Vox Atlas

And why the US and China are fighting over silicon in the first place. n October 2022, the Biden administration placed a large-scale ban on the sale of advanced semiconductor chips to China. They also implemented a series of other rules that prevents China from making these chips on their own. The chips are used in everyday technology, like our mobile phones and computers. But they’re also crucial to military and intelligence systems, which is one of the main reasons they’re at the center of a feud between the United States and China.

When Russia first invaded Ukraine in 2014, the US was hesitant to send more than supplies to the Ukrainian army. But when Russia launched a full-scale invasion in 2022, the US changed its tune President Joe Biden quickly began approving huge packages of weapons to help Ukraine stymie the Russian attack. And for the first couple of weeks, it worked. The Ukrainian army used weapons from the US and its Western allies to stop Russia from capturing Kiev. As the war progressed, so did US help. It sent heavy artillery in the spring, and then agreed to eventually send tanks in winter 2023. But each time, it deliberated over whether Ukraine can effectively use the weapons, and whether they'll provoke Russia to escalate the conflict. So far, that hasn't happened, and the US and its allies are now considering sending Ukraine very advanced long-range missiles and F-16 fighter jets. Both would be game-changers for Ukraine.

On December 19, 2018, protests posed the biggest challenge to Sudan’s longest-serving dictator, Omar al-Bashir. Throughout his regime, he did everything he could to remain in power, like relying on various security sectors to protect him from being overthrown. However, his plan ultimately failed, when the country’s army, the Sudanese Armed Forces, and a paramilitary force, the Rapid Support Forces, sided with the protesters and carried out a military coup The end of Bashir’s regime brought hope to the protesters, but they remained skeptical about the men who had overthrown him. SAF’s Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF’s Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo (a.k.a. Hemedti) took control of the country after the coup. They made repeated promises to hand over power to civilians, which would put Sudan on a democratic path. But they continually delayed fulfilling their promises and instead turned against each other, vying for power. The two men have brutally interrupted the pro-democracy revolution.

Baseball has a long history in the United States, but it also has strong roots in the Caribbean and Latin America, particularly in the Dominican Republic. Cubans were the first to bring the game from the US to their country in the 19th century, and later, wealthy Cubans introduced it to the Dominican Republic. Over the following decades, the sport became deeply ingrained in Dominican culture, while in the United States, baseball evolved into a multi-million dollar industry. Eventually, the United States began to seek out Cuban baseball talent. But when diplomatic relations between the two countries deteriorated, the Dominican Republic emerged as the primary focus of Major League Baseball's talent pipeline.

We have a lot to gain - and a lot to lose - from deep-sea mining. This video explains the history and the debate over mining metals in the deep sea and why one Canadian company, The Metals Company, is leading the rush there.

Why Palestinians in Gaza have suffered for decades. On October 7, Hamas, a militant group based in the Gaza Strip, launched a deadly attack on Israel, killing over 1,400 Israelis and kidnapping over 200. In retaliation, Israeli airstrikes have killed, as of this video, over 6,400 Palestinians in Gaza, where Palestinians have lived for decades under an occupation and blockade.

How Xi Jinping became China's most powerful leader since Mao Zedong. Xi Jinping, president of China and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party since 2012, is one of the most powerful political figures in the world. By initiating an unprecedented third term as China's leader in October, 2022, Xi has signaled that he may plan to remain in power for life - making him the first Chinese leader since Mao Zedong to hold unchecked power over the People's Republic of China.