Happy Monday Everyone! Today’s newsletter: 1,095 words…4 mins
🗞 Today’s Edition: Trapped on Mt. Everest, James Bond Goes Woke, Japan’s First Female PM, France’s New PM Quits, Georgia’s Power Standoff, Instagram’s Golden Ring… & much more!
📜THE HIGHLIGHT
One killer insight to stash in your back pocket
🇬🇪 Georgia’s Power Standoff: Protest, Crackdown, and Europe’s Dilemma
Tbilisi saw its largest protests in years over the weekend as demonstrators clashed with riot police as they tried to storm the Presidential Palace.
Why? The ruling Georgian Dream party (pro-Russia) won the local elections by a landslide (81%). The former ruling party - United National Movement (pro-EU) led the riots alleging the elections were unfair.
Authorities used water cannons and pepper spray to disperse crowds that attempted to breach the gates.
The government called it an attempted overthrow, accusing the EU of orchestrating a “Maidan”. Opposition leaders framed it as a “peaceful revolution”, while the EU refuted any allegations they were involved.
[The EU] "firmly rejects and condemns the disinformation regarding the EU’s role in Georgia."
⚖️ Five opposition figures now face charges of plotting to topple the government.
PM Irakli Kobakhidze accused the EU of political interference, after European officials criticized new “foreign influence” laws that tighten controls on NGOs and media.
📍Context: The unrest follows a year of political strain after the disputed 2024 elections and Georgia’s suspended EU accession process.
The ruling Georgian Dream party says reforms are about transparency and sovereignty; critics see them as democratic backsliding.
🌍Why it matters: Georgia sits at the crossroads of Russian and EU influence, a strategic buffer in the South Caucasus. How Brussels and Moscow react will shape whether Tbilisi remains a tentative EU aspirant—or drifts deeper into the post-Soviet orbit.
⏳Bottom line: This isn’t just street unrest—it’s a test of Georgia’s geopolitical gravity.
♟️THE CHESSBOARD
Geopolitics Decoded In 3 Moves
❄️ Everest’s Whiteout = Beijing’s Stress Test
1,000+ trekkers and climbers were trapped on Tibet’s Everest slopes after an early season blizzard—described as the worst in years—buried trails under 10m drifts and crushed high-altitude camps.
Visibility: <1 meter
Tourist tents completely snowed in
Rescue yaks unable to move through deep snow
Rescue ops: Blue Sky team + bulldozers pulled 350 to safety in Qudang, with 200 more en route. Hundreds remain stranded as hypothermia cases mount.
💡 Why it matters: Beijing uses Everest tourism to project control over Tibet and lure wealthy climbers away from Nepal’s side. This means, China needs a flawless save—or risks headlines of “tourists abandoned on Beijing’s Everest.”
🏯Japan’s Thatcher Moment?
Sanae Takaichi, 64, just clinched the LDP leadership, making her Japan’s first female PM—and one of its most conservative.
A self-styled “China hawk” and PM Shinzo Abe’s protégé, she’s promising more defense spending, tighter U.S. alignment, and Thatcher-style toughness.
Takaichi faces an ageing population, public concern over immigration and lingering economic challenges.
Her rise comes after LDP’s electoral bruising and PM Shigeru’s resignation; meaning she’ll need centrist coalitions to govern.
💡First big test? A Trump summit where defense commitments = opening bid.
🇫🇷 Macron’s Seventh PM Folds in 27 Days
France’s new PM Sébastien Lecornu quit less than a month after taking office—and less than 24 hours after unveiling his cabinet. He was the fifth PM since 2024.
Why? A hung parliament since 2024 means no one has a majority and his cabinet picks drew immediate backlash from both far-right and far-left blocs
Lecornu submitted his resignation, stating “conditions were not met” to govern and blamed "egos" and "partisan appetites."
Macron's options:
Appoint PM #6 (good luck)
Call snap elections (Macron’s arch nemesis and far-right Marine Le Pen, wins)
Resign (Macron says, never)
Market reaction: French stocks 📉, bond yields 📈. Investors are pricing in "WTF factor."
💡 Why it matters: France can't pass a budget, can't form a coalition, and can't stop the death spiral. Paris’s paralysis weakens Europe’s political core—a bad look as Brussels faces budget fights and war next door.
🗽THE EMPIRE FILES
Political Drama From DC To NYC
🪖 Judges, Guards & the Frog Heard ’Round America
A federal judge in Oregon blocked the President’s plan to deploy National Guard units to Portland to tackle the uncontrolled rising crime rate.
The ban was expanded nationwide after news emerged of California and Texas troops being rerouted to areas of Illinois and Oregon.
Chicago is also fighting potential Guard deployments after a Border Patrol shooting of an armed protester fueled further unrest and legal action.
🐸 Meanwhile, a “frog-suit protester”—pepper-sprayed and meme-ified—has become a viral symbol of the anti-ICE standoffs sweeping U.S. cities.
💡Why it matters: The Guard fight marks a rare state–federal showdown over domestic troop use, testing where emergency powers end and civil rights begin. Courts warn such moves could violate state sovereignty and escalate unrest; while the Feds argue it’s the only way to properly clean up these crime-infested areas.
🎬 Amazon Disarms James Bond (Literally)
Amazon’s attempt to scrub James Bond clean backfired harder than a shaken martini. Is woke going too far?
The streamer airbrushed guns out of 007’s posters on Prime Video UK—stretching arms and leaving Bond awkwardly pointing at nothing.
Fans accused Amazon of “cultural vandalism.”
Memes exploded (“License to gesture”), and Bond purists warned of a “woke rewrite.”
The backlash peaked on James Bond Day, forcing Amazon to quietly restore less-altered stills—still gun-free.
⚡Why it matters: They paid billions for a spy franchise, then removed the spy stuff. Villeneuve’s new Bond film remains in the works…but hold your excitement. Bond’s Walther PPK might be replaced by a strongly-worded email and a therapy session.
🤖 CODES & POWER
Tech Wars, Crypto Chaos, and AI’s Black Mirror Moments
📲 Instagram’s “Gold Ring” Flex — No Cash Included
Instagram just launched a “Rings Award” for top creators—25 winners get a literal gold ring and a shiny badge on their profile… but zero payout.
The judging panel? Adam Mosseri, Spike Lee, Marc Jacobs, and tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee.
The move lands awkwardly after Meta killed its Reels bonus program in 2023, which many relied on for income.
With brand deals down 52%, creators call the gold ring “a vibe but not rent money.”
⚡Meanwhile, YouTube’s paid $100B to creators in four years. Meta? Still handing out accessories.
💵 AMD’s $tunning AI Play with OpenAI
AMD just bagged a multi-year chip deal with OpenAI worth tens of billions, supplying 6 gigawatts of compute—enough to power 4.5M homes.
The chips, starting with AMD’s new Instinct MI450 GPUs, roll out in late 2026 and will fuel OpenAI’s Stargate megacenters.
The twist: OpenAI can snag up to 10% of AMD stock if it hits supply + price targets ($600/share goal 👀).
⚡AMD’s coming for Nvidia’s AI crown—and just got OpenAI to help forge it.
📺 FUN FACTS & TRIVIA
The Empire State Building’s Lightning Rod
The Empire State Building is struck by lightning about 23 times per year. It was even hit during its construction in the 1930s, yet it opened on time in 1931.