one of the wildest...

Hi Global Recap readers,

Today’s newsletter title happens to fit more than one story.

• In one of the wildest protests I’ve seen, crowds are accusing their own government of selling out its people to help the drug cartels.

• And in Poland, the government now says a railway explosion may have been an act of Russian sabotage.

What do you think? 👇️ 

🇲🇽 MEXICO
Gen Z vs Sheinbaum

Thousands of mostly young protesters packed Mexico City’s historic center in anti-government protests over cartel violence that turned into street fights with riot police. At least 120 people were hurt and 20 arrested after officers fired tear gas at crowds tearing down metal fencing around the National Palace.

• Spark: The march was triggered by the killing of Carlos Manzo, the mayor of Uruapan in Michoacán, who was shot on 1 November while attending a Day of the Dead event after publicly demanding tougher action on cartel gunmen. Protesters showed up in cowboy hats and carried banners reading "We are all Carlos Manzo," turning his assassination into a national symbol of how local officials get punished for confronting organized crime.

• Crowd: Although branded as a "Gen Z-led mobilization," the march drew a mix of teenagers, university students, and older residents fed up with daily extortion, kidnappings, and turf wars that shape life across Mexico. Youth collectives used social media to push the protest nationwide, while President Claudia Sheinbaum argued that conservative politicians and online bots were the real architects of the mobilization, not spontaneous grassroots anger.

• Clashes: In Mexico City, demonstrators dismantled sections of the metal barrier protecting the National Palace, where Sheinbaum lives, and hurled parts of the fencing toward police lines. Riot police responded with shields, batons, and tear gas, leaving roughly 100 injured on the police side and around 20 civilians hurt, according to local officials, and authorities later reported at least 20 arrests on charges that included robbery and assault.

• Politics: There are two opposing views on Sheinbaum.

  • Defenders of Sheinbaum claim that she is trying to crack down on cartels while trying to avoid a repeat of earlier militarized drug wars, which left tens of thousands dead.

  • Critics say that Mexico is occupied by drug cartels and that Sheinbaum is not doing enough to stop the country being infested by them. Some even believe that she is in their pockets.

  • Despite the images of street battles, she still sits on approval ratings above 70% in her first year in office.

• Diplomacy: The unrest lands as Sheinbaum is already taking flak abroad, including from Peru, whose Congress recently declared her "persona non grata" after Mexico granted asylum to a former Peruvian PM accused of involvement in a failed 2022 coup. Peru cut diplomatic ties with Mexico over that decision, which now blends with the domestic narrative that Sheinbaum is under pressure on both foreign and home fronts even while trying to project control.

Stats

Mexico has spent nearly two decades trying to contain cartel-driven violence that routinely targets mayors, police chiefs, and community leaders, while younger generations grow up seeing viral videos of assassinations, kidnappings, and mass graves.

• Since 2006, Mexico has recorded 460,000+ homicides nationwide—a large share are attributed to organized-crime and “drug war” violence.

• 100,000+ people are officially registered as disappeared, with recent estimates generally ranging from about 110,000 to more than 130,000, and most presumed dead or forcibly disappeared in cartel-related violence

• Hundreds of politicians have been assassinated since 2006, including well over a hundred sitting and former mayors, as well as many local officials and party activists, in areas where organized crime seeks to control local government.

• Thousands of police officers and soldiers have been killed in operations and attacks linked to organized crime and the militarized “war on drugs.”

• Since 2006, authorities and family search groups have uncovered more than 5,000 clandestine grave sites containing at least several thousand bodies (often estimated at 8,000–10,000+ exhumed remains), with new graves still being found each year.

🇵🇱 POLAND
Railway Sabotage

An overnight explosion ripped up a stretch of the Warsaw–Lublin railway near the village of Mika, on a line that carries weapons and aid toward Ukraine. Prime Minister Tusk is calling it an "unprecedented act of sabotage" and is treating the damaged rails as a national security incident, not a freak accident.

• Target: The blast hit the Warsaw–Lublin route, part of a corridor that runs on toward Hrubieszów near the Ukrainian border and is heavily used for military supplies and other support to Kyiv. That puts the attack squarely on one of the main arteries feeding Ukraine from the European Union.

• Discovery: A train driver spotted warped and broken track on Sunday morning around Mika and raised the alarm. Earlier trains had passed over the damaged section, which means Poland came close to a high-speed derailment with passengers on board.

• Pattern: On the same line, closer to Lublin, another section of infrastructure was hit. Overhead traction equipment and track were damaged, forcing a long-distance passenger train with roughly 475 people to halt after windows were struck by falling hardware. No one was hurt, but investigators describe this second case as a "highly probable" act of sabotage.

• Response: The army has been ordered to walk and scan about 120km (75 miles) of track toward the Ukrainian border, while police and internal security services collect camera footage, physical evidence, and blast residues. Top generals are openly talking about an "adversary" that is trying to erode trust in the government, the military, and the police by poking at critical infrastructure rather than rolling tanks.

