No. 92 — Thursday, 21 May 2026 — 16 articles from 69 sources
The Daily Edition for Thursday, 21 May 2026 curates 16 analytical articles from 69 sources into today's key forces shaping the world. China hosts Trump and Putin as Asia hedges overland. Coal capacity climbs while coal power slips. The UAE quits OPEC to fund AI.
Our MethodTracking: US-Iran Nuclear Diplomacy: War Risk and Deal Negotiations, US Indicts Raúl Castro, Escalating Cuba Tensions, Ebola Outbreak Response Strained by US Aid Cuts, UN General Assembly Backs World Court Climate Ruling Despite US Opposition, Trump Eyes Taiwan Call, Departing from US Diplomatic Protocol
Xi welcomed Putin to Beijing this week for the Russian leader's twenty-fifth official visit, days after hosting Trump on his first trip since 2017. Today opens there, with The Conversation reading the back-to-back choreography as China stepping into the central node once held by Washington, and Carnegie tracing how states from Türkiye to Kazakhstan are spreading their bets across multiple powers rather than picking a side. From there we turn to coal, where Carbon Brief finds the global fleet growing at a decade-high pace even as actual generation slipped, with renewables eating into what the new plants burn. We close in the Gulf, where the UAE's exit from OPEC has freed up suppressed oil revenue now flowing into AI data centers through G42 and its Microsoft partnership. Plus a brief on Russia and Ukraine settling into an Iran-Iraq-style war of cities, and another on local-currency payment rails quietly fragmenting global finance.
The Conversation walks through Xi's back-to-back hosting of Trump and Putin in Beijing — gun salutes, a private stroll through the Zhongnanhai compound, Putin's 25th official visit, Trump's first since 2017. Carnegie Endowment zooms out to the overland space from Türkiye to China, whe
Carbon Brief unpacks Global Energy Monitor's latest annual report, which clocks nearly 100GW of new coal capacity added in 2025 — a 10-year high, with 95% built in China and India. Yet coal generation fell 0.6% as wind and solar displaced output, opening what GEM calls a 'widening disconne
Rest of World reports the UAE walked out of OPEC on May 1, escaping a 3.2 million barrel-a-day cap on a country that can pump 4.8 million — a gap worth $61 billion a year at current Brent prices. Within 48 hours, state oil company ADNOC committed $55 billion in accelerated spending across production
The Conversation · Academic · US · Least Biased — Xi Jinping hosted Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in Beijing back-to-back last week — Trump's first state visit since 2017, Putin's 25th. The Conversation reads the body language and the staging: a di
Carnegie Endowment · Think Tank · US · Left-Center — Carnegie Endowment maps the overland stretch from Türkiye to China as a single strategic field, not the fragmented "Central Asia" of Soviet inheritance. Kazakhstan signed a $1.1 billion tungsten deal
Carbon Brief · Research · Global · Least Biased — 100 new coal plants came online in 2025, a 10-year high, with 95% built in China and India. Yet Carbon Brief, citing Global Energy Monitor, finds coal generation actually fell 0.6% as wind and solar b
Rest of World · Newspaper · Global South · Least Biased — Rest of World tracks the UAE's May 1 exit from OPEC, which unlocks 1.6 million barrels a day — worth $61 billion annually at Brent prices. Within 48 hours, ADNOC announced $55 billion in accelerated s
Europe is losing the energy security battle to China — Eco-Business · Research · Global
Why the Iran war won’t mean more coal use in China — Eco-Business · Research · Global
Top Climate Scientists Accuse the Livestock Industry of Pushing Fuzzy Math to Downplay its Climate Warming Emissions — Inside Climate News · Investigative · US · Left-Center
The flow of arms and money feeding the war in Sudan can be cut. What is missing is the will — Chatham House · Think Tank · UK · Least Biased
AI’s Macroeconomic Challenges and Promises — Liberty Street Economics · Research · Global
The Kafala System Disables Workers. International Disability Law Can Hold Saudi Arabia Accountable — Just Security · Research · US · Left-Center
How China Built a Closure That Cannot Leak — The Diplomat · Newspaper · Asia · Least Biased
How South Asia’s Uprisings Are Reshaping Party Politics — And What Bangladesh Gets Wrong — The Diplomat · Newspaper · Asia · Least Biased
Road rage — Emerging Europe · Newspaper · EU
The global push for local-currency cross-border payments is intensifying — Atlantic Council · Think Tank · US · Right-Center
A smarter approach to electricity rationing — VoxEU (CEPR) · Academic · EU · Least Biased