This Week In Geopolitics - 9th August 2026

Africa

• Sudan Says Border Camps Attacked After Tigrayans Flee Fighting With Ethiopian Forces

• U.S. Expands Strategic Foothold On Somalia’s Coast

Asia

• China’s Power Demands Hit Records As Heatwave Hits

• China Tightens Drone Export Controls

• CXMT Planning Second Chip Plant In Beijing After IPO

• Indian Refiners Continue West Africa Crude Purchases

• Japanese Yen Intervention By The United States

• Shifts In Myanmar As Military Release Photos of Former Leader Aung Suu Kyi

Europe

• Drone Hits Russian Black Sea Beach

• EU To Use $1.62B In Interest From Frozen Russian Assets To Support Ukraine

• France’s Budget Deficit Brings Economic Worry To The EU

• How Migration From Morocco To Spain Could Be Connected To The Israel-Palestine Conflict?

• Italian-Led EU Force Boards Sanctioned Russian Shadow Tanker

• Spain Imposes Border Protections Against Italians

• Russia Builds Electronic Warfare System To Counter Starlink

• Ukraine Shoots Down Zero Missiles In Russian Attack That Killed At Least 21 People

• Ukrainian Drone Hits Bulgaria Near Vital Gas Pipeline

• U.S. Intel Links Russia To Explosive Drone At Leipzig Airport In Germany

• U.S. Proposes Plan To Transfer Almost $300M In Turkish-Held U.S. Weapons To Ukraine

• U.S. Raises Travel Advisory For Spanish Area Amid Immigration Influx

• Zelenskyy To Make First-Ever Visit To Serbia

• Zelenskyy: We Seek To End War By Winter Through Escalation On Military and Diplomatic Fronts

Middle East

• ADNOC Reports 15 Vessel Attacks In Hormuz

• Iranian and Israeli Officials Call Out Saudi Arabia

• Iranian Drones Hit Military Base In Northern Kuwait

• Iran: Oman Deal Bans U.S. Vessels From Strait of Hormuz

• Iran Releases Old Video of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei

• Iran Says No Talks Occurring With The United States As Trump Calls Off Attacks

• Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Outlines Six Conditions For Reopening of Hormuz

• Iraq-Syria Pipeline To Bypass Hormuz Could Be Running Within Three Years

• Israeli Finance Minister Requests Netanyahu Approve Three Jewish Settlements In Gaza

• Israel To Scale Back Gaza Strikes To Give Trump’s Hamas Disarmament Plan “A Chance”

• Netanyahu and Katz Slightly Approve Reconstruction In Gaza Strip Inside Yellow Line

• Rubio: Denuclearisation In Iran Still The Goal

• Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan Sign NATO-Style Defence Pact

• Saudi Aramco Profit Soars

• Trump: Iran Faces “Decapitation” If It Doesn’t Sign A “Good” Deal

• Trump Wants Iran Deal Immediately

• Two Israeli Soldiers Killed In IED Explosion In Lebanon

• Uptick In Israeli Airstrikes On Gaza Since Trump Hailed “Historic” Hamas Deal

• U.S. Lifts Sanctions On Iraqi Airline Over IRGC Ties

• U.S. Official: Hormuz Deal Is Imminent (Again)

North America

• 5th Small Modular Reactor Validated Since June

• Canada Awards Telesat $2.3B Arctic Military Satellite Contract

• Canada-U.S. Trade Minister To Meet For Talks

• Judge Rules That Trump Administration Can End Temporary Protected Status For Haitians

• Mexico Bans Fracking In Key Shale Basin

• Moderna Begins Human Trial of Experimental Ebola Vaccine

• New Mexico Sues DOJ For Unredacted Epstein Files

• Pentagon Plans AI Data Centres At Military Bases Across Multiple Branches

• Pentagon Pushes Defence Firms To Accelerate Weapons Production

• Suspect Arrested In Spokane Wildfire

• Texas Energy Giant Oncor Supports Data Centre Freeze

• Trump Attacks Hegseth For Misleading Him On U.S. Arms Supplies

• Trump Endorses Mike Rogers For U.S. Senate In Michigan

• Trump Orders Changes To New White House Helipad

• Trump Signs Orders To Curb Birthright Citizenship

• Trump To Announce $180M Grants For Mining Industry

• U.S. Army’s $400M Laser Deal

• U.S. Distillate Stocks At 30-Year Seasonal Lows

• U.S. Government Finds $230B In Fraud Since March, Says Vance

• U.S. Senate Delays CLARITY Act Vote Until September

• U.S. Senate Passes The Linsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act

• U.S. Sends More Intel Assets To Cuba

South America

• Trump-Backed El Tigre Takes Power In Colombia

Other

• Bezos To Ditch $4B In Amazon Stock

• Caterpillar Erupts As Quarterly Sales Top $20B For First Time

• Copper Prices Rise As U.S. Stockpiling Drains Global Supply

• DeepSeek Resumes Raise At $74B Valuation

• DoorDash Wins Federal Approval To Fly Its Own Delivery Drones

• EasyJet Agrees To £5.7B Takeover

• Global Food Prices Hit Three-Year High As War, Trade Chokepoints, and El Niño Create Perfect Storm

• Kalshi and Polymarket’s Combined Volume Reaches All-Time High In July, Topping $50B

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