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Protesters led by children march in London, United Kingdom, on June 1, 2025, demanding the release of Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia and an end to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Hard Numbers: Russia reportedly indoctrinating kidnapped Ukrainian children, Fed to discuss rate cuts amid political firestorm, Argentina’s Milei presents budget, & More
210: The Kremlin is holding Ukrainian children at 210 different sites across Russia, according to a Yale University report, and forcing them to have re-education sessions and military training. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has regularly cited the abductions as evidence that Moscow is committing genocide in Ukraine. Kyiv estimates that 20,000 children have been taken since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
€1 billion: Poland increased its cybersecurity budget from €600 million ($708m) to €1 billion ($1.18b) after Russian hackers targeted its hospitals and Warsaw’s water supply. The Polish foreign minister said the country faces 20-50 cyber threats to critical infrastructure each day, most of which it thwarts.
3: The US military hit a Venezuela drug boat on Monday, killing three people. The attack marks the second time this month that the US has hit a boat suspected of drug smuggling off the coast of Venezuela.
7: A political storm is clouding the US Federal Reserve as its seven governors meet over the next couple of days to decide whether to cut interest rates – the target range is currently 4.25%-4.5%. Among the seven decision-makers are Lisa Cook, whom President Donald Trump has tried to fire but remains in situ after a court win yesterday, and Stephen Miran, a Trump ally whom the Senate confirmed only yesterday.
1.5%: Argentine President Javier Milei presented his 2026 budget proposal Tuesday to the National Congress, with the aim of having a fiscal surplus of 1.5% next year. The budgets for each of the last two years have been rejected, so the government has instead extended and continued to use the one implemented in 2023. With the midterm election only six weeks away, the budget could have political ramifications for Milei.
Russia-Ukraine war escalation
In this Quick Take, Ian Bremmer analyzes how the Russia-Ukraine war grinds on with no sign of winding down any time soon.
Moscow has intensified strikes, hitting Ukraine’s most important government buildings. Ukraine, meanwhile, is expanding missile capabilities alongside growth in drone production.
Still, the front lines remain largely static.“Over time, the ability of the Ukrainians to continue to muster the fighting force…is deteriorating,” Ian warns. He add that it leaves Putin convinced “the longer they engage in this war, the less capable the Ukrainians will be… and that means that Russia's going to be in a better position to demand outcomes in terms that they want.”
The risk extends beyond Ukraine’s borders. With Trump’s Russia policy faltering and China offering Putin diplomatic support, Ian cautions the conflict is “increasingly not just a proxy war, but a direct hybrid war,” raising the danger of escalation in unpredictable ways.
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on September 4, 2025.
What We’re Watching: Putin’s threat against foreign troops, Thailand has another new PM, Report emerges of failed US mission in North Korea
Putin warns foreign troops in Ukraine would be “legitimate targets”
A day after France and 25 allies pledged to send a “reassurance force” to Ukraine once a ceasefire takes hold, Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected the idea and warned any foreign troops would be fair game for Russian attacks. Paris insists the force would deter new aggression, not fight Russia directly, but Moscow sees it as escalation – insinuating that the troops could be a tripwire for World War III. Russia is trying to shape the terms of any future peace, even as its offensive grinds on.
Thailand picks new PM, but crisis far from over
Thailand’s parliament has chosen Anutin Charnvirakul, a cannabis-crusading conservative, as its third prime minister in two years, after the Constitutional Court ousted Paetongtarn Shinawatra last week. Anutin’s small Bhumjaithai party secured power with backing from the progressive People’s Party, but only on condition that new elections be held within four months. Paetongtarn’s removal stemmed from a leaked call with Cambodian strongman Hun Sen over a border dispute, a scandal that fractured her coalition. Chronic political instability in Bangkok doesn’t just undermine democracy, it complicates relations with Cambodia, where lingering border tensions could flare without steady leadership.
