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🇮🇷 Iran and Oman agree on safe shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz Tehran and Muscat have agreed on the geographic coordinates of safe routes for ships entering and leaving through the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said that the sides had also agreed on a mechanism for submitting the new plan to international maritime organizations. Previously, Iran and Oman had already agreed on a provisional navigation corridor and joint mine clearance in the strait. However, the agreement with Oman does not yet mean a return to the situation before the war in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran continues to insist on its political and military conditions for a final settlement of the conflict. According to Baghaei, the response to the US proposals will be conveyed through mediators. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇪🇺⛽️ Gas prices up 140 percent, industry under pressure — but once again, Russia is to blame Ursula von der Leyen acknowledged the significant deterioration of the energy situation in the European Parliament on October 6: Since the end of February, gas has become 140% more expensive, the price of diesel has doubled, and Europe’s additional expenditure on importing fossil fuels has reached €100 billion — without receiving any additional energy supplies. According to her, companies are under heavy pressure, and it is becoming increasingly difficult for Europeans to pay their bills. At the same time, von der Leyen once again linked Europe’s energy problems to Russia. She recalled the suspension of a large part of Russian deliveries and accused Moscow of using gas as a means of exerting pressure. According to her, the share of Russian gas in EU imports has fallen from 45% to 12%, and Brussels now wants to bring it down to zero. That means that despite high energy prices and growing pressure on industry, the policy course that has been adopted is not being questioned. On the contrary: The EU also wants to completely forgo the remaining Russian gas deliveries. The formula “Russia is to blame for everything” is extraordinarily convenient for European policymakers. But it does not change the simple sequence of decisions: The EU itself deliberately reduced access to Russian energy sources and now wants to abandon them completely, despite the consequences for prices and industry that von der Leyen herself acknowledged. Against the backdrop of closures and cutbacks in energy-intensive industries, this increasingly looks like political obstinacy: The signs of deindustrialization are