God Morgon · Thursday, 27 August 2026

Türkiye

Erdoğan adviser says Türkiye being pushed to reconsider status in Europe's human rights system

Presidential chief adviser Mehmet Uçum said Türkiye is being forced to reconsider its status in the European human rights system, a day after the European Court of Human Rights' Grand Chamber ruled Osman Kavala's conviction null and void and ordered the immediate release of the long-jailed philanthropist. Uçum warned that continued “politically motivated” rulings could cause the collapse of the whole system, though his remarks fall short of an official withdrawal announcement. Türkiye's Justice Ministry, in a separate statement, called the ruling biased and defended Kavala's conviction.

Source: Turkish Minute · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Foreign minister Fidan wants proof, not just words, on YPG dissolution

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan cautiously welcomed Damascus's announcement that the PKK/YPG's autonomous structures in Syria had dissolved, but said Ankara's response depends entirely on what happens on the ground. “If it is also implemented in practice as stated, then it is an extremely positive development,” he said, adding that Türkiye sees verification, not the statement itself, as decisive.

Source: Daily Sabah · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Libya, Qatar review four-way migration and smuggling framework with Türkiye, Italy

Officials from Libya and Qatar met in Tripoli to review a four-way framework with Türkiye and Italy aimed at strengthening Libya's border controls and dismantling migrant-smuggling networks across the central Mediterranean. The four sides agreed to expand joint capacity-building and voluntary-return programmes and to turn the arrangement into a standing operational mechanism rather than a one-off initiative.

Source: Daily Sabah · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Europe

Costa tours EU capitals as Germany and Sweden press for deeper budget cuts

European Council President António Costa began a four-week tour of member states' capitals to test appetite for compromise on the EU's next long-term budget, worth close to two trillion euros. Germany's Friedrich Merz is leading a “frugal” bloc demanding sweeping cuts to agriculture and cohesion spending, while Sweden is pushing for an even deeper cut, of roughly 20 percent to the overall budget; a group of 17 mostly poorer states wants more money for both areas instead. Costa is aiming for a deal by December so the budget can start on time in January 2028.

Source: Euronews · Tuesday, 25 August 2026

Canada's Carney to address EU Parliament as Trump tariffs push Ottawa toward Brussels

Prime Minister Mark Carney will address the European Parliament in Strasbourg on 17 September, a day after Commission President Ursula von der Leyen's State of the Union speech, as Canada seeks deeper ties with the bloc following the collapse of trade talks with Washington. “This fall we will begin intense discussions with the European Union … to build a much stronger and deeper economic and security partnership,” Carney said, after the US imposed 50 percent tariffs on roughly 28 billion dollars of Canadian goods and Ottawa answered with retaliatory measures on nearly 900 items.

Source: The Globe and Mail · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

The World

Gaza envoy warns UN Security Council ceasefire collapse would be a ‘point of no return’

The senior international envoy overseeing Gaza's ceasefire, Nickolay Mladenov, told the UN Security Council that a collapse of the fragile truce would be “not a setback” but “a point of no return for everyone.” Gaza's health ministry says at least 1,288 Palestinians have been killed since the US-brokered ceasefire took effect in October, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resists the disarmament-for-withdrawal plan Hamas has accepted.

Source: Al Jazeera · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Dozens killed in ethnic attacks on Sudan's Kordofan, doctors' group says

The Sudan Doctors Network says at least 27 people, including four children, were killed in attacks on the Otoro tribe in South Kordofan, forcing residents to flee toward Abu Hitan and Kadugli. The killings add an ethnic, land-dispute dimension to a civil war that has already displaced some 14 million people since fighting between the army and the Rapid Support Forces began in April 2023; a US push at the Security Council last week to widen Sudan's arms embargo has run into Russian and Chinese opposition.

Source: Al Jazeera · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Sweden

Opposition narrows gap on governing right-wing bloc three weeks before Swedish election

A new Indikator poll for Sveriges Radio Ekot puts the opposition left bloc at 51.3 percent against 46.6 percent for the governing Tidö coalition, a gap that has roughly halved since June. The Moderates stand at 18.9 percent, closing in on the Sweden Democrats at 19.7 percent, while a separate Ipsos poll for Dagens Nyheter shows the smallest coalition partner, the Liberals, at just 2.2 percent, below the four percent threshold for parliamentary seats. Sweden votes on 13 September.

Source: The Local Sweden · Wednesday, 26 August 2026

Latvia thanks Sweden for troops in NATO's Latvia brigade during ministerial visit

Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard hosted Latvia's Baiba Braže in Stockholm, where the two said their countries have common goals on regional security, defence and reaching a lasting peace in Ukraine. Braže thanked Sweden for deploying troops to the NATO brigade based in Latvia, and the visit included a stop at the Swedish defence firm Scandinavian Astor Group and a visit to Stockholm's Latvian community.

Source: Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs · Wednesday, 26 August 2026