Leaders & Succession

tracking

Heads of state

Trump (US)158 activeTrump cancels planned US strikes on Iran and calls for a rapid deal on the Strait of Hormuz Xi (China)40 escalatingUS proposes restricting Chinese optical modules in AI infrastructure; Beijing condemns 'bullying' tech curbs as Xi-Trump summit approaches Putin (Russia)37 escalatingRussia fires ballistic missiles and drones at Kyiv overnight, killing 17 as air defences intercept nothing Modi (India)74 escalatingPakistan warns India against 'adventurism' after India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh calls Pakistan a terrorism backer in Kashmir row von der Leyen (EU)19 activeEU finance ministers approve Hungary's revised recovery plan, unlocking a path to €10 billion in post-pandemic funds Macron (France)22 activeFrance orders expulsion of former RT France director Ksenia Fedorova over Kremlin propaganda Merz (Germany)18 worseningCeuta migrant crisis: death toll reaches 72, Spain had intelligence warnings days before surge, as 22 EU leaders sign letter against Sanchez Burnham (UK)15 activeUK PM Andy Burnham hosts Zelensky at naval base in first international meeting, announces transfer of Stone Cloak jammer technology to Ukraine Meloni (Italy)21 worseningSpain imposes border checks on Italy until September 7 as the Ceuta migrant crisis turns into an EU Schengen tit-for-tat Sánchez (Spain)15 worseningSpain imposes border checks on Italy until September 7 as the Ceuta migrant crisis turns into an EU Schengen tit-for-tat Tusk (Poland)18 activeFormer Poland PM Morawiecki sets October 2026 launch for new party, splitting from PiS Netanyahu (Israel)31 activeTrump cancels planned US strikes on Iran and calls for a rapid deal on the Strait of Hormuz Pezeshkian (Iran)28 activeTrump cancels planned US strikes on Iran and calls for a rapid deal on the Strait of Hormuz Zelensky (Ukraine)60 activeUkraine's Zelensky makes first presidential visit to Serbia, meeting Vucic in Belgrade Erdoğan (Turkey)28 activeSaudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, committing to treat an attack on one as an attack on all MBS (Saudi)16 activeSaudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, committing to treat an attack on one as an attack on all MBZ (UAE)8 activeSaudi Arabia quietly assembles a Turkey-Egypt-Pakistan-Qatar bloc as the UAE drifts away el-Sisi (Egypt)10 Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Egypt) Ramaphosa (S. Africa)15 easingSouth Africa and Nigeria agree steps to curb xenophobic attacks after Ramaphosa envoy visits Abuja Tinubu (Nigeria)29 developingNigeria's President Tinubu pledges to list NNPC on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as part of capital market reforms Ruto (Kenya)11 activeKenya senator alleges he was offered KSh 10 million to vote for Gachagua's 2024 impeachment; former deputy president asks court to act on the claim Lula (Brazil)21 activeBrazil's Lula, 80, formally launches fourth-term campaign at São Paulo ceremony Sheinbaum (Mexico)20 resolvedInternational arbitration tribunal dismisses most of US Vulcan Materials' US$1.5bn claim against Mexico over Quintana Roo quarry seizure Milei (Argentina)21 activeArgentina's Senate passes Milei's private property law after withdrawing foreign land sale clause; protests outside Congress De la Espriella (Colombia)6 transitionAbelardo De La Espriella inaugurated as Colombia's president in Cali, as Petro skips ceremony and Spain's King Felipe VI attends Fujimori (Peru)2 activeKeiko Fujimori to be inaugurated as Peru's president on July 28, opening the second era of fujimorismo Prabowo (Indonesia)18 worseningIndonesia's GDP growth slows to 5.29% in Q2, pressuring Prabowo's 8% expansion goal Marcos (Philippines)17 escalatingChina issues new rules banning unauthorised fishing and mining at Huangyan Dao, renewing South China Sea tensions with the Philippines Anwar (Malaysia)7 resolvedMalaysia's 16th Johor state election draws 2.7 million voters as polling tests Anwar Ibrahim's unity government Kim (N. Korea)16 activeNorth Korea fires short-range ballistic missile from Wonsan toward the East Sea, days before US-South Korea military drills begin Sharif (Pakistan)16 activeSaudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, committing to treat an attack on one as an attack on all Tarique Rahman (Bangladesh)9 activeOn the second anniversary of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising, Hasina calls it a conspiracy from New Delhi; Bangladesh bans its media from airing her speech Carney (Canada)11 activeCanada's Carney calls Trump's latest tariffs a CUSMA violation, agrees to 'intensify' trade talks; provinces cut alcohol barriers Albanese (Australia)15 stalledPacific Islands Forum ministers fail to agree on joint statement on China's SLBM test as divisions over Beijing split the Suva meeting Magyar (Hungary)9 activeHungary's PM Magyar says Orbán government knew since 2022 that the country's power grid was failing, and did nothing Takaichi (Japan)6 activeJapan marks 81st Hiroshima atomic bombing anniversary; PM Takaichi reaffirms non-nuclear principles as US ambassador skips

Successions & elite health

Khamenei (Iran)9 transitionIran buries Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Mashhad on July 9 as crowds chant anti-Trump slogans; CNN notes indifferent Iranians absent from state mourning King Charles III4 King Charles III The papacy4 activePope Leo XIV to visit Peru in November in his first Latin American trip as pontiff, returning to where he served as bishop for two decades Putin37 escalatingRussia fires ballistic missiles and drones at Kyiv overnight, killing 17 as air defences intercept nothing Xi40 escalatingUS proposes restricting Chinese optical modules in AI infrastructure; Beijing condemns 'bullying' tech curbs as Xi-Trump summit approaches

Former leaders

Starmer (UK)14 activeUK's Andy Burnham appoints John Healey as Chancellor, purges Starmer loyalists, and scraps VAT on electricity Yunus (Bangladesh)4 activeOn the second anniversary of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising, Hasina calls it a conspiracy from New Delhi; Bangladesh bans its media from airing her speech Orbán (Hungary)12 activeHungary's PM Magyar says Orbán government knew since 2022 that the country's power grid was failing, and did nothing Bolsonaro (Brazil)8 activeBrazil's Supreme Court bars Flávio Bolsonaro from visiting his father until after October election Petro (Colombia)22 transitionAbelardo De La Espriella inaugurated as Colombia's president in Cali, as Petro skips ceremony and Spain's King Felipe VI attends

Elections & the ballot

Refusing to Concede10 transitionColombia's president-elect De la Espriella arrives in Cali with 11,100 troops deployed for August 7 inauguration; invite controversy and France Márquez's departure mark the final days The Anti-Incumbency Wave22 transitionAbelardo De La Espriella inaugurated as Colombia's president in Cali, as Petro skips ceremony and Spain's King Felipe VI attends The Far Right, Mainstreamed14 transitionAbelardo De La Espriella inaugurated as Colombia's president in Cali, as Petro skips ceremony and Spain's King Felipe VI attends Snap & Early Elections7 escalatingKnesset committee advances dissolution bill for plenum vote as Netanyahu-Haredi coalition cracks The Postponed Vote6 The Postponed Vote

Coups & people power

Gen Z Uprisings14 activeOn the second anniversary of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising, Hasina calls it a conspiracy from New Delhi; Bangladesh bans its media from airing her speech The Coup Belt7 activeUganda army chief orders military shutdown of Nation Media Group, declaring 'I do not believe in a free press' Strongman Succession9 activeDR Congo's constitutional court backs referendum law, opening a path to President Tshisekedi's third term People Power9 activeOn the second anniversary of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising, Hasina calls it a conspiracy from New Delhi; Bangladesh bans its media from airing her speech

The domestic arena

Courts vs Elected Power44 contestedUS federal appeals court blocks construction of Trump's US$400 million White House ballroom, teeing up Supreme Court review Lawfare & the Net Closing33 activeRomania's High Court clears coup-plot trial of far-right ex-candidate Călin Georgescu and mercenary leader Horațiu Potra to proceed Centre vs the States11 contested-result25 US states sue the Trump administration over Section 301 tariffs imposed on more than 80 trading partners Austerity and the Street13 activeNigeria's opposition leader Atiku Abubakar rejects Tinubu's three-year economic record as millions remain squeezed

latest

active Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement, committing to treat an attack on one as an attack on all

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif signed the Makkah Joint Defence Agreement in Makkah on August 7, capping nearly a year of trilateral talks; the pact's mutual-defence clause means an armed attack on any signatory is treated as an attack on all three; Indian outlets frame it as a potential 'Islamic NATO'; Middle East Eye called it 'first in kind' among the three states; The National (UAE) reported the agreement aims to 'strengthen collective security and promote peace'

The Long Game ·48 takes ·Aug 8

active Ukraine's Zelensky makes first presidential visit to Serbia, meeting Vucic in Belgrade

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Serbia on August 8, his first trip there since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, meeting Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic to discuss EU accession, energy, and the path to peace, in a visit that carries heavy geopolitical symbolism given Serbia's historically pro-Russia stance

How Wars Actually End ·11 takes ·Aug 8

transition Abelardo De La Espriella inaugurated as Colombia's president in Cali, as Petro skips ceremony and Spain's King Felipe VI attends

Colombia's conservative president Abelardo De La Espriella took office in Cali on August 7 in the first presidential inauguration outside Bogotá in modern Colombian history; outgoing president Gustavo Petro did not attend, a break with tradition; Spain's King Felipe VI, Argentina's Javier Milei and FIFA president Gianni Infantino were among those present; De La Espriella pledged to govern from the regions under the banner of the 'Patria Milagro'

Who Decides ·33 takes ·Aug 8

contested US federal appeals court blocks construction of Trump's US$400 million White House ballroom, teeing up Supreme Court review

A US federal appeals court ruled on August 7 that above-ground construction on a planned US$400 million ballroom on the site of the White House's demolished East Wing must stop until Congress approves it, handing US President Donald Trump a setback in a case over executive authority and historic preservation; Trump said he would appeal to the US Supreme Court, and the ruling was placed on a 14-day hold

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Aug 8

active Trump signs new executive orders to restrict US birthright citizenship despite US Supreme Court ruling

US President Donald Trump signed new executive orders on August 6 to limit birthright citizenship and target 'birth tourism,' according to Reuters and SCOTUSblog; the Hawaii Tribune-Herald reported the orders came despite a US Supreme Court ruling on the issue, signalling a direct confrontation between the executive and the court on 14th Amendment interpretation

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Aug 8

stalled Pacific Islands Forum ministers fail to agree on joint statement on China's SLBM test as divisions over Beijing split the Suva meeting

Pacific Island foreign ministers meeting in Suva on August 7 failed to agree on a joint statement condemning China's July submarine-launched ballistic missile test; Kiribati and Nauru, both of which switched recognition from Taiwan to China in recent years, blocked consensus; New Zealand's Winston Peters accused the blockers of following 'outside partners' wishes'; the matter is deferred to the Palau leaders' summit, August 30 to September 4

Who Decides ·22 takes ·Aug 7

escalating Israeli strikes kill dozens in Gaza in the days after the Hamas disarmament deal, casting doubt on ceasefire diplomacy

Israeli strikes killed more than two dozen Palestinians in Gaza and violated Lebanese airspace in weekend raids on August 3-4, even as Qatar said progress was made toward US-Iran talks connected to the broader regional conflict; a Board of Peace envoy met Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu after a day of deadly strikes and issued a statement that made no mention of Israel's territorial withdrawal

How Wars Actually End ·20 takes ·Aug 7

active Hungary's PM Magyar says Orbán government knew since 2022 that the country's power grid was failing, and did nothing

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar publicly accused former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's government on August 6 of concealing a 2022 internal assessment showing Hungary's electricity grid was near collapse, a document Magyar displayed in parliament; the accusation comes as Hungary faces a summer energy crisis after grid failures and record heat

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Aug 8

active Romania's High Court clears coup-plot trial of far-right ex-candidate Călin Georgescu and mercenary leader Horațiu Potra to proceed

Romania's High Court of Cassation and Justice rejected appeals from both the prosecution and the defendants on August 6, clearing the way for the trial of Călin Georgescu, mercenary leader Horațiu Potra and 20 co-defendants on charges of actions against the constitutional order, described in the indictment as an attempted coup; the ruling upholds an earlier Bucharest Court of Appeals decision

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Aug 8

active Pakistan's PTI stages nationwide protests marking three years of Imran Khan's detention; Karachi police make arrests

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf rallied across Pakistan on August 5, 2026, the third anniversary of former prime minister Imran Khan's imprisonment; police in Karachi baton-charged protesters, fired tear gas, and arrested several party leaders including Dr Masroor Sial; Amnesty International called on Pakistan's government to release Khan and restore his access to family, lawyers, and medical care

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Aug 6

active Pope Leo XIV to visit Peru in November in his first Latin American trip as pontiff, returning to where he served as bishop for two decades

The Vatican confirmed on August 5, 2026 that Pope Leo XIV will travel to Peru from November 11-17 as part of his first trip to Latin America as pontiff; the full tour also includes Uruguay and Argentina; Leo XIV served as a missionary and bishop in Peru for nearly two decades before his election; Peru's foreign ministry issued an official statement of jubilation; cities on the Peruvian leg include Lima, Chiclayo, Cusco and Pucallpa

How Life Changes ·5 takes ·Aug 7

active Venezuelan opposition delegation led by Dinorah Figuera returns to Caracas with US support to open political transition dialogue with Maduro government

Former opposition legislator Dinorah Figuera arrived in Venezuela on August 6 at the head of a delegation of ex-deputies from the 2015 National Assembly, with US backing, to begin talks with the Maduro government on a political transition; Figuera said the first results of the dialogue are expected in December 2026

How Wars Actually End ·8 takes ·Aug 8

active Japan marks 81st Hiroshima atomic bombing anniversary; PM Takaichi reaffirms non-nuclear principles as US ambassador skips

Japan held the 81st atomic bombing memorial at Hiroshima's Peace Memorial Park on August 6, 2026, with a record 123 countries and the EU attending; Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her first appearance as Japan's leader, reaffirmed the three non-nuclear principles as the government prepares to revise key security documents; Hiroshima mayor Kazumi Matsui warned that 'downplaying the inhumanity of nuclear weapons' risks another Hiroshima or Nagasaki; the US ambassador did not attend; China used the anniversary to catalogue Japan's rearmament; North Korea's Kim Yo Jong threatened 'additional military options'; and a record 128 Japanese local assemblies have petitioned the Diet to hold the line

The Long Game ·27 takes ·Aug 7

worsening Indonesia's GDP growth slows to 5.29% in Q2, pressuring Prabowo's 8% expansion goal

Q2 growth decelerated from 5.61% in Q1 2026; the Finance Ministry projects a second-half rebound while LPEM FEB UI had forecast the Q2 rate dropping below 5%

Whose Money ·11 takes ·Aug 6

active On the second anniversary of Bangladesh's 2024 uprising, Hasina calls it a conspiracy from New Delhi; Bangladesh bans its media from airing her speech

Bangladesh's PM Tarique Rahman opened the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum at Hasina's former official residence in Dhaka on August 5, 2026; at the same time, exiled Hasina gave her first public address since ouster at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of South Asia in New Delhi, calling the 2024 uprising 'a planned regime change' and promising to return to Bangladesh in December 2026; Bangladesh banned domestic media from airing the speech, summoned India's acting High Commissioner, and called the event 'a clear affront'

Who Decides ·31 takes ·Aug 6

escalating North Korea warns Japan of further military steps over Tokyo's rearmament push, citing cruise missile tests

Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned on August 5 that Pyongyang would not remain a 'passive onlooker' as Japan expands its military capabilities; she cited Japan's test-firing of long-range cruise missiles and participation in US-led military drills, and accused Tokyo of reviving the ambitions of a 'war criminal state'

How Wars Actually End ·12 takes ·Aug 7

active Nigeria's Tinubu approves 30–80% salary increase for 250,000 armed forces personnel, effective September 1

Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu approved salary increases of 30 to 80 per cent for all armed forces personnel on August 4, lifting the annual military payroll to ₦924bn; the increase covers roughly 250,000 officers and soldiers and comes as Nigeria fights concurrent insurgencies in the north-east and north-west

How Life Changes ·22 takes ·Aug 7

active Putin reshuffles Russia's military command at Defence Ministry meeting, appoints first commander of new drone forces and merges logistics branches

Vladimir Putin announced sweeping changes to Russia's military command on August 5 at a meeting with Defence Ministry leadership; General Denis Lyamin was named the first commander of Russia's Drone Forces, a branch that Putin acknowledged does not yet formally exist; logistics services were merged; the reshuffle was presented as adaptation to lessons from the war in Ukraine

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Aug 7

active Hungary's PM Magyar accuses former PM Orbán of concealing grid-collapse risk for four years, unveils new energy strategy

Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Magyar on August 7 publicly showed a 2022 government document he says proves Viktor Orbán's administration knew Hungary's electricity grid was on the brink of collapse and did nothing for four years; the disclosure follows a summer power crisis; Magyar's government has also approved a new energy development plan covering storage, grid upgrades and renewables

What Broke ·6 takes ·Aug 7

active Argentina's Senate passes Milei's private property law after withdrawing foreign land sale clause; protests outside Congress

Argentina's Senate debated and advanced Javier Milei's Private Property Inviolability bill on August 6, 2026; the government pulled a chapter that would have allowed foreign nationals to buy Argentine land after large-scale protests and public backlash; clashes outside Congress left three people detained and two police officers injured; the Senate is expected to approve the trimmed bill after the ruling coalition defeated an opposition attempt to return it to committee

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Aug 7

de-escalating Trump's Board of Peace formally announces Hamas disarmament deal; Israeli far-right minister Ben-Gvir rejects it, Palestinians remain sceptical

Trump's 'Board of Peace' formally announced on July 31 that Hamas agreed to disarm and Israel would withdraw from Gaza in 'carefully structured phases'; Euronews confirmed Hamas accepted the deal; Israeli far-right security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir rejected the agreement, saying 'Israel must win'; Al Jazeera reported Palestinians remained sceptical; the deal follows 'rare progress' in Cairo mediation talks on July 30 and Trump's late-night declaration the same day that his Board of Peace had reached an agreement

Who Decides ·58 takes ·Aug 3

active Former Poland PM Morawiecki sets October 2026 launch for new party, splitting from PiS

Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland's former prime minister, confirmed on August 4, 2026 that his breakaway parliamentary group will formally launch a new party by October; PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński responded by ordering party members to sign a loyalty pledge disavowing external groupings; Morawiecki ruled out any cooperation with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, describing opposition to Tusk as a key organising principle

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Aug 6

transition Colombia's president-elect De la Espriella arrives in Cali with 11,100 troops deployed for August 7 inauguration; invite controversy and France Márquez's departure mark the final days

Colombia's president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella was in Cali on August 5, two days before his August 7 inauguration, with 11,100 military and police personnel deployed for the ceremony; an invitation controversy stirred political tension, with former president Álvaro Uribe's attendance unconfirmed; outgoing vice president Francia Márquez closed her chapter at the vice-presidency after a contentious four-year tenure under Gustavo Petro

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Aug 7

active Zelenskyy announces Carpathian Initiative for autumn launch, says Ukraine has FREYJA missile launchers; Slovak sources report eight countries will join

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the Carpathian Initiative on August 4, a new regional cooperation format focused on security and post-war reconstruction; Czech Radio confirmed Czech Republic and Slovakia as partners while Slovak media including TASR reported Zelenskyy said the initiative would bring together eight countries with a launch planned for autumn 2026; Zelenskyy also disclosed that Ukraine has the missiles and mobile launchers for the FREYJA anti-ballistic framework but requires specific European components and joint financing.

How Wars Actually End ·10 takes ·Aug 5

resolved Pacific island state Nauru officially renames itself the Republic of Naoero, restoring the pre-colonial indigenous name

Nauru, the world's third-smallest country, officially changed its name to the Republic of Naoero on August 4, restoring the traditional Nauruan-language name that colonial administration had anglicised to 'Nauru'; Nauru's president announced the change, which takes the country back to its indigenous identity

The Quiet Shift ·7 takes ·Aug 5

worsening EU weighs emergency electricity talks after Hungary's Paks nuclear plant goes dark; Orbán-era failure to prepare revealed

The European Commission said on August 3 it stood ready to convene emergency electricity coordination talks after Hungary's Paks Nuclear Power Plant stopped generating, removing nearly half of Hungary's total electricity capacity; in a separate development, Hungarian independent media published a recording in which a former Fidesz minister admitted the Orbán government had been warned of severe water shortages and took no preparatory action

What Broke ·13 takes ·Aug 5

active Nigeria's opposition leader Atiku Abubakar rejects Tinubu's three-year economic record as millions remain squeezed

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said on August 2 that Nigeria's Tinubu administration's defense of its economic record bears no resemblance to the hardship confronting millions of Nigerians; Nigeria's Presidency fired back on August 3, dismissing his N7.98 trillion oil windfall claim as based on outdated data and demanding evidence

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Aug 3

active Brazil's Lula, 80, formally launches fourth-term campaign at São Paulo ceremony

Brazil's Workers' Party proclaimed Lula its candidate for an unprecedented fourth term on Sunday, with the incumbent anchoring the bid on sovereignty and defence amid Trump-era interference concerns

Who Decides ·17 takes ·Aug 4

active Turkey's Gelecek Party to dissolve at August 22 congress as Davutoglu withdraws from politics

Ahmet Davutoglu, Turkey's former prime minister and founder of the Gelecek (Future) Party, announced the party's dissolution; the closure will be formalized at a congress on August 22, ending a five-year experiment in opposition centrist politics after failed alliance negotiations and the collapse of the party's 'new center' project

The Long Game ·4 takes ·Aug 3

active PML-N leads Pakistan's Azad Kashmir Phase 2 elections as unofficial results flow from Muzaffarabad and Jammu

Azad Jammu and Kashmir held the second phase of its 2026 general election on August 2, with PML-N emerging as front-runner in provisional results across Muzaffarabad and Jammu divisions; PPP won at least one Muzaffarabad seat; PML-N had won the Phase 1 count in Mirpur division on July 27

Who Decides ·18 takes ·Aug 4

active Colombian authorities attribute Cúcuta truck bomb to ELN after blast injures 15, six days before presidential inauguration

A truck packed with explosives detonated on August 1 next to a police station in Cúcuta, Colombia's border city near Venezuela, injuring at least 15 people including 12 police officers and 3 civilians; Colombian authorities attributed the attack to the ELN guerrilla group and the Defense Ministry offered a reward for information on those responsible; the UN Human Rights office condemned the attack and called for accountability; the blast came six days before president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella's inauguration on August 7

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Aug 2

active Indonesia's President Prabowo says he would visit North Korea to broker dialogue at South Korea's request

Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto disclosed on July 31 that South Korean President Lee Jae Myung had asked during a Seoul state visit in April whether Prabowo could visit North Korea to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang; Prabowo said he was willing to go, positioning Indonesia as a potential mediator between the two Koreas

The Long Game ·5 takes ·Aug 3

worsening Ceuta migrant crisis: death toll reaches 72, Spain had intelligence warnings days before surge, as 22 EU leaders sign letter against Sanchez

The death toll from the mass crossing of migrants from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta enclave rose to 67 on August 1 and reached 72 by August 2 afternoon as confirmed by Al Jazeera; Euronews reported Spain's government had received intelligence warnings of the impending Ceuta migrant surge days before the crisis broke; Spain began construction of a maritime barrier at the Tarajal border area; and 22 European Union leaders, including German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Romanian President Nicusor Dan, signed a joint letter criticising Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's migration policies

Who Decides ·38 takes ·Aug 5

active Central Asian leaders and Azerbaijan sign Cholpon-Ata Declaration at Kyrgyzstan's Lake Issyk-Kul summit

The heads of state of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan met in Cholpon-Ata on July 31 for an informal consultative summit and signed the Cholpon-Ata Declaration; Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov and Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev held bilateral talks in one-on-one and expanded formats before the main session, with Japarov calling the Uzbek leader's visit a catalyst for further bilateral ties

The Quiet Shift ·17 takes ·Aug 1

worsening Italy suspends Schengen free movement with Spain over Ceuta migrant surge, drawing EU battle lines

Italy formally suspended the EU Schengen border-free travel agreement with Spain for one month on July 31, closing air and sea crossings to passport-less travel, after an estimated 60,000 migrants crossed from Morocco into Spain's Ceuta enclave in 24 hours; at least 57 died in the crossing. Spain said 37,500 had returned by Friday morning; the EU confirmed none reached continental Europe.

