| Prompted by Donald Trump’s escalating effort to weaponize global trade policy, Chinese President Xi Jinping wrote to his Indian counterpart back in March to test the waters on improving ties, a source says. While it wasn’t until June that Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a serious effort to smooth relations with Beijing, the rapprochement now appears to be accelerating after both nations were stung by the US president’s tariffs. Russia unleashed overnight drone and missile strikes on Kyiv, killing at least 15 people, according to Ukrainian authorities. The European Union is mulling introducing secondary sanctions in an effort to stop third countries helping Russia circumvent the bloc’s punitive measures, sources say, while White House trade adviser Peter Navarro cranked up pressure on India to halt Russian oil purchases that he said are funding “the war machine.”  The “Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine” in Kyiv on Aug. 24. Photographer: Oleksii Filippov/AFP/Getty Images Israel carried out airstrikes on the southern outskirts of Syria’s capital Damascus, undermining efforts to ease tensions between the Middle East neighbors. Israel welcomed President Bashar al-Assad’s December ouster because he was a key ally of arch-enemy Iran, but is wary of new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa given his past as an Islamist fighter, and has warned Western powers to be cautious. Meanwhile, the US rejected a United Nations-backed report that declared a famine in Gaza. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will visit China for a military parade on Sept. 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, a rare trip that would place him alongside other leaders including Russian President Vladimir Putin. Beijing has been Pyongyang’s main backer for years, keeping its economy afloat even as the US and its partners repeatedly urged the government to use its influence to curb Kim’s nuclear ambitions. Argentina said it successfully rolled over a large batch of local debt yesterday, passing a key test for President Javier Milei’s strategy to contain a slide in the peso ahead of national mid-term elections at the end of October. Milei, meanwhile, escaped unscathed after being pelted with stones while campaigning with his sister in Buenos Aires province, where voters head to the polls on Sept. 7.  Protesters throw stones at Milei yesterday. Photographer: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images European powers are expected to refer Iran back to the UN to face the re-imposition of tougher sanctions after its government failed to comply with demands to negotiate with the US and allow international atomic inspectors to resume their work. The US migrant-detention camp known as Alligator Alcatraz may soon be emptied, just two months after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had it built to support Trump’s pledge to deport millions of immigrants. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s popularity ebbed in August, suggesting the momentum he gained from a trade fight with Trump was short-lived. After more than 150 days in court, the Hong Kong trial of 77-year-old ex-media mogul and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai has come to an end. On this week’s episode of Trumponomics, host Stephanie Flanders and Noah Smith, a former columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and now a prominent Substack writer, ask whether — if the Democratic party returns to power — it should return to the neoliberal policies of the Obama administration, or find its own populist message to match that of Trump? Or perhaps something in between? Listen on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. | 
