Latest news for 11 November 2026

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.

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)

Comment: The wild thing here is that Bukele literally requested (and quickly received) the gang HQ’s coordinates off a random user on X. There’s a long-running joke of netizens instead providing the coordinates for LinkedIn HQ (because LinkedIn sucks), but yes, Bukele appears to have flattened the actual gang HQ rather than a professional networking site. If he can restore the rule of law to Haiti (like he did in El Salvador), we’ll be the first to cheer. But Western diplomats are now quietly sweating that this could just be more about playing the “cool dictator” with helicopter gunships in a complete void of international resolve. He’s already lost four troops in Haiti, and we wonder at what point that number grows.

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)

Comment: Even with new Dems taking their seats in January, this isn’t a threat to Petey Pete’s job (that’d require a two-thirds super-majority in the Senate), but it does raise the political costs for Trump’s continued backing of the former Fox host.

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)

Comment: The arrest of an active-duty US officer inside a top-tier NATO command hub on UK soil? That’s a nightmare scenario, right as Five Eyes intel partners try to assure citizens that they’re all as tight as ever.

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)

Comment: Despite the polite diplomatic readouts, it’s hard to see how these talks will yield a breakthrough beyond just the optics of “yes we also want peace”. Putin can’t pause such a disastrous war then still claim it was all worth it, while Ukraine sees no hope in surrendering even more land or trusting more (empty) Western promises. The latest talk-round might just produce another (bigger) prisoner swap, so everyone can claim a win.

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)

Comment: Ummm… why? This is a huge gamble on Hasina’s part: sensing the interim administration’s fragility, she’s clearly betting her inevitable arrest will galvanise her base and spark her return to power (assuming the courts don’t fast-track her execution first). And right on cue, pro-Hasina factions are now clashing with security forces across the country. For now, authorities are dismissing her demands for a passport and instead insisting she surrender to extradition, but that’s playing into her self-styling as a martyr.

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 $)

Comment: It’s a marriage of convenience, with Damascus needing hard cash and foreign investment to rebuild, while the Saudis need battle-hardened boots on the ground that aren’t Saudi. The timing is hardly accidental either, coming soon after the Saudis signed off on a $400M loan.