacked, but did not elaborate on the situation.

The AN/FPS-132 radar is a strategic early warning radar. It adopts an active phased array system and has a detection range of more than 5,000 kilometers. It is an important equipment deployed by the US military in the Middle East to detect and monitor Iranian missiles. The radar is networked with the "Patriot" and "THAAD" anti-missile systems. The system will serve the anti-missile operations of the United States and Israel in the Middle East during conflicts. Search radars and satellite communications equipment at the Bahrain base were also attacked.

Taking into account the early withdrawal of the US military, Iran's military strikes are more likely to cause damage to fixed military facilities of the US military. However, attacks on early warning radars and communication equipment may affect the anti-missile operations of the United States and Israel. This should be an action taken by Iran to improve its penetration capabilities for subsequent missile strikes.

According to CCTV news reports, on March 2, local time, Iran began the 12th round of attacks of the "True Commitment-4" operation.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that it dispatched a total of 26 attack drones and 5 ballistic missiles in this operation to attack fixed and moving targets of the US military in Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and the Strait of Hormuz.

In this operation, the US "Arifjan" base in Kuwait was attacked by 12 drones in two stages. The command and control center located at the "Minhad" US military base in the United Arab Emirates was also attacked by 6 drones and 5 ballistic missiles. The remaining U.S. Navy facilities in Bahrain were attacked and destroyed by six drones.

The picture shows the Dubai International Airport in the United Arab Emirates affected by the situation in Iran, taken on March 1.

On the same day, Iran also announced a new round of missile attacks on the Israeli mainland. The Israel Defense Forces said Iranian ballistic missiles were striking central Israel and sirens rang across the territory. The Israeli military said it was working to intercept the missiles.

The Israel Defense Forces stated that day that since launching military operations against Iran, the Israeli military has destroyed approximately 600 Iranian targets in air strikes. It is said to include 150 ballistic missiles and launchers, 200 air defense systems, and 20 locations related to Iran's security leadership.

The Israel Defense Forces said that as part of the air strikes, Israeli Air Force aircraft dropped more than 2,500 bombs.

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces issued a statement saying it had launched six attacks since the start of Operation Roaring Lion. The Israeli air force struck an Iranian target in the center of Tehran.

Canadian Prime Minister Carney is launching a diplomatic breakout in the Asia-Pacific region.

Starting from February 27, he will visit India, Australia and Japan. In his first stop in India, the Prime Minister appeared in New Delhi and Mumbai as an "icebreaker", trying to repair the relationship between India and Canada that had once fallen to a freezing point.

Faced with this scene, some Indian media lamented: "This visit was simply unimaginable a year ago."

What strategic considerations are hidden behind this dramatic change?

In September 2023, the assassination of Canadian Sikh leader Nijar was like a political bomb, causing Indo-Canadian relations to take a sharp turn.

The then Prime Minister Trudeau publicly accused the Indian government of being involved in the case, but India flatly denied it. The two sides expelled diplomats from each other, the trade agreement negotiations came to an abrupt end, and bilateral relations fell into a low ebb.

But the direction of international politics is not dominated by emotions.

After Carney took office last year, he sent a clear signal: Canada is accelerating its "Look East."

Much of this push comes from our southern neighbor—Trump set off a trade protectionist storm after returning to the White House, threatening to impose tariffs on all imported goods.

The United States is Canada's largest trading partner and an important export market for India, which makes both Ottawa and New Delhi feel chilly.

Therefore, moderation becomes an inevitable option. In November last year, India and Canada announced the resumption of previously stalled trade agreement negotiations, with the goal of achieving bilateral trade volume of more than 50 billion US dollars by 2030, doubling the current level.

Carney said bluntly at the Davos Forum at the beginning of the year: "The middle powers must act together, otherwise they will become the targets of being slaughtered."

Such a "two-way trip" contributed to Carney's official visit to India.

India's reception this time was quite grand: the airport was greeted with flowers on the red carpet, and Carney was also arranged to have a discussion with the directors of Tata, India's largest conglomerate.

Carney also gave positive feedback, calling India a "natural partner" and saying that the two countries are expected to reach a comprehensive economic partnership agreement before the end of the year, which may be signed at the G20 summit in December.

According to the latest news, during this visit, the two sides not only signed a key uranium supply agreement, but also agreed to formally launch the final stage of free trade negotiations.

A closer look at the itinerary shows that Kani spent more time in Mumbai than New Delhi. Prioritizing the commercial center over the political center is a statement in itself.

In Mumbai, Carney conducted intensive "business exchanges" and met with Indian business people. The governors of the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and New Brunswick also participated.

After discussing business, Carney went to New Delhi to meet with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump's protectionist policies were one of the topics they wanted to discuss.

At present, India and China's strengthening of cooperation is not impulsive, but is supported by data.

In 2024, India has become Canada's seventh largest trading partner in goods and services, with annual bilateral trade volume reaching US$30.8 billion.

