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Who mined the DMZ?

30 September5 min read
Collage of North Korea vs South Korea

Shout-out to whoever decided to call 150 miles of barbed wire, two million landmines, and two standing armies still at war... a ' demilitarised zone ' (DMZ).

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  1. 01

    UNITED NATIONS

    Grynspan pulls ahead.

    Costa Rica’s Rebeca Grynspan has edged out ahead in the UN’s fourth Security Council straw poll, a couple votes in front of Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett. Argentina’s Rafael Grossi, the UN’s nuclear watchdog and long-time presumed frontrunner, has now recovered slightly to third place, amid reports China is sidelining him (a US favourite). (France24)

  2. 02

    UNITED STATES

    “We can win safely”.

    That was the line Anthropic’s Dario Amodei used to summarise President Trump’s big conclave with America’s top AI leaders Tuesday (Anthropic, OpenAI, Meta, Google, and Nvidia). They all signed a voluntary but “morally binding” safety accord for frontier models. (Politico)

  3. 03

    IRAQ

    US out.

    American troops are scheduled to finalise their latest withdrawal from Iraq today (Wednesday), 12 years after returning to fight ISIS. (Al Monitor)

  4. 04

    SPAIN

    Mi casa es mi casa.

    The government has unveiled sweeping new housing legislation following widespread protests sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman. The package includes eviction bans for vulnerable tenants, state-backed mortgage guarantees for first-time buyers, and heavy restrictions on speculative purchases and short-term tourist rentals. (EuroNews)

  5. 05

    MONGOLIA

    Japanese investment wanted.

    Prime Minister Nyam-Osor Uchral has met his Japanese counterpart (Takaichi) in Tokyo, securing a $1B pledge for low-interest loans to expand Ulaanbaatar’s international airport. (Japan Times)Comment: Tokyo bankrolled the original airport, so expanding it is the natural play here, especially as Mongolia enjoys its post-pandemic tourism boom. But it’s also a classic example of landlocked Mongolia’s “third neighbour” strategy, actively courting democratic heavyweights to balance against its only two giant neighbours, China and Russia.

  6. 06

    ECUADOR

    Undercover bases.

    President Noboa has reportedly fired his air force chief after he raised concerns about the US presence on an Ecuadorian base. Voters last year rejected Noboa’s referendum that would’ve allowed foreign bases back onto Ecuadorian soil as part of its struggle with organised crime. (Rio Times)

  7. 07

    KENYA

    On pause.

    A Kenyan court has ordered a temporary freeze on site preparations for Nigerian tycoon Aliko Dangote’s proposed new $16B oil refinery in coastal Lamu, following a local petition over forced evictions. The ground-breaking ceremony just went ahead anyway, but if this two-week freeze gets extended, it risks becoming a big setback for Dangote’s record-breaking IPO (which closes on 13 October). (Punch News)

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