Egyik 19

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Asia

China
Sun, November 23, 2025 Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi's suggestion to the Japanese parliament on November 7 was that a hypothetical conflict in the Taiwan Strait would trigger a military response from Tokyo. For Beijing, the comments warranted economic retaliation and furious daily rebukes, including a protest to the United Nations, warnings to its citizens against travelling to Japan and suspending Japanese seafood imports. [Mainland China] will never allow external forces to interfere in Taiwan, and will never allow Japanese militarism to resurface, Beijing has also said. The Japanese prime minister says there has been no change to Tokyo's relationship with Beijing, nor has its position on the Taiwan issue shifted. But observers in China say her comments reflect Japan's years-long rightward shift, one that increasingly frames China as its main rival. It's clear that Japan has been working towards this direction for several years, Zhu, executive dean of Nanjing University's School of International Studies, said. In 1998, China and Japan signed a Joint Declaration aimed at building a partnership for peace and development. And in 2008, they signed a joint statement, pledging to fully advance a strategic, mutually beneficial relationship. No new documents have been signed in the past decade. Wu, the dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said change had been occurring since conservative, right-wing forces first returned to power [in 2012]. A host of issues have dogged relations over the years, from territorial disputes around the Diaoyu Islands, which are called the Senkakus in Japan, to concerns over peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The late Japanese prime minister Abe spearheaded efforts to loosen Japan's constitution, with the Japanese parliament voting through legislation in 2015 that could allow troops to fight overseas. This year, Japan's annual military white paper made repeated mentions of China, framing the People's Liberation Army's rapid military build-up in recent years as Japan's greatest strategic challenge. Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state. But Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons. China's strong reaction this time might aim to set clear rules on issues regarding Taiwan and send signals to other Western allies, Zheng, a research associate professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Centre for Japanese Studies said. From China's perspective, it appears determined this time to set clear rules - not only to send a signal to Japan, but also to the Philippines, the US and other allies, Zheng said. (Source: Yahoo - U.S. / South China Morning Post)

Gaza
(Sunday), 23/11/2025  Gaza’s health ministry said today that 23 Palestinians were killed and 83 injured over the past 24 hours amid ongoing Israeli attacks across the enclave. Since the ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025, the ministry has recorded 339 deaths, 871 injuries, and 574 bodies recovered. (Source: SANA - Syria)

Israel
November 21, 2025  In Israel, the extreme orthodox Haredi segment of the Jewish population holds a vision of the proper and desirable social order that is at odds with the country’s modern, progressive, mainstream society. They believe in gender segregation, reject secular and scientific learning, and consider the study of Torah to be the only worthwhile activity. Most of their men eschew wage-earning professions and live instead on government subsidies and on money earned by their wives. The wives believe that financially supporting the husband’s lifelong full-time Torah study by working, birthing, and raising as many children as possible is the fulfillment of a woman’s role in the divine order. The Haredim disapprove of the state of Israel as an entity and vigorously oppose the recent attempts to include them in the military draft. Though disengaged from their nation, for tactical reasons, they maintain high voter turnout, voting as a bloc and as instructed by their rabbinical leadership. This makes them a critical factor in coalition building and lends them considerable weight. It’s a clever strategy. No need to fight, no need for the men to slog away at boring jobs. They need only industriously impregnate their women. Currently, the Haredi population accounts for about 21 percent of Israel’s Jewish population. At their rate of 6.7 children per woman, projections place them near or over 50 percent of the Jewish Israeli population by the end of the century. They make no secret of their wish to impose strict religious rules of behavior on the rest of the population, and by their numbers, they will be able to do that. Their triumph will, alas, be short-lived. Israel will have a population half of which is pacifist, its males economically unproductive and, with their sedentary scholarly lifestyle, not physically fit, its females pregnant, lactating, and overworked; it won’t make them very competitive in a neighborhood dominated by hyperactive, aggressive Arab males and their equally procreation-inclined wives. The Haredim seem on course to win control of Israel, briefly, until they lose it all to the Arabs. And the secular Israeli state is hastening this outcome by paying bonuses for each additional child. This program failed to incentivize its modern citizens and ended up benefiting only the minority that is poised to bring the house down. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Benard, who was program director in the RAND National Security Research Division.

Japan
Nov 23, 2025  Prime Minister Takaichi on Nov 7 raised the theoretical possibility that Japan could deploy its military with other nations if China attacked Taiwan, drawing an angry response and economic retaliation from Beijing. She has since reverted to the government’s longstanding policy of not discussing particular scenarios that might involve Tokyo’s military, but Beijing continues to demand a retraction. Japan's Defence Minister Koizumi said Japan has to build up its deterrence by increasing its own capabilities and deepening ties with the US military. Visiting a military base close to Taiwan on the southern Japanese island of Yonaguni, he said plans to deploy missiles to the post were on track. Tensions smoulder between Tokyo and Beijing over the East Asian island. Japan is planning to station medium-range surface-to-air missiles on Yonaguni, about 110km east of Taiwan, as part of a broader military build-up on its southern island chain. Yonaguni is also home to a surveillance radar facility that scans nearby seas and airspace, as well as an electronic warfare unit introduced in 2024 that could be used to jam enemy communications and guidance systems. In recent weeks, the US military held a training exercise to bring supplies from Okinawa to Yonaguni to simulate the creation of a forward-operating base that might be needed in any regional crisis. Yonaguni is the end point of the Ryukyu island chain that stretches several hundred miles from the Japanese mainland. As tensions with China intensified in recent days, Chinese state-controlled media has published articles questioning Japan’s sovereignty over the islands and highlighting how the Ryukyu Kingdom was independent from Japan several hundred years ago. Before arriving in Yonaguni, Mr Koizumi visited bases on the islands of Ishigaki and Miyako. The Ishigaki base is equipped with anti-ship missiles, while Miyako is a hub for air surveillance and other military facilities, including ammunition storage. Japan and the US also have major bases on the larger island of Okinawa further to the east. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore / Bloomberg - U.S.)

Pakistan
20 Nov 2025  Tensions simmer between Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan and India. Pakistani security forces have killed 23 fighters of banned groups, including the Pakistan Taliban, also known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).in two separate raids near the Afghan border. The killings add to more than 30 that the military has reported throughout the week, following a suicide bombing on November 11 outside Islamabad court, that killed at least 12 people and wounded 30 more. Pakistan has long alleged that fighter groups are backed by India and Afghanistan, a charge that New Delhi and Kabul deny. Afghanistan has blamed Islamabad for violating its sovereignty through military strikes. In recent months, the Pakistan Taliban – which wants to overthrow the Pakistani government – has escalated its attacks, which surpassed a decade-old high in August. In 2024, the number of incidents recorded surged to 856, up from 645 in 2023. The Pakistan Taliban has been emboldened since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021 after the United States’s withdrawal. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

South Korea
November 23, 2025  President Lee in Johannesburg for the Group of 20 summit said today reunification with North Korea remains South Korea's ultimate goal and a constitutional duty, vowing to pursue it through dialogue rather than unilateral action. "Our government seeks gradual and phased reunification through peaceful coexistence and mutual development, reflecting the democratic will of all people on the Korean Peninsula," he added. Since taking office in June, Lee has repeatedly expressed his intent to resume talks with North Korea, saying his government respects the North's political system and will not seek reunification by absorption. Seoul has been coordinating closely with Washington and he asked U.S. President Trump to play the role of peacemaker, while also offering his diplomatic support for renewed U.S.-North Korea dialogue, he added. (Source: Yonhap News Agency - South Korea)

Syria
November 21, 2025  On November 19, the government-controlled Syrian army and the predominantly Kurdish, US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battled in the area of Maadan, east of Raqqa. The SDF was able to seize “several positions in Maadan, killed two Syrian soldiers and wound a few more. The Syrian Ministry of Defense stated that the army carried out a counterattack in which it regained the positions lost to SDF forces, pushing them to retreat. The SDF’s narrative was different, as the group announced that it had foiled an attack by government-aligned forces east of Raqqa. The SDF further claimed that its retaliation was proportionate and aimed at preventing the military conflict from spreading. At the same time, the SDF said in a statement that its troops had engaged targets used by the islamic state to launch drones east of Raqqa and claimed that its forces shot down two drones originating from positions held by factions backed by the Damascus government. The SDF released video clips extracted from a shot-down Matrice M30 drone, claiming the footage shows isis elements using those positions as bases for launching drones. Tensions between the Syrian government and the SDF had previously escalated on October 6, when Syrian troops clashed with SDF units in the Kurdish enclaves of Sheikh Maqsud and Ashrafiyeh in Aleppo. A ceasefire was brokered the following day, on October 7, with the United States mediating between the two sides. The effort to implement the March 10 integration agreement was also part of the agenda during Syrian President Sharaa’s visit to Washington. Washington confirmed Syria’s entry into the anti-islamic state coalition. The US government also formally delisted Sharaa, formerly the leader of Al Qaeda’s Syrian affiliate, Jabhat al Nusra, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT). Syrian Minister of Interior Khattab, whom the United States also delisted as an SDGT, stated that the SDF and the Syrian government would meet in the following days to discuss integrating the SDF’s military and security units. The end-of-year deadline for the integration agreement they signed in March 2025 approaches. Sharaa has repeatedly signaled that he has managed to prevent Turkey, which views the SDF’s core component, the People’s Defense Units (YPG), as a terrorist group and extension of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), from military action to allow the political process to move forward. ’While neither side appears willing to enter a full-scale military confrontation, Turkish military action may be possible’. (Source: FDD’s Long War Journal - U.S.)
by Sharawi, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

Yemen
November 23 2025  A court operating under Yemen's Houthi rebels has sentenced 17 people to death for spying. The charges included colluding with foreign nations in a state of enmity with Yemen during the 2024-2025 period, namely Saudi Arabia, Britain and America and spying for their interests through officers from those countries and from the Israeli Mossad intelligence service. It said they were sentenced to be executed by firing squad. (Source: Hurriyet Daily News - Turkey)

North America

United States
November 22, 2025  Tensions escalated between China and Japan over Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi’s remarks about potential Japanese involvement in a Taiwan contingency. The U.S. State Department on Nov. 20 reaffirmed its support for Japan, saying, “Our commitment to the U.S.-Japan alliance and Japan’s defense, including the Senkaku Islands, remains unwavering. This statement made clear that the United States would defend the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which Japan administers but China claims. The State Department also emphasized the need for trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan to address challenges in the Indo-Pacific, including the Chinese Communist Party’s revisionism and a hostile North Korea. South Korea Lee’s administration’s pragmatic diplomacy, which seeks to strengthen ties with China faces increased pressure. The United States has repeatedly urged South Korea to participate in countering China, particularly after approving a nuclear-powered submarine. U.S. State Department spokesperson Piggott mentioned the Senkaku Islands on Nov. 20 on X: Washington opposes any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, the East China Sea, or the South China Sea. On the same day, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Glass, met with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu and described China’s ban on Japanese seafood imports and advisories against travel and study in Japan as typical economic coercion. He also criticized Chinese Consul General Xue in Osaka, who referenced beheading Takaichi, calling the remark outrageous. Taiwan President Lai posted a photo on Facebook on Nov. 20 showing himself eating sushi made with Japanese seafood. Takaichi said on Nov. 21 that she had no intention of retracting her remarks. Russia and North Korea have expressed support for China. North Korea voiced support on Nov. 18, saying, Japan is denying and distorting its historical crimes. On Nov. 20 Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zakharova called Takaichi’s remarks very dangerous and stressed that Taiwan is part of China’s internal affairs. (Source: The Dong-A Ilbo - South Korea)

Space

25 Nov 2025  China has rushed to launch a Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-22 uncrewed spacecraft to relieve three astronauts left on board the Tiangong space station without a passage to Earth. The spacecraft was lifting off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre shortly after noon local time (04:00 GMT) today. The Shenzhou-22 mission was originally planned to be crewed and take off in 2026. Debris damaged the Shenzhou-20, which is currently attached to the Tiangong station, making it unsafe for carrying humans to Earth. Three taikonauts – as Chinese astronauts are known – who had arrived in April for their six-month stay were forced to use Shenzhou-21 to return to Earth. That left the three astronauts currently on board Tiangong without a flightworthy vessel that could return them home in the event of an emergency. The uncrewed Shenzhou-22 will fill that gap. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

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Europe

European Commission
(Saturday ), Nov 22, 2025  ’The EU has responded to Trump’s 28-point peace plan, with der Leyen reiterating’ that there can be no agreement on Ukraine without Ukraine. European Council President Costa and European Commission President der Leyen have already held a call with Zelenskyy, as well as with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and French President Macron. The leaders of the UK, France, and Germany also met earlier today to discuss a joint response to a unilateral US plan for Ukraine, the French presidency said. ’The European Union’ will hold a meeting later today with leaders in South Africa on the margins of the G20 gathering in Johannesburg to discuss the peace plan proposed to Ukraine by US President Trump. The countries participating in discussions are Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. 'Costa will also invite all 27 EU leaders to a meeting on Ukraine on the margins of the EU–African Union Summit in Luanda (24-25 November)'. Ukraine and the US are launching consultations in Switzerland on ways to end the war, the Secretary of Ukraine’s Security Council, Umerov, who is on Ukraine’s negotiating team, wrote on social media today. Zelenskyy had minutes earlier approved the Ukrainian delegation for the talks, which will be led by his top aide Yermak. (Source: Euractiv - Brussels, Belgium)

Ukraine
(Sunday), 23/11/2025  US Secretary of State Rubio and head of Ukraine's delegation Yermak both hailed good progress in talks underway in Geneva today to discuss a proposal to halt the Ukraine war. The new document proposes that 'Ukraine's military be capped at 800,000 in peacetime' rather than a blanket cap of 600,000 proposed by the US plan. It also says negotiations on territorial swaps will start from the Line of Contact rather than pre-determining that certain areas should be recognised as de facto Russian as the US plan suggests. The counter-proposal was drafted by the so-called European E3 powers – Britain, France and Germany. The head of the Ukrainian delegation, presidential chief of staff Yermak, wrote on social media that the first meetings were held with national security advisers from the E3. (Source: France 24 "with AFP /France/, Reuters /United Kingdom/ and AP' /U.S./)

Africa

Nigeria
(Saturday), 22 Nov 2025  Nigerian gunmen abducted a total of 303 schoolchildren and 12 teachers from St Mary's Catholic primary and aecondary school in Papiri, in north-central Nigeria’s Niger State yesterday. The attackers are still moving with the children into the bush. The school kidnappings come after an attack on a church earlier this week and after armed men stormed a secondary school in northwestern Nigeria, abducting 25 schoolgirls in similar circumstances in neighbouring Kebbi State’s Maga town, early on Monday morning. United States President Trump threatened military action over what he described as targeted killings of Nigeria’s Christians. Trump’s assertions echo claims that have gained traction among right-wing and Christian evangelical circles in recent months. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

South Africa
November 23, 2025  The White House has mounted a new verbal attack on South Africa over the G-20 Leaders' Summit in Johannesburg this weekend after South African President Ramaphosa refused to allow a U.S. embassy delegation to take part in the summit’s closing ceremony. The U.S. takes over the G-20’s presidency next year. Trump withdrew all U.S. participation in the summit over his claims that some White South Africans were being racially discriminated against. Now South Africa’s chief rabbi, Dr. Goldstein, has also lashed out at the G-20, saying, "How can it be that in the long wish list of items that make up the G-20 Leaders Declaration, there wasn’t space to condemn one of the greatest human rights crises in Africa – the continent wide jihadi war on Christians?' He continued: 'How can it be that the first G-20 hosted in Africa by an African government ignores how Africa – from Mozambique to Mali, the DRC, Nigeria, Sudan and so many other countries – has become the central front of Islamist terrorism?' (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

North America

United States
(Sunday), November 23, 2025  Secretary of State Rubio on Saturday night was writing in a social media post that "The peace proposal was authored by the U.S. It is offered as a strong framework for ongoing negotiations. It is based on input from the Russian side. But it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine. "As Secretary Rubio and the entire Administration has consistently maintained, this plan was authored by the United States, with input from both the Russians and Ukrainians, State Department spokesperson Pigott posted on social media. (Source: CBS News - U.S.)

(23 November 2025)  US President Trump, who has championed the 28-point plan, said on Sunday that Ukraine had not been grateful for American efforts over the war, even as US weapons continue to flow to Kyiv via NATO and Europe keeps buying Russian oil. (Source: Irish Independent - Ireland)

(November 23, 2025  War Secretary Hegseth met with Nigerian National Security Adviser Ribadu last week amid threats from Trump to cut off aid to Nigeria if it 'continues to allow the killing of Christians.' Nigerian officials have pushed back on the accusation. "Hegseth emphasized the need for Nigeria to demonstrate commitment and take both urgent and enduring action to stop violence against Christians and conveyed the Department’s desire to work by, with, and through Nigeria to deter and degrade terrorists that threaten the United States," the Pentagon said in a statement. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

Friday), November 21, 2025 The White House is pressuring Ukraine to sign on to its new peace proposal by Thanksgiving or lose U.S. support to the country, even as Driscoll took a lighter tone in Thursday’s meeting. U.S. Army Secretary Driscoll presented Zelensky on Thursday „with a version of the 28-point plan President Trump’s special envoy Witkoff recently drafted with Russian envoy Dmitriev”. Zelensky requested changes to the document on Thursday and Driscoll’s team agreed some changes could be made. The document would initially be signed by Zelensky and Trump before being presented to the Russians. The U.S. appears to have divided the teams between Witkoff and Driscoll to play good cop and bad cop - one presses, the other tries to say: let’s work together to change the plan. Following the Thursday meeting in Kyiv, U.S. officials including Davis, the chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, said the timeline for signing is aggressive. This deal is between the U.S., Ukraine, Russia and Europe so I think it will be more like 12 months to negotiate. "I think this is the beginning of the peace process, not the end,” one person familiar with the contents of the plan said. The Kremlin has yet to signal its backing for the plan. Kremlin spokesman Peskov on Friday said that Moscow officially had not received any new peace proposals, and added that Russia and the U.S. had made virtually no progress on issues that are irritants in bilateral relations. “The effective work of the Russian Armed Forces should convince Zelensky and his regime that it is better to negotiate and do so now, better to do so now than later,” Peskov said. Zelensky has been weakened in recent weeks by a major corruption scandal that has ensnared several of his close associates, and which - coupled with the exhausting pace of Russian military strikes and slow advances on the ground - could leave the Ukrainian leader with diminishing options as U.S. officials exert greater pressure on him to accept a deal to end the war. (Source: The Washington Post - U.S.)

(November 21, 2025)  Senior foreign policy correspondent reports on President Trump's 28-point peace plan for Ukraine and Russia and the reactions from Putin and Zelenskyy. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
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South America

Brazil
(22 November 2025)  There is a bitter dispute over whether to include any reference to fossil fuels in the COP30 final text. Fears grow of collapsed summit as fossil fuel row threatens to derail it. The draft released by Brazil yesterday omitted both the phrase "fossil fuels" and the word "roadmap". European Union calls host nation Brazil's proposed COP30 agreement unacceptable. EU climate commissioner Hoekstra warned the summit risked ending with no agreement. Consensus is required for a deal among nearly 200 nations. The summit is held without the United States after President Trump shunned the event. Thirty-six countries - a group including wealthy states, emerging economies and small island nations - had written to Brazil warning they would reject any outcome that failed to include a clear plan to move away from oil, coal and gas. The rejected draft called for a manyfold increase in financial support for developing countries and urged efforts to triple adaptation finance by 2030. But divisions remained, including over the inclusion of trade measures - particularly Europe’s new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism - which developing nations say could damage their export revenues. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Venezuela
(Thursday), Nov. 20, 2025  For more than two decades, a loose-knit group of Venezuelan generals and senior officials has enabled the shipment of thousands of tons of cocaine to Europe, the Caribbean and the U.S, American and Colombian officials say. Venezuela hardly grows any coca, the leaf from which cocaine is made, and has few laboratories. Nearly all cocaine is produced in neighboring Colombia. Venezuela plays an important role in allowing the drug to move through its territory and then onto ships and planes that traffic it. Most cocaine bound to the U.S. is shipped from Colombia’s Pacific coast and next door Ecuador. Venezuela’s military permits Colombian guerrillas and cocaine gangs who pay millions of dollars in bribes to move cocaine through the country. It does facilitate the security, the logistics by the National Guard and the Army. The cocaine is then shipped by air to Central America or by sea to Caribbean islands and Europe. This Venezuelan network, known as the Cartel of the Suns, is in the Trump administration’s sights. The Cartel of the Suns isn’t a hierarchical cartel but rather a diffuse network, a loose and sometimes fractious group mostly made up of military officers who facilitate drug shipments, getting payoffs along the way. The group’s name, “Suns” refers to the gold insignia, equivalent to a U.S. general’s stars, worn on the epaulets of Venezuelan generals’ uniforms. Venezuela denies that it facilitates the shipment of drugs to the U.S. But a 2020 indictment accused President Maduro and his associates of enriching themselves and using cocaine as a weapon that flooded the U.S. with the drug and inflicted damage on Americans. Maduro denies the charges in a September letter to Trump, urging dialogue over conflict. U.S. prosecutors trace the drug-trafficking connections to the presidency of the late Chávez, who took power in 1999 and ordered generals to provide weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, which fought the Colombian state until a 2016 peace accord. Maduro, then the country’s vice president, succeeded Chavez as president in 2013. Since then, Maduro has presided over Venezuela’s economic meltdown, exacerbated by U.S. economic sanctions imposed in 2019. Venezuela’s GDP has contracted by 80%, forcing eight million Venezuelans, a quarter of the population, to flee. The U.S. accuses other senior Venezuelan leaders in the alleged conspiracy, placing a $25 million bounty on Venezuelan Interior Minister Cabello and $15 million for Gen. Padrino, Venezuela’s defense minister. Cabello recently denied the existence of the Cartel of the Suns, which he calls an imperialist narrative. The involvement of military officers in the drug trade is central to Maduro’s staying power. Permitting them to benefit from the drug trade binds them to Maduro, building regime cohesion. Two of the alleged members of the Cartel of the Suns are already in American prisons. Both Gen. Carvajal, a former head of Venezuelan military intelligence known as The Chicken for his long neck, and Gen. Alcalá, have pleaded guilty to helping to smuggle tons of cocaine to the U.S., and providing weapons to the FARC. In 2006, senior officials sent 5.6 tons of U.S.-bound cocaine in a DC-9 jet from the Caracas airport to Mexico, the Maduro indictment says. They created an air bridge which in 2010 alone sent 75 cocaine-laden flights from Venezuela to Honduras. In 2013, Venezuelan officials sent another planeload with 1.3 tons of cocaine to Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The arrest in Colombia of Makled, then Venezuela’s top drug boss on a U.S. warrant in 2010 shed a light on the links between senior government officials and drug traffickers. At the height of his powers he exported 10 tons of cocaine to the U.S. a month and allegedly controlled Puerto Cabello, Venezuela’s most important port. ’All my business associates are generals,’ Makled said, claiming to have 40 generals on his payroll, in correspondence with an associate. In one incident, Makled bought about eight tons of cocaine from Venezuelan generals and law enforcement sources the officials had themselves stolen from major drug traffickers. Drug trafficking even reached deep into Maduro’s own family, the Maduro indictment says. In 2015, two of his wife’s nephews were arrested in a sting in Haiti after they offered to get hundreds of kilos of cocaine to DEA undercover agents. The two told agents they were at war with the U.S. and bragged about their connection to a top FARC commander. Convicted in 2016 in New York, the pair was set free in exchange for seven U.S. prisoners in 2022. Maduro is accused of stealing two presidential elections. Last year’s candidate González, now is living in exile in Spain. The State Department says it will designate the Cartel of the Suns as a foreign-terrorist organization on Monday. (Source: The Wall Street Journal - U.S.)

