World

On the morning of October 6, drones hit two commercial ships off Bulgaria's Black Sea coast, sinking one of the ships and causing alarm and outrage in both Bulgaria and the EU. The drone attacks come at a time when the EU is pushing for Bulgaria to become a key entry point for goods imported from Asia to the bloc via the trade route known as the Middle Corridor. The Middle Corridor — which the EU also refers to as the Trans-Caspian Transport Corridor — connects Europe and Asia. It begins in China and runs through Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey before reaching the EU. Although it is mostly made up of railways and roads, short sections of the corridor cross the Black Sea and Caspian Sea. Bulgaria and the Middle Corridor The EU has this year declared its intention to bet big ...

It's neither a joke nor fake news but a real report from earlier this week: Donald Trump has backed down. On Monday, the US president announced that a series of advertisements aired in September promoting him and his administration would no longer be funded with taxpayer money.  "The radical Left is upset with the fact that I am taking ads, which I consider to be a positive promotion for our great USA, and paying for them with USA money," Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social.  He went on to claim that funding partisan ads with public money was a "rather standard thing to do," before adding that future ads would be paid with money raised from donations. The ads themselves have caused some controversy in the United States. They ran in September between popular shows such as Saturday N...

Ya Xi just returned to Shanghai on a red-eye flight after her Golden Week trip to Southeast Asia. "I can stay up all night for a cheaper ticket," she told DW.  She was among the 31.19 million passengers who traveled during the 13-day holiday period that followed the Mid-Autumn Festival on September 25 and China's National Day on October 1. Many of them spent their budgets more cautiously this year. "I earn less this year, so I'm lowering my budget for this year's Golden Week," said Xi, who is in her mid-20s. "I spent 5,000 yuan (about €660) on my flight, which was the largest expense of my trip." Golden Week is viewed as a barometer of the Chinese economy with Beijing using it as an opportunity to showcase the world's second-largest economy's spending power. State media, for instance, ...

The latest iteration of Saudi Arabia's defense deal with Turkey and Pakistan, the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement, is taking shape amid the country's escalating conflict with Yemen's Houthi militia. According to the trilateral defense commitment, which was signed by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on August 7, 2026, an armed attack on any one of the three states involved should be regarded as an attack on them all. Yet, despite ongoing Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia and Saudi attacks on Houthi militants in Yemen, neither Pakistan nor Turkey had joined Saudi Arabia's combat operations since the deal was signed, arguing that the command and operational structures were still being developed. But since ...

After spending 47 years abroad, Iranian musician Bijan Mortazavi returned to his homeland at the end of September. Mortazavi is one of Iran's most renowned violinists, singers, and composers. In July 2026, he performed with his famous white violin at the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup alongside the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. In the videos that he and his wife have now posted on social media, the couple can be seen taking walks through the city of the Iranian capital, Tehran, while passersby greet the musician warmly and welcome him. Singer Mohsen Namjoo also recently returned to Iran after about 20 years in exile. Internationally renowned for his experimental Persian music, he blends traditional Persian singing and poetic lyrics with elements of blues, rock, jazz, and fo...

The European Commission wants to inject new momentum into its enlargement process, which has seen some candidate countries waiting for decades to join. Albania, Montenegro, Moldova and Ukraine are currently the frontrunners to join the bloc, with EU officials expressing the hope that Montenegro could do so as early as 2028. "A larger union is a long-term investment in Europe's peace, security and prosperity," Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos told journalists in Strasbourg on October 6. One key question is how the EU can take in more countries in the near future without becoming harder to run or running the risk of democratic backsliding in new member states. The Commission's answer to this question is to simultaneously require candidate countries to meet EU standards and get the bloc...