Presidents Erdoğan and Trump will meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly next week, US Ambassador to Ankara Tom Barrack announced. It is their first meeting since July's NATO summit, where Trump said Washington would lift the CAATSA sanctions on Türkiye. Erdoğan is due to speak on the assembly's opening day, 22 September.
Ankara has sent Moscow and Kyiv a draft memorandum to halt drone and missile attacks on civilian vessels, modelled on the 2022 grain corridor. At least 25 Turkish-owned ships have been struck since late June. A Turkish diplomat said the plan closes the gap in the old corridor where ships had to leave national waters, which is where the risk lay.
Presidential adviser Mehmet Uçum said Erdoğan “will be a candidate for the last time,” forecasting elections on 16 April 2028, the anniversary of the 2017 referendum that created the executive presidency. Parliament can call early elections with 360 of its 600 votes; Erdoğan's AKP and its ally MHP hold 326 between them.
Prime Minister Donald Tusk told the Sejm that Russia's plans include drone and missile strikes on Poland and other states backing Ukraine, calling late autumn and winter the war's most critical phase so far. He said Moscow is fielding faster, high-altitude jet-powered drones and may stage “accidental” strikes to test whether NATO's mutual-defence guarantee holds in practice.
Prime Minister Mark Carney told the European Parliament in Strasbourg he welcomes the Commission's proposal for a Canada-EU associate status, covering trade, defence, critical minerals, AI, energy and space. He said Canada is not seeking full membership, and that any deal would go to a vote in Canada's own parliament. The offer comes as Trump's tariffs and “51st state” talk push Ottawa toward Europe.
The Hague-based Kosovo Specialist Chambers convicted former president Hashim Thaçi and three other ex-KLA leaders of murder, torture and illegal detention during the 1998-99 war, sentencing Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi to 25 years, Kadri Veseli to 18 and Rexhep Selimi to 13. All were acquitted of crimes against humanity. Protesters threw stones at the EU's EULEX mission in Pristina; PM Albin Kurti called the verdicts unjust but not final.
The Monetary Policy Committee voted 6-3 to leave the base rate unchanged, with the three dissenters pushing for a rise to 4%. UK inflation hit a five-month high of 3.1% in the year to August as the Iran war disrupts global fuel supplies; the Bank said price pressure is likely to keep rising over the coming quarters.
Trump told Axios he is close to a “big decision” on Iran, saying “anything could happen.” Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it struck a Togo-flagged tanker for an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, the latest in weeks of tit-for-tat tanker strikes since Washington adopted a “tanker for tanker” policy. US officials say the military cannot hold its current position much longer.
The Human Rights Council's fact-finding mission said it found reasonable grounds that a Tomahawk strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, which killed over 150 people including about 120 children, and a strike on a Lamerd sports complex, were indiscriminate war crimes. The same report found Iran's own crackdown on protesters, with at least 221 children killed and 29 men executed, amounts to crimes against humanity.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down a Houthi drone near Islam's holiest city, the first such attempt in nearly a decade, hours after Yemen's Houthis claimed a large missile and drone barrage on King Khalid Air Base and other southern cities that wounded dozens. The Houthis said the attacks answered Saudi air strikes in Yemen; Riyadh called the Mecca attempt a “red line” and vowed firm retaliation.
Intercommunal fighting between Ngok Dinka and Misseriya communities at the Amiet market in the disputed Abyei region killed at least 26 people and wounded 82, after two separate killings on consecutive days inflamed tensions over grazing land and water. The UN's 3,000-strong peacekeeping force reinforced its presence around Abyei town; its commander urged community leaders toward dialogue.
Riksdag Speaker Andreas Norlén started individual talks with party leaders on Friday to find a new prime minister, after Ulf Kristersson requested his discharge. The Centre Party still refuses to negotiate until the Left Party drops its demand for cabinet seats, and the Left Party is holding firm; commentators say several parliamentary votes may be needed before a government is confirmed.