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Europe

France
20.11.2025  France’s Chief of the Defense Staff Mandon’s call for the French public to accept losing its children in order to deter Russia has drawn widespread criticism from political figures. His controversial statement came in a context where he was saying that France has all the expertise, along with economic and demographic strength, 'to deter the Moscow regime.' Voicing his total disagreement with Mandon's remarks, Melenchon, leader of the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI), said that it was not his place to urge anyone toward war preparations decided by no one. "Nor is it his place to forecast sacrifices that would be the consequence of our diplomatic failures, on which his public opinion was not sought! Where is President Macron? Why is he allowing this?' Melenchon wrote on the US social media company yesterday. Communist Party chief Roussel also described Mandon’s remarks as a dangerous intervention. "The answer is NO! Are the 51,000 war memorials in our towns not enough? Yes to national defense, but no to these unbearable warmongering speeches!” Roussel said on X. Vice president of the 'far-right' National Rally party, Chenu, stressed that Mandon has no legitimacy to alarm the French people with statements that in no way reflect the country’s official position. 'If he is saying what Macron thinks, that’s serious. If he is saying what Macron does not think, that’s serious. He is overstepping his role!' Chenu added. Dupont-Aignan, 2027 presidential candidate and president of Debout la France (France Arise), was stressing that what truly threatens French children is the daily insecurity they experience within the country. "No, Mr. Chief of the Defense Staff, France will not accept losing its children for the sake of a drifting regime," Royal, ex-presidential candidate from the Socialists, also wrote on social media. Earlier in October, Mandon also said that the French military 'must be ready for a clash' in three to four years, whether as a test already unfolding in hybrid forms or as something potentially more violent. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

20/11/2025  France 'must accept losing its children' warns chief of defence staff General Mandon. He sparked the anger of the political class with this sentence during his speech at the Congress of Mayors of France. (Source: France 24)

Germany
20.11.2025  Speaking to reporters in Brussels, German Foreign Minister Wadephul voices concern over reports that US President Trump approved a secret peace plan developed with Russia which would demand substantial concessions from Ukraine. He warns against sidelining Ukraine, Europe in peace talks with Russia and says any negotiations on Ukraine must include Kyiv, Europe must be involved in, and it must be preceded by a ceasefire. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Italy
20.11.2025  Italy approves extradition of Nord Stream blast suspect Ukrainian man to Germany. He was detained in August on European arrest warrant while holidaying with his family at campground near Rimini, on Italy’s Adriatic coast. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

European Commission
20.11.2025  The European Commission and the Board of Digital Services Coordinators yesterday published the first-ever Digital Services Act (DSA) systemic risk report, outlining key threats emerging on major online platforms and search engines across the EU. According to the findings, platforms face recurrent risks related to public health misinformation, harmful or illegal goods sold online, and large-scale coordinated disinformation campaigns. Regulators also flagged the misuse of generative AI, including its role in producing manipulated media or child sexual abuse material. A significant portion of the report focused on risks to minors. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

20/11/2025  Brussels has expressed frustration at being left out of the rumored US-Russia peace plan for Ukraine, 'with EU foreign policy chief Borrell' stressing that any plan would need Europe on board to succeed. (Source: France 24)
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20/11/2025  Today's meeting of foreign ministers represents the first political discussion on the European Commission's 'options paper to support Ukraine's military and financial needs in 2026 and 2027, estimated to be about €135 billion in total'. 'One of the options would use the immobilised assets of the Russian Central Bank to issue a zero-interest reparations loan to Ukraine', a project without precedent. The other two options would entail the 'borrowing of fresh money on the markets, which could be a challenge for highly indebted countries' weary of taxpayers' and investors' backlash. The European Union is pushing back against a 28-point plan first reported by US outlet Axios, to end the war in Ukraine, reportedly being drafted behind closed doors by the US and Russia, demanding that any diplomatic attempt must have Kyiv and European leaders at the table. Asked if there had been any European engagement in writing the reported plan, High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kallas said: "Not that I know of.' (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

European Union
20/11/2025  European ministers meeting in Brussels. (Source: France 24)
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Ukraine
November 20, 2025 / 7:14 PM EST  Zelenskyy receives draft plan from U.S. aimed at ending Russia-Ukraine war. (Source: CBS News - U.S.)

Africa

Sudan
20 Nov 2025  Sudan is the third-largest country in Africa, about 1.9 million sq km. In Sudan, the nation of 50.5 million, the main religion is Islam, the official language: Arabic. Sudan’s civil war, now in its third year, is a devastating struggle for power between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF). More than 9.5 million people were forced from their homes across Sudan’s 18 states. Millions are facing starvation. Sudan has large natural resources, including vast oil, gold and agricultural resources that could help feed its people, but the fighting and shifting control of these resources make that impossible. Three sectors of Sudan’s main exports lead: Oil, gold, and agricultural products. In 2023, Sudan’s exports worth $5.09bn were mainly crude oil ($1.13bn), gold ($1.03bn), animal products ($902m), oilseeds ($709m, of which $613m was sesame), and gum arabic ($141m). Sudan is the world’s largest exporter of sesame seeds and gum arabic, which is used as a stabiliser and emulsifier by the global food and beverage industry and goes into pharmaceuticals, supplements, and cosmetics. The Nile River, which floods annually, is watering the agricultural lands. Sudan’s croplands are mostly concentrated between the Blue and White Niles, where Gezira state lies, an area controlled by armed forces. The White Nile meets the Blue Nile in Khartoum and continues northwards into Egypt as the Nile. The Greater Khartoum area has a population of about seven million. 35 million people live along the Nile river in Sudan. The army holds much of the north and the east, including the capital, Khartoum, as well as other key cities along the Nile and the strategic Port Sudan on the Red Sea. Other main cities are el-Obeid (560,000), Port Sudan (547,000). Nyala city in South Darfur has almost 1.15 million people. The RSF has consolidated its grip on the western region of Darfur, after it captured el-Fasher (253,000), the capital of North Darfur state, on October 26, having besieged it for nearly 18 months. About half (51.4 percent) of Sudan is covered in grazing land, or rangeland, mostly across the southern part of the country, ending roughly at Khartoum. It can support the herding and animal husbandry industries – control is divided roughly equally between the army and the RSF. The northern sector of rangeland is a strip known as the “gum arabic belt” where the acacia trees that produce the valuable resin are planted. By 2023, oil exports, Sudan’s primary source of revenue. had fallen to 70,000bpd. Crude oil remained one of Sudan’s top exports that year, valued at $1.13bn, making it the world’s 40th-largest crude exporter. Its top buyers were Malaysia ($468m), Italy ($299m), Germany ($125m), China ($105m), Singapore ($80.3m) and India ($51.4m). As of 2024, Sudan’s oil reserves were estimated at 1.25 billion barrels, while natural gas reserves stood at 3 trillion cubic feet. Most of Sudan’s oilfields are in the south near the South Sudan border, and the two countries’ oil sectors remain closely linked. Many of these fields are currently under RSF control. The industry is supported by five refineries in the central and northern regions. The largest is the Khartoum refinery, which can process 100,000bpd and, as of late January 2025, is held by SAF. The army also controls the smaller Port Sudan refinery. Pipelines carry crude from the southern fields to the Bashayer export terminal south of Port Sudan, a crucial route for Sudanese and South Sudanese oil. The line from el-Obeid to Port Sudan remains mostly under army control. Since the war began in 2023, control over gold mines and trade routes has become a critical source of funding for both sides in the conflict. One of Africa’s leading gold producers, Sudan has deposits across the northeast, centre and the south. Most of the deposits in eastern Sudan are controlled by the Sudanese army. The central and southwestern goldfields are largely under RSF control. Much of the gold is extracted through artisanal and small-scale mining, which employs hundreds of thousands of people but operates largely outside government regulation. In July, despite the conflict, Sudan’s gold production surged to 64 tonnes in 2024, up 53 percent from 41.8 tonnes in 2022, generating $1.57bn in legal export revenues. An unquantified black-market trade continues, fuelled by the instability. The United Arab Emirates bought more than 99 percent of the $ 1.03bn in Sudanese gold exports in 2023. In 2023, the UAE was Sudan’s top trade partner, importing $1.09bn, or 21 percent of Sudan’s total exports, almost entirely in gold. Some 80 percent of Sudan’s exports are to Asia, followed by 11 percent to Europe and 8.5 percent to Africa. China ranked second, importing $882m (17 percent), primarily in vegetable products. It was followed by Saudi Arabia, with $802m (16 percent) worth of mostly livestock; Malaysia, with $470m (9 percent) of primarily crude petroleum; and Egypt, with $387m (7.6 percent) of a mix of goods. These five countries account for more than two-thirds of Sudan’s exports. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

Arctic

20 November 2025  Monitoring mercury pollution in waters and seafood is becoming increasingly important. The Arctic is warming at a rate four times faster than the rest of the world. This means that the permafrost in places such as Siberia is thawing, and the glaciers on Svalbard are shrinking. These processes could release methylmercury, one of the most toxic forms of mercury into the oceans. Methylmercury, which has been stored by nature for centuries, poses a serious threat to living creatures. Methylmercury can find its way to our plates through absorption in algae, plants, fish and other wildlife. (Source: The Barents Observer - Norway)

North America     Észak-Amerika

United States    Egyesült Államok
Thursday 20 November 2025 22:45, UK  Ukrainian support for peace plan 'very much in doubt'. Trump's plan – the 28-point proposal ’cooked up’ between Trump negotiator Witkoff and Kremlin official Dmitriev without European and Ukrainian involvement - is non-starter for Ukrainians, being pounded with devastating drone attacks, on the verge of losing a key stronghold city, Pokrovsk, and with Zelenskyy embroiled in the gravest political crisis since the war began, with key officials facing damaging corruption allegations. ’The suspicion is Mr Witkoff and Mr Dmitriev conspired together’ to choose this moment to put even more pressure on the president. The genesis of this plan is unclear. Trump's overrated Gaza ceasefire plan attracted lavish praise from world leaders, but now seems mired in deepening difficulty. The fear is Mr Trump's team are finding ways to allow him to walk away from this conflict altogether, blaming Ukrainian intransigence for the failure of his diplomacy. Mr Trump has already ended financial support for Ukraine, acting as an arms dealer instead, selling weapons to Europe to pass on to the invaded democracy. Europe and Ukraine cannot reject the plan entirely and risk alienating Mr Trump. ’They will play for time and hope against all the evidence he can still be persuaded’ to desert the Kremlin and put pressure on Putin to end the war, rather than force Ukraine to surrender instead. If he were to take away military intelligence support too, Ukraine would be blind to the kind of attacks that in recent days have killed scores. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)

(2025. XI. 21., péntek)  Zelenszkij csütörtökön délután hivatalosan is megkapta azt az amerikai javaslatot, amelyet Washington szerint a diplomácia felgyorsítására dolgoztak ki. A dokumentum átadásáról és tartalmi kereteiről az Elnöki Hivatal számolt be, hangsúlyozva, hogy a tervezet nem lezárt anyag, hanem egy olyan alap, amelynek finomítása még hátravan. A közleményben az is szerepelt, hogy a béketervezet-vita hamarosan újabb szintre léphet, amikor a felek közvetlenül megvitatják a kulcspontokat. A háborús konfliktus árnyékában ez a folyamat különös jelentőséget kap. Mutatjuk a terv összes pontját, amelyet a Strana közölt.    1. Ukrajna szuverenitását megerősítik.    2. Teljes és átfogó megnemtámadási egyezmény jön létre Oroszország, Ukrajna és Európa között. A múlt 30 évének minden vitás kérdését rendezettnek tekintik.    3. Oroszországtól nem várható, hogy megtámadja szomszédos országait, és a NATO-tól nem várható további bővítés.    4. Oroszország és a NATO párbeszédet folytat az Egyesült Államok közvetítésével minden biztonsági kérdés rendezése és a feszültség csökkentése érdekében a globális biztonság és a jövőbeni gazdasági együttműködés javítására.    5. Ukrajna megbízható biztonsági garanciákat kap.    6. Az ukrán fegyveres erők létszámát 600 000 főben korlátozzák.    7. Ukrajna vállalja, hogy alkotmányba foglalja a NATO-csatlakozás tilalmát, a NATO pedig vállalja, hogy alapszabályába beírja: Ukrajna a jövőben sem léphet be.    8. A NATO vállalja, hogy nem telepít csapatokat Ukrajnába.    9. Európai vadászgépeket telepítenek Lengyelországba.    10. Amerikai garanciák:   Az Egyesült Államok kártérítést kap a nyújtott garanciákért;   Ha Ukrajna megtámadja Oroszországot, elveszíti a garanciát;   Ha Oroszország támadja meg Ukrajnát, a koordinált katonai válasz mellett az összes globális szankciót visszaállítják, és a megállapodásból fakadó minden előny megszűnik;   Ha Ukrajna ok nélkül rakétát lő ki Moszkvára vagy Szentpétervárra, a biztonsági garancia érvényét veszti.    11. Ukrajna jogosult lesz az EU-tagságra, és amíg a kérdés napirenden van, rövid távú kedvezményes hozzáférést kap az európai piachoz.    12. Globális újjáépítési csomag Ukrajna számára, többek között:   a) Ukrajna Fejlesztési Alapjának létrehozása – befektetések a technológiai, adatközponti és mesterséges intelligencia ágazatokba;   b) Az Egyesült Államok együttműködik Ukrajnával a gázvezetékek és tárolók helyreállításában, fejlesztésében és üzemeltetésében;   c) Háború sújtotta területek újjáépítése, városok és lakóövezetek rekonstrukciója;   d) Infrastrukturális fejlesztések;   e) Ásványkincsek és nyersanyagok kitermelése;   f) A Világbank külön finanszírozási csomagot dolgoz ki az újjáépítés felgyorsítására.    13. Oroszország visszaintegrálása a globális gazdaságba:   a) A szankciók feloldását szakaszosan, egyénileg egyeztetve tárgyalják meg;   b) Az USA hosszú távú gazdasági együttműködési megállapodást köt Oroszországgal energia, infrastruktúra, mesterséges intelligencia, adatközpontok, ritkaföldfém-bányászat és más területeken;   c) Oroszország visszatérhet a G8-ba.    14. A befagyasztott pénzeszközök felhasználása:   100 milliárd dollárnyi orosz vagyonból Ukrajna amerikai vezetésű újjáépítését finanszírozzák;   Az Egyesült Államok a profit 50%-át kapja;   Európa további 100 milliárd dollárt biztosít az újjáépítésre;   A befagyasztott európai pénzeket feloldják;   A többi orosz vagyonból közös amerikai–orosz beruházási alap jön létre, amely közös projekteket valósít meg, a konfliktusok elkerülésére ösztönözve.    15. Közös amerikai–orosz munkacsoport jön létre a biztonsági kérdések kezelésére és a megállapodás végrehajtásának biztosítására.    16. Oroszország törvényben rögzíti, hogy nem támadja meg Európát és Ukrajnát.    17. Az USA és Oroszország meghosszabbítja a nukleáris fegyverek elterjedésének megakadályozásáról szóló szerződéseket, beleértve a START–1-et.    18. Ukrajna vállalja, hogy nem válik nukleáris állammá, az atomsorompó-szerződésnek megfelelően.    19. A zaporizzsjai atomerőmű újraindul, IAEA-felügyelet mellett, az áramot 50–50 arányban kapja Oroszország és Ukrajna.    20. Oktatási és társadalmi programok indulnak a kulturális tolerancia erősítésére és a rasszizmus csökkentésére:   a) Ukrajna átveszi az EU vallási és nyelvi kisebbségeket védő szabályait;   b) Mindkét állam garantálja az ukrán és orosz média és oktatás jogait;   c) A náci ideológia minden formáját tiltani kell.    21. Területi rendelkezések:   a) Krím, Luhanszk és Donyeck de facto orosznak lesz elismerve, az USA által is;   b) Herszon és Zaporizzsja a frontvonal mentén „befagyasztásra kerül”, ami de facto elismerést jelent;   c) Oroszország felad bizonyos területeket, amelyeket az öt megyén kívül tart;   d) Az ukrán erők visszavonulnak Donyeck egy részéről, amelyből nemzetközileg elismert, orosz területhez tartozó demilitarizált övezet lesz. Orosz csapatok nem léphetnek be.    22. Mindkét fél vállalja, hogy a területi egyezményeket nem változtatja meg erővel. A biztonsági garanciák érvényt vesztenek, ha valamelyik fél megsérti ezt.    23. Oroszország nem akadályozza Ukrajna kereskedelmi célú Dnyeper-használatát, és megállapodnak a gabona szabad fekete-tengeri exportjáról.    24. Humanitárius bizottság létrejön, amely:   Az összes fennmaradó hadifoglyot és holttestet „mindenkit mindenkiért” alapon cseréli;   b) Visszaküldi az összes civil fogvatartottat és gyermeket;   c) Családegyesítési programot indít;   d) Intézkedéseket hoz a konfliktus áldozatai szenvedéseinek enyhítésére.    25. Ukrajna 100 napon belül választásokat tart.    26. Teljes amnesztia illeti meg a háborúban érintett összes felet, és minden fél vállalja, hogy nem támaszt későbbi követeléseket.    27. A megállapodás jogilag kötelező érvényű lesz, végrehajtását Trump elnök által vezetett Béketanács felügyeli. A megsértése szankciókat von maga után.    28. A dokumentum elfogadása után azonnali tűzszünet lép életbe, miután mindkét fél visszavonult az egyeztetett vonalak mögé. (Forrás: Origo - Magyarország)

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Guinea
15 Nov 2025  The first Simandou iron ore shipment to China and Australia’s strategic choices. Most extracts from US$20 billion mining project in Guinea’s Simandou – the world’s largest known untapped deposit of high-grade iron ore – are expected to be shipped to China, given the heavy investments by Chinese firms in the project. Guinea’s Simandou 2040 plan aims to use mining revenues to develop infrastructure, agriculture and education in the West African country, while also signalling the mine’s immediate global importance. Guinean officials are aware of the possibility that Chinese firms would use the massive influx of high-grade ore to suppress global iron ore prices. The officials have pledged to actively collaborate with the British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto to leverage the mine’s premium product and Rio Tinto’s market expertise to maintain stable high prices for the ore. The Guinean minister of mines and geology, Sylla, who is a member of the Simandou Strategic Committee that monitors the project for the government, said the country was monitoring the formation of China Mineral Resources Group (CMRG), which aims to centralise Chinese iron ore imports to maintain a high iron ore price. As Rio Tinto is a pure miner, Guinea is often closer to Rio Tinto in the desire to maintain a high iron ore price, he added, referencing the diverse interests of the Chinese stakeholders, which also include processing and steelmaking. The project is expected to ramp up production over 30 months to reach its full commercial capacity of 120 million tonnes annually, a volume that will position Guinea among the top global iron ore exporters. Since China Baowu Steel Group was a major partner for Simandou, a lot of this ore will go to China. Rio Tinto and the Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco) own blocks 3 and 4 of Simandou under a consortium called Rio Tinto Simfer, while blocks 1 and 2 are owned by the Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS), whose key partners include Singapore’s Winning International Group, as well as China’s Weiqiao Aluminium and Baowu Resources. The Guinean government holds a 15 per cent stake in both, with an 18 million tonne share per year. To overcome delays caused by a lack of infrastructure, Simfer and WCS jointly funded and built the shared 650km railway and port of Morebaya infrastructure. Sylla was noting that Guinea’s interests sometimes aligned with Rio Tinto, sometimes with Baowu, and other times with WCS because WCS is a logistics specialist. Sylla also highlighted a complementarity between Simandou and Australian Pilbara ore. Simandou’s high-grade deposit targets the premium 65 per cent iron content blend market, making it comparable only to Brazil’s Vale, especially the Carajás deposits. He said this gave Rio Tinto the unique opportunity to offer both products and sell the premium ore not only to China but also to European and Middle Eastern steel mills. But the Simandou project is widely dubbed a potential Pilbara killer, a reference to its long-term threat to Western Australia’s market dominance. According to Sylla, this superior quality is critical to China’s “green steel” industry and gives Rio Tinto the unique opportunity to offer both products globally, as most of Australian Pilbara ore typically focuses on the larger 62 per cent blend market. Aitchison, general director of Rio Tinto Simfer, said that emerging steelmaking technologies required high-grade ore and Simandou’s quality allowed for reduced energy input in the process, thereby lowering carbon dioxide emissions. Beijing-based lawyer Kai noted that China’s shift from infrastructure to a hi-tech economy was reducing its demand for steel and iron ore. China produced 54 per cent of the world’s steel in 2023, this transition signals a long-term contraction for the global iron ore market. “With supply rising and demand falling, someone will inevitably be pushed out and that someone is likely to be the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The reason is geopolitical,” he said of Simandou’s entry. Xue argued that Australia’s Pilbara region was likely to be displaced due to Australia’s 2021 entry into the Aukus security pact with the United States and United Kingdom, focused on acquiring nuclear-powered submarines to boost its military standing in the Indo-Pacific. This move prompted China to diversify its supply chains, unblocking the long-stalled Simandou project in Guinea. Initiated by Rio Tinto in 1997, the project experienced many delays due to legal and political challenges before advancing with the partnerships involving Rio Tinto, Chinese firms and the Guinean government. Final construction started in 2022. The first shipment marks the moment Australia’s strategic choices began to undermine its own resource economy, Xue said. (Source: South China Morning Post)
by Nyabiage - a Kenyan journalist, the South China Morning Post's first Africa correspondent

