For the purposes of this debate, "independent" refers to self-reliance in all aspects of life, and is not only limited to relationships.

Geoengineering refers to deliberate large-scale interventions in the Earth's climate system to counteract or mitigate the effects of climate change. It involves the deliberate manipulation of the Earth's atmosphere, oceans, or land surface to reduce the impacts of global warming. Geoengineering techniques can be broadly categorized into two main approaches which are Solar Radiation Management (SRM) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). SRM is techniques aim to reduce the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface, thereby cooling the planet. Whereas, CDR is a techniques aim to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations.

The Certificate of Entitlement (COE) system is a system that controls the growth of the vehicle population in Singapore. It requires aspiring vehicle owners to bid for a COE through an online open auction. The COE price therefore reflects the amount that buyers are willing to pay to own a new car, private bus, goods vehicle or motorcycle.

The COE gives private car owner the right to own and use the vehicle for 10 years, after which the owner can choose to de-register the vehicle or renew the COE.

Malaysia was formed on 16 September 1963 by the merger of the Federation of Malaya with the former British colonies of North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore.
Disagreements on revenue sharing by Singapore and the failure to set up the common market, and the hostile political relations between the People's Action Party (PAP) and United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) on the topic of Article 153 and Malaysian Malaysia increased racial tensions and culminated to the 1964 Race Riots in Singapore.
On 7 August 1965, Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman lead a Parliament vote to expel Singapore from Malaysia, citing the incompatibility and to reduce further racial tension and bloodshed.

The East African Federation (EFA) is a proposed political union of the seven sovereign states of the East African Community in the African Great Lakes region – Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – as a single federated sovereign state.

The EFA would be the biggest and most populous as well as the 4th largest GDP in Africa, and all of them have adopted Swahili as a national language, though different languages, religions, and ethnicities exists in the EFA.

The conflict in Sudan is one between the Sudanese army, led by Abdel Fattah and the para militia group Rapid Support Forces (RSF), led by Hemedti. Together, they overthrew Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s dictator of 30 years and then organised another military coup against the post-Bashir civillian government they installed.

They currently have a power-sharing agreement but they are disputing about the integration of RSF into the military, and how succession and rankings would work in the new system. This has led to growing tensions, militarization and thus conflict between both parties in cities like Khartoum and Darfour.

The Ethiopian government is based on the principle of Ethno-Federalism, where different parts of the Ethiopia is split based on ethnic and religious lines, where the states functions autonomously on domestic matters. Abiy Ahmed, an Oromo (The Majority ethnicity) Muslim rose as the Prime Minister of Ethiopia campaigning for an end to ethno-federalism and a centralised Ethiopian government instead.

Ethiopia has been involved in an ongoing conflict with the Tigray People's Liberation Front, representing the Tigray area and ethnicity regarding the freedom and potential independence of the Tigray people.

The US debt ceiling is a limit that Congress places on the presidency as to how much it is allowed to borrow in order to finance the annual budget.

The Friedman Doctrine holds that decisions concerning social responsibility does not lie on the executives of a company. It believes that companies are not obligated to any social responsibilities unless the shareholders decide so, and is only obligated in pursuing profits for the company.

For the purpose of this debate, analytical rigor means a critical and logical focus on argumentation and analysis

A Victim Impact Statement is a written or oral statement presented to the court at the sentencing of the defendant. Many times victims, their family members, and friends of the victim participate in both written and verbal statements. Victim Impact Statements were created as an opportunity for the judge to hear how a criminal action has affected the victim's loved ones.

The Tunku Mahkota Johor (TMJ), Crown Prince of Johor bought the Johor Football team in 2012. Since then, The rebranded Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) has achieved success in Malaysia and Asia, becoming the first Southeast Asian team to win a continental title and reaching the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League. The team has done so by developing and changing local football while signing the best local and international players from other Malaysian teams.

In 2015, a court ruled that Robin Thicke's song, Blurred Lines was found to be plagiarising Marvin Gaye's Got To Give It Up. It set a landmark ruling as it plagiarised Got To Give It Up's "feel and groove" even though it was in a different key and had a different chord progression. Before the ruling, sampling without consent is already considered plagiarism.

Since then, many other artists such as Dua Lipa, Olivia Rodrigo, and Ed Sheeran have been sued over plagiarism on similar lines.

Linda Yaccarino is the new CEO of Twitter and X Corp. She previously worked in the Donald Trump and Joe Biden administration and chaired the future of work task force in the World Economic Forum, an organisation which Elon Musk has openly criticised.

She has resigned from her position as head of NBCUniversal's Head of Advertising Sales for her current position.

EMILY's List is an American political action committee (PAC) that aims to help elect Democratic female candidates in favor of abortion rights to office.