What Broke ·34 takes ·Aug 4

active Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan sign Allied Relations Treaty and 14 bilateral documents at Cholpon-Ata

On the sidelines of the informal Central Asian summit in Cholpon-Ata on July 31, Kyrgyz President Sadyr Zhaparov and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a Treaty on Allied Relations and 14 bilateral partnership documents, formalising a strategic partnership the two leaders described as grounded in shared historical roots

The Quiet Shift ·10 takes ·Aug 1

transition Chile and Venezuela agree to restore consular relations after 18 months of ruptured ties

Chile's President José Antonio Kast and Venezuela's government of Delcy Rodríguez agreed on July 30 to restore consular services and establish a roadmap toward full diplomatic normalization; Chile's main condition was a mechanism to facilitate the deportation of irregular Venezuelan migrants, a campaign priority for Kast; ties were severed in early 2025 following the disputed July 2024 Venezuelan election

The Quiet Shift ·9 takes ·Aug 1

active Morocco's King Mohammed VI sets industrial and diplomatic ambitions in 27th Throne Day speech

In his Throne Day address on July 30, Morocco's King Mohammed VI marked the 27th anniversary of his accession by framing political stability as a strategic export, outlining a vision for Morocco as an emerging industrial power driven by investment, and positioning the country as a diplomatic bridge between Africa, Europe and the Gulf.

The Long Game ·4 takes ·Aug 1

resolved Taiwan's Constitutional Court dissolves the pro-China CUPP party, ruling it unconstitutional; first party dissolution in Taiwan's democratic history

Taiwan's Constitutional Court dissolved the Chinese Unification Promotion Party (CUPP) on July 31, ruling it unconstitutional, one day after Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior announced it would petition the court in early August; the court acted faster than the stated timeline; it is the first time a political party has been dissolved by court order in Taiwan's democratic history; CUPP founder Chang An-le responded by announcing a counter-petition to dissolve the ruling Democratic Progressive Party under the same law

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Aug 2

active Pakistan's Foreign Office says it is making its 'utmost' effort to bring the US and Iran back to the Islamabad MoU

Pakistan's Foreign Office said on July 30 it is making its 'utmost' effort to return the US and Iran to negotiations under the Islamabad MoU ceasefire framework; the FO urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint and resume technical-level talks; the statement came as fresh US and Saudi strikes in the region added to pressure on the June 2026 ceasefire agreement

How Wars Actually End ·6 takes ·Jul 31

active New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters tells Chinese-born Green MP to 'go back to your own country'; China lodges formal diplomatic protest

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told Chinese-born Green Party MP Lawrence Xu-Nan in parliament to 'go back to your own country,' triggering a formal diplomatic protest from China's ambassador and calls within New Zealand for Peters to be sacked; Prime Minister Christopher Luxon called the remarks 'inappropriate attention-seeking' but refused to dismiss Peters; Peters dismissed accusations of racism as 'drivel'

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 30

active Kenya senator alleges he was offered KSh 10 million to vote for Gachagua's 2024 impeachment; former deputy president asks court to act on the claim

Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo alleged on July 30 that he was offered KSh 10 million (roughly US$77,000) to vote in favour of former Kenyan Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua's 2024 Senate impeachment; Gachagua asked the court handling his impeachment challenge to take the bribery claim seriously, citing earlier public admissions by MPs Junet Mohamed and Jalang'o; a Rift Valley governor also defected from President William Ruto's UDA party to Gachagua's Democratic Change Party ahead of the 2027 elections

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 30

active Turkey detains Ankara district mayor and 51 others in expanding graft probe targeting CHP opposition

Turkish police detained the CHP opposition mayor of Ankara's Etimesgut district and 51 other suspects on July 30 in a widening corruption investigation; the arrests follow the detention of Istanbul district mayors the previous day and a broader wave of probes that the CHP says are politically motivated to disable the main opposition party ahead of the 2028 elections

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Aug 1

active Nigeria's 2025 coup trial: alleged ringleader paid millions to Islamic clerics for spiritual backing, planned to recruit Boko Haram ex-fighters

Exclusive reporting by Nigeria's Premium Times on July 29, 2026 reveals new details from the ongoing trial of six men accused of plotting to overthrow Nigerian President Bola Tinubu in 2025; the alleged mastermind paid millions of naira to Islamic clerics to seek spiritual backing for the coup, and the plotters planned to recruit repentant Boko Haram fighters and Civilian Joint Task Force members to form an armed force

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 30

active Germany's Chancellor Merz faces growing CDU revolt over chaotic cabinet reshuffle that ousted a transport minister

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz completed a cabinet reshuffle on July 29 amid a rising chorus of criticism from within his own CDU party; CDU members said morale is poor and that the removal of former transport minister Patrick Schnieder was handled badly; the reshuffle followed Jens Spahn's resignation as CDU/CSU Bundestag faction leader over a US surrogacy controversy; critics inside CDU said Merz, not Spahn, bears responsibility for the crisis atmosphere; external commentators argued the anger is factually misplaced

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 30

active Paraguay's Congress repudiates Brazil's Lula over War of the Triple Alliance remarks, accusing him of distorting history

Both chambers of Paraguay's Congress voted to formally repudiate Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who visited an arms factory on July 24 and said Paraguay 'one fine day decided to invade Brazil' to justify defense spending; Paraguayan legislators and historians said Lula's framing cast Paraguay as the sole aggressor in the 1864-1870 war that killed roughly 90% of the country's pre-war adult male population, and the Chamber of Deputies formed a commission to demand return of war trophies held in Brazil, including the Cannon El Cristiano

What They're Not Saying ·14 takes ·Jul 30

worsening Japan PM Takaichi's collapsing poll numbers worsen her fight with bond and yen markets, analysts warn of doom loop

A Reuters analysis published July 29 describes a self-reinforcing trap for Japan PM Sanae Takaichi: her losing battle in the polls makes it politically impossible to abandon promised tax cuts, and that same tax-cut commitment denies her officials the political cover needed to talk down bond and yen market bears; the analysis calls this a political doom loop

Whose Money ·3 takes ·Jul 30

active Uganda's Kizza Besigye collapses in the dock as treason trial formally opens in Kampala

Ugandan opposition figure Kizza Besigye collapsed in the High Court dock in Kampala on July 29 after protesting the commencement of his treason trial; the incident occurred as prosecutors began leading the first witness, US national Andrew Wilson, through testimony; Besigye was rushed to hospital; his wife Winnie Byanyima says his health is deteriorating

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 31

active Ukraine's Zelensky meets Poland's Tusk in Lublin to discuss defence cooperation, anti-ballistic systems and historical dialogue

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Lublin on July 29 for talks with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk on returning from Washington; the two sides discussed defence cooperation, anti-ballistic missile defence, and security arrangements for Ukrainians in Poland, alongside historical reconciliation issues

How Wars Actually End ·21 takes ·Jul 30

active DR Congo's constitutional court backs referendum law, opening a path to President Tshisekedi's third term

The Democratic Republic of Congo's constitutional court approved a referendum law on July 28, clearing a legal route to amend a constitution that currently bars Presidents from serving more than two terms; President Felix Tshisekedi, 63, is due to end his second and constitutionally final term in late 2028; opposition lawmakers and civil society groups condemned the ruling as an attack on constitutional safeguards

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 31

active Kenya's hate-speech watchdog investigates former Deputy President Gachagua over 'kill the snake' remarks as opposition bloc rallies against Ruto ahead of 2027

Kenya's National Cohesion and Integration Commission opened a probe into former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua over his 'kill the snake and its eggs' political remarks, which critics said amounted to ethnic profiling; Gachagua dismissed the investigation and dared NCIC to summon him; Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna said he would work with Gachagua to unseat President William Ruto, citing the Ol Kalou by-election as evidence Ruto is losing his Mt Kenya stronghold, and a governor from Ruto's UDA reportedly defected to Gachagua's Democratic Change Party

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 30

transition Colombia's president-elect De la Espriella names Oscar Bula as chancellor and deploys military in Cali ahead of August 7 inauguration

Oscar Bula, a former Colombian diplomat with UN experience, was confirmed as chancellor designate on July 28 as president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella's formal handover process with the Petro government continued; Cali, the site of the August 7 inauguration at the USC Arena, bolstered its military presence for the ceremony, a politically notable choice as the city is a stronghold of the outgoing leftist coalition

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 30

active Ukraine's President Zelensky heads to the White House for talks with Trump as diplomatic efforts over the Russia war stall

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Washington on July 28 for a meeting with US President Donald Trump at 9:30am ET, his latest attempt to win firmer US support against Russia; the visit comes as Ukraine and Russia both escalate long-range strikes and US-led diplomatic talks remain at a standstill, with the US Senate due to vote the same day on Russian sanctions

How Wars Actually End ·20 takes ·Jul 29

transition Hungary's Tisza-led parliament passes bill creating National Asset Recovery Office to retrieve public wealth from the Orban era

Hungary's National Assembly voted on July 28 to establish the Nemzeti Vagyonvisszaszerzési és Vagyonvédelmi Hivatal, a National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office with broad powers to claw back public assets, the Hungarian independent outlet Telex reported; the vote is a central Tisza Party campaign promise; in a separate vote parliament elected Pál Sonnevend as a Constitutional Court judge with 138 votes for and 6 against, with Fidesz boycotting both votes

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 29

active China's Xi Jinping meets Slovakia's Pellegrini in Beijing, pitches AI and robotics as EU trade tensions rise

Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks with Slovak President Peter Pellegrini at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 28, the first state visit to China by a Slovak head of state; Xi asked Slovakia to play a constructive role in advancing China-EU relations, and China offered cooperation on AI and robotics as the wider EU-China trade relationship faces tariff friction

The Long Game ·8 takes ·Jul 29

active Israeli PM Netanyahu meets Trump at the White House for the first time since the two leaders launched the joint Iran war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Washington for a meeting with US President Donald Trump on July 28, their first bilateral since the joint US-Israel war against Iran; the meeting comes with strains in the relationship over Gaza, Iran's future, and Israel's post-war position, and Netanyahu is travelling under reported Iranian security threat

Who Decides ·34 takes ·Jul 29

active US delegation walks out of UN Security Council as France compares US human rights record to North Korea's

The United States walked out of a UN Security Council meeting on July 28 when France's ambassador took the floor to criticise Washington's human rights record; the row followed a vote in which the US joined Russia and North Korea in opposing the extension of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, triggering France's 'North Korea comparison'; the US delegation left the chamber during France's remarks in protest

What They're Not Saying ·7 takes ·Jul 29

resolved South Korea's Seoul Central District Court convicts ex-President Yoon of election disinformation, gives 18-month suspended sentence

South Korea's Seoul Central District Court found former President Yoon Suk Yeol guilty on July 27 of making false statements during his 2022 presidential campaign and handed him an 18-month suspended prison term; the ruling could lead to his 2022 electoral victory being nullified, a symbolic blow for the jailed ex-leader who is already serving a life sentence for the December 2024 martial law insurrection

Who Decides ·14 takes ·Jul 28

active US-Iran strikes pause enters third day as Trump says talks are under way; Iran denies negotiations and compares US to 'mafia gang'

The US pause in strikes on Iran continued into its third day on July 27 as President Donald Trump said 'we are having good talks' and 'good things can happen'; Iran's Foreign Ministry denied any negotiations were taking place, declared that Iran 'will never allow the United States to determine the timing of war and peace,' and Gulf media reported Iranian officials describing US conduct as that of a 'mafia gang'

How Wars Actually End ·23 takes ·Jul 29

active UK PM Andy Burnham hosts Zelensky at naval base in first international meeting, announces transfer of Stone Cloak jammer technology to Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the UK on July 27 for the first face-to-face meeting with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at a Royal Navy base; Burnham announced the UK would share the intellectual property of its Stone Cloak electronic jammers, which can interfere with Russian air-defense radar, with Ukraine, and both leaders stressed air defense, maritime security and joint defense production as priority areas

The Long Game ·10 takes ·Jul 31

active Pakistan's Azad Kashmir holds Phase 1 general election under heavy security; voting extended, JAAC-police clashes in Rawalakot

The first phase of Azad Jammu and Kashmir's general election went ahead on July 27 in Mirpur division under heavy security, with voting extended by one hour; JKJAAC civil society activists clashed with police in Rawalakot after the coalition accused security forces of 'indiscriminate violence'; PML-N and PPP are the main contestants after PTI boycotted the election over a court ruling on refugee constituency seats

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 29

active Chad notifies the UN of withdrawal from the International Criminal Court's Rome Statute

Chad formally notified the United Nations of its intent to leave the International Criminal Court, becoming the fifth country to announce withdrawal in recent months and citing the court's 'limited and uneven' effectiveness and a focus on Africa it calls disproportionate.

What They're Not Saying ·4 takes ·Jul 29

active Kuwait's foreign minister visits Pakistan for two-day talks amid Gulf tensions following Iran's strikes on Kuwait and GCC states

Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah arrived in Islamabad on July 28 for a two-day official visit to meet Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar; Pakistan's Foreign Office said the visit will cover bilateral cooperation and regional matters, with the backdrop of Iran's recent strikes on Kuwait and other Gulf states elevating the agenda

The Quiet Shift ·13 takes ·Jul 29

active Berlin Pride attack suspect shot dead by police after manhunt; Germany's Chancellor Merz demands answers on why suspect was not under surveillance

A 21-year-old suspect with alleged Islamist ties who drove a vehicle into Berlin's Christopher Street Day Pride crowd on July 26, killing one person and injuring 29, was tracked to a garden allotment in a Berlin suburb and fatally shot by police after charging officers with a knife; Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz vowed government action and publicly questioned why the suspect had not been monitored by security services

What Broke ·21 takes ·Jul 28

escalating Argentina-Brazil diplomatic crisis deepens: Lula dismisses Milei with 'Who's that guy?', first meeting ends without resolution

Brazil's President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva dismissed Argentina's President Javier Milei with an ironic 'Who's that guy?' on July 27-28, after Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira described Milei's July 26 insults as a 'provocation unprecedented in 200 years of bilateral relations'; the first formal diplomatic encounter ended without any agreement, Argentina's presidential palace refused to apologize, and Brazil's Finance Minister called Milei a 'clown'

What They're Not Saying ·15 takes ·Aug 7

easing South Africa and Nigeria agree steps to curb xenophobic attacks after Ramaphosa envoy visits Abuja

South Africa's Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola delivered a personal message from President Cyril Ramaphosa to Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu in Abuja, as both governments announced joint measures to protect foreign nationals after a wave of anti-immigrant attacks strained bilateral ties.

Who Decides ·14 takes ·Jul 29

escalating Putin says Ukraine will 'sooner or later' lose western territories once held by Poland, Romania, and Hungary; Warsaw calls it 'primitive disinformation'

Russia's President Vladimir Putin told Russian Navy officers on July 26 that he was 'confident' Ukraine would 'sooner or later' lose its western territories, which he described as lands Stalin gifted to Soviet Ukraine after WWII; Poland's Foreign Ministry called it 'cynical' disinformation designed to split Warsaw from Kyiv; Hungary and Romania, also named, have not responded

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jul 29

transition Colombia's president-elect De la Espriella plans to work from outside Casa de Nariño and close embassies ahead of August 7 inauguration in Cali

Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombia's president-elect ahead of his August 7 inauguration, announced on July 26-27 that he will not work from the presidential palace Casa de Nariño in Bogotá, describing it as a future museum, and said he will close a number of embassies; his inauguration ceremony is planned for Cali rather than the traditional Bogotá location

The Quiet Shift ·50 takes ·Aug 4

active Japan PM Takaichi faces 71% disapproval on living costs after legislative sweep, denies cabinet reshuffle plans

A poll published July 27 shows 71% of respondents disapprove of Japan PM Sanae Takaichi's government handling of rising living costs; Takaichi said she has 'nothing to comment' on cabinet reshuffle speculation and held firm on the ruling LDP-JIP coalition as talks on a food consumption tax cut remain stalled

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 28

active Peter Obi calls on Nigeria's President Tinubu to retire ahead of 2027, citing economic and security failures

Peter Obi, the Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate and former Anambra governor, said on July 26-27 that President Bola Tinubu is 'tired' and should be 'allowed to retire' rather than seek a second term in 2027, citing the president's inability to address Nigeria's worsening hunger, poverty and insecurity

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 28

active Keiko Fujimori to be inaugurated as Peru's president on July 28, opening the second era of fujimorismo

Keiko Fujimori, leader of Fuerza Popular, is set to be inaugurated as Peru's first woman president on July 28, Peru's national independence day, after winning the June runoff by under 50,000 votes; her party has already secured the Senate presidency, a US delegation from President Trump has arrived in Lima, and the incoming government faces immediate pressure on economic policy and political stability after five years of revolving-door leadership

Who Decides ·36 takes ·Jul 30

active Philippines President Marcos delivers 5th SONA, distances himself from cousin Romualdez and vows flood-control corruption charges

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. delivered his fifth State of the Nation Address on July 27, his longest and most populist to date, announcing that his cousin and House Speaker Martin Romualdez would face charges over flood-control corruption; Marcos said 'I am not the president of my family', drawing a visible line between himself and a key political ally

Who Decides ·28 takes ·Jul 28

active Poland's president blocks windfall tax on fuel companies' excess profits, prompting coalition government criticism

Poland's president obstructed legislation that would have imposed a windfall tax on fuel companies' excess profits on July 27, drawing criticism from Prime Minister Donald Tusk's governing coalition; the veto arrives as oil prices remain high and Poland's government considers reviving fuel price caps, while a separate split in the opposition Law and Justice party provided a parallel political backdrop

Whose Money ·3 takes ·Jul 28

active Colombia's Congress begins final hearings for new Comptroller General with vote set for August 12

Colombia's Chamber of Representatives started public hearings on July 27 with ten finalist candidates for the post of Comptroller General of Colombia, the country's top public accounts watchdog; Congress is scheduled to vote on August 12 to select the next comptroller, who oversees more than US$90 billion in annual public spending

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 28

active North Korea's Kim Yo Jong calls ASEAN's denuclearization demand 'stupid and foolish' as Russia backs DPRK nuclear arsenal at regional forum

Kim Yo Jong, the North Korean leader's sister and a senior policy voice, dismissed the ASEAN Regional Forum's call for a denuclearized Korean peninsula as 'stupid' and 'foolish' on July 27, days after Russia defended North Korea's nuclear weapons possession at the ARF's annual meeting in the Philippines; Kim said the demand reflects a US-backed position that Pyongyang will never accept

What They're Not Saying ·15 takes ·Jul 28

escalating Brazil recalls its ambassador from Argentina after President Milei calls President Lula a convict and thief at São Paulo rally

Argentina's President Javier Milei called Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva a convict and a thief at a political rally in São Paulo on July 26 supporting Flávio Bolsonaro's candidacy; Brazil's government recalled its ambassador Julio Bitelli from Buenos Aires for consultations, describing the relationship as a diplomatic crisis, while Argentina's presidential palace acknowledged political relations are now 'critical'

What They're Not Saying ·19 takes ·Jul 28

active Bangladesh's BNP leaves President Shahabuddin's future open as Tarique Rahman's government consolidates

BNP secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, asked on July 24, 2026 about speculation that Bangladesh's President Shahabuddin will resign, said 'you will find out'; days earlier the party said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's government would seek its allies' advice on running the country, five months after BNP's February 12 landslide

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 28

escalating Iran rejects US ceasefire proposal delivered by Iraq's Prime Minister, citing Hormuz control as unresolved

Iran rejected a US ceasefire proposal on July 24 that Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi had carried to Tehran from Washington; Iranian officials said the proposal fails to address the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz, as US strikes continued for a 13th consecutive night and Trump threatened the largest bombardment yet if Iran refuses to negotiate

How Wars Actually End ·20 takes ·Jul 28

active Russia's Putin makes unannounced visit to Irkutsk Aviation Plant, inspects the Yak-130M combat trainer and the long-delayed MC-21 airliner

Russia's President Vladimir Putin traveled unannounced to the Irkutsk Aviation Plant in Siberia on July 24, inspecting an upgraded Yak-130M combat trainer described by its test pilot as carrying advanced onboard systems, a modern radar and air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles; the same plant produces the MC-21 airliner, which the Moscow Times describes as having faced a decade of production delays; state media including TASS did not report the visit until the afternoon

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Jul 24

escalating Russia ballistic missile strikes Kyiv defense exhibition, killing at least 10 and injuring around 100

Russia struck a defense industry exhibition site in Kyiv Oblast on July 24 at around 11:20 a.m. local time, killing at least 10 people and injuring around 100; Ukrainian defense company representatives were present at the site when the missile hit, making it one of the most lethal daytime strikes on the capital region in weeks

How Wars Actually End ·16 takes ·Jul 25

pending-decision India's PM Modi announces anti-paper-leak bill for Parliament next week as Congress calls it an eyewash

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on July 24 in a video message that a bill targeting examination paper leaks will be introduced in India's Parliament next week; Modi said several strong steps had already been taken since NEET-UG leak allegations surfaced in May, while Congress called the move an eyewash and Rahul Gandhi accused police of using pellet guns on student protesters

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 24

active South Africa's DA paid Dubai-based firm Consulum R7.7 million to manage its entry into the Government of National Unity

The Democratic Alliance paid Dubai-based advisory firm Consulum more than R7.7 million to run its GNU operation; Consulum is a Bell Pottinger spin-off; DA figure Ryan Coetzee helped negotiate the DA into the GNU while serving as Consulum's CEO, then the DA hired his former firm three months later under a confidential contract

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 25

worsening Spain declares national emergency over wildfires near Madrid and Ávila as southern Europe burns

Spain's government declared a national emergency on the night of July 23-24 after multiple wildfires burned out of control in the Madrid region and the province of Ávila, forcing the evacuation of around 10,000 people; France simultaneously ordered the total evacuation of the Cap Ferret peninsula in the Gironde and activated the EU's civil protection mechanism as a separate blaze swept the Atlantic coast west of Bordeaux

How Life Changes ·32 takes ·Jul 27

active India: Delhi student risks partial vision loss from pellet-gun-like injuries at July 20 CJP Parliament march, opposition demands PM Modi and Home Minister be held accountable

A 22-year-old Delhi University student was reported on July 23 to risk losing partial vision in one eye after suffering pellet-like injuries at the Cockroach Janta Party's 'Sansad Chalo' march on July 20, 2026; Delhi Police denied using pellet guns; opposition parties planned to jointly raise the issue on day four of India's Parliament Monsoon Session on July 24, demanding Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah be held accountable

How Life Changes ·10 takes ·Jul 25

active Spain's Congress rejects the Sanchez government's deficit path again, blocking the fiscal framework for future budgets

Spain's Congress of Deputies rejected the Sanchez government's 'senda de déficit' (deficit stability path) on July 23 for the second time, with PP, Vox, Junts, and UPN voting against it, leaving the government without a fiscal framework for future budgets and reducing the margin available to Spain's autonomous communities; the government did succeed in extending its 'plan anticrisis' price-response decree

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 24

active AfD leads Berlin city-state election polls for the first time, 8 weeks before the vote

An INSA poll published July 23 placed the AfD first among parties in Berlin's Abgeordnetenhaus (city-parliament) race for the first time, weeks before the city-state election; the CDU collapsed after mayor Kai Wegner withdrew his candidacy, while the SPD fell to 13%; despite the AfD's lead, coalition arithmetic still allows a three-way SPD-Greens-Left government to form a majority

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 25

escalating Iran declares UK's RAF Fairford a legitimate military target as B-1 bombers escalate strikes

Iran declared the UK's RAF Fairford air base a 'legitimate military target' on July 23-24, citing its use by US B-1 Lancer bombers in strikes on Iranian territory; the British government said it was 'ready to keep the UK safe' and electronic warfare aircraft arrived at Fairford, marking the first explicit Iranian threat against a NATO ally's military base in the current conflict

How Wars Actually End ·10 takes ·Jul 29

escalating Iran claims drone strike on US base in Kuwait as Trump warns he is losing faith and new Iran strikes are coming

Iran's military claimed on July 31 that it struck a US base in Kuwait with a drone, while President Donald Trump said he was losing faith in Iran and warned that fresh US strikes on Iran were coming as soon as the weekend; Kuwait confirmed it intercepted drone attacks; the exchange, coming days after a US-Iran ceasefire pause began, is the first confirmed military action by Iran against a US base since the ceasefire entered its third day on July 27.

