Latest news for 12 June 2025

INDIA

Plane carrying over 200 people crashes.

A UK-bound Air India Boeing 787 Dreamliner has just crashed in an Ahmedabad neighbourhood shortly after take-off, with cause and casualties unclear. It’s the first recorded 787 crash, sending Boeing shares down ~7.5% in pre-market trading. (Sky)

AUSTRALIA

US launches AUKUS review.

The Pentagon has announced it’ll review AUKUS, the vaunted Aus-UK-US pact featuring plans to co-develop nuclear-propelled submarines. Supporters always argued the multi-decade Biden-era deal was key to counter China, while critics warned it’d spike tensions and/or be overturned by future administrations. (Politico)

Comment: This US announcement will fuel debates in the UK and Australia around the degree to which these allies feel they can rely on long-term US security pledges.

POLAND

Tusk survives confidence vote.

PM Donald Tusk has called (and survived) a confidence vote in his own government after his party’s presidential candidate lost to the populist historian, Karol Nawrocki. The idea was to reassert his own legitimacy, but a 243-210 win is lukewarm. (AP)

PAKISTAN

Defence spending explodes.

Islamabad has announced it’ll ramp defence spending up another 20%, while cutting broader government spending by 7%. It comes a few weeks after Pakistan’s clash with India, which is also hiking defence spending by ~10%. (Al Jazeera)

Comment: There’ll be cheers in both Beijing and Moscow, the top arms suppliers for Pakistan and India respectively (the US and France hope to cut Russia’s lunch in India).

AUSTRIA

Country mourns school shooting.

Austria is in three days of mourning after a shooter killed at least nine students in Graz before taking his own life. Authorities are still investigating the motives of the 21-year-old culprit, a former student who seemed to act alone. (BBC)

INDONESIA

Save the coral.

Jakarta has revoked the permits of four out of five mining companies operating in the spectacular eastern archipelago of Raja Ampat, after a video went viral targeting the environmental impacts of nickel mining. (France24)

Comment: It’s hard to think of a better story to illustrate a) the power of social media, b) Indonesia’s growth / conservation trade-off, and c) Jakarta’s determination to secure the benefits of its own nickel, a key energy transition input for us all.

BRAZIL

Former president takes the stand.

Former President Jair Bolsonaro finally took the stand on Tuesday, denying his involvement in the capital’s January 2023 unrest that prosecutors say was the precursor to a coup. (Independent)

Comment: Bolsonaro continues to enjoy populist support among Brazilians who see his prosecution as politically-motivated. That leaves little margin of error for the court, just as Brazil prepares to host BRICS and COP climate summits.

TOGO

Can’t touch this.

President Faure Gnassingbé is facing growing protests calling for his resignation after last year’s constitutional amendment allowed him (like his dad) to potentially stay in power forever. He banned demonstrations back in 2022. (AfricaNews)