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Italy
November 10, 2025  Africa is becoming a more competitive geopolitical arena, creating openings for new political, commercial and security alliances. Former colonial powers such as France have lost much of their influence, creating a security vacuum in the Sahel that Russia has been keen to fill. China, India and Turkiye are finding ways to bolster their influence. Italy’s role in Africa is growing. In 2008, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Lybian ruler Qaddafi signed the Treaty of Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation, helping the countries build their relationship around energy, with Libya becoming a key supplier of natural gas and oil and the two cooperating on security matters in the Mediterranean. The geopolitical uncertainty unleashed by the Arab Spring uprisings of 2010 and 2011 in North Africa and the Middle East, coupled with increasing refugee flows into Europe, prompted Italy to revise its approach, dedicating greater attention to Africa and to the “wider Mediterranean.” In 2013, Italy established the National Support Military Base in Djibouti and, in 2018, launched the Bilateral Support Mission in the Republic of Niger (MISIN), to support local security forces in the fight against terrorism, human trafficking and organized crime. Italy also took part in multilateral initiatives like the United Nations Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) or the Takuba Task Force, a European Union mission in the Sahel that was placed under French command. The nature of Italy’s current foreign policy means its progress largely depends on the prime minister remaining in office. In October 2022, during Prime Minister Meloni’s inaugural address to parliament, she named the Italy-Africa strategy the “Mattei Plan for Africa” after the late Christian Democrat politician and founder of Eni. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni has described the approach a “new pact among free nations, which choose to cooperate because they believe in the values of the centrality of the individual, the dignity of work and freedom.” The Mattei Plan seeks to break with the previous aid paradigm. The “Mattei formula,” a 75/25 profit-sharing model offered more advantages to producing countries than the more prevalent 50/50 arrangement. The current global landscape is marked by fragmentation, a crisis of multilateralism, the exhaustion of the post-Cold War aid system and the reshaping of Africa’s geopolitical order. At the same time, migration has become a key issue in Italian domestic politics. Italy increasingly plays a strategic role in Africa through cooperation with other regional powers. The Mattei Plan is based on six pillars: energy, infrastructure, water, agriculture, education and training, and health. Energy is a particularly critical domain. In January 2024, the Italy-Africa Summit, held under the slogan “a bridge for common growth,” was elevated from ministerial to head-of-state level. The Mattei Plan’s activities are run by a steering committee placed under the direct supervision of the prime minister. It was initially focused on Maghreb countries and later expanded to the sub-Saharan region, namely Mozambique (where Eni has a major gas extraction operation in the Rovuma Basin), as well as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya and Ivory Coast. Ms. Meloni has emerged as one of Europe’s most pragmatic leaders. On the international stage, she has reinforced transatlantic ties at a time when relations between the EU and United States face mounting strain. Her time in office has enabled Italy to craft a foreign policy that addresses the country’s national and international interests, particularly as a European and Mediterranean power. Italy’s relations with Tunisia have deepened, especially in the energy and agricultural sectors. Prime Minister Meloni’s administration provides diplomatic support for President Saied and, in return, Tunisia has bolstered its commitment to curbing irregular migration flows to Italy. A flagship initiative for the near future is the ELMED project, a planned electricity interconnection linking Tunisia and Italy across the Mediterranean. Ties with Egypt have strengthened, expanding into emerging fields such as green hydrogen, while Italy has also played a key role in the EU’s decision to designate Egypt a “safe third country” for the return of asylum seekers. Algeria has become Italy’s primary supplier of natural gas. Unlike France, in most (but not all) cases, Italy is not viewed as a hostile former colonial (or neocolonial) power. With anti-French sentiment in Africa mounting, this legacy has helped Italy increase its role in the Sahel’s rapidly evolving security landscape. Italy is the only Western country maintaining a military presence in Niger. Italy has become involved in Angola’s Lobito Corridor project. Another key initiative under the Mattei Plan framework.is the Blue-Raman submarine-cable project linking Europe to India via the Mediterranean and Eastern Africa. The program is cofinanced by the European Commission and is being implemented by Telecom Italia Sparkle. African countries and institutions are becoming more engaged. The African Development Bank has now become a leading financial backer of the Mattei Plan. Ms. Meloni’s ability to manage difficult trade-offs while safeguarding core interests has been a key factor. On the other hand, a strategy that centers so deeply around any individual prime minister ’runs the risk’ of being short-lived. Another risk is that Italy increasingly, if only partially, fills the voids left by declining French influence throughout Africa – a potential for growing tension between Rome and Paris. There are two main scenarios for the program’s future. In the most likely scenario, Italy’s influence in Africa increases, with projects in African countries involving other Western actors, such as the EU or the U.S. This could help mitigate Russia’s growing presence in the Sahel. This scenario also foresees the deepening of strategic trilateral relations between Italy, African states and non-Western actors, namely Gulf countries. In a less likely scenario in the short to medium term, the Mattei Plan would be compromised by a gradual loss of Italian autonomy, as third parties like the EU assume a greater role in funding and implementing projects with African states. The EU and other European powers like France are seen as less effective or even as potential threats to African states’ national sovereignty. More risk to the plan’s viability lies in the ’possibility of sudden political shifts across Africa’. (Source: Geopolitical Intelligence Services (GIS) - Liechtenstein)
by Nogueira Pinto, an African affairs expert

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Europe

European Commission
November 10, 2025  Last week, the European Commission handed over grant agreements for EU transport infrastructure funding in Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova. (EU Reporter - based in Brussels)

7 November 2025  Belgium, home to Euroclear - an international central securities depository that holds most of the frozen Russian assets - is demanding firm guarantees before allowing that money to be used to fund a loan for Ukraine. The European Commission has sent experts to Brussels to help resolve the stand-off and reassure the Belgian Government. The European Central Bank (ECB) shares concerns, warning that any misstep could weaken confidence in the euro’s reliability as a reserve currency and drive investors away. With Germany, France and others backing the plan, pressure is mounting on Brussels to approve it at the December summit. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

European Parliament
(10 November 2025) The Environment, Climate and Food Safety Committee adopted its position on the Commission’s proposal for an amendment to the EU Climate Law today, setting a new, additional, intermediate and binding 2040 EU climate target of reducing net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 90% compared to 1990 levels. Plenary is expected to vote on Parliament’s position on 13 November, after which negotiations with the member states on the final law can begin. (Source: European Parliament)

Norway
07/11/2025  Norway has grown vastly richer after overtaking Russia as Europe's main gas supplier following the invasion of Ukraine. Will 'war profiteer' Norway come to Ukraine's financial rescue? Norway made an extra 109 billion euros from soaring gas prices after Russia's invasion, thanks to its AAA credit rating and its sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, valued at around $2.1 trillion. At a time when many EU member states have strained public finances, the European Commission plans to use part of the frozen Russian assets to give Ukraine a 140-billion-euro loan, interest free, to finance its budgetary and military support over the next two years. Belgium, home to the international deposit organisation Euroclear, which holds the bulk of the frozen assets, has demanded strict guarantees from other EU countries in order to share the risks. 'Some heavily indebted countries, such as France, would have a hard time agreeing to such a demand”. ’Norway has the financial means to guarantee a loan that would enable Ukraine to better defend itself against Russia, and I think we should do it,’ the head of Norway's small opposition Liberal Party, Melby, told. The idea resonated with some European political leaders. ’That would be great,’ said Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen during an EU summit in Copenhagen last month. Norway's government has already earmarked civil and military aid of more than 275 billion kroner ($27.4 billion) to Kyiv ’over the 2023-2030 period’. According to AFP's sources, Norway is in talks with Brussels but has no current plans to provide a single-handed safety net to Kyiv. (Source: France 24 / AFP = France)

United Kingdom
November 9, 2025  BBC Director-General Davie and the British broadcaster's top news executive Turness both resigned today after criticism of the way the organization edited a speech by U.S. President Trump made on Jan. 6, 2021, before protesters attacked the Capitol in Washington. The way the speech was edited for a BBC documentary last year was misleading and cut out a section where Trump said that he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully. Pressure on the broadcaster's top executives has been growing since the Daily Telegraph newspaper published parts of a dossier complied by Prescott, who had been hired to advise the BBC on standards and guidelines. It criticized the BBC's coverage of transgender issues and raised concerns of anti-Israel bias in the BBC's Arabic service. The BBC faces greater scrutiny than other broadcasters - and criticism from its commercial rivals - because of its status as a national institution funded through an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds ($230) paid by all households with a television. It also is bound by the terms of its charter to be impartial in its output, and critics are quick to point out when they think it has failed. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

North America

United States
November 10, 2025  The gnawing and weeping and gnashing of teeth in Washington, DC, over the recent US troop drawdown in NATO’s eastern flank has been quite an ordeal to witness from afar. After all, the roughly 1,000 US troops that had been deployed were only ever meant to be deployed there temporarily. But it just goes to show how the NATO bureaucracy really works. What was always intended by the Pentagon to be a temporary deployment to NATO’s eastern periphery was actually meant to be a backdoor toward a larger and longer commitment by the United States on behalf of the NATO bureaucracy. And now that Trump has gummed up those carefully laid designs, the Europeans (and their globalist allies in DC) are screaming like stuck pigs. But the real reason that so many Atlanticists in Europe and Washington are raging over the move is because they fear what this is a prelude to. Politico leaked a document believed to have been penned by the Euroskeptical Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colby that effectively outlined how the US was going to deprioritize the theaters it has been involved in - mainly Europe and the Middle East - and instead would prioritize USSOUTHCOM and USNORTHCOM for a Western Hemispheric Defense strategy. A related document, the Unified Command Plan (UCP) made mention of the need to shift key resources out of the European Command (EUCOM) and Central Command (CENTCOM) areas of responsibility and into the Western Hemisphere. One must not write off the possibility that such a rotation to the Indo-Pacific is merely a pitstop for US forces that will ultimately be permanently redeployed to the Western Hemisphere. Colby’s document remains on Secretary of Defense Hegseth’s desk. The fear and loathing exhibited by the globalist set in Washington and Brussels is an indicator that they know there’s more going on (without actually knowing it). Between Trump’s insistence with acquiring the Panama Canal Zone, empowering Argentina, threatening Venezuela, attacking drug cartels, and absorbing Greenland into the United States, it is clear that his vision for American grand strategy is ultimately Western Hemispheric Defense. It’s why NATO is so scared right now. Removing a light infantry unit that was technically never going to be permanently stationed in Romania is one thing. But what that move heralds is why so many are angry. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert. His newest book: A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

November 8, 2025  Six young men, hailing from three different states and all between the ages of 19 and 21, have been accused in a sprawling plot that federal investigators allege includes two thwarted terror plots, one a Halloween mass shooting and the other involving plans to travel to Syria and fight for the islamic state terror group. Their alleged plot to join isis represents what immigration expert Ries, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Border Security and Immigration Center called a fundamental failure of American assimilation and the speed at which radicalization can happen over the internet. Three of the suspects from Dearborn, Michigan, a Detroit suburb are accused of planning to attack gay bars on Halloween. Another comes from Kent, Washington, who had "strong family ties [and] stable housing." One is a New Jersey college student, another is the son of an English professor. At least two have familial ties overseas, and the alleged plot included contacts in the United Kingdom, Sweden and Nigeria. One, living in Washington state, had alleged ties to a juvenile terror suspect in Canada. The other lives in New Jersey and is accused of talking about a potential terror attack in Boston during a livestream. The thwarted Detroit plot was allegedly planned to be similar to a mass terror attack in France in 2015 that killed more than 130 people and injured hundreds, as well as the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, which killed another 49. While isis was defeated militarily in 2019, terrorist ideas continue to spread online. A suspect allegedly said he hoped he would end up with a documentary made about him and his own page on Wikipedia, according to court documents. Ries argued that the U.S. and similar nations are under coordinated ideological attack by academic groups and foreign organizations. ’There is a real globalist effort to invade, to commit violence, to deconstruct Western civilization from within, through division and violence,’ Ries warned. "The U.S. is on that same path, not as far down as the U.K. or France, nonetheless, we're on the path.’ "We need to get back, as a sovereign nation, we need to get back to teaching assimilation and encouraging assimilation and civics, one language, encouraging loyalty to your fellow Americans," Ries said. "The Trump administration is now returning to neighborhood visits for naturalization applications to see if [an applicant] is going to uphold the oath that they would take if we grant them naturalization," Ries said. "Are they gonna be loyal to America and their fellow Americans?" (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

07/11/2025 - 19:27  US President Trump told Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán today that he would consider exempting this close ally from sanctions on Russian oil purchases. He hosted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán at the White House, citing his country's reliance on energy from the region. "We are looking at it because it is very difficult for him to get the oil and gas from other areas. As you know they don't have the advantage of having sea," Trump told reporters as he met Orbán. Orbán said that Russian energy was vital for his country and he would explain to Trump what would be the consequences for the Hungarian people and for the Hungarian economy not to get oil and gas from Russia. "Because we are supplied by pipelines. Pipeline is not an ideological or political issue. It's a physical reality because we don't have port(s)," Orbán said. (Source: France 24 ”with AFP” = France)

(6 November 2025)  75% of Tesla shareholders have approved a pay package for boss Musk that could be worth nearly $1tn. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

South America

Bolivia
09/11/2025  Pro-business conservative Paz was sworn in as Bolivia’s new president on Saturday, ushering a new era after nearly 20 years of one-party rule. As he took office, Paz vowed that Bolivia would open up to the world after two decades of leftist rule that many blame for the country's economic ills. (Source: France 24)

Colombia
November 10, 2025  Representatives of European, Latin American and Caribbean nations began a two-day summit yesterday in Colombia to try to strengthen ties. Colombian President Petro is among the strongest critics of the U.S. strikes against alleged drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific which have killed more than 60 people since September. Petro has called the deaths extrajudicial executions and has identified at least one of the killed as a Colombian citizen. One of two known survivors of the attacks is also Colombian. Colombia’s Foreign Ministry was highlighting the presence of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, Brazilian President Lula da Silva and European Council President Costa. (Source: AP - U.S.)

Ecuador
(Monday, 10.11.2025)  Authorities said at least 27 inmates were found dead by asphyxiation Sunday afternoon at the prison in Machala, a southwestern city in El Oro province, where an armed riot left four others dead and dozens injured in the morning. Prison authorities said the 27 individuals found dead had ’among themselves committed asphyxiation, which caused immediate death by suspension,’ while 33 inmates and one police officer were injured. Ecuadoran prisons have become operational centers for rival drug-trafficking gangs, with over 500 inmates killed in fighting between groups competing to control the illegal trade. Local residents could hear gunfire, explosions, and cries for help coming from inside the prison's walls. Violence is believed to be connected to plans to move some inmates into a new maximum-security prison built by the government of President Noboa in another province that is due to be inaugurated this month. At the end of September, another armed confrontation at the prison in Machala left 13 inmates and a prison official dead. (Source: TRT World - Turkey / AFP - France)

Global

November 6, 2025  The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) kicked off its two-day leaders’ summit in Brazil today - with one notable absence. For the first time since the summit began 30 years ago, the United States did not send any top government officials to represent Washington’s interests. Such a snub represents the Trump administration’s broader disregard for green technology, clean energy, and the threats from climate change. The United States is the second-largest carbon emitter in the world after China, accounting for more than 10 percent of total global emissions, according to 2023 data. Yet under Trump, the White House has abandoned climate pledges and instead teamed up with other oil-producing nations to oppose key green legislation, such as a global plastics treaty and a worldwide fee on carbon pollution. In his U.N. General Assembly speech in September, Trump called climate change the world’s “greatest con job' and 'trumpeted' the use of fossil fuels. Experts are unsure whether COP30 can run effectively. The European Union, which has one of the world’s most ambitious emissions reduction policies, has tried to portray itself as a leader in climate talks. But recent infighting and the weakening of the bloc’s own reduction target have undermined its influence and put European leaders on shaky ground to start the conference. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)

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Germany
9 November 2025  German 'far-right' activist seeks asylum in U.S. Seibt, 25, said she is being persecuted in Germany for her political views - the 'target of intelligence surveillance' and 'state media defamation' , and has received death threats from antifa. Seibt alleges that German police refused to protect her when she contacted them about death threats she had received. Seibt has more than 459,000 followers on X and 112,000 subscribers on YouTube. Seibt shared a letter from German domestic intelligence documenting its tracking of her activities, which she said prompted her decision to seek asylum. Seibt met on Oct. 30 with Rep. Luna (R-Florida), who said in a statement that she is personally assisting with Seibt’s asylum application and making her case to Secretary of State Rubio. The Trump administration has signaled plans to prioritize protections for White refugees and Europeans who claim they are being targeted for their populist views. “It is clear that, due to her support for President Trump and her refusal to conform to leftist ideology, she has been targeted and could face imprisonment/physical danger if she returns to Germany - simply for rejecting the groupthink that is currently dominating the country and destroying its economy,' Luna wrote in a statement on X. The Trump administration has already granted refuge to dozens of White South Africans who claimed to be persecuted at home. A draft proposal from the State Department also would give consideration to free speech advocates in Europe, according to a former U.S. official who had seen the document. The New York Times reported that administration proposals would also prioritize Europeans who have been targeted for peaceful expression of views online such as opposition to mass migration or support for ‘populist’ political parties. The broader interpretation of free speech in the U.S. compared with most of Europe might prompt American courts to take Seibt’s case seriously. A spokesperson of the State Department said the department was “extremely concerned by increasing censorship by E.U. bureaucrats and government officials,' adding that the U.S. “supports all Europeans working to defend our common civilizational heritage.” (Source: The Washington Post - U.S.)

Slovakia
(9.11.2025)  Slovakia voices dissent over EU plan to use frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s defence. PM Robert Fico warns EU plan would prolong war, rejects participation in military financing schemes. Fico described his position as a pro-peace stance. EU leaders are expected to discuss the usage of the Russian frozen assets proposal in December, where unanimous approval will be required. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Belarus
Monday 10 November 2025  Belarus’ leader is threatening to seize over 1,000 Lithuanian trucks stranded in the country following the closure of its border with Lithuania after repeated incursions by air balloons carrying smuggled cigarettes. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Russia
Sunday, 9 November 2025 13:15  Russia’s defence ministry says that it had encircled Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsk today as it said that eight attempts to break out of the encirclement had been repelled. It added that six Ukrainian attempts to unblocked surrounded units in the Kupiansk area had also been thwarted. Ukraine denies its troops are surrounded. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

November 9, 2025  Last summer, Ukraine’s security service and navy carried out a successful attack targeting a Russian facility in Crimea. Using a host of lethal drones and cruise missiles, Kyiv was reportedly able to disable both Russia’s S-300 and S-400 systems by using Neptune missiles in the assault. Earlier this month, Ukrainian special forces reportedly carried out a precision strike on multiple Russian assets, including command and radar components of its S-400 “Triumf” air defense division. According to Ukraine’s Defense Intelligence Directorate, the attack successfully took out a 92N6E multi-function radar and the power supply system supporting the command post. As the war rages on, Kyiv will undoubtedly attempt to destroy additional SAM components. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Carlin, an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel.

Serbia
10.11.2025  Wedges in the Eurasian Transport Corridors. The China-Europe Railway Express is one of the most under-reported stories in the West. It is a large-scale, cheaper, faster and more secure China-Europe trade via the Russian Federation – as the main transit hub – which is not only possible, but already fully operational and highly profitable. The China-Europe Railway Express during the September blockage of the Poland-Belarus border stranded Europe-bound convoys of Chinese goods for two weeks. Poland, citing the Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 military exercises, closed its eastern border. It also served as an opportunity for Poland to try to drive wedges between Beijing and Moscow, by directing Chinese ire at Russia’s responsibility, as well as attempting to motivate Chinese authorities to move away from their positions on the conflict in Ukraine. This immediately impacted the entire supply chain across Eurasia, affecting shippers in China, companies in Central Asia, Russia, and Belarus, and residents of the border area. Warsaw was finally urged to reopen the border by its own traders. The issue redirected officials’ attention to the alternative railway route, the Middle Corridor Route bypassing the Russian Federation. At the mid-October “Dialogues on China” conference in Belgrade, Serbia, this alternative was analysed on several occasions by experts on China and transport corridors. Their conclusion, in the geopolitical sense, was that ramping up the alternative route would be a boost for US and Turkish interests, and a loss for Russia and Iran. Driving wedges to gain strategic advantage in the transport and energy infrastructure has also been a feature of attempts to curb Serbia’s foreign policy independence and diversification. As an EU candidate facing stalled negotiations, Serbia has firmly stood by its military neutrality, rejecting NATO membership, Western sanctions against Moscow, and in 2024, elevating bilateral relations with Beijing to the highest level. Such eastward hedging is considered unacceptable among Western governments for a country surrounded by EU and NATO members. Along with Hungary, Serbia has been a key proponent of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Europe. Beyond bilateral projects with China, a milestone trilateral project and a flagship for China’s cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe has been the construction of the Belgrade-Budapest high-speed railway. Since 2014, this project has faced numerous obstacles – often stemming from Brussels targeting the Hungarian side. Yet, the Serbian portion of the railway – constructed by Russian and Chinese companies – was completed and launched in October 2025, with the Hungarian part to follow in the first part of 2026. The railway is considered as an important portion of China’s “belt” connectivity strategy – as it is ultimately aimed to connect with the Mediterranean port of Piraeus, near Athens, owned by China’s COSCO and a major entry point for Chinese goods into Europe. The EU, which for a long time has stayed away from major investments in regional infrastructure, recently stepped in to offer loans and grants for a key portion of the Serbian railway heading south from Belgrade to the city of Niš. Sceptics could point to possible dangers of Brussels actually stalling the construction of the high-speed railway with political conditionality in order to slow down the establishment of the Piraeus connection with Budapest and Central Europe, thus obstructing China’s trade. In addition, the US recently launched a renewed attempt to curb China’s control of the Piraeus port as part of its wider strategy aimed against Chinese investments in global ports. Washington has also promoted the IMEC trade corridor – the India-Middle East Economic Corridor – as an alternative to the BRI. The Greek port of Alexandroupolis has been seen as a US military and LNG hub against Russia’s interests, as well as a possible port gateway for the IMEC in countering China and the BRI. Serbia’s energy connectivity, primarily with Russia, has also been targeted. Before exiting the White House in January 2025, the administration of US President Biden set in motion a mechanism aimed at sanctioning the petroleum company NIS, which owns of the country’s oil refinery and is the largest contributor to Serbia’s state budget. The aim of the mechanism was to eliminate the majority ownership of the company by Russia’s Gazpromneft. The sanctions entered into force in October 2025. In the meantime, Serbia and Hungary set in motion the building of a new Hungary-Serbia pipeline, connecting it to Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. As Hungarian Foreign Minister Szijjártó argued : “We’re moving forward with Serbian and Russian partners to build a new oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia. While Brussels is banning Russian energy, cutting links and blocking routes, we need more sources, more routes.” In late October 2025, the main connectivity hub of the proposed new pipeline – the MOL oil refinery in Százhalombatta, near Budapest – was hit by an explosion and a fire. The attack occurred as Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk argued in an interview with the British press that Ukraine had a right to attack Russia-linked targets anywhere in Europe. Also in October, the European Council agreed on its negotiating position on the draft regulation to phase out imports of Russian natural gas, a move with potentially dramatic long-term consequences for Serbia, as it is fully reliant on its import of Russian gas through the Turkish/Balkan stream transiting through Bulgaria. This decision, in addition to targeting Moscow, can also be seen as part of a long-planned, well-thought-out and precisely targeted plan to remove the comparative advantage Serbia’s economy has had thanks to its favourable gas arrangement with the Russian Federation. In the era of multi-polarisation, particularly in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, Brussels is unwilling to tolerate geopolitical dissonance. Such a position is unlikely to change in the light of Brussels’ securitisation narrative and militarisation over the 'Russian threat', just as the US strategic narrative and statecraft repertoire will not shy away from driving new wedges between China and its key partners in Europe and elsewhere. (Source: Valdai Discussion Club - Russia)
by Mitić, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Belt and Road Studies at the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Belgrade, Serbia.