Let’s look at the trade structure: In terms of trade in goods, Canada is in deficit with India, and its exports are mainly energy and minerals, while India’s exports to Canada are mainly pharmaceuticals and jewelry; in terms of trade in services, Canada’s surplus with India is as high as 15.2 billion Canadian dollars, of which “education-related travel” accounts for the majority, with nearly 400,000 Indian students studying in Canada.

what does that mean? India needs Canada's resources and educational opportunities, and Canada needs India's market and talents.

For India, Canada's uranium, oil, and natural gas mean diversifying energy imports and reducing dependence on specific regions; Canada wants to "export more oil to India." Currently, most of its oil is exported to the United States, and it urgently needs to open up new markets.

Outsiders pointed out that Carney's Asia-Pacific trip is intended to get rid of economic dependence on the United States. This trip also has different focuses: with Japan it focuses on "value coordination", with Australia it focuses on "competition coordination", and with India it is necessary to "break the ice" and "find increments." Because of this, India is regarded as "the most important and difficult stop."

Of course, India also has plans to play.

In terms of energy security, Canada has the third largest oil reserves in the world and the country is stable. The two sides have reached a nuclear energy cooperation agreement, and Canada will provide uranium to India, which will greatly enhance India's energy independence.

In terms of educational dividends, this visit led to the signing of agreements between the Association of Canadian Universities and 13 Indian universities to promote research cooperation and student exchange projects, which will cultivate more high-end talents in India.

Geopolitically, when the United States is pursuing protectionism and the global trading system is in turmoil, Canada has taken the initiative to show its goodwill, giving India another card besides the United States.

From “unthinkable” in the past to “natural partners” today, Carney is trying to rewrite the narrative of Indo-Canadian relations. Behind this "ice-breaking" is Canada's strategic breakthrough in its eagerness to get rid of its dependence on the United States. It is also a low-cost, high-return strategic bet by India.

(Editor’s email: ylq@jfdaily.com)

The Lantern Festival is a traditional Chinese "carnival". The most popular Lantern Festival carnival activities among Shanghai people are watching lanterns and walking on the Three Bridges.

Umbrella lanterns are one of the most famous lanterns in Shanghai since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Umbrella lanterns, also known as parasol lanterns, are round or hexagonal umbrella-shaped lights. The umbrella lantern is made of translucent paper, a specialty of Shanghai. The umbrella surface is as thin as a cicada's wing. The umbrella is engraved with landscapes, flowers and birds, or opera story patterns, and is paired with a necklace. Viewed from a distance, it is exquisite and dazzling. Just as a bamboo poem says: "Moonlight Sheng The flute is walking on the green, and the beaded curtain hangs against the small building. Wu Lingshu talks about the paper, and is good at counting umbrella lanterns in Jiangxiang" (Zhang Chunhua's "Song of the Year in Shanghai"); raising the pavilion is another type of lanterns with Shanghai characteristics, which refers to large pavilion-shaped lanterns about three to four feet high made of colored paper. The pavilion is decorated with dragons and phoenixes, and is made of mica stone as the outer shell. It is transparent from top to bottom and illuminates for several feet. The pavilion has two or three floors. On each floor, children play opera roles, accompanied by sheng, flute and drum music, all night long.

Walking three bridges is one of the characteristic Lantern Festival customs in Shanghai. Walking Three Bridges, also known as "Walking All Diseases", refers to the custom of walking across three bridges on the 15th night of the first lunar month to pray for the removal of diseases for a year. Crossing the bridge means "crossing the river", and "crossing the river" is a homophone for "crossing the disaster". Therefore, walking on three bridges has the auspicious meaning of avoiding disasters. The custom of walking three bridges is most popular among women. On the one hand, the Lantern Festival was one of the few times for ancient women to go out for entertainment. There was often a certain distance between the three bridges, which objectively expanded the scope of women's activities. On the other hand, walking on the bridge itself can strengthen the body. Walking on the bridge under the moonlit night with sisters is more beneficial to physical and mental health. According to records, the three most popular bridges for women in Shanghai in the 20th century were the Yiqing Bridge at Xiaodongmen, the Changsheng Bridge south of Tianguan Archway, and the Ruyi Bridge east of Yimiao. The names of the three bridges are collectively called "Yiqing Changsheng Ruyi", which means peace and auspiciousness.

According to Xinhua News Agency, Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, stated on the 2nd that Iran has not found a systematic nuclear weapons manufacturing program. The United States and Israel may choose to attack Iran due to political considerations.

On March 2, in Vienna, Austria, IAEA Director General Grossi spoke at a special meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.

At a press conference held that day, in response to a question about whether there was what he called "urgency" for the United States to launch an attack on Iran, Grossi said that, as he stated before the "12-Day War" broke out in June last year, "the International Atomic Energy Agency has not seen Iran have a systematic nuclear weapons manufacturing program. This is the assessment made by the International Atomic Energy Agency."

Grossi also added that "countries may have other information or have political considerations," but these are not things he can judge.

