This Week In Geopolitics - 18th October 2026

News From Around The World In The Past Week

Africa

• Egypt’s Sisi Declares His Presidency Will End In 2030

• Eritrea Calls For UN Intervention As Ethiopian Troops Near Border

• Ethiopia Continue To Target A Port On The Red Sea

• Former President Joseph Kabila Joins Rebellion

• Riots Spark In Mauritius

Asia

• China Sanctions Paraguay and Belize Over Taiwan Ties

• China Tightens Grip On Solar Exports

• Ganga Water Treaty Nearing End With No Renewal

• Myanmar Refinery Back Online

• North Korea Launches Two Ballistic Missiles

• Pakistan Warns Of Potential Fuel Crunch

• Protests Restart In India With Opposition Leaders Involved

• Russia Arrests Japanese Journalist On Espionage Charges

• South Korean Stock Markets Hit Circuit Breakers

• Taiwan Plans Annual Alaska LNG Purchases

Europe

• Bulgarian PM Supports Trump-Putin Diesel Deal

• Burnham Considering North Sea Energy Exploration

• Burnham Says Russia Meddled In 2016 Brexit Referendum

• Burnham’s Electoral Reform Plans In The UK

• Cyberattack Disrupts Hundreds of French Supermarkets By Raising Temperatures

• Decision To Suspend Starshield System In Ukraine Made In White House, Not The Pentagon or SpaceX

• Drones of Unknown Origin Potentially Sighted Over Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania

• EU and China Reach Deal On Car Exports and Rare Earths

• EU Sanctions Entities and Individuals Involved In Circumvention of EU Sanctions Against Russia

• EU’s Corporate Tax Plan Sees Corporate Levy Instead of Digital Tax

• Greenland Contradicts Trump’s Claim That Oil And Gas Drilling Is To Begin Soon

• NATO Aircraft Scrambled In Poland

• NATO Holds Annual Nuclear Exercise Steadfast Noon

• French Riots Burn Down Limoges Town Hall

• Musk Proposes Slowing Down Starlink For Ukraine To Trump

• Nord Stream Sabotage Trial Begins

• Norway Increases Gas Supply To Netherlands

• Polanski Loses Holborn and St Pancras By-Election

• Pope Leo Diagnosed With Cancer

• Russia Intercepts Over 600 Drones

• Starlink Antennas Set On Fire By Masked Intruders In Bulgaria

• Starshield Services Restored For Kyiv

• Trump Admin Floats Unfreezing of Russian Assets To Restart Talks

• Two Romanian F-16s Scrambled Due To Two Drone Incursions Amidst Russian Attacks With Drones and Missiles

• Ukraine Hits Four Su-34 Fighter Bombers In Voronezh Region Overnight

• Ukraine Resumes Strikes On Russian Energy Infrastructure

• WHO Provides Update On Russian Lab Worker Death

• Zelenskyy Confirms A Second Night With No Early Warnings From Partners On Russian Strikes

• Zelenskyy: We Will Hold Elections If Putin Agrees To 60-Day Ceasefire

Middle East

• Anthropic: Actors In Northern Yemen Use Claude To Develop Guided Weapons

• China Pushes Israel To Stop West Bank Settlement Expansion

• Fuel Storage Hit In Sana’a

• Ghalibaf: U.S. Must Be Punished Into Accepting Iran’s Demands

• Houthis Move Against City of Taiz

• Houthis Strike Government Presidential Palace

• IDF Chief Warns That Another Attack Could Force Israel’s Election To Be Postponed

• Iran Threatens Neighbours With Ground Invasions If U.S. Restarts Bombings

• Israel Imposes Muslim Ban For Flight Pilots and Crew

• Israeli Media Reports of Military Preparations

• Israeli Officials Say Iran is Rebuilding Missile Stockpile

• Israel Preparing To Join Saudi Arabia’s Campaign Against The Houthis

• Pakistan Has 8000 Troops In Saudi Arabia As Part of Mecca Agreement

• QatarEnergy Borrows $3B From Four Chinese Banks

• Qatar’s Government Revenue Falls 42% In First Half Of Year

• Saudi Aramco Headquarters In Dhahran Struck By Houthi Missile

• Saudi Coalition Intercepts More Missiles On Riyadh

• Saudi Energy Conference Loses Shell, Exxon, and BP, Who Bail Due To Houthi Strikes

• Saudi Plans To Expand Capacity Of East-West Pipeline To 10 Million Barrels Per Day

• Saudis Reject Netanyahu’s Offer For Israel To Join Yemen Operations

• Two Ships Sink In The Strait of Hormuz

• UK Warns Against All Non-Essential Travel To Saudi Arabia Amid Houthi Strikes

• U.S. Reportedly Drawn Up Plans To Use “Mother of All Bombs” In Iran

North America

• $20B In Biden-Era Climate Grants Remain Frozen

• DOE Backs $581M TVA Grid Expansion

• DOJ Opens Civil Rights Probe Into New Jersey Town

• Fiscal 2026 In U.S. To End With $2T Budget Deficit and $1.4T In Interest

• Fink: Pause on Data Centre Construction Could Spark Recession

• Haiti Postpones Elections

• Hillary Clinton Launches Political Podcast Ahead of Midterms

• Inflation Rises More Than Expected In The United States

• Large Fire In Alberta Triggers Explosion, With 7 Reported Dead

• Lisa Cook Challenges Fairness of White House Probe

• Michigan Governor Declares Energy Emergency

• Moody’s Top Economist: Iran War Has Cost Almost $2000 Per U.S. Household

• Trump Launches Tirade Against Zelenskyy

• Trump’s Lindsay Graham Executive Order Waives Duties And Most Sanctions

• Trump Tells New Press Secretary To Reconsider Her Role After A Shaky First Week

• Trump Urges Minnesotans To “Fight Somali Migrants”

• U.S. Offers Another 17 Million SPR Barrels As Fuel Crisis Deepens

• U.S. Pulls Plans To Livestream Execution

• U.S. Waives Even More Russian Sanctions

South America

• Argentina Asks International Tribunal For Halt Sea Lion Oil Project

• Lula Accuses Meta Of Election Interference In Brazil

• Uruguay Signs $5.7B Data Centre Deal

• U.S. Moves MQ-9 Reaper Drones Into South America

Other

• Anthropic Issues Warning Over Self-Replicating AI

• Anthropic Opens Talks With NYC Comptroller For IPO Pause

• Bank of America Find $1.2B For Failing To Report Suspicious Transactions

• CVS To Pay $315M Over Claims Of Unlawful Prescriptions

• Netflix Makes Biggest Workforce Cut Since 2022

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