Ukraine
EUROPE
The Trump Factor: Europe Charts Its Own Path on Defence
Europe boosts defense spending as Trump questions NATO role, sparking security shifts and renewed military cooperation.
Ukraine War
Trump Breaks Rank with Europe at Riyadh on Ukraine
Trump's Riyadh talks with Russia on Ukraine spark tension, bypassing Kyiv and risking a U.S.-Europe rift on future cooperation.
BUSINESS
Ukraine Looks to the GCC at Time of Crisis
UAE-Ukraine CEPA deal slashes tariffs, boosts GDP, and strengthens Gulf ties in key sectors like tech, agriculture, and investment.
Ukraine War
Peacekeepers Line Up: Britain First in Line with Ukraine
Paris summit debates EU peacekeepers in Ukraine: UK backs deployment, NATO tensions rise, whilst Moscow warns of escalation.
Trade
With Love From Russia: Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend
Facing sanctions, Russian investors turn to diamonds for asset protection, using re-exports and domestic cutting strategies.
Popular
Anti-Bardella Performative Resistance Falls Short
Culinary protests splatter and legal verdicts land; Jordan Bardella rides economic fatigue to dismantle the cordon sanitaire shielding the French presidency.
Meloni in Manama: The Sakhir Declaration and Gulf Security
Missiles over Doha have turned the Sakhir Declaration from standard diplomacy into a survival blueprint, pushing the Gulf toward self-reliance and Europe ties.
The Rome-Moscow Connection: How Italy and Kyrgyzstan are Keeping Russian Trade Alive
While Europe builds a wall of sanctions against Russia, Italy has found a backdoor, shipping goods through the mountains to Kyrgyzstan.
EU-US Trade Talks: Price of Sovereignty on the Factory Floor
Brussels rejects trading digital sovereignty for tariff relief, leaving European steel workers to bear the heavy cost of a deepening transatlantic deadlock.
The Pope’s Turkey Visit: Eastern Mediterranean as Christianity’s Foundation
Pope Leo XIV's first papal journey to Turkey from 27-30 November 2025 placed the eastern Mediterranean once again at the centre of Catholic imagination, inviting Europe to reconsider how geography shaped its tradition.
