The German government announced on Monday that it will lift its partial restrictions on arms exports to Israel, effective Nov. 24. The curbs were originally imposed in August, reported Xinhua. According to the German news agency dpa, federal government spokesperson Stefan Kornelius said the decision was largely prompted by the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. On Aug. 8, Germany halted the export of weapons to Israel that could potentially be used in Gaza, following the Israeli government's decision to expand military operations in Gaza. Kornelius said that once the embargo is lifted, Germany will resume its standard practice of reviewing Israeli arms export requests on a case-by-case basis. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Monday welcomed Berlin's decision to ease the restrictions.

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French President Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday signed a letter of intent under which Ukraine could purchase up to 100 Rafale fighter jets over the next decade, as well as other defense equipment, according to both leaders, reported Xinhua. The two leaders met in Paris. At a joint press conference, Macron said France and Ukraine would strengthen bilateral cooperation over the next decade, particularly in the defense sector. Macron added that France's support for Ukraine includes not only military assistance but also cooperation in civilian and economic fields. Zelensky wrote on X that the signing marked a "historic moment" for both countries.

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The British Home Office on Monday unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the country's asylum system, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood warning that the current framework is in "crisis," reported Xinhua. Under the new policy paper, people granted asylum will be required to wait 20 years before becoming eligible to apply for permanent settlement in the United Kingdom (UK). Earlier applications may be permitted for those who arrive through "safe and legal routes" and can demonstrate verified contributions to British society. The Home Office also plans to impose visa penalties on countries that fail to cooperate with the UK on returning rejected asylum seekers. In her statement to the House of Commons, Mahmood singled out Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, urging them to "comply with international rules and norms." The department said it would move ahead with domestic reforms to the application of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, aiming to close what it described as "loopholes" that allow "failed asylum seekers to make unlimited and free Article 8 claims to slow down their impending removal." Refugees' access to benefits will be prioritised for those who make economic contributions, and they will receive 30 months' leave to remain, which will only be renewed if they are still deemed to require protection, according to the department. According to Home Office figures, between June 2024 and June 2025, a total of 58,000 asylum claims were refused, while fewer than 11,000 people were removed from the country.

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Police in the Australian state of Queensland have fatally shot a man after he stabbed another man and threatened a woman in the early hours of Tuesday morning, reported Xinhua. The Queensland Police Service (QPS) said in a statement that officers responded to reports that a man had been stabbed in the neck by another man on a street in the town of Caboolture, 40 kilometers north of Brisbane, around 3:42 a.m. on Tuesday. The armed offender fled the scene on foot, the QPS said, and was found a short time later threatening a female member of the public. An officer shot the man, who died at the scene. The man who was stabbed was transported to hospital in a serious condition and the woman was not physically injured. The QPS said that the matter is under investigation.

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Suspected gunmen shot dead a staff member after invading a state-run boarding school and abducted dozens of girls from their dormitory during a pre-dawn attack in Nigeria's northwestern state of Kebbi on Monday, the police said, reported Xinhua. The gunmen, wielding sophisticated weapons and suspected to be "bandits," scaled the fence of the school and "abducted at least 25 students from their hostel to an unknown destination," local police spokesman Nafiu Abubakar Kotakoshi told a media briefing. Noting that more girls might be missing, Kotakoshi said another school staff member was injured in the attack. The incident occurred at the Government Girls' Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, a community in the Wasagu/Danko Local Government Area of Kebbi, early Monday, he said. Government forces are searching for the kidnapped schoolgirls, combing known routes of bandits and nearby forests, Kotakoshi said.