How Wars Actually End ·3 takes ·Aug 2

active Madagascar records 172 missing minors and 8 child deaths in first half of 2026, prompting joint security patrols in Antananarivo

Madagascar authorities have deployed joint police, military and gendarmerie patrols in and around Antananarivo after recording 172 missing minors in the first half of 2026, mostly in the Analamanga region, with 8 found dead and 83 still missing; transitional leader Colonel Michael Randrianirina described the disappearances as an attempt to destabilise the country, while the Catholic Bishops' Conference has called for investigations and an end to impunity

How Life Changes ·3 takes ·Jul 24

active Hungary's chief prosecutor resigns warning politics is consuming justice; PM Magyar orders state audit and cuts executive pay

Chief Prosecutor Gábor Bálint Nagy submitted his resignation on July 23 warning that 'politics is swallowing justice,' as Prime Minister Péter Magyar's government simultaneously ordered a full audit of Hungary's State Audit Office, filed criminal complaints over Orbán-era Eximbank loans, and capped state company executive pay at the PM's own salary level

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 24

active Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi visits Tehran, signs four cooperation documents and says Iraq will not allow its territory to threaten Iran

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi traveled to Tehran on July 23 for his first official visit to Iran since taking office, holding expanded talks with senior Iranian officials, signing four cooperation documents, and publicly stating Iraq will not allow its territory to be used to threaten Iran; the trip followed al-Zaidi's July 14 meeting with US President Trump in Washington

How Wars Actually End ·14 takes ·Jul 24

active Mexico's President Sheinbaum hosts US Trade Representative Greer at Palacio Nacional for USMCA review, no tariff deal announced

Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer met at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City on July 23 for around 90 minutes of USMCA review talks; Sheinbaum said talks are advancing but no public agreement on the threatened 10 percent US tariff was reached; Washington has tied any deal to water and border security conditions

The Long Game ·7 takes ·Jul 24

active Colombia's President-elect De la Espriella proposes constitutional reform to make Barranquilla an alternate capital

Colombia's incoming president Abelardo De la Espriella announced on July 22-23 that he will push a constitutional reform to designate Barranquilla as an alternate capital of Colombia, framing the proposal as an end to 'centralist abandonment' of coastal regions

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 24

active South Korea's investigators raid the National Election Commission over alleged voter turnout falsification in June local elections

A joint South Korean investigation team searched the National Election Commission's offices on July 23 to seize evidence of alleged voter turnout figure fabrication in the June 3 local elections, which saw unprecedented ballot paper shortages at dozens of polling stations; the controversy has already forced the resignation of NEC chief Roh Tae-ak and sparked demonstrations demanding an election re-run

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 25

active New Zealand and Papua New Guinea sign defence cooperation agreement, deepening Pacific security ties amid China's expanding influence

New Zealand and Papua New Guinea signed a defence cooperation agreement in Port Moresby on July 22-23, 2026, establishing expanded military dialogue, joint training and exercises, and closer maritime cooperation; Wellington framed the deal as a response to growing strategic competition and China's expanding regional footprint, with further joint sea patrols on the agenda

The Long Game ·11 takes ·Jul 25

active Over 120 UK millionaires including Gary Lineker and Brian Eno urge Prime Minister Andy Burnham to raise taxes on the wealthy

A group of more than 120 UK millionaires, including former footballer Gary Lineker, musician Brian Eno, and filmmaker Richard Curtis, wrote an open letter on July 23 urging UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham to introduce a wealth tax and higher levies on the rich to fund public services; the Patriotic Millionaires UK group said wealth and power have been concentrated in too few hands for too long; separately, Burnham is facing a first major test over whether to allow North Sea oil drilling amid pressure from the US

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jul 27

active US activates 10-12.5% forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies, replacing expiring global duties

The US on July 24 imposed new import duties of 10% or 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including China, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the EU and Thailand, citing those countries' failure to enforce bans on goods made with forced labor. A presidential memorandum signed July 23 invoked Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, replacing a prior tariff layer that expired at midnight.

Whose Money ·29 takes ·Jul 25

active Kuwait's foreign minister visits Pakistan on July 28-29 to discuss regional security after Iran struck Kuwait and other Gulf states

Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Sabah arrived in Pakistan on July 28 for a two-day visit to hold talks with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar; the visit comes in the backdrop of resumed Iranian hostilities in which Iran struck Kuwait and other Gulf Cooperation Council states, and covers bilateral ties alongside regional developments

The Long Game ·9 takes ·Jul 28

active South Korea drops denuclearization as a precondition for talks with North Korea, shifting to a peace-first approach

South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young announced on July 23 that the Lee Jae Myung government has shifted from a 'denuclearization first' to a 'peace first' policy toward North Korea, dropping the requirement that Pyongyang commit to disarmament before dialogue can begin; the new approach seeks to freeze North Korea's nuclear program while reopening talks, keeping a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula as a long-term goal but decoupling it from the opening of negotiations

The Quiet Shift ·10 takes ·Jul 24

active Russia's State Duma passes 'civic death' bills stripping exiled anti-war citizens of banking, property, and consular rights

Russia's State Duma passed legislation on July 22 that cuts off exiled anti-war citizens from online banking, real estate transactions, and consular services, formalising into law the extrajudicial account freezes that authorities had already been applying to emigre cultural figures through a secret interagency list

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 23

active Peru's president-elect Keiko Fujimori plans first cabinet on security as inauguration countdown begins

Keiko Fujimori is set to be inaugurated as Peru's president on July 28, and on July 23 announced her first Cabinet of Ministers meeting for July 29 to address security measures. A separate dispute over who holds executive power on July 27, the day before the handover, added procedural tension to the transition period.

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 25

active Japan and China foreign ministers hold first exchange since Takaichi Taiwan row, on ASEAN sidelines in Manila

Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held a brief, spontaneous exchange on the sidelines of ASEAN-related meetings in Manila on July 22, their first contact since Prime Minister Takaichi's Taiwan remarks triggered a Chinese diplomatic freeze; Motegi confirmed the conversation on July 23; Nikkei Asia reported the exchange raises prospects for a full bilateral summit

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Jul 24

active South Korea's Seoul Central District Court gives former President Yoon Suk-yeol an 18-month suspended sentence for lying during his 2022 campaign

South Korea's Seoul Central District Court on July 27 convicted former President Yoon Suk-yeol of violating the election law by making false statements during his 2022 presidential campaign, sentencing him to 18 months in prison suspended for three years; the ruling is separate from Yoon's other ongoing legal proceedings, including a seven-year sentence handed down by South Korea's Supreme Court on July 9 over obstruction of arrest tied to his December 2024 martial law declaration

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 28

active Brazil holds off retaliation as US 25% tariff on most Brazilian goods takes effect July 22

A 25% US tariff on most Brazilian goods took effect on July 22, with the Lula government choosing not to retaliate immediately despite pressure from Vice President Alckmin and industry; Brazil's government says it sees no chance of negotiation before elections in both countries, and analysts note the tariffs are paradoxically strengthening President Lula against Flávio Bolsonaro in the upcoming Brazilian elections

Whose Money ·3 takes ·Jul 24

active UK's PM Burnham hosts Zelensky at naval base as first foreign leader visit, announces 'Stone Cloak' jammer transfer

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the UK on July 27 for his first meeting with new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham; Burnham announced the UK would share the intellectual property of its 'Stone Cloak' electronic jammers used to counter Russian air defence systems

The Long Game ·10 takes ·Jul 29

active Spain's Sanchez visits fire zones, pledges EUR 300 million and calls for a cross-party State Pact on climate emergency

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez visited fire-hit Guadalajara on July 22, announced EUR 300 million for climate and fire response, and called on all parties to sign a 'State Pact' on climate emergency; 22 major fires have broken out in Spain in 2026, four times more than in all of 2025

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 23

worsening Ghana's President Mahama calls for African Union action on South Africa's xenophobic violence as government response questioned

Ghana's President John Mahama urged the African Union to take immediate action on xenophobic violence in South Africa by July 22-23, 2026, while AllAfrica published commentary arguing the South African government's response to the crisis fell well short of the standard it set during the COVID-19 emergency

What Broke ·3 takes ·Jul 23

active Colombia's Senate votes 55-32 to hold president-elect De la Espriella's inauguration in Cauca on August 7

Colombia's Senate approved on July 22, 2026, by 55 votes to 32, that president-elect Abelardo De la Espriella will be inaugurated on August 7 in the Cauca department rather than in Bogotá, his first congressional victory of the new legislative term; the Chamber of Representatives must also vote to confirm the transfer, and the new Congress opened with tension over a contested comptroller election

Who Decides ·27 takes ·Jul 29

pending-decision DRC President Tshisekedi announces national dialogue, main opposition postpones protest

Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi announced on July 22 the imminent launch of a national dialogue, prompting the country's main opposition coalition to postpone a planned protest; the move was cautiously welcomed as a possible opening in DRC's deepening political stand-off

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 24

active A New York federal judge sets June 2027 trial date for Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro on narco-terrorism charges

A US federal court in New York set June 1, 2027 as the start date for the trial of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro on narco-terrorism and drug trafficking charges; Maduro appeared in court for the third time since his capture in Caracas in January 2026, while the US permitted Venezuela to fund his legal defence despite existing sanctions

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 22

active Kremlin rules out returning occupied Sumy and Kharkiv border areas in any Ukraine peace deal, Bloomberg reports

Russia's leadership has ruled out returning occupied parts of Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts to Ukraine in any peace settlement, intending to keep them as buffer zones, while pressing to capture all of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to sources familiar with the Kremlin cited by Bloomberg on July 22

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jul 24

active UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham's first week: economic growth challenge, Treasury chief Healey at the helm, Ukraine commitment

Britain's new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, the UK's seventh in just over a decade, confronted his government's central challenge on July 22, 2026: reviving a slow-growing economy while funding defence; Treasury chief John Healey was tasked with balancing spending and fiscal discipline; Burnham pledged 100% UK support to Ukraine; and Louise Haigh was identified as the most powerful woman in the new Labour government

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 23

active US Secretary of State Rubio meets China's Wang Yi at ASEAN Manila to discuss Xi Jinping's planned US visit and South China Sea

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Manila on July 22; the talks covered a potential visit by President Xi Jinping to the United States, the Philippines-China clash at Ayungin Shoal, and shipping through international waterways; Rubio stressed the US sought dialogue despite differences

The Long Game ·3 takes ·Jul 22

resolved Jordan and the US sign a reciprocal trade agreement capping tariffs on Jordanian exports at 10%

Jordan's Trade Minister and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer signed a reciprocal trade deal in Washington on July 21 after nearly a year of consultations; the agreement caps tariffs on Jordanian exports to the US at 10% and expands market access for both countries

Whose Money ·4 takes ·Jul 23

active US and Saudi Arabia sign 30-year nuclear cooperation deal with uranium enrichment pathway, bypassing IAEA's gold standard

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman formally signed a 30-year nuclear cooperation agreement on July 23, 2026, giving Saudi Arabia a conditional pathway to domestic uranium enrichment; the deal drops the nonproliferation conditions the US required of the UAE in 2009 and triggered bipartisan US Congressional concern and unified alarm from four of Israel's senior opposition leaders, while Prime Minister Netanyahu's office has not commented

The Long Game ·32 takes ·Jul 24

active Lavrov tells Rubio US arms to Ukraine are inadmissible; 35-minute Manila meeting produces no concrete outcome

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met for 35 minutes on July 23 in Manila on the sidelines of the 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting, the highest-level direct Russia-US diplomatic contact in months; Lavrov told Rubio arms supplies to Kyiv are inadmissible; Rubio said the US is ready to help end the 'senseless war' but acknowledged no quick path; both sides agreed to continue diplomatic engagement and discussed the Persian Gulf situation; no joint statement or concrete proposal was released

How Wars Actually End ·51 takes ·Jul 25

active Indonesia's free meals agency loses its second chief in a month as head quits citing health and trauma

Nanik Sudaryati Deyang, who took over Indonesia's National Nutrition Agency in June, resigned on July 22 citing a heart condition; Bloomberg reported she said the job left her 'traumatized'; the resignation marks the second leadership change in Prabowo Subianto's flagship nutrition programme in just over a month

What They're Not Saying ·7 takes ·Jul 22

active Hezbollah threatens to shut Beirut's Rafik Hariri airport over Lebanese government ban on Iranian flights

Hezbollah's deputy political chief Mahmoud Qamati threatened on July 21-22 to prevent aircraft from landing at Beirut's Rafik Hariri International Airport if Lebanon's government continued barring Iranian flights, opening a new confrontation with the Lebanese state and signalling opposition to any indirect talks framework with Israel

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 23

active Mexico and the US hold third round of USMCA review as US trade representative Greer meets President Sheinbaum

US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer arrived in Mexico City on July 23 for the third bilateral review round of the USMCA, meeting Economy Minister Marcelo Ebrard and President Claudia Sheinbaum; Greer signalled the US will seek provisional arrangements with Mexico before end-2026 and said renewal of the agreement depends partly on Mexico's cooperation on water-sharing and border security

Whose Money ·17 takes ·Jul 24

active Philippines' Sara Duterte impeachment trial enters Day 9 with NBI director Melvin Matibag on the witness stand

The Philippines Senate impeachment court opened Day 9 of the Sara Duterte impeachment trial on July 22, 2026, with National Bureau of Investigation director Melvin Matibag continuing to testify; the Philippine Daily Inquirer, GMA Network and Philippine Star provided simultaneous live coverage

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 24

active Lebanon's President Aoun meets Trump in the Oval Office, pressing for Israeli troop withdrawal from Lebanon

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun met US President Donald Trump in the White House Oval Office on July 21, pushing for Israeli forces to complete their withdrawal from Lebanese territory still under occupation; the meeting marked Aoun's first Oval Office sit-down after arriving in Washington on July 18

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jul 23

active Italy's Meloni and coalition agree to use EU fiscal flexibility to fund 14 billion euros in energy subsidies

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni convened a majority summit at Palazzo Chigi on July 21, reaching agreement with coalition leaders to activate the EU national safeguard clause and direct approximately 14 billion euros in additional spending over two years toward energy cost relief

Whose Money ·4 takes ·Jul 23

active Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega declares there will be no more elections, cancelling the 2027 vote

President Daniel Ortega told a Sandinista Revolution anniversary rally in Managua on July 20 that Nicaragua would never hold elections again, saying the move would prevent US-backed opposition from 'capturing the government'; he also announced legislation to permanently block opposition parties, drawing immediate condemnation from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and regional governments

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 22

worsening China's Coast Guard assaults Philippine Navy sailors at Ayungin Shoal; Manila and Beijing summon each other's ambassadors

Chinese Coast Guard personnel physically assaulted Philippine Navy sailors stationed at the grounded BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin (Second Thomas) Shoal on July 20; the Philippines and China summoned each other's envoys the following day, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr met China's ambassador directly, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines rejected Beijing's account of the confrontation as 'false and misleading'

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 22

active UK's Andy Burnham appoints John Healey as Chancellor, purges Starmer loyalists, and scraps VAT on electricity

Andy Burnham formed his first Cabinet on July 20-21 after taking office as UK Prime Minister, making the surprise appointment of former Defence Secretary John Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer, removing allies of predecessor Keir Starmer from government, and announcing the removal of VAT from domestic electricity bills from October as his first cost-of-living measure

Who Decides ·15 takes ·Jul 22

active Ukraine's President Zelensky fires military chief Syrskyi and names Mykhailo Drapatyi as commander-in-chief after nationwide protests

Under pressure from protests over the dismissal of Defense Minister Fedorov, President Volodymyr Zelensky removed General Oleksandr Syrskyi as Ukraine's commander-in-chief on July 21 and appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi, the army's eastern front commander, in his place

Who Decides ·40 takes ·Jul 25

active India's opposition leader Rahul Gandhi is detained then freed at a student protest in New Delhi, as the Cockroach Janta Party movement challenges PM Modi's government

Indian Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was detained by Delhi police on July 21-22 while protesting outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence over the NEET medical exam paper leak scandal, then freed after hours; Congress staged nationwide protests, and the Chief Justice of India warned of a larger public uprising

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Jul 27

active US FBI Director Kash Patel plans October trip to Russia, the first by an FBI chief since 2013

Politico reported on July 21 that FBI Director Kash Patel is tentatively scheduled to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg in mid-October for meetings with Russian security services, drawing immediate backlash from US lawmakers and scrutiny over spending

What They're Not Saying ·12 takes ·Jul 22

active Canada's Carney calls Trump's latest tariffs a CUSMA violation, agrees to 'intensify' trade talks; provinces cut alcohol barriers

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on July 21 that new US tariffs on Canadian goods violate the CUSMA trade agreement, while agreeing in a phone call with Trump to intensify trade discussions; Canadian provinces agreed to cut barriers on cross-provincial alcohol sales in a concession aimed at defusing Trump's latest move

Whose Money ·15 takes ·Jul 23

active Nigeria and Germany announce high-level bilateral talks on trade, security, and climate action

Nigeria and Germany confirmed they will hold high-level bilateral talks covering trade expansion, security cooperation, and climate action, with Nigeria's foreign ministry describing the engagement as a push for deeper cooperation with Europe's largest economy

The Quiet Shift ·4 takes ·Jul 22

worsening US to impose 50% tariffs on Canadian exports, hitting CUSMA-compliant goods for the first time

US President Donald Trump on July 20 signed three proclamations under Section 338 of the Tariff Act imposing 50% tariffs on a wide range of Canadian exports, set to take effect in 30 days; the move extends to goods previously shielded by the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, a sharp escalation of the ongoing trade dispute

Whose Money ·25 takes ·Jul 24

active Uganda's President Museveni dismisses six officials for inflating costs of AFCON 2027 road projects and Entebbe Airport contracts

Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni dismissed six engineers and officials from the Ministry of Works and Transport and the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) on July 21 for what he called 'massive corruption,' including alleged attempts to more than double the cost of roads being built for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations and inflate contracts at Entebbe International Airport

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 22

pending-decision Finland's parliament convenes emergency summer session as opposition files no-confidence motion over Garden Helsinki arena corruption

Finland's parliament met in an extraordinary summer session on July 21, 2026, after Speaker Jussi Halla-aho broke the summer recess to debate alleged corruption in the Garden Helsinki arena project; Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's government withdrew its support for a 35 million euro subsidy for the project, and the parliamentary opposition filed a no-confidence motion against the government

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 21

active ASEAN's 59th foreign ministers' meeting opens in Manila with the US-Iran war and Hormuz transit at the top of the agenda

The 59th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting convened in Manila on July 20 with US Secretary of State Rubio, China's Wang Yi and other major-power counterparts present; Southeast Asian ministers voiced serious concern over Middle East hostilities and called for safe, unimpeded passage through the Strait of Hormuz, while Myanmar's stalled peace process and South China Sea tensions also featured

Who Decides ·35 takes ·Jul 24

active Chile's Chamber of Deputies approves the bulk of Kast's megarreforma; one article goes to comisión mixta as opposition carries TC challenge forward

Chile's Chamber of Deputies approved most of President José Antonio Kast's flagship economic reform bill, the Proyecto de Reconstrucción Nacional y Desarrollo Económico y Social, on July 21, dispatching the bulk of the legislation toward law after a tense session; only one article was sent to a comisión mixta for further reconciliation, while the opposition filed its Tribunal Constitucional requerimientos regardless

Who Decides ·18 takes ·Jul 22

transition Colombia's outgoing President Petro delivers a final address to the newly installed Congress, defending his legacy and declaring 'we will return'

Gustavo Petro used the installation ceremony of the 2026-2030 Colombian Congress on July 20 to deliver a sweeping defense of his four-year left-wing government, insisting poverty and inequality fell under his watch and signalling he intends to remain in politics after leaving office

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 22

worsening Russia's State Duma fast-tracks bill to freeze assets and cut off banking for exiled anti-war critics

Russia's lower house of parliament approved amendments on July 20 ahead of a scheduled second reading on July 22 of a bill that would block Russians living abroad, prosecuted under laws on foreign agents or 'discrediting' the military, from selling property in Russia, making bank transfers, or accessing consular services

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 22

pending-decision India's Parliament Monsoon Session Day 2 adjourns as opposition disrupts both houses over NEET UG 2026 paper leak and Ayodhya fund allegations

Both houses of India's Parliament adjourned on July 21 after the opposition forced repeated disruptions over the NEET UG 2026 paper leak, alleged Ram temple donation fund theft, and a police crackdown on protesters at Jantar Mantar; eight bills including the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026 and a National Honour Bill protecting Vande Mataram were listed for debate but proceedings could not continue.

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 23

active Colombia's outgoing President Petro calls for indefinite general strike if De la Espriella reverses labor and pension reforms

Outgoing Colombian President Gustavo Petro, speaking at a supporters' rally in Bogotá on Colombia's Independence Day (July 20), called for an 'indefinite general strike' if president-elect Abelardo de la Espriella rolls back his government's labor, pension, and health reforms; De la Espriella had announced he would review the reforms after his inauguration

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 22

resolved Colombia's Gustavo Petro delivers his final presidential address at the Independence Day parade in Santa Marta

Colombian President Gustavo Petro addressed the July 20 Independence Day military parade in Santa Marta on his last day as a serving head of state, invoking the 1810 popular uprising as a model for democratic change; Petro ends his term as Colombia's first left-wing president

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 21

resolved Finland's Prime Minister Petteri Orpo survives no-confidence vote over Garden Helsinki arena

Finland's parliament voted on July 21 to retain confidence in Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's government after a day-long extraordinary summer session debate over the Garden Helsinki arena project; the opposition had filed no-confidence motions citing lack of transparency and lobbying around the government's now-withdrawn 35 million euro (US$38 million) subsidy plan for a 19,000-seat stadium complex

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 22

active Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visits Islamabad to advance US-Iran conflict mediation

Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni arrived in Islamabad on July 20 at the head of a delegation, scheduled to meet Pakistani PM Shehbaz Sharif and Chief of Defence Forces General Syed Asim Munir; Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said he hoped the visit would bring 'positive developments' on the regional situation

How Wars Actually End ·12 takes ·Jul 21

worsening Nigeria and Ghana jointly condemn anti-immigrant attacks on African nationals in South Africa and call for AU summit agenda item

Nigeria and Ghana's foreign ministries issued a joint condemnation on July 20 of ongoing anti-immigrant violence targeting African nationals in South Africa, describing the incidents as 'Afrophobic,' and called for the issue to be placed on the agenda of the next African Union summit; the two governments said the attacks undermine the ideals of African unity

How Life Changes ·6 takes ·Jul 24

active Philippines Senate impeachment court subpoenas Sara Duterte's financial records on Day 7 of her trial

The Philippines Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, on July 20 granted requests to subpoena Vice President Sara Duterte's financial records, one of the most consequential procedural votes in the trial; senator-judges were also expected to rule on other key procedural questions on the seventh day of proceedings

Who Decides ·18 takes ·Jul 25

active Hamas elects Khalil al-Hayya as political bureau chief in wartime internal vote

Hamas's political bureau elected Khalil al-Hayya as its new chairman on July 20, 2026, beating former leader Khaled Meshaal in a run-off by one vote; al-Hayya, a Gaza-based veteran negotiator and one of a five-member interim leadership council since 2024, succeeds Yahya Sinwar, who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza

Who Decides ·17 takes ·Jul 21

active Nepal's Prime Minister Balen Shah rolls back 3% equity levy on private health and education

Nepal's Prime Minister Balen Shah announced on July 21 the withdrawal of a controversial 3% equity tax on private health and education services that had been included in the 2026-27 budget, saying the fee would burden ordinary citizens rather than improve equity; legal questions remain over how a parliamentary budget item can be reversed without a formal legislative process

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 22

transition Colombia's incoming president De la Espriella pledges return of coca fumigation and aerial bombardments in Independence Day speech

Abelardo De la Espriella gave his first major policy address on July 20, Colombia's Independence Day, pledging to restore aerial fumigation of coca crops and aerial bombardments halted under Gustavo Petro; Colombia's new Congress for the 2026-2030 legislative term was sworn in the same day with a majority coalition backing De la Espriella's agenda

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 22

active US Secretary of State Rubio meets Lebanon's President Aoun in Washington, presses for Hezbollah disarmament

Marco Rubio met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington on July 19, praising Lebanon's efforts to disarm Hezbollah and reclaim sovereignty; Aoun is scheduled to meet Donald Trump on July 21, seeking US guarantees on Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon

How Wars Actually End ·14 takes ·Jul 20

transition Hungary's PM Magyar asks chess champion Judit Polgar to serve as interim president while a new constitution is drafted

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar announced on July 20 that he would ask Judit Polgar, the greatest female chess player of all time, to serve as Hungary's interim president during the drafting of a new constitution; the announcement came one day after former President Tamás Sulyok signed a constitutional amendment ending his own term; Polgar had not yet responded as of reporting

Who Decides ·13 takes ·Jul 21

pending-decision New Zealand First pledges NZ$1 billion to survey offshore oil and gas at its 2026 election campaign launch

NZ First leader Winston Peters announced a NZ$1 billion fund for offshore oil and gas surveys at the party's 2026 election campaign launch in Auckland on July 19, framing fuel security as an 'existential threat'; the surveys would aim to identify resources for commercial drilling

The Long Game ·3 takes ·Jul 20

pending-decision Germany's CDU/CSU parliamentary faction sets July 29 special session to choose Jens Spahn's successor as leader

Germany's CDU/CSU Bundestag faction announced on July 20 a special session for July 29 to elect a new parliamentary group leader after Jens Spahn resigned over reports he and his husband used a US surrogate, with several government ministers considered potential candidates and Chancellor Friedrich Merz having pressed for the decision before summer recess

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 21

active Canada's FM Anita Anand visits Pakistan on July 20 in first such trip in 20 years

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand will arrive in Islamabad on Monday, July 20, at the invitation of Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and FM Ishaq Dar; the visit is the first by a Canadian foreign minister to Pakistan in 20 years and will focus on trade, investment, education and Indo-Pacific partnerships.