Report emerges of aborted Trump-backed Navy SEAL mission in North Korea
In 2019, Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to step into North Korea, and appeared to have a relatively warm meeting with Kim Jong Un. Behind the scenes, though, he was greenlighting a Navy SEAL operation that same year to plant a wire on Kim, the New York Times reported on Friday. It was all part of the US’s decades-long effort to limit North Korea’s nuclear activity. The mission involved sending US troops onto North Korean soil, an incredibly risky move. When the troops arrived on the northern part of the Korean Peninsula, though, a North Korean boat was circling the area. The SEALs killed all the people on that ship, then aborted the mission.Firefighters work at the site of destroyed garages of an automotive enterprise hit during Russian drone and missile strikes, in Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine, on September 3, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Russia fires hundreds of drone missiles into Ukraine, Caveats to Google’s legal win, Judge rules on Trump admin’s use of 18th-century law, & More
526: Russia launched 526 drones at Ukraine overnight, as rates of drone and missile strikes have nearly doubled since Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inconclusive meeting with US President Donald Trump last month. Moscow is advancing slowly on the battlefield while ignoring Trump’s peace deadlines.
$2 trillion: Google was breathing a sigh of relief yesterday after a US federal judge rejected the Justice Department’s request to split up parts of the $2-trillion-plus company, which would involve spinning off its Chrome browser and Android devices. While the decision was a victory for the tech firm, the judge also ordered Google to share its search data with competitors and banned it from penning deals that would make its products the default tools on mobile devices.
60: Thailand’s caretaker Pheu Thai government has requested royal approval to dissolve Parliament after the opposition-backed Anutin Charnvirakul gained key support to form a rival coalition. The move follows last week’s dismissal of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra by the Constitutional Court. If the king allows Parliament to dissolve, it would trigger elections within 60 days.
200,000: The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has deported nearly 200,000 people this year, including some who were accused of gang ties and removed under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. But on Tuesday, a federal appeals court ruled this act can no longer be used to fast track removals, saying that mass migration isn’t an “invasion.” The case is likely headed to the Supreme Court, but this ruling may temporarily curb Trump’s expanded deportation powers.
$8.5 million: France’s billionaire Pinault family is facing a lawsuit after its company Ponant canceled a glamorous cruise – one that cost $8.5 million – that was supposed to take more than 150 Russian elites to the North Pole, according to the Financial Times. The Russian-owned travel company that booked the trip alleges that the French firm has only returned $5.8 million of the total cost. The reason the firm canceled: a Russian crypto entrepreneur who brokered payments between the two firms was arrested in the United States.
Rescue and search operations continue in Kyiv, Ukraine, on August 28, 2025, following Russian strikes on the capital city overnight.
Hard Numbers: Russia strikes Kyiv’s residential areas, Shooting at Minneapolis school mass, Soccer giants dumped out of cup, US economy rolls on
19: A series of Russian strikes in residential areas of Kyiv last night left at least 19 people dead, with one of the bombs hitting a European Union office. These weren’t the only attacks on Ukraine overnight: Russian artillery and drones killed another five Ukrainian civilians in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Two weeks since the Alaska summit, peace looks further away than ever.
2: A shooter murdered two children – a six-year-old and a 15-year-old – and injured another 17 when they unloaded their rifle yesterday during a school mass in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The 23-year-old perpetrator, who is now also dead, was a former student of the school. “Don’t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said after the horrific shooting.
13: Thirteen is unlucky for some: soccer giants Manchester United missed their 13th spot kick in last night’s penalty shootout against Grimsby Town, a team in the fourth tier of English football, to crash out of the League Cup last night. The financial disparity between the two clubs is enormous: United’s revenue last year was £620 million, while Grimsby’s was £5.72 million.
3.3%: The US economy expanded at an annual rate of 3.3% – up from an initial 3% estimate – led by a 5.7% jump in business investment. Consumer spending rose modestly, while rising exports added up to record gains.