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Chinese car brands are steadily gaining ground in Finland as the Nordic country's transition toward electric mobility accelerates, with industry representatives predicting their market share will continue to rise in the coming years, reported Xinhua. Tero Lausala, CEO of the Finnish Central Organisation for Motor Trades and Repairs (Autoalan Keskusliitto, AKL), said in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua that although Chinese manufacturers accounted for only about 4 percent of new-car sales in the first ten months of 2025, they have become increasingly visible and attractive to Finnish consumers. Their growing appeal, he noted, is driven by strong performance in technology, innovation and competitive pricing-especially in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle (EV) sector. Finland's shift to electric mobility is accelerating. The share of fully electric cars in new registrations is expected to reach 34-36 percent this year, up from below 30 percent in 2024, Lausala said. Against this backdrop, Chinese brands are strengthening their foothold. "We have noticed that MG, BYD and Polestar are on the rise," he said, adding that although their overall volumes remain smaller than those of Finland's most established brands, their upward momentum is clear. Data from the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom show MG's sales in Finland in the first ten months of 2025 surged by 475 percent year-on-year, the fastest growth among all brands. Polestar's sales increased 105 percent, while BYD also recorded solid gains. In the battery-electric vehicle (BEV) segment, Polestar ranked eighth with a 5.7 percent share, followed by BYD at 2 percent and MG at 1.2 percent. According to Lausala, Finnish consumers have a strong appetite for new technologies, and local media frequently publish detailed reviews of new Chinese models, offering independent assessments that help build trust. "Finns are interested in innovations and the versatility of products coming from China, which is changing at a fast rate," he said. He added that Finnish buyers tend to be "price-conscious and very pragmatic," with charging speed, battery range and warranty conditions among their key priorities - areas where Chinese brands have made notable strides. Lausala said the greatest opportunities for Chinese automakers lie in Finland's mid-priced fully electric segment, particularly in models priced between 20,000 euros (23,203 U.S. dollars) and 40,000 euros. This range aligns well with incentives and consumer expectations on range and equipment levels. As more competitively priced models enter the market, he expects interest to grow further. Looking ahead, Lausala said Chinese brands can expand their presence if they combine product competitiveness with sustained commitment to the Finnish market. "They need both an importer and local retailers with a long-term commitment and relationship," he said. "The availability of service and repairs is essential for growth." Beyond sales potential, he also sees room for deeper industrial cooperation. Finland hosts an automotive software cluster of at least 100 companies, many eager to collaborate with Chinese partners. Opportunities also exist in charging technology, software and related equipment, he added. "Contacts with China are important for our organization," Lausala noted, adding that AKL regularly organizes delegations to China for its members. Data from JATO Dynamics, a global automotive market intelligence and data analytics company, show that Chinese car brands nearly doubled their market share in Europe in the first half of 2025, reaching a record 5.1 percent, while new registrations of Chinese-made cars rose 91 percent year-on-year. Industry forecasts suggest their market share in Europe could approach 10 percent by 2030. For Finland, Lausala expects a similar trajectory. As more models tailored to European standards arrive and cooperation with Finnish dealers deepens, he said Chinese brands are poised to play an increasingly significant role in the country's car market.

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Saudi Arabia said Monday that a shipment of 650,000 barrels of crude oil has arrived in Syria as part of a grant to support the country's energy sector, reported Xinhua. The shipment delivered to the port of Banias is the first tranche of a 1.65-million-barrel crude oil grant, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The grant agreement was signed on Sept. 11 between the Saudi Fund for Development and Syria's energy authorities, with oversight from the Saudi Ministry of Energy. According to the report, the initiative aims to boost the operation of Syrian refineries, support Syria's economic development, address its current economic challenges, and help stimulate key sectors of the Syrian economy.

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South Korea offered Monday to hold military talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to prevent accidental clashes and ease military tensions along the inter-Korean border, reported Xinhua. Kim Hong-cheol, deputy defense minister for national defense policy, said in a statement that some of the DPRK troops recently continued to cross the military demarcation line (MDL) inside the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and encroach upon the South Korean areas while building tactical roads and fences and laying landmines around the MDL. Kim said the South Korean military continued its response to the DPRK troops' encroachment through warning broadcasts and warning shots.