The Long Game ·11 takes ·Jul 20

active Cuba frees dissident artist Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara after five years, exiles him to Miami

Cuban artist and San Isidro Movement co-founder Luis Manuel Otero Alcántara arrived at Miami International Airport on July 18 after being released from a five-year prison sentence on condition that he leave Cuba; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the release and called on Cuba to free more than 700 remaining political prisoners

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 20

transition Syria's President Al-Sharaa appoints new heads for national security and general intelligence in a sweeping reshuffle

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa on July 19 announced a sweeping reshuffle of Syria's security and intelligence leadership, naming a new director for the National Security Office and a new chief of General Intelligence; Al Jazeera reported the government said the changes were aimed at strengthening security and clearing the way for reconstruction; Asharq Al-Awsat cited an analyst describing the move as a fundamental restructuring driven by domestic concerns and mounting international pressure

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 21

active Plus Ultra's frontman confesses to Spain's National Court that former PM Zapatero brokered the airline's government bailout

Julio Martinez Martinez, described as the alleged frontman of former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, told Spain's National Court (Audiencia Nacional) on July 20 that Zapatero personally intervened to secure the government rescue of airline Plus Ultra; Plus Ultra confirmed it paid 527,417 euros to a network linked to Zapatero for fictitious reports

What They're Not Saying ·4 takes ·Jul 22

active Andy Burnham formally becomes UK Prime Minister on July 20 after audience with King Charles III

Former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham met King Charles III on Monday morning and was formally appointed Prime Minister, succeeding Keir Starmer; his office confirmed he will also scrap the outgoing government's digital ID scheme

Who Decides ·40 takes ·Jul 21

active India's parliament Monsoon Session adjourned on day one as opposition protests NEET-UG 2026 exam scandal and Ram Mandir donations row

India's parliament Monsoon Session 2026 opened on July 20 and was adjourned for the day within hours after Congress-led opposition members disrupted both Houses demanding debates on the NEET-UG 2026 medical-entrance paper leak and alleged embezzlement of donations at the Ram Janmabhoomi Trust in Ayodhya; a CJP-led 'Chalo Sansad' protest march also converged on parliament

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 22

active Germany's Chancellor Merz seeks CDU parliamentary leader successor before recess and hints at broader cabinet reshuffle

After Jens Spahn resigned as CDU/CSU Bundestag faction leader on July 18 over a US surrogacy controversy, Chancellor Friedrich Merz told ZDF he wants the successor named before his summer recess, has not ruled out wider government personnel changes, and wants clarity by end of July

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 20

pending-decision India's Parliament Monsoon Session opens July 20 with NCPI bill and seven items on the agenda

India's Parliament begins its Monsoon Session on Monday, July 20, with the ruling BJP government listing seven bills including the debut of the National Commission for Promotion of India (NCPI); the session opens with Trinamool Congress rebels seated separately, reflecting ongoing factional tensions in the opposition.

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 21

worsening Nigeria and Ghana push for AU debate on 'Afrophobia' after South Africa xenophobic attacks

Nigeria's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Ghana's foreign minister agreed at an ECOWAS summit bilateral meeting to deepen cooperation against anti-immigrant violence in South Africa and to table 'Afrophobia' at the next African Union summit.

The Quiet Shift ·15 takes ·Jul 21

active China's PLA begins two days of live-fire drills in Taiwan Strait near Fujian, a day after Rubio-Wang Yi talks

The People's Liberation Army launched two days of live-fire exercises in parts of the Taiwan Strait off Fujian province's Dongshan Island on July 23, a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Manila. Beijing had also separately criticized Taiwan President Lai Ching-te's recent speech.

How Wars Actually End ·8 takes ·Jul 24

active South Korean investigators raid the National Election Commission over alleged fabrication of voter turnout data

A South Korean joint investigation team searched the offices of the National Election Commission on July 23 over indications officials manipulated voter turnout figures in the June 3 local elections; protests against the alleged fraud have run continuously for 50 days at Seoul's Olympic Park

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 25

active US Secretary of State Rubio meets Russia's Lavrov in Manila; Lavrov reaffirms readiness for Ukraine settlement

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held talks in Manila on July 23 on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum, with Lavrov reaffirming Russia's readiness for a political and diplomatic settlement to the war in Ukraine and its commitment to the Anchorage agreements

How Wars Actually End ·27 takes ·Jul 24

active Russia's Lavrov and US Secretary of State Rubio meet in Manila for 35-minute Ukraine war talks

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met on July 23, 2026, on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in Manila for 35 minutes of direct talks on the Ukraine war; Rubio said the US remains ready to help end the 'senseless war' but acknowledged there is no quick path to a deal; Lavrov told Rubio it is 'unacceptable' for Washington to continue arms deliveries to Kyiv; both sides reaffirmed their commitment to Russia's Anchorage summit framework and agreed to maintain contact

How Wars Actually End ·34 takes ·Jul 25

active New Zealand and Papua New Guinea sign defence cooperation agreement, deepening Pacific security ties

New Zealand and Papua New Guinea signed a defence cooperation agreement late on July 22, committing to expanded defence dialogue, training, and maritime cooperation as Wellington seeks to deepen Pacific security ties amid growing strategic competition and China's expanding influence

The Long Game ·9 takes ·Jul 25

active Myanmar's junta quietly removes Aung San statues across the country, erasing the independence hero's public legacy

Statues of General Aung San, Myanmar's independence hero and father of Aung San Suu Kyi, are disappearing across the country, as the military junta moves to erase a national symbol whose legacy is intertwined with the opposition it is fighting.

The Quiet Shift ·4 takes ·Jul 19

active Germany's CDU lawmaker Jens Spahn resigns after US surrogacy reports expose conflict with party policy

Spahn, a former federal health minister and senior ally of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, quit the CDU parliamentary group on July 18 after reports emerged that he and his husband had a child through a surrogate in the United States, surrogacy being illegal in Germany and formally opposed by the CDU

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 19

active Lebanese President Aoun flies to Washington to meet Trump, seeking Israeli troop withdrawal

Joseph Aoun left Beirut for Washington on July 18, where he is expected to meet Donald Trump; the agenda centres on enforcing the ceasefire in southern Lebanon and pressing Israel to withdraw from Lebanese territory it still occupies

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jul 22

transition Zelenskyy reconsidering Ukraine's defense reshuffle as Fedorov accuses army chief of splitting the country

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy began reconsidering his wartime cabinet shake-up on July 17 under pressure from civil society and the armed forces, while dismissed Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov publicly blamed Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi for obstructing military reform and 'splitting the country'

Who Decides ·15 takes ·Jul 19

evolving EU's 2026 rule-of-law report finds 'radical change' in Hungary under Magyar, with unresolved gaps

The European Commission's annual rule-of-law report, published July 17, found Hungary had made significant progress under Prime Minister Peter Magyar, including joining the European Public Prosecutor's Office, but issued fresh warnings about judicial independence and media freedom that remain unaddressed

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 18

contested-result Poland's President Nawrocki vetoes civil partnerships bill, blocking Tusk's equality reform

Poland's conservative President Karol Nawrocki vetoed a bill on July 17 that would have legalised civil partnerships, blocking a central element of Prime Minister Donald Tusk's reform agenda; overriding the veto would require a three-fifths majority in the lower house of parliament, a threshold rarely met in Polish politics

Who Decides ·14 takes ·Jul 18

transition China praises Papua New Guinea's Taiwan office closure as Taipei lodges formal protest and keeps operating

China publicly praised Papua New Guinea's decision to close Taiwan's representative office while Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said the decision was made without consultation and lodged a formal protest; Taiwan's office continued normal operations, and Taipei Times reported the closure order may not reflect consensus within PNG's government

The Quiet Shift ·3 takes ·Jul 18

active Trump threatens higher US tariffs on Canada over Ontario wildfire smoke crossing the border

US President Donald Trump on July 17 accused Canada of 'willful negligence' in forest management and said the cost of pollution from Ontario wildfire smoke 'must' be added to existing tariffs on Canadian goods; Ontario Premier Doug Ford told Republican politicians to stop 'chirping' and send help as Canada had done for the US

Whose Money ·16 takes ·Jul 18

transition Andy Burnham confirmed as UK Labour leader, set to become Prime Minister on Monday

The former Manchester Mayor and self-styled 'King of the North' was confirmed as Labour Party leader on July 17 and will succeed Keir Starmer as Britain's Prime Minister when he formally takes office on Monday, becoming the country's seventh leader in a decade.

Who Decides ·13 takes ·Jul 20

transition Papua New Guinea orders Taiwan's representative office to close; Taipei refuses and vows to reassess ties

Papua New Guinea's foreign minister announced on July 16 that Port Moresby had decided to close Taiwan's representative office immediately; Beijing welcomed the move while Taipei said the decision was made without consultation and its office would remain open

What They're Not Saying ·10 takes ·Jul 18

active EU's top court upholds Spain's 2024 Catalan amnesty law, clearing the legal path to Puigdemont's return

The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on July 16 that Spain's 2024 amnesty law for those involved in Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid does not violate EU law or anti-terror rules, handing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a symbolic win and opening the door to the application of amnesty for exiled leader Carles Puigdemont

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 17

active Japan enacts flag-desecration law under PM Takaichi, critics warn of free-speech threat

Japan's parliament passed legislation on July 17 making violation of the national flag a criminal offence, a flagship right-wing policy of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; opponents called it an attempt to intimidate dissent and silence criticism of the government.

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 18

active UK's outgoing PM Starmer visits Kyiv for farewell meeting with Zelensky, pledges Britain's support will endure

Keir Starmer flew to Kyiv on July 16, in his final week as UK prime minister before Andy Burnham takes office, to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky and reaffirm British military and financial backing for Ukraine, calling Ukraine's resistance central to European security

How Wars Actually End ·6 takes ·Jul 16

active Japan PM Takaichi's cabinet approval falls below 50% for first time as Diet session nears close

Support for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet fell to below 50% in a Jiji Press poll published July 16, the first such slip since she took office, as Japan's parliament entered its final stretch with bond-market pressure complicating the government's growth agenda

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 27

active Zimbabwe police arrest over 2,000 in nationwide crime blitz as July 31 protest approaches

The Zimbabwe Republic Police launched a nationwide operation on July 13 targeting crime and traffic offences, arresting more than 2,000 people in under 48 hours; independent media reported the timing coincides with a planned July 31 opposition protest

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 17

transition Papua New Guinea PM Marape reshuffles cabinet and restructures central agencies ahead of 2027 election

James Marape announced a major cabinet reshuffle on July 17 alongside a comprehensive restructure of PNG's Treasury, Finance and Planning departments, framing it as a performance drive with under eight months to the next national election

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 17

transition Zelenskyy fires Ukraine's Defense Minister Fedorov, sparking rare wartime protests in Kyiv and other cities

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov on July 15 in a surprise cabinet reshuffle; hundreds of Ukrainians took to the streets on July 16 calling the move 'utterly baffling,' with senior officials announcing resignations in solidarity

Who Decides ·14 takes ·Jul 19

transition Hungary's ex-foreign minister Szijjártó quits parliament to join China's BYD

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister for twelve years and architect of Budapest's China ties, announced on July 15 that he resigned his parliamentary seat to take an international executive role at BYD, the world's largest electric vehicle maker, ahead of BYD's planned production launch in Hungary

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jul 16

active India hosts 5th BIMSTEC Security Chiefs' meeting in New Delhi, endorsing maritime law and counter-terrorism frameworks

India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval chaired the 5th BIMSTEC National Security Chiefs' meeting in New Delhi on July 16, where member states endorsed new guiding principles for maritime law enforcement and humanitarian disaster relief, and pledged closer cooperation on counter-terrorism and cybersecurity ahead of a broader BIMSTEC summit

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 18

transition Guy Scott, who briefly served as Africa's first white head of state in decades, dies at 82 in Zambia

Guy Scott, the Zambian politician who served as acting president from October 2014 to January 2015 after President Michael Sata died in office, died on July 15 at 82; Zambia declared five days of national mourning and set a state funeral for July 20

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 17

active US issues final rule ending open-ended student visas, limiting foreign journalist stays to 240 days and Chinese nationals to 90 days

The Trump administration published a final rule on July 16 eliminating the 'duration of status' loophole that had allowed foreign students and journalists to stay in the US indefinitely on F, J, and I visas; student visas now expire after four years, media visas after 240 days with renewal possible, and visas issued to Chinese nationals cap at 90 days

How Life Changes ·33 takes ·Jul 19

active Peru's electoral authority delivers presidential credential to Keiko Fujimori ahead of July 28 inauguration

Peru's National Election Jury (JNE) formally hands Keiko Fujimori her credential as president-elect at the Gran Teatro Nacional in Lima on July 15, the final procedural step before her inauguration on July 28; vice presidents Miguel Angel Torres and Luis Galarreta receive their credentials at the same ceremony.

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 15

active US Senate grills Todd Blanche over DOJ fund, Epstein files and department independence at attorney general confirmation hearing

Acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche testified before the US Senate Judiciary Committee on July 15 for his formal confirmation hearing, facing hours of pointed questioning on a Justice Department discretionary fund, withheld Jeffrey Epstein investigation files, and whether the department has operated independently of President Donald Trump

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 16

active US Senate Democrats block US$1 trillion defense bill over Iran war

Senate Democrats voted 50-46 on July 14 to block debate on the FY2027 National Defense Authorization Act, citing the Trump administration's unilateral resumption of military operations in Iran and a provision to deepen US-Israel defense cooperation

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 16

developing Ethiopia's National Dialogue Conference opens in Addis Ababa, setting eight themes for political reconciliation

Ethiopia's long-awaited National Dialogue Conference officially opened in Addis Ababa on July 15, 2026, launched by the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission five years after the body was established by parliament in 2021; the conference is structured around eight themes including nation-building, constitutional status of Addis Ababa, transitional justice, and peace-building, with participants ranging from farmers and internally displaced persons to ministers and military officers, who all sit on equal footing

How Wars Actually End ·6 takes ·Jul 16

active Trump alleges Chinese meddling in US elections in primetime address, claims CIA withheld findings

US President Donald Trump delivered a primetime national address on July 16 alleging Chinese interference in US elections and claiming the CIA had withheld relevant intelligence from the public; CNBC characterized the speech as Trump doubling down on 2020 election claims, making it his most direct public statement linking China to those results

What They're Not Saying ·26 takes ·Jul 18

active China's Wang Huning visits North Korea July 15-17 as Beijing-Pyongyang ties deepen

Xi Jinping's top ideology chief and China's fourth-ranked official will lead a party and government delegation to Pyongyang this week, both countries' state media confirmed, in the latest of several senior-level exchanges that analysts say reflect rapidly deepening bilateral ties.

The Long Game ·18 takes ·Jul 17

active France and Morocco sign 14 agreements as PM Lecornu visits Rabat, ending seven-year summit gap

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu completed a two-day visit to Rabat on July 15-16, signing 14 bilateral agreements on the economy, security, migration and defence and declaring France and Morocco ready to 'change scale' in their partnership, completing the first inter-governmental summit since 2019

Whose Money ·14 takes ·Jul 18

de-escalating Lebanon and Israel hold sixth round of US-brokered talks in Rome on IDF pilot-zone withdrawal

Both sides met for seven hours at the US Embassy in Rome, with Israel signalling readiness to pull back from two designated pilot zones in southern Lebanon, as Beirut pressed for full implementation of the existing ceasefire framework

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jul 15

active Trump meets Iraq's PM al-Zaidi at the White House, vows 'a lot of deals' and touts energy ties

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaidi visited Washington on July 14 for the first bilateral summit of his tenure, with Trump describing 'tremendous chemistry' and al-Zaidi pledging to shift US-Iraq relations from military to economic

The Quiet Shift ·4 takes ·Jul 16

active Russia rules out returning any occupied Ukrainian territory in peace talks, Bloomberg reports

The Kremlin has hardened its position in potential peace negotiations, telling Bloomberg on July 22 that Russia no longer intends to return any occupied Ukrainian territories, including Sumy and Kharkiv border areas it has seized since January, and is pressing ahead with its goal of capturing all of Donetsk and Luhansk

How Wars Actually End ·18 takes ·Jul 23

active France's Bastille Day parade features European troops and warplanes in show of solidarity with Ukraine

France held its July 14 national day parade with troops and warplanes from partner countries across Europe, and Ukrainian soldiers marching alongside them; French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at what Macron described as his tenth and last Bastille Day parade as president, with a record nearly 6,700 troops, 98 aircraft, 31 helicopters, and 315 vehicles on the traditional route from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde

How Wars Actually End ·15 takes ·Jul 15

pending-decision Chile's Senate Finance Committee clears Kast megareform for full Senate vote on July 15 amid planned nationwide protests

Chile's Senate Finance Committee on July 13 approved 360-plus amendments and dispatched President José Antonio Kast's flagship economic bill, officially called the Proyecto de Reconstrucción Nacional y Desarrollo Económico y Social, to the full Senate chamber for a plenary vote scheduled for July 15; left-wing groups and environmental coalitions announced nationwide protests for the same day

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jul 15

developing Venezuela's acting president Rodríguez appoints Washington envoy Plasencia as foreign minister in cabinet reshuffle merging trade and diplomacy

Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez on July 13 named Félix Plasencia, her representative in Washington since February, as the head of a new merged Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, replacing incumbent foreign minister Yván Gil; the merger brings diplomatic and commercial functions under a single ministry as Caracas pursues a managed engagement with the US.

Whose Money ·4 takes ·Jul 15

transition Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada formally dismisses Prime Minister Svyrydenko, triggering full cabinet resignation

Ukraine's parliament voted on July 14 to accept the resignation of Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, constitutionally triggering the exit of the entire wartime cabinet; President Zelensky called the move a change in political strategy, though the composition of the next government across key portfolios remained unclear

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Jul 15

active Cambodia PM Hun Manet visits China July 15-17 for bilateral talks and World AI Conference at Xi Jinping's invitation

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet and Thai Prime Minister Anutin Chanvirakul are on working visits to China from July 15 to 17 at President Xi Jinping's personal invitation, attending the World AI Conference (WAIC) opening in Shanghai on July 17 and holding bilateral talks with Chinese leadership; Cambodia's Phnom Penh Post reported Phnom Penh is seeking concrete AI investment commitments, while regional commentary questions whether Beijing will offer substance or diplomatic photo-opportunities

The Long Game ·5 takes ·Jul 16

active Hungary's parliament votes to remove Orbán-allied President Tamás Sulyok from office; Sulyok given five days to sign his own dismissal

Hungary's National Assembly approved a constitutional amendment on July 13 to remove President Tamás Sulyok from office; Prime Minister Péter Magyar's coalition used its two-thirds supermajority to pass the 17th amendment to Hungary's Basic Law; Sulyok now has five days to sign his own dismissal or face impeachment proceedings

Who Decides ·14 takes ·Jul 15

pending-decision EU foreign ministers fail to agree on curbing trade with illegal Israeli settlements at July 13 Foreign Affairs Council

EU foreign ministers in Brussels discussed three options, including an outright ban, to restrict goods from illegal West Bank settlements, but failed to find a qualified majority; legal classification disputes and member-state divisions blocked any decision at the July 13 Foreign Affairs Council meeting

Who Decides ·18 takes ·Jul 14

active US approves 30-year nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia allowing uranium enrichment, without standard non-proliferation safeguards

US President Donald Trump approved a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia on or around July 21-22, 2026 that would allow the kingdom to enrich uranium for a civilian program; the deal, expected to be submitted to Congress within days, omits the standard safeguards the US has long required to prevent nuclear materials from being diverted to weapons, and makes no mention of normalisation with Israel

The Long Game ·20 takes ·Jul 23

transition South Carolina Governor McMaster names Darline Graham Nordone, Senator Lindsey Graham's sister, to serve out his US Senate term

South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster on July 13 announced at a press conference that he was appointing Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of the late US Senator Lindsey Graham, to fill the South Carolina seat left vacant by Graham's death on July 12; Nordone is set to serve out the remainder of Graham's term

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 14

active Xi Jinping to give keynote at World AI Conference in Shanghai for first time, July 17-20

China's Foreign Ministry announced on July 13 that President Xi Jinping will attend and deliver a keynote at the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai from July 17 to 20; it is Xi's first appearance at the annual conference and will cover China's positions on AI development, governance, and the Global South

The Long Game ·9 takes ·Jul 15

active Trump announces primetime address to the nation for Thursday July 17 amid US-Iran strikes

US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday July 13 that he would deliver a primetime 'Speech to the Nation' on Thursday July 17 at 9 p.m. Eastern; no subject was disclosed and the White House gave no details, but the announcement comes as US military forces conduct a third consecutive night of strikes on Iran

What They're Not Saying ·8 takes ·Jul 14

active Zelensky dismisses Ukraine's PM Svyrydenko, taps Naftogaz CEO Koretsky; Rada confirms with 289 votes

Ukraine's President Zelensky dismissed Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko on July 12, named Naftogaz CEO Serhiy Koretsky as her successor with an explicit energy-resilience mandate, and the Verkhovna Rada confirmed Koretsky by 289 votes on July 16 in the most sweeping wartime cabinet overhaul since Russia's full-scale invasion

Who Decides ·24 takes ·Jul 18

active Brazil's Supreme Court bars Flávio Bolsonaro from visiting his father until after October election

Brazil's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes on July 13 barred Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, a presidential candidate, from visiting his father, former President Jair Bolsonaro, who is under house arrest, for 90 days, effectively blocking all contact until after the first round of Brazil's October 2026 elections; the trigger was Flávio reading Jair's handwritten letter on YouTube, violating Jair's social media ban

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 15

pending-decision Azerbaijan's President Aliyev says Baku is considering full withdrawal from the Council of Europe

Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev said at the 4th Shusha Global Media Forum on July 13 that Baku is considering full withdrawal from the Council of Europe, whose Parliamentary Assembly suspended Azerbaijan's voting rights in 2024; Aliyev said 'even if Azerbaijan were to leave the Council of Europe entirely, almost no one in the country would notice it,' while also saying Baku wants normalised relations if Europe takes the first step

