Hard Numbers: Trump’s favorability, Niger attack, lone ship braves Black Sea, Vietnamese EV maker’s big debut, neo-Nazis take to the streets

Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he campaigns in Iowa.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks as he campaigns in Iowa.
Reuters

35: A new poll finds that just 35% of Americans have a favorable view of Donald Trump, while 62% have an unfavorable view of the former president. The survey, which also found that 53% approve of the recent Justice Department decision to indict Trump, was conducted before Trump was indicted Monday in Georgia.

17: Seventeen Nigerien soldiers were killed and scores more were injured when a jihadist group launched an attack Wednesday near the border with Mali. It’s the first major attack in that country in six months and comes just weeks after a military coup that regional and Western leaders have warned will leave a power vacuum that the Islamic State and al-Qaida affiliates will seek to exploit.

1: On Wednesday, a 1,000-foot-long civilian container ship, stranded in Odesa since Russia invaded Ukraine nearly 18 months ago, became the first to leave port since Russia threatened to sink all ships moving to and from Ukraine. Kyiv says the safe corridor it has established will help ships maneuver past mines. But there is no guarantee that Russian forces won’t attack them.

85 billion: On its first day of trading in New York, shares in Vietnamese electric vehicle maker VinFast closed above $37, giving the company a stock market valuation of $85 billion. Compare that with the market capitalization at Tuesday’s close of $48 billion for Ford and $46 billion for General Motors.

3: Germany saw a three-fold increase in marches by neo-Nazi groups and other far-right extremists in the first six months of this year, perhaps as a result of the end of the COVID regulations that prevented public protests. Want to understand why the far-right is on the rise in Germany? Read our explainer here.

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With all of the millions of Syrian refugees that you find in Europe, what's got to be the consequences for them of the fall of the Assad regime? What's the nature of the big agreement that is now being concluded with the European Union and the Mercosur countries of South America? Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden and co-chair of the European Council on Foreign Relations, shares his perspective on European politics from San Francisco, United States.

What will be the #1 concern for the year ahead? Join us January 6 at 12 pm ET for a livestream with Ian Bremmer and global experts to discuss the Top Risks of 2025 report from Eurasia Group. The much-anticipated annual forecast of the biggest geopolitical risks to watch in 2025 will be released that morning. Evan Solomon, GZERO Media's publisher, will moderate the conversation with Ian Bremmer and Cliff Kupchan of Eurasia Group, along with special guests.
Watch live at https://www.gzeromedia.com/toprisks