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The European Commission's autumn 2025 economic forecast shows that driven by a surge in exports in anticipation of U.S. tariff increases, the European Union's (EU) economy maintained growth, and it is expected to continue expanding at a moderate pace over the forecast horizon, reported Xinhua. In the report released on Monday, the Commission said the gross domestic product (GDP) of the EU is expected to grow 1.4 percent in 2025, with the eurozone expanding 1.3 percent. Growth in 2026 is forecast at 1.4 percent for the EU and 1.2 percent for the eurozone, both slightly lower than projections made in May. Eurozone headline inflation is projected to ease to 2.1 percent this year from 2.4 percent in 2024. Inflation across the EU is seen declining from 2.6 percent in 2024 to 2.2 percent in 2027, remaining slightly above the eurozone rate. Due to the increase in defence spending, the EU's fiscal deficit is expected to rise to 3.4 percent of GDP in 2027 from 3.1 percent in 2024. The EU debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to rise from 84.5 percent in 2024 to 85 percent in 2027, with the eurozone ratio set to rise from around 88 percent to 90.4 percent. The forecast noted that globally, trade barriers have reached historic highs, and the EU now faces higher average tariffs on exports to the U.S. compared with the spring forecast. Persistent trade policy uncertainty continues to weigh on economic activity, with tariffs and non-tariff restrictions potentially constraining EU growth more than expected. Any escalation in geopolitical tensions could intensify supply shocks, it noted. Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU's economy commissioner, said, "Given the challenging external context, the EU must take resolute action to unlock domestic growth. This means accelerating our work on the competitiveness agenda, including by simplifying regulation, completing the Single Market, and boosting innovation."

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One in seven children in Germany were at risk of poverty last year, official figures showed on Monday, reported dpa. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 2.2 million children and young people under the age of 18, accounting for 15.2% of the age group, were at risk of poverty in 2024. While the figure rose from 14% in the previous year, Germany remains better off that the European average of 19.3%. Compared to the total population (15.5%), children and young people are slightly less likely to be at risk of poverty. The statistical term covers people who have less than 60% of the median "net equivalent income." This is a weighted per capita income that also takes into account factors such as household size. In 2024, the threshold for a single person was €1,381per month. A single-parent household with a child under the age of 14 is considered at risk if it has a net income of less than €1,795 per month. Households with two adults and two children under the age of 14 were at risk of poverty if their net income was below €2,900. Statisticians identified low educational attainment among parents as a risk factor for low income and poverty. In addition, those under 18 who had immigrated to Germany themselves or whose parents had both immigrated were around four times more likely to be at risk of poverty (31.9%) than their peers without a migration background (7.7%).

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Lidl's parent company, the Schwarz Group, announced plans on Monday to build a new data centre in Germany at a cost of €11 billion, drawing praise from the government as it seeks to boost Germany's artificial intelligence (AI) credentials, reported dpa. The construction project represents the largest single investment in the firm's history, said Christian Müller, the co-chief executive of the firm's digital subsidiary Schwarz Digits. Müller attended the groundbreaking ceremony on the construction site in Lübbenau, south of Berlin. The first construction phase of the data centre is scheduled for completion by the end of 2027. According to the company, the centre will be powered by renewable energy during normal operation. Billions on AI infrastructure Some €2.5 billion is set to go towards construction, and the remainder will be spent on the IT infrastructure. There will be no government funding, the firm said. The data centre is designed to house some 100,000 specialist AI chips. By comparison, a new data centre being built by Deutsche Telekom and Nvidia in Munich will have 10,000 chips. The special chips will be used to train large models and sift huge data sets using AI. According to the plans, the waste heat generated by the computers will be fed into the district heating network of the regional energy supplier Süll and distributed to district heating customers in Lübbenau and the surrounding area. Boost for national computing capacity Germany's Digital Minister Karsten Wildberger said that the country needs more computing power: "Only with powerful data centres can we use AI applications on a large scale and strengthen our competitiveness," he said. The project by the Schwarz Group shows that Germany has the skills and expertise to advance its digital sovereignty, he said. "Today is a good start to a week in which we will focus on strengthening our own technological capabilities and our independence," he said, referring to a visit on Tuesday by French President Emmanuel Macron and digital ministers from across Europe. Major IT player As the parent company of Lidl and the Kaufland chain, the Schwarz Group is itself a major IT user. The two supermarket chains have steadily expanded their network in recent years. They now operate a total of around 14,200 stores in 32 countries. The group now employs around 595,000 people. The new data centre in Lübbenau will not only process its own data from delivery and ordering processes, payment transactions and customer loyalty programmes. It will also offer storage and computing power to external customers.