Ukraine
9 November 2025 12:15  State-owned energy company Tsentrenergo said the attacks on its facilities were the largest since the start of the war in February 2022. It said had halted operations at its plants in the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions. “The last strike was not even a month ago and the enemy has now struck all our generating capacity at the same time. The stations are on fire!” Tsentrenergo, which generates about 8 per cent of Ukraine's power, said in a statement. “Our generation is now zero.” (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Europe
10 November 2025  Ukraine never seems to tire of lecturing the world on “values”. Brussels has turned that battered, unfortunate country into a sort of sacred object, a totem of Western virtue before which all nuance is silenced. Among the questions forbidden amid this inquisitorial, groupthink frenzy, is how Kiev treats those within its borders who are not ethnically Ukrainian - the Hungarians of Transcarpathia, the Poles of western Volhynia, the Romanians of Bukovina, its Russian residents. The crackdown began long before the Russian invasion of 2022, it does not reflect an emergency. Hungarians have suffered much as a consequence. In Transcarpathia - home to some 150,000 ethnic Hungarians and to the former great Hungarian stronghold of Ungvár, today Uzhgorod - the Hungarian language was gradually erased from classrooms, courtrooms, and local administrations. Teachers were told to switch to Ukrainian, even when neither they nor their pupils spoke it fluently. Kiev has imposed a homogenising policy that, in practice, feels nothing other than forced assimilation. It bears reminding that Transcarpathia is not historically Ukrainian. The area’s connection to Kiev is a legacy of Stalinist expansionism, with it only being annexed by the then Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1945. Before, with few interruptions, the region had belonged to Hungary ever since King Saint Stephen, of the House of Árpád, conquered it in the 11th century. Hungary, with its deep historical ties to Transcarpathia, has repeatedly protested; its offers of bilingual schooling and cultural support have been met with accusations of foreign interference. In 2022, the Ukrainians demolished a monument in Mukachevo replacing the Hungarian Turul eagle with a Ukrainian coat of arms. Later, in 2023, they had numerous Hungarian cultural associations raided and shut. The targets were harmless village administrators. And language activists, teaching Hungarian grammar. Is such repression of a minority, much of it composed of citizens of Hungary and, therefore, of the European Union, reasonable in a country so desperately in need of EU solidarity? The same Brussels officials who issue communiqués on the rights of gender minorities in Hungary have found nothing to say about the suppression of linguistic minorities in Ukraine. This hypocrisy truly corrodes Europe’s credibility. Budapest cannot be asked to ignore the insults suffered by its countrymen in Ukraine and, indeed, by itself. Its stance on the successive EU aid packages for Ukraine is not alien to Ukraine’s mistreatment of Hungarians in Transcarpathia. For years, minority communities in Ukraine have been tormented by an accelerating erosion of their linguistic and cultural rights. An Education Law enacted in 2017, later reinforced by the infamous State Language Law from 2019, effectively prohibited the use of minority languages in secondary schools. In 2022, the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, enacted legislation that forced all media in the country to be published in Ukrainian. The law made it next to impossible for national minorities to retain a press of their own. Poland, despite its closer relations to Kiev, finds itself in a contradiction. Warsaw has spent vast billions in aid, taken in over a million Ukrainian refugees, and lobbied tirelessly for Western arms to be given to Ukraine. Yet the Polish minority in Ukraine - some 140,000 people - continues to see Polish-language schools shuttered or ’restructured’ into Ukrainian ones. Lviv was once a leading bastion of Polish culture - not a single Polish-language university exists in Ukraine. The graves of massacred Poles in Volhynia, victims of ethnic cleansing by Nazi-tied Ukrainian nationalists during the Second World War, are repeatedly desecrated even while their killers are publicly honoured by the modern Ukrainian state. Statues of Bandera, whose followers slaughtered tens of thousands of Poles, are erected in Ukrainian towns with official blessings. The same goes for other many vile, civilian-butchering thugs. Poland’s patience is wearing thin. Recent disputes over trade and grain have added to Warsaw’s understandable, and rising, exasperation at Ukraine’s apparent inability to show its neighbours a modicum of respect. Polish President Nawrocki’s initiative to ban the Ukrainian nationalist flag was met with fury in Ukraine. Why should Poles be expected to keep mum while those who so desperately need their help wave the flags of Pole-slayers in the heart of Warsaw? Europe’s task is to insist that Kiev comes to terms with its ethnic and linguistic diversity and drops its uniformising mania. Europe’s blindness is strategically foolish. A Ukraine that alienates its own minorities will never be stable, nor genuinely European and the moral rot becomes irreversible. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

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Europe

Hungary
(8 November 2025)  Orbán's key win: an exemption from US sanctions. Szijjártó, Hungary's foreign minister, said would be indefinite. 'A White House official told the BBC was time-limited to one year’. Trump clearly wants to help his friend win the election in April. ’The one-year window' granted by the US is a valuable respite for Hungarian households this winter. Orbán told pro-government reporters who travelled with him to Washington that otherwise utility bills "could have gone up by up to three times in December’. Capping those bills by various means has been a central plank of his popularity in Hungary since 2013. Under the US exemption, Hungary can continue to buy Russian gas through the Turkstream pipeline, which traverses the Balkans, and pay for it in hard currency ($185m in August alone) using a Bulgarian loophole. The Hungarian energy company MOL has been upgrading two of its refineries - Százhalombatta in Hungary and the Slovnaft facility in Bratislava - to process Brent crude instead of the high-sulphur Urals crude which flows through Russian pipelines. Orbán has agreed to buy LNG from the US worth $600 million, according to Bloomberg. Another key part of the Washington deal is nuclear. Hungary agreed to buy US nuclear fuel rods for its Paks 1 nuclear power station (at a cost of $114m), in parallel to those bought from Russia's Rosatom and France's Framatome. The Paks 1 nuclear power station was built by the Soviet Union in the 1980s, and supplies around 40% of Hungary's electricity needs Russian plans to finance and build the nuclear extension, called Paks 2, have been long delayed by technical and licensing issues. The US agreement to lift all nuclear sanctions on Hungary may help restart that project. Hungary has also agreed to buy US technology to extend the short-term storage of spent nuclear fuel at Paks for between $100m and $200m. Perhaps the biggest part of the deal was a Hungarian commitment to buy up to 10 small modular nuclear reactors from the US, for somewhere between $10bn and $20bn. Finally, a currency swap deal - similar to a recent US-Argentina deal to prop up the peso - under which US and Hungarian central banks can exchange currency is being discussed. This would mean that in a future financial crisis in Hungary, the US central bank could feed dollars to Budapest, which boosts financial security in Hungary. So in summary, Hungary struck a deal to buy US gas, nuclear energy and unspecified weapons systems in exchange for a ’temporary’ waiver from US sanctions on Russian oil and gas. It failed to get the re-introduction of the US visa waiver system, abolished in 2022. And it did not get a new date for a potential Trump-Putin summit in Budapest as part of efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Energy dependence on Russia ’is being replaced’ by energy dependence on the US. The Orbán government argues it is achieving greater diversity of supply. (Source: BBC - United Kingdom)

07.11.2025  Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today Hungary and the US are entering what he called a “golden age” of bilateral relations under President Trump. Addressing Trump directly, he said: "You restored the old level of the relationship. You improved the bilateral relations. You repaired what was done badly by the previous administration. So now, we are in quite a good position to open up a new chapter, let's say a golden age, between United States and Hungary." Orbán said he would discuss with Trump "how we can contribute to help you in your peace effort" to end the Russia-Ukraine war. Orbán said the US and Hungary had a different approach to the war than other European nations and the EU. "The only pro-peace governments are the United States government and small Hungary in Europe. Anyway, all the other governments prefer to continue the war, because many of them think that Ukraine can win on the front line, which is a misunderstanding of the situation," Orbán said. Trump asked Orbán: "So, you would say that Ukraine cannot win that war?" "You know, miracle can happen," Orbán replied. Trump continued, ’grinning’: "Yeah, that's right." Orbán said another focus of negotiations would relate to the "consequences for the Hungarian people and for the Hungarian economy not to get oil and gas from Russia.’ "We are supplied by pipelines. Pipelines are not an ideological political issue. It's a physical reality, because we don't have ports, exactly as the president explained to you. So we will negotiate on that point. It's vital for us," Orbán said. The prime minister said 90% of Hungarian households use gas-based heating. "We have only one pipeline delivering gas to Hungary, which is the main pipeline, the Turkish one," he added. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

07/11/2025 - 17:58  How are the US sanctions impacting Hungary? Hungary is hoping to seek a waiver on US sanctions on Russian oil as its Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is meeting US President Trump. „Being his only supporter in Europe", Orbán is hoping he will be able to appeal to Trump. (Source: France 24)

Bulgaria
08.11.2025  Bulgaria would face an extremely difficult situation if the Lukoil-owned refinery in Burgas stopped operating, Vice President Iotova reportedly said today. Her comments follow yesterday's adoption of urgent legal amendments granting sweeping powers to a special commercial administrator who will oversee Lukoil's operations in Bulgaria. The move allows the state-appointed administrator to approve or even sell shares in the country's largest refinery. It strips the company's shareholders of voting and disposal rights. This is the second emergency law in seven weeks in response to the refinery crisis, which escalated after the US imposed sanctions on Russia's Lukoil amid the war in Ukraine. In October, Bulgaria also suspended exports of refined oil products such as diesel. Iotova rejected claims that Bulgaria is nationalizing the refinery, saying lawmakers had adopted elements of Germany's model of temporary state management of strategic assets. In Germany, this system has been in place for three years and will continue until 2026. This is neither a sale nor nationalization, she said. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Germany
11/8/2025  Pistorius, Germany’s gruff defense minister is a social democrat in a government led by conservatives, and the man now responsible for revamping and expanding the armed forces in a country that has been allergic to militarization for 80 years since instigating two world wars. His party is in free fall, scoring its lowest vote share since 1887 in federal elections earlier this year. The administration in which he serves has seen its approval rating tumble to 25 percent. At 65, he is blunt and a bit rough around the jowls. He was widely criticized by the left flank of his own party for saying Germany needed to become “kriegstüchtig” - war-ready. And yet 'in survey after survey, after nearly three years in the job, Pistorius is far and away Germany’s most popular politician'. Three days after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Scholz announced a “Zeitenwende,” or turning point. He secured a 100 billion euro ($115 billion) special fund for defense, which has since been massively boosted by an exemption of defense spending from Germany’s debt brake that typically limits government borrowing. Scholz turned to Pistorius, a relatively unknown state bureaucrat whose military experience was largely limited to his compulsory service in the 1980s. Merz took over as chancellor, and his coalition opted to leave Pistorius in place as the government committed to higher NATO spending targets and accelerated the military buildup. Looming over it all is the matter of recruitment. But most people between 18 and 29 - those likeliest to be drafted - are against it. The probability of the SPD providing the next chancellor is quite small. And Germany’s heavy industry is beginning to shift toward defense production. Pistorius’s friends and colleagues 'attribute his popularity to his candor - a willingness to speak unpleasant truths about the inadequate state of Germany’s military and the enormous infusion of cash and personnel' required to be ready to defend the country 'and the continent'. (Source: MSN / The Washington Times = U.S.)

Greece
06.11.2025  Greece starts offshore drilling in Ionian Sea with participation of ExxonMobil, which will own 60% of the consortium, followed by London-based Greek-owned energy company Energean at 30% and Greece’s HelleniQ Energy at 10%. The consortium will focus on the Block 2 offshore area in the Ionian Sea west of Corfu, which has been managed by Energean and HelleniQ Energy since 2020. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Romania
November 7, 2025  Today Romania has urged the United States to reconsider its plan to withdraw hundreds of troops stationed in the country, warning that such a move could undermine NATO’s unity and play into Russia’s hands. The Pentagon last week confirmed it would redeploy an infantry brigade of around 800 U.S. soldiers from Romania back to the United States. Deputy Defense Minister Moldovan told that the decision announced by the Pentagon risks sending the wrong signal. The move is part of Washington’s broader effort to shift military focus toward domestic priorities, including border security and the Indo-Pacific region. Moldovan expressed concern that this repositioning could damage the strong bilateral relationship between Bucharest and Washington, calling for deeper consultations with the U.S. to ensure that the regional security situation 'is fully understood'. Publicly, both European and NATO officials have sought to minimize the significance of the U.S. move. „Operationally, nothing has changed, but politically, this decision sends a strange message', Moldovan said. As Washington focuses more on Asia, the Romanian official also argued that Russia’s war in Ukraine is increasingly supported by other U.S. adversaries. North Korea has sent soldiers to Ukraine. Iran provides assistance with its capabilities. We must see the full picture, Moldovan stated. Our security is built on trust in our allies, and we rely heavily on U.S. support on the eastern flank, NATO is only strong when all allies stand together, Moldovan said. On November 5, NATO Secretary General Rutte and Romanian President (’Iohannis’) emphasized that the withdrawal would not create any security gaps in Romania’s defense. Britain and Norway also voiced confidence in the Alliance’s readiness, rejecting claims that the U.S. was retreating from its NATO obligations. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

European Commission
Nov 7, 2025 9:39 pm KST  The European Union has announced stricter visa rules for Russian citizens starting today. It would deny Russians multi-entry visas. ’Under the newly adopted provisions, all visa applications submitted by nationals of the Russian Federation will be subject to enhanced verification procedures and elevated levels of scrutiny,’ EU internal affairs commissioner Brunner said. The EU in 2022 suspended its visa facilitation agreement with Russia and has told member states to ’deprioritize’ visas for Russians. Tourist hotspots France, Spain and Italy are among the countries that issue the most visas. ’Brussels says the number of visas issued to Russians fell from more than four million before the war to some 500,000 in 2023’. The Kremlin's opponent Navalnaya have urged the bloc in September not to cut them off from Europe. "For the purpose of achieving peace in Europe it is counterproductive to assist Russian authorities in isolating Russian society," Navalnaya wrote in a letter to EU foreign policy chief Kallas, 4. The bloc already tightened controls on travel by Russian diplomats stationed in the EU's 27 countries last month. Hawkish EU countries have long pushed for tougher visa limits on ordinary Russians, arguing they should not be able to travel freely for tourism while the war rages in Ukraine. Proponents of tougher measures insist ordinary Russians should feel more impact from the war. Starting a war and expecting to move freely in Europe is hard to justify, Kallas wrote on X. (Source: Korea Times - South Korea / AFP - France)

Russia
Friday 07 November 2025 16:39 GMT  Lavrov spoke by phone to US Secretary of State Rubio on 20 October to discuss the possible summit, days after it was announced by Trump following a phone call with Putin. The Financial Times cited a source as suggesting that Lavrov's conversation with Rubio had put Washington off. Lavrov subsequently repeated about the need to address the root causes of the conflict, before Trump sanctioned Russia’s two largest oil companies. The Kremlin today dismissed speculation that Lavrov had fallen out of favour with Putin after the efforts to organise the summit were put on ice. Kremlin spokesman Peskov dismissed the idea. „There is nothing true in these reports,' Peskov told reporters. "Lavrov is working as foreign minister, of course," Peskov added. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova suggested today that the FT article had been published to stoke speculation that was unhelpful to Moscow and part of what she called a hybrid war against Russia. Putin has made it clear that, aside from the Ukraine issue, he believes that a rapprochement between Moscow and Washington is in Russia's national interest and important for global security, as the two countries possess vast nuclear arsenals. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

12:26, 07/11/2025, Friday  Major powers navigate relationships with African nations and former Soviet states. Russia has called on the United States to comply with international legal standards amid reports of potential American military intervention in Nigeria. The US expands both military planning in Africa and diplomatic initiatives in Central Asia through the Abraham Accords framework. When questioned about Kazakhstan's intention to become the first Central Asian nation to join the Abraham Accords, Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman maintained a position of diplomatic reserve which indicates Moscow's cautious approach to the expanding normalization agreements between Arab states and Israel, particularly when involving countries within Russia's traditional sphere of influence. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

November 6, 2025  Russian deputy foreign minister Grushko accused NATO of preparing to blockade Russia through the Baltic Sea. 'During the alliance’s exercises, scenarios such as blocking the Kaliningrad region are being practiced. The [Baltic] region is undergoing active militarization, with an influx of coalition forces and resources,’ the senior Russian official stated. The Kaliningrad enclave offers Moscow a second gate to the Baltic Sea. The other point of access is to the north at St. Petersburg. Naryshkin, the head of SVR, the Russian foreign intelligence service, also accused NATO of preparing for military operations against Russia. He said that NATO is rapidly mobilizing military resources and shaping public opinion to justify conflict, NATO and the European Union have embarked on a multiple-fold increase in the production of military equipment, and are also conducting active mobilization training. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

Ukraine
08 November 2025  A massive Russian attack hit Ukraine's energy infrastructure, prompting power cuts in several regions. Ukraine’s air force said it intercepted 406 out of 458 drones and nine of 45 missiles launched in the overnight assault. The strikes hit Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Odesa, Chernihiv, Poltava, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia. The attack was one of the heaviest on the energy grid since October, when Russia’s strikes destroyed around 60% of Ukraine’s gas production capacity. Ukraine announced a new commander, Cherevashenko, for its drone air defence forces. State-owned Naftogaz confirmed plans to import at least 300 million cubic metres of US liquefied natural gas through Poland’s Orlen. Officials in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv warned residents to prepare for extended outages as temperatures drop. Russia’s Ministry of Defence confirmed it had carried out a massive strike using long-range precision missiles launched from land, air and sea. The statement said the targets were energy and defence industry sites across Ukraine. (Source: Helsinki Times - Finland)

Africa

Mali
November 6, 2025  Suspected jihadists have killed 14 civilians in Lere, central Mali, in recent days. The Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (JNIM) has blockaded Lere and other towns for the past two weeks and, since September, has stopped fuel tankers entering Mali from neighbouring countries, in a bid to put pressure on the ruling military junta by stifling the economy. (Source: Channels TV - Nigeria)

North America

United States
November 7, 2025 2:02pm EST  President Trump said today that European leaders should respect Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán "very strongly because he's been right on immigration." "Look what's happened to Europe with the immigration. They have people flooding Europe all over the place. And it's hurting it. Crime rates are way up. A lot of bad things are happening. His crime rates are very low. They're the same as they always were, which is very little crime. Because he's kept it the way it should be," Trump said as he hosted Orbán at the White House. "He was right on immigration. They were wrong. They are flooding Europe with people from all over the world. And Europe is becoming a different place. And I tell the leaders all the time „you better stop or you're not going to have Europe anymore.’’ It's a very dangerous thing they're doing,’ Trump added. "So on migration issue, just for clarification, in Hungary, the number of illegal migration is like that - zero, zero because we have a crystal-clear system. If somebody would like to come to Hungary first, he should ask for that," Orbán said. "If he gives the permission, they can step in. Nobody can step on the territory of Hungary without having permission from the Hungarian authorities. This is the regulation. Simple, while working." "What is the consequence of that? If we are under sanctions, financial sanctions of European Union, because we don't let the illegal migration to come to Hungary and to the European Union as well. So we have to pay just to inform you, we have to pay every day €1 million as a punishment... this is the absurd world we are living now in Europe,’ Orbán added. In June 2024, the European Union’s top court ordered Hungary to pay a $223 million fine for depriving migrants of their right to apply for asylum and an additional fine of 1 million euros per day for failing to comply."Viktor's had a very hard stance on more than anything else, immigration or even illegal immigration. He literally has accepted no one over the years. Think of how much greater these countries would be if they didn't have the tremendous crime that has come in with the immigration, people just flowing into Europe. They've got to stop it and not only stop it, they have to reverse it. They have to get them out," Trump continued. "We've done that here. We have zero people coming in now. The borders are closed. We take people, but we take them legally. But we've done it very strongly and we're moving, hundreds of thousands, millions of people out," Trump also said. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

.5 11 7 11:50

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Asia

China
10/11/2025, Monday  China has successfully deployed another cluster of low Earth orbit communication satellites from the Hainan Satellite Launch Center today, as part of its ambitious space-based internet initiative. A Long March-12 carrier rocket lifted off at 10:41 a.m. local time (0241 GMT), carrying the satellites to their designated orbit. The development of independent space-based internet capabilities is viewed as strategically vital for national security and technological sovereignty. (Source: Yeni Şafak / Anadolu Agency = Turkey)

Friday, November 7, 2025  Wednesday China has commissioned at a naval base on southern China’s Hainan island the Fujian, its latest aircraft carrier after extensive sea trials. The ceremony was attended by top leader Xi. It is China’s third carrier and the first that it both designed and built itself. China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, was Soviet made and its second, the Shandong, was built in China but based on the Soviet model. Both use older-style ski-jump type systems to help planes take flight. The Fujian skips past the steam catapult technology used on most American carriers to employ an electromagnetic launch system found only on the latest U.S. Navy Ford-class carriers. It gives China the ability to launch heavier aircraft, with full fuel loads, like the KJ-600 early warning and control plane, which it successfully tested during its sea trials. Its latest J-35 stealth fighter and J-15T heavy fighter were also launched from the Fujian. For China’s navy, one goal is to dominate the near waters of the South China Sea, East China Sea and Yellow Sea around the so-called First Island Chain, which runs south through Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines. Deeper into the Pacific, it also wants to be able to contest control of the Second Island Chain, where the U.S. has important military facilities on Guam and elsewhere, Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies said. A carrier is key to that contest, if you want one, with the Americans in the wider Indo-Pacific, Poling said. If China had the ability to position an aircraft carrier group or groups around the Second Island Chain - between Taiwan and the U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters in Hawaii - that could delay possible American military assistance in the event of a Chinese attack. The Pentagon in its latest report to Congress continued to call China the only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order. At the same time, it is Beijing’s right to transform its navy into a blue-water strategic navy commensurate with China’s national strength, said Song a Hong Kong-based military affairs expert. China is a great power and our overseas interests span the globe; we need to be globally present, Song said. We believe that China’s military intends to advance its operational capability at distant sea and air by strengthening sea power, Minoru, a former defense minister and now chief cabinet secretary in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s new government told, emphasizing that Japan was watching China’s military activity and would calmly but decisively respond if necessary. One of the important things that an aircraft carrier can do is extend the range of China’s domain awareness to keep an eye on activities in the air, on the sea, and below the sea, said Hart, deputy director of CSIS’s China Power Project. Numerically China only has three carriers compared to the U.S. Navy’s 11, and while China’s carriers are all conventionally powered, the U.S.’s are all nuclear powered which means they can operate almost indefinitely without being refueled - dramatically increasing their range. China also lags behind the U.S. in guided missile cruisers and destroyers, which are critical in providing air and submarine defense and support for larger naval groups, as well as nuclear-powered submarines, Hart said. Beyond just equipment, China lacks the network of overseas bases that the U.S. has, which are critical for resupplying carriers and also providing alternative runways should aircraft not be able to return safely to the carrier. They’re fielding and building more aircraft carriers, they’re fielding more nuclear-powered subs, they are fielding more, larger destroyers and other vessels that carry a larger number of missiles. So they’re really catching up, Hart said. China hasn’t fought a war since 1979. It is possible that China’s capabilities are overstated, as real-world operational readiness lags behind its showcased arsenal, Singapore-based analyst Tang told. A World War II Victory Day parade at the start of September signaled China’s broader strategic intent, which is to deter major powers, pressure regional actors, expand its global influence, and reinforce its domestic legitimacy, he said. (Source: The Washington Times / Associated Press = U.S.)

