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| | | Good morning. Sorry for missing last week — if you've never had the flu, I don't recommend it. Thanks to those readers who sent your kind words! | Today, we're diving deep into the latest in the negotiations to end the Russo-Ukrainian War. Yesterday's Trump-Vance-Zelensky meeting went up in flames, but a peace deal is still on the table. And in Romania, police arrested a populist right presidential candidate whose previous victory was ruled invalid. | Mentioned in this edition: Călin Georgescu, Elon Musk, JD Vance, Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoon Suk-yeol, Javier Milei, Doug Ford, Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump, Lindsey Graham, Marco Rubio, Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, and more. | | Have tips? Send them to me at ari@upward.news |
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| | | 🔎 WHAT WE'RE WATCHING | | 1. 🇷🇴 Romanian police arrested populist right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu. The arrest came after Georgescu's first-round election victory was annulled over suspected Russian influence, sparking outrage from American conservatives like Elon Musk and JD Vance. Critics argue that the detention is an attempt to block Georgescu's political future ahead of the May election redo, amid growing protests from his supporters. | 2. 🇬🇧 Keir Starmer followed France's Macron in charming Trump. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the White House on Thursday, days after French President Emmanuel Macron, as both sought to lock President Trump down on support for Ukraine and NATO. While Starmer got him to agree to support NATO's Article V, Trump made clear he would not allow Ukraine into NATO. | 3. 🇮🇱 Israel will not allow Syria's government to move forces south of Damascus. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the announcement, adding that they would not tolerate threats to the southern Syrian Druze religious community, which has ties to Israel. Israel, however, may be using that as an excuse to extend its control of southern Syria; there has already been established a "temporary" buffer zone in southwest Syria, which has Israeli troops stationed 20 km from Damascus. | 4. 🇨🇳 China conducted live-fire drills off the coasts of Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. The governments of all three critiqued the communist dictatorship, claiming China failed to warn them they were going to engage in the drills. The drills between Australia and New Zealand forced the diversions of dozens of flights. While countries regularly engage in live-fire drills for military readiness, they often warn nearby states. China has refused to apologize for not doing so. |
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| | | 🇪🇺 EUROPE | Germany's center-right Christian Democrats began coalition talks to form a government with the center-left Social Democrats, who came in third in their recent elections. Poland's government is charging a former populist right prime minister with abuse of power for attempting to hold an election during COVID. Norway is planning to increase its financial support for Ukraine. France is also seeking to get a cut of Ukraine's mineral resources, similar to the deal Trump is attempting to work out with Zelensky.
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| | | 🌏 ASIA-PACIFIC | 🔒 This section is for members only | Mentioned behind the paywall: An India-EU deal, Vietnamese repatriations, North Korean soldiers, and a South Korean impeachment hearing. |
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| | | 🐪 MIDDLE EAST | 🔒 This section is for members only | Mentioned behind the paywall: Netanyahu's party establishing European relations, a ceasefire negotiation update, a Kurdish sepratist leader, and a border security agreement. |
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| | | 🚢 THE AMERICAS | 🔒 This section is for members only | Mentioned behind the paywall: Milei and a crypto coin, Mexican cartel members, Mexican tariffs, and a Progressive Conservative victory in Canada. |
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| | | "You're gambling with World War III": Trump's ambitious plan for peace in Ukraine | | Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington on Friday to sign a mineral-sharing deal with the United States. He left with no deal and American-Ukrainian relations in tatters after a blistering 46-minute Oval Office conversation between Zelensky, President Donald Trump, and Vice President JD Vance devolved into a shouting match, with Trump telling the Ukrainian president, "You're gambling with World War III." | 🔒 This article is for members only | |
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| Today's newsletter was written by Anthony Constantini, Brandon Goldman, and Ari David. We scoured 100s of sources to bring you stories and insights you won't find in the mainstream media. | Geopolitics 101: Members-Only | Become a member to unlock this article and gain access to our weekly, uncensored deep dive into global politics. | |
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