Regarding whether Iran's nuclear facilities were hit, the International Atomic Energy Agency's statement is inconsistent with Iran's. Iran's Permanent Representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency Najafi said on the 2nd that the United States and Israel launched an air strike on Iran's Natanz nuclear facility on the 1st. However, Grossi said at the council meeting that day that there was no indication that Iran's nuclear facilities, including Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, Tehran Research Reactor or other nuclear fuel cycle facilities, had been damaged or attacked. The International Atomic Energy Agency is still contacting Iran's nuclear regulator through its Accident and Emergency Center and has yet to receive a reply.

Grossi pointed out that armed attacks on nuclear facilities should never happen, as such a move could lead to the leakage of radioactive materials, seriously affecting the attacked country and other countries. To prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and maintain the continued effectiveness of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, all parties must return to diplomacy and negotiations.

"It is too tempting to provide tens of millions of exclusive tokens (model calling fee vouchers) for short dramas and game vertical agents. I believe that Fuxing Island will soon 'overtake' in the OPC (super individual) community construction." Axi, who has been working hard in the AIGC (artificial intelligence generated content) industry for two years, participated in two events held in Yangpu District today – the launch of Fuxing Island OPC super individual community and the Volcano Factory AI The Agent (Artificial Intelligence) Industrial Park has opened. "The more I hear about it, the more excited I become. The support policies introduced are really understanding of the OPC and AI industries."

In Shanghai, building an OPC community is nothing new. Why are these two events held by Volcano Engine, a subsidiary of ByteDance, in the joint jurisdiction of Yangpu District, attracting so much attention in the industry? The heads of many companies participating in the meeting gave the answer: The key lies in taking the lead in anchoring precise AI Agent service types and providing special and "thirst-quenching" policy support for OPC in vertical fields. In other words, Yangpu District is trying to directly address the core pain points of entrepreneurs by providing high-quality data annotation services for OPC in the AIGC industry, allowing them to focus more on content creation itself, thus accelerating the aggregation of innovative elements in the region.

Let high-quality data flow efficiently

As artificial intelligence applications become increasingly popular, high-quality data services have become a necessity. The so-called "annotation service" refers to the classification, labeling, annotation and other processing of raw data to generate structured and identifiable training data or information. The newly opened Volcano Factory has built a high-level data annotation industry service platform to connect enterprises with the entire chain of "data collection-cleaning-annotation-application" and promote the efficient circulation of data elements. Currently, more than 10 annotation service companies have settled in Huoshan Factory.

One of the newly settled companies, Shanghai Yigao Intelligent Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., is the national headquarters of Yigao Group in the field of artificial intelligence annotation. Duan Shuwei, the company's vice president, believes that the advantage of the Volcano Factory lies in the "joint efforts of government and enterprises": it has the support of the government to achieve physical agglomeration, and it can rely on the Volcano Engine to gain technological empowerment. In particular, the linkage with the Fuxing Island OPC community, which is only "two subway stops away", is expected to give birth to a high-quality industrial ecosystem. Upstream annotation service companies and downstream OPC can quickly "lock" each other after significantly reducing various costs, including trust costs, continue to release market demand, and jointly promote the growth of industry scale.

Another settled company, Shanghai Genma Artificial Intelligence Co., Ltd., focuses on the niche track of translation annotation, provides training data support for machine translation, and strives to generate "faithful and elegant" high-quality translation content. Jiang Feng, assistant to the company's chairman, said that for OPC, obtaining reliable and high-quality translation services can not only greatly expand its business boundaries, but also "sail overseas" at a lower cost, adding new momentum to corporate development.

Bringing “the most practical subsidy” to OPC

Axi believes that currently nearly 80% of AI companies are engaged in the two fields of AIGC and AI Agent, which is highly consistent with the industry characteristics supported by Huoshan Factory and Fuxing Island OPC community. The cooperation of "government + major manufacturers" creatively provides computing power benefits such as tokens coupons. This is tantamount to "the most practical government subsidy" for OPC, which has limited start-up funds and pursues traveling light.

Relying on government-enterprise cooperation, Yangpu Science and Technology Innovation Group has cooperated with Huochuang Engine to launch the Huochuang Cloud Platform, which can provide AI recruitment, AI legal affairs, AI taxation and other services. "These are services that OPC urgently needs but is unwilling to pay high costs for." Gao Yan, founder of Shenzhen Qianhai Yingchuang Technology Co., Ltd., said frankly that this kind of "management support" is crucial for OPC's common personal tax returns, financial document arrangement, legal contract review, personnel recruitment, etc., allowing OPC companies to "drop the burden" and carry out project cooperation.

Yan Jiang, founder of Shanghai Shenai Supply Chain Management Co., Ltd., is interested in the "residential and work integration" of Fuxing Island OPC community. The biggest difference between this place and other OPC communities is that it provides low-cost maker apartments. In his view, OPCs that emphasize "maximizing personal capabilities" need more offline interactions to quickly gain customers and gain friendship through face-to-face communication. "Let neighbors become our users and even our 'sales'."