Germany rules leave 5G network door open for Huawei

India's government has announced billions of euros worth of investment in infrastructure, as part of the country's recovery from the economic slump linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The finance minister unveiled a public spending package totalling more than €470 billion for the next financial year, including money for roads and railways. Also today, we look at the New York Times' deal to buy the popular online game Wordle.

India's budget 2022 plans to ramp up infrastructure spending to support the economy's post-pandemic recovery. Key announcements include a state-backed "digital rupee" and tax on gains from digital currencies.

Shunned in the Global North due to privacy and security issues, Huawei is a front-runner in Africa. But the Chinese giant's data collection methods may also appeal to authoritarian regimes as a way to cling to power.

Lawmakers in Nepal voted in favor of the $500-million grant by Washington for new road and power projects. But its opponents say the US move undermines Nepal's sovereignty.

At the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, hackers brought down tens of thousands of satellite internet modems across Ukraine and Europe. This week, Reuters revealed that the same attacks are still underway.

Germany's Olaf Scholz is hosting the G7 summit in Bavaria, where world leaders pledged $600 billion dollars to help low-income states build "climate resilient infrastructure." The Ukraine war is also high on the agenda.

Hacking attacks on power grids, telecom networks, or governments can paralyze entire societies. That makes them a powerful military weapon, as the war in Ukraine demonstrates. How can countries protect themselves?

The British government has announced that the country's new 5G networks will be built, in part, by the Chinese tech giant Huawei. The US, Australia and New Zealand have banned Huawei, citing national security concerns. Britain admits the company is high risk. Brent Goff asked tech expert Graham Webster whether it is also a manageable risk.

The foreign ministers of the world's wealthiest democracies are meeting in Germany to discuss further cooperation on Ukraine, dependencies on China and Russia, and Iran's police brutality.

The European Commission’s energy supremo, Estonian Kadri Simson, recently visited Ukraine to discuss what can be done to help energy infrastructure damaged in Russian missile attacks. She details plans to transfer specialised machinery and devices to Ukraine through a dedicated fund. The Commissioner also updates us on the negotiations among EU member states on a possible price cap on gas imports – a potential response to Europe's energy crisis.

The leaders of Germany and Norway have said they will propose that NATO plays a role in protecting undersea infrastructure like gas pipelines or fiber optic cables. This follows the sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines.

The World Bank says the level and quality of Nigeria’s infrastructure quality is low, ranked at 132 out of 137 countries, stressing that the country's physical infrastructure gap would likely reach 3 trillion dollars in the next 30 years.