AI research company OpenAI reported that during an internal test of its new AI models last week the software independently hacked its way into the systems of another AI company. The AI models apparently managed to break out of their isolated test environment and gain access to the internet. Commentators voice concern and call for appropriate measures.
The Austrian government wants to extend compulsory military service from six to nine months. Its 6+3 scheme is intended to boost the Austrian army's operational readiness and better prepare soldiers for crisis and defence tasks. To make military service more attractive, holiday entitlement will be introduced and pay will be hiked up to 1,000 euros a month. The press is very sceptical.
In July 2025, after more than 40 years of civil war, the PKK has symbolically laid down its arms. Reconciliation with the Kurds is now to be placed on a legal footing, and Turkey has announced that is preparing the legal framework for a peace process that will regulate disarmament, returns and reintegration. The speaker of Turkey's parliament, Numan Kurtulmuş, called for Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood.
Berlin's Christopher Street Day parade was cut short on Saturday evening following an attack. A van driver ploughed into a crowd on the fringes of the festival and then attacked passers-by with what appeared to be a machete. One woman died and 29 people were injured. The suspected 21-year-old perpetrator was a known Islamist. He was shot dead in a police operation on Sunday.
In the Romanian spa town of Băile Tuşnad, former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has called on his supporters to 'resist' his successor Péter Magyar’s government. Around 7,000 people listened to his keynote speech at the annual summer camp in Transylvania, during which he reassured his supporters that he would return to the political stage. This was Orbán’s first major public appearance since his electoral defeat in April.
An advertising campaign for meat producer Rannarootsi has sparked a fierce debate in Estonia. A photo shows two men barbecuing against a backdrop of huge clouds of smoke, with the slogan: 'The right barbecue makes bitter onions sweet'. In Estonia, 'onion' is a slang word used to refer to Russians. The national press reports on the outrage among Estonia's Russian-speaking community.
Kazakhstan is widely regarded as Russia's silent ally. But now its president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has called on Kremlin boss Vladimir Putin to end the fighting in Ukraine. At a summit in Omsk, Russia, at which both leaders were present, he urged Putin to freeze the conflict, adding that the causes of the war, which has resulted in heavy losses for both sides, was incomprehensible.
The Polish opposition party PiS has split following months of conflict between party leader Jarosław Kaczyński and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The break-up came after Morawiecki and his supporters rejected an ultimatum to pledge loyalty to the party leadership, with the result that more than 30 MPs have now left the party. The backdrop is disagreements over the party's direction in the run-up to the general election in 2027.
The US and Saudi Arabia have signed a deal that will allow the Gulf kingdom to establish a civilian nuclear programme. The agreement is to form the foundation of a partnership under which the US exports nuclear technology worth several billion dollars to Riyadh. According to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the deal will also enforce nuclear nonproliferation. Commentators are concerned that it will put the Saudis on the path to developing a nuclear weapon.
The EU has hit Google with an 890-million-euro fine for unfair business practices. The US company was ruled to have used its market dominance to breach competition regulations via its search engine and app store, Google Play, to the detriment of its competitors. Commentators reflect on market power and its abuse.
Triggered by a court ruling, the crisis within Turkey's main opposition party, the CHP, has intensified, with former leader Özgür Özel announcing that he is leaving the party to form a new one. Ekrem İmamoğlu, the imprisoned Mayor of Istanbul and Erdoğan's strongest rival, is believed to be behind the controversy. However, the current party leader, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, has appealed for the party, which was founded in 1923, to stick together.
After fraught negotiations, the EU Commission has decided on its 21st sanctions package against Russia. Restrictions on the Russian financial sector will be further tightened and the 'price cap' on crude oil exports will remain at a low of 44 dollars per barrel. But individual countries intervened to block numerous proposals to sanction fish imports, LNG transportation and entry requirements for tourists, for example.