Trending Now
We have updated our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for Eurasia Group and its affiliates, including GZERO Media, to clarify the types of data we collect, how we collect it, how we use data and with whom we share data. By using our website you consent to our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your personal data to the United States from your country of residence, and our use of cookies described in our Cookie Policy.
{{ subpage.title }}
King Charles III says goodbye to Pope Leo XIV in the San Damaso Courtyard, in St Peter's Square, after attending the ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, during the state visit to the Holy See, on October 23, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Pope and king pray together, Gazans bury unidentified dead, Cast of crabs begin Christmas Island migration, & More
491: In a moment of religious and historical significance, King Charles III prayed alongside Pope Leo XIV today, becoming the first head of the Church of England to do so since this church split from the Vatican 491 years ago. The two leaders also exchanged gifts: Charles gave Leo a silver photograph of St. Edward the Confessor, and in return, the pontiff handed the king a scale version of the “Christ Pantocrator” mosaic.
54: Gazans buried the unidentified remains of 54 Palestinians on Wednesday that Israeli authorities had returned to the strip. The mass burial has prompted questions in Gaza about who the dead were, and what had happened to them. Israeli authorities said they had been combatants in Gaza.
36,734: The number of people crossing the Channel from France to the United Kingdom has already hit 36,734 so far this year, but that amount may be set to increase further – and the French political crisis is partly to blame. Paris appears to be backing away from recent commitments to clamp down on this form of migration, in part due to the recent exit of Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, who had instigated an aggressive approach.
50 million: A cast of roughly 50 million crabs have begun their annual migration across Christmas Island off the coast of Australia, as they will move from their homes to the beaches to lay their eggs. Authorities on the island have built special bridges to help the crabs navigate obstacles like roads.
677: Nearly 700 foreigners fled Myanmar into Thailand after the military seized KK Park, a notorious Chinese-backed cybercrime compound known for cyber scams run by criminal gangs.. Thai authorities detained 677 people, mostly from China and India, and say all actions follow legal and humanitarian principles.
Former UK prime minister Tony Blair and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attend the world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, 2025.
Can a former UK prime minister manage Gaza?
At first glance, it might seem odd that Tony Blair is leading the Western proposal for the future of Gaza.
It’s been 18 years since Blair exited 10 Downing Street, ending a historic decade in power that featured three election victories – including two landslide wins – that marked the peak of the Labour Party’s powers in the United Kingdom. Yet he played a major role in brokering the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, and is now part of the “Board of Peace” that, under the ceasefire deal, will aim to ensure a permanent cessation of fighting in the region.
To better understand the former UK prime minister and his interests in Gaza’s future, it’s worthwhile to go back and examine his record.
From a domestic perspective, many praised Blair’s time in power, which ran from 1997 to 2007. He introduced a national minimum wage while bringing the unemployment rate to its lowest level in decades. He created a program called “Sure Start” to boost education for young children in low-income areas, the benefits of which the UK is still realizing. Annual growth rates averaged about 3% during his time in power, the likes of which his successors could only dream.
“But Iraq.” These two words have become modern-day parlance in the United Kingdom for a fatal flaw. For all his domestic success, Blair’s decision to join US President George W. Bush in invading the Middle East country in 2003 prompted a major backlash. Between one and two million took to the streets of London that year to protest the decision in what was the largest demonstration in the city’s history. Though Blair retained power after the 2005 election, his legacy would be tarnished forever. In case you missed it, the decision to invade Iraq backfired, leaving Iraq in ruins and exacerbating the issue of terrorism.
Blair’s foreign policy wasn’t a complete bust. He is considered a hero in Kosovo after he helped gather an international coalition to end the Serbian crackdown on the enclave in 1999. Many young boys there are now named after the former Labour leader.
But he still wants to have a say in the Middle East. In truth, Blair never stopped caring about the region. The same day he resigned from UK office, he was appointed as special envoy of the Middle East Quartet, a group comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia that tries to mediate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Bush administration had pushed for his appointment, but he didn’t achieve much, and resigned from the post in 2015 after eight years. The next year, he set up his think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change. With help from the world’s one-time richest man – which has drawn some scrutiny – the group has become arguably the most influential UK think tank, and was even involved in drawing up plans for the future of Gaza.
