MULTILATERAL: Google Fined & more – 9th Sep 2025

Saluton from BA! This is the Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 9th of September twenty twenty-five. A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

To begin this week, on Thursday the 4th, the head of NATO sounded the alarm about China’s shipbuilding, saying Beijing is pumping out vessels at a pace the U.S. and its allies can’t match. He noted America still holds naval dominance but is stretched thin with high upkeep costs and staffing challenges.

Analysts point out China’s fleet already has almost four hundred ships, mostly modern and versatile, with another carrier set to join soon. Meanwhile, U.S. shipyards face delays, cost overruns, and infrastructure problems, leaving the US and NATO increasingly worried as it shifts focus toward the Indo-Pacific.

In other news, on Friday the 5th, EU regulators slapped Google with a $3.5 billion US dollar fine, accusing the company of tilting its massive ad tech tools in its own favor and hurting rivals, advertisers, and publishers. The EU said the only real fix might be forcing Google to spin off parts of its ad business. However, the company has sixty days to pitch a solution that EU regulators are okay with. Google rejected the ruling as unfair and vowed to appeal, warning it could backfire on European businesses.

Also on Friday the 5th, the World Economic Forum released its annual report on economies and global politics. The biggest short-term worry of the report is state-based armed conflict. Right behind is extreme weather, misinformation, and societal polarization. Regarding long-run concerns, the report outlines the dangers of climate chaos, ecosystem collapse, dwindling resources, pollution, and AI’s unintended fallout loom large.

Meanwhile, in Africa, on Thursday the 4th, Mali took Algeria to the International Court of Justice, alleging it deliberately shot down a military drone in a desert town. Mali is saying the strike was an intentional and unlawful act that crossed international boundaries. Algeria insists the drone entered its airspace, though Mali says that’s just cover.

Mali and Algeria have had tensions rooted in border disputes from the colonial era, especially after Algeria’s independence. Algeria has often accused Mali of allowing rebels to destabilize its borderlands, while Mali has seen Algeria’s support for peace talks and mediation as interference in its internal affairs. The rivalry is also tied to influence in the region more broadly, with both countries wanting regional leadership and control.

In more legal news, on Thursday the 4th, the U.S. slapped sanctions on three Palestinian rights groups after they pushed the International Criminal Court to pursue Israeli leaders over Gaza war crimes accusations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the organizations were fueling what Washington sees as the Court’s illegitimate targeting of Israel.

The groups blasted the sanctions as unlawful and political. Their case to the court had detailed alleged atrocities, leading to arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, the Israeli Prime Minister and former Minister of Defense, alongside one for Hamas commander Mohammed Deif.

Speaking of Gaza, on Thursday the 4th, UNICEF issued a warning about its dire humanitarian situation. The organization said more than half of Gaza’s nutrition centers are no longer operating, leaving many malnourished children without treatment. Families arriving after repeated displacement often have little more than the clothes they are wearing, while hospitals struggle to keep up.

Children’s health in Gaza has worsened significantly since the war began, with tens of thousands killed or injured and over 20,000 left permanently disabled as hospitals and clinics struggle to function. On top of this, nearly every child is experiencing deep psychological trauma, with symptoms like nightmares, speech loss, and constant fear.

On Thursday the 4th, the U.S. backed away from its plan to slash funding for the World Trade Organization or WTO and the International Labour Organization or ILO. Both groups were originally included in a $5 billion US dollar foreign aid cut proposal, but their names were taken off the list without explanation. They could have been removed because there would have been too much backlash, or due to internal disagreements within the Administration.

The move also came after concerns that cutting support could strain ties with international partners and undermine U.S. influence in key institutions.

For now, the WTO and ILO remain safe, while other agencies still face potential reductions, like UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

In oil news, on Sunday the 7th, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to raise oil production by 137,000 barrels per day in October. They’ve already ramped up output by 2 million barrels per day in recent months. According to some analysts, this means that the Organization wants to crowd other producers out of the oil market.

On another note, on Sunday the 7th and Monday the 8th, ten defense intelligence agencies from the Association of South East Asian Nations met to discuss military intelligence. Hosted by Malaysia’s Defence Intelligence Organisation, they focused on creating a smarter, more transparent, and connected regional intelligence setup.

The leadership talks covered a mix of old-school and emerging threats, while the technical sessions concentrated on shared intelligence, threat assessments, and responses to terrorism, organized crime, and extremism.

On Friday the 5th, the International Organization for Migration dispatched a support team to help the Democratic Republic of the Congo shore up its national Ebola response. The organization is trying to map key routes and hubs in areas with disease outbreaks and improve preparedness around population movements. It follows a new Ebola outbreak, which has already led to confirmed cases and deaths.

In more health news, on Wednesday the 3rd, the World Health Organization or WHO announced it ran its first online training session on the Urban Health Capacity Assessment and Response Resource Kit, bringing together practitioners and policy-makers from twenty-two countries. The course mixed case studies, group work, and peer exchange to show how the Kit can be used to strengthen four main areas: decision-making and monitoring, policy and program design, resource management, and partnership building.

The Resource Kit itself is a practical package developed by the WHO to help teams evaluate their ability to deliver on health goals. It includes a step-by-step action guide for doing health assessments, large response plans, and supporting training videos. By working through the Kit, local officials and partners can identify gaps in leadership, data, or systems, and then act on them. The aim is to make urban planning more coherent, equitable, and health-focused.

On Tuesday the 2nd, the Food and Agriculture Organization released a report outlining how women make up nearly half of the agrifood workforce across sub-Saharan Africa, yet face deep and persistent inequalities. They dominate roles in food processing and services at almost three-quarters of total workers, but are barely represented in transport jobs. Over 90% of employed women work in informal, undervalued sectors.

The report stresses that bolstering women’s access to social resources (like education), rights, and recognition is key to fostering equity and economic opportunity.

Moving to Latin America, on Wednesday the 3rd, the Inter-American Development Bank approved a $250 million US dollar loan to help Guatemala clean up and protect the Motagua River Basin. This funding will back efforts to expand waste collection and properly dispose of trash, boost treatment of wastewater and industrial discharges, and improve local sanitation management.

The program is expected to directly benefit more than 100,000 people. It will also improve environmental health and living conditions across the river basin.

And to close this edition, from Monday the 1st until Friday the 5th, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe ran a training course for university students in Turkmenistan on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism. Hosted at the State Institute of Finance, the five-day program walked participants through how they can spot suspicious activity, the basics of asset recovery, and more.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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See you next week!