EU now blocks China by default from most joint research funding
The European Commission changed the rule for a €14 billion EU research programme covering 2026 and 2027, called Horizon Europe.
Archive 2026
World ✳
Zelenskyy: North Korea Will Send Up to 50,000 More Troops to Fight for Russia
Ukraine's president says Moscow and Pyongyang have agreed to raise North Korea's troop presence in Russia to between 30,000 and 50,000 — a scale that would make it Russia's largest foreign troop contribution and give Pyongyang combat experience with implications far beyond Europe.
EU set to keep pausing fingerprint checks at borders past September deadline
The EU's new border system requires fingerprint and photo scans of non-EU travellers, including Britons, entering Europe's Schengen travel area.
World ✳
Trump says US is playing down Iran standoff, but strait blockade continues
President Trump said the United States is taking a low-key approach in its standoff with Iran, preferring economic pressure over military action.
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Daily recap — Aug 9, 2026: Iran demands war payments to reopen Hormuz as US rushes missile production for allies
Iran says it will only agree to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway between Iran and Oman carrying much of the world's oil, if it gets war reparations, with other conditions unresolved.
Analysis ✳
US expands China blacklist as Beijing widens control over critics abroad
The United States added 43 more Chinese companies to its blacklist over forced labor in the Xinjiang region, bringing the total to 187; China called this unfounded and denies forced labor happens there.
Analysis ✳
Weekly recap — Aug 3, 2026: Iran and the US near a deal on the Strait of Hormuz, then it slips again
For a week, ships came under attack near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that much of the world's oil passes through.
Poland's Biggest Oil Discovery Since World War Two Sparks Dispute With Germany
A Canadian company has found a large oil and gas field in the Baltic Sea off Poland's coast — reportedly Poland's biggest find since World War Two.
World ✳
Drone crashes near Bulgarian gas pipeline, wreckage matches Ukrainian models
A drone crashed and exploded near a natural gas pipeline in Bulgaria on Saturday, in a field near the Romanian border and the Black Sea.
USA ✳
Ukraine Buys Missiles From Turkey as US Stocks Run Low After Iran War
Ukraine bought 70 ATACMS, a US-made long-range missile, from Turkey instead of the US.
World ✳
Iran adds demand for war damage payments to Hormuz strait deal
Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, says talks with Oman to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are almost finished, but Iran now wants compensation for war damages and other unnamed conditions met first.
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Daily recap — Aug 8, 2026: Kremlin accounts pushed Ceuta migrant crisis online as Russia hit Kyiv and China curbed Taiwan Strait traffic
Researchers found Kremlin-linked social media accounts spreading far-right framing of a migrant crossing at Ceuta, a Spanish enclave in North Africa, reaching hundreds of thousands of people; the EU is now pressing Meta and TikTok to monitor this more closely.