God Morgon · Saturday, 29 August 2026

Türkiye

Greek F-16s intercept Turkish drone near Alexandroupoli as Aegean dispute sharpens

A Turkish military drone crossed into Greek airspace near Alexandroupoli airport on Friday, prompting Greece to scramble two F-16 fighters to escort it away while a passenger flight was preparing to take off. The incident comes days after Ankara formally rejected a new Greek renewable-energy spatial plan covering the Aegean, which Türkiye says carries no legal weight over the two countries' unresolved maritime disputes.

Source: Euronews · Friday, 28 August 2026

Türkiye's new PKK disarmament board holds first meeting, aims to report in October

Türkiye's new oversight body for the Kurdish peace process met for the first time on Monday under Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, launching four working groups to verify the PKK's disarmament and dissolution. Officials aim to report findings to the National Security Council in October; PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan called the process “a critical stage” but said the amnesty law passed in August is only a first step.

Source: Al-Monitor · Tuesday, 25 August 2026

Turkish economic confidence index climbs above key threshold in August

Türkiye's composite economic confidence index rose above the 100-point threshold in August, the level that separates pessimism from optimism among businesses and consumers. The rise comes as the central bank's tight monetary policy continues to bring down inflation from last year's highs.

Source: Daily Sabah · Friday, 28 August 2026

Erdoğan to meet Putin at SCO summit in Bishkek over Ukraine and the Black Sea

President Erdoğan will meet Russian President Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek around September 1, with the Ukraine war and Black Sea security topping the agenda. Putin has nine bilateral meetings scheduled around the summit, including with China's Xi Jinping.

Source: APA · Friday, 28 August 2026

Europe

Spain asks EU for Frontex and Europol help as Ceuta migrant crisis strains city

Spain has formally asked the European Commission to reinforce Ceuta, a city of 80,000 residents, with extra Frontex officers and Europol support to process migrants who entered the enclave irregularly, after officials said tensions there reached breaking point. The request follows a July surge that saw some 72,000 border crossings recorded over several days, triggering a broader EU migration alert.

Source: Euronews · Friday, 28 August 2026

Belgium summons US ambassador again after he mocked its health minister online

Belgium's foreign ministry summoned US Ambassador Bill White for the second time this year after he posted an AI-altered image mocking Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke over a proposed law tightening alcohol-advertising warnings. Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot called the post “unacceptable”, reviving questions about the ambassador's conduct after a February summons over separate antisemitism accusations.

Source: UPI · Friday, 28 August 2026

Fitch keeps France's credit rating at A+ with stable outlook

Fitch affirmed France's sovereign credit rating at A+ with a stable outlook, unchanged since the downgrade from AA in September 2025 amid political instability. A stable outlook signals the agency does not expect a change in the near term, even as it forecasts France's budget deficit at 4.9 percent of GDP, close to the government's own 5 percent target.

Source: Reuters · Friday, 28 August 2026

Norway's King Harald V dies at 89; son becomes King Haakon VIII

King Harald V of Norway, Europe's oldest reigning monarch and head of state since 1991, died on Friday at Oslo University Hospital after treatment for a blood disorder. Crown Prince Haakon automatically succeeds him as King Haakon VIII, and his daughter Ingrid Alexandra becomes crown princess.

Source: Al Jazeera · Friday, 28 August 2026

The World

Iran's oil exports collapse as US naval blockade of Hormuz tightens

Iran's crude exports have fallen more than 80 percent this month compared with a year ago, to roughly 260,000 barrels a day, as the US naval blockade first imposed in July chokes off shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. China, by far Iran's largest buyer, has also sharply cut its purchases this month, and no Iranian supertanker has been sighted crossing the strait since July.

Source: Just The News · Friday, 28 August 2026

Trump announces deal giving US majority control of Venezuela's oil reserves

President Trump announced a deal granting the United States majority control over more than 65 billion barrels of Venezuelan oil reserves, brokered with interim President Delcy Rodríguez nine months after the US operation that removed Nicolás Maduro. Trump said the agreement, covering 17 oil fields, would more than double US reserves and come “at no cost” to taxpayers.

Source: CNN · Friday, 28 August 2026

US narrows claim that Chinese hackers breached federal agencies

The US Justice Department corrected a press release naming the Senate, the Federal Reserve, NASA and other agencies as “victims” of a years-long Chinese state-linked hacking campaign, saying they were among the group's “targets” but only some were actually compromised. The distinction narrows the confirmed scope of one of the broadest cyber-espionage operations attributed to Beijing, days after the FBI seized the hacking network's infrastructure.

Source: Reuters · Friday, 28 August 2026

Sweden

Record turnout as early voting opens ahead of Sweden's September 13 election

More than 145,000 Swedes voted on the first day of early voting on Wednesday, a new record and a 38 percent jump on the same point in the 2022 election, as the campaign heads into its final two weeks before the September 13 vote.

Source: The Local Sweden · Friday, 28 August 2026

Sweden to send Gripen jets and a corvette to help secure Finland's airspace

Responding to a Finnish request, Sweden will for the first time deploy JAS 39 Gripen fighters and a Visby-class corvette to help Finland monitor its airspace and, if necessary, repel aircraft that violate it, Defence Minister Pål Jonson said, citing what he called a deteriorating regional security situation. The step follows repeated drone and aircraft incursions into Finnish, Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian airspace this year linked to the war in Ukraine.

Source: The Jerusalem Post · Friday, 28 August 2026