PRESS REVIEW – Thursday, October 15: First, reported Starlink disruptions in Ukraine make the European front pages. Next, US papers go into more detail about the situation. Also, an unusual alliance forms in Germany between far-right and far-left parties. Meanwhile, the winners of the Wildlife»»»

EU leaders head to a summit on Thursday seeking a deal on the bloc’s nearly €2 trillion budget for 2028-2034 by Christmas amid deep divisions over spending and fears that upcoming elections, particularly in France, could strengthen eurosceptic forces. EU leaders on Thursday head for their biggest c»»»

BRUSSELS, Belgium: EU leaders on Thursday head for their biggest clash yet over the bloc’s next long-term budget, as they race to lock in a deal before next year’s French presidential election. The 27-nation European Union wants an agreement by Christmas, worried that any future dealmaking will be »»»

Bulgaria ranks 21st among the 29 Schengen Area countries in the Passport Reports ranking published on October 13, 2026, while placing 20th in the overall global passport ranking, according to the platform. Romania is one position ahead of Bulgaria in the Schengen list, at 20th, while Croatia ranks »»»

Doha: The Doha Film Institute announced the selection of 22 films to participate in the International Short Film Competition at the 2026 Doha Film Festival, scheduled to take place from November 19 to 27. The list includes two films making their world premiere, and 19 films being screened for the f»»»

Britain ranks seventh and US tenth as UAE leads global passport mobility rankings for 2026 Dubai: The UAE passport has been ranked the most powerful in the world in the 2026 Passport Index, giving Emirati citizens access to 182 destinations without having to obtain a traditional visa in advance, ac»»»

Real estate consultancy Colliers is expanding its Office Leasing team, with Simona Urse joining the company as Associate Director | Tenant Services. With 20 years of experience in real estate, including 14 years in the office sector, Simona will work with companies reassessing their space requireme»»»

Romania recorded 32.9 completed homes/1,000 inhabitants during the analyzed decade. This compares with 33.6 in Germany, 34.4 in Slovakia and 31.5 in Czechia. Residential construction intensity was considerably higher in markets such as Poland, with 55.2 homes/1,000 inhabitants, France (52.8), Finla»»»

The Bulgarian passport ranks 21st among the passports of the 29 Schengen Area countries and 20th in the global ranking published Tuesday by international research platform Passport Reports. Ahead of Bulgaria in the Schengen ranking are Romania and Croatia, in 20th and 19th place, respectively. Bulg»»»

Péter Magyar indicated in an interview with the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat that he may meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Brussels as early as this week. The prime minister described the complete rewriting of the constitution as one of his government's most important tasks. In»»»

Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar has indicated that he could meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Brussels as early as next week. In an interview with Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat, published on Saturday, Magyar also described a complete rewrite of Hungary’s Constitution as one»»»

WASHINGTON: Russian strikes hit multiple Ukrainian power plants on Sunday after US President Donald Trump’s claim that both sides had agreed to stop hitting each other’s energy infrastructure, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said. Zelensky, in a post on social media, said a drone had hit a K»»»

Helsinki, Oct. 11 (SANA) A Syrian delegation held talks with Finnish officials on Saturday on expanding cooperation on migration and the return of Syrians, with both sides stressing the importance of ensuring safe and sustainable returns linked to recovery and reconstruction. The delegation was led»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom will pursue legal proceedings with Finland to their conclusion, after Finland terminated the contract for the construction of a nuclear power plant with Russia, through to the end, Rosatom CEO Alexey Likhachev said on Saturday. Earlier in»»»

Macron defends ambitious EU budget against German-led austerity push Brussels: Daggers have been drawn over the European Union's next seven-year budget, with Germany and France at loggerheads over whether Brussels should make deep cuts in a battle increasingly expected to overshoot the end of the y»»»

It has been dubbed "the PISA shock". Countries that had been used to their school pupils performing well in test scores are seeing a plunge in standards. The PISA test is an international assessment led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which measures how well 15»»»

BusinessFinlandFinland, the world's happiest nation, faces a glum winterNik MartinFinns have many reasons to feel content, but the country's pile of debt is not one of them. Russia's war in Ukraine has added to the fiscal burden. Can the Nordic nation absorb another shock? https://p.dw.com/p/5Nl7MF»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Finland will participate in NATO’s Steadfast Noon nuclear deterrence exercise in October by sending staff officers, the Finnish Defense Ministry said on Friday. "Finland will participate in NATO’s annual nuclear deterrence exercise, Steadfast Noon, from October 12 to 24," the sta»»»

UAE families are favouring shorter trips, with some October fares still under Dh2,000 Dubai: UAE families heading abroad for the October school break are increasingly opting for shorter-haul destinations such as Georgia, Azerbaijan and the Maldives, with last-minute economy fares ranging from about»»»

On October 6, drones struck two commercial vessels inside Bulgaria's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea, roughly 70 nautical miles off the coast near Cape St. Atanas and the town of Byala. It was the first attack of its kind recorded there. The Togolese-flagged vessel suffered severe structur»»»