Iran
November 7, 2025 7:28 AM  President Trump has said Iran has asked whether U.S. sanctions could be lifted, calling the current measures very heavy. Speaking at the White House late yesterday, Mr. Trump offered no timeline or conditions for engagement but signalled a potential opening for dialogue: "I’m open to hearing that, and we’ll see what happens, but I would be open to it," he noted. Any easing of U.S. sanctions would mark a significant shift in American foreign policy toward Tehran. Any change in policy could influence the balance of power in the Middle East, affect global oil markets, and reshape relations with U.S. allies in the region. The maximum pressure strategy, reinstated early in Trump’s second term, was designed to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions and limit its regional influence. Trump also addressed the recent conflict between Israel and Iran, providing new details on U.S. involvement. "Israel attacked first. That attack was very, very powerful. I was very much in charge of that," he said. "When Israel attacked Iran first, that was a great day for Israel because that attack did more damage than the rest of them put together." Iran responded with hundreds of missile strikes against Israel, after which the U.S. joined the conflict by bombing Iran's three major nuclear facilities. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei speaking in Tehran on Monday ruled out cooperation with Washington as long as the U.S. maintains military forces in the region and supports Israel. ’Only if the United States completely cuts its backing for the Zionist regime, removes its military bases from the region, and ceases interfering in its affairs, their request for cooperation with Iran, not in the near future but much later, could be examined’, he said. Iran has also resisted international demands to limit uranium enrichment, a key sticking point that has derailed past nuclear negotiations. Any movement toward easing sanctions would likely require verifiable guarantees from Tehran-a condition it has so far refused to meet. While Trump's remarks open the door for dialogue, progress will depend on Tehran providing concrete assurances about its nuclear program. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

Saudi Arabia
Nov. 7, 2025  Facing an influx of amphetamines, executions near a record high, the kingdom has put hundreds of people to death, many of them foreigners from countries including Egypt, Ethiopia and Somalia, convicted of low-level smuggling, who ferry hashish and amphetamine pills into the kingdom. The Saudi government has disclosed at least 320 executions so far this year - more than 90 executions have been for charges solely related to hashish. Saudi officials have argued that drug smugglers deserve harsh punishment because the crime is akin to a violent attack on their conservative Islamic society. Some drug crimes are “on a par with murder,' the Saudi government wrote in January, responding to a letter from United Nations special rapporteurs about the planned executions of 29 foreign citizens. Saudi Arabia has no written penal code, lending considerable opacity to criminal proceedings. The death penalty is typically applied for crimes including murder, terrorism and treason. But the kingdom’s narcotics law also calls for a death sentence to be applied at a judge’s discretion for any defendant convicted of drug smuggling, receiving drugs from a smuggler or manufacturing drugs. Among the most commonly used substances is captagon, an illegal amphetamine that was Syria’s biggest export during its nearly 14-year civil war. Executions no longer occur in public. (Source: The New York Times - U.S.)

United Arab Emirates
November 7, 2025  Rivalries may be deepening between the world's biggest economic powers. Fast-growing Middle Eastern financial center, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, aims to seal its place as a hub for them and the rest of the world. Abu Dhabi now aims to be one of the top five global financial centers in the next 10 years-alongside such places as New York, London, Singapore and Hong Kong. It got a later start on becoming a financial hub than the country's biggest city, Dubai. "We are starting to see the world is more multipolar. People are looking for new hubs. We believe Abu Dhabi is that," Ramamurthy, Abu Dhabi Global Market's (ADGM) international financial center and its free economic zone chief market development officer, told in Abu Dhabi. „Since the beginning of the year, I’ve been to China three times. I’ve been to India twice, but actually going to India again. I was in New York two weeks ago. I was in London a week ago…. I’ve been in Japan…. We cover all these markets, and we see the UAE and Abu Dhabi and ADGM being that gateway for those capital flows.’ Since starting as a financial hub in 2015, Abu Dhabi now has more than 300 financial firms, which manage a combined $28.6 trillion in assets - not far short of the value of America's entire annual gross domestic product. From 2015 through the end of 2024, it said it had an average annual growth in assets under management of 123 percent. Abu Dhabi's push to become a major financial hub is driven in part by a need to diversify away from the oil revenues that have been the bedrock of its wealth. Now, it is also becoming a leading player in artificial intelligence. Abu Dhabi has been ranked the world's safest city for nine years in a row. It is home to three of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. Ramamurthy also said that where GMT had been the world's central time zone when the United Kingdom was key to the global economy, ’that was now shifting in the direction of Abu Dhabi’. ’The zero of the future,’ Ramamurthy said. The closeness of the UAE to President Trump has underscored its pivotal position in the Middle East and beyond. The U.S. administration seeks to reshape the region with agreements between Arab countries and Israel. The UAE was in the vanguard of the Abraham Accords with Israel in the first Trump presidency. "The UAE is a critical strategic partner in advancing America's economic security and technology leadership," Under Secretary of State Helberg wrote on social media this month during a visit. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

Globalization

(7.11.2025)  Dozens of ministers and several heads of state and government, including those of Spain, Germany, and Namibia, are meeting in Belem, Brazil for a second day of meetings today, before COP30, the United Nations' annual two-week conference starts on Monday. UN chief Guterres and a series of national leaders said yesterday that the world will fail to keep global warming below 1.5C, the Paris Agreement's primary target set a decade ago, but said they have not yet given up on its fallback goal of 2C. World's biggest polluters are absent at Brazil climate summit. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

.5 11 7 19:30

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Trump-Orbán csúcstalálkozó előtt.

Interjú Washingtonban, Szijjártó, magyar külgazdasági és külügyminiszterrel

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(Forrás: Youtube - Egyesült Államok / Mandiner - Magyarország)

30 332 megtekintés

Trump, amerikai elnökkel folytatott megbeszélést követően

Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök és Szijjártó, külgazdasági és külügyminiszter közös sajtótájékoztatója Washingtonban

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(Forrás: Youtube - Egyesült Államok / Mandiner - Magyarország)

49 038 megtekintés

Kulcsszavak:

Adria kőolajvezeték    Atlanti-óceán    Ausztrália    Barátság kőolajvezeték    Egyesült Államok    Európa    Európai Unió    Franciaország    Horvátország    Lengyelország    Lukoil    Magyarország    Magyar Villamosművek Zrt    Németország    Oroszország    Parlament    Shell    Szerbia    Szlovákia    Török Áramlat    Ukrajna    űr    video

.5 11 8 14:34

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Orbán Viktor miniszterelnök és Donald Trump amerikai elnök sajtótájékoztatója Washingtonban

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(Forrás: YouTube / Magyarország Kormánya)

22 543 megtekintés

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Barátság kőolajvezeték    Egyesült Államok    Európa    Európai Unió    Horvátország    Kína    kommunista    Magyarország    NATO    Oroszország    Románia    Spanyolország    Török Áramlat    Ukrajna   ünnep    video

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President Trump Participates in a Bilateral Lunch with the Prime Minister of Hungary

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(Source: The White House)

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China    communist    Croatia    Druzhba pipeline    Europe    European Union    holyday    Hungary    NATO    Romania    Russia    Spain    TurkStream    Ukraine    United States    video

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China
Nov 4, 2025  China's President Xi met Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin in Beijing at the Great Hall of the People, a day after Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a meeting with Mishustin in Hangzhou, where Li said China wanted to strengthen co-operation with Russia and defend shared security interests. Safeguarding, consolidating and developing China-Russia relations is a strategic choice for both sides, Xi said. He highlighted industries such as energy, agriculture, aerospace, digital economy and green development where the two countries could advance co-operation and foster new engines of growth. Mishustin said it was important for both sides to continue creating favourable conditions for attracting mutual investment and supporting joint projects. Bilateral commerce has declined in recent months as China faces mounting US pressure over trade and technology. In a joint communique published on the Russian government website today, both countries agreed to strengthen co-operation in all spheres and respond appropriately to external challenges. Russia also reaffirmed its adherence to the one-China principle and opposition to Taiwan independence. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

Nov 03, 2025  "Overall, the Busan summit not only helped stabilize China-U.S. relations at a critical juncture but also marked the beginning of a new phase characterized by cooperation as the leading principle, with managed risks and competitive boundaries. This is not a conventional warming of ties, but rather a demonstration of strategic maturity and restraint between major powers in an era of intensified rivalry". To ensure that the recalibration takes root, China and the United States must deliver tangible outcomes in practical areas of cooperation. Cooperation on artificial intelligence has clearly emerged as a direction of strategic significance for the future. With the rapid development of AI technologies, all countries see major opportunities but face potential risks. "As the world’s two leading economies and technology centers, China and the United States share a responsibility - and have the capacity - to shape the global framework for AI governance, the two sides can begin structured dialogue on issues including risk assessment standards, the security boundaries of military AI, model transparency and data governance. Such discussions will help lay the groundwork for a cooperative framework covering technology, security, ethics and governance'. "At the same time, the two countries should strengthen law enforcement coordination to prevent the misuse of AI in areas such as cybercrime, financial fraud and transnational scams. Such efforts will also help address public concerns in both societies. (Source: ChinaUS Focus - based in Hong Kong)
by Sun, Fellow, Center for International Security and Strategy of Tsinghua University; Munich Young Leader 2025; Wu, Research Assistant, China University of Political Science and Law

Oct 31, 2025  Air Force One took off from South Korea’s Busan airport after US-China talks on Oct 30. Chinese leader Xi Hongqi N701 limousine whisked him off to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit some 80km away. US President Trump heads home after a 24-hour visit. China’s leader settles in for a festival of multilateral diplomacy that America now sees as an afterthought. This encapsulates a change in the contest for influence across the Asia-Pacific. Washington embraces barriers and bilateral deal-making. Beijing positions itself as the predictable champion of free and open trade, a role the US has dominated for decades. US Treasury Secretary Bessent stood in for Mr Trump. “We must practise true multilateralism, and enhance the authority and effectiveness of the multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core,” Mr Xi told the leaders gathered for the opening of Apec. However, many Asian nations are wary of China’s stated support, given its muscular defence posture in the region, dominance in manufacturing, and its own willingness to use export controls and other tools in trade disputes. Mr Xi called on the gathering of leaders to “update international economic and trade rules to reflect the changing times, so as to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries”. Hours after returning to Washington from his Asia tour, Mr Trump hosted the White House’s annual Halloween party, along with first lady Melania. Mr Trump’s decision to skip the Apec summit marks a dramatic reversal in Washington's engagement with an institution the US helped create with Australia in 1989 as part of America's post-Cold War vision of binding the region's economies through trade. China has sought to exploit the uncertainity brought by Trump policies through diplomacy and by making inroads into markets at a time of Western accusations that it has fuelled global overcapacity through cheap exports. During a trip to Malaysia, Mr Trump’s six-hour blitz of meetings at the Asean forum achieved four trade deals – but none of them reduced US trade barriers and some included further threats. They stipulated that if a country deepens relations with another that ’jeopardises essential US interests’ it would face more levies, in what experts say is a reference to China. Last week, Chinese Premier Li attended the Asean summit in Kuala Lumpur and signed an upgraded China-Asean free trade deal, which only reinforces China’s dominant posture in terms of regional economic engagement. The contrast with the US was palpable. Mr Xi’s presence at Apec summit, along with Mr Li's at Asean, sends a powerful message about China investing in relationship-building with regional countries, say analysts. But countries in the region are also wary of China's economic dominance, its own willingness to use trade barriers as a weapon, and its export-led model flooding other countries with cheap goods that creates fears of deindustrialisation. China in October said it would dramatically ratchet up its restrictions on rare earths exports, including outside of China's borders, sending shockwaves through already brittle global supply chains. „They try to utilise their own resources in order to impose their positions on politics to others. So we don't think that they are champions of the free trade system,’ said Japanese foreign ministry spokesperson Toshihiro on the sidelines of the Asean meeting. Mr Xi will hold meetings with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and Japan's new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi today and both meetings are likely to be difficult, given Ms Takaichi’s hardline conservative bent and China's ongoing trade dispute with Canada. China's strategy was “through expanded trade, infrastructure development, and supply chain logistics to bind this region to the Chinese economy to the point where it eventually becomes totally unfeasible for countries to extricate themselves from their reliance on Chinese economic engagement”, Mr Olander of the China Global South Project added. Compared to China’s consistent presence, US appears selective and conditional. (Source: The Staraits Times - Singapore / Reuters - United Kingdom)

31.10.2025  Speaking at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the South Korean coastal city of Gyeongju today, Chinese President Xi called on APEC member economies for collective efforts to safeguard the multilateral trading system and promote inclusive globalization. He added that China has attracted more than US$700 billion in foreign investment in total, and its outbound investment has been increasing by over five percent on an annual average. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Gaza
31 October 2025 12:28pm GMT  Only Muslim soldiers will serve as peacekeepers in Gaza. Indonesian, Emirati and Egyptian troops are expected to be deployed under ‘international stabilisation force’. (Source: The Guardian - United Kingdom)

India
November 3, 2025  The government in the northeastern state of Assam in India has announced plans to enact legislation dubbed an anti-love jihad measure. The proposed law promises life imprisonment for coerced religious conversions through marriage and allows for the arrest of the accused man’s parents. The announcement, made on October 22, bundles the “love jihad' bill with others, targeting polygamy and land rights for tea tribes. Analysts say the legislation is designed to vilify Muslim men as predators and fracture the fragile communal harmony in a state already scarred by ethnic strife. Women are co-opted as active agents in propagating the feeling of nationalism, where the divine feminine should be protected by male members of society from being threatened by the “others'. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Nov 3, 2025  US President Trump has said that Pakistan and China, apart from Russia and North Korea, are testing nuclear weapons. Trump made the revelation justifying his order to US forces to test nuclear weapons. This is of concern for India as it faces two nuclear-armed rivals on two fronts. India's nuclear arsenal, estimated at 180 warheads as of 2025, lags behind China's burgeoning stockpile of 600 (projected to hit 1,000 by 2030) and mirrors Pakistan's 170. India hasn’t conducted any nuclear tests since 1998. 'Now, Trump's move of US testing nuclear weapons, and his claims of China and Pakistan also covertly doing so, have seemingly opened a window for India to conduct Pokhran-III, which would validate India's hydrogen bomb efficacy and miniaturising yields for Agni-VI Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), or K-5 submarine-launched missiles'. (Source: India Today)

31.10.2025  US Defense Secretary and Indian Defense Minister signed the 10-year "Framework for the US-India Major Defence Partnership" agreement. Hegseth and Singh are in Malaysia attending the two-day ASEAN Defense Ministers’ meeting. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Kazakhstan
Thursday, November 6, 2025  President Trump said today that Kazakhstan is joining the Abraham Accords, marking the first country during his second term to join his first-term prized foreign policy achievement - an agreement that normalized relations between Israel and other countries in the Gulf region, in 2020. The announcement came as Mr. Treump was hosting a summit at the White House with the leaders of five Central Asian nations, including Kazakhstan. Secretary of State Rubio had a working breakfast with Mr. Tokayev today. The department said in a statement that the two “discussed expanding opportunities for commercial trade and investment as well as increased cooperation with Kazakhstan in energy, technology, and infrastructure.” Kazakhstan is about two-thirds Muslim. The former Soviet republic has had normal diplomatic relations with Israel since 1992. “This is a major step forward in building bridges across the World.” “Today, more Nations are lining up to embrace Peace and Prosperity through my Abraham Accords,” Mr. Trump said in a Truth Social post. “We will soon announce a Signing Ceremony to make it official, and there are many more Countries trying to join this club of strength. So much more to come in uniting Countries for Stability and Growth - Real progress, real results. Blessed are the peacemakers!” (Source: The Washington Times - U.S.)

Syria
November 6, 2025 7:18 PM GMT+1  The United States is preparing to establish a military presence at an airbase in the Syrian capital Damascus to help enable a security pact that Washington is brokering between Syria and Israel, to use the base to help monitor the potential Israel-Syria agreement. The U.S. plans would be a sign of Syria's strategic realignment with the U.S. following the fall last year of leader Assad, an ally of Iran. The base sits at the gateway to parts of southern Syria that are expected to make up a demilitarised zone as part of a non-aggression pact between Israel and Syria. That deal is being mediated by U.S. President Trump's administration. After publication, a Syrian foreign ministry source denied the Reuters report, saying it was false, state news agency SANA reported late yesterday. The U.S. has been working for months to reach a security pact between Israel and Syria. It had hoped to announce a deal at the United Nations General Assembly in September but talks hit a last-minute snag. A Syrian source familiar with the talks told that Washington was exerting pressure on Syria to reach a deal before the end of the year, and possibly before Sharaa's trip to Washington. A U.S. administration official said the U.S. was "constantly evaluating our necessary posture in Syria to effectively combat isis” (islamic state). The U.S. already has troops stationed in northeastern Syria, as part of a decade-long effort to help a Kurdish-led force there combat islamic state. In April, the Pentagon said it would halve the number of troops there to 1,000. Syria is set to imminently join „the U.S.-led global anti-isis coalition”, U.S. and Syrian officials say. The new U.S. plans appear to mirror two other new U.S. military presences in the region monitoring cessation of hostilities agreements: one in Lebanon, which closely watches last year's ceasefire between Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel, and one in Israel that monitors the Trump-era truce between Palestinian military group Hamas and Israel. A Western military official said the Pentagon had accelerated its plans over the last two months with several reconnaissance missions to the base. Those missions concluded the base's long runway was ready for immediate use. Two Syrian military sources said the technical talks have been focused on the use of the base for logistics, surveillance, refueling and humanitarian operations, while Syria would retain full sovereignty over the facility. A Syrian defence official said the U.S. had flown to the base in military C-130 transport aircraft to make sure the runway was usable. During a trip by Admiral Cooper, commander of the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) to Damascus on September 12, Cooper and Barrack, U.S. envoy to Syria, had met Sharaa and thanked him for contributing to the fight against islamic state in Syria, which it said could help accomplish Trump's "vision of a prosperous Middle East and a stable Syria at peace with itself and its neighbors." Trump will meet Syrian President Sharaa at the White House on Monday, the first such visit by a Syrian head of state. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation

Nov 1, 2025 2:16 pm KST  Wrapping up the two-day APEC Leaders' meeting, 21 member economies have adopted the Gyeongju Declaration, today, reaffirming their commitment to a multilateral and cooperative framework. The final declaration affirms that all 21 members view strong trade and investment ties as essential to the Asia-Pacific’s growth and prosperity, and highlights the need for an inclusive trade and investment environment. (Source: The Korea Times - South Korea)

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations

Nov 1, 2025 2:16 pm KST  The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting-Plus (ADMM-Plus) brought together defense leaders of the 11-member association and its eight dialogue partners who gathered to discuss joint efforts to promote peace during an annual forum in Kuala Lumpur, yesterday, amid concerns about China's growing assertiveness in the South China Sea, its military activities around Taiwan, North Korea's military threats and other challenges. Participants included South Korean Defense Minister Ahn, U.S. Defense Secretary Hegseth and Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi. (Source: The Korea Times - South Korea)

North America

United States
November 6, 2025  U.S. President Trump seeks to counter Russia, China in their own backyard. Signing rare-earth deals with Central Asian nations would bolster U.S. influence in the mineral-rich region. Trump prepared to host the leaders of five Central Asian nations - Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan - at the White House today as part of Washington’s ongoing bid to bolster its sway in the mineral-rich region. Today’s meeting will address bilateral cooperation across a host of sectors, including energy logistics, infrastructure investments, technology transfers, educational exchanges, and water-resource management. China’s restrictions on rare-earth exports, as well as Beijing’s overwhelming monopoly on processing the vital minerals have driven Washington to seek alternative places to both procure the raw materials and process them. The process can be challenging, in part because of the high-polluting environmental impact of minerals processing. ’If you’re the United States and you want to compete, you need to find other countries without strict environmental regulations that are willing to host,’ former U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Courtney told RFE/RL. During the first six months of Trump’s second term, the White House signed trade deals with Central Asia worth a collective $12.4 billion. This week, U.S. Commerce Secretary Lutnick reportedly brokered talks between U.S. company Cove Kaz Capital Group and Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund to develop two massive deposits in the Central Asian nation, which has access to one of the world’s largest untapped reserves of tungsten, which is key to manufacturing weapons and ammunition. This comes on top of a slew of critical minerals deals in recent weeks that the United States signed with Australia, Japan, Malaysia, and Thailand. Competition over Central Asia remains fierce. Even the European Union has tried to get in on the action by inking a strategic partnership during a summit in Uzbekistan in April that included an investment program worth as much as $13.8 billion. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)