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 14

transition Ukraine's Zelensky dismisses Prime Minister Svyrydenko after one year, triggering full cabinet resignation

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 12 that he would replace Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko after just over a year in office, with Svyrydenko to move into a new diplomatic role; the announcement triggered the formal resignation of the entire government; Zelensky described the reshuffle as aimed at prioritising foreign policy and security goals, without naming a successor

Who Decides ·25 takes ·Jul 15

pending-decision EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting fails to agree on 21st Russia sanctions package; Kallas says not ready

EU ambassadors failed ahead of the July 13 Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels to reach consensus on the EU's 21st package of sanctions against Russia; EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the package was not ready for approval and proposed that ministers might instead approve a separate targeted list of 250 persons and entities at the same meeting

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jul 14

active Twelve US state attorneys general sue to block Paramount's US$111 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery

A coalition of twelve US state attorneys general, led by California, filed an antitrust lawsuit on July 13 to block the proposed merger between Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, a deal valued at around US$111 billion; the states argue the merger would harm theatrical distribution and cable channel licensing; the case could define US entertainment and media regulation for years

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 14

escalating Yemen's government strikes Sanaa airport runway to stop an Iranian plane; Houthis fire missiles at Saudi Arabia, breaking a four-year truce

Yemen's internationally recognised government said on July 13 it struck the runway at Houthi-controlled Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian aircraft from landing; the Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of the strike and fired missiles at southern Saudi Arabia in retaliation, breaking the 2022 ceasefire between the two sides; Saudi Arabia said it intercepted the missiles; the UN warned Yemen risks full-scale conflict

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jul 15

pending-decision Israel's Knesset confirms October 27 election date; Netanyahu coalition to complete first full four-year term since 1988

Israel's parliament set October 27 as the national election date on July 12, the last date permitted by law; the Knesset is expected to dissolve on July 17; Netanyahu's far-right coalition will become the first to serve a full four-year term since 1988, and the vote is widely seen as a referendum on his leadership since the Gaza war

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 13

active US Senator Lindsey Graham, four-term South Carolina Republican and Senate Budget Committee chair, dies at 71 after a sudden illness

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who chaired the US Senate Budget Committee and was one of President Donald Trump's closest congressional allies, died on July 12 after what his office described as a brief and sudden illness; Graham had served four terms in the US Senate since 2002, was a prominent foreign policy hawk, and was widely recognised as one of Israel's strongest advocates in the US Congress

Who Decides ·32 takes ·Jul 13

transition Syria's new parliament holds first session in Damascus, 19 months after Assad's fall

Syria's People's Assembly convened for the first time on July 12, 19 months after opposition forces led by President Ahmed al-Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad; al-Sharaa told lawmakers to be 'a model of responsibility and competence' and named improving the economy and public services as top priorities; the chamber's current powers remain limited, marking a transitional milestone

Who Decides ·26 takes ·Jul 14

active Somalia arrests soldiers shown in viral video desecrating US flag; US Embassy in Mogadishu warns bilateral ties at risk

A viral video showing individuals in Somali military uniforms stepping on a US flag prompted Somalia's Ministry of Defence to identify and arrest several suspects; the US Embassy in Mogadishu condemned the acts as undermining the bilateral relationship between Washington and Somalia, while also praising the Somali government's swift response; the incident tests a security partnership underpinned by US counterterrorism assistance

What They're Not Saying ·4 takes ·Jul 13

active France and Morocco sign 14 agreements as PM Lecornu visits Rabat to cement strategic reset

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu visited Rabat on July 15-16, signing 14 bilateral agreements covering the economy, security, migration and defence, and declaring that France and Morocco are ready to 'change scale' in their partnership

The Quiet Shift ·7 takes ·Jul 18

escalating Iran's Foreign Minister Araghchi visits Oman for talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz as the US-Iran ceasefire collapses

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi led a delegation to Muscat on July 11 for talks with Omani officials centred on reopening the [[strait-of-hormuz]], even as US President Donald Trump had declared the June ceasefire 'over'; the US demanded [[iran|Iran]] publicly state that Hormuz is open and pledge to stop firing on commercial ships; analysts said the door to diplomacy remained open despite the exchange of attacks, while a pre-visit briefing noted Araghchi would hold Hormuz-specific talks with Oman

How Wars Actually End ·5 takes ·Jul 13

active ASEAN foreign ministers meet in Manila on July 19 as the US, China and Russia all send top diplomats

The Philippines, as 2026 ASEAN chair, hosts US Secretary of State Rubio, Chinese FM Wang Yi and Russia's minister alongside counterparts from India, Canada, Australia and New Zealand; Myanmar and a stalled South China Sea code of conduct are expected to dominate

Who Decides ·36 takes ·Jul 24

active India and New Zealand elevate ties to strategic partnership in Auckland, adding maritime defence and naval exercises to a new bilateral FTA

India's PM Narendra Modi and New Zealand's PM Christopher Luxon elevated bilateral relations to a strategic partnership at delegation-level talks in Auckland on July 11, producing 18 outcomes including a maritime cooperation framework, an India Navy and NZ Defence Force logistics agreement, and tighter defence ties covering naval exercises; the pact broadens the India-NZ free trade agreement struck earlier in the visit

The Long Game ·23 takes ·Jul 12

active US Justice Department subpoenas four New York Times journalists in a grand jury leak probe tied to their coverage of security concerns about Trump's Qatari-gifted Air Force One

The US Justice Department issued subpoenas to at least four New York Times reporters on July 11, compelling them to testify before a grand jury investigating leaks tied to the paper's coverage of alleged security concerns with the Boeing 747-8 gifted to President Trump by Qatar and now serving as Air Force One; federal agents delivered the subpoenas at the journalists' homes, the Times reported

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 13

active Qatar's former Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani dies aged 74, nine years after handing power to his son

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, who ruled Qatar from 1995 to 2013 and transformed it from a minor Gulf state into one of the world's wealthiest nations through natural gas revenues and an assertive foreign policy, died on July 12 aged 74; global leaders offered condolences and praised his legacy; his son, Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, has led Qatar since Hamad's voluntary abdication in 2013

The Long Game ·23 takes ·Jul 14

escalating Colombia's presidential transition collapses as outgoing Petro government files criminal complaint and suspends handover sessions with the incoming administration

Colombia's presidential transition (empalme) deteriorated sharply ahead of the August 7 inauguration: outgoing President Gustavo Petro's government filed a criminal complaint against incoming president-elect officials and suspended joint handover sessions, while Petro separately accused an Israeli technology firm of interfering in the June election; the incoming government faces a 2026 budget that is 93.7 percent committed, leaving little room for new spending

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 11

active EU finance ministers approve Hungary's revised recovery plan, unlocking a path to €10 billion in post-pandemic funds

EU finance ministers at ECOFIN on July 10 approved Hungary's revised Recovery and Resilience Plan, clearing the last Council-level hurdle for Prime Minister Péter Magyar's government to receive up to €10 billion in EU post-pandemic funding; payments remain conditional on rule-of-law reforms Hungary must complete by the end of August

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jul 11

active India's Modi visits New Zealand for the first time since 2011, with a new bilateral FTA making 57% of NZ exports tariff-free

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New Zealand on July 10 for talks with PM Christopher Luxon, his first visit since 2011, with New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay describing the trip as 'a transformative moment in bilateral ties' following the signing of an India-New Zealand free trade agreement that makes 57% of New Zealand exports to India tariff-free on day one

The Long Game ·4 takes ·Jul 11

pending-decision Kenya's National Assembly appeals court ruling declaring President Ruto's Cabinet unconstitutional over gender rule

Kenya's National Assembly and Speaker Moses Wetangula filed a Notice of Appeal on July 10 against a June 30 High Court judgment that declared President William Ruto's Cabinet composition unconstitutional for failing to meet the constitution's two-thirds gender principle; Parliament also contests whether the gender requirement is immediately enforceable in appointive positions

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 11

active Turkey secretly sold its Russian-made S-400 air defence systems to a Gulf state, Hürriyet reports

Turkish newspaper Hürriyet, citing senior defence columnist Abdulkadir Selvi, reported on July 10 that Turkey had already completed the sale of its Russian-made S-400 systems to a Gulf state, most likely the UAE or Qatar; an official announcement was expected the same day; analysts and Greek media said the sale could reopen negotiations for Turkey to obtain US-made F-35 jets, from which Ankara has been excluded since 2019

The Quiet Shift ·34 takes ·Jul 11

resolved Malaysia's 16th Johor state election draws 2.7 million voters as polling tests Anwar Ibrahim's unity government

Barisan Nasional won 48 of 56 seats in the 16th Johor state assembly election on July 11, 2026, its biggest majority in Johor since 2004 and an improvement on its 40-seat result in 2022; Pakatan Harapan won 8 seats and Perikatan Nasional was eliminated from the state assembly entirely; voter turnout reached 56.77 per cent by 3pm with more than 1.52 million ballots cast from the 2.7 million eligible voters

Who Decides ·24 takes ·Jul 13

active Xi Jinping meets North Korea's premier in Beijing as China-DPRK friendship treaty reaches 65th anniversary

Chinese President Xi Jinping met North Korean Premier Pak Thae-song in Beijing on July 10, the first high-level visit by Pyongyang to Beijing in years, timed to the 65th anniversary of the China-DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Co-operation and Mutual Assistance; Xi called for a stronger 'combat friendship forged in blood,' invoking the Korean War alliance

The Long Game ·17 takes ·Jul 13

pending-decision Palestinian Authority President Abbas decrees first Palestinian legislative elections since 2006, set for November 28

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas issued a presidential decree on July 9 setting November 28, 2026, as the date for legislative elections under proportional representation, the first since 2006; Hamas has not yet responded, Israel has not said whether it will allow voting in East Jerusalem, and Gaza's governance status remains unresolved

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 11

pending-decision Moldova's President Sandu nominates Vasile Tofan, a Ukraine-based banker and financier, as prime minister to replace the outgoing Alexandru Munteanu

Moldovan President Maia Sandu nominated businessman Vasile Tofan as prime minister on July 11 to replace Alexandru Munteanu, who resigned over disagreements with the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity majority; Tofan, a 44-year-old financier who backed Sandu in the 2024 presidential election, said his first priorities if confirmed by parliament would be advancing EU integration and reviving the economy

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 13

active Fresh protests erupt in Havana and Guanabacoa on Cuba's fifth anniversary of the 11J uprising as security forces deploy

Cubans in Old Havana and Guanabacoa banged pots and chanted against the government on July 12, five years after the July 11, 2021 protests swept dozens of Cuban cities; Cuban security forces deployed in Havana; residents in Guanabacoa staged demonstrations after more than 33 consecutive hours without electricity; US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and UN Ambassador Mike Waltz each issued statements calling for the release of more than 800 political prisoners held since 2021; Cuban Americans held a Liberation Day rally in Miami

Who Decides ·28 takes ·Jul 13

developing DRC opposition delays protests to July 22 after African Union mediation offer

The Democratic Republic of Congo's C64 opposition coalition postponed planned nationwide protests until July 22 following a mediation initiative by Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye as current African Union chair; the coalition accuses President Felix Tshisekedi of using a proposed constitutional referendum to remove presidential term limits

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 10

active Australia-Papua New Guinea Pukpuk mutual defence treaty enters into force

The Pukpuk Treaty, Papua New Guinea's first formal defence alliance and Australia's first mutual defence pact in more than 70 years, came into force on July 9 as Prime Ministers James Marape and Anthony Albanese met in Brisbane; the pact covers intelligence sharing, logistics and training and includes a pathway for up to 10,000 Papua New Guineans to join the Australian Defence Force, drawing criticism from China and a former PNG Defence Force commander over PNG's sovereignty

The Long Game ·7 takes ·Jul 9

escalating Nine months into US-brokered ceasefire, Israel controls nearly 70% of Gaza, up from 50% before the truce

A new NPR analysis finds that Israel's military has expanded its territorial control within the Gaza Strip from roughly 50% at the time of the ceasefire to nearly 70% nine months later, as Israeli forces have pushed deeper into areas that were nominally covered by the truce, with Palestinians paying a deadly price in the expanded zones

How Wars Actually End ·36 takes ·Jul 15

resolved India's Modi and Australia's Albanese unveil strategic roadmap on uranium, critical minerals and defence in Melbourne

India's PM Narendra Modi and Australia's PM Anthony Albanese struck a uranium supply deal and LNG framework on July 9 in Melbourne, alongside defence and critical minerals pacts; the uranium agreement, confirmed by Asharq Al-Awsat and Pakistan's Dawn, delivers Australia as a supplier to India's civil nuclear fleet; SBS Australia noted warm optics masking harder migration and trade politics

The Long Game ·19 takes ·Jul 11

active New Zealand considers joining Australia-Fiji 'Ocean of Peace' defence alliance

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said Wellington will formally consider joining the Ocean of Peace Alliance, a mutual-defence treaty Australia and Fiji signed on July 7; the announcement comes as Pacific island states condemned a Chinese ballistic missile test and the PNG-Australia Pukpuk Treaty came into force

The Long Game ·17 takes ·Jul 11

transition UK Labour leadership nominations open with Burnham the only declared candidate

Nominations formally opened on July 9 in the UK Labour Party contest to replace Keir Starmer as prime minister; Andy Burnham remained the sole declared candidate and is on course for a coronation that could take him to Downing Street this month

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 11

active ASEAN foreign ministers hold first informal meeting with Myanmar junta's counterpart since the 2021 coup, in Bangkok on July 12

ASEAN foreign ministers will hold an informal meeting with Myanmar's junta-appointed Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe in Bangkok on July 12, marking the first in-person ministerial contact since the February 2021 military coup; the Philippines, as 2026 ASEAN chair, will lead the session, as an estimated 16.2 million people inside Myanmar require humanitarian aid

How Wars Actually End ·15 takes ·Jul 13

active US bipartisan housing affordability bill becomes law without Trump's signature after 10-day window lapses

A bipartisan US housing affordability bill passed by Congress became US law on July 10 after President Donald Trump declined to sign or veto it within the constitutional 10-day window; Trump, who dismissed the legislation as a 'yawn,' opposed it because Congress had not first passed his SAVE America voter-ID bill; the housing bill is aimed at reducing regulatory barriers to housing development across the United States

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 11

transition Pro-France bloc ends New Caledonia's institutional deadlock, electing Virginie Ruffenach as Congress president with 28 votes

Virginie Ruffenach, leader of the loyalist Rassemblement, was elected president of New Caledonia's Congress on July 10 after the pro-France bloc struck a 'governance' coalition with the smaller Éveil Océanien party, ending over a year of institutional deadlock that had followed the May 2024 elections and the 2024 anti-France riots that killed 14 people

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 11

escalating Trump declares the US-Iran ceasefire agreement 'over' and threatens to strike Iranian infrastructure

US President Donald Trump said at the NATO summit in Ankara on July 8 that the June 2026 memorandum to end the Iran war is 'over' and dealing with Tehran a 'waste of time'; Trump threatened to hit Iran 'very hard again tonight' and to target infrastructure; Iran responded by threatening a complete halt to nuclear talks

How Wars Actually End ·6 takes ·Jul 21

active South Africa's Ramaphosa visits France for Élysée talks with Macron, UNESCO education summit and Somme commemorations

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa began a three-day official visit to France on July 10, with bilateral talks and a working dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace, a UN education summit at UNESCO headquarters, and a WWI commemorative ceremony in the Somme

The Long Game ·6 takes ·Jul 11

transition Iran buries Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Mashhad on July 9 as crowds chant anti-Trump slogans; CNN notes indifferent Iranians absent from state mourning

Iran interred assassinated Supreme Leader [[ali-khamenei]] in his birthplace of Mashhad on July 9 after week-long funeral processions through Tehran and Qom; crowds at the burial chanted slogans demanding revenge on US President Donald Trump for Khamenei's killing; CNN and others reported that many Iranians remained indifferent and notable public figures were absent.

What They're Not Saying ·8 takes ·Jul 11

active China's Wang Huning visits Pyongyang, meets North Korean party official to discuss deepening bilateral ties

China's fourth-highest-ranked official, Wang Huning, traveled to Pyongyang on July 16 and met with senior North Korean ruling-party official Jo Yong-Won, with both sides discussing ways to strengthen exchanges and cooperation

What They're Not Saying ·4 takes ·Jul 18

active Trump offers Turkey F-35 jets and US sanctions relief at the NATO Ankara summit

US President Trump said he would 'consider' allowing Turkey to buy F-35 fighter jets and that the US would lift sanctions on Ankara, a bilateral announcement on the first day of the NATO summit in Turkey; Turkey's President Erdogan claimed Trump had promised five specific jets; if confirmed, it ends Turkey's exclusion from the program since 2019

Whose Money ·5 takes ·Jul 13

resolved South Korea's Supreme Court upholds 7-year term for ex-President Yoon for obstructing his arrest

South Korea's Supreme Court confirmed a 7-year prison sentence for former President Yoon Suk-yeol on July 9 for obstructing his arrest by the Corruption Investigation Office after his failed December 2024 martial law declaration; the ruling is the first Supreme Court decision in the Yoon case, and Yoon remains in detention while separately appealing a life sentence for insurrection

Who Decides ·15 takes ·Jul 11

active French appeals court upholds Le Pen's conviction but cuts ban, clearing her to run for France's presidency in 2027

A Paris appeals court shortened Marine Le Pen's public-office ban on July 7, making her eligible to stand in the 2027 French presidential election; Le Pen, 57, immediately declared her candidacy, though the court imposed an electronic ankle bracelet condition she had previously ruled out

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 9

active France convenes Coalition of the Willing in Paris on July 13, with Zelensky and NATO chief Rutte attending

France announced a Coalition of the Willing summit in Paris on July 13 bringing together at least 25 heads of state, with Ukrainian President Zelensky and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte confirmed as attendees; the coalition has grown to 37 nations and the Elysee said planning for post-ceasefire security guarantees is still underway

How Wars Actually End ·27 takes ·Jul 18

active Iran's wounded supreme leader misses Day 2 of his father's funeral as doubts grow over who governs Tehran

Mojtaba Khamenei has not appeared publicly since February 28; his three brothers prayed at the coffin in Tehran as Israeli threats and reported injuries kept him away from the largest state funeral in Iran's history

Who Decides ·19 takes ·Jul 9

pending-decision Trump says Netanyahu 'knows who the boss is' ahead of White House meeting the week of July 13

An Axios exclusive on July 4 reported Trump said the Israeli PM requested a US visit for as early as the following week; the two leaders agreed on a July 3 phone call; Lebanon operations, Iran nuclear talks and Gaza are on the agenda for their first meeting since Israel's war with Iran

How Wars Actually End ·30 takes ·Jul 6

active Modi visits Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand in July in first Indian PM trip to Auckland in four decades

India's prime minister departs July 6 on a three-nation Indo-Pacific swing covering Jakarta, Melbourne and Auckland; the New Zealand leg is the first state visit by any Indian PM to the country since 1986

The Long Game ·24 takes ·Jul 8

active Erdogan hosts Sharif in Istanbul, credits Pakistan for Iran-US ceasefire and warns Israel against 'dynamiting' the deal

Turkey's president and Pakistan's prime minister met at the Vahdettin Mansion on July 4, reaffirming strategic alignment on the Iran ceasefire, pledging a US$5 billion bilateral trade target and expanding defence and logistics cooperation

How Wars Actually End ·11 takes ·Jul 5

active Brazil's Lula accuses Bolsonaro son of 'treason' for asking the US to delay tariffs until after October election

Senator Flávio Bolsonaro sent a letter to the US Trade Representative on July 2 asking Trump to hold off proposed 25% tariffs until after Brazil's October presidential vote; President Lula fired back on X calling it an 'act of treason'

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 5

active Modi and Takaichi sign UNICORN defence deal and 16-point economic security roadmap

The 16th India-Japan Annual Summit in New Delhi produced Japan's first co-development weapons project with any country outside the US-Australia axis, a yen-rupee settlement pact, and joint AI governance commitments

The Quiet Shift ·15 takes ·Jul 8

active NATO Ankara summit concludes July 8 with €140B Ukraine pledge, China named, and Iran Hormuz escalation mid-summit

The two-day Ankara summit ratified Europe's largest Ukraine commitment, introduced China formally into NATO's threat framework, and was interrupted by Iran striking three ships and the US hitting 80+ Iranian targets, the largest exchange since the January ceasefire

Who Decides ·35 takes ·Jul 9

active Algeria's July 2026 parliamentary elections draw record-low turnout as candidate bans and cost-of-living grievances fuel public apathy

Algeria held elections for all 407 National People's Assembly seats on July 2, 2026; turnout tracked below 23% -- already a record low in 2021 -- with 269 candidates pre-emptively barred and near-empty campaign halls reflecting deep public disengagement

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 5

developing Xi Jinping promotes two generals in PLA reconstruction ceremony, continuing post-purge Central Military Commission rebuild

Zhang Shuguang and Wang Gang received full general rank from Xi in a Beijing ceremony on July 3; the promotions are the latest phase of CMC reconstruction following the 2023-24 purge and the January 2026 ousters of Zhang Youxia and Liu Zhenli, which left the Central Military Commission with just two active members

What They're Not Saying ·16 takes ·Jul 8

active Japan launches National Intelligence Bureau, its largest intelligence restructuring since World War II

The bureau, with roughly 700 initial staff reporting directly to the PM's Office, consolidates six previously siloed agencies; enabling legislation passed the Diet upper house May 27 and the launch in July marks the most significant change to Japan's intelligence architecture since 1945

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Jul 8

active Saudi Arabia quietly assembles a Turkey-Egypt-Pakistan-Qatar bloc as the UAE drifts away

A new Sunni alignment is forming around Riyadh, one that excludes Abu Dhabi, positions Saudi Arabia as the Arab world's pivotal state post-Iran war, and places Pakistan's nuclear capability inside a coherent geopolitical coalition for the first time

The Quiet Shift ·11 takes ·Aug 7

worsening Pakistan hosts international Indus Waters Treaty conference as India's suspension enters its third month

Islamabad convened foreign governments and legal experts June 30-July 1; Bilawal Bhutto warned 'world order will collapse'; India dismissed back-channel talks as 'futile'

What Broke ·10 takes ·Jul 4

active Turkey bans all public assemblies in Ankara for 13 days ahead of NATO summit, 225 detained pre-emptively

Ankara Governorate imposed a province-wide assembly ban from July 1-15 covering the NATO summit on July 7-8; Amnesty International reported at least 225 people including academics, lawyers and an LGBTQ activist detained in pre-summit sweeps

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 7

active Italy blocks NATO draft language pledging to sustain Ukraine aid at 2026 levels in 2027

Rome refuses a clause in the Ankara summit declaration committing to 'at least comparable' aid into 2027, leaving the paragraph in brackets ahead of the July 7-8 summit; Germany pushed hardest for the two-year signal

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jul 3

active Marcos arrives in Canada for state visit, first Philippine presidential trip in 11 years

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and First Lady Araneta-Marcos departed Manila July 1 for a four-day visit focused on a bilateral Philippines-Canada FTA, critical minerals and defense ties; the last Philippine presidential visit to Ottawa was in 2015

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Jul 8

active Kazakhstan dissolves its bicameral parliament as Tokayev's new constitution takes effect

The Senate and Mazhilis hold their final joint sitting June 30; on July 1 the 1995 constitution is replaced by a charter creating a unicameral Kurultai of 145 deputies, with elections scheduled for August

The Long Game ·11 takes ·Jul 1

active Xi Jinping presides over CPC 105th anniversary, confers July 1 Medal and signals 'strategic opportunity'

A Great Hall of the People ceremony on July 1 marked 105 years since the party's founding; Xi delivered an address framing China's current moment as one requiring discipline under external pressure, with the authorized vocabulary likely to shape official posture through the next policy cycle

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 7

active NATO Ankara summit opens July 7 with Trump meeting Zelenskyy as defence-spending and China debates dominate

The alliance's 32 members convened in Ankara on July 7 after Trump held separate calls with Putin and Zelenskyy on July 5; South Korea's President Lee also attended; NATO Secretary-General Rutte urged members not to be 'naive' about China's military build-up

How Wars Actually End ·42 takes ·Jul 9

active India operationalises its first four Integrated Battle Groups on July 1, restructuring army for multi-domain warfare

The Indian Army activates four Integrated Battle Groups on July 1, replacing the Cold War division-based structure with leaner combined-arms formations designed for rapid offensive action across the Himalayan and western fronts, in what the Ministry of Defence calls the largest structural reform since 1947

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Jul 8

active Supreme Court strikes down post-Watergate limits on party-to-candidate coordinated spending, 6-3

Justice Kavanaugh's majority in NRSC v. FEC voids the 1974 coordinated-expenditure caps that had capped how much national party committees could spend alongside individual candidates, overruling Colorado II and removing the last major limit on party money in federal elections

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 1

worsening Iglesia ni Cristo rallies thousands on EDSA to block Marcoleta plunder arrest

The Philippines' largest religious bloc staged a surprise mobilisation at the People Power Monument hours after the Ombudsman announced non-bailable plunder charges against INC-aligned Senator Rodante Marcoleta

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 1

escalating Knesset committee advances dissolution bill for plenum vote as Netanyahu-Haredi coalition cracks

Israel's parliament moved toward early elections on June 30 as the House Committee advanced the dissolution bill for its first plenum reading and simultaneously advanced a Basic Law enshrining Torah study, with Netanyahu's meeting with Haredi leaders canceled amid the standoff

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 1

active Senate defense reconciliation bill clears vote-a-rama on June 30 with Vance tiebreaker, sending $152 billion in military spending to Trump

A marathon Senate amendment process began at 9 a.m. EDT June 30 on a defense-focused reconciliation package covering Space Force, nuclear modernization, Air Force procurement, and military families; three Republicans joined Democrats in opposition, requiring Vice President Vance to cast the deciding vote

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 1

active Supreme Court upholds birthright citizenship 6-3, striking down Trump's executive order

Chief Justice Roberts wrote for a cross-ideological majority that the 14th Amendment's citizenship clause covers virtually all persons born on US soil, voiding the January 2025 order that had been blocked by every lower court to consider it

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Jul 2

active Zimbabwe's parliament extends the presidential term to seven years, keeping Mnangagwa in office until 2030

The Senate voted 75-4 on June 24 and the lower house passed the final text on June 30, converting a 2013 constitutional five-year limit into seven years and replacing direct presidential elections with a parliamentary vote

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 3

worsening Five dead in Indonesia's military training for Prabowo cooperative managers, rights body demands halt

Five of 35,476 civilian participants in mandatory basic military training for President Prabowo Subianto's flagship Red and White Village Cooperatives program died in the first ten days, from heat stroke, tuberculosis and cardiac causes; Indonesia's Human Rights Commission called for the training to be suspended.