What’s his plan? The former UK leader released a 21-point proposal last month. This included establishing the Gaza International Transitional Authority to manage Gaza on an interim basis, a long-term goal of placing all Palestinian territories under the Palestinian Authority, and creating a security force – known as the International Stabilization Force – to maintain peace between Gazan residents and to nullify Hamas. Unlike some other plans, Blair’s one excludes any encouragement of the “voluntary migration” of Gazans out of the Strip.
The plan has been 14 years in the making, per the Vision of Humanity: Blair helped fashion a report in 2011 about building infrastructure and creating governance in Gaza.
Blair then helped US special envoy Steve Witkoff and former White House adviser Jared Kushner to create a US plan for Gaza this month, one that borrowed from the UK leader’s prior proposals. This plan – backed by many Arab states – would create a “Board of Peace” that will temporarily govern the enclave, with US President Donald Trump acting as its chairman and Blair as one of the board members. It doesn’t explicitly name any other leaders who would be part of this body. Drawing on Blair’s roadmap, Washington’s plan also calls to establish the International Stabilization Force.
Is Blair really going to govern Gaza? The plan isn’t set in stone, but it looks that way – especially after the Palestinian Authority endorsed the idea of giving him a role. Hamas has rejected giving a role to the former UK leader, but the plan also says the militant group can’t have a role in the future governance of Gaza, so their vote might not count for much. If Blair does nab a role, can he achieve some measure of redemption, and finally restore something that he cherishes now more than ever: his legacy?
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?
US President Donald Trump, King Charles III, First Lady Melania Trump and Queen Camilla during the ceremonial welcome at Windsor Castle, Berkshire, on day one of the president's second state visit to the UK, on September 17, 2025.
Hard Numbers: Trump’s UK state visit begins, Brazil court fines Bolsonaro for racist comment, Ecuadorians protest new gold mine, & More
150: Pageantry will dominate the first day of US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the United Kingdom on Wednesday, culminating with an exclusive 150-person white-tie state banquet, featuring a toast to the president by King Charles III. The harder-edged politics will come on Thursday, when Trump meets with Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
1 million: Days after being sentenced to 27 years in prison for fomenting a coup, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is in trouble with the law again. A federal court ordered him to pay a fine of 1 million reais ($188,865) for a racist comment he made to a Black supporter in 2021, telling him that his hair was a “cockroach breeding ground.”
$400 million: The Democratic Republic of the Congo is investing $400 million in satellite internet in a bid to improve the country’s drastically low connectivity rate. Only one in three Congolese is connected to the mobile internet. The company completing the project is co-owned by the Turkmenistan government.
90,000: An estimated 90,000 protestors took to the streets of Cuenca in central Ecuador to protest the construction of the Loma Larga gold mine there. Local residents are concerned the Canadian-run project will contaminate a critical water reserve.
47: Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield is leaving the ice cream giant that he founded 47 years ago in protest against its parent company Unilever for limiting his firm’s social activism. Greenfield is an outspoken progressive, and previously tussled with Unilever when Ben & Jerry’s refused to sell ice cream to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner arrives at 10 Downing Street for a weekly Cabinet meeting in London, United Kingdom, on Sept. 2, 2025.
Hard Numbers: UK’s deputy PM resigns, US jobs market stagnates, Another earthquake hits Afghanistan, & More
£40,000: Deputy UK Prime Minister Angela Rayner has resigned from her role after it emerged that she legally avoided £40,000 ($54,000) in stamp duty – the tax incurred on buying a house – when she purchased a second home. Rayner also quit her roles as housing secretary and deputy Labour Party leader, which has prompted a major reshuffle: Foreign Secretary David Lammy replaces Rayner as deputy PM, and also becomes justice secretary. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper replaces Lammy at the helm of the Foreign Office.
22,000: The US economy added just 22,000 jobs in August, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Further, the rise in nonfarm payroll employment for June and July combined was revised down 21,000. The stagnant labor market will put extra pressure on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates at a faster pace.
3: A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck southeastern Afghanistan Thursday, the third quake to hit the country this week. At least 2,205 people have now died as a result. Rescue efforts remain hampered by landslides and rough terrain, with helicopters delivering aid. The Taliban has appealed for international aid as aftershocks continue to rattle the quake-prone region.
102: At 102, Kokichi Akuzawa became the oldest person to summit Mount Fuji, climbing with family and friends. Akuzawa broke his own record, having set the last one when he scaled Fuji at 96.
