Transit through Central Asia jumps 70% in four years
Transit flows through Central Asian countries have increased by 70% between 2020 and 2024, according to the Eurasian Development Bank’s Transport Pr...
More than 100,000 people are expected to take part in France’s “Block Everything” movement on 10 September, broadcaster France Info reported on Thursday. Energy, transport, and defence sectors are likely to be the most affected.
The protest, which began on social media, urges citizens to “block everything” on 10 September in opposition to Prime Minister Francois Bayrou’s national budget plan. The movement has gained momentum with support from the far-left France Unbowed (LFI) party and originated from a small online group called “Les Essentiels”, which stated:
“On 10 September, we stop everything, not to escape, but to say no.”
Meanwhile, French trade unions have called for a nationwide mobilisation on 18 September to protest Bayrou’s budget proposals.
Rising political tensions
France is experiencing mounting political tensions as Bayrou prepares for a crucial confidence vote in the National Assembly on 8 September. In July, he unveiled a 2026 budget framework aimed at saving nearly €44 billion ($51 billion) to reduce the country’s soaring public debt, which currently stands at 113% of GDP. France also faces one of the EU’s largest budget deficits at 5.8%.
Warning that the country is “on the brink of over-indebtedness,” Bayrou urged lawmakers to choose “responsibility over chaos.” Opposition parties across the spectrum, from the far-left LFI to the far-right National Rally (RN), as well as the Socialists, have vowed to vote against the government.
Budget negotiations have long been a source of political tension. Last year, the failure to agree on the 2025 budget led to the collapse of the Michel Barnier government in December, after left-wing and far-right parties joined forces behind a no-confidence motion.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Moscow on Wednesday that the United States and its allies would "impose costs on Russia for its continued aggression" if the war in Ukraine does not come to an end.
Kenya's veteran opposition leader Raila Odinga, who was imprisoned multiple times while fighting one-party autocracy and ran five times unsuccessfully for president, died aged 80 on Wednesday in India.
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban administration have agreed to a temporary ceasefire for 48 hours starting 6:00 p.m. Pakistan local time (1300 GMT) on Wednesday, Islamabad said, after fresh clashes erupted between the neighbours.
Trade tensions between the United States and China are once again flaring up, as President Donald Trump has signalled that he may consider ending certain trade relations with Beijing.
The insolvency-related fraud trial of fallen Austrian property tycoon Rene Benko entered its second day on Wednesday, with a ruling expected in the afternoon in the first case connected to the collapse of his Signa property empire.
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