Global

11.05.2025  Yet even as world leaders gather each year under the banner of the COP *, the outcomes remain devastatingly unchanged. Indigenous leaders are invited to perform welcome rituals, young activists are photographed for glossy campaigns, and small-island states deliver pleas that vanish once the cameras turn away. After 29 COPs, what has truly shifted? What will be so different in this upcoming COP? Emissions continue to rise, fossil fuel subsidies persist, and the same corporations that profit from the destruction of the planet sponsor the negotiations meant to solve it. The theatre of inclusion masks a structure designed to preserve the status quo. Hurricane Melissa should serve as an alarm for those preparing to gather at COP30. Jamaica now faces the impossible task of rebuilding - its millions without power, homes and livelihoods erased in a single night, and the emotional wreckage of lives upended once again. Yet even as delegates board their flights to negotiate “ambitious” targets, what Melissa exposes is the terrifying 'normality of catastrophe in the Global South'. These storms are no longer rare; they are the predictable outcome of a world still addicted to fossil fuels, overconsumption, and denial. If COP30 means anything, it must begin by reckoning with this reality: that every delay, every watered-down commitment, every empty declaration will translate into more flooded towns, more unlivable coasts, more grieving communities. (Source: Africa is a country - news outlet, from ?)
by Adebisi Odofin, a PhD researcher at the University of Ghent Belgium. She researches extraction politics and Black Ecologies in the Niger Delta.
* COP: United Nations Climate Change Conference

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Europe

Balkans

China
4 November 2025   How to read China’s playbook in the Western Balkans? More than two decades since the EU granted candidate status to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Western Balkan countries are increasingly exploring a wider range of partnerships, most notably with China. It’s influence in the Western Balkans grows. The topic of China remains largely absent from accession talks. The EU lacks a clear China conditionality in its enlargement policy with Western Balkan countries. New member states could act as promoters of Chinese interests and veto actions against Beijing in the EU. Beijing’s footprint in the region is evolving from infrastructure projects and loans to investments and acquisitions. The risks China’s behaviour poses are apparent: debt and opaque deals. But also poses a lack of accountability and transparency, a disregard for data privacy, and an undermining of EU laws. When the EU began its policy of enlargement almost 40 years ago, Europe’s eastern and the south-eastern 'peripheries’ were perceived solely as vectors of Westernisation. Today, ’Europe’s peripheries’ are arenas where multiple global powers compete for influence. This policy brief maps China’s presence in Western Balkan countries and decodes its tactics. It also examines the EU’s evolving China policy, including its related legal instruments, expectations and de facto approach. Finally, it looks at how and to what extent China conditionality is reflected in the accession negotiation process. EU actions in practice lean towards confrontation.    Geopolitical games:   Albania and Kosovo persist in their scepticism and distance from China.   In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dodik, the former leader of Republika Srpska, uses his ties with Russia and China to ensure political survival and deflect international pressure.   Montenegro’s government shows similar tendencies, signing public procurement deals across various sectors with non-EU countries. In 2021 Montenegro was heading towards financial collapse after a huge loan from China’s Exim Bank for a highway project swelled into a debt mountain - at one point topping a third of the country’s annual budget. Public wariness towards China has proven quite short-lived.   The current government of North Macedonia, led by Hristijan Mickoski of the ’nationalist’ VMRO, prioritises party identity and electoral positioning over accession. Previous VMRO-led governments also pursed a multi-vector foreign policy, courting projects and partners outside the EU, such as China.   Serbia has engaged the most with China, even if President Vucic has found it ever more delicate in recent years to do so as ’EU policies pull Belgrade closer to Brussels, such as through energy connectivity projects’.    The European Parliament, monitoring progress towards EU accession, recently issued a resolution underlining the importance of countering foreign interference in Albania, Bosnia and North Macedonia, offering specific recommendations for each country.   Albania was noted for growing cooperation with Chinese media including its national public radio and TV broadcaster.   The resolution also noted that Bosnia is being targeted by malign foreign actors like Russia and China, despite its formal alignment with the EU’s foreign and security policy.   Foreign interference and disinformation campaigns originating from Russia and China are even targeting Kosovo, according to the report.   For North Macedonia, the resolution noted that China has made efforts to expand its influence through information control, investment diplomacy and coercive clauses in infrastructure loan agreements. MEPs have urged Skopje to address risks, such as strategic corruption, opaque financial flows, risk of dependency on Beijing.    The new Chinese playbook: China is expanding its toolkit to achieve long-term goals - political positioning in future EU member states, building networks of friendly local actors, and gaining influence in key policy and economic sectors. The Western Balkans is gaining strategic importance as a key segment of the middle corridor connecting Asia and Europe. The Eurasian land bridge has diminished in significance due to Russia’s war on Ukraine. Tensions between Israel and Iran also complicate transport and infrastructure connectivity in the Middle East and hamper the development of the China-Pakistan corridor. At the same time, the once-prominent “17+1”, the format including 17 countries in CEE plus China, established in 2012, began to break apart a decade later, amid China’s limited economic engagement and its support for Russia’s war on Ukraine.    A wider-society approach: Chinese policymakers’ approach is evolving into an all-of-society model that complements Beijing’s earlier methods on working with local elites. China has shifted towards a multi-actor approach across several sectors, engaging with cultural, academic, business and educational organisations and using projects and institutional agreements to embed and consolidate cooperation. Internationalisation strategies now are clearly visible in the Western Balkans. China has identified pillar countries, such as Hungary and Serbia, and has intensified cooperation with them. These countries serve as hubs to reach the wider Western Balkans region.    Free-trade agreements: Beijing is actively seeking market-opening agreements.   In July 2024, its free trade agreement (FTA) with Belgrade entered into force, eliminating tariffs on 90% of traded goods.   China has concluded similar agreements with Belarus, Georgia, Iceland and Switzerland.   In June, it granted duty-free access to its market for all African countries with the exception of Eswatini, which recognises Taiwan.   It is currently negotiating deals with Norway and Moldova.    Infrastructure: The European Parliament in particular flagged multiple vulnerabilities and urged corrective measures in the entire Western Balkan region.   ArcelorMittal, one of the world’s largest steelmakers, recently sold its steel mill and iron ore mine in Bosnia to Pavgord Group - a local company linked to Dodik, who has close ties with both Beijing and Moscow.   Bosnia’s investment promotion agency signed a memorandum of understanding in February 2025 with the China-Europe Association for Technical and Economic Cooperation with the stated goal of identifying new investment opportunities.   In August 2023, Montenegrin authorities awarded a €54m contract for a Budva-Tivat motorway section to two Chinese contractors, Shandong Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation and Shandong Luqiao Group. Podgorica recently shortlisted three Chinese companies (Shandong Hi-Speed Group, Power Construction Corporation of China and China Communications) and the Azeri firm Azvirt for the construction of a 23km stretch of the Bar-Boljare highway. The European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development are funding about a third of the €605m project. They requested Montenegro cancel the pre-qualification tender, because only firms from China, Turkey and Azerbaijan were shortlisted, according to local media. Montenegro has signed bilateral agreements in infrastructure and other areas with Hungary and the UAE that contain exemptions from open public procurement procedures, inviting problems such as lack of transparency and unsustainable financial commitments.    Telecommunications: Despite US efforts to contain its expansion, Huawei remains entrenched in the Western Balkans. Recently, it signed a network capacity upgrade agreement with BH Telekom, Bosnia’s main telecom provider. New operators are installing Huawei-made core hardware. Over the last few years, both Huawei and ZTE have intensified their internationalisation strategies and efforts to penetrate various markets.   This is the case with the Hungarian firm 4iG, which signed an wide-range agreement for strategic development with Huawei in May 2024, covering research and development, AI and other areas.   The firm is present in Montenegro and Albania, following a series of acquisitions in 2021 and 2023 and it entered North Macedonia in 2024.   4iG is providing not simply telecom services, but also IT services, data and cloud management, and software. It recently entered the defence market in cooperation with the Hungarian government.   Considering China’s “AI Plus” policy, which seeks to introduce and integrate AI capabilities across all of its industries and processes, the inclusion of AI is noteworthy. From this perspective, firms such as Huawei no longer focus only on hardware or control of data flows, but also supplying the entire ecosystem of telecommunications.    Diversified financial cooperation:   Hungary obtained loans worth €1bn euros from Chinese lenders (the Exim Bank and the Hungarian branch of the Bank of China).    China is also ’promoting yuan clearing in the region’. As a leading actor in yuan internationalisation, the Bank of China 'is likely to promote' wider yuan settlement across the Western Balkans.   The North Macedonian government sought to secure loans from Beijing and obtained €500m from the Hungarian state-owned Export-Import Bank, which appears to have acted as an intermediary.   In 2024, the Bank of China in Serbia launched yuan-clearing services and completed its first cross border remittance linked to a Chinese owned steel plant. At the same time, China is expanding financing increased venture capital support for AI and IT firms. Now, financial cooperation happens increasingly through Chinese banks and corporate lending.    Defence: China has supported in particular the emergence and strengthening of a domestic drone sector in the Western Balkans, now aggressively pursuing international markets.   Serbia is a primary focal point of China’s defence engagement. In 2020, Belgrade received shipments of CH-92 and CH-95 military drones, bundled with eight laser-guided missiles. The cooperation  include an air-defence system, the FK-3, which is now operational within the Serbian air forces.   Turkey is also making significant strides in penetrating the drone market in the Western Balkans, with sales in countries such as Bosnia, Kosovo and Albania.    Media and more:   Recent data in Kosovo   and North Macedonia indicate an increase in media activity driven by China. It has been attempting to create new international institutions to circumvent what it sees as Western-dominated structures. A few months ago, it launched the International Organisation for Mediation as a new platform for dispute settlement made up of 33 founding states, including Serbia.
(Source: The European Council on Foreign Relations – Headqarters in Berlin)
by Shopov, a visiting fellow with the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, with 20 years of experience.

(To be continued)

Danube Region

05.11.2025.  The EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) is a macro-regional strategy adopted by the European Commission in December 2010 and endorsed by the European Council in 2011. The participant countries are Austria, BiH, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany, Hungary, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. In 2025, the Danube region still faces growing security risks, demographic pressures, and complex development disparities, states the Sarajevo Declaration, adopted at the Fourteenth Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, which takes place from 4 to 6 November in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Konaković, Foreign Minister of BiH, underlined that the Danube region faces challenges that remind us that only through cooperation we can build a resilient region. “We strive for the cooperation, stability and prosperity… These are the essential tools to bridge the gaps in the region, and freedom and democracy are the values that must guide our actions”, Konaković stressed. (Source: European Western Balkans - headquarters in Belgrade, Serbia)

Russia
November 5, 2025 5:41 PM GMT+1  Russia's military says it now controls more than 19% of Ukraine, or some 116,000 square km. Open-source battlefield maps show that Russian forces are a few kilometres away from fully encircling Pokrovsk, known by Russia as Krasnoarmeysk. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Wednesday 05 November 2025 13:47 GMT  Two 'Ukrainian long-range drones' have reportedly struck a Petrochemical Plant deep inside Russia, in Sterlitamak, located in Bashkortostan region approximately 1,300 kilometres from the border. Explosions were also heard at an industrial area of the Nizhny Novgorod region, some 800 kilometers from Ukraine, where an oil refinery and a petrochemical plant are located. Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday that Ukrainian drones were shot down, claiming that 85 were intercepted overnight. Russia fired seven missiles of various types and 130 strike and decoy drones at Ukraine during the night, Ukraine’s air force said. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Sunday 02 November 2025 20:00 GMT  Two foreign vessels had been damaged in an Ukrainian drone strike on Tuapse, one of the biggest oil terminals on the Black Sea, setting ablaze an oil tanker. There were no casualties among the crews of the ships. 'The buildings and infrastructure of the terminal' had sustained damage. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

09:49, 2 Nov 2025  Russia has unveiled a new nuclear submarine at the Sevmash shipyard in the northern city of Severodvindk, Russia – five years behind schedule after unexplained delays. Khabarovsk is designed to carry Poseidon nuclear drones, the infamous torpedoes capable of wiping out entire coastal nations. Russian state outlets brag that the Poseidon can create radioactive tidal waves capable of drowning Britain. The 10,000-ton Khabarovsk was built as part of Project 09851 and is estimated to carry up to a dozen Poseidons, which are giant torpedoes each driven by their own miniature nuclear reactor. The submarine is powered by a nuclear engine and can dive to depths of around 500 meters, remaining at sea for months. Defence Minister Belousov said the submarine will now begin sea trials before joining the nuclear deterrent fleet. The launch took place just days after test of the Poseidon torpedo in the Arctic’s Kara Sea. Its construction cost is believed to exceed £1 billion. A second submarine of the same class, the Ulyanovsk, is already under construction and expected to join the Pacific Fleet. Together, they would give Moscow a dual-ocean capability to deploy the Poseidon system, in a move designed to project fear on both sides of the globe. (Source: The US Sun)

Africa

Nigeria
02/11/2025  Nigeria is almost evenly divided between a Muslim-majority north and a largely Christian south. Its northeastern region is at the epicenter of a Boko Haram jihadist insurgency, which has killed more than 40,000 people and displaced more than two million since 2009, according to the United Nations. In central Nigeria, majority-Muslim herders have repeatedly clashed with majority-Christian farmers. 'If the Nigerian Government continues to allow the killing of Christians, the U.S.A. will immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria, and may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Trump said yesterday. “I am hereby instructing our Department of War to prepare for possible action. If we attack, it will be fast, vicious, and sweet, just like the terrorist thugs attack our CHERISHED Christians,” he added, warning the Nigerian government that they “BETTER MOVE FAST!” Pentagon chief Hegseth, shared Trump’s post and wrote on social media: “Yes sir.” “The Department of War is preparing for action. Either the Nigerian Government protects Christians, or we will kill the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities,” Hegseth said. In March, US congressman Smith called for Nigeria to be listed by the State Department as a 'Country of Particular Concern' (CPC) - a move announced by Trump on Friday over what he called an 'existential threat' to the African nation’s Christian population. In early October, US Senator Cruz and House Republican Moore accused the Nigerian government of turning a blind eye to the 'mass murder' of Christians. (Source: France 24 'with AFP" = France)

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(Continuation)

Balkans

The EU’s China policy: no clear policy. The EU has framed its China strategy around three coexisting tracks: partnership, competition and rivalry, pulled the strategy in different directions in recent years, weakening the original compromise and producing fragmented policy. Rhetoric remains strong in the cooperation track, particularly on climate change, green industries and AI. Practical cooperation is limited and has now become mostly ritualistic, centred on ceremonial summitry statements of little consequence. China’s dominance in rare earth minerals, and its willingness to use that dominance to achieve its geopolitical goals, has foreclosed substantive cooperation, pushing Europe to seek out other partnerships in this field. In relation to AI, the EU and China have exchanged views, but they have not undertaken any substantive discussions on AI governance. This space is becoming an arena for competition with China, as the EU launches initiatives such as InvestAI (€200bn) and its AI Gigafactory Fund (€20bn). Competition is ranging from electric vehicles, specialised machinery, advanced manufacturing, electrical equipment, chemicals, renewable energy technologies, high-tech products and more. China has shown little appetite to change its industrial model - subsidies, export support, overcapacity and restricted market access for foreign firms reinforcing the competitive dynamics of the past few years. The EU and China are increasingly facing each other off in third markets across the globe, particularly in South-East Asia and Latin America. During the second Trump administration both the EU and China seek to diversify away from a protectionist America. Beijing’s intransigent refusal to address EU concerns over unfair trade practices is also producing systemic effects, even if the EU hesitates to define them in this manner, as tensions with US president Trump are so heightened. For similar reasons, Britain has refrained from including China in the top tier of its covert foreign influence register.    Drifting towards decoupling, a total disentanglement across all sectors. In practice, however, competition is accelerating, undermining the possibility of a deliberate policy choice. As the EU tries to reverse asymmetries with China (like unequal market access) that is facing strong Chinese resistance. In this context, not only is the EU itself likely to continue to clash with China, but some member states such as France are even keen to go further and apply much wider, generalised tariffs in order to protect French and EU industries from China.    Trade with China has become increasingly complicated. A patchwork of measures against Beijing: The EU’s recent actions make the direction clear: it is moving towards decoupling. The EU has rolled out a suite of legal instruments aimed at boosting its economic security and strategic autonomy: The Anti-Coercion Instrument (2023) - the EU has considered using it amid trade tensions with China and the US; The Foreign Subsidies Regulation (2023) -  targets distortions which have granted unfair advantages to non-EU firms, especially Chinese ones, in acquisitions and public procurement contracts; The EU’s International Procurement Instrument (2022) - used for the first time in June 2025, it ensures reciprocity in access to international procurement markets, addressing the difficulties EU companies have faced in China when competing in its expanding procurement market. It was partially restricting Chinese medical device manufacturers’ access to the EU’s €150bn market in response to barriers faced by EU firms in China.    The European Commission has initiated several proceedings against major Chinese online retailers. These include the Chinese marketplace AliExpress not doing enough to prevent the sale of counterfeit goods and unsafe products. Whether to impose sanctions is still pending. The commission has also initiated an investigation into Chinese retailer Shein for potentially violating EU consumer protection linked to sale of illegal goods. In October 2024, it opened formal proceedings against Temu, Chinese retail platform, for potential violations of the Digital Services Act, examining whether Temu has sold non-compliant products, as well as its recommendation algorithm and the allegedly addictive design of the platform.    At the member-state level, Italy and Germany have attempted to block the transfer of private data of EU citizens by DeepSeek, the Chinese AI-powered chatbot. This practice of individual EU member states could expand in the future.    The development of a China conditionality defining and implementing conditions for the Western Balkan candidates to engage with China remains a work in progress. Historically conditions focused on political, economic and legal reforms were monitored during the accession process to ensure alignment, their implementation by the prospective EU member state is deemed essential for integration into the EU.     Accession in the region is at markedly different stages.   Kosovo lacks a clear path forward.   Montenegro deep into the process which is advancing while any possible China conditionality is still in development. That gap stems mostly from the absence of a stable, EU-wide consensus on China.    Steps towards the China conditionality continue to resemble a loose collection of principles rather than a well-defined and coherent structure of conditions, laws and practices expected from the Western Balkan countries. ’Ideally’, what should be in question is a wider Western conditionality that incorporates shared US and EU interests, albeit in a political rather than institutional context. This could cover areas such as export controls, investment screening and data security. So far no structured dialogue has taken place between the EU and US to arrive at a common understanding on a China-related conditionality beyond some ad hoc considerations, for instance in the area of security. Washington and the respective capitals in the Western Balkans remain focused on regional stability and increased economic engagement. As things stand, the EU and the US are more likely to pursue the fulfilment of their conditions separately. With the EU, the US administration is grappling with an unclear and evolving China policy - for example export restrictions on chip manufacturing software. Likewise, export controls on Nvidia’s powerful H20 chip, vital for AI development, have been inconsistent. The US has also all but ceded green energy as an area of rivalry, given its dismissive approach to the sector. The current US administration does not have a structured China containment policy.    Including the China element in accession negotiations: Recent updates on membership talks with Serbia show very few chapters in which China is discussed - for instance, Chapter 30 (external relations); chapter 31 (foreign, security and defence policy) are even listed in some detail, but not as a point of conditionality. Chapter 5 (public procurement) does not set out corrective measures.    Accession chapters, which  could address China-related issues: Chapter 5 (public procurement), barely mentioned in the Montenegro process; Chapter 10 (digital transformation and media), which could incorporate China’s penetration in 5G networks in the Western Balkans and the role of Chinese actors in the media; Chapter 19 (social policy and employment), which could address frequent violations of labour law by Chinese companies in Serbia; Chapter 31 (foreign, security and defence policy), which could tackle the growth of Western Balkan defence and security ties with Beijing.    Instances of non-compliance with EU law are already emerging. In the area of public procurement, Montenegro has signed and prepared numerous bilateral agreements which contain non-competitive clauses in relation to public tenders in different sectors. The case of the Bar-Boljare motorway, for example, simply appointed the China Road and Bridge Corporation as the executer of the project, bypassing competitive tender. Such clauses exist in agreements with the UAE (in tourism and real estate) and Hungary (in road and rail transport and infrastructure).    Integration and political promiscuity: More than two decades since the prospect of EU membership was presented to the Western Balkan states, progress has stalled. The geopolitical context shifts. Today, the practice of interacting with many actors in order to obtain concessions from all of them, is the norm in the region. China’s central feature is a society-based approach to engagement. It is now increasingly engaging directly with societal groups across numerous areas, such as trade, defence, culture, academia, media and more. China’s influence is also driven by acquisitions of local companies, assets and infrastructure. Financial lending now goes beyond the Belt and Road Initiative and other state-led frameworks, with Chinese firms and banks deploying finance and direct investments in various sectors. The EU’s longstanding three-element formula of cooperation, competition and rivalry no longer reflects the real dynamics of the EU-China relationship. The dominant theme is competition and there remains a lack of consensus among member states on how to define and approach relations with Beijing. In recent years, the use of instruments resemble a patchwork. ’But they all point to increasing confrontation’ in numerous domains. The European Parliament monitoring and adopting resolutions on Chinese actions in south-eastern Europe, is often more critical than the European Commission. The China conditionality is defined in a broader context with the participation of the US, both between Brussels and Washington and between the US and the countries of the Western Balkans. This process is presently complicated by the absence of clear American policy towards China, and the transactional tendency of the US administration ’which has sidelined security considerations’. Elites in the region increasingly face a dilemma between political integration and promiscuity, with multiplying evidence pointing to a preference for the latter.    Recommendations:   Be more decisive about enlargement and about China: The EU continues to follow its three-element policy formula towards China, which has little operability in the enlargement context. Create a balance between requirements and incentives. The EU enlargement process has morphed into an endless game of defining and communicating requirements and conditions without a clear time horizon. A better balance between requirements and incentives would go some way towards countering this imbalance.   Define a firm timeline for accession: Generations of citizens, thousands have emigrated from the region in pursuit of their individual European dreams, while many continue to plan this journey. Companies and various institutions also define and implement strategies on the basis of no realistic timeline of EU membership. Embedding these strategies in a European framework would be much easier with a firm time horizon of EU accession. The EU needs to engage wider society and citizens, the ultimate beneficiaries. Integration is about creating and embedding linkages between citizens, companies, civil society, local and regional authorities, and cultural and academic structures. (Source: The European Council on Foreign Relations – Headquarters in Berlin)
by Shopov, a visiting fellow with the Asia programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations, with 20 years of experience. He is a graduate in political science and comparative politics from Sofia University St. Kliment of Ohrid and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has also studied in Oxford University, London University (Queen Mary College), New School for Social Research, California State University, Peking University and King’s College London. He was adviser on EU affairs to the minister of home affairs (1997-1998), counsellor at the Bulgarian mission to the EU in Brussels (1998-2001), EU adviser at the British embassy in Sofia (2002-2003) and adviser to the minister of foreign affairs (2014-2017). He has worked with numerous companies from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Sweden, UK, US and others. Shopov has also worked with the European Parliament, MEPs, the European Commission, the British Council „and many other European and Asian policy and research centres”.

