Trends

October 1–14, 2026

The past two weeks were dominated by two intertwined currents: multi-front security escalation - Yemen, Russia-Ukraine, a suspected Iran-linked plot against UK bases, and Russian hybrid sabotage across Europe - alongside domestic political strain in Western democracies, visible in France's unrest and austerity budget, the rise of AfD and right-wing populism, and European industry buckling under Chinese competition and energy costs. A secondary thread touches Israel and Jewish communal life, from the Flydubai hijacking plot to the UK-Israel diplomatic rift and marginalization debates in literary and German party politics. Beyond these loose clusters there is no single overarching pattern tying the whole edition together; by breadth of coverage, the Yemen conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war stand out as the most significant individual stories.

26 topics

September 17–30, 2026

The past two weeks were dominated by a broadening confrontation between Russia and the West: an intensifying drone/air war against Ukraine ran alongside rising Russian hybrid sabotage against NATO and Europe, while domestic pressure built on Russia's opposition ahead of Duma elections. In parallel, a cluster of flashpoints - Houthis/Red Sea tensions, the US-Iran standoff, and Venezuela - points to a broader pattern of US confrontation with Iran-aligned and adversarial actors across multiple regions simultaneously. Beyond this security thread, AI's risks and global regulatory competition, and turbulent German domestic politics (BSW, AfD), stood out as major but largely independent storylines rather than part of a single unifying narrative.

24 topics

September 3–16, 2026

The past two weeks centered on Europe's security squeeze: Russian hybrid warfare and drone sabotage targeting Germany, the AfD's surge in Saxony-Anhalt, and Germany's auto industry crisis under Chinese competition together paint a continent facing both external threats and internal political strain. Alongside this, Iran-US tensions in the Gulf and the US-brokered Russia-Ukraine peace effort show major diplomatic tracks still grinding without clear breakthroughs. Beyond that cluster, the edition is otherwise a broad mix of distinct stories - from the 9/11 anniversary to mounting AI safety and data-centre backlash - without one single thread tying everything together.

20 topics

August 20–2, 2026

Over the past two weeks, two broad currents dominated the agenda: economic strain and security escalation. On the economic side, the US-Canada trade war, turbulence in global bond markets, and fiscal anxieties in the UK all point to a renewed focus on economic stability and debt sustainability, while on the security side, continued strikes on Kyiv, fears of war with Iran, and growing Russian espionage and sabotage activity against Germany and NATO suggest an intensifying hybrid confrontation between Russia and the West. Running alongside these, domestic politics under pressure - AfD's rise and the "firewall" debate in Germany, and internal Democratic Party struggles in the US - forms a secondary thread of democracies grappling with polarization, even as the US-China AI race underscores a parallel contest for technological and strategic dominance.

12 topics