What Actually Mattered This Week: 40 Days of Iran Protests

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WHAT ACTUALLY MATTERED THIS WEEK

Clashes in Iran as thousands attend Mahsa Amini memorial in Saqqez

In Mahsa Amini’s hometown of Saqqez, thousands ignored government road closures to walk to her gravesite 40 days after her death in the custody of Iran’s morality police.

Security forces reportedly opened fire on the mourners.

Local rights groups say at least 141 demonstrators have been killed since protests began.

Rishi Sunak becomes the next UK prime minister after months of turbulence

Congratulations to the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak.

One of the wealthiest men in Britain, he is now the first person of color to serve in the role.

I am confident he will be a competent and coherent leader for the British economy.

And I wish him the best of luck with the mess he’s inherited.

Kyiv facing ‘sharp deterioration’ in electric supply after Russian strikes

Ukrainians living in and around Kyiv were warned that existing blackouts are likely to get worse as Russia continues to assault the country’s power grid.

President Zelensky estimated that 30% of Ukraine’s power stations have been damaged or destroyed (at least).

For the people of Ukraine, it’s going to be a long, hard winter.

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TRUTHS, DAMNED TRUTHS, AND STATISTICS

California’s economy vs Germany’s economy:

?-Bloomberg

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THE GZERO WORLD WE’RE JUST LIVING IN

GRAPHIC TRUTH

YOUR GZERO WORLD

U.S. midterm elections have traditionally been a referendum on the president. But in 2022 even Joe Biden wants the vote to be all about his predecessor, Donald Trump, who still dominates the GOP.

In this episode of GZERO World - and for the first time in front of a live studio audience — I speak to New York Times Chief White House Correspondent Peter Baker and New Yorker staff writer Susan Glasser, who've just co-authored a new book about the Trump presidency.

Baker and Glasser explain how they had planned to become foreign correspondents in 2020 but after Trump's win decided to stay in DC, covering him like being foreign correspondents in their own town. What's more, even out of office, they say Trump still looms large over the GOP and continues to influence U.S. politics like an "active crime scene.

And, of course, there's always Trump's bromance with Vladimir Putin, who share more in common than might immediately meet the eye.

For a longer, wider-ranging version of my interview with Glasser and Baker, check out the GZERO World podcast.

?WORLD IN 60 SECONDS

Can new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak fix the United Kingdom?

With the DOJ charging Chinese operatives with espionage, what signal is the U.S. sending Xi Jinping?

Will the presidential election in Brazil be contested no matter the result?

Find out in this week’s World in 60 Seconds!

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BECAUSE THE INTERNET

WHAT TO READ THIS WEEK

Never Turn Back: China and the Forbidden History of the 1980s by Julian Gewirtz

At a moment when Xi Jinping has consolidated power in China on a scale not seen since Mao, Julian Gewirtz’s “Never Turn Back” reminds us of a time when the Chinese Communist Party debated the most fundamental questions of China’s future. It’s a disturbing and important read precisely because the book’s questions seem to have such tragic answers.?

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DEEP THOUGHTS

“Never believe anyone who tells you that you don't deserve what you want” - Taylor Swift

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Thanks for reading!?Please subscribe to Signal?for daily coverage from GZERO Media and my?Bulletin?for weekly deep dives from yours truly. And make sure to read my new book?The Power of Crisis?for a roadmap of this decade's great crises and how they might help us build a better world.

I am president of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media and foreign affairs columnist at TIME. I currently teach at Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs and previously was a professor at New York University. You can follow me on?Twitter,?Facebook, and?Instagram.