Skip to main content
Already an Insider?Join
Intrigue

Daily flyovers

Latest news for 8 September 2025

Quick hits of consequential news from all corners of the world.

  1. 01

    FRANCE

    Insert new government.

    Speaking of instability, France’s fourth PM in three years (Bayrou) is almost certain to lose a confidence vote today (Monday), throwing continental Europe’s sole nuclear power and second-largest economy into further disarray. (BBC)

    Comment: President Macron’s options are probably a) call another election, or b) try to cobble together yet another coalition capable of surviving (possibly left-led this time). Meanwhile, it all complicates French efforts to stabilise national finances and counter Russian aggression. And speaking of (yes) instability…

  2. 02

    THAILAND

    Insert new PM.

    Folks in Thailand got their third prime minister in two years on Friday, after weeks of political horse-trading culminated in parliament electing conservative construction tycoon Anutin Charnvirakul. He got the gig by promising to dissolve the lower house and call elections within four months. (Al Jazeera)

    Comment: Thailand’s government faces familiar challenges, but it’s all complicated by the royal-military establishment’s grip on key institutions. Meanwhile, Thai netizens are tracking the private jet of polarising political godfather Thaksin Shinawatra — there was speculation he might’ve skipped town ahead of an imminent court ruling, but he reportedly returned to Bangkok just moments ago.

  3. 03

    SOLOMON ISLANDS

    Welcome (almost) all.

    The annual summit of Pacific Island leaders kicks off in Honiara today (Monday), with word they might declare the Pacific an ‘Ocean of Peace’. (RNZ)

    Comment: It’s less marketing buzz, and more regional pushback after years of feeling like pawns amid accelerating US-China competition. Interestingly, neither the US nor China (nor Taiwan) will be there, after the Solomon hosts uninvited all external partners (Australia and New Zealand are still there as formal members).

  4. 04

    NORTH KOREA

    Failed landing.

    If you haven’t already read NYT’s remarkable scoop, US Navy SEALs reportedly tried to sneak into North Korea and plant a listening device amid 2019 high-level nuclear talks with then-president Donald Trump. The mission failed after the US operatives, thinking they’d been discovered, opened fire on a vessel that apparently turned out to be a boat of unarmed fishermen, all two or three of whom died. (NYT $)

    Comment: We tend to hear about these missions when they succeed (Bin Laden) or fail (this one, or when four CIA operatives died trying to plant a device in the South China Sea back in 2008, for example). But the reality is this stuff happens often.

  5. 05

    UKRAINE

    In the crosshairs.

    Putin hit Ukraine with another record-setting drone and missile strike on Sunday, including hits on Ukraine’s main government building for the first time. (Guardian)

    Comment: This is classic Putin: cross a line, wait for any reaction, then ratchet up and repeat. This latest time around, President Trump has flagged a “second phase” of US and EU sanctions that could push Putin’s economy into “full collapse”. Given the number of lapsed deadlines, it’s hard to see Putin changing course until someone makes him.

  6. 06

    UNITED STATES

    Released.

    Korea’s presidential chief of staff has announced the 300+ South Korean workers arrested in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant in Georgia will soon return home on a charter flight. (Korea Times)

    Comment: The US says they had the wrong visa, but the incident (including ICE releasing footage of the workers in shackles) has led to outrage in Seoul, just as the two allies struggle to finalise some kind of trade pact.

  7. 07

    SAUDI ARABIA

    More oil!

    Defying expectations they’d hold oil output steady, eight OPEC+ members ended up using their Sunday meeting to instead announce another production boost. (Yahoo)

    Comment: As we wrote last week, fears of an oil glut are bad news for Russia’s already-sagging profits, and an OPEC ramp-up just makes that worse. The Saudis and others seemingly don’t care, as they remain focused more on regaining lost market share rather than propping up prices.