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Analysis

Members of Syrian security forces ride on a back of a truck after Syrian troops entered the predominantly Druze city of Sweida on Tuesday following two days of clashes, in Sweida, Syria July 15, 2025.

REUTERS

The latest round of deadly sectarian violence in Syria started off small. Last Sunday, a Bedouin tribe reportedly robbed and attacked a Druze man at a checkpoint in southern Syria, near the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. The incident quickly escalated into a battle that has left more than 350 people dead and drawn in not only Syrian government forces, but also Israel, which intervened forcefully under the pretext of protecting the Druze.

The clashes add to a series of sectarian flare-ups since the fall of the Assad dictatorship seven months ago. In March, forces aligned with the government massacred nearly 1,500 Alawites in response to a failed rebellion by Assad loyalists within the community, and in April, dozens were killed when the Druze clashed with security forces near Damascus.

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 Jair Bolsonaro, Donald Trump, and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

President Lula
US-Brazil relations have been heating up for a bit, but President Donald Trump ratcheted up the temperature on the Lula administration a week ago when he announced that the United States would slap a 50% tariff on all Brazilian imports effective Aug 1. Trump is lashing out against South America’s largest economy with the steepest penalty yet, not over trade – Washington actually runs a surplus with Brasília, which is why the country initially faced only the 10% baseline announced on April 2 – but in retaliation for the ongoing trial of former president Jair Bolsonaro and recent court decisions regulating (mostly American) social media giants.
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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), on the day of Circle Internet Group's IPO, in New York City, U.S., June 5, 2025.

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

Cryptocurrencies may have been born in part to resist government control, but they have soared to record levels this week because Washington is finally stepping in to regulate the industry.

In what is being dubbed as “crypto week,” Congress is expected to pass a series of bills setting rules for $3.76 trillion cryptocurrency market. The bills will bring long-awaited regulatory clarity to the crypto market, which investors predict will boost their use by companies, funds, and consumers. The main bill, the GENIUS act – which regulates a subset of crypto called “stablecoins” – has already passed the Senate and is expected to pass the House on Wednesday.

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Malibu, California, USA: A pickup truck with a President Donald Trump decal and decorated in U.S. Flags drives on Pacific Coast Highway on July 4th in Malibu, California.

(Credit Image: © Jonathan Alcorn/ZUMA Press Wire)
Nearly six months into President Donald Trump’s second term, the most notable export from the United States in 2025 has been political risk. As was evident from the earliest executive orders on foreign policy and trade policy, the administration has set for itself an ambitious, aspirational agenda. From Greenland to Iran, Ukraine and Brazil, the Trump 2.0 wish list is expansive and numerous. The world has been put on notice that nowhere will go unconsidered.
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Chelsea players celebrate next to US President Donald Trump after beating Paris Saint-Germain in the Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on July 13, 2025.

Kyodo via Reuters Connect

On a muggy afternoon in New Jersey yesterday, a London-based, American-owned soccer club beat a Qatari-owned, French-based one to win the Club World Cup final, as Chelsea defeated Paris Saint-Germain 3-0. US President Donald Trump not only watched, but came down to the field for the trophy ceremony himself.

The United States hosted the tournament, which featured the world’s top soccer clubs, as a dress rehearsal for next year’s World Cup, which will pit national teams against each other in matches taking place across the US, Mexico, and Canada. As we look ahead to that tournament, the most-watched sporting event in the world, what did we learn from this year’s club tournament?

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Head of the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring Yury Chikhanchin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on July 8, 2025.

Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool via REUTERS

At first glance, Russia has coped well under the weight of Ukraine-related Western sanctions. In 2024, its economy grew at a faster rate than every G7 country. Though Europe has gone almost entirely cold turkey on Russian oil and gas supplies, thirst for these resources in China and India, quenched by a shadow tanker fleet that helps evade those sanctions, has kept Russia’s energy trade stable.

Longer term, climate change can help. Warming temperatures will open new Russian lands to farming and boost its agricultural output. They will open new sea routes that lower Russia’s cost of commerce and bring revenue from transit fees imposed on others. Perhaps most importantly, the Kremlin has long claimed it can transition from its currently heavy reliance on oil and gas exports to deeper investment in wind, hydro, geothermal, biomass, hydrogen, and solar energy.

But the realities of Russia’s future are darkening.

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Hezbollah beat on their chests as a sign of mourning during a mass rally to mark Ashoura, commemorating the martyrdom of the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hussein.

On Wednesday, the Trump administration’s envoy to Lebanon, Tom Barrack, received a stunning proposal from the Lebanese government– a plan to disarm Hezbollah, the powerful Iran-backed Shia militia group that has dominated Lebanon’s politics and fought two major wars with Israel over the past 20 years. The process would occur over the next four months, in exchange for Israel halting strikes on Lebanon and withdrawing from the country’s South.

If Hezbollah were to drop its weapons it would redefine the Middle East virtually overnight. But can the Lebanese government really turn this proposal into reality?

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