Note:
About 'conditionalities'... from the Balkans, near the aging Italy, Turkey, without mentioning Greece, Bulgaria... far from the European Union's interests led (astray) by Germany... What is so amazing about the Balkans being an area of infiltration for larger powers, Hungary being almost the only one within the Union that continuously represents cooperation and advocates for the accession and inclusion of the countries of the region in the EU ?

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Europe

Belgium
04.11.2025  An investigation by several European media outlets revealed today that hundreds of millions of location data points from mobile phones in Belgium, including those belonging to employees of EU institutions, NATO headquarters, and military bases, are being sold. More than 1,000 phones were located within NATO sites, according to the report. Investigators said they were able to identify several senior European officials, including three holding high-level positions in EU institutions, whose movements matched their home and workplace locations. Data brokers reportedly offer access to location datasets for Belgium for prices ranging from $24,000 to $60,000 per year, covering up to 700,000 tracked phones per day. Experts warned that, despite being marketed as "anonymous," location data can easily be de-anonymized. Research shows that knowing only two points of reference, such as a person's home and workplace, can be enough to identify them with 95% accuracy. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

November 3, 2025  Belgium’s defense minister Francken said a series of unidentified drones flying over the Kleine-Brogel Air Base in northern Belgium that is reported to house U.S. nuclear weapons could be part of a spying operation. Multiple drones were spotted above over the weekend. Nuclear watchdogs have reported the base as home to U.S. nuclear bombs under NATO weapons sharing agreements. 'They [the drones] come to spy, to see where the F-16s are, where the munitions are, and other highly strategic items,' Francken told. 'A drone jammer was used, but without success... A helicopter and police vehicles pursued the drone, but lost it after several kilometers,' he said. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)

The Netherlands
30 October 2025  The Liberal Democrats (D66) party has claimed a narrow but decisive win in the Netherlands’ snap general election, eclipsing Wilders’ 'hard-right' Party for Freedom (PVV). With almost 100 per cent of votes counted, D66 is on course for 26 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, equal to the PVV’s projected 26. On that result, a left-wing government with D66, VVD, Labour-GreenLeft alliance (PvdA-Groenlinks) and the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party, would appear the most obvious, although a more right-leaning one, with JA21 and without Socialists and Greens of PvdA-Groenlinks, is also a theoretic possibility. The outgoing cabinet, the most Conservative in decades, faltered on ambitious pledges for border controls and affordable housing, exacerbating a crisis with a shortfall of 400,000 homes and rents spiralling. (Source: Brussels Signal - Belgium)

European Commission
November 4, 2025  The European Commission said today that the EU could welcome new members as early as 2030. It praised Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine and Moldova. The Commission criticised Serbia. It accused Georgia. (Source: Reuters - United Kingdom)

Asia

Japan
Oct 31, 2025  A day after US President Trump said he has granted South Korea approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine in a Philadelphia shipyard, which would allow Seoul to join six nations with such vessels, Japanese Defence Minister Koizumi reiterated today that all options are on the table to strengthen Japan’s defence capabilities, including the use of nuclear power to propel Japanese submarines. Mr Koizumi took the ministerial post in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet on Oct 21. South Korea is an important neighbour and partner we should cooperate with when dealing with various issues facing the international community, Mr Koizumi said. He stressed the importance of Japan-South Korea security cooperation and trilateral cooperation involving the United States, citing North Korea’s recent test-firing of missiles. Opponents of nuclear propulsion argue that developing nuclear-powered submarines would contradict Japan’s constitutional limits of self-defence. (Source: The Straits Times - Singapore / Kyodo News - Japan)

Philippines
02.11.2025  Canada today became the fifth country to sign a visiting forces defense agreement with the Philippines, allowing the two nations to deploy military personnel in each other’s territory and expand defense collaboration. The signing came after the recent Multilateral Maritime Cooperative Activity (MMCA) in the West Philippine Sea involving the Philippines, the US, Australia, and, for the first time, New Zealand. This agreement is following the signing of such agreements with the US in 1998, Australia in 2007, Japan in 2024, and New Zealand in April 2025. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Caribbean

Haiti
October 31, 2025  Hurricane Melissa death toll nears 50, mostly in Jamaica and Haiti, as it hurries through Cuba toward Bermuda. (Source: CBS News / AP = U.S.)

North America

United States
Nov. 3, 2025  In February, the State Department designated six Mexican drug cartels, as well as MS-13 and the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, as foreign terrorist organizations, giving U.S. spy agencies and military units sweeping legal authorities to conduct espionage and covert operations targeting the criminal networks. In April the Trump administration was considering launching drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico. President Sheinbaum already has allowed the CIA to expand surveillance flights. Under her leadership, Mexico has deployed 10,000 troops to the U.S. border, increased fentanyl seizures and extradited 55 senior cartel figures to the U.S. “I have great respect for the president, a woman that I think is a tremendous woman,” Trump said last month. “She’s a very brave woman, but Mexico is run by the cartels.' The Trump administration has begun detailed planning for a new mission to send American troops and intelligence officers into Mexico to target drug cartels. Under the new mission being planned, U.S. troops in Mexico would mainly use drone strikes to hit drug labs and cartel members and leaders. (Source: NBC News - U.S.)

03.11.25  New tests of the US nuclear weapons system ordered up by President Trump will not include nuclear explosions, Energy Secretary Wright, Wwhose agency is responsible for testing, has said. “I think the tests we're talking about right now are system tests,” Wright said in an interview on Fox News. “These are not nuclear explosions. These are what we call noncritical explosions.” The US military regularly tests its missiles that are capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, but it has not detonated the weapons since 1992. (Source: The Telegraph - India)

Nov 03, 2025  The first in-person meeting between Presidents Trump and Xi in six years focused almost exclusively on trade and technology, resulting in a temporary rollback of tariffs and export restrictions but producing no new agreements or progress on broader security or geopolitical issues. The meeting largely served to stabilize U.S.-China relations and decrease tensions, with both leaders agreeing to reciprocal visits in 2026 for further discussions. (Source: ChinaUS Focus - based in Hong Kong, China)
by Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor and Director of China Policy Program at George Washington University, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution of Stanford University 

October 31, 2025  US President Trump set the refugee admissions ceiling at 7,500 for fiscal year 2026. 100,000 refugees entered under former president Biden in fiscal 2024. Trump said in an annual refugee determination dated September 30 admissions would be focused largely on South Africans from the country’s white Afrikaner ethnic minority. The White House said it would move oversight of refugee support programmes from the state department to the department of health and human services. (Source: TimesLive - South Africa)

South America

Ecuador
01.11.2025  President Noboa rules out US base on Galapagos Islands, citing environmental concerns. The proposal to host a foreign military base, raised by Noboa, a close of US President Trump, had targeted Baltra Island in the Galapagos. Ecuador’s Constitution has prohibited foreign military bases since 2008. The future of foreign military presence in Ecuador will be decided by voters in a Nov. 16 referendum. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)

Peru
November 4, 2025, Tuesday  Peru has officially severed diplomatic relations with Mexico following the decision of Mexican authorities to grant asylum to former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is facing charges for her alleged involvement in the failed coup attempt led by former President Castillo in 2022. She is reportedly staying at the residence of the Mexican Embassy in Lima. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

Venezuela
5 Nov 2025  The US government has linked the Sinaloa Cartel to the Cartel of the Suns, the name given to the state-embedded drug trafficking system that operates in Venezuela, putting connections between any state elements and the Mexican group under a magnifying glass. At the same time, the US military has escalated anti-narcotics operations targeting trafficking from Venezuela to new levels, launching airstrikes against at least nine vessels allegedly carrying drugs in the southern Caribbean that it said left from the Venezuelan coast. Under these conditions, the Sinaloa Cartel and other trafficking networks will likely be turning their attention to safer routes. Zulia in northwest Venezuela is a key corridor for Colombian cocaine destined for international markets. The town of San Felipe was once so awash with brokers from Mexico’s most famous crime group - the Sinaloa Cartel - that it gained the nickname Sinaloa. Mexican traffickers have been retreating from Zulia as the regime of President Maduro has consolidated control over the country’s organized crime landscape. The government appears to be favoring local criminal actors. Zulia’s proximity to the coca-rich region of Catatumbo in Colombia means a significant portion of cocaine produced on the other side of the border makes its way to Zulia. Systematic corruption on the Venezuelan side ensures that drugs can pass freely through the country and be dispatched to the Caribbean and Central America as long as security force officials get their cut. Sinaloa Cartel representatives can sometimes leave a trafficking territory after having solidified relationships with local criminals who work with them. In the end, the Sinaloa Cartel becomes nothing more than a buyer. Since operations of the armed forces in April 2021, Venezuela’s criminal landscape has been more clearly divided into groups that are either allies or enemies of the government. Maduro and other high-ranking officials often favor local criminal actors who they can more easily influence or impact, some of whom even provide an extra layer of protection against potential dissent or function as tools of oppression against political opponents. Drug trafficking in Venezuela is dependent on corruption, with trafficking networks paying off security forces and political actors to be able to operate. As such, it is also possible that in Zulia, the Sinaloa Cartel-linked emissaries failed to pay the right officials, or that officials demanded so much protection money that the Mexicans decided it was no longer an economically viable route. There were also reports of the disappearance of Mexican brokers from Catatumbo, Colombia between 2021 and 2023. Intermediaries representing Mexican drug trafficking organizations began returning in late 2023. (Source: InSight Crime - Colombia)

Tue, November 4, 2025  Zhuravlyov, Russia’s parliamentary defense committee’s deputy chairman, told Russian website Gazeta.Ru, that he sees no obstacles in providing Oreshnik or Kalibr missiles to Venezuela. President Trump has accused Venezuelan President Maduro of being the head of alleged smuggling operation, carrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States that U.S. forces are targeting. Maduro reportedly reached out to Russian President Putin for assistance amid the strikes in the Caribbean. Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, condemned the strikes on Saturday, calling them excessive military force. According to president Trump, he has not made a final decision on expanding the strikes on Venezuelan land. According to the Kremlin, the Oreshnik missile can carry nuclear warheads. (Source: Yahoo / Mediaite = U.S.)

November 4, 2025  Reports over the past week indicate that the United States is expanding its military presence in the Caribbean - a buildup that has fueled speculation about possible strikes against targets inside Venezuela. The Miami Herald and the Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump’s administration has identified Venezuelan military installations allegedly tied to drug trafficking networks as potential bombing targets. China today defended its growing cooperation with Venezuela, saying that its engagement with leader Maduro’s government constitutes normal cooperation between sovereign states and is not directed against any third party. China backs Venezuela. The comments, made by Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao, followed a Washington Post report that Maduro had sought military assistance from Russia. According to the Post article, Maduro is urgently seeking to strengthen Venezuela’s failing armed forces through military assistance from Russia, China and Iran. The outreach involves soliciting defensive radars, aircraft repairs, drone technology and potentially missiles. In Caracas, Maduro confirmed on Monday that Venezuela and Russia are advancing in what he described as serene and very productive military cooperation. The Venezuelan leader said he maintains daily and permanent communication with Russian President Putin. The Kremlin on Sunday acknowledged contacts with Venezuela, though spokesman Peskov did not confirm The Washington Post’s report that Maduro had formally requested military aid. The two nations are bound by contractual obligations, Peskov told. While Russia is taking the lead - Maduro directly appealed to Moscow - China is part of the same effort. China supports strengthened international cooperation to combat transnational crime and opposes the use or threat of force in international relations, Mao told. She added that China opposes any attempt to undermine peace and stability in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as unilateral coercive actions against foreign vessels that exceed reasonable and necessary limits. Beijing also urged Washington to carry out regular judicial and law enforcement cooperation through bilateral and multilateral legal frameworks. It is not known what type of aid China has provided or pledged in response to Maduro’s request. Bejing has a significant history of supporting the Maduro regime with billions in loans, surveillance technology and medical aid. The U.S. military has sharply increased its presence off Venezuela’s coast as part of an operation the White House says is aimed at disrupting drug trafficking and criminal networks tied to the Caracas regime. The U.S. military will soon have 13 vessels in the region - including eight warships, three amphibious vessels, and a submarine - marking Washington’s largest military deployment in Latin America since the Gulf War. The newly arrived USS Gettysburg and USS Lake Erie cruisers have joined other U.S. vessels already stationed near Venezuelan waters, and the USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s largest and most sophisticated aircraft carrier, is expected to arrive in days. In August, the mission has included maritime patrols by P-8 reconnaissance aircraft and long-range surveillance flights to map trafficking routes. In September, the deployment was reinforced with 10 F-35B fighters based at Ceiba Air Base in Puerto Rico and armed MQ-9 Reaper drones at Rafael Hernández Airport on the island. U.S. officials say those aircraft can conduct precision strikes against laboratories, clandestine airstrips, vehicles or vessels linked to drug operations. On Oct. 24, Defense Secretary Hegseth ordered the Gerald R. Ford and its strike group - including the cruiser USS Normandy and destroyers USS Thomas Hudner, USS Ramage, USS Carney, and USS Roosevelt - into the Caribbean. The carrier strike group, with more than 4,000 personnel and roughly 90 combat aircraft, is described by retired Venezuelan officers who spoke to the Herald as the centerpiece of a final phase intended to neutralize leaders of the Cartel of the Suns and Tren de Aragua, and to strike fixed and mobile targets inside Venezuela. (Source: Miami Herald - U.S.; "This story was complemented with reporting from El Nuevo Herald’s wire services”).

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Europe

Bulgaria
October 31, 2025  Bulgaria is home to the sprawling Lukoil-owned Burgas refinery, which provides up to 80 percent of the country’s fuel. Bulgaria is exploring requesting an exemption to new U.S. sanctions against Russia’s largest private oil company, as it fears the measures will cause severe fuel shortages and a populist backlash across the country. Now, the government has asked Washington how it should go about requesting an extension to the sanctions beyond their start date of Nov. 21. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

France
November 1, 2025  ’ France is one of two NATO nations, alongside the United Kingdom, to operate its own nuclear arsenal separate from the American nuclear umbrella. The French military currently has an estimated 290 nuclear warheads - the fourth-largest arsenal in the world, behind Russia’s 5,580 warheads, America’s 5,044, and China’s approximately 500. The French nuclear arsenal is completely homegrown. France took its first step in developing nuclear weapons in 1954. It wanted to maintain its independence from other powers, including the United States and the United Kingdom. Spats with NATO in the 1950s and 1960s strengthened Paris’s desire for an independent nuclear arsenal. The French military tested its first nuclear weapon in 1960 and its first thermonuclear munition in 1968. The French Navy has a new nuclear missile, the M51.3 submarine-launched nuclear ballistic missile. It is equipped with new oceanic nuclear warheads (TNO-2) that have a longer range, better precision, and deeper penetration capabilities than France’s existing arsenal. This is the third version of the M51 submarine-launched nuclear warhead. The specific operational range of the new version of the M51 is estimated to be between 5,000 and 6,200 miles. The new nuclear weapon will equip the French Navy’s four Le Triomphant class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines. Each submarine can carry up to 16 ballistic missiles, each equipped with an M51.3 nuclear warhead. ’ (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

Greece
October 31, 2025, Friday  Greece will begin voluntary military service for women in 2026. The initiative, announced by Defense Minister Dendias, will involve the creation of a special unit composed of 100 to 150 female volunteers. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

Russia
01/11/2025 - 6:00 GMT+1  International companies still operating in Russia paid at least $20 billion (€17.2bn) in taxes to the Russian state in 2024 alone. German companies are among them. Since early 2022, the total amount has reached more than $60 billion (€51.8bn). In 2024, US-based businesses paid $1.2 billion (€1bn) in profit taxes to the Kremlin, while German firms spent $594 million (€513.5m). The German government and people have so far provided Ukraine with €44 billion in military, humanitarian and financial aid. Leaving Russia has become increasingly costly. In 2024, the tax on the value of a business sale rose from 15% to 35%. The required discount companies must offer on their asset sales has also increased, from 50% to 60%. For transactions exceeding 50 billion rubles (around 526 million U.S. dollars), companies now need the approval of Russian President Putin. But companies in Russia also make profits. The total turnover of German companies in Russia in 2024 amounted to around $21.7 billion. As of early July, only 503 international companies, or 12%, had fully withdrawn from Russia by selling or liquidating their operations. Nearly one-third (33.2%, or 1,387 companies) had suspended operations or announced plans to withdraw. Meanwhile, 2,287 companies (54.8%) remain active in the Russian market. For German companies, 55% of those active before the invasion are still operating in Russia. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

(Thursday, 30 October 2025)  President Putin on Tuesday backed the creation of volunteer units to guard strategic facilities inside the country. Authorities in Russia’s republic of Karelia say they are forming volunteer militias to help defend the country’s border with Finland following Helsinki’s announcement of large-scale military exercises near Russian territory. Local volunteers will assist border guards and help monitor the area. Finland’s military announced this week that it will hold major exercises from November to December involving around 15,000 troops in several regions, including areas along the Nordic country’s 1,340-kilometer border with Russia. The Finnish Army said the drills aim to train conscripts, reservists and active-duty personnel for wartime duties, with forces from allied nations also taking part. (Source: The Moscow Times - Its headquarters were relocated to Amsterdam in the Netherlands in 2022)

Ukraine
November 1, 2025  Why have collapsed the air defenses in Ukraine? Since September, the effectiveness of Ukraine’s Western-provided air defenses have precipitously declined from 34 percent to around 6 percent - or even lower. The Ukrainians will be unable to keep up with the Russian offensives. The US-supplied MIM-104 Patriot air defense systems are increasingly struggling to intercept the Russian 9K720 Iskander-M (and similar Russian systems) in Ukraine. A number of new innovations in Russia’s Iskander missiles have stymied Ukrainian air defenses plunging interception rates to 6 percent - or even lower. Russia has employed trajectory changes to their Iskander missiles when launching them against targets in Ukraine. The Patriot missile system, like most US missile defense systems - including national missile defense networks, like the Ground-Based Interceptors (GBIs) at Fort Greeley in Alaska - work on predicting the incoming target’s path and intercepting it based on that prediction. Russian engineers have equipped their Iskander-Ms with radar-decoy devices that can be ejected by the system on its final approach to the target, further confusing the radar and target-track of American and Western missile defense interceptors. Beyond the technical matters, there’s the issue of numbers. The Russians engage in swarming tactics, saturation attacks. In this context, Kyiv is demanding access to large numbers of American Tomahawk cruise missiles. Zelenskyy will attempt to further threaten Russian territories with increasingly advanced strike weapons from the United States, such as the Tomahawk. That, too, will not work - because the Russians have fundamentally overmatched the Ukrainian Armed Forces as well as their Western backers, draining Ukraine and the West of personnel, arms, and money that will be far too difficult to replace in a meaningful timeline. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Weichert. His newest book: A Disaster of Our Own Making: How the West Lost Ukraine.

Thursday 30 October 2025 11:53 GMT  A British national accused of spying for Russia in Ukraine and preparing to carry out terrorist attacks has been arrested yesterday. Ukrainian officials said he initially travelled to Ukraine in 2024 to work as a military instructor, but then posted on pro-Russia forums online saying he was willing to sell information. He was then allegedly contacted by Russia’s secret police, the FSB. The Ukrainian prosecutor’s office said the British national stopped working as an instructor in September 2024 and moved to port city of Odesa. This is the first such case of a British national being accused of spying charges on Ukrainian soil. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Africa

Mali
31 October 2025  Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), an al-Qaeda affiliate’s militants have blocked fuel entry to cities. Essentially everything from transport of food to equipment to generators, the current blockade has limited all mobility and operations. In the middle of rice and millet harvest season, some agricultural machinery has been rendered inoperable without fuel. JNIM forces now seem intent on isolating the capital, Bamako. The blockade brought the landlocked Sahel nation’s economy to a halt. Recent military coups has driven out UN peacekeepers, French forces, and over 1,000 US troops. JNIM and other terror groups have filled the power vacuum by offering protection and basic services while forcing communities to accept their rule and strict Islamic laws. Their expansion also brings income, as they tax traffic on roads they control. Mali’s crisis began in 2012 when Tuareg separatists and Islamist militants seized the country’s northern half. French forces intervened in 2013. Ghali, a former Tuareg rebel leader helped create JNIM in 2017 by merging several al-Qaeda affiliates. The new terror group immediately pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda’s global leadership. Ghali joined Gaddafi’s Islamic Legion in Libya before returning to lead the 1990 Tuareg uprising in Mali. In the late 1990s, he embraced Salafism after meeting Pakistani missionaries in Kidal. He later maintained ties with then-Malian president Touré, who appointed him envoy to Saudi Arabia. Ghali is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and crimes against humanity. He now operates in border areas, particularly near Algeria, where the desert terrain is familiar to him. Now, the JNIM group could consolidate routes across the Sahel in-country and across neighbouring states. It has consolidated control across much of Mali and Burkina Faso and it threatens coastal states such as Benin, Togo and Ghana. Experts estimate JNIM has about 6,000 fighters – a small force in a nation of 25 million. Russia and Turkey are emerging as key supporters of the Malian armed forces. After the Wagner group’s founder Prigozhin died in 2023, control shifted to the Africa Corps, a force under Russia’s military intelligence agency, the GRU. Photos recently showed helicopters protecting fuel trucks, detailing how Russian assets are now integrated into Mali’s operations. JNIM has openly said it is waiting for government forces to collapse from within rather than launching frontal assaults. The jihadists also view the December seizure of Damascus by a former al-Qaeda affiliate as a blueprint for their strategy. Frustrated by the government’s inability to counter the militants, Mali’s military overthrew the civilian administration in 2020, then sacked its own commander in 2021. Similar coups followed in neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger. Now the United States and several European nations have urged their citizens to leave immediately as the security situation deteriorates. (Source: The Telegraph - United Kingdom)

Nigeria
(1 November 2025)  "Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter,' Trump claimed in a post on Truth Social yesterday. He said he was putting Nigeria, Africa's top oil producer and most populous country, on a "Countries of Particular Concern' list of nations the US finds have engaged in religious freedom violations. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Sudan
31 Oct  2025  El-Fasher, the besieged city was the last army stronghold in the sprawling region of Darfur, until it fell to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on October 26. In the first three days after capturing el-Fasher, the RSF killed at least 1,500 people, according to the local monitor Sudan’s Doctors’ Network. The figure includes the killings of 460 patients and their companions from the local al-Saud hospital, which has also been verified by the World Health Organization. Survivors say the killing in el-Fasher appears to be a systematic attempt to ethnically cleanse the non-Arab population. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)

Tanzania
(1 November 2025)  President Hassan has claimed a sweeping election victory, winning more than 95% of the vote in every constituency. State media said she would be sworn in later today. Authorities have blocked the internet, imposed a nationwide curfew, and restricted journalists, key rivals were jailed or barred from a vote. Army chief Mkunda on Thursday described protesters as criminals and pledged support for the president. Opposition party Chadema said that about 700 people had been killed by security forces since protests erupted on election day Wednesday. Chadema was barred from running, and its leader remains on trial for treason. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)

Africa
1 Nov 2025  Why Africa has become a hotspot for war? (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)
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Asia

China
Oct 30, 2025  Trump and Xi spoke today morning in Busan. Trump was accompanied by Secretary of State Rubio, Trade Representative Greer, Treasury Secretary Bessent, Commerce Secretary Lutnick, Chief of Staff Wiles, and U.S. Ambassador to China Perdue. Chief of Staff Cai, Foreign Minister Wang, Vice Foreign Minister Ma, Vice Premier He, Commerce Minister Wang, and Chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission Zheng accompanied Xi. The deal formalizes a framework agreement between American and Chinese negotiators reached earlier this week. Xi also announced that the U.S. and China reached a consensus, according to Chinese state media. The deal scraps Trump’s threat of a 100% tariff increase, immediately reduces the total tariff rate on Chinese goods, and resolves, at least for now, several of the more contentious trade issues between the U.S. and China. China accounts for around 70% of the world’s supply of critical minerals, which are crucial to the U.S.’s military, semiconductor and auto sectors. China will suspend its rare earths licensing measures for at least a year. China will also resume its purchases of American soybeans, Trump said. Trump also said the Chinese feel very strongly about increasing investments in the U.S. China may also be allowed to buy advanced computer chips from the U.S. Trump said Beijing will speak with Nvidia’s CEO Huang with the U.S. acting as a sort of arbitrator or the referee but that discussions would not involve the most advanced Blackwell chip. The U.S. agreed to suspend Trump’s 24% reciprocal tariff on China for another year, China’s Commerce Ministry said in its statement about the framework agreement. Greer told reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. will also postpone its Section 301 probe into Chinese shipbuilding which would have involved higher port fees on Chinese ships and prompted retaliatory port fees from China on American ships. China will also suspend its countermeasures for one year. Trump said the U.S.’s 20% fentanyl-linked tariff on Chinese goods would be halved, effective immediately and Xi agreed China would take “very strong measures” to reduce the flow into the U.S. of precursor chemicals used to make fentanyl. Trump said Xi also agreed to work together with the U.S. to end the war in Ukraine. “We’re both going to work together,” Trump said. 'We agree that the sides are locked in fighting and sometimes you have to let them fight I guess. Crazy. But he’s going to help us and we’re going to work together on Ukraine.” He said talks with Xi did not center on Russian oil, but focused on cooperation to end the war. The security of Taiwan was not discussed, Trump said. U.S. leaders did not say whether a deal for the purchase of TikTok’s U.S. operations, which was part of the framework agreement, was part of the deal reached today. “Both sides should consider the bigger picture and focus on the long-term benefits of cooperation, rather than falling into a vicious cycle of mutual retaliation,” China’s foreign ministry said in a readout after the meeting. (Source: Time - U.S.)

