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Intrigue

Daily flyovers

Latest news for 8 January 2026

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

  1. 01

    IRAN

    No end in sight.

    Demonstrations continue to spread across Iran, with Kurdish regions joining the fray on Wednesday as unrest enters its 11th day. Triggered initially by a sudden crash in the Iranian rial, it’s all left a reported 36 people dead so far, plus thousands more arrested. (AP)

    Comment: These protests don’t (yet) seem to have matched the massive 2022 Mahsa Amini unrest, and the clerics are sticking to a carrots (new $7 per month subsidy) and sticks (police brutality) approach in hopes they can ride it out again.

  2. 02

    UNITED KINGDOM

    Gotcha.

    As we foreshadowed yesterday, US forces (with UK logistical support) ended up seizing the sanctioned Bella tanker somewhere between Iceland and Scotland after the Venezuela-bound ship U-turned back towards Russia and switched both its name and flag (to Russia). US forces seized another sanctioned Russian tanker in the Caribbean the same day. (UK Gov)

    Comment: No word yet on what (if anything) was on board the Bella, beyond several unidentified Russian nationals the Kremlin now says it wants back. Notice how the US just seized two sanctioned Russian tankers, and rather than any feared escalation, Moscow has done nothing but complain?

  3. 03

    JAPAN

    Roaming charges.

    An employee at Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has lost a work phone containing sensitive info during a personal trip through a Shanghai airport. (Japan Times)

    Comment: It’s Japan’s second nuclear-info security bungle in as many months, just as Tokyo looks to restart its nuclear energy program. More broadly, for allies and friends, it’ll confirm Japan’s reputation as a weak link in the information security chain.

  4. 04

    SAUDI ARABIA

    Out in the open.

    Yesterday we flagged the mysterious disappearance of South Yemen’s UAE-backed separatist leader. The Saudis now accuse the Emiratis of smuggling him out to the UAE, as tensions between Yemen’s rival Emirati and Saudi-backed factions rise. (DW)

    Comment: After years of hiding their rivalry under a veil of niceties, it seems the mask has dropped, with the Saudis now actively unwinding the UAE’s recent spectacular gains in Yemen.

  5. 05

    GREECE

    Last ditch effort.

    Greece has unveiled $190M in agricultural aid, including cheaper electricity and billions in new investments, as it tries to defuse escalating farmer protests over costs and subsidies that’ve lasted nearly 40 days. (Balkan Insight)

    Comment: EU farmers more broadly are on edge as the bloc seems set to approve its big Mercosur trade pact with South American nations tomorrow (Friday), risking an influx of cheaper competition. Italy has been the swing voter lately, but further EU concessions seem to have gotten Rome over the line.

  6. 06

    CAMBODIA

    Gone.

    Cambodia has extradited three PRC nationals to China, including an online scam tycoon also wanted by US authorities for defrauding victims worldwide. (AA)

    Comment: The US and UK sanctioned this tycoon back in October, prompting us to wonder at the time how Cambodia would handle this given its close ties to both China and the tycoon. Now we have the answer: keep the West happy by taking action, but keep China happy by sending him to China, not the US.

  7. 07

    MEXICO

    Love thy neighbour.

    President Sheinbaum has pledged to continue supplying Cuba with oil after the fall of Venezuela’s Maduro, partly framing the shipments as humanitarian. (Bloomberg)

    Comment: Mexico seems to have quietly overtaken Venezuela as Cuba’s top source of oil last year. Meanwhile, the US energy secretary has told a Goldman conference that the US will now sell Venezuelan crude onto world markets, and deposit the funds into a US-controlled account for the Venezuelan people.

  8. 08

    BURKINA FASO

    Holding on.

    Burkina Faso says it has foiled an assassination plot against military junta leader Ibrahim Traoré, accusing his ousted predecessor of orchestrating the plan from exile in Togo, with alleged funding from Ivory Coast! (BBC)

    Comment: 37-year-old Traoré has a record of blaming foreign interference, though there’ve been a couple of coup attempts against him since he seized power in 2022. He’s juggling a jihadist insurgency and economic malaise, though retains support at home and elsewhere in the region thanks to his pan-Africanist and Western-sceptical vision.