This Week's Brief

THE STORIES WE ARE WATCHING THIS WEEK:

(These pins mark the stories with deeply buried, but globally significant signals.)

📌 AI: £100m On The Line, Chaos Inside

📌 Swift! The Life of A Showgirl

📌 Delhi’s Rabies Rumble

📌 Zelle in $1B Hot Water

📌 Dear Moms & Dads, Roblox Alert!

📌 Italy Talks Tough on Israel, Invests Anyway

📌 Tanzania’s Lion Faces the Queen’s Trap

📌 WTO Boss to Africa: Cash In on Your Cool

Humanity Vs. Dogs

Supreme Court vs. Street Dogs: Delhi’s Rabies Rumble

If you doom scroll animal rescues on social media like we do, you’ve probably seen Manavi Rai, former corporate boss turned Delhi dog rescuer. She, along with other animal activists was arrested/detailed this week for protesting the Indian Supreme Court’s order to relocate, sterilise and immunise all stray dogs in eight weeks amid rising rabies fears. India reported 3.7 million dog bites and 54 suspected rabies deaths in 2024, with Delhi alone logging over 26,000 bites. Read more in The Hindu

But activists like ex-minister Maneka Gandhi, Sonya Ghosh, and Alokparna Sengupta say the order is rushed, Delhi lacks shelter capacity, the ruling lacks scientific basis, or a proper dog census as Delhi has zero government-run dog shelters. As protests grow Bollywood celebrities and cricket stars have joined the battle to give Delhi’s street dogs a voice. Read more in India Today

Business & Entertainment

Swift! The Life of A Showgirl

Good news for the global economy! The Swift effect has a new chapter!

Taylor Swift’s 12th album is officially on the way — and she dropped the news not on stage, but while bantering with boyfriend Travis Kelce on his New Heights podcast. Titled The Life of a Showgirl, the reveal was swiftly (sorry) followed by cryptic billboards in NYC and Nashville pointing fans to a Spotify playlist of 22 Max Martin/Shellback-produced tracks. No track list yet, but the Swifties smell a reunion with her hit-making duo. Read more in The Rolling Stone

With Love, Meghan

Despite rumours toward the contrary, Netflix has renewed its ‘multi-year, first look’ deal with Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan’s Archewell, locking in exclusive content in the ongoing fierce streaming battle. Their 2020 deal was worth around $100 million (£75 million), but terms for the new one seem hush-hush.

The deal announcement has surprised the industry since, With Love, Meghan Season 1 barely made Netflix’s top 300 in H1 2025 with just 5.3 million views, nowhere near the Netflix blockbuster Adolescence’s 145 million. Still, it seems we’re about to be fed festive special. Read more at BBC News

Glam Profitability

India’s $28bn beauty market remains one of the country’s few retail bright spots, and market leader FSN E-Commerce Ventures’ (better known as ‘Nykaa’) earnings prove it.

In Q1, profit more than doubled to $2.66 million on a 23% revenue rise. CEO Falguni Nayar saw beauty sales jump 24% thanks to Estée Lauder and new entrant Chanel, while fashion grew 15% with Victoria’s Secret and Titan’s Mia. Read more at Business of Fashion

Banks’ Baby Zelle in $1B Hot Water

US Payment processing company Zelle is facing a $1B fraud lawsuit from New York AG Letitia James. The suit targets the company’s parent, Early Warning Services—owned by Wells Fargo, Capital One, and Bank of America. The New York AG says the payment app ignored key safety features, letting scammers run wild. The Manhattan case follows the CFPB’s March decision to drop a similar suit. Zelle serves 151 million customers with transactions exceeding $1 trillion. Read more in PC Mag

Dear Moms, Roblox Alert!

On holiday? Kids on their tablets? Here’s a reminder to keep an eye on your their Roblox account.

Indonesia is the latest to declare it is worried about Roblox’s impact on its young. The country is now considering cutting off the platform over safety fears. Indonesia is eyeing the ban, blaming the Roblox’s ‘violent’ content and risky voice chat for promoting harmful behaviour among kids. The government has warned children may mimic what they see, driving youth violence. Read more in The South China Morning Post

Artificial Intelligence

Turing Institute: £100m On The Line, Chaos Inside

Jean Innes, CEO of the Alan Turing Institute, is under pressure as the UK’s Technology Minister Peter Kyle has threatened to yank its £100m funding. The government wants the AI charity to pivot to defence research, a sharp turn from its usual health and environment projects.

Staff have fired off a whistleblower complaint to the UK’s Charity Commission, accusing the Institute of misusing public funds, toxic culture, and governance chaos. Caught between political demands and its original mission, the turmoil has already seen senior leaders like Helen Margetts and Cosmina Dorobantu quit, along with former CTO Jonathan Starck. Read more at BBC News

Policy

Trump + Putin are dominating Alaska & headlines, So here’s what else is happening globally:

Italy Talks Tough on Israel, Invests Anyway

Despite vocally criticising Israel since the October 7 massacre, Italy’s right-wing government under Giorgia Meloni has refused to recognise Palestine. More intriguingly, Meloni’s administration is quietly funneling investment into Israeli tech. A Globes investigation reveals that Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, the state-controlled fund managing €4.7 billion, is targeting Israeli AI and quantum computing startups, with plans to bring their operations to Italy and boost the local tech scene. Read more at Globes

This move comes as Bloomberg reveals Meloni’s government is aiming to reduce Chinese stakes in Italian companies to keep on Washington’s good side. Read more at Bloomberg

Kim Yo Jong Turns Up the Volume on Cold War

Kim Yo Jong, seen as speaking for her brother, North Korea’s ruler Kim Jong Un, has swatted away South Korea’s new peace outreach, denying it ever removed propaganda loudspeakers and calling hopes of dialogue a ‘pipedream.’ She also ruled out U.S. talks, as Seoul’s military urged caution over Pyongyang’s claims, noting its history of misinformation. Analysts say the North may be slowing any thaw to underline Kim’s vow to cut ties with the South. Read more at Reuters

Bi-Lateral Deals Du Jour

Indonesia and Peru have inked a free trade agreement aimed at boosting bilateral trade and investment. Presidents Dina Boluarte and Prabowo Subianto formalised the pact on Monday, with 2024 trade totalling $480.8 million. Indonesia’s top exports—cars, car parts, biodiesel and footwear—flow the other way to cocoa beans and grapes, alongside plans for deeper cooperation in food, fisheries, mining, energy transition and defence. Read more at Reuters

Tanzania’s Lion Faces the Queen’s Trap

Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan once courted exiled opposition leader Tundu Lissu with reform promises. She’s now put him back in the dock for treason, which carries capital punishment. The Chadema chief, seen as her biggest threat in October’s election, returned in 2022 to eased restrictions but no real change, as the CCM machine kept constitutional and electoral reform off the table. Critics say her about-face proves she’s perfected, not dismantled, the party’s six-decade grip on power. Read more at Daily Maverick

WTO Boss to Africa: Cash In on Your Cool

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is backing November’s Africa Tourism and Creative Economy Expo (AFTCEE) in Abuja, calling on African nations to turn cultural riches into trade clout. In a letter to organisers Afrocultour, she hailed the theme — “Optimizing Africa’s Comparative and Competitive Advantage for Accelerated Trade and Economic Growth” — as both timely and essential. “Tourism and the creative economy aren’t just about heritage,” she said, “they’re key to plugging Africa deeper into global and regional supply chains.” Read more at This Day Live

Please share widely, like and comment to help us beat the algorithm! Spread the word! Women are more than a check box in world affairs!