Hard Numbers: Modi to meet Xi, European bigwigs set to reimpose Iran sanctions, Egypt cracks down on influencers, & More

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ​Chinese President Xi Jinping in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, 2024.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Kazan, Russia, on October 23, 2024.
China Daily via REUTERS

7: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend in Tianjin in what will be his first visit to China in seven years, a sign that tensions between the two massive countries are easing. Border disputes, technological rivalries, and China’s support for Pakistan have aggravated the relationship, but the US’s tariff policies appear to be pushing them closer.

30: The three most powerful European countries – France, Germany, and the United Kingdom – have got the wheels moving on restoring sanctions on Iran that they had lifted as part of the 2015 nuclear deal. The action comes amid concerns that Tehran is expanding its nuclear arsenal again. The sanctions could retake effect within 30 days.

151: Egyptian authorities have been arresting TikTok influencers with millions of followers. One human rights organization has tracked 151 such people being charged in the past five years in connection with their TikTok videos – and the full number could be even higher. The arrests are part of a broader government effort to clamp down on speech they see as antithetical to the official definition of family values.

250: Seven US deportees arrived in Rwanda yesterday as a part of a deal the East African country has struck with the Trump administration to ultimately accept up to 250 deportees. It comes after Kigali made a similar deal with the United Kingdom in 2022.

3: Thailand’s Constitutional Court permanently removed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, dissolving her cabinet and deepening political turmoil in the country. She is the third of her family to be ousted from office, amid continued dominance by Thailand’s royalist-military establishment – despite her party taking electoral power from them in 2023.

More from GZERO Media

Earlier this month, Microsoft released the 2025 TechSpark Impact Report, which highlights how the company is assisting regions across the US in achieving these goals. Since its launch, TechSpark has obtained over $700 million in community funding, supported more than 65,000 people in developing digital skills, and, thanks to the work of TechSpark Fellows, catalyzed $249M+ in funding and upskilled 34,600 individuals across 46 communities — highlighting the ripple effect of local leadership and innovation. Learn more about this progress in the 2025 report here.

People walk past a jewelry store in the Diamond District of Manhattan, New York City, USA, on August 6, 2025.
Jimin Kim / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

GZERO spoke to Eurasia Group’s Commodities Director Tim Puko to better understand why the diamond industry has tanked, and the consequences of this for geopolitics.

- YouTube

In Ask Ian, Ian Bremmer notes that US–China relations are once again on edge. After Washington expanded export controls on Chinese tech firms, Beijing struck back with new limits on critical minerals. President Trump responded by threatening 100% tariffs, then quickly walked them back.

In this episode of The Ripple Effect: Investing in Life Sciences, host Dan Riskin speaks with Patrick Horber, President of Novartis International, and David Gluckman, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Global Head of Healthcare at Lazard. Together, they break down the outsized economic impact of life science innovation, from trillions in US bioscience output to China’s meteoric rise as a global R&D hub.

RPG-7 training of Ukrainian soldiers. November 17, 2024.
  • Adrien Vautier via Reuters Connect

People from different cultures often approach the same problem in different ways. We wondered — would an AI trained and tuned in China approach a complex geopolitical challenge differently than a model created and trained in Europe, or in the United States?

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the members of the media, after arriving by plane to attend the Gaza Peace Summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025.
Yoan Valat/Pool via REUTERS

2: French President Emmanuel Macron rejected calls to resign as his fragile government faces two no-confidence votes this week.