This Week In Geopolitics - 16th August 2026

Africa

• East Libyan National Army Intelligence Chief Killed In Car Bomb

• Libya’s National Oil Corporation Considers Force Majeure After Repeated Drone Attacks

• Link From Sidi Kerir To Ain Sukhna In Egypt A Possibility To Bypass Suez

Asia

• China and Indonesia To Undertake Military Exercises

• India Eyes Two New Sites To Expand Strategic Oil Reserves

• India Warns Border Strains Could Weigh On China Relations

• Japanese Yen Retests 160

• New Protests Spark In India

• North Korea Fires Ballistic Missile Into Sea of Japan

• Putin Visits Disputed Kuril Islands In First Ever Visit

Europe

• Blast Rocks Italian Munitions Plant

• Burnham Announces Funding For Drought-Hit Farmers

• Clacton By-Election In The UK Won By Farage With 63%

• Danube Water Levels Sink To Historic Lows

• Farage Investigation Reopened By Parliamentary Watchdog After Clacton Win

• Germany Expecting Another Rhine Drought

• Goldman Predicts Le Pen Presidential Victory In France In Next Election

• NATO Jets Shoot Down Drone Over Latvia

• Norway $2.3T Wealth Fund Posts Record-High Profit In First Half of 2026

• Poland Conservatives Propose Deporting Unemployed Ukrainian Men of Military Age

• Romania To Shut Down Nuclear Power Plant Due To Low Levels In Danube

• Russia Admits New Petrol Shortages

• Russia Rejects Ukraine’s Offer Of Ceasefire On Black Sea Shipping

• Russia Released Former U.S. Marine Held For Four Years

• Russia’s Only Anti-War Party Banned From Parliamentary Elections Over “Foreign Funding”

• Russia Threatens Retaliation For European Ship Seizures

• Russia To Intensify Attacks On Sources of Western Support In Ukraine, Says Lavrov

• Ukraine Continues To Hit Russian Wildberries Warehouses

• Ukraine Kills 13 In Hit On Russian Taneco Refinery

• Ukraine Strike On Russia’s Key Black Sea Port Shits Grain Terminals

• UK’s New Spy Drones Have Been Transmitting Information From Primary Camera To China

• Ukraine Hits Russian Space Facility With Flamingo Cruise Missiles

• Ukrainian Forces Beat The United States Head-To-Head In Military Exercise

• Zelenskyy Press Conference In Belgrade After Vucic Meeting

• Zelenskyy Pushes South Korea To Send Missiles As Claims North Korea Is Sending Up To 50,000 Troops To Russia

Middle East

• IDF Kills Hamas Commander Involved In October 7th Attack

• Hormuz Traffic Falls To Six Vessels On Monday

• Houthis Attack Saudi Aramco Once Again As Iran’s Military Command Promises To Be “More Aggressive”

• Houthis Hit Saudi Aramco’s Jazan Refinery For Second Time

• Houthis Kill Six In Red Sea Strike

• IAEA Set To Remove Nuclear Material From Syrian Site In U.S.-Brokered Deal

• IRGC Commander Chosen As Secretary of Supreme National Security Council

• Israel Detains Palestinian Journalist Mohamed Awad

• Netanyahu Rejects Gaza Plan

• Officials Estimate U.S. Has Lost 25% Of Reaper Drones In Iran War

• Oman: Oil Spill From Grounded Tanker Near Coast Covers 400 Square Kilometres

• Retired Syrian General “Disappears” Inside Beirut Embassy

• Russia and Syria Reach Memorandum of Understanding On Future Of Bases

• Saudi Oil Fleet Increasingly “Going Dark” Due To Houthi Blockade

• Syria Sentences Bashar Al-Assad To Death

• Trump Demands Iran Pays Reparations For Americans Killed or Wounded

• Turkey Thinks Israel Fabricated Trump Air Force One Assassination Plot

• U.S. Against Israeli Calls For A “Long-Term Presence” In Lebanon

• U.S. Blockade of Hormuz To Be Maintained “Indefinitely”

• U.S. Embassies Permanently Reassigning Personnel In Middle East

• U.S. Expects Iran War Oil Supply Disruptions To Last Until End of 2027

• U.S. Hits Vessel In Gulf of Oman

North America

• Democratic Party Committee Advances Resolution Demanding ICE Be Abolished

• DOJ Will Reportedly Support End of National Firearms Act

• Drone Sightings At Diego Garcia

• FBI Working With DHS and ODNI On Election Integrity, Says FBI Director

• Hegseth Pushes $1.5T Military Budget As Tribute To Lindsay Graham

• ICE Rounds Up Haitian Migrants In Ohio

• Josh Kushner, Bob Iger Pursue $12B Lakers Takeover

• Judge Drops Case Against Six Nevada Republicans Accused of Falsifying 2020 Election Result

• NORAD Jets Intercept Two Planes Over Restricted Airspace Near Trump’s Golf Club

• Panama Canal Fees Hit Record High

• Sailors On USS Abraham Lincoln Consider Jumping Overboard After Lengthy Deployment

• State Department Launches Birth Tourism Prevention Task Force

• State Department Revokes 175,000 Foreign Visas Of Those Accused of Crimes

• Trade Court Upholds Shutdown Of $800 De Minimis Duty Exemption

• Treasury Department Ends Ownership Reporting For U.S. Small Businesses

• Trump Considers Capital Gains Relief As Midterm Sweetener

• Trump Golfs Under Missile Shield

• Trump’s New Tariffs

• Trump’s Flight From Turkey Shielded In Secrecy

• Trump Signs Executive Order Calling For Spacing Out of Childhood Vaccines

• U.S. Creates New Multinational Attack Drone Task Force

• U.S. SPR Falls Below 300 Million Operational Limit

• U.S. To Overhaul Navy Shipbuilding Due To Rising Costs, Delays, Design Complexity, and Insufficient Industrial Capacity

• U.S. To Send New Carrier To Relieve USS Abraham Lincoln

• White House Ends TikTok Ban On Government Devices

• White House Press Secretary To Leave Trump Administration At End of August

Oceania

• Albanese: AUKUS Remains “Full Steam Ahead” After Trump Call

• Former Australian PM: UK Can’t Provide Nuclear Subs It Promised Us

South America

• Colombia Authorises Joint Military Exercises With The United States

• Colombia’s Trump-Backed El Tigre Launches Major Offensive Against FARC

• Earthquake Hits Colombia, Killing Over 100

• Israel and Venezuela Restore Consular Ties After 17 Years

• Venezuela Wants Gold Back From The Bank of England

Other

• Boeing Sells Flying Taxi Venture To Rival

• Intel To Sell $15B In Stock

• JPMorgan Debanked Polymarket Over Regulatory Concerns

• Meta Releases Muse Glimmer Model

• Microsoft Cuts Purchase of Carbon Removals By 80%

• Paramount Considering Leaving California Over Antitrust Scrutiny

• Tether Completes Independent Audit of Reserve With KPMG

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