October 30, 2025  The leaders met in a small gray building with a blue roof on a military base adjacent to Busan’s international airport. Busan is a port city in South Korea, about 76 kilometers south from Gyeongju, the main venue for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. When the two were seated at the start of the meeting, Xi read prepared remarks that stressed a willingness to work together despite differences. "Given our different national conditions, we do not always see eye to eye with each other,” he said through a translator. “It is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.” After a 100-minute meeting with Xi in South Korea, President Trump described his face-to-face with Chinese leader Xi today as a ’roaring success”, saying he would cut tariffs on China, while Beijing had agreed to allow the export of rare earth elements and start buying American soybeans. The U.S. would lower tariffs implemented earlier this year as punishment on China for its selling of chemicals used to make fentanyl from 20% to 10%. That brings the total combined tariff rate on China down from 57% to 47%. The president said they also discussed the export of more advanced computer chips to China, saying that Nvidia would be in talks with Chinese officials. Trump said that he would go to China in April and Xi would come to the U.S. “some time after that.” It continues to be the potential for major tensions between the world’s two largest economies - both nations are seeking dominant places in manufacturing, developing emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, and shaping world affairs like Russia’s war in Ukraine. The U.S. and China have each shown they believe they have levers to pressure the other. The past year has demonstrated that tentative steps forward can be short-lived. For Trump, that pressure comes from tariffs. China is the top producer and processor of the rare earth minerals. There is a mutual recognition that neither side wants to risk blowing up the world economy in ways that could jeopardize their own country’s fortunes. The U.S. stock market has climbed on the hopes of a trade framework coming out of the meeting. After their talks, Trump plans to return to Washington. Xi plans to stay on in South Korea to meet with regional leaders during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which officially begins tomorrow and sees an opportunity to position China as a reliable partner. (Source: The Asahí Shímbun - Japan / The Associated Press - U.S.)

29 October 2025  China’s $143 billion push to dominate the global electric-vehicle industry. After years of investing in Europe, Chinese EV and battery firms are turning to Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In the second quarter of this year, 75% of Chinese investment in raw materials went to Africa for the first time, diversifying beyond Asia and Latin America. China is methodically rewiring the global EV supply chain around its industrial and geopolitical interests. Companies like BYD and CATL have expanded operations across the globe for operational and geopolitical reasons. Chinese players are investing in Morocco and Nigeria for critical minerals, expanding their Southeast Asia battery push, and setting up regional production hubs in Mexico and Brazil. Lower costs may be an added benefit. Indonesia and Hungary have been the biggest recipients of Chinese EV funding between 2014 and 2025. Indonesia pulled in $22 billion, Hungary attracted $18 billion, Rhodium data shows. Indonesia started attracting Chinese investment after banning the export of unprocessed ores in 2014. The country is now the world’s largest supplier of nickel, a crucial battery mineral, providing more than two-thirds of the global supply in 2024. Chinese companies control roughly three-quarters of domestic refining capacity in Indonesia. Indonesia is also a massive auto market going green. The government has set ambitious targets to deploy 2 million electric cars and 12 million electric two-wheelers by 2030. Chinese players are not just bringing products but also helping build the domestic supply chain. Because Japan is lagging in EVs, there is an opportunity for the Chinese. Earlier this year, CATL and its partners set up a $6 billion battery plant in Indonesia to create a full supply chain, from nickel mining to battery manufacturing and recycling. In West Java, Indonesia, BYD is building a $1 billion factory expected to be operational in January 2026. Hungary has been strengthening ties with China throughout Viktor Orbán’s 15 years as prime minister, offering tax breaks and infrastructural support. Four of the 10 biggest Chinese investments in Europe last year went to Hungary, and the landlocked nation is on track to become the second-largest battery producer outside of China. Unlike the EU and the U.S., Hungary has no plans to decouple from China. Since 2019, CATL has built plants in Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, and Spain. By next year, the company aims to start mass production at its 100-GWh battery plant in Hungary, announced in mid-2022. BYD’s passenger vehicle factory in Hungary is currently under construction - the first of its kind by a Chinese automaker in Europe. (Source: Rest of World - U.S.)

October 29, 2025  U.S. and Chinese economic officials met over the weekend in Malaysia to build the framework of a trade deal. President Trump today predicted striking a deal with China's leader in a bilateral meeting. "That's better than fighting and going through all sorts of problems," he added ahead of the tomorrow meeting with President Xi. "No reason for it." Trump said that he could reduce tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for a commitment from Beijing to curb exports of chemicals used to make fentanyl. The U.S. currently imposes a 20% tariff on Chinese imports, in addition to other tariffs. In response, Beijing imposed retaliatory tariffs on U.S. soybeans. The deal would also include China delaying the imposition of export restrictions on rare earths, while the U.S. would hold off on raising tariffs by 100%. The U.S. has raised tariffs so high that it's brought globalization to the verge of breakdown, says Zhu, dean of the School of International Studies at Nanjing University in China. He notes that besides tariffs, the U.S. has raised port fees this month on Chinese-owned or operated ships docking at U.S. ports. And it has proposed barring Chinese air carriers headed to and from the U.S. from flying through Russian airspace. China's airlines have a cost advantage, because Russia allows Chinese carriers to transit their airspace, but not U.S. ones. China's retaliation is to show China and the world that the U.S. can't just keep us cornered, Zhu adds. Trump has also mentioned that he wants to discuss nuclear arms control with Xi, and possibly include China in U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control negotiations. (Source: NPR - U.S.)

(Tuesday), October 28, 2025  U.S. President Trump is scheduled to meet with his Chinese counterpart Xi on Thursday in Busan, South Korea, for dialogue. The summit-Trump's first with Xi since beginning his second term in January - is set to take place on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Three high-stakes issues: Trade; Tik-Tok; Taiwan. (Source: Miami Herald / Newsweek = U.S.)

Malaysia
Sunday 26 October 2025  US president Trump has hailed a “historic' ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand after both nations today signed an expansion of the peace deal to end their border conflict. Mr Trump, who is in Malaysia, had used the threat of higher tariffs against both countries to force them to agree to end the fighting that resulted in dozens of deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands. The US president announced that the peace deal will save millions of lives. A truce, brokered by Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, was reached on 28 July after Mr Trump said he had spoken to the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia. Both Southeast Asian neighbours in July fought their worst border clashes in a decade that killed nearly 40 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. The clashes saw both sides trade artillery fire and airstrikes along contested stretches of their 817km border. The two countries have competing territorial claims. Earlier this month, Cambodia accused Thailand of broadcasting high-pitched 'ghost sounds' along the disputed border, the country’s human rights commission what it described as psychological warfare. The deal was signed shortly after Mr Trump landed in Malaysia – his first stop on his whirlwind five-day Asia tour. He watched as Cambodian prime minister Hun Manet and Thai prime minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed the expanded ceasefire at the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), of which both nations are members. Meanwhile, Mr Trump also signed separate economic deals with Cambodia and Thailand today. A White House official said Mr Trump would also sign a critical minerals agreement with Malaysia during the Asean summit. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Pakistan
October 29, 2025 10:50 AM  Pakistan's defence minister threatened today to obliterate the ruling Taliban in neighbouring Afghanistan. The October clashes began after Pakistani air strikes this month on Kabul, the Afghan capital, among other locations, targeting the head of the Pakistani Taliban. The Taliban responded with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the length of the 2,600-km border, which remains closed. Both nations agreed to a ceasefire brokered in Doha on Oct 19, but could not find common ground in a second round of talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar in Istanbul. 'Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,' Defence Minister Asif said in a post on X. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)

South Korea
28 October 2025  Issues expected to top the agenda of South Korean President Lee who will meet U.S. President Trump tomorrow, ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, which Mr Trump will not attend: Trade; Defence and nuclear energy; North Korea; US visas for South Korean workers. (Source: The Independent - United Kingdom)

Turkey
(29 October 2025)  Nationwide festivities mark Türkiye’s 102nd Republic Day. (Source: TRTWorld - Turkey)
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October 28, 2025  Turkey has signed a deal to buy 20 Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft worth $11 billion from Britain. (Source: Daily Ausaf - Pakistan)

28.10.25, 01:59 PM  Earthquake of magnitude 6.1 hit western Turkey, centred in the town of Sindirgi in Balikesir province, at 10.48 pm local time at a depth of 5.99 km. Tremors were felt in Istanbul and nearby provinces. (Source: The Telegraph - India)

South America

Brazil
26/10/2025, Sunday  Brazilian President Lula da Silva sharply criticized the United Nations Security Council during his visit to Malaysia, stating the global body has stopped working and failed to prevent major wars, including the war in Gaza. Lula's comments came during his three-day visit to Malaysia as a guest of honor at the ASEAN summit. (Source: Yeni Şafak - Turkey)

Global

26 Oct 2025  Week in Pictures: From elections in Ivory Coast to Russian strike in Kyiv and "Peace March" in Budapest, Hungary. (Source: Al Jazeera - Qatar)
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Europe

Belgium
October 29, 2025  This past summer, Belgian officials announced that the country would increase its F-35 acquisition from 34 to 45 aircraft, with the initial fleet to be operational by 2031. The Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter jets will replace the Belgian Air Force’s aging fleet of F-16s, with Brussels pledging to supply 30 of its 45 Fighting Falcons to Ukraine beginning next year. Earlier this month, NATO member Belgium welcomed its first four Lightning IIs, which will equip the Belgian Air Force’s 1st Squadron at Florennes Air Base in Wallonia. Belgium is just 30,843 square kilometers in total area, including water, and measures only around 300 kilometers from end to end. Given the aircraft’s tremendous speed, training effectively while remaining within the country’s tiny airspace simply isn’t possible. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)

October 27, 2025  The massive Port of Antwerp acts as a gateway for illegal narcotics to enter Belgium - and Europe more widely. Drug-trafficking is turning Belgium into a narco-state and the rule of law is under threat, an Antwerp judge wrote in an anonymous letter published today asking the federal government for urgent help. 'Extensive mafia-like structures have taken root, becoming a parallel power that challenges not only the police but also the judiciary'. The judge notes that money-laundering networks drive up real-estate costs, the corruption penetrates state institutions and kidnappings can be ordered on Snapchat. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

European Commission
(Wednesday), 29/10/2025  Ukraine is the third largest import partner for the European Union after Brazil and the UK. The EU’s new import agreement with Ukraine 'designed to further liberalise trade' between the EU and Kyiv comes into effect today. Adopted on 13 October, 'it will replace the deal in place since 2016, by expanding tariff-free access for Ukrainian goods and services'. However the new agreement has become a political headache for the European Commission. Hungary, Poland and Slovakia are not lifting bans on Ukrainian agricultural imports - a move that underscores the challenges of integrating Ukraine’s vast farming sector into the European Union. 'Although Brussels wants to give farmers’ money to Ukraine, we are protecting the resources, the livelihoods of Hungarian producers and our market,” Hungarian Agriculture Minister Nagy wrote on Facebook on Monday, as he and his EU peers met in Brussels. How Ukraine’s enormous agricultural capacity - 42 million hectares of cultivated land, the largest in Europe - would affect the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which distributes funds based on farm size? Romanian President Dan, whose country also borders Ukraine, have spoken openly about the issue. According to him, the risks of imbalances for the EU are significant, especially since Ukraine 'does not currently meet the standards that we impose on the agricultural sector in the EU." (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

28/10/2025  Nordic leaders have ruled out the idea of issuing common debt at the European Union level to provide a €140 billion reparations loan to Ukraine, insisting the money should come from immobilised Russian assets rather than national budgets - project, known as a 'reparations loan', which was blocked last week by Belgium, which holds the bulk of the frozen assets from the Russian Central Bank. Member states, and Belgium in particular, are waiting for the Commission to present its options paper, which might lay out 'alternatives, such as loans and grants for Ukraine backed by the EU budget, national contributions or a mix of both'. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)

October 27, 2025  Commission chief der Leyen eyes final signing of Mercosur deal on Dec. 20. She would jet into Brazil to ink the accord as long as EU capitals give the green light. EU leaders plan to hold their final summit of 2025 on Dec. 18-19. Initially, the expectation was for the partnership agreement to require unanimous support - as is usually required when deals touch on areas of national competence, such as investment and political cooperation. (Source: Politico - U.S.)

Russia
October 29, 2025, 11:26 AM  As of 2025, energy is as much a vulnerability as it is an asset. The U.S. government appears to have coordinated with the EU and United Kingdom. Among the factors making this obvious are Ukrainian strikes against Russian infrastructure, ’the EU’s phaseout of Russian oil and gas purchases’, and U.S. sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil. Last week, the EU adopted the 19th sanctions package against Russia. On Oct. 15, the U.K. unveiled sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, as well, alongside sanctions on India’s Nayara refinery, four oil terminals in China, and 44 shadow fleet vessels. The new sanctions will complicate doing business with the Russian majors as financing, insurance, and shipping costs go up. China and India appear to have reduced or even suspended oil purchases. Yet they can resume imports, should the Trump administration shift its focus away from Russia. Furthermore, both Rosneft and Lukoil hold assets across Europe and elsewhere in the world. If they somehow win exemptions, the sanctions’ impact will be mitigated. The privately-owned Lukoil announced it would be selling its international assets. In the aftermath of its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian exports of crude stayed at a stable 5 million barrels per day. Refined product found its way to the European market. Russia’s annual energy revenues averaged around $190 billion, or around 9 percent of its nominal GDP, in 2024. Oil is even more important to the Russian economy than gas, and Rosneft and Lukoil account for around 50 percent of Russia’s upstream production of it. The state-owned Rosneft alone contributes about 17 percent of the Russian Federation’s budget revenues. Since August, Ukrainian drones ’have hit 21 of Russia’s 38 large refineries’ which have a combined capacity of around 123 million tons per year or 45 percent of Russia’s total output. Combined with strikes against storage and pipeline capacity, the total damage is estimated at about $706.5 million. These strikes have also forced Russia to shift its exports from refined product to crude oil, which reduces profits. The price cap currently stands at $47.6 per barrel. Gasoline shortages are starting to affect ordinary Russians as several regions have reported empty filling stations and lines of motorists. In 2021, Russia accounted for 45 percent of the EU’s gas imports. Now, that share is down to 11 percent. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) from global suppliers, including the United States, replaces Russian imports. ’This week, EU energy ministers approved legislation that requires companies to phase out long-term contracts - whether pipeline gas or LNG - by the end of 2027’. The deadline for most short-term contracts is next January. As a result, even countries such as Hungary and Slovakia ’will have to find other suppliers’. Some of Russia’s gas might still end up in Europe via intermediaries such as Turkey and Azerbaijan. But while this might result in limited profits for Russia, it won’t come with geopolitical influence to build cozy relationships with governments and national champions throughout Europe. Moscow discovered that consumers wield as much power as producers. Russia was able to switch some of the gas flows from the EU to China, where sales jumped from 16.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2021 to a record 31 bcm in 2024. During Putin’s visit to Beijing in September, China and Russia signed a deal on the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which could add another 50 bcm. Even after the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which will connect Urengoy in northern Russia to China’s gas grid via Mongolia, comes online, its volume would be far below the 155 bcm that the EU imported in 2021. Beijing is driving a hard bargain on the price and other commercial conditions around the contracts with Russia. Russia will probably take a Chinese loan to finance the pipeline’s construction, and it will be receiving payments in yuan, tying it even closer to China. Domestic prices have risen by roughly 30 percent since the start of the war, adding to Russia’s problem with inflation. Russia is still a major player on the world’s energy market. It accounts for around 10 percent of global oil production and 15 percent of global natural gas production. The Russian economy has proven resilient, with the likes of China and India helping Moscow fend off Western sanctions. But military Keynesianism - pumping money generated by the sale of commodities abroad to boost the defense industries, salaries in the state sector, and welfare spending - is running its course. With growth falling from 4.3 percent of GDP to a projected 1-1.3 percent in 2025 and 2026, new Western energy sanctions are adding to chronic stagnation. The international oil market has remained surprisingly stable, as OPEC+ announced plans to raise output. To maintain stability, the government must dip deeper into the state budget. (Source: Foreign Policy - U.S.)
by Bechev, director of the Dahrendorf Programme at St. Antony’s College’s European Studies Centre, the author of Rival Power: Russia in Southeast Europe and Turkey Under Erdogan.

North America

United States
October 30, 2025, Thursday  Are the world’s major powers once again on the brink of an arms race unseen since the Cold War? US President Trump has announced that the United States will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades. ’Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,’ the President posted on Truth Social. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, signed by President Clinton in 1996 but never ratified by the US Senate, has prohibited all nuclear explosions worldwide. In 2023, Russia withdrew its ratification of the treaty, claiming the move was necessary to maintain parity with Washington. Moscow stated it would only resume nuclear tests if the United States did so first. Trump’s new order effectively meets that condition. The announcement came just a day after Russian President Putin confirmed Moscow had successfully tested the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone. Poseidon is a massive, unmanned underwater vehicle reportedly measuring around 20 meters in length and weighing about 100 tons. Russian media claim it can travel at speeds of up to 200 kilometers per hour, dive deeper than 1,000 meters, and strike coastal regions with devastating radioactive waves. The recent test of the Poseidon followed Moscow’s successful launch of a Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile on October 21, and subsequent nuclear launch drills the following day. Putin also recently signed a law terminating a long-defunct plutonium disposal agreement with the United States, which had been intended to limit the production of weapons-grade plutonium. The original deal, signed in 2000, required both nations to dispose of 34 tons of such material no longer needed for military use. Resuming tests would be seen by both Russia and China as a direct assertion of American strategic dominance. The move underscores a growing tension between Washington, Moscow, and Beijing over nuclear modernization. (Source: Novinite - Bulgaria)

(30 October 2025)  Between 1945 — with the first ever atomic bomb test in New Mexico on July 16 - and 1992, the United States has conducted 1,054 nuclear tests and carried out two nuclear attacks on Japan during World War II. The last US nuclear test explosion was in September 1992, with a 20-kilotonne underground detonation at the Nevada Nuclear Security Site. In October 1992, then-President Bush imposed a moratorium on further tests, which was continued by successive administrations. Nuclear testing was replaced by non-nuclear and subcritical experiments using advanced computer simulations. (Source: TRTWorld - Turkey)

Caribbean

Jamaica
Oct 28, 2025, 05:42 AM EDT  Hurricane Melissa, the devastating Category 5 storm with 295 kph winds, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history since recordkeeping began 174 years ago, makes landfall in Jamaica. Jamaica’s highest mountains could see gusts of up to 322 kph. A life-threatening storm surge of up to 4 meters is expected across southern Jamaica. 'There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said. "The question now is the speed of recovery." The storm is expected slice diagonally across the island and head for Cuba. (Source: Huff Post - U.S.)

Trinidad and Tobago
Oct 28, 2025  Trinidad has a population of about 1.4 million people. It is sometimes used by smugglers to store and sort drugs before shipping them to Europe and North America. Trinidad is now hosting one of the U.S. warships involved in a campaign to destroy Venezuelan speedboats allegedly carrying drugs to the United States. Venezuelan President Maduro said that he was left with no choice but to pull out of treaties signed with Trinidad ten years ago. A 2015 agreement enables neighboring countries to carry out joint natural gas exploration projects in the waters between both nations. Trinidad and Venezuela are separated by a small bay that is just 11 kilometers wide at its narrowest point. (Source: The Korea Times - South Korea / AP - U.S.)

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