What We’re Watching: Salvadorans protest Bitcoin, meet Aukus, no COVID pass no job in Italy

What We’re Watching: Salvadorans protest Bitcoin, meet Aukus, no COVID pass no job in ItalyWhat We’re Watching: Salvadorans protest Bitcoin, meet Aukus, no COVID pass no job in Italy
Demonstrators holding placards against the government's Bitcoin law while making gestures, during the protest. Thousands of Salvadorans took to the streets on El Salvador's Bicentennial Independence Day against El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele and his government's policies
Camilo Freedman / SOPA Images/Sipa USA

Salvadorans protest Bukele, Bitcoin: Thousands of people took to the streets of El Salvador's capital on Wednesday, the 200th anniversary of the country's independence, to protest against President Nayib Bukele's increasingly authoritarian streak and his embrace of risky cryptocurrency. Last May, Bukele ended the Supreme Court's independence; perhaps unsurprisingly, the court then decided to lift the constitutional ban on presidential term limits — presumably so Bukele can run for reelection in 2024. Meanwhile, last week El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, but the rollout was, to put it mildly, messy. The protesters resent Bukele's dictator vibes and warn that Bitcoin could spur inflation and financial instability. The tech-savvy president, for his part, insists that crypto will bring in more cash from remittances and foreign investment, and remains immensely popular among most Salvadorans. Still, Bukele's Bitcoin gamble could erode his support if the experiment fails.

Aukus vs China: The newly announced US-UK-Australia Asia-Pacific security partnership doesn't mention China by name, but everyone with eyes can see: it's about China. With Aukus — as this new alliance is now informally known until someone comes up with a better acronym — the Biden administration wants to do two things. First, boost Australia's naval defense capability — in particular by giving the Aussies the tech to build nuclear-powered attack submarines that can withstand Chinese anti-ship missiles. Second, work with the Aussies and the Brits to jointly develop more advanced weapons that'll be a better match for China's increasingly high-tech military. Beijing says Aukus is the latest example of Western powers stuck in "Cold War mentality," while France, which was about to sell Australia a bunch of its own conventional subs, is fuming at the Aussies backing out of the deal, and at all three Aukus partners for being kept out of the loop. However there are limits to Anglophone affection: New Zealand has already said please no Aussie nuclear subs in our waters, thanks mate.

Italy mandates COVID passes for all workers: Italy will soon become the first EU country to make the bloc's COVID "Green Pass" mandatory for all workers, not just healthcare personnel. Although the goal of the digital certificate — which shows whether someone has been vaccinated, tested negative, or recently recovered from the virus — was to facilitate travel between EU member states, the unity government led by PM Mario Draghi now wants to use it to force skeptical Italians to get the jab. Italian unions have pushed back a bit, upset at the 1,000 euro ($1,175) fines for non-compliance and having to pay 15 euros for tests, but the mandate is backed by most employers and political parties. Italy's move comes amid an ongoing debate over vaccine mandates in Europe, and a week after President Joe Biden ordered vaccination or weekly COVID testing for most US workers.

More from GZERO Media

​A Russian army soldier in the Kursk region.​A Russian army soldier in the Kursk region.

A Russian army soldier walks along a ruined street of Malaya Loknya settlement, which was recently retaken by Russia's armed forces in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Kursk region, on March 13, 2025.

Russian Defence Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

The Russian leader has conditions of his own for any ceasefire with Ukraine, and he also wants a meeting with Donald Trump.

Mahmoud Khalil speaks to members of the media about the Revolt for Rafah encampment at Columbia University on June 1, 2024.

REUTERS/Jeenah Moon

The court battle over whether the US can deport Mahmoud Khalil, the 30-year-old Palestinian-Algerian activist detained in New York last Saturday, began this week in Manhattan. Khalil, an outspoken activist for Palestinian rights at Columbia University, was arrested Saturday at his apartment in a university-owned building at Columbia University by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, and he is now being held in an ICE detention center in Louisiana.

The Israeli Air Force launched an airstrike on Thursday, targeting a building in the Mashrou Dummar area of Damascus.
(Photo by Rami Alsayed/NurPhoto)

An Israeli airstrike destroyed a residential building on the outskirts of Damascus on Thursday in the latest Israeli incursion into post-Assad Syria.

Lars Klingbeil (l), Chairman of the SPD parliamentary group, and Friedrich Merz, CDU Chairman and Chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, talk at the end of the 213th plenary session of the 20th legislative period in the German Bundestag.

Germany’s government is in a state of uncertainty as the outgoing government races to push through a huge, and highly controversial, new spending package before its term ends early this spring.

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, a Republican, speaks as the U.S. vice president visits East Palestine, Ohio, U.S., February 3, 2025.
Rebecca Droke/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

On Wednesday, Environmental Protection Agency chief Lee Zeldin redefined the agency’s mission, stating that its focus is to “lower the cost of buying a car, heating a home, and running a business.”

Paige Fusco

Canada has begun thinking the unthinkable: how to defend against a US attack. It suddenly realizes — far too late – that the 2% GDP goal on defense spending is no longer aspirational but urgent. But what kind of military does it need? To find out, GZERO Publisher Evan Solomon spoke with retired Vice Admiral Mark Norman, the former vice chief of defense staff in Canada and currently a fellow at the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

The energy transition is one of society’s biggest challenges – especially for Europe’s largest economy – according to a survey commissioned by the BMW Foundation Herbert Quandt and undertaken by the Allensbach Institute for Public Opinion Research. Sixty percent of those polled believe the energy transition is necessary but have doubts about how it is being implemented. A whopping 63% would like to be more involved in energy-transition decisions affecting their region. The findings strongly suggest that it’s essential to get the public more involved in energy policymaking – to help build a future energy policy that leads to both economic prosperity and social cohesion. Read the full study “Attitudes Toward the Energy Transition” here.