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  1. 01

    CHINA

    Unstoppable exports.

    China’s trade surplus has surpassed the $1T mark in the first ten months of the year, on track to break its full-year 2025 record of $1.2T. Exports remain the bright spot in an economy otherwise weighed down by weak demand and a grinding property crisis. (CNBC)Comment: We’ve long argued China’s export-led model isn’t sustainable, given the way it forces capitals to either pull up the drawbridge or watch their own manufacturing base get hollowed out. But the world’s reliance on China is clearly still deeper than most like to admit, with no alternative hub yet able to match its mix of price, quality, and speed.

  2. 02

    EL SALVADOR

    Cross-border crackdown.

    President Bukele has announced that his military just levelled the HQ of Haiti’s notorious 400 Mawozo gang outside the capital of Port-au-Prince. (France 24)

  3. 03

    UNITED STATES

    Impeachment blocked (for now).

    House Republicans have blocked an impeachment push against Pentagon boss Pete Hegseth, brought by retiring GOP congressman Thomas Massie over abuse of power and an unauthorised war on Iran. (The Hill)

  4. 04

    UNITED KINGDOM

    Suspected spy arrested.

    British authorities have arrested a senior US Army official on suspicion he was spying for Russia. The 41-year-old senior soldier was serving at Imjin Barracks, the HQ for Nato's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps. (CNN)

  5. 05

    UKRAINE

    Constructive but pointless?

    President Zelensky has described as “constructive” the first day of US-Russia-Ukraine talks in Abu Dhabi, aimed at eventually ending the war by settling thorny issues like Ukraine giving up its own turf for peace, and the West giving more security guarantees in hopes Putin doesn’t try again. (BBC)

  6. 06

    BANGLADESH

    Comeback kid?

    Disgraced ex-leader Sheikh Hasina is planning a surprise return home, two years after she fled to India amid a mass uprising against her rule. She faces a death sentence upon her return. (Guardian)

  7. 07

    SYRIA

    Money for mercenaries?

    President Al-Sharaa is reportedly weighing whether to send hundreds of Syrian special forces to Saudi Arabia to help in the kingdom’s reignited war against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis. It comes a month after Syria’s defence minister flagged it could join the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement with Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan. (NYT $)

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