Three other countries, Italy, France and Greece, also objected to the statement.

Romania’s intelligence service (SRI) has uncovered a sabotage network operating in the country, coordinated from Russia.

The agency’s press office reported the development.

According to the intelligence service, the network was linked to a fire at an industrial site in Brașov.

The fire broke out on September 14, 2026, near the CARFIL SA facility, a subsidiary of the state-owned defense company ROMARM. The blaze damaged the premises of several businesses.

According to Romanian law enforcement, three foreign nationals are implicated in the case: two Belarusian citizens and one Ukrainian citizen, who were residing in European Union countries.

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Both countries elevated relations to a strategic partnership in November 2024, share strong economic and defence ties, and are mutual partners in advancing multilateralism. Among European Union nations, Germany is Singapore’s largest trading partner in goods and the third largest in services.

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The plan covers cooperation across five pillars:

• Political, defence, security and intelligence
• Trade, investment, transport, and urban development
• Digitalisation and artificial intelligence
• Research, science, technology, and innovation
• Energy transition, green economy and climate

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Responding to a question on whether both leaders are in favour of EU and Germany joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), Chancellor Merz said Germany has long wanted to deepen ties with countries in the trade pact.

The CPTPP is a major multilateral free trade agreement that spans over five continents and covers nearly 600 million people.

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The president of Democracia 21, lawyer Miriam González, argues that the president of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, "shouldn't even have run" for reelection in the general elections on the upcoming November 29. With this statement, she hints that his figure could be a red line in case his party turns out to be decisive in facilitating a PSOE government.

In an interview on Cadena Ser, reported by Europa Press, Miriam González emphasized that "we come so that the extremes do not have to enter the governments," and has called for a clear differentiation between the parties and the leaders who head the campaigns, "because I don't even know if they will be the candidates for the Presidency of the Government."

The leader of Democracia 21 has insisted that Sánchez accumulates "the record of five years of unconstitutionality and broken promises, with corruption very close." In her opinion, "simply for having gone on vacation when the situation in Ceuta was happening, he should have already resigned."

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When asked about potential support for the PP, González criticized the leader of the 'popular', Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for having defended in the past that the most voted list should govern and not clearly maintaining that position now.

Regarding possible support for a joint government of PP and Vox, the president of Democracia 21 reiterated that her party is "to prevent the extremes from arriving," although she made it clear that they are willing to "talk to everyone and try to generate the maximum agreements on specific political issues."

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The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) urgently appeals to Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier to bring the human rights situation in Tibet, East Turkestan, Hong Kong, South Mongolia and China itself to the attention of the Chinese Government. The Federal President’s talks with the Chinese political leadership were announced for the state visit to the People’s Republic, which is scheduled to take place from 26 to 31 October.

[Original in German. Automated translation with minimal edits.]

On his trip to China, the Federal President must under no circumstances defer human rights and democratic values in the sense of alleged realpolitik and economic interests. He should clearly identify human rights violations and also call for an end to the ruthless assimilation policy of the Chinese government, which is massively directed against the language, religion and culture of Tibetans and others. Under no circumstances must the Federal President normalise autocracy and dictatorship by giving the impression that this is a state visit to a normal country. This impression can arise when the visitor programme talks about ‘conversations with civil society’, but this cannot happen in China, explained ICT Managing Director Kai Müller.

“It would be desirable for Frank-Walter Steinmeier above all to take a clear stand against the Chinese law on ethnic unity and progress, which came into force on 1 July and with which the Communist Party has further cemented and tightened its strategy of forced assimilation of Tibetans, Uyghurs and others,” Müller continued.

[Edit to insert link.]

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12126161

Russia's defense cooperation with China extends far beyond imports of dual-use goods, with evidence pointing to sharing drone design technology, providing testing services, and joint research, according to a new report from U.S. think tank C4ADS.

The report adds to earlier findings by the Kyiv Independent regarding China's military collaboration with Russia throughout the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Here is the full report: A Marriage of Convenience?The Promise and Pitfalls of Chinese-Russian Advanced Conventional Weapons Cooperation (pdf)

The investigation found that Russian designs for rocket-launched drones likely helped shape weapons China unveiled in 2025 and that Russian wind tunnels kept testing aircraft models for China's top arms maker after the invasion of Ukraine.

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Volkswagen could roll out the software currently used in its cars for the Chinese ​market to its mass-market offering in Europe, ‌according to a media report on Monday, in a move that threatens to sideline its US partner Rivian

Christian Stocker, the Austrian chancellor, said the spending levels in the current proposal are too high for Vienna to accept.

cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/12110965

The Estonian Festival Orchestra, conducted by Paavo Järvi, is on tour in China and was scheduled to perform at Wuxi Symphony Hall, in eastern China, with the local orchestra on October 23.

The Wuxi orchestra toured Russia last year as part of an official China-Russia Years of Culture event and has performed with the Russian National Orchestra.

After learning about their partner's background, the Estonian musicians refused to take part in the joint concert.

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The cancellation could cost the Estonian Festival Orchestra hundreds of thousands of euros, although the exact amount is not yet known.

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According to the Estonian musicians, going ahead with the concert would have conflicted with their principles and caused irreparable reputational damage.

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To better understand the importance attributed to biodiversity in public urban green spaces, the research team surveyed the people responsible for green space planning and management in 574 municipalities across Europe. The standardized questionnaire addressed the underlying motivation, management goals and measures the municipalities are taking to promote public acceptance of wild, species-rich green spaces.

Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND), Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV) and Military Counterintelligence Service (Militärischer Abschirmdienst, MAD) want to use a distributed cloud solution from Google to exchange classified information.