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The Palestinian flag is raised as the Palestinian mission to the United Kingdom holds a ceremony after the UK government announced on Sunday the country's formal recognition of a Palestinian state, at the mission's headquarters in London, United Kingdom, on September 22, 2025.
What We’re Watching: More Western nations recognize Palestinian state, Southeast Asian unrest spreads to the Philippines, Putin wants to de-facto extend nuclear arms deal
Troupe of Western nations recognize Palestinian state ahead of UN meeting
Australia, Canada, Portugal, and the United Kingdom all followed through with pledges to recognize a Palestinian state on Sunday, just in time for the start of the United Nations General Assembly’s main meetings. France is set to formally follow suit today. The move is an effort to pressure Israel to end its war in Gaza, but it seems to have had the opposite effect: citing the news, several Israeli ministers urged the military to annex the West Bank. Not every major Western nation was on board with the plan: Germany said recognition should come at the end of the peace process, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said recognizing Palestinian statehood now would be “counter-productive.”
Philippine protests turn violent
The Philippines became the latest country in Southeast Asia to face disorder, as 33,000 people gathered in Manila on Sunday to decry the government’s reported misuse of funds allocated for flood relief efforts. The protests also took a violent turn, as police arrested dozens of people suspected of hurling various makeshift weapons at officers stationed near the presidential palace. The unrest began earlier this month when a wealthy couple that leads many flood-control projects showed off their luxury cars during media interviews – this was especially painful for Philippine citizens, since the country is regularly hit with storms and many live in poverty.
Russia tacks another year onto key nuclear arms treaty
Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia will observe the last remaining US-Russia nuclear arms pact for one more year. The so-called “New START” Treaty of 2010, which limits the number of warheads and bombers each side can hold and deploy, is set to expire in February. Bilateral inspections collapsed several years ago due to the Ukraine war and no new treaty has been negotiated; at least theoretically, New START remains in effect. Putin’s decision is welcome, but it merely punts two key questions: will the US and Russia reach a new pact to limit the world’s most destructive weapons, and how will any new arms control system take into account the growing nuclear arsenal of China?
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during the Doha Forum 2024 on Dec. 7, 2024.
Russia ends missile deployment ban
Moscow had signaled the move in October, when it refused to commit to an extension of its New START nuclear arms treaty with Washington, scheduled to expire in February 2026. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Sunday that there were currently “no conditions” for a strategic dialogue with the US.
Russia had already suspended its participation in New START in 2023 over US aid to Ukraine and in November 2024 fired an intermediate-range hypersonic ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” at the Ukrainian city of Dnipro in response to strikes on its territory by Ukrainian forces with US and British missiles – an act Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened last week to repeat. With components of the Oreshnik allegedly reliant on Western technology, however, Russia faces potential hurdles in this latest chapter in the post-Cold War arms race.
The Graphic Truth: The US-Russia nuclear race
President Vladimir Putin made yet more headlines this week when he announced that Russia would suspend its participation in the New START nuclear arms control treaty, which binds Russia and the United States to limit their strategic nuclear stockpiles. While US-Russia relations have been at rock bottom for some time, this was another indication of how bad things have gotten between the two nuclear heavyweights. We take a look at the US and Russia’s nuclear stockpiles since 1945.
Why Joe Biden, Russia skeptic, wants to work with Russia
Joe Biden may not trust Vladimir Putin, but he's willing to work with Russia as a "predictable, stable" partner. For Ivo Daalder, former US Representative to NATO, that's somewhat surprising because he regards Biden as the most skeptical about Russia — and Putin himself — of all the post-Cold War US presidents.
Watch his interview with Ian Bremmer on the upcoming episode of GZERO World, which begins airing on US public television this Friday, June 18. Check local listings.