International

Zelensky and Trump Set to Meet in Washington as U.S. and Ukraine Weigh Proposing an 'Air Truce' to Russia

Background
Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, now in its fifth year, has settled into a grinding, attritional fight along a roughly 1,000-kilometer front line, with neither side achieving a decisive breakthrough despite periodic shifts in momentum. Russian forces captured the eastern city of Pokrovsk and neighboring…

Trump Rebuilds the Tariff Wall: New Levies on 60 Countries Ignite Global Trade Fight Over “Forced Labor”

Background
For the third time in less than eighteen months, the Trump administration has rebuilt the legal foundation under its global tariff program, and on July 24, 2026, a sweeping new set of duties on 60 trading partners took effect at 12:01 a.m., replacing a temporary levy that expired by operation of law at the stroke…

Ortega Declares 'No More Elections' in Nicaragua, Formalizing Two Decades of One-Family Rule

NICARAGUA

Background
Daniel Ortega has been a central figure in Nicaraguan politics for nearly half a century, first as a commander of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) that toppled the Somoza family dictatorship in the 1979 revolution, then as president from 1985 to 1990, and…

Trump Imposes 50% Tariffs on Canadian Autos, Dairy and Alcohol, Reigniting the North American Trade War

Background
The United States and Canada have spent much of the past year and a half locked in an escalating trade dispute that traces back to February 2025, when President Donald Trump invoked emergency powers to impose sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods, initially citing fentanyl trafficking and illegal border crossings as…

Zelensky Fires War-Weary Military Chief Amid Biggest Protests Since the Invasion

World Politics 

Background
For much of the past two weeks, Ukraine's home front has looked almost as turbulent as its battle lines. On July 15, President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, a young technocrat who had built a reputation both at home and among…

Kim-Putin Summit Speculation Grows as North Korea's Top Diplomat Holds 'Strategic Dialogue' in Moscow

Background
North Korea's relationship with Russia has been transformed since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, evolving from a relatively distant, sanctions-constrained partnership into what both governments now describe as a comprehensive strategic alliance. The turning point came in June 2024, when Vladimir…