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 1

active Pakistan PM Shehbaz to visit Tehran and Ankara July 3-6 as Iran-US shuttle mediator

Pakistan's PM will press Iran and Turkey on implementing the June 17 Islamabad MoU framework; Islamabad brokered the April talks where the first direct US-Iran engagement occurred and maintains a dedicated contact channel between Washington and Tehran

How Wars Actually End ·5 takes ·Jul 1

active Three EU commissioners descend on Ankara simultaneously for first time as NATO summit nears

High Representative Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, and Home Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner visited Turkey on June 29-30 in a coordinated signal of intent; meetings covered accession progress, customs union, migration, and Ukraine ahead of the July 7-8 NATO Ankara summit.

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 7

active UK commits nearly £300 billion to defence over four years, targeting 2.7% of GDP by 2028 and 3.5% by 2035

The Starmer government published its Defence Investment Plan on June 30, committing £298 billion over 2026-27 to 2029-30, averaging £3.8 billion per year above previous plans, with naval shipbuilding, long-range missiles and space as priority areas; IFS flagged that around £1.2 billion per year of the increase has no identified funding source

Whose Money ·15 takes ·Jul 3

active India sends governor, not Modi, to Khamenei's July 4-9 state funeral as diplomatic lineup takes shape

India confirmed on June 29 that Bihar Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain and Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita will represent New Delhi at the state funeral of assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, scheduled across Tehran, Qom, Mashhad and Iraq from July 4-9; Pakistan PM Sharif and delegations from Russia, China and several Central Asian states are expected to attend.

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 6

active DRC bans mass gatherings in Kinshasa over Ebola; opposition calls it cover for suppressing July protests

Interior Minister Jacquemain Shabani extended a public-gathering ban to Kinshasa and three other provinces on June 27 as Ebola confirmed cases reached 1,274 with 360 deaths; none of the four targeted provinces has recorded a single case, and opposition coalitions say the measure is designed to derail a July 8 protest against constitutional reform

What They're Not Saying ·6 takes ·Jul 1

de-escalating CENTCOM chief arrives in Beirut to discuss Israel deal implementation as Hezbollah declares it null

Adm. Brad Cooper met Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and army chief Gen. Rodolphe Haykal on June 29 to set the sequencing for Israeli withdrawal from two southern 'pilot' zones; Hezbollah's leader the same day called the US-brokered framework 'null and void'

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jul 1

active Burkina Faso gives France seven days to close its Ouagadougou embassy

Three days after the junta formally severed diplomatic relations with Paris, Captain Ibrahim Traore's government issued a seven-day ultimatum demanding French embassy closure, the most complete rupture between the two countries since independence in 1960

The Quiet Shift ·6 takes ·Jul 7

active US Supreme Court blocks Trump's firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook, carving the central bank out of its independent-agency ruling

Hours after overturning Humphrey's Executor for the FTC, a 5-4 majority led by Chief Justice Roberts held that the US Federal Reserve's unique 'tradition of independence' shields its governors from at-will removal by the US president, leaving Cook in post while her lawsuit continues

Who Decides ·15 takes ·Jul 1

active Milei replaces scandal-hit Adorni with veteran politician Santilli as Argentina's cabinet chief

Manuel Adorni resigned June 27 under investigation for illicit enrichment, and Milei pivoted to Diego Santilli, a seasoned PRO operative from the Macri wing, signalling a shift from the libertarian's anti-politics brand toward congressional dealmaking.

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 29

active Myanmar junta purges three ministers on fourth anniversary of military rule

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing reshuffled the cabinet on June 30, removing a former NLD lawmaker from her ministerial post and swapping key security portfolios, as the regime projects momentum toward its planned December 2026 elections amid ongoing civil war

Who Decides ·2 takes ·Jul 8

active Smotrich says Defense Ministry has drawn up plans for three Gaza settlements, awaiting Netanyahu sign-off

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced June 29 that the Defense Ministry Settlement Administration has completed groundwork for three settlements in northern Gaza and called on Netanyahu to authorize them immediately; he also called for Israel to 'complete the conquest of all of Gaza,' with Israel controlling roughly 70 percent of the territory

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 1

active EU and China set October deadline for trade reset talks as tariff standoff deepens

Brussels and Beijing agreed on June 29 to a structured October dialogue aimed at resolving the electric-vehicle tariff dispute and a widening range of trade grievances, with both sides framing the window as the last realistic opportunity before European political cycles foreclose options

Whose Money ·5 takes ·Jul 7

active AFP logs 44 Chinese vessels in West Philippine Sea in one week, DND brands Beijing 'insincere' on PCA ruling

The Armed Forces of the Philippines recorded 44 Chinese seacraft across four contested features during June 23-29, up from 17 the prior week, as the Philippines defence secretary publicly dismissed China's anniversary remarks on the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration award as duplicitous

How Wars Actually End ·5 takes ·Jul 8

active Japan to revise its 2015 Arctic policy in fiscal 2027, citing China-Russia expansion

Prime Minister Takaichi told a meeting of the Headquarters for Ocean Policy on Monday that rising geopolitical concern and the potential of Arctic resources and shipping routes justified the first revision of Japan's Arctic framework since it was drawn up eleven years ago

The Quiet Shift ·3 takes ·Jul 1

worsening Armenia moves to nationalize Russian-owned power grid, Moscow protests the seizure

Yerevan is forcing a takeover of Electric Networks of Armenia, the country's main power grid operator, from detained Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan; Russia has protested and Karapetyan's firm launched international arbitration claiming hundreds of millions in damages

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jul 3

active US Supreme Court overturns 91-year-old Humphrey's Executor precedent, letting Trump fire independent agency heads

A 6-3 majority in Trump v. Slaughter declared that for-cause removal protections at multimember independent agencies are unconstitutional, ending the 1935 shield that kept the FTC, NLRB and roughly two dozen other commissions beyond the US president's reach

Who Decides ·20 takes ·Jul 2

active Zambia's Hichilema vows to keep US$6.5bn forex reserves intact as August election campaign heats up

The reserves, built from copper revenues and post-debt-restructuring stabilisation, have become the central economic battleground of Zambia's 2026 general election campaign

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jul 3

contested-result Keiko Fujimori declared Peru's president-elect after 23-year comeback; Sánchez claims fraud

Electoral authorities declared Fujimori the winner of the June 7 runoff on June 29 by fewer than 50,000 votes out of 18 million cast, making her Peru's first woman president-elect; left-wing rival Roberto Sánchez refused to concede and alleged fraud, raising the prospect of a disputed transition

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 21

escalating Japan calls China Coast Guard's Yonaguni EEZ claim 'unacceptable' after bombers circle southern islands

Tokyo's chief cabinet secretary formally protested China's coast guard patrols 110 km from Taiwan's coast, days after Japan scrambled jets for Chinese-Russian bomber flights; Beijing insists the waters are within its continental shelf rights

What They're Not Saying ·3 takes ·Jul 1

escalating Albania's Flamingo Revolution enters its 30th day as anti-Rama protests eclipse the Kushner resort that started them

What began on May 23 as a local stand against a Jared Kushner-backed luxury resort on the Vjosa-Narta flamingo wetland has grown into Albania's largest sustained protest movement in decades, with tens of thousands demanding PM Edi Rama's resignation in Tirana.

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 1

worsening South Africa anti-migrant marches turn violent on June 30; 25,000+ expelled, SANDF deployed to Kliptown

Marches erupted across all nine provinces on June 30 as the March and March ultimatum expired; shots fired near Hillbrow, looting in Kliptown, SANDF deployed by afternoon; more than 25,000 foreign nationals had already been repatriated or deported before the day began.

How Life Changes ·15 takes ·Jul 2

active China accuses Australia of 'geopolitical games' after Nakamal base-exclusion pact

Beijing's Foreign Ministry warned Canberra that Pacific cooperation must not target third parties, after the Nakamal Agreement locked in Vanuatu's ban on foreign military bases and required Suva to consult Canberra on critical infrastructure deals

What They're Not Saying ·4 takes ·Jul 1

active AES parliamentary presidents adopt confederation roadmap in Ouagadougou as Burkina Faso expels France

The national assembly presidents of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger met on June 29 to advance the legislative architecture of the Alliance of Sahel States confederation, adopting a joint motion of support for Burkina Faso against a European Parliament human rights resolution

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 1

active Israel's Cabinet unanimously recognises the Armenian Genocide, sending bill to the Knesset

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar won unanimous Cabinet approval on Sunday for a proposal he called a 'moral and historical duty'; the measure goes to the Knesset for a final vote, while Turkey's foreign ministry called it a cover for Israel's own alleged crimes in Gaza

The Long Game ·5 takes ·Jun 29

active Putin rejects Ukraine proposal to halt long-range strikes, says Kyiv aims to save itself not make peace

In an interview aired Sunday on Russian state television, Putin said Ukraine had proposed a mutual suspension of deep strikes and dismissed it, calling Russian long-range strikes 'more destructive' and 'catastrophic' for Kyiv's depleted forces

How Wars Actually End ·4 takes ·Jun 29

resolved Supreme Court refuses Trump appeal of E. Jean Carroll's $5 million civil verdict

In Monday's orders, the justices declined without comment to hear Trump's challenge to the 2023 New York jury award; no justice noted a dissent, meaning the $5 million judgment stands and the money can be paid to Carroll

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 29

active Exiled ex-PM Hasina vows to return to Bangladesh 'this year' despite death sentence

In a Sunday NDTV interview, Sheikh Hasina said for the first time she will come home in 2026, calling her November 2025 death-in-absentia sentence 'illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated'; Bangladesh's interim government has repeatedly sought her extradition from India

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 29

active Modi closes a Seychelles visit with nine deals and a 'Made in India' patrol vessel

India hands over a fast patrol ship, a Rs 1,250cr credit line and UPI access as it courts an Indian Ocean island against China's reach

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 29

easing Tens of thousands march in Budapest's first Pride since Orbán's ouster

Hungary's 31st Budapest Pride drew relaxed, celebratory crowds after police authorized the event and the new Magyar government declined to enforce Orbán's constitutional ban

How Life Changes ·5 takes ·Jul 1

transition Burnham tells Manchester 'Westminster is broken,' pitches Manchesterism and a 'No. 10 in the North'

In his first major policy speech since Starmer's resignation, the sole Labour leadership candidate outlined a devolution agenda, promising to relocate parts of government to Manchester and give regional mayors control over housing, welfare and post-16 education

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 29

active New Caledonia provincial elections produce deadlock; Éveil Océanien holds kingmaker role

The territory's first provincial vote since the 2024 independence-referendum unrest gave loyalists 24 of 54 Congress seats and pro-independence blocs 26, leaving the four-seat centrist Kanak party Éveil Océanien to decide who governs, and at what price, ahead of July Paris talks

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 8

active Singapore's Workers' Party keeps Pritam Singh as chief despite conviction for lying to parliament

A special cadre vote on June 28 retained Singh as secretary-general; Prime Minister Lawrence Wong had already stripped him of his Leader of the Opposition title in January, citing the conviction

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 3

active Australia and Vanuatu sign the Nakamal Agreement, sealing a Pacific base-exclusion pact

After a false start in September 2025 over sovereignty concerns, PM Albanese and PM Napat signed the comprehensive security and economic deal in Canberra, barring any foreign military infrastructure in Vanuatu in exchange for AU$500 million over a decade

The Long Game ·7 takes ·Jun 29

active Senegal's parliament passes constitutional reform stripping presidential powers; Faye calls referendum

The Pastef-dominated National Assembly adopted amendments transferring authority over natural resources and parliamentary inquiry to the legislature, creating a Constitutional Court, and limiting the president's dissolution powers; Faye, who was sidelined by Sonko's parliamentary majority, immediately announced he would send the bill to a national referendum

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 1

escalating Pakistan strikes Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Fitna al-Khwarij camps in Afghanistan after Karachi Rangers attack

Under Operation Ghazab Lil Haq, Pakistani forces hit camps in Paktia, Paktika and Kunar overnight June 28-29, killing 29 militants by Islamabad's count; Afghan officials report 36 civilians dead and 160 wounded, including women and children

How Wars Actually End ·12 takes ·Jul 1

active India and Japan sign AI and economic security pacts at 16th Annual Summit in New Delhi

PM Modi and Japan PM Sanae Takaichi agreed joint declarations on AI cooperation and economic security at Hyderabad House; Takaichi's first India state visit expands bilateral collaboration across semiconductors, critical minerals and Bay of Bengal logistics

The Long Game ·7 takes ·Jul 8

active Iran-US Doha talks conclude: Hormuz and frozen assets progressed, nuclear talks deferred past Khamenei funeral

Iranian Deputy FM Gharibabadi announces two days of indirect Qatari-Pakistani-mediated talks have ended with 'positive progress' on Hormuz and $6 billion in assets; next round after July 9

The Long Game ·16 takes ·Jul 4

active Police arrest 24 in Surabaya as protests against Prabowo's fuel price hike spread across Indonesian cities

Around 100 demonstrators gathered near Surabaya's provincial government building on June 27 to oppose a 30% rise in non-subsidised gasoline and Prabowo's flagship free-meals scheme; rocks were thrown and rubbish set alight before police moved in

How Life Changes ·3 takes ·Jun 29

transition Vučić says he will resign within weeks and call early elections in Serbia

After 18 months of student-led protests, the president pledges to step down a year early, hints at becoming prime minister, and vows his bloc will win 'more convincingly than ever'

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 29

active Uganda army chief orders military shutdown of Nation Media Group, declaring 'I do not believe in a free press'

Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of President Museveni and chief of defence forces, sent soldiers overnight to occupy the Daily Monitor, NTV Uganda and Spark TV, forcing all broadcasts off air and barring journalists; outlets remain under siege

What Broke ·12 takes ·Jul 1

active EU proposes extending Ukrainian refugee protection to 2028, but bars military-age men without Kyiv authorization

The European Commission on June 26 proposed renewing the Temporary Protection Directive for 4.3 million Ukrainians until March 2028, while excluding newly arriving men subject to Ukraine's military mobilisation rules, a restriction sought by Kyiv itself and criticised by the Council of Europe.

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jun 28

de-escalating Witkoff and Kushner in Doha for Iran MoU talks; no direct US-Iran meeting confirmed

US special envoys traveled to Qatar on July 1 to advance the June 17 Islamabad MoU with Qatari PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman; Trump had claimed a July 1 US-Iran meeting, Iran denied it, and Qatar confirmed no direct session was planned

How Wars Actually End ·12 takes ·Jul 9

active All six Gen Z anniversary protesters found after alleged abduction and torture; Davis Lichuma in critical condition at KNH

KHRC says six activists arrested at the June 25 commemoration were tortured in police custody and abandoned across Nairobi; Davis Lichuma, the last missing, was found on June 29 in critical condition at Kenyatta National Hospital, later transferred to Nairobi Women's Hospital

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 29

de-escalating France and Italy propose multinational coalition to replace UNIFIL; Lebanon welcomes

At their Antibes bilateral summit, Macron and Meloni announced plans to build a European-led force to take over from UNIFIL when its UN mandate expires December 31; President Aoun called it a sincere commitment to Lebanese sovereignty

How Wars Actually End ·4 takes ·Jun 27

stalemate Mercosur summit opens with Brazil-Argentina rift over Milei's US trade deal

Asunción hosts a bloc split three ways: Argentina's Washington pact and CPTPP bid, Venezuela's re-entry, and a stalled EU agreement

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 29

active Macron and Meloni sign a defence roadmap at Antibes after the Trump rift

Paris and Rome deepen cooperation on the SAMP/T air-defence system, nuclear energy and a European satellite venture to rival Starlink

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jun 26

active Europe's 'E5' pledge 5% defence spending and a Hormuz naval mission, without Spain

Merz, Macron, Meloni, Starmer and Tusk meet in Berlin to harden NATO's European pillar before Ankara, sidelining Madrid over the 5% target

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 26

active Kenya police teargas and arrest hundreds on second anniversary of 2024 protest killings

Families of the 60-plus victims who died when security forces fired on Parliament crowds in June 2024 were met with razor wire, roadblocks and teargas as they marched to demand accountability and full reparations

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 26

active Netanyahu rules out withdrawal from Lebanon, Syria and Gaza

The Israeli PM told combat officers that Israeli forces will remain in all three theatres "as long as required," a statement that undercut US-mediated Lebanon-ceasefire talks the same day

How Wars Actually End ·3 takes ·Jun 25

active Trump tells NATO chief he was "let down" over Iran war as alliance fractures over burden-sharing

In a White House meeting on June 25, Trump publicly blamed NATO allies for not joining the Iran war; Secretary General Rutte defended members by noting Europe hosted 4,000-5,000 US aircraft

How Wars Actually End ·4 takes ·Jun 25

contested-result Federal judge blocks Trump voter-list order and USPS mail-ballot rule

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani ruled the order creating a federal voter registry and restricting USPS mail-ballot delivery violates the separation of powers; the injunction covers 24 jurisdictions ahead of November 2026 midterms

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jun 25

active US notifies Congress of $700m GE F110 engine sale for Turkey's KAAN fighter, bypassing objections

The State Department formally notified Congress of its intent to sell roughly 80 GE Aerospace F110 turbofans to Turkey for early KAAN production models; the administration proceeded over congressional objections tied to Ankara's retention of the Russian S-400 system, and ahead of the NATO Ankara summit in July

The Long Game ·6 takes ·Jul 1

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (Egypt)

Egypt's president since 2014, el-Sisi governs the Arab world's most populous state through military-rooted authoritarianism, Suez Canal leverage, and consecutive IMF-backed austerity programs.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Ali Khamenei (Iran)

Iran's second Supreme Leader from 1989 to 2026, Khamenei commanded the IRGC, Iran's nuclear program, and regional proxy networks until his death in US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February 2026.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Andy Burnham

Former Greater Manchester Mayor and three-time UK Cabinet minister, the sole declared candidate to lead UK Labour and become UK Prime Minister as of July 2026.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Anthony Albanese (Australia)

Australia's 31st Prime Minister and ALP leader, managing AUKUS submarine delivery, stabilizing China trade ties, and a reform-heavy second-term domestic agenda from Canberra.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Lawfare and the Net Closing

Corruption prosecutions of sitting and former leaders are simultaneously claimed as accountability and condemned as political persecution, a dual-use mechanism reshaping governments across five continents.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The Anti-Incumbency Wave

A global electoral pattern since 2024 in which governing parties of every ideology have lost vote share, driven by inflation, housing costs, and collapsing institutional trust.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Anwar Ibrahim

Malaysia's 10th Prime Minister and Finance Minister, in office since November 2022, whose three-decade arc from jailed dissident to coalition leader shapes ASEAN's diplomatic posture and Malaysia's economic reform.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Austerity and the Street

The repeating pattern in which IMF-backed fiscal consolidation and subsidy cuts in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and South Asia trigger street protests that destabilise governments implementing them.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Benjamin Netanyahu

Israel's longest-serving Prime Minister, Netanyahu leads a wartime coalition while facing a domestic corruption trial and an ICC arrest warrant issued November 2024.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Bola Tinubu (Nigeria)

Nigeria's 16th president since May 2023, who built the APC coalition and launched the continent's most closely watched fuel-subsidy and currency reform.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Centre vs the States

Recurring friction between central governments and subnational units over fiscal, police, and legislative authority, reshaping democratic federalism in India, Nigeria, and the United States.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Claudia Sheinbaum (Mexico)

Mexico's first female president, a climate scientist turned Morena politician who took office October 2024 and now drives the USMCA review and cartel crackdown.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Courts vs Elected Power

The global structural conflict between appointed courts and elected executives and legislatures over the limits of government authority, intensifying as of mid-2026 across the US, Hungary, Mexico, the Philippines, and Uganda.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Cyril Ramaphosa

South Africa's president since 2018, Ramaphosa leads a fragile ten-party coalition and faces an impeachment inquiry over a farm-robbery cover-up as of mid-2026.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

NATO Burden-Sharing and the 5% Spending Push

The NATO framework requiring member states to share defence costs, sharpened at the 2025 Hague Summit into a pledge for all 32 allies to reach 5% of GDP by 2035.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Donald Trump

The 45th and 47th President of the United States, Trump is the only modern leader to win non-consecutive terms; his second administration, which began January 20, 2025, has restructured US trade, executive authority, and military posture at a pace that has reshaped the international order.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Donald Tusk (Poland)

Poland's Prime Minister since December 2023, Tusk built a pro-EU coalition that ended eight years of PiS rule but now faces a cohabitation president issuing record-breaking vetoes.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Emmanuel Macron

France's president since 2017, Macron is the EU's de facto diplomatic lead on Ukraine, strategic autonomy and European defence, entering his constitutionally final year in office.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The Far Right, Mainstreamed

How formerly fringe ethnonationalist and anti-immigration parties entered government across multiple established democracies between 2010 and 2026, reshaping global politics.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (Philippines)

The Philippines' 17th president since June 2022, Marcos navigates US-China rivalry over the West Philippine Sea while managing a collapsing domestic coalition and a vice-presidential impeachment.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Friedrich Merz

Germany's Federal Chancellor since May 2025, Friedrich Merz is steering the largest German rearmament program since reunification and reshaping Berlin's role in NATO.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Gen Z Uprisings

A global wave of leaderless, social-media-organized youth protests against corruption and austerity, active in at least 14 countries from 2022 to 2026, with governments toppled in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Madagascar.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Giorgia Meloni (Italy)

Italy's first female Prime Minister leads a far-right coalition from 2022, shaping EU defence, the Ukraine war, and Italian politics heading into a contested 2027 election.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Gustavo Petro (Colombia)

Colombia's first left-wing president (2022-2026), a former M-19 guerrilla who pursued simultaneous peace talks with armed groups, a fossil-fuel phaseout, and confrontation with Washington over cocaine.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Jair Bolsonaro (Brazil)

Brazil's 38th president, a former army captain who served seven terms in Congress, sentenced in September 2025 to 27 years for leading a post-election coup conspiracy.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Javier Milei

Argentina's libertarian-anarcho-capitalist president since December 2023, Milei is running a radical austerity program that has slashed inflation and redefined Buenos Aires's ties with the IMF and Washington.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Keir Starmer

UK's sixth prime minister in a decade, Starmer took Labour from a 2024 landslide to resignation in June 2026 under Reform UK pressure and a cabinet defence revolt.