• Blame: No one has been formally named, yet the political subtext is not subtle. Polish officials keep pointing to a run of arson, cyberattacks, and earlier plots allegedly tied to Russian intelligence (surprise), including the recent arrest of eight people in Poland and Romania who were suspected of planning sabotage. Moscow, for its part, keeps denying any role and dismisses accusations as anti-Russian hysteria. Seeing how close the railway is to Belarus (a close ally of Russia), it's not too unlikely this is the case.

🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM
Labour’s 20 Year
Asylum Plan

The UK’s Labour government has announced plans for a major overhaul of its asylum system, which would extend the 5 year standard path to permanent residency into a 20 year wait and letting officials tap some migrants' assets to cover costs. The plan is pitched as "restoring order and control" while small-boat crossings in the English Channel keep rising.

• Trigger: Prime Minister Starmer's government is under heavy pressure over small boats, with arrivals in the first half of 2025 up about 50% compared with the same period in 2024, even though countries like Germany, Spain, France, and Italy still receive more total asylum claims than the U.K.

• Plan: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood lays out what she calls an "entirely new asylum model," where refugee status is temporary, cases are reviewed roughly every 30 months, and the wait for permanent residency stretches to 20 years rather than 5.

• Money: Inspired by Denmark, the U.K. wants officials to seize valuable assets from asylum seekers to help pay for accommodation and processing; ministers insist wedding rings and family heirlooms are off limits, but say cash, "a bag full of gold rings," cars, or e-bikes should be on the table.

• Teeth: The government promises a tougher removal regime for people whose claims fail, including families, if the U.K. deems their home countries safe, along with tighter family reunification rules and plans to consult on restricting access to taxpayer-funded benefits, prioritizing migrants who are in work or otherwise contributing economically, rather than automatic entitlement for all who are allowed to stay.

• Backlash: Critics inside Labour, such as MP Stella Creasy, warn that enforcing this model would require U.S. style immigration raids, while Scottish National Party figures call it "outrageous" to contemplate expelling people after up to 20 years, and Nigel Farage accuses Labour of copying his Reform UK agenda while doubting the measures will ever be fully implemented.

🇺🇦 UKRAINE
Ukraine Bets
Big on Rafales

Ukraine just inked an arms deal with France for Rafale fighter jets and air defense systems. But if you think this is an immediate boost for the Ukrainian troops today, it's not that simple.

• Deal: In Paris, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy signed a letter of intent with Emmanuel Macron for up to 100 Rafale fighter jets, plus drones, drone interceptors, guided bombs, and air defense gear over roughly the next decade.

• Hardware: The package centers on France’s Rafale multirole jet, which is estimated to cost over €85-€100 million each, and on SAMP/T ground to air systems that French commanders say have outperformed U.S. Patriot batteries against fast, hard to hit Russian missiles.

• Timing: A French official says Rafale pilot training takes at least three years, so Ukraine is betting on a long game, although pilots already flying French Mirage jets should convert faster and the first SAMP/T systems and drones are expected within about three years.

• Winter: Zelenskyy is pushing this now as Ukraine heads into another winter of Russian strikes on power plants and cities, arguing that more air defense and "protection capabilities" are the only way to give families a basic sense of safety at home.

• Build-up: This Rafale plan sits next to a possible future purchase of up to 150 Swedish Gripen jets, plus incoming American F-16s and French Mirages, while Ukraine also ramps up its domestic drone industry that already accounts for around 70 percent of Russian equipment destroyed at the front.

🇺🇳 UNITED NATIONS
Security Council Backs
Gaza Plan

The U.N. Security Council has just adopted the Trump administration’s peace plan for Gaza, creating binding obligations on U.N. member states to support its implementation. Russia and China abstained while the other 13 members lined up behind the resolution.

• Vote: On Monday in New York, the 15 member Council approved the U.S. drafted text with 13 votes in favor and no veto, a sharp break after nearly two years in which the U.S. repeatedly used vetoed Gaza ceasefire drafts, while allowing one ceasefire resolution to pass by abstaining.

• Architecture: The resolution formally blesses President Trump’s 20 point ceasefire plan, authorizes an International Stabilization Force to enter and demilitarize Gaza, and sets up a Trump-chaired Board of Peace plus a technocratic Palestinian committee to handle daily governance through the end of 2027, when their mandate is due to expire unless the Security Council renews it.

• Backers: Arab and Muslim majority states such as Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan, and Turkey pushed for swift passage, arguing they needed a clear U.N. mandate before sending their own troops into a devastated territory.

• Fault lines: The text hints that if the Palestinian Authority reforms and Gaza’s rebuilding advances, there could be a "credible pathway" to Palestinian self determination and statehood, language that Arab capitals demanded and that has enraged Israel’s far-right and drawn outright rejection from Hamas and other factions.

• Execution: The stabilization force is expected to destroy militant infrastructure, secure borders and aid corridors, and train Palestinian police while the World Bank and other donors channel money into a dedicated reconstruction fund.