Author: staff

For the first time since the outbreak of the Iran war, top delegations from Middle Eastern and Asian countries engaged in ongoing political and military conflicts met in Baku on Thursday for the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), hosted by Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has brought together Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, Iran’s deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, UAE Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar and a Palestinian delegation led by Foreign Minister Varsen…

Published on 15/10/2026 – 11:48 GMT+2 The International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that attacks on Saudi Arabia could hurt economies worldwide, after a strike damaged oil giant Aramco’s headquarters. IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva pointed to Saudi Arabia’s economic importance. “In that sense, these developments have potentially negative spillovers for everybody, everywhere,” she said at the IMF and World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said an administrative building at Aramco’s headquarters in Dhahran was hit on Tuesday evening, causing a limited fire. It said there were no deaths or injuries. Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis claimed responsibility.…

‘Do not argue or defend the EU policy’ In emailed guidance on how to communicate the suspension to migrants who applied for support, seen by POLITICO, staff were told to “acknowledge the institutional problem” with reintegration program funding “so the returnee does not feel personally targeted or punished.” Counselors should be transparent, validate migrants’ disappointment, wait for their emotions to pass and shift the conversation to what they could still do upon their return, the guidance read, advising: “Do not argue or defend the EU policy.” Migrants wait to return to the temporary camp El Guano in Spain’s north African…

Russia detained a Swedish national and a Japanese journalist within days of one another as former president Dmitry Medvedev called on Moscow to replenish its “exchange pool” of Western citizens to trade for Russians held abroad. Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Wednesday it arrested the Swedish citizen in the Sebezh district of Pskov region, near the borders with Belarus and Latvia. He is accused of entering Russia under cover of joining the Russian military while intending to carry out “sabotage and terrorist attacks” on military sites. The FSB said it established that from February to June the detainee…

Published on 15/10/2026 – 12:14 GMT+2 The German cabinet has approved draft legislation to tax sugary drinks in Europe’s biggest economy. If passed by the German Bundestag, the tax will take effect on 1 July 2027. The coalition aims to raise revenue for the federal budget while encouraging manufacturers to reduce sugar content and offer healthier products. The levy is intended to ease pressure on the healthcare system, which faces costs of more than €2 billion every year linked to the high consumption of sugary drinks, which contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay. According to the federal government, Berlin…

In an opinion piece published in the newspaper Le Monde, directors and producers denounce the threat posed by the draft 2027 finance bill to the funding of French cinema. The signatories believe that the measures currently being debated in Parliament could lead to the disappearance of 400 films over five years, around 80 productions a year. Among the signatories are several leading figures in French and European cinema, including Jacques Audiard, Costa-Gavras, brothers Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Claire Denis, Michel Hazanavicius, Agnès Jaoui, Justine Triet, Julia Ducournau, Cédric Klapisch and Alice Winocour. “The new finance bill risks wiping French cinema…

“Some have been on the agenda for the last two years [with] no progress whatsoever,” he said, urging Montenegro to make headway. “We will ask our colleagues to help them to make progress, if there’s an objective to conclude the negotiations.” Croatia’s concerns are laid out in an orientation paper, obtained by POLITICO, in which Zagreb insists it supports Montenegro’s EU membership ambitions while identifying several outstanding disputes that need to be resolved. “Croatia seeks to facilitate Montenegro’s accession, not obstruct it,” the paper reads. Several of the unresolved issues stem from Montenegro’s involvement in the military aggression against Croatia…

Published on 15/10/2026 – 11:27 GMT+2 Britain’s hard-right anti-immigration Reform UK party was hit by a fresh scandal on Thursday after party councillors and candidates were filmed in an undercover investigation using racist language. In one excerpt from the 90-minute programme “Undercover: A Year in Reform” by ITV News, black children were referred to as “animals”. In another, a Reform member said his area had become “infested” with Asian families, calling them “absolute parasites”. The broadcast followed Reform UK candidates and councillors during local elections in May and at four by-election campaigns in 2025 and 2026. Reacting to the release…

Published on 15/10/2026 – 9:46 GMT+2 A heavy downpour has shut down much of Istanbul, flooding homes and roads and killing at least two people. Rescuers worked overnight to save hundreds of people stranded at their workplaces, while bystanders helped countless others. The downpour on Wednesday night into Thursday flooded homes and businesses and inundated roads and underpasses, stranding vehicles and causing traffic chaos in Turkey’s largest city. Local media reported two deaths. A 14-year-old was electrocuted after stepping in a puddle at a park in the Fatih district and a 34-year-old slipped on a sidewalk in the Sariyer district…

Published on 15/10/2026 – 10:57 GMT+2 Anthropic, the San Francisco-based developer of the Claude AI models, generated $16.8 billion (€15bn) in revenue between July and September, up about 46% from $11.5 billion (€10.3bn) in the previous three months, and posted an adjusted profit. It presented the figures to investors at its headquarters on Wednesday, according to Bloomberg citing people familiar with the matter, weeks before a planned initial public offering in November that could value the company at up to $2 trillion (€1.79bn). The company told investors it was profitable for a second straight quarter on an adjusted basis, a…