**What You Didn't Hear This Week**

The mainstream media spent this week distracted. Here's what actually moved the world:

1. **India swapped Russian oil for US tariff relief** — Trump cut tariffs from 50% to 18% in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases. The Nifty 50 surged 5%. Modi traded energy sovereignty for market access. Transactional diplomacy at its clearest.

2. **Kevin Warsh's Fed nomination repriced the dollar overnight** — Markets moved more on his name than any data release this week. Hawkish positioning punished gold/silver, strengthened the dollar. Political appointment, not data, is now the primary currency driver.

3. **New START expires Thursday with zero replacement** — The last treaty governing US-Russia nuclear stockpiles ends Feb 5. Putin proposed a 1-year extension in September, Trump said it 'sounds good,' and then... nothing. New arms race becomes the default path.

4. **Project Vault: 2B minerals stockpile to counter China** — EXIM Bank + private capital targeting lithium, nickel, rare earths. The US's most aggressive supply chain decoupling move yet. China controls 90%+ of rare earth refining — this is a 60-day buffer, not independence.

5. **Saif al-Islam Gaddafi killed in Libya** — Muammar's son and heir apparent gunned down by 'four masked men' in Zintan. Zero mainstream coverage. Yet another geopolitical thread from 2011 Libya intervention finally severed.

6. **Britain deployed 00M in Ethiopia as migration policy** — Not aid. Migration deterrence disguised as infrastructure investment. The Horn of Africa becomes a containment perimeter funded by London's taxpayers. Development finance weaponized.

7. **Japan scraped ocean floor at 6,000 meters for rare earths** — First-of-its-kind deep-sea mining test near Minamitorishima. The scramble to unlock mineral deposits outside China's supply chain is accelerating. Environmental impacts: unknown. Economic viability: unproven.

8. **Sudan's SAF broke 2-year siege of Kadugli** — Second major advance in South Kordofan in two weeks. If the RSF can't reverse these gains, this is a turning point in Sudan's civil war. 20+ months of siege, barely a headline.

9. **US F-35 shot down Iranian drone near aircraft carrier** — Shahed-139 'aggressively approaching' USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea. IRGC naval forces also tried to interdict US tanker in Strait of Hormuz. High-level US-Iran talks still scheduled — for now.

10. **Syria integration advances: SDF hands over Hasakah and Qamishli** — Syrian Interior Ministry security forces entered two of the largest SDF-controlled cities under limited deployment agreement. No military forces, only police. Oil fields and border checkpoints transfer to Damascus within 10 days.

The pattern: The monetary system is being rearranged (Warsh, India deal), supply chains are being weaponized (Project Vault), and interventions from 2011-2020 are reaching their final chapters (Libya, Syria, Sudan). Markets priced recovery this week. The restructuring is happening beneath it.

#underreported #news #geopolitics #economics #weeklyroundup