Faktų, rodančių, kad nesugebame laiku įgyvendinti užsibrėžtų gynybos tikslų, šiandien turime daugiau, nei kada nors galėjome įsivaizduoti. Jau spalis, o iš šiemet gynybai suplanuotų lėšų, turimais duomenimis, įveiklinta vos apie 40 procentų!

Sekmadienį orus lems iš vakarų atslinkęs ciklonas, mes būsime jo pietrytiniame pakraštyje, o paryčiais rytuose dar slinks šaltasis atmosferos frontas.

Volodymyr Zelensky says the attack, which left children dead, was Russia expressing its "thanks" for a US diesel deal.

Ukraine's president sharply criticised the move, calling it an "investment in war that must be ended, not prolonged".

Ukraine's president sharply criticised the move, calling it an "investment in war that must be ended, not prolonged".

The US president hopes to ease his party's pain before next month's midterm elections, writes the BBC's North America correspondent.

Brussels officials are finalizing plans to tighten visa rules for hundreds of thousands of Russians who visit EU countries as tourists each year, in a move designed to strengthen the bloc’s defenses against hybrid attacks.  EU officials told POLITICO the European Commission is planning to put forward proposals in the new year, after a group of countries — including Poland, Sweden and Estonia — pushed for tougher visa rules for Russians, including former fighters who served on the battlefields in Ukraine. Last year, some 478,000 Schengen area tourist visas were issued to Russian citizens, many of which were multiple-entry visas, which enable holders to come and go repeatedly without needing to apply for documentation each time.  That system is a security threat to Europe at a moment of heightened concern over Moscow-sponsored acts of sabotage, arson and other forms of hybrid warfare, Sweden’s Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer told POLITICO.  “It’s obvious I think for everyone that we have vulnerabilities in our system that can be used by our enemies,” Strömmer said in an interview. “As far as I understand things, the Commission is preparing a proposal that, according to what I have heard, should be launched in January next year. From a Swedish point of view, we would love to see it even earlier.”  Strömmer welcomed the “progress” and “growing support” for a tougher visa regime.   Other countries are planning to push the issue during Monday’s Foreign Affairs Council meeting — and also propose more restrictions on Russian diplomats in the EU.  Estonia has proposed an outright ban on allowing ex-soldiers from Russia’s armed forces access to the EU. There are around 650,000 of these former combatants, according to Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna, which would be banned “person by person.”  But a tighter EU-wide approach is vital for the bloc’s security, he told POLITICO.  “I think a large number of these ex-combatants will come, supported by the Russian secret services, to Europe,” Tsahkna said. “And they will take over our organized crime and they will be heavily weaponized and supported by Russia to commit terror attacks or attacks against our societies. So this is very serious.”  After an initial fall in the number of Russian nationals receiving travel visas to the EU, “the numbers are not going down anymore,” Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner told POLITICO. “We urge the member states there to do a better job and to give less visas … to Russian citizens,” he said. “Work is progressing.” Brunner said a Commission proposal to restrict visas “early next year makes sense” alongside new visa rules. “You never know who these tourists actually are,” he said. “So that’s why we urge the member states to decrease the number.” In June, a group of ministers from nine EU countries plus Iceland and Norway wrote to the Commission calling for “a more uniform and coordinated approach” to Russian visas across all member states. “A restrictive visa policy towards Russian citizens is essential to safeguard the security and integrity of the Schengen area,” they said. “A divided approach risks undermining — and even counteracting — the pressure we seek to uphold against the Russian Federation.”

BRUSSELS — Germany and its allies rebuffed Ireland’s plan to downsize the bloc’s next seven-year budget, arguing that the proposed cuts are not enough. On Saturday, the Irish presidency of the Council of the EU, which is steering the talks, proposed cutting around 8% from the bloc’s total budget from 2028 to 2034 in a bid to assuage a German-led camp demanding reductions of several hundred billions euros. But Dublin’s hopes of facilitating a deal were immediately dashed by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, one the key players in the negotiations as his country contributes to approximately one-quarter of the bloc’s common budget. “We are still a long way from an agreement. The amount of the new proposal is not a basis for an agreement. The EU budget must be affordable for those who bear the brunt of the financing,” Merz wrote in a statement on Saturday. Germany leads a group of six “frugal” countries — Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Finland and Austria — which contribute 40% of the Union’s common budget. Most frugal countries criticized Ireland’s proposed €159 billion in cuts in current prices from the Commission’s nearly €2 trillion proposal, saying they were insufficient. Sweden’s Europe minister Jessica Rosencrantz described the negotiating document, or negobox, on X as a “wildly unaffordable increase,” as the overall amount would still be higher than the current budget. Austrian Europe Minister Claudia Bauer echoed that criticism, saying that the new budget remained “miles away from an Austrian yes.” Tensions will come to a head during a summit of EU leaders next Thursday and Friday, where they will discuss the negobox. EU governments are racing to reach a budget deal among themselves by the end of the year — before elections in France, Italy and Poland in 2027 threaten to derail negotiations. But Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen warned on Saturday that “at this rate, there will be no deal by the end of the year.” Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne, who leads the negotiations, dismissed criticism and described the proposal as a balanced compromise. “The negotiating box acts to bridge the many differences between the Member states,” Byrne told reporters on Saturday. Divided Union The EU is split between frugal countries pushing for cuts across the board and a rival camp of southern and eastern states, the Friends of Cohesion, opposing reductions to farmers’ subsidies and regional payouts known as cohesion policy. These areas account for almost half of the total budget and are politically sensitive because of pressure from farmers’ lobbies and regions. In a concession to the 17 Friends of Cohesion, Ireland left the agriculture and regional budgets untouched and focused cuts on other priorities such as competitiveness, defense and development aid. “There was a strong support for heading one [agriculture and cohesion] from almost all of the member states, including some of the countries who would be considered to be net contributors” to the budget, Byrne told reporters. Reactions to the negobox from the Friends of Cohesion were more conciliatory than those of their frugal peers. “It’s an excellent starting point to have recovered the money for the CAP [Common Agricultural Policy], but we’re still not satisfied,” said Italy’s Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida. Poland’s Europe minister Ignacy Niemczycki welcomed the fact that his country “continues to receive the largest allocation,” but noted that the “change in the overall size of the budget does not match the EU’s ambitions.” The frugals were also are disappointed that the cuts disproportionately target innovative policies such as defense and competitiveness, which they favor. “They’re cutting the future to protect the past,” said one EU diplomat from the frugal camp.

Trump condemns 'terrible' attack and says the US is evaluating whether to join Saudi Arabia's attacks on the Houthis.

President Donald Trump says the US ‘may’ join Saudi strikes against Yemen’s Houthis.

Trump suggests Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be replaced after Ukraine’s leader criticised diesel deal with Moscow

UK Secretary of State Chris Bryant blocked march through Catholic area after two weeks of escalating tension

Adam Barron is an independent Middle East political analyst and consultant, specialising primarily in Yemen, where he has reported from the capital, Sanaa, for The Economist. He writes for Foreign Policy and The Atlantic.

At least twelve people were killed in an attack on Riyadh's King Khalid International Airport on Saturday, including an Egyptian flight attendant, according to a medical source at a local hospital. Earlier this week, another attack on the airport by the Houthis killed three people and damaged a plane, though the Iran-backed group did not announce any new attacks on Saturday.

A Kenyan clinical psychologist is urging policymakers to incorporate mental wellbeing into farmer support programmes.

This follows the death in Nairobi on Monday of a Kenyan man who had travelled home from DR Congo through Uganda.