370: Rescue workers have now recovered 370 bodies from a remote mountain village in Darfur, per a local leader, after landslides battered this area of western Sudan on Sunday. Meanwhile, aid workers are using donkeys to deliver aid to those who are still living. Heavy rains and floods continue to batter the area.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.
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.
Miliband says we’re facing “a new abnormal,” with 275 million people facing humanitarian emergencies in 20 countries in crisis. The vast majority of displaced people are hosted in low and middle income countries, meaning the world’s poorest and most under-resourced places are shouldering a disproportionately high share of the burden. Miliband and Bremmer discuss the worsening humanitarian situation in places like Sudan and Gaza, the impact of US aid cuts, whether any nation or group of nations can fill the void, and where Miliband sees glimmers of hope amid so many intractable problems.
Subscribe to the GZERO World Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or your preferred podcast platform, to receive new episodes as soon as they're publishedA woman walks past the peace wall that separates neighborhoods of Belfast, United Kingdom, on September 30, 2019.
Twenty years since the IRA put down its guns: What’s changed in Northern Ireland?
Twenty years ago, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA) agreed to lay down its weapons and end the armed campaign to achieve a united Ireland free of British rule. The move came 11 years after an initial ceasefire in Northern Ireland, and seven years after the Good Friday Agreement that brought an end to the Troubles, a decades-long conflict between Irish nationalists and supporters of the union with Great Britain, which killed roughly 3,600 people.
“Dozens, if not hundreds, of people are alive today that perhaps wouldn’t be if this violence had continued,” former US special envoy to Northern Ireland Mitchell Reiss told GZERO.
As other militant groups around the world explore or proceed with disarmament – such as the Kurdish PKK in Turkey or, perhaps one day, Hezbollah in Lebanon – the peace that has held in Northern Ireland ever since the IRA’s disarmament shows what can be achieved if paramilitary groups drop their weapons. However, it also offers a cautionary tale: peace is one thing, but harmony is another.
So how has Northern Ireland fared over the past two decades?
First, the good news. The bloodshed has stopped, even as the PIRA didn’t achieve its goal of uniting the island of Ireland – Northern Ireland remains part of the United Kingdom. While there are regular displays of pride by nationalists, and unionists alike, these events are relatively peaceful. Gone are the car bombings, killings, and abductions that ignited fear across the country throughout the 1970s and 1980s.
What’s happened to the IRA? The Provisional IRA has officially demilitarized and pledged to pursue its aims peacefully, with the help of nationalist political parties like Sinn Fein.
While police believe parts of the armed grouping still exist, their influence, along with that of several other offshoot nationalist paramilitary groups, is limited. They may oppose the “promise of the Good Friday Agreement,” says Reiss, but “the good news is that they are generally small in number. They are marginalized.”
What the disarmament hasn’t achieved. First, Northern Irish society remains deeply divided. If you take a walk down the Shankhill Road in Belfast, you’ll see shopfronts lined with unionist memorabilia and odes to the late Queen. Meanwhile Falls Road, only a few hundred yards away, is still festooned with the Irish tricolor and monuments to slain nationalist fighters. Police still shut off access between the two roads at night as a precaution.
Secondly, while the IRA put down its weapons, the opposing Protestant paramilitary groups – like Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force – never had to do the same.. Though their influence isn’t as widespread as it was during the height of the Troubles, they continue to function as criminal gangs, exerting a corrosive effect of their own on Northern Irish society.
“For the last eight years, I’ve been talking to these [Protestant paramilitaries],” says Reiss “trying to see if we can achieve the same goal with them that we did with the IRA, that they could put weapons beyond use and commit to a purely political and peaceful way forward.”
Lastly there’s the continued dysfunction of the Northern Irish government. Under the GFA, there has to be a power-sharing agreement between the nationalists and unionists for the Northern Irish Assembly to function. However, the two sides have regularly failed to form a government, with impasses often lasting years.
None of this changes the significance of the achievement. If the number of people killed during the Troubles was projected proportionally onto the United States, the numbers would be akin to the American Civil War, notes Reiss, underlining the hostilities between the nationalist and unionist factions of Northern Ireland, and thus the challenge in achieving peace.
“Is it better than it was? Absolutely. Is progress continuing to be made? Absolutely. Do we need to do more? Absolutely,” says Reiss. “But Northern Ireland is fundamentally transformed from the way it was 20 years ago.”