·5 takes ·Jul 3

Kim Jong-un (North Korea)

North Korea's hereditary Supreme Leader since 2011, Kim Jong-un has transformed the DPRK into a declared nuclear power and reset its foreign alignment toward Russia while rejecting denuclearisation.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

King Charles III

The reigning monarch of the United Kingdom since September 2022, Charles III heads the 56-nation Commonwealth and is navigating a cancer diagnosis alongside historic royal tax transparency.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva

Brazil's three-term president and declared 2026 fourth-term candidate who shaped Latin American labor politics and social policy over five decades.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Mark Carney (Canada)

Canada's 24th Prime Minister, a former central bank governor whose career spans Goldman Sachs, two G7 central banks, and the UN climate finance chair.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Masoud Pezeshkian (Iran)

Iran's ninth president since July 2024, a reformist cardiac surgeon who co-signed the June 2026 Islamabad Memorandum ceasefire framework with the US, operating within Supreme Leader authority in Tehran.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Mohammed bin Salman

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince since 2017 and Prime Minister since 2022, the architect of Vision 2030 and the swing-producer decisions that move world oil prices.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE)

The UAE's third president since May 2022, MBZ built Abu Dhabi into the Gulf's most interventionist power, balancing US alliance, AI investment, and shifting stances on Iran.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Muhammad Yunus (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh's Nobel Peace Prize laureate who built the global microfinance movement through Grameen Bank, then led the country's interim government from August 2024 to February 2026 after Sheikh Hasina's fall.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Narendra Modi

India's Prime Minister since May 2014, Modi is the dominant figure in Indian politics and the architect of India's shift from strategic non-alignment to assertive great-power competition, now governing in a coalition third term after a decade of majority mandates.

·5 takes ·Jul 3

Pedro Sánchez

Spain's prime minister since 2018, leading a fragile minority coalition while managing a widening corruption siege around his party and family.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

People Power Movements

Mass civilian campaigns that force governments or heads of state from power without armed insurrection, a mechanism recurring across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East in 2024 to 2026.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The Papacy (Holy See)

The head of the Roman Catholic Church, elected for life by cardinals and governing 1.4 billion faithful from Vatican City, with diplomatic standing in more than 180 states.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Prabowo Subianto (Indonesia)

Indonesia's eighth president since October 2024, a retired army general whose economic reforms and opaque inner circle are testing Southeast Asia's largest democracy.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey)

Turkey's president since 2014 who centralized executive power through a 2017 constitutional referendum, and NATO's most consequential yet contested member into 2026.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Refusing to Concede

A tactic in which losing candidates reject certified election results to obstruct transfers of power, documented in the US, Venezuela, Colombia, Peru, and Guinea-Bissau since 2020.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Senegal

West African coastal republic regarded as sub-Saharan Africa's most durable democracy, now under fiscal stress from hidden debts and a constitutional power struggle between President Faye and former ally Ousmane Sonko.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Shehbaz Sharif (Pakistan)

Pakistan's two-term Prime Minister since 2022, Sharif governs a nuclear-armed, IMF-dependent state while repositioning Islamabad as a US-Iran ceasefire mediator.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Snap & Early Elections

The constitutional mechanism letting parliaments dissolve before term and hold an early vote, active in Israel, Serbia, Italy, and Malaysia as of mid-2026.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Strongman Succession

A structural vulnerability in personalist autocracies globally: concentrated power leaves no organic succession mechanism, generating crises when leaders die, fall ill, or are forcibly removed.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Tarique Rahman (Bangladesh)

Bangladesh's prime minister since February 2026, son of two former heads of state, who directed BNP from UK exile for 17 years before winning a two-thirds parliamentary majority.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The Coup Belt

The arc of West and Central African states where military juntas displaced elected governments nine times since 2020, reshaping the Sahel's security and great-power alignments.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The Postponed Vote

A global pattern where incumbents defer elections through security, legal, or coalition pretexts, blocking peace deals in Armenia and Libya and freezing democratic renewal in Lebanon and Mexico.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Ursula von der Leyen

Germany's Ursula von der Leyen has led the European Commission since 2019, setting trade, climate, and defence policy for the EU's 27 member states.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

US-Brazil trade

The largest US bilateral trade corridor in South America, worth US$127.6 billion in 2024, is under acute strain from Trump-era tariffs and a June 2026 USTR Section 301 action.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Venezuela's Internal Crisis

Venezuela's overlapping political, economic, and humanitarian emergency, rooted in two decades of Chavista rule, escalated into US military intervention in January 2026 and a catastrophic earthquake response in June.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Viktor Orbán (Hungary)

Hungary's prime minister from 1998 to 2002 and 2010 to 2026, Orbán built Europe's defining model of illiberal democracy before losing power in Hungary's April 2026 landslide election.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Vladimir Putin

Russia's president since 1999, Vladimir Putin is directing the full-scale war in Ukraine, commanding the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and managing a wartime economy under an ICC arrest warrant.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Volodymyr Zelensky (Ukraine)

Ukraine's wartime president since 2019, Zelensky transformed from TV comedian to the most visible leader in Europe's largest land war since 1945.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

William Ruto (Kenya)

Kenya's fifth president since 2022, facing recurring Gen Z protests over fiscal austerity, an open ICC crimes-against-humanity case, and a debt crisis central to East African politics.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Coups and people power: the non-electoral routes to regime change

How military coups and mass civilian pressure end governments outside elections, reshaping power across Africa, Europe and Asia in the 2020s.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

The domestic arena: courts, prosecutors, regions, and the street as the forces contesting elected governments

Courts, prosecutors, subnational governments, and street protests are the four structural forces that simultaneously contest elected power in democracies and hybrid regimes worldwide.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Elections: five forces reshaping how democracies change hands

Five structural forces, from concession refusals and snap elections to far-right mainstreaming, that increasingly determine whether a democratic transfer of power actually completes.

·3 takes ·Jul 3

Former leaders: how displaced heads of government keep reshaping their countries

Tracks three heads of government who have left power, covering the legal proceedings, political successors, and policy reversals that make their departures still consequential.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Heads of state: eight leaders whose decisions set the global agenda in 2026

Eight heads of government commanding nuclear arsenals, G7 institutions, and the world's largest economies whose bilateral signals move markets and wars.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Succession watch: five incumbents whose health and continuity move geopolitics

This beat covers five leaders whose incapacity, death, or contested transition would most immediately reshape active wars, nuclear policy, and the international order.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

Xi Jinping

China's paramount leader since 2012, Xi Jinping holds unified control over the Communist Party, military, and state, making him the dominant individual actor reshaping the international order.

·4 takes ·Jul 3

active EU's Kallas and two commissioners hold talks in Ankara ahead of NATO summit, seeking to reset Turkey ties

High Representative Kaja Kallas, Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, and Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner spent June 29-30 in Ankara meeting Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and two other ministers, the highest-level EU visit since Turkey's accession talks stalled, timed eight days before the Ankara NATO summit

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jul 1

active King Charles publishes personal tax bill for first time, disclosing £12.9m paid in 2024-25

The Royal Household's annual accounts released June 25 show Charles paid £30m in taxes since acceding in 2022, the first voluntary disclosure by a reigning British monarch in history

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 27

pending-decision Carney names the Mackenzie Valley Highway his first 'national interest' project

The Building Canada Act's debut fast-track designation pits Arctic sovereignty against Indigenous consent

The Long Game ·8 takes ·Jun 24

transition Colombia's CNE formally certifies De la Espriella as president-elect

The National Electoral Council completed the official scrutiny on June 24 and delivered credentials on June 25, closing the legal challenge period before the August 7 inauguration

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 25

active Erdoğan plays 'active neutrality' broker in the Iran war

Ankara condemns the strikes as illegal, mourns Khamenei, and offers Trump support to implement a ceasefire, with two-thirds of Turks wanting Turkey to stay out

How Wars Actually End ·8 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Ruto signs the Finance Bill early as Gen Z marks the June 25 anniversary

A new finance law with bread VAT and phone-activation duty revives the 2024 grievance; for the first time Ruto signs before June 25, the date that has met him with protests every year

How Life Changes ·12 takes ·Jul 1

transition Progressive candidates sweep New York City's Democratic congressional primaries

Lander (NY-10), Avila Chevalier (NY-13), and Valdez (NY-7) win their races in a June 24 result that reshapes the city's delegation

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jul 8

active MBZ pivots from war footing to Arab coordination as Hormuz reopens

The Gulf's most hawkish leader flies to Cairo to welcome the US-Iran deal and the strait's reopening, after demanding hard terms on Iran's missiles and nuclear program

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jul 20

active NATO summit heads to Ankara with US-European rift over Iran and defence spending

Rutte met Trump June 24 ahead of the July 7-8 Ankara summit; US anger at allies who refused to join the Iran campaign; 5% GDP defence target being pushed

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 24

active Netanyahu finishes corruption-trial testimony after 98 hearings

The prime minister leaves the stand calling the case a 'Stasi' operation as a verdict slips toward 2027 and an election toward autumn

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jul 1

worsening Prabowo's rupiah breaks 18,000 as investors flee Indonesia's worst-performing currency

An oil-price shock, a corruption scandal in the free-meals programme and an unnerving inner circle drive a crisis of confidence in Jakarta

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jul 1

transition Prabowo dissolves 240 state firms and targets 800 more in Indonesia's SOE overhaul

The Ministry of SOEs is gone; oversight shifts to Danantara, the sovereign wealth fund, with a target of consolidating 1,100 state entities down to 257

Who Decides ·3 takes ·Jun 25

active Putin says the fuel crisis won't change the war, Ukraine's strikes say otherwise

Drone strikes on refineries trigger the worst fuel shortage on the Black Sea peninsula since 2014; the Kremlin and independent press describe it in opposite terms

How Wars Actually End ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Sisi turns Gaza diplomacy into leverage as Egypt's economy stays fragile

Trump courts El-Sisi at the G7 over Gaza reconstruction and the Iran deal; at home inflation, a weak pound and lost Suez revenue still bite

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Sánchez survives a marathon Congress grilling, refuses to resign or call elections

5½ hours answering for a string of PSOE probes; the Senate demands a vote he won't give

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate Trump cancels housing-bill signing to force SAVE Act vote

Less than two hours before the planned ceremony, Trump posted that the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act would remain unsigned until Congress passed the SAVE America Act; the housing bill had cleared the Senate 85-5 and House 358-32

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 25

active Erdogan says legal framework to speed PKK disarmament is underway, giving no details

Erdogan told AK Party MPs that legislation to accelerate the PKK's disbandment is being prepared; the PKK voted to disband in May 2025 after Ocalan's appeal, but the process stalled as Turkey engaged in mediation over the Iran-Israel conflict

How Wars Actually End ·7 takes ·Jun 26

worsening Xi holds the line: no big stimulus as China fights deflation and the Iran shock

Manufacturing utilisation near a decade low, retail growth at a three-year trough, and Beijing answers with 'anti-involution', not a consumer bailout

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Algeria's parliamentary election draws record-low turnout as 269 candidates are barred

Algerians elected 407 MPs on July 2 with an estimated 11% turnout by afternoon, the lowest in any legislative vote since independence, amid candidate bans and a cost-of-living crisis

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 3

active Kim commissions the Choe Hyon, his largest warship, and declares a nuclear navy underway

A 5,000-tonne destroyer for nuclear-capable missiles, built, Seoul says, with Russian help, as Kim pivots from missiles to ships and submarines

The Long Game ·9 takes ·Jul 1

pending-decision Meloni weighs an early Italian election as soon as April 2027

Bloomberg reports a snap-vote calculation as ratings slide and Vannacci eclipses Salvini

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

active Merz hosts the E5 in Berlin to align before the NATO summit in Turkey

France, the UK, Italy and Poland join Germany to coordinate Ukraine, Iran and burden-sharing

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Merz demands 'all or nothing' on a 33-point pension overhaul

A commission hands Germany a capital pillar and life-expectancy retirement ages; the SPD and unions revolt

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jun 24

active Leo XIV summons the whole College of Cardinals, a governing method takes shape

An extraordinary consistory on 26–27 June puts war, the synod, just-war doctrine and AI to the cardinals who will one day pick his successor

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 8

stable Senate votes 50-48 to rebuke Trump's Iran war powers

Four Republican defectors passed a War Powers Act resolution; it has no force of law but is the first bipartisan Senate rebuke of the Iran campaign

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 9

pending-decision Nigeria's Senate passes state-police amendment, ending a 47-year federal monopoly

Tinubu's executive bill clears the upper house; 24 of 36 state assemblies must still ratify before governors can run their own forces

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jun 29

worsening Bangladesh floods Dhaka with troops as banned Awami League marks 77th anniversary

The BNP government deploys the army across six districts and arrests dozens; the home minister says 'there is no organisation by the name of Awami League'

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 28

pending-decision Anwar faces a July test as Johor and Negeri Sembilan call snap polls

Two states vote within 60 days; PH fields 56 candidates in Johor on July 11, a referendum on Anwar's reform record before the 2028 general election

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Carney nominates Manitoba's Glenn Joyal to the Supreme Court

A bilingual Prairie 'institutionalist' fills the Western seat left by Justice Martin

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Petro refuses to concede, alleging US and Israeli interference as his term winds down

A lame-duck leftist president, barred from re-election, demands a recount and audit after his bloc loses the runoff by under 1%

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Spain's Supreme Court jails Sánchez's former right-hand man Ábalos for 24 years

The first final corruption ruling to reach the PM's inner circle, in the pandemic 'masks' case

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jun 24

active Cerdán stays jailed and the Civil Guard searches PSOE HQ over a party 'plumber'

A second corruption strand circles Sánchez: kickbacks on public works and an obstruction probe

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 24

transition Burnham closes on Downing Street as the Labour contest turns to a coronation

After winning Makerfield, Burnham is the sole declared candidate to succeed caretaker PM Starmer

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 25

transition Markets brace for a Burnham premiership and the fate of Reeves's fiscal rules

Sterling and gilts move only modestly on Starmer's exit, the real question is the spending rules

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Nigeria's Senate passes state police constitutional amendment, dissolving 100-year-old single-force model

A manual vote after the electronic system failed ratified a dual policing structure giving Nigeria's 36 governors power to appoint their own commissioners; two-thirds of state assemblies must still endorse it

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 29

transition UK Prime Minister Starmer resigns after Labour's council election collapse; Burnham set to succeed

Keir Starmer quit as UK Prime Minister on 22 June 2026 after losing his parliamentary party's confidence following dismal May local election results; Andy Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election on 18 June to return to the Commons, is the sole declared candidate and is expected to take office by mid-July

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

transition Starmer quits, handing Britain its seventh prime minister in a decade

Less than two years after a landslide, Keir Starmer resigns amid Reform UK's surge; Burnham is frontrunner; nominations open July 9

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 25

active Tripoli convicts the torturer Italy arrested then freed, reviving the Almasri case

A 7-year sentence for Osama Almasri reopens the case against Meloni's ministers

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jun 24

active Colombia swings right by a whisker in the tightest runoff in its history

A Trump-aligned lawyer edges leftist Iván Cepeda by under 1%, ending the Petro era and realigning Bogotá toward Washington; post-election clashes in three cities

Who Decides ·4 takes ·Jun 25

active India commissions three home-built warships in one day at Kolkata

Modi inducts INS Dunagiri, Sanshodhak and Agray as a marker of self-reliant defence, and an answer to PLAN's Indian Ocean push

The Long Game ·15 takes ·Jun 24

transition Netanyahu heckled at Bahad 1; Katz declares indefinite Lebanon presence

A 'go home' shout at a combat-officer graduation drew scattered applause, Netanyahu ignored it, and the defence minister used the same stage to announce the IDF stays in Lebanon forever

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 27

worsening Sánchez's wife ordered to stand trial, passport seized

A Madrid judge sends Begoña Gómez to a jury trial on graft charges, deepening the corruption siege around Spain's prime minister

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Trump and Meloni rupture publicly over a G7 photo and Italy's Iran refusal

Trump says Meloni 'begged' him for a photo; she calls it fabricated and her diplomat cancels his US trip

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Merz calls the EU's next seven-year budget 'unaffordable'

After the June European Council, Berlin rejects the MFF proposal and floats Ukraine 'associate membership'

Whose Money ·5 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Warsaw strips Zelensky of its highest honour; Tusk fights to contain the fallout

A WWII-memory rupture pits President Nawrocki against PM Tusk and Kyiv, with Moscow the only clear winner

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Von der Leyen presses a tougher China line as the deficit hits €360bn

Every EU member now runs a deficit with Beijing; leaders weigh a 'menu' of trade measures

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Modi disburses the first jobs-incentive payouts as awareness lags where it matters

The ₹99,446-crore PM-VBRY pays first-time formal workers up to ₹15,000 and subsidises employers; a ₹2,400-crore first tranche reaches 15 lakh, but start-ups and micro-firms barely know it exists

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Bank of England holds UK interest rate at 3.75% as inflation stays above target and two MPC members push for a hike

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 on 19 June 2026 to hold the UK base rate at 3.75%, with UK CPI at 2.8% in May 2026; the two dissenting members voted to raise rates, citing persistent services inflation and wage growth above levels consistent with the 2% target

Whose Money ·5 takes ·Jul 3

active Anwar warns Europe after Norway pulls a missile-export licence: 'we'll seek alternatives'

RM600m+ in direct losses after a cancelled NSM delivery; Anwar, on Russian TV, contrasts Oslo's reversal with Moscow 'honouring all commitments'

Whose Money ·4 takes ·Jul 7

active ASEAN and Putin sign the Kazan Declaration, Marcos co-chairs, Anwar courts Moscow

At a 35th-anniversary summit in Kazan, ASEAN and Russia adopt four cooperation documents; the Philippines' Marcos co-chairs even as he leans on Washington

The Quiet Shift ·7 takes ·Jul 7

pending-decision Germany's 2027 budget: record new borrowing and a €140bn planning gap

Klingbeil defends ~€196bn in fresh debt as defence spending climbs toward €180bn by 2030

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active New forensics revive the $LIBRA case; watchdogs ask a judge to summon Milei

A federal-police report finds the token's supply concentrated in one address; Inecip and Cipce seek Milei's indagatoria

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jul 8

easing Sharif signs the 'Islamabad MoU' as guarantor of the US-Iran ceasefire

Pakistan recasts itself from war-adjacent bystander to lead mediator; Pezeshkian's thank-you visit and Nobel chatter follow a 14-point deal reopening Hormuz and extending the truce

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jun 24

easing Carney leaves the G7 with $5bn in minerals deals and a hot-mic on Chinese EVs

Canada's PM banks 13 critical-minerals partnerships and a France intelligence pact, while caught reassuring Trump over Chinese EV imports

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

easing Macron's Évian G7 turns Trump toward Ukraine, drops the joint communiqué

France hosts a summit that hardens the Russia line and claims a 'deep change' in the US approach, at the cost of consensus theatre

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Modi and Trump fast-track the India-US trade pact at the G7

First leaders' talks in 16 months order a 'commercially meaningful' deal; USTR Greer flies to Delhi as a July 24 tariff cliff looms and Congress cries appeasement

Whose Money ·19 takes ·Jun 24

easing Trump signs the US–Iran deal at Macron's Versailles dinner

A state dinner on the G7 margins becomes the unexpected venue for an initial war-ending agreement

How Wars Actually End ·9 takes ·Jun 24

active Poland and Germany sign a defence pact to extend the Eastern Shield

German troops to help fortify the Belarus and Russia borders as US engagement wavers

How Wars Actually End ·8 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate A DA reshuffle demand tests who really controls Ramaphosa's cabinet

The DA's new leader Hill-Lewis tells the president to demote Steenhuisen and reslot its ministers, forcing a constitutional question about the GNU's power to dictate appointments

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 9

transition Libya's three rival councils sign a joint elections roadmap, targeting February 2027

Aguila Saleh, Mohamed al-Menfi, and Mohammed Takala agreed on June 18 on a Document of Principles for simultaneous presidential and parliamentary polls, the first time all three institutions have jointly signed an electoral plan

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jun 27

worsening Prabowo's inner circle spooks markets as Indonesia swings from darling to laggard

Insiders blame erratic, poorly communicated policy and an opaque advisory court; a Tony Robbins session at the palace becomes the symbol of the unease

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jun 24

easing Sheinbaum's security cabinet reports homicides down 46%, as disappearances climb

Daily killings at a 12-year low under Harfuch's strategy, but the rising missing-persons count undercuts the headline

What Broke ·8 takes ·Jul 9

active Xi rolls out the red carpet for Myanmar's junta chief, and blesses the post-coup vote

21-gun salute for Min Aung Hlaing, a 'shared future' joint statement, RMB–kyat settlement and Kyaukpyu, Beijing legitimises a ballot that barred the opposition

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 9

active Macron leaves Australia off the G7 guest list, snubbing Albanese

Évian invites Brazil, Egypt, India, Kenya and South Korea, but not Canberra, breaking a near-unbroken run since 2019

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 7

worsening Petro's 'Total Peace' ends as 'Total War', armed groups stronger at his exit

ELN talks frozen since the Catatumbo massacre; violence less deadly but more pervasive, monitors find, as the transition looms

How Wars Actually End ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Ruto pledges Sh2bn for protest victims, then the exclusions trigger fresh protests

A KNCHR reparations framework verifies over 1,000 victims of 2017-2025 state violence, but bars looting and 'ordinary criminal' victims and withholds the names, drawing daily picketing

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Merz signals German minesweepers could secure the Strait of Hormuz

With a US–Iran framework deal, Berlin readies the Bundeswehr, under three conditions

How Wars Actually End ·3 takes ·Jun 24

active Albania's anti-corruption court summons incumbent PM Rama as witness in the Partizani corruption trial of opposition leader Berisha

Albania's Special Court SPAK accepted opposition Democratic Party leader Sali Berisha's request in April 2026 to call Prime Minister Edi Rama as a witness in the Partizani privatisation corruption case, creating a constitutionally charged confrontation between Albania's two dominant political figures; Berisha appeared before SPAK on 15 June under a compulsory appearance measure

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

transition End-of-term Supreme Court rulings loom against Trump on birthright and the Fed

Justices signaled they may preserve birthright citizenship and block the firing of Fed Governor Lisa Cook

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jul 1

worsening Erdogan calls the new East-Med energy bloc an 'illusion' aimed at encircling Turkey

US, Greece, Cyprus and Israel launch an energy centre at Rice University; Ankara invokes 'guarantor state' powers and warns Israeli strikes now threaten Turkey

The Quiet Shift ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Macron hosts Meloni at Antibes for the first France–Italy bilateral summit

The first leaders' summit under the 2021 Quirinal Treaty, focused on defence, space and energy

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 24

active Sharif's Rs18.77tn budget balances IMF discipline against salaried relief

Aurangzeb cuts salaried tax rates and scraps the surcharge while holding to the $7bn IMF programme's consolidation targets and a 17.6% higher revenue goal

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jul 8

contested-result Pezeshkian sells the ceasefire at home while hardliners and parliament fight the terms

Iran's president defends US talks and warns of economic ruin, but a new supreme leader and an IRGC-shaped parliament constrain what he can concede

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate Nawrocki sets a Polish veto record, paralysing Tusk's agenda

37 presidential vetoes in ten months turn cohabitation into open warfare

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Putin's summer offensive stalls as Ukrainian deep strikes bite the home front

Russia's spring-summer push around Pokrovsk grinds; Putin admits the drone war is hurting the economy and vows to bolster air defences

How Wars Actually End ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Sheinbaum walks into the USMCA review having already tariffed China to please Washington

Mexico dodged Trump's reciprocal tariffs; now the July 1 joint review turns on whether it can keep China out of North America's supply chain

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 7

resolved Seoul court gives Yoon Suk Yeol 30 more years for ordering North Korea drone incursions

South Korea's Seoul Central District Court found the ousted president guilty of treason and abuse of power for authorising three drone flights over Pyongyang in October 2024 to manufacture a security pretext for his December 2024 martial law declaration; the sentence is consecutive to his February 2026 life term for insurrection

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 1

transition Defence-spending revolt: Healey and Carns quit, accelerating Starmer's fall

Two defence resignations on 11 June reframe the collapse as policy-driven, not just poll panic

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision EU top-court adviser sides against von der Leyen in 'Pfizergate'

An Advocate General urges dismissing the Commission's appeal over the secret Pfizer vaccine texts

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Lula leads Flávio Bolsonaro by double digits as the fourth-term campaign hardens

At 80, Lula runs for an unprecedented fourth term with the right's standard-bearer dogged by scandal and his father jailed

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Marcos balances ASEAN chair against China's Scarborough 'nature reserve'

Manila condemns Beijing's 3,500-hectare reserve as a sovereignty grab, mandates Philippine names for sea features, while chairing ASEAN and courting a code of conduct

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jun 24

active Milei's cabinet chief admits hiding ~US$500k, contradicting his sworn testimony

Manuel Adorni concedes off-the-books savings the anti-casta government had built ethics policy around; opposition pushes a censure session

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Milei renews Argentina's US$5bn China currency swap despite US pressure

The self-styled Beijing critic extends the active yuan swap tranche for 12 months as Washington presses Buenos Aires to cut financial ties

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Netanyahu pinned between the Iran ceasefire and his far-right partners

An October election looming, Ben-Gvir and Smotrich demand Hezbollah's destruction while opposition brands the US-Iran deal Netanyahu's failure

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active US drug decertification and sanctions shadow Petro's final months

Washington's first 'failed demonstrably' label since 1997, plus sanctions on Petro himself, collide with a Trump-endorsed successor

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Trump signs $70bn Secure America Act, locking ICE and CBP funding through 2029

A budget-reconciliation bill ends a 76-day DHS shutdown and entrenches the deportation machine to term's end

Whose Money ·13 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Sharif puts 'the ball in the Taliban's court' as the Afghan border war reignites

June 28-29 strikes on Paktia, Paktika and Kunar killed a Taliban-claimed 36 civilians; Islamabad counts 29 militants; both sides summoned diplomats and the UN documented civilian deaths

How Wars Actually End ·13 takes ·Jul 2

pending-decision Von der Leyen unveils the EU's 21st Russia sanctions package

First-ever hits on shadow-fleet enablers, LNG-tanker resales and a frozen oil price cap

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

de-escalating Pashinyan wins re-election but falls short of the majority the peace deal needs

Civil Contract takes ~50% on June 7, enough to govern but not the two-thirds for the constitutional referendum Baku and Ankara demand before signing

How Wars Actually End ·11 takes ·Jun 24

active Xi in Pyongyang: first visit in seven years re-anchors the China–North Korea axis

Beijing pulls Kim back into orbit after Russia's courtship, 'good neighbour, good friend, good comrade', and silence on the bomb

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 9

contested-result Peru's eighth president in a decade to be picked in a Fujimori–Sánchez runoff

Months after Congress ousted Boluarte, a fragmented 35-candidate field narrows to far-right Keiko Fujimori versus the left's Roberto Sánchez

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 1

worsening Putin's SPIEF: 'no recession' as the war economy stalls and drones hit the showcase

Saudi guest of honour, a US delegation back after a decade, and a president conceding 'risks of stagnation' while Ukrainian strikes shadow his hometown forum

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Kim unveils a new enrichment plant and orders 'exponential' nuclear growth

North Korea reveals a fresh uranium-enrichment hall, likely a third site, as Kim says weapons-grade output has more than doubled in five years

The Long Game ·7 takes ·Jun 24

easing Macron's confidence rating rebounds to 26%, a one-year high

A diplomacy-driven bounce, with PM Lecornu matching him exactly, as the final year of the term opens

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate Putin rebuffs Zelensky's summit call: 'no point', and Europe is not a mediator

Moscow leans wholly on the Trump–Anchorage framework, demands Ukraine stop its advance, and tells Kyiv to sign before any meeting

How Wars Actually End ·7 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Armed clashes in Mogadishu as Somalia's opposition disputes President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's mandate extension past expired term

Fighting erupted in Mogadishu in early June 2026 after the president extended his mandate without a parliamentary vote; Puntland and Jubaland suspended federal participation as al-Shabaab launched coordinated attacks on the international support forces

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 3

active Jailed vice-admiral names Morena leaders as 'the real culprits' of fuel-fraud scandal

Farías Laguna's letters to Sheinbaum widen the huachicol fiscal case; his defence disputes that the full file was handed over

Whose Money ·8 takes ·Jul 10

active US reportedly probes two more Morena governors over cartel ties; AMLO backs Sheinbaum

Reports name Sonora's Durazo and Tamaulipas's Villarreal; Sheinbaum calls it a discrediting campaign as her predecessor breaks silence

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 9

active Milei's RIGI clears mega energy bets: YPF's US$25bn project, San Matías pipeline

The large-investment regime tops 18 approved projects and >US$22.5bn; critics cost the fiscal giveaway at ~US$1.8bn a year

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Lula threatens reciprocity as Trump's 25% tariff collides with Brazil's election

A 30-day deadline lapses, Washington moves on a 25% levy, and Lula readies a retaliation law months before facing Flávio Bolsonaro

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

easing Macron and Kagame unveil a Paris memorial to the 1994 Rwandan genocide

A Seine-side monument marks France's long, incomplete reckoning, short of a formal apology

The Quiet Shift ·9 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Ramaphosa rejects an anti-migrant 'June 30 deadline' while rolling out a crackdown

Operation Dudula's ultimatum and a fatal Mossel Bay attack force the president to address the nation; he calls xenophobia unacceptable, then unveils tougher migration enforcement that critics call recycled

How Life Changes ·11 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision USTR proposes forced-labor tariffs on 60 economies, Trump's post-IEEPA tariff vehicle

After the Supreme Court voided IEEPA tariffs, Section 301 becomes the new, uncapped lever against China, India, the EU and dozens more

Whose Money ·12 takes ·Jun 24

active Macron lands a record €93bn at Choose France, half of it a SoftBank AI bet

71 foreign-investment projects and a Dunkerque data-centre mega-deal as France defends its FDI lead

Whose Money ·10 takes ·Jun 24

active Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party takes 438 of 547 seats, cementing control despite Tigray exclusion and Amhara unrest

Results confirmed June 21 with 90% of ballots counted; EZEMA wins 13, NaMA 6; monitors say voting was free in fewer than half the constituencies

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 26

active Trump reshapes steel, aluminum and copper tariffs with US-content carve-outs

A 1 June proclamation cuts farm-equipment duties and rewards high US material content, building a new tariff wall

Whose Money ·9 takes ·Jun 24

active Botswana's Boko pursues DCEC overhaul and Africa-first foreign policy after declining Trump White House invitation

President Duma Boko has moved to delink the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime from the public service, demanded bilateral talks on Botswana's soil rather than in Washington, and articulated a natural-resource sovereignty doctrine that frames his first year in office

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 3

active US indicts a sitting Mexican governor; Sheinbaum calls it 'interference'

SDNY charges Sinaloa's Rocha Moya with aiding 'Los Chapitos'; Sheinbaum says Mexico may reject the detention request absent evidence

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 9

pending-decision Morena's Senate pushes Mexico's judicial elections from 2027 to 2028

An 87-40 constitutional vote reworks candidate selection and lets TEPJF magistrates seek re-election, extending the bench overhaul

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 8

pending-decision Milei sends Congress a bill to create AI-run 'non-human corporations'

A new corporate category run by AI agents, human shareholders optional; Harari warns of regulatory arbitrage and impunity

The Long Game ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Three years on, Tinubu says reforms saved Nigeria; fuel is up 463%

Markets and FAAC allocations have surged since the subsidy was cut and the naira floated, but petrol has risen more than fourfold and households are still squeezed

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jun 24

active ED raids on Pinarayi reopen the Centre-vs-states fight as the court walks back on Governors

An ₹18.36-crore freeze on Kerala's ex-CM revives 'weaponised agencies' charges; the Supreme Court's November opinion narrows its own April ruling that had reined in Governors

Who Decides ·13 takes ·Jun 24

active House commission opens up to eleven probes of Petro for campaigning for his successor

Disciplinary and criminal files over his X account and rally speeches; the Council of State orders him to stop official political messaging

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Pezeshkian ends Iran's ~4-month internet blackout, and the IRGC pushes back

The president orders international access restored after one of the longest shutdowns on record; hardline outlets say he had no authority, exposing the rift inside the system

What Broke ·8 takes ·Jun 24

repaired Netherlands cabinet drops plan to accelerate AOW state pension age after parliament, Senate, and unions all block the proposal

The Netherlands cabinet formally abandoned on 26 May 2026 its proposal to accelerate the state pension age so that it would reach 70 by 2054, after the Tweede Kamer ordered a rethink in February, the Senate voted to block it in April, and the FNV union federation issued an ultimatum; the AOW age remains 67 in 2026-2027 under existing law

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

active Court strips Turkey's opposition leader, reinstating his predecessor

An Istanbul court annuls the CHP's 2023 congress, unseating Özgür Özel and bringing back Kılıçdaroğlu, judicial pressure on Erdoğan's main rival party deepens

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Senegal's Faye fires PM Sonko and dissolves government; Sonko elected parliament speaker in bid to retain institutional leverage

President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dismissed Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko on May 22, 2026 amid a widening policy rift; Sonko was elected National Assembly speaker four days later and named his faction's institutional rival, fracturing the Pastef governing coalition

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 3

easing IMF clears Argentina's second review, then orders Milei to keep buying dollars

The Fund unlocks ~$1bn and praises the disinflation, but pins a reserves floor that critics say could reignite inflation in an election year

Whose Money ·7 takes ·Jun 24

worsening Paz's cabinet hollows out as Bolivia's worst crisis in 40 years hits the streets

Defence, education and labour ministers gone in ten days; ~100 roadblocks, fuel and food shortages, and calls for the new president to quit

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 24

active Chile's lower house approves the base text of President Kast's flagship economic bill as Chile's GDP growth outpaces the region

Chile's Chamber of Deputies approved on 20 May 2026 the base text of President José Antonio Kast's Pacto Fiscal, a tax, labour-market, and state-reform package that Kast pitched to Bloomberg in April as central to Chile's 3-4% GDP growth target; Chile's economy grew 3.5% in 2025, above the Latin American average

Whose Money ·4 takes ·Jul 3

active Nigeria's anti-Tinubu coalition splits in two as Atiku and Obi run separately

Atiku takes the ADC ticket; Obi and Kwankwaso bolt to the NDC, handing the president two rival challengers instead of one, just as the 2027 race opens

Who Decides ·13 takes ·Jun 24

active Modi becomes India's longest continuously serving elected prime minister

4,399 days surpasses Nehru, a record the cabinet calls a democratic milestone and the opposition calls 'dubiously invented'

Who Decides ·16 takes ·Jun 24

contested-result Lula and a Bolsonaro son run dead even into Brazil's October vote

Jailed and barred, Jair Bolsonaro hands the flag to Senator Flávio; an 80-year-old Lula seeks a fourth term with the race tied

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jun 25

active Leaked audio ties Flávio Bolsonaro to jailed banker over R$134m film-funding demand

The right's 2026 candidate confirms a recording asking ex-banker Daniel Vorcaro to release money for a biopic of his father, widening Lula's lead

Whose Money ·6 takes ·Jun 24

transition Iraq installs a 41-year-old banker as PM after a five-month deadlock

Sudani sidelined, Maliki vetoed under US pressure: parliament approves Ali al-Zaidi with a partial cabinet, defence and interior still vacant

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

easing England's NHS hits its 18-week waiting target for the first time in years and cuts its list by half a million since July 2024

NHS England announced in May 2026 that 65.3% of patients were being treated within 18 weeks, clearing the interim target set in the UK Labour government's Elective Reform Plan, as the waiting list fell by approximately 500,000 from its July 2024 peak; UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting called it 'the biggest cut in waiting lists in a single month in 17 years'

The Quiet Shift ·5 takes ·Jul 3

escalating A cancelled NEET exam spawns the 'Cockroach' Gen-Z revolt against Modi's government

The NTA scraps the 2.27-million-candidate medical entrance after a paper leak; a satirical youth movement demanding the education minister's resignation gains 22 million followers in a month

How Life Changes ·16 takes ·Jun 24

active İmamoğlu's 'political espionage' trial opens in Silivri

Jailed over a year, Erdoğan's strongest rival faces 15-20 years on espionage charges and a separate indictment seeking up to 2,430, and tells the court the nation will decide at the ballot box

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jul 7

pending-decision Marcos vs Duterte: Sara's Senate impeachment trial opens July 6

257 House votes, $110m in flagged transfers, and a trial that runs in parallel with the elder Duterte's ICC case at The Hague

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Bolivia's Tarija court issues an arrest warrant for Evo Morales after he skips his third hearing in a human trafficking trial

A Tarija criminal court declared former Bolivian President Evo Morales in contempt on 11 May 2026 and issued an order for his arrest after he failed to appear for the opening of his trial on aggravated human trafficking charges; police were authorised to seize him anywhere in the country and migration authorities were ordered to block his exit

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

pending-decision Ivory Coast dissolves its electoral commission ahead of a contested 2025 presidential election

The cabinet dissolved the Independent Electoral Commission (CEI) on May 7 following years of opposition accusations that it was a RHDP tool; a replacement body has not yet been named

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 3

contested-result BJP takes West Bengal for the first time; the wider 2026 verdict is anti-incumbent

Modi's party ends Mamata's 15-year rule and wins a third Assam term, but Vijay's TVK seizes Tamil Nadu and Congress sweeps Kerala, three of four states change hands

Who Decides ·15 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate Senate rejects Lula's Supreme Court pick, first since 1894, and he renominates the same man

The chamber blocks AGU Jorge Messias 42–34 in a historic rebuke tied to its own president; Lula sends the name back

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Israel sets 27 October vote, Netanyahu's first ballot since 7 October and three wars

A judge fixes the date Netanyahu wanted, the latest possible; a dissolution bill that would have pulled it earlier is in play

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jun 24

transition Iraq names businessman Ali al-Zaidi as PM-designate as US halts dollar shipments and Iran war pushes oil exports into force majeure

After PM al-Sudani's Coordination Framework coalition fractured in April 2026, Iraq's president named Ali al-Zaidi as prime minister-designate; the US halted dollar cash shipments as leverage over Iran-linked militias while a Hormuz closure cut oil exports by 70%

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 3

active Herzog stalls a Netanyahu pardon as Trump piles on pressure

The president pushes a mediated plea deal Netanyahu won't take, admitting wrongdoing and quitting politics, while Trump calls Herzog 'weak and pathetic'

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jun 24

escalating JNIM and Tuareg rebels kill Mali's defence minister in coordinated assault on Bamako and five cities

A pre-dawn offensive on April 25-26 struck Kati, Bamako, Gao, Kidal, Mopti and Sévaré simultaneously; Defence Minister Sadio Camara was killed by a car bomb at his Kati home

How Wars Actually End ·10 takes ·Jul 3

escalating Mali's junta suffers largest coordinated rebel offensive since 2012 as JNIM kills Defence Minister and Russia's Africa Corps evacuates Kidal and all northern positions

On April 25, 2026, JNIM and the Tuareg FLA launched simultaneous attacks across Bamako, Kati, Sevaré and five other towns, killing Defence Minister Sadio Camara; Russia's Africa Corps evacuated Kidal on April 26, then Tessalit and Aguelhok, ceding all major northern positions within days and delivering a direct blow to Moscow's Sahel security narrative

How Wars Actually End ·5 takes ·Jul 3

stalemate Modi's plan to nearly double the Lok Sabha is voted down

The Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to expand parliament to 850 seats and freeze delimitation on the 2011 census fails the two-thirds bar amid a united opposition and southern revolt

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

active Pope Leo XIV visits Cameroon's anglophone region, drawing 120,000 to Douala mass and condemning decade of separatist violence

Pope Leo XIV's April 2026 visit to Cameroon's anglophone southwest region was the first papal visit to the conflict zone since the 2016 crisis began; Paul Biya's government simultaneously delayed legislative elections again, extending the sitting parliament's mandate through December 2026

How Wars Actually End ·6 takes ·Jul 3

transition Magyar's Tisza ends Orbán's 16-year rule with a two-thirds majority

An 11 April landslide hands the EU a new Budapest, unblocking Ukraine aid while refusing to fast-track Kyiv's accession

Who Decides ·12 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Cameroon revives a vice-presidency at 93, fuelling a dynastic-succession row

Parliament restores a post scrapped in 1972; reports that Biya named son Franck VP are claimed by some outlets and denied by the government

Who Decides ·10 takes ·Jun 24

active Trump reopens GERD mediation; Sisi calls the Nile a red line

At the G7 Trump says the dam is causing Egypt 'tremendous problems' and offers to restart US Nile mediation, six months after Ethiopia inaugurated Africa's largest hydro project

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

active Vietnam's To Lam becomes both party chief and president, consolidating power in a China-style structure

To Lam was reelected Communist Party general secretary in January 2026 and elected president in April, merging the top two positions for the first time since Ho Chi Minh and ending Vietnam's collective-leadership tradition

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jul 3

easing Sweden records its lowest homicide count in over a decade as gang shootings fall 62% in the first quarter of 2026

Sweden recorded 84 homicides in 2025, the lowest total since 2012, and saw criminal-network shootings drop from 39 in Q1 2025 to 15 in Q1 2026; the Tidö Agreement's doubled sentences for gang crime and the February 2026 proposal to criminalise gang membership are credited; explosion offences hit a record 621 in 2025, signalling a shift in violence form

The Quiet Shift ·6 takes ·Jul 3

active CAR's Touadera sworn in for unconstitutional third term as MINUSCA faces 15% budget cut and only 17% of humanitarian appeal funded

Faustin-Archange Touadera was inaugurated on March 30, 2026 for a third term enabled by his 2023 constitutional term-limit removal; the UN Security Council renewed MINUSCA's mandate in June but ordered a 15% budget cut, suspending operations; and only 17% of the US$268m humanitarian plan was funded, forcing closure of 100+ field bases for 2.8 million vulnerable people

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

active Modi's bid to isolate Pakistan backfires as Islamabad courts Washington and Beijing

A decade after Modi vowed to quarantine Pakistan, Islamabad signs minerals and crypto deals with Trump's circle and an 'all-weather' upgrade with Xi, and India is left protesting from the sidelines

What They're Not Saying ·21 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Myanmar's Three Brotherhood Alliance fractures as MNDAA seizes Kutkai from TNLA ally; Arakan Army closes on Sittwe and NUG forms unified resistance command

The Three Brotherhood Alliance shattered in March 2026 when the MNDAA captured Kutkai from former ally TNLA, serving Chinese interests in reopening border trade; the Arakan Army pushed to within 2-3km of Sittwe capital in Rakhine State; and the NUG formed a unified resistance command SCEF with four ethnic armies

How Wars Actually End ·7 takes ·Jul 3

contested-result Mojtaba Khamenei inherits a contested throne, and a fractured state to run it

Iran's first hereditary succession installs a mid-ranking cleric the Guards pushed through; a third of the Assembly never signed on

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision Lebanon postpones its May 2026 election by two years as war with Israel rages

Parliament extends its own term to 2028 amid the Hezbollah–Israel escalation; Christian parties object to the open-ended delay

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jun 24

escalating Pakistan launches air strikes on Kabul in 'open war' with Taliban as cross-border attacks escalate to drone strikes on Pakistani territory

Pakistan bombed Kabul and Kandahar in February 2026 and launched further strikes into June; Afghanistan responded with drone strikes on Pakistan in late June, with no ceasefire in place as of July 2026

How Wars Actually End ·5 takes ·Jul 3

transition Peru installs its third president in weeks as Congress removes Dina Boluarte and Keiko Fujimori leads the June 2026 presidential election first round

Peru's Congress impeached President Dina Boluarte on 8 February 2026 for constitutional abandonment, installed José Jeri as interim president, then replaced him with Cristina Balcázar on 19 February after questions about Jeri's eligibility; Keiko Fujimori of Fuerza Popular won the most first-round votes in the June 2026 election with results expected by early July

Who Decides ·5 takes ·Jul 3

transition BNP sweeps Bangladesh's first post-Hasina vote; Tarique Rahman to be PM

Yunus's interim government hands over after a February landslide; Jamaat-e-Islami a distant second, the student NCP nearly shut out

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 24

transition Anutin's Bhumjaithai wins Thailand's snap vote as voters back a new charter

The royalist-military-favoured party tops the 8 February poll on nationalism and stimulus; a referendum approves scrapping the 2017 constitution

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jun 24

active Thailand's Bhumjaithai wins snap election with 193 seats, returning Anutin as prime minister

Bhumjaithai's February 8, 2026 landslide was Thailand's first conservative election victory of the 21st century; Anutin Charnvirakul was reconfirmed as prime minister in March with a 272-seat coalition backed by Pheu Thai

Who Decides ·8 takes ·Jul 3

transition Costa Rica elects hardliner Laura Fernández in a first-round security landslide

A Chaves-aligned conservative wins outright with 48.5% and a single-party legislative majority, the first since 1990

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jun 24

pending-decision EU and India clinch the 'mother of all' trade deals

Two decades of stalled talks ended on geopolitics as much as commerce; the text is signed only on paper, with formal signature due by end-2026

Whose Money ·15 takes ·Jul 7

contested-result Nawrocki signs Poland's 2026 budget but sends it to the Constitutional Tribunal

The president can't veto the budget, so he refers it, Tusk says it changes nothing

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 7

pending-decision The H2 2026 ballot map: Russia, Brazil, Israel and a dozen more go to the polls

From Algeria in July to South Sudan's long-delayed vote in December, who votes, when, and where power actually turns over

Who Decides ·6 takes ·Jun 24

stalemate After Maduro's capture, Delcy Rodríguez holds a contested interim presidency

Sworn in under Article 233 following the January US raid, she extends a hand to Trump while insisting Maduro is still the only president

Who Decides ·11 takes ·Jun 24

active EU freezes €156m in Tanzania aid as post-election violence death toll reaches 518

Tanzania's government-appointed commission confirmed 518 deaths after the October 2025 election; the EU Parliament blocked 2026 aid in November 2025 and the US imposed travel restrictions in January 2026

What Broke ·8 takes ·Jul 3

easing Charles's cancer treatment moves to a 'precautionary phase', but the palace won't say remission

Buckingham Palace scales back the King's schedule on doctors' advice; two years on, the type and stage stay undisclosed

What They're Not Saying ·5 takes ·Jun 24

stable Guinea-Bissau coup seizes power days after a disputed vote, 'real or staged?'

Soldiers arrest President Embaló as both he and the opposition claim election victory; civil society alleges a 'simulated coup,' ECOWAS suspends the country

What Broke ·7 takes ·Jun 24

transition Madagascar's Colonel Randrianirina takes power after October 2025 coup, promises 2027 elections as AU suspends membership

CAPSAT forces seized power on October 12-14, 2025 as President Rajoelina fled on a French military aircraft; Colonel Michael Randrianirina was sworn in as interim president on October 17 with a four-phase transition plan targeting a presidential election in October 2027

Who Decides ·7 takes ·Jul 3

stable A Gen Z uprising and a mutinous army unit topple Rajoelina in Madagascar

CAPSAT, the unit that made Rajoelina in 2009, switches sides; Col. Randrianirina takes power, AU suspends the island, elections promised for 2027

What Broke ·9 takes ·Jul 8

worsening ICE's Chicago 'Midway Blitz' and the 2025 National Guard fight

1,000+ arrests, a blocked move to federalize Illinois troops, and a fourth 'No Kings' day of protest

Who Decides ·9 takes ·Jul 7

tracking

The briefing, by email