Global Gobbles
World news, geopolitics, and global trends.
Latest Gobbles
Germany's UN humiliation is bigger than one bad day
For the first time ever, a German bid for a non-permanent seat at the UN Security Council has failed — Austria and Portugal took the European seats instead
U.S.-Iran exchange raises the temperature around the Strait of Hormuz
The U.S. military said it shot down Iranian ballistic missiles and drones launched toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf Arab allies on Friday, and struck s
CBS, Scott Pelley, and the 60 Minutes pressure cooker
CBS fired veteran journalist Scott Pelley after he publicly challenged new "60 Minutes" executive producer Nick Bilton during a staff meeting and criticize
Beijing, Tehran, Moscow — and a multipolar mood that's hardening
May's clearest signal is that the "multipolar world" is finding fresh affirmation while much of "the West" stays locked in an old unipolar-hegemonic frame.
The world's new operating system: multipolar, messy, and expensive
The old playbook is dead — again. Uncertainty, complexity, and turmoil are accelerating; long-trusted paradigms are giving way to new multipolarities, alli
Rigid Rules Out, Flexible Coalitions In
The global system is being described as increasingly transactional and multipolar. Rigid rules-based frameworks are giving way to flexible, issue-driven co
Trans-Atlantic security keeps rediscovering Russia
Russia sits at the center of this 80-year trans-Atlantic security story, and the premise has clearly shifted: the old hope of integration with the West and
A Crusader Castle, a Modern War, and Israel's Expanding Footprint
Israel has raised its flag over a 900-year-old Crusader castle in southern Lebanon, a strategic move that marks its deepest military push into the country
Doha talks, bombs, and a ceasefire that is “not”
Negotiators were in Doha on May 25 even as American F-16s were dropping bombs on military targets in Hormozgan. The United States called the strikes “defen
The Vatican Just Declared AI a Moral Minefield, Not Just a Tech Problem
Pope Leo XIV just issued his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, declaring that artificial intelligence is not merely a technological challenge, but a p
US Strikes Iran, Tehran Claims It Hit Back: The Persian Gulf Is One Miscalculation From Catastrophe
A three-year-old girl was carried to a hospital in Kherson after losing an eye to a Russian rocket strike on a playground — her father died beside her.
Israel claims it killed Hamas military chief Muhammed Odeh, a key October 7 architect
Israel says it killed Muhammed Odeh — who recently took over as head of Hamas's military wing and whom Netanyahu called one of the chief architects of the
Russia-Ukraine: logistics under pressure, at depth
The live thread’s top comments are doing what war threads do best: zooming in on wrecked Russian vehicles on motorways and on “Russian logistics at a depth
Ukraine, Day 1551: still going, still brutal
A wounded Ukrainian assault soldier was evacuated using an NRK ground drone fitted with an armored capsule. The capsule held. Explosions and debris didn't
China and the US: Beijing gets a framework, Taiwan gets the bill
Donald Trump's meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing—a state visit running May 13 to 15—was billed as a new starting point for China-US rela
Trump Administration to Force Foreigners in the U.S. to Apply for a Green Card Abroad
The Trump administration just ended a 50-year policy that let 600,000 foreigners a year get green cards without leaving the U.S. — and gave no date for whe
Trump’s Cuban Gambit: From Indictment to Intervention?
President Donald Trump declared he might be the one to finally launch a military intervention in Cuba, just a day after his administration announced crimin
The 94-Year-Old Dictator Indicted: A 30-Year-Old Ghost Haunts Raul Castro
At 94 years old, former Cuban President Raul Castro was just indicted by a U.S. grand jury on four counts of murder, stemming from a 30-year-old attack on
Beijing's Whisper: Xi Jinping Told Trump That Putin Might Actually 'Regret' Ukraine Invasion
Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly told Donald Trump that Vladimir Putin might actually regret his invasion of Ukraine.
Drones Hit the UAE's Only Nuclear Plant. No One Is Saying Who Did It.
A drone struck the edge of a $20 billion nuclear power plant in the UAE on Sunday — and nobody is claiming responsibility.
Jensen Huang's Alaska Stop-Over Yields Nothing as China Blocks Nvidia Chips
Hobayd, a 31-year-old commander, remembers the night in November 2024 when his unit, wearing oxygen tanks, navigated a disused two-mile-long water tunnel d
Tehran's parliament is writing a bounty on Trump while strike preparations intensify
Iran's parliament is drafting a €50 million bounty on Donald Trump's life — while U.S. and Israeli war planners are simultaneously drawing up options to re
Israel Moved Its Missile Shield to the UAE Mid-War — and Nobody Said Anything Until Now
Israel secretly air-lifted its Iron Dome missile batteries — and the soldiers to operate them — to the UAE while Iranian missiles were in the air, a deploy
Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi Transferred to Tehran Hospital After Collapsing in Prison
Iran's Nobel Peace laureate collapsed in prison twice before her own government's medical examiners finally ordered her transfer to a hospital — after her
North Korea Updates Constitution to Require Automatic Nuclear Strike if Kim Jong Un Is Assassinated
North Korea has rewritten its constitution to fire nuclear weapons automatically if Kim Jong Un is killed — turning a single assassination into a guarantee
No Tanks on Red Square: Russia's Hollowed-Out Victory Day Parade Unfolds Under a Fragile Trump Ceasefire
For the first time in nearly two decades, Russia's Victory Day parade rolled across Red Square without a single tank, missile, or piece of heavy artillery
"Something Fundamental Has Broken": Europe Faces a NATO Without America
A leaked CIA assessment puts Iran's missile arsenal at 70% intact — directly contradicting the president of the United States, who told the public Iran has
From One License to 408: Indonesia's Nickel Boom Is Devouring the Islands That Feed Its Fishermen
Indonesia's nickel industry went from one active mining license in 2005 to 408 at its peak in 2022 — and the island paying the price has never exported a s
Russia Bombed Three Cities Hours Before Ukraine Was Due to Start Its Own Ceasefire
Russian strikes killed at least 22 people in Ukraine hours before Kyiv said it would observe its own ceasefire, while Moscow's separate Victory Day pause was still days away.
The U.S. Is Forcing Open the World's Most Critical Oil Chokepoint — While the Ceasefire Is Still Breathing
Two American warships escorted merchant vessels through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday — while Iran responded with missiles and drones at the United Arab E