Ekrem Imamoğlu, the mayor of Istanbul and top opponent of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, was sentenced to 20 months in prison last week for calling out a prosecutor for targeting opposition leaders in the country earlier this year as he waited in jail for his own trial on corruption charges, which was seen as the latest attempt by the country’s president to snuff out his chief rivals.
The European Union (EU) announced its most significant sanctions yet against Russia and countries that do business with Moscow in an effort to hurt the country’s economy over its ongoing war with Ukraine.
Syria announced Sunday that the violence in Syria’s southern city Sweida between the Druze and Bedouin fighters has subsided as a fragile ceasefire was announced between the two factions.
U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) said last week that it ramped up airstrikes across Somalia at a record pace to strike an ISIS-affiliated group in the northeast and southeast part of the country, which is hardly mentioned in the mainstream news media.
Oliver Bäte, the CEO of Allianz, the German financial company, said last week that he believes Berlin’s social security system will “be on its knees” in about 10 years because the country’s “static” GDP is not keeping up with expenses.
Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy chairman of Russia’s national security council, did not seem impressed by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to impose new sanctions on Moscow and flood Ukraine with weapons if the Kremlin does not end the war in 50 days.
Russia was forced to temporarily close airports across Moscow on Sunday in response to a major drone attack from Ukraine, which forced the cancellation of at least 140 flights.
The U.S. has given priority to Germany to deliver its Patriot missile systems so Berlin can deliver these weapons to Ukraine, which was seen as the Trump administration’s first effort to indirectly arm Kyiv since January.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz signed a mutual defense treaty last week that—in part—promised to come to each other’s aid if there’s an attack on either, which seemed redundant given that NATO is supposed to already have the same assurances under Article 5.
The ceasefire between Iran and Israel may be holding, but the Iranians have reportedly worked to prepare for the next round of war by bolstering their air defense systems and rearming their militias in the region that have been weakened during their own fights with Israel.