Latest news for 21 May 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

UK and EU scrutinise trade ties with Israel over Gaza.

The UK has halted its Israel trade talks and imposed targeted settler sanctions, while the EU has now pledged to review its own trade agreement with Israel, as the IDF presses on with its stated plan to seize Gaza and fully defeat Hamas. (Independent)

SYRIA

Rubio warns of another Syrian civil war.

The US secretary of state has told Congress that Syria could be just weeks away from collapsing into another full-scale civil war if DC doesn’t support the transitional government. He made the comments while defending President Trump’s decision to lift sanctions, a move now echoed by the EU. (France 24)

Comment: It’s hard to know how much of this was political rhetoric, but Syria’s recent bouts of sectarian violence are a reminder of the jihadi worldview still permeating some of the country’s ruling factions, plus the level of distrust among Syria’s various communities (long exploited by the Assad family to perpetuate their own rule).

CHINA

Beijing to send an additional $500M to the WHO.

Beijing has announced it’ll back the World Health Organisation with an additional $500M over the next five years, making China the body’s top donor now that the US has withdrawn. (Straits Times)

Comment: It’s a reminder of the dilemma for the US — sure, register your anger by ditching a flawed international body, but do so with the knowledge that your influence over that body then drops to zero, leaving a vacuum for any rivals.

GERMANY

Berlin’s industrial plan clashing with EU law?

A leaked memo in the German business daily Handesblatt suggests the country’s economy ministry is increasingly concerned Brussels might block its plan to grant electricity subsidies for energy-intensive industries. (Politico)

Comment: Chancellor Merz already had a bumpy landing after his shock Bundestag (non)confirmation vote, and these kinds of EU roadblocks (notwithstanding any valid objectives) will inevitably embolden Eurosceptic opposition parties like the AfD.

VIETNAM

Infamous ‘Napalm Girl’ photo credits in doubt.

The annual ‘World Press Photo Contest’ has suspended its attribution for the winning ‘Napalm Girl’ Vietnam War photo of 1973, citing evidence popularised in a recent Sundance documentary that the pic might not’ve been by an AP photographer, but instead a local freelancer called Nguyen Thanh Nghe. (CNN)

MEXICO

Personal secretary to Mexico City mayor assassinated.

Someone has gunned down two of the Mexico City mayor’s team in broad daylight, in what her office is describing as a “direct attack”. This kind of hit is pretty rare in the capital city, which has a lower homicide rate than (say) DC. (Guardian)

TURKEY

Ankara forecasts “huge” peace dividend from PKK dissolution.

Turkey’s finance minister says his country has lost $1.8T (including opportunity costs) fighting Kurdish groups over the decades, meaning a massive windfall if the PKK’s dissolution releases state spending for other priorities. (Bloomberg $)