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A special tribunal in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka Monday sentenced Bangladesh's ousted ex-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in absentia to death for crimes against humanity during the protests in July and August in 2024, reported Xinhua. Meanwhile, the Awami League, the political party headed by Hasina and different human rights organisations termed the verdict as unfair, intentional and politically motivated as per the blueprint of Muhammad Yunus led interim government, according to international media. Bangladesh's former Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal was also awarded the death penalty, while former Inspector General of Bangladesh Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun was sentenced to five years' imprisonment in the case. The tribunal convicted Hasina of ordering a violent police response to a student protest, which led to her being removed from power last year. While Kamal remains a fugitive, his co-accused Mamun, in custody, has pleaded guilty and become the tribunal's first state witness since its establishment in 2010. Reacting to the verdict on Monday in a statement, Hasina said the death penalty was the interim government's way of "nullifying [her party] the Awami League as a political force" and that she was proud of her government's record on human rights, reported British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). "I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where the evidence can be weighed and tested fairly," said the BBC report, quoting Hasina as saying. Responding to the verdict, Amnesty International (AI) in a statement said that the trial and sentence is neither fair nor just. “Those individually responsible for the egregious violations and allegations of crimes against humanity that took place during the student-led protests in July and August 2024 must be investigated and prosecuted in fair trials. However, this trial and sentence is neither fair nor just. Victims need justice and accountability, yet the death penalty simply compounds human rights violations. Its the ultimate cruel, degrading and inhuman punishment and has no place in any justice process,” AI Secretary General, Agnès Callamard said. Callamard said that justice for survivors and victims demands that fiercely independent and impartial proceedings, which meet international human rights standards are conducted. Instead, this trial has been conducted before a court that Amnesty International has long criticized for its lack of independence and history of unfair proceedings. “Further, the unprecedented speed of this trial in absentia and verdict raises significant fair trial concerns for a case of this scale and complexity. Although Sheikh Hasina was represented by a court-appointed lawyer, the time to prepare a defence was manifestly inadequate. Such unfair trial indicators are compounded by reports that defence cross examination of evidence deemed to be contradictory was not allowed,” Callamard. Awami League in a statement denounced the verdict terming it intentional, politically motivated and ill motive of Muhammad Yunus to abolish the Awami League and the spirit of country´s liberation war. Earlier in May2025, the interim government in Bangladesh led by Muhammad Yunus banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party headed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The interim government lodged hundreds of murder cases against the Awami League leaders and activists, leaders of pro-liberation organisations, cultural activists andjournalists indiscriminately. The government also took various anti-liberation moves and indulged the activities and vandalisms by the July-August protesters, Islamists and religious fundamentalists all over the country. US based newspaper The New York Times in a reportentitled “As Bangladesh Reinvents Itself, Islamist Hard-Liners See an Opening” focused the rise of Islamists during the regime of Muhammad Yunus led government. Earlier, On February 5, the protesters under the banner of anti-discrimination student movement, demolished the residence of Bangladeshs founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,housing the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum in Dhaka. In February this year,a group of

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