Search
AI-powered search, human-powered content.
scroll to top arrow or icon

{{ subpage.title }}

Here’s what you missed while you were away

As summer winds down this weekend, here are the geopolitical stories you may have missed while your inbox was on “out of office” — the ones we expect will have the biggest impact this fall.

In Sudan, the skies have turned deadly

Drones have become the new face of modern warfare, dominating headlines as Russia and Ukraine trade near-daily aerial strikes. But unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) are wreaking havoc in another of the world’s deadliest, and least covered, conflicts: Sudan.

With drones now entering the fray, the conflict risks escalating into a dangerous new phase, allowing both sides to keep inflicting damage with minimal risks to themselves.

Ever since the SAF recaptured the capital Khartoum in March, the two sides have been locked in a strategic stalemate, with drones enabling both groups to carry out precision strikes hundreds of miles behind enemy lines.

Is Sudan a sign of future of warfare? Read more here.

Read moreShow less
- YouTube

The global refugee crisis is at breaking point

The global refugee population is at historic highs, driven by war in Ukraine, violence in Sudan, state collapse in Venezuela, Taliban rule in Afghanistan, and a worsening humanitarian disaster in Gaza. On GZERO World, David Miliband, president & CEO of the International Rescue Committee joins Ian Bremmer to discuss the refugee crisis, the rise of forcibly displaced people around the world, and the crumbling humanitarian aid system amid the cancellation of USAID. What happens when the poorest countries are left to solve the hardest problems? And who–if anyone–is stepping up to help?

Read moreShow less

Rethinking the refugee crisis and global aid system, with David Miliband

Listen: The number of people forced to flee their homes because of war, persecution, humanitarian disaster or political collapse topped 123 million people in 2024. That’s double what it was just 10 years ago. Yet just as the need has exploded, the global aid system is unraveling. On the GZERO World Podcast, David Miliband, president & CEO of the International Rescue Committee sits down with Ian Bremmer to discuss the growing crisis as the number of refugees continues to rise and the US, once the anchor of the global aid system, shuts down USAID and drastically pulls back foreign funding.

Read moreShow less
- YouTube

The broken system behind the refugee crisis

Who bears the cost of the world’s refugees? As wars, state collapse, and humanitarian crises from Ukraine to Sudan to Gaza drive millions from their homes, the number of forcibly displaced people around the world is at record highs. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down the worsening global humanitarian crisis, the broken aid system, and where refugees actually go.

Read moreShow less

Enaam Abdallah Mohammed, 19, a displaced Sudanese woman and mother of four, who fled with her family, looks on inside a camp shelter amid the ongoing conflict between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudanese army, in Tawila, North Darfur, Sudan July 30, 2025.

REUTERS

In Sudan, the skies have turned deadly

Drones have become the new face of modern warfare, dominating headlines as Russia and Ukraine trade near-daily aerial strikes.

But unmanned aircraft vehicles (UAVs) are wreaking havoc in another of the world’s deadliest, and least covered, conflicts.

In Sudan, a country of 50 million people in the Sahel region of Africa, a brutal civil war is taking place between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). Now drones are exacerbating the crisis.

Read moreShow less

U.S. President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping arrive for a state dinner at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, November 9, 2017.

REUTERS

Hard Numbers: US extends trade truce with China, Finland charges Russian-linked tanker over subsea sabotage, Smuggler stuffs turtles in socks, and more

90: President Donald Trump on Monday delayed the US’s tariff deadline with China by another 90 days – hours before a previous agreement was set to expire. Beijing responded Tuesday by suspending additional retaliatory tariffs on US goods. The move follows bilateral talks last month in Stockholm, where both sides had signaled a likely extension of the status quo amid fears of a wider trade war.

Read moreShow less

A Sudanese man smiles while carrying his luggage, as families displaced by conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) crowd at Cairo's main station to board a free train with a voluntary return coordinated by the Egyptian government to Aswan, where buses will take them back to their homes in Khartoum, in Cairo, Egypt July 28, 2025.

REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

Hard Numbers: Sudanese return home, Earthquake in the Pacific, US economy rebounds, Poland arrests multinational spies

190,000: Thousands of Sudanese refugees are returning home from Egypt after the army recaptured territory from RSF paramilitaries in Khartoum. Over 190,000 crossed back since January 2025, five times 2024's total. Despite ongoing fighting elsewhere in Sudan, families are boarding free transit from Cairo to Khartoum, hoping for stability.

8.8: An 8.8-magnitude earthquake – the sixth-most powerful ever recorded – struck off the eastern coast of Russia, sending shockwaves through buildings in Siberia and Japan, and injuring several people. The quake also prompted tsunami warnings in Japan, the state of Hawaii, and the US West Coast, but, thankfully, only modest tsunami waves arrived ashore, with no initial reports of damage.

3%: The US economy rebounded in the second quarter of 2025, growing at an annual rate of 3% after it contracted 0.5% in the first quarter. The recovery defied the recession warnings that followed the introduction of widespread tariffs, although that threat may return as the White House prepares to finally impose its larger “reciprocal” rates on Friday.

32: Poland announced the arrest of 32 people for allegedly spying for Russia on Tuesday – including Poles, Russians, Ukrainians, Belarusians, and a Colombian. The Colombian allegedly conducted two arson attacks on construction warehouses in May 2024 following Russian intelligence instructions, including how to make Molotov cocktails.

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te attends the coast guard annual drill in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, June 8, 2025.

REUTERS

What We’re Watching: Taiwan’s president latest setback, Angolan fuel protests turn violent, Trump launches Sudan peace effort

Trump blocks Taiwan’s president from traveling through New York

US President Donald Trump blocked Taiwan’s president from stopping over in New York on a trip to Central America. The move, which comes right as US and Chinese officials are discussing a trade deal again, is seen as a concession to Beijing, which famously does not recognize Taiwan’s independence and objects to Taiwanese officials visiting the US, who have traditionally used US transits to bolster unofficial ties. Does this mean Washington’s decades-long military and diplomatic support for Taiwan could be in play as Trump negotiates with China?

Read moreShow less

Subscribe to our free newsletter, GZERO Daily

Latest