Date: 13/05/2026 The leaders of the G7 bloc, meeting in the Alpine spa town of Evian-les-Bains, on 17/06, tried to show a common front against China's dominance of the global critical minerals supply chain. They only partially succeeded. The discussions ended with a joint statement wherein the leaders committed to cooperation, but actual concrete measures were strikingly absent. All members agreed that China’s dominance over the critical minerals industry is a matter of nati

Date: 20/04/2026 The 2026 revision codifies a decade of Chinese economic statecraft. Here is what it means for companies that trade with, source from, or invest in China. China’s Foreign Trade Law is the master framework that governs how foreign companies buy from, sell to, and invest in China. It was last rewritten in 2004, in the afterglow of WTO accession, to fit a country that wanted to join the global trading system. The 2026 version, in force since 1 March, is the first

Date: 24/03/2026 Throughout March 2026, Russia has capitalised on a global energy supply shock to generate substantial emergency revenue. In the first fifteen days of March, the Kremlin extracted €7.7 billion from fossil fuel exports, averaging €513 million per day, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. This was up from a €472 million daily average in February. The financial surge was made possible due to a confluence of events: the near-complete clo

Date: 06/03/2026 Context At approximately 11:30 on 5 March 2026 , Azerbaijani authorities reported that four drones entered Azerbaijani airspace and struck locations inside the Nakhichevan exclave , damaging parts of the Nakhchivan International Airport terminal building and a field near a school; two injuries were reported. Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal statement condemning the attacks and demanding an explanation from the Iranian Government, an

Date: 05/12/2025 Executive Summary During 2025, reports have been made indicating the presence of uniformed, armed personnel (likely Russian-associated) aboard civilian vessels thought to be part of the vast Russian ‘shadow fleet’ comprising ageing, uninsured oil tankers and cargo vessels registered under flags of convenience and with deliberately confusing ownership structures. These uniformed personnel serve intelligence, surveillance, and command-and-control functions abo

Date: 25/11/2025 (16:30 UTC+01:00) Where? Europe; Romania, Moldova, the Netherlands, Lithuania. Belgium, Sweden, Germany What happened? On 25/11/2025 , six Russian drones crossed Moldovan and Romanian airspace during a large strike on Ukraine. One crashed near the village of Etulia, with at least one drone tracked heading toward the Romanian border. Romanian air defence remained on alert after previous incursions. The Romanian MoD reported two drone incursions from Ukrai

Date: 24/11/2025 (16:00 UTC+01:00) Who? Russian intelligence-gathering vessel Yantar (Project 22010 oceanographic vessel, ~108 metres, IMO 7524419); operated by Russian Ministry of Defence Main Directorate of Deep-Sea Research (GUGI); deployed by Russian Navy/intelligence agencies. Where? Not expressly given by the British government, but according to open source flight data and the approaches of two military aircraft, the location of the incident likely occurred north w