Dubai accounts for 78% of UAE staycation bookings as outbound demand also stays strong Dubai: UAE staycation bookings have jumped 31 per cent year-on-year ahead of the October half-term break, with families increasingly choosing shorter holidays closer to home, dnata Travel announced on Thursday, a»»»

Doha, Qatar: From the legacy of the World Cup to the horizons of the Olympics, Qatar is writing a new chapter in its sporting journey as it pursues its ambition to host the 2036 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This bid builds on accumulated experience in organizing major global championships, as well»»»

Melbourne, Australia: A new global definition of clinical obesity classifies far fewer children as obese than the widely used body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height, an international study has found. The findings, published in eClinicalMedicine, part of The Lancet, could lead»»»

OpenAI has selected INSAIT Founder and Scientific Director Martin Vechev to help study and refine new text watermarking technology, the Education and Science Ministry said on Wednesday. Vechev is among a select group of leading researchers chosen for the work. INSAIT is Sofia University's Institute»»»

STRASBOURG, France — EU chief Ursula von der Leyen warned Tuesday against a push by Germany and other member states for "large cuts" to the EU's next long-term budget, saying "critical" European priorities were at stake.Germany and five other so-called "frugal" countries , Austria, Denmark, Finland»»»

Europe’s rolling stock runs on 1,435 mm gauge rails, incompatible with the 1,520 mm gauge left over in Ukraine from the Czarist and Soviet periods, military expert Anatoly Matviychuk told Sputnik, commenting on a Ukrainian minister’s remarks to UK business media that Ukraine has run out of locomoti»»»

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Dnevnik reports that presidential candidate pair Iliana Iotova – Kiril Valchev would receive 44.5% of the vote, according to an Alpha Research survey of the candidates’ starting positions. Sociologist Genoveva Petrova of Alpha Research told Bulgarian National Television (BNT)»»»

The US is pressuring France and Germany to tap emergency diesel reserves to help bring down soaring global prices, and has threatened not to export the fuel if they refuse, Reuters has reported. Washington wants the EU to release 120 million barrels over the next six months as US President Donald T»»»

Finland's government on Friday survived a parliamentary vote of confidence called over the government's Middle East policy following a criticized visit to Israel by the defense minister. Opposition parties have accused the right-wing government of internal policy differences and inconsistency on th»»»

Lifestyle and environment may speed up ageing in early adulthood, study finds Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland have found that biological ageing may begin accelerating as early as young adulthood, with lifestyle, environmental exposures and living conditions potentially influen»»»

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The European Union has begun drafting contingency plans in case German Chancellor Friedrich Merz resigns or shifts his focus to domestic affairs amid disastrous election results and infighting within his coalition, the Western media reported on Friday, citing diplomats and offici»»»

Hungary sees one of the EU’s sharpest annual house price increases, but the latest quarter brought an unexpected turn. House prices in the European Union rose 4.7% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, Eurostat reported Thursday. Prices increased 1.2% compared with the previous quarter. In th»»»

Offensive military infrastructure is being deployed around the Kaliningrad region, Alexander Stepanov, an expert at the RANEPA Institute of Law & National Security, told Sputnik, commenting on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s remarks about a potential NATO attack. “Four multinational groups, comp»»»

HELSINKI: Finnish police said on Thursday they have launched a preliminary investigation into a series of suspected intrusions at the homes of members of parliament. Helsinki police said in a statement they were working closely with the National Bureau of Investigation and that the inquiry was at a»»»

Helsinki: Finnish authorities said Thursday they were investigating a slew of suspected break-ins at the homes of members of parliament, which President Alexander Stubb said would be "an attack on democracy" if confirmed. Following media reports of the break-ins, speaker of parliament Jussi Halla-a»»»

Paysafe, the payments group behind Skrill, Neteller and PaysafeCard, is reshaping its consumer business around a single account. PaysafeWallet, introduced on 22 April 2026, turns PaysafeCard’s former Account & Card product into a full-service digital wallet with a dedicated IBAN and debit card, and»»»

Daily A350 service from Dubai gives the UAE its only year-round direct link to Finland Dubai: Emirates operated its first flight from Dubai to Helsinki, introducing the only year-round direct link between the UAE and Finland on October 1. Flight EK167 departed at 7.30am with a near-full passenger a»»»

Advisor to the Prime Minister and Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dr. Majed bin Mohammed Al Ansari met yesterday with Under-Secretary of State for International Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland H E Jarno Syrjala, who is visiting the count»»»

Minister of Communications and Information Technology H E Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai met with Undersecretary of State for International Trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland H E Jarno Syrjälä and the accompanying delegation which included representatives of several Finnish technology»»»

Minister of Communications and Information Technology HE Mohammed bin Ali Al Mannai met with Undersecretary of State for International Trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland Jarno Syrjälä and his accompanying delegation to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between Qatar and Finla»»»

Doha: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior HE Abdullah bin Khalaf bin Hattab Al Kaabi met with Under-Secretary of State for International Trade at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland HE Jarno Syrjala, who is visiting the country. The meeting discussed cooperation relati»»»