Today we'll be discussing some of the biggest stories, including the controversy about exact missiles and Putin's apology to Israel. We'll also be answering today's big question: Why is China being so strict on covid? as well as discussing Donald Trump and Lukashenko.

First Belarusian president Lukashenko's reservations about the war in Ukraine. As the war in Ukraine rages on, some of Putin's allies seem to now have some reservations. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch friend of Vladimir Putin, stated to the associated press on Thursday that he did not expect the war in Ukraine to drag on this way and that he did everything in his power to prevent a conflict. Although Belarus has been officially neutral, it has been accused of being a launching pad for the Russian assault. Due to this, Belarus has now been a target for western sanctions. However, its relationship with Russia has eased some impact. Lukashenko also played up his role in the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, stating that they would not have happened without him. Nevertheless, Lukashenko remained committed to Putin, calling him his "big brother" and asserting that Russia has no friendlier ally than Belarus.

Yesterday we saw Putin do something rather unexpected: apologies. Precisely, Putin apologized to Israeli prime minister Naftali Bennett for comments made by Sergey Lavrov about Hitler. Lavrov claimed that Hitler was Jewish and that the most virulent anti-Semites are Jews. That. Those remarks sparked outrage in Israel, a country that is currently neutral in the Ukraine conflict. Potentially motivated at least in part by the desire to keep Israel out of the war and ensure they don't start providing arms to Ukraine, apologized to Bennett on the phone. It's been reported that Bennett accepted the apology. Additionally, on this phone call, Bennett asked Putin to allow for an evacuation of the Azerbaijan style steel works. Whether Putin accepts this request is as yet unknown.

We've heard a lot about China's zero COVID strategy in the last few months. While many countries have moved to simply live with COVID, China seems insistent on trying to completely rid their country of it by insisting on lockdowns, mass testing, and movement restrictions. These mechanisms, though, are quite costly, both financially and to the populations who have to endure them. Today, though, President Xi seems keen to reaffirm this policy. In a speech directed at his politburo, Xi told them to unwaveringly adhere to the general policy of dynamic zero. He insisted that we have won the battle to defend Wuhan, and we will certainly be able to win the battle to defend Shanghai. The issue is that these recent lockdowns have meant that the 25 million residents of Shanghai have suffered food shortages recently.

Falkland wars tactical map

There's also been a lot of speculation this week about whether France withheld vital information about ex-ascent missiles during the Falcon War, and today it seems like we have some answers. The exact missiles are French-built and were used against Britain during the 1982 Falklands War. Despite this, France instituted an embargo against Argentina, ensuring that no more French arms were used against Britain. France had positioned itself as an ally of Britain. It was reported this week that France knew that there was a kill switch on the exod missiles that they'd provided to Argentina previously. Today, France confirmed that this was true and that they did not share this with Britain at the time. This was after they denied that this technology existed. In essence, the kill switch is a box which can be fitted to a submarine and redirects the missile. If this was fitted to British ships, then soldiers such as the 32 who died aboard the HMS Sheffield could have been saved.

In the last story today, we stay on the topic of missiles. President Donald Trump's former Pentagon Chief, Mark Esper, is soon to release a new book entitled "A Sacred Oath" in which he claims that the former president became erratic in the run-up to the 2020 election. In one meeting, the president suggests firing missiles into Mexico to hit labs used by drug cartels. Trump suggested the U.S. would then deny that they were responsible. If this plan was enacted, it would have constituted a war crime. Worryingly, he then goes on to outline some other outrageous plans that were suggested by senior figures in the Trump administration. One was to send 250,000 troops to the Mexican border, and another was to dip the head of ISIL leader Abu Bakar al-Baghdadi in pig's blood as a warning to other terrorists. Esper was also concerned that the former president would have soldiers seize ballot boxes to ensure he wasn't removed from the White House. As with all these plans, they didn't come to fruition.