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2025-08-24 • Germany transits Taiwan Strait, signaling EU hard-power shift.
Morning Intelligence – The Gist Berlin just sent its message at 25 knots. Before dawn on 23 August, the frigate Baden-Württemberg and support ship Frankfurt am Main threaded the 180-km Taiwan Strait—the first German transit in 22 years—under the steady gaze of the PLA Navy. Beijing’s protest w…
Read More2025-08-23 • Syria’s instability persists; elections suspended.
Evening Analysis – The Gist Good evening, Syria’s election commission has suspended next month’s parliamentary vote in the key provinces of Sweida, Raqqa and Hasaka after fresh Druze-Bedouin clashes left hundreds dead and forced Israeli air-strikes on regime positions—proof that “post-war” Syr…
Read More2025-08-23 • Kyiv hears sirens; NATO pledges “iron-clad” support.
Morning Intelligence – The Gist Kyiv woke to air-raid sirens—but also to NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte pledging “iron-clad” security guarantees designed to deter any future Russian assault. Negotiators are drafting a framework that could mirror Article 5 for Ukraine, with the U.S. and at l…
Read More2025-08-22 • Fed shifts to flexible-inflation targeting, markets react.
Evening Analysis – The Gist The Federal Reserve tore up its 2020 “make-up” playbook today, with Chair Jerome Powell using Jackson Hole to restore orthodox flexible-inflation targeting and delete language premised on near-zero rates. Policy is still set at 4.25-4.50 %, yet PCE inflation has ret…
Read More2025-08-22 • Everglades jail halted; wetlands prioritized over politics.
Morning Intelligence – The Gist Alligator Alcatraz was billed as a 5,000-bed, $450 million-a-year showcase of muscular border policy. A federal judge has now frozen further construction, ordered generators and sewage lines ripped out, and barred new detainees, ruling that the Everglades’ fragi…
Read More2025-08-21 • Russia’s heavy strikes signal threat to Europe, NATO’s gap.
Evening Analysis – The Gist Russian forces unleashed their heaviest aerial barrage in weeks overnight, firing 40 cruise and ballistic missiles plus 574 drones and striking a U.S-owned electronics plant near the Polish border—Kyiv’s gateway to NATO logistics.(ft.com, reuters.com, apnews.com) Mo…
Read More2025-08-21 • Hurricane Erin’s rapid intensification highlights climate volatility.
Morning Intelligence – The Gist Hurricane Erin’s 24-hour leap from 75 mph to 160 mph—a 113% wind-speed surge—vaults it into the record books as one of the fastest-intensifying Atlantic storms on record, forcing evacuations along North Carolina’s tourist-dependent Outer Banks and closing New Yo…
Read More2025-08-20 • Russia’s drone attack strategy: volume over precision.
Evening Analysis – The Gist Russia’s overnight swarm of 93 Shahed-type drones and two missiles again exposed the war’s new arithmetic: volume over precision. Ukrainian air defenses intercepted 62 of the drones and one missile, yet 31 penetrated, wounding 14 civilians in Sumy’s Okhtyrka and ign…
Read More2025-08-20 • White House “peace summit”: vague promises, no breakthroughs.
Morning Intelligence – The Gist The hurried White House “peace summit” reveals less a breakthrough than a scramble. Trump pledged “security guarantees” for Kyiv yet left NATO accession off-limits and offered only the vaguest hint of air support—hedging that kept the dollar firm as investors se…
Read More2025-08-19 • Hamas agrees to cease-fire plan; Israel reviewing.
Evening Analysis – The Gist Qatar’s disclosure that Hamas has given a “positive response” to a 60-day Gaza cease-fire plan—now under Israeli review—signals the first aligned movement by all principals since March’s truce collapse. The draft, seen by Reuters, trades 10 living and 18 deceased Is…
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