A Ukrainian soldier is seen at a checkpoint at the road near a Crimea region border March 9, 2014. Russian forces tightened their grip on Crimea on Sunday despite a U.S. warning to Moscow that annexing the southern Ukrainian region would close the door to diplomacy in a tense East-West standoff.
Hard Numbers: Ukraine’s opens the exit door, More Colombian soldiers kidnapped, South Korea bans cells in schools, Taylor Swift’s big day
34: A rebel FARC group has kidnapped 34 soldiers in southeast Colombia in what is the latest instance of dissidents fighting government forces in the Latin American country. The move came after the military forces recently killed 11 guerillas in a spike in hostilities. The militant FARC group accepted a peace deal with the government in 2016, but some of its members rejected the deal, splintered off, and have continued to cause chaos ever since (read more here).
115: South Korean students won’t be able to use their phones in school starting March 2026, after 115 members of the National Assembly passed a bill that bans the use of cells in the classroom. Only 31 members voted against. South Korea becomes the latest country to enact such a law, following similar moves from Italy, the Netherlands, and China.
80,000: Taylor Swift’s engagement to NFL star Travis Kelce has ignited a frenzy on prediction markets, with more than $80,000 new bets on the “Kalshi” platform within hours of the announcement. Wagers range from the wedding date to future children – the latest sign of America’s gambling craze spilling into celebrity culture.
The rise of impunity–and its human cost
What happens when global norms collapse and no one is left to enforce them? On GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, International Rescue Committee president and CEO David Miliband warns that we are living through what he calls an “Age of Impunity,” where power is exercised without accountability, and civilians in conflict zones from Syria to Ukraine to Gaza are paying the price. “The Age of Impunity is becoming the Age of Cruelty,” Miliband says, as rights guaranteed under international law are ignored and no one is holding the powerful to account.
Miliband highlights findings from the Atlas of Impunity, an annual index published by the Eurasia Group, that tracks accountability across 170 countries. The data shows not only extreme cases of impunity in war-torn regions but also surprising results in advanced democracies like Canada, the US, and Nordic countries. Still, there are some signs of progress. For Miliband, the challenge is clear: it will take a massive push from governments, civil society, brave civilians, journalists and human rights advocates to reverse the retreat of accountability and uphold basic principles of human rights.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a press conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Ukrainian Independence Day, Aug. 24, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Ukraine blocked from using long-range US missiles, Israeli strike on hospital, Taliban gaining legitimacy, & More
190: Ukraine has not been able to fire US-made long-range missiles – which have a range of 190 miles – into Russia, as Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby blocked Kyiv from using these weapons. Colby is a prominent China hawk who sees support for Ukraine as a distraction from challenging Beijing. Earlier this year, he blocked a weapons shipment to Ukraine, before US President Donald Trump overruled him.
20: An Israeli strike on a hospital in southern Gaza killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, per the Hamas-run health ministry. The Israeli Defense Forces said it “regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals.” Hamas has been known to put its military centers underneath hospitals.
1.3 billion: European and Asian postal services are halting US shipments after Trump revoked the de minimis tariff exemption, which had allowed packages under $800 to enter duty-free. With 1.3 billion parcels shipped under the rule last year, the change threatens global e-commerce, discount retailers, and potentially even personal gift-giving.
15: In a sign that the Taliban is gaining some measure of legitimacy on the global stage, at least 15 countries now have ambassadors in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, including China, Russia, Iran, and several Gulf states. Western countries have yet to embrace the Islamist militant group that now runs Afghanistan, but some are taking steps to engage with them, especially on issues of migration.
92%: Ukraine marked Independence Day with President Volodymyr Zelensky urging perseverance in Kyiv’s Maidan Square, as Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and US special envoy Keith Kellogg visited in solidarity. The holiday marks the day in 1991 when Ukraine’s Parliament voted to reject Soviet rule following a referendum that 92% of Ukrainians voted in favor of.