In a referendum held on Sunday, 70.2 percent of Swiss voters rejected a stricter stance on neutrality. The principle of neutrality, as enshrined in the country's constitution, means that Switzerland does not take part in wars or join military alliances. The initiative was put forward by the association Pro Schweiz, which is backed by Swiss industrialist and politician Christoph Blocher and closely aligned with the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party (SVP).
For the first time since January 2022, the German and Russian foreign ministers met in person on Saturday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly. However, there was apparently no convergence of positions during the 20-minute meeting between Sergey Lavrov and his German counterpart Johann Wadephul. The media discuss the diplomatic efforts aimed at resolving the war in Ukraine.
China's President Xi Jinping was received with great pomp by Donald Trump in Washington last week. Both sides emphasised the "friendship" and "progress" in their relations. It was announced today, Monday, that an agreement had been reached on tariff cuts totalling 30 billion dollars and the establishment of a trade council to meet at regular intervals. A forum for dialogue on regulating AI is also to be set up.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, have once again warned the UN Security Council in New York of the dangers of unregulated development of artificial intelligence. They called for internationally applicable control mechanisms to mitigate the potential risks posed by AI. The European press is concerned.
According to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the US administration has invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the G20 summit in Miami in December. "In order to solve problems, you have to meet with the people that you disagree with," he said. The EU has said it does not intend to boycott the summit, pointing out that it wants a say in any peace deal for Ukraine.
The EU has agreed at the last minute to extend the current sanctions against Russia – which target around 3,000 individuals and organisations – for another three years. However, at the instigation of France, Luxembourg and Slovakia, two oligarchs, Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman, have been removed from the list. Kyiv is outraged. Europe's press is incensed.
The case of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who was evicted from the flat in Madrid where she had lived for more than 70 years, has triggered outrage in Spain. Real estate company Urbagestión had raised her rent from 500 to 2,650 euros, well beyond what Abascal could afford on a monthly pension of 1,350 euros. Hundreds of demonstrators tried to prevent the eviction, without success. Spain is currently facing a severe housing crisis.
Portugal implemented the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) in April with the introduction of the Volta bottle deposit scheme. However, the system is now under fire: Lisbon's mayor Carlos Moedas has called on the government to scrap it on the grounds that it encourages the city's homeless to rummage through bins in search of returnable bottles, scattering rubbish on the street in the process.
Xi Jinping, China's president and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party, is due in Washington for a state visit today. The talks between the two superpowers will focus on contentious issues of global relevance: the truce reached last year in the trade war over tariffs and rare earths is due to expire in November. The regulation of AI, Taiwan, Iran and Ukraine are also on the agenda.
US President Trump has banned several media outlets including the TV channel CNN and news website Politico, which is owned by the Springer-Verlag, from the White House. The President justified the move citing "fake news" about his activities. In response, TV channels ABC, CBS, Fox News, NBC and CNN have suspended their pool coverage of the president.
The United Russia party has secured a clear victory in the Russian parliamentary elections: according to the electoral commission it secured 58 percent of the vote. However, due to the allocation of direct mandates, the Kremlin's ruling party holds around 350 of the 450 seats in the Duma. The remaining seats go to four other pro-Kremlin parties; genuine opposition parties were not allowed to stand for election.