#geopolitics

#geopolitics

On Wednesday morning, the three men led a group of more than 20 world leaders as they strode towards a rostrum in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to watch a victory day parade marking the end, eight decades ago, of a global conflict that would soon usher in the first cold war. When Wednesday's celebrations end, however, the regimes in Beijing, Moscow and Pyongyang will be left to confront significant domestic challenges that might yet shift their focus from global power politics.

Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un are among the world leaders who will attend a military parade with President Xi Jinping in Beijing next week, in a show of collective defiance amid western pressure. No western leaders will be among the 26 foreign heads of state and government attending the parade next week with the exception of Robert Fico, prime minister of Slovakia, a member of the European Union according to the Chinese foreign ministry.

A new unease has gripped the German population, making itself felt around kitchen tables, in classrooms and in offices. Many are trying to imagine the unimaginable: a war in Europe, triggered by Russia, involving German soldiers, German sons and daughters, sent to the front to defend democracy.

Trump's portrayal as a dealmaker was tested in Anchorage, where he claimed Putin respected him, despite Putin holding to his Ukrainian territorial claims.

The war has been raging since 2022 but some, like international security and geopolitics experts like Karthika Sasikumar, say they'd be shocked if there's a substantial breakthrough that comes from the summit.

The Mercator map distorts continent sizes, enlarging areas near the poles while shrinking Africa and South America. This false representation influences media, education, and policy.

"I don't think there's a big wall of oil coming from Russia if peace breaks out," said energy forecaster Dan Pickering. "My expectation is there's a more significant impact on sentiment-'Here come the Russians'-than there would be on actual barrels."

Secondary sanctions go a step further and extend to third-party countries, companies or individuals that do business with sanctioned parties. Even though these third-party entities aren't directly bound by the sanctioning country's laws, they are pressured to comply or face consequences should they do business in the sanctioning country.

"Trust in public cloud providers is being eroded, especially among businesses operating outside the United States, and driving a growing movement toward sovereign and private cloud solutions."

The forced smile of the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, giving a Trump-style thumbs up while the U.S. president grins gleefully at her side represents a significant power imbalance in transatlantic relations.

The OPEC+ alliance agreed to increase oil production by 547,000 barrels per day in September, ahead of schedule, as eight member countries boost output.

Iceland remains unique as the only NATO member without an army, relying on its Coast Guard for defense and a strong commitment to strengthen its defense policy.

Israeli leadership views its 12-day war with Iran as a success, claiming significant military advantages and the urging of U.S. participation in operations against Iran's nuclear site.

Russia's military doctrine emphasizes artillery, maintaining a significant advantage with 13,673 pieces, surpassing India's and China's total artillery combined.

On average, nearly 60% of the FTSE 100's returns were generated on just 59 days each year - about 16% of the year - which coincided with major global or economic events.

The SKA-Low team built a prototype instrument called EDA2 and ran some tests, finding over 112,000 signals from 1,506 different Starlink satellites, significantly stronger than target signals.

Trump stated on Truth Social that the U.S. will impose a 19% tariff rate on the Philippines, down from a 20% tariff he threatened starting August 1. In return, he mentioned that the Philippines would have an open market and the U.S. would not pay tariffs.

"Almost half of BullionVault's respondents (47%) forecast a rise of 10% and a further quarter (25%) predicted a 20% rise by year-end."

I was really moved by something that you said when you talked about the war in Gaza. And I think that's really courageous to speak about it.

The participation of three Palestinian teens in the International Mathematics Olympiad signals progress despite previous visa challenges, marking a moment of unity amidst geopolitical strife.

The breakaway Turkish Cypriots have promised a new approach to the negotiations as informal talks are set to begin in New York under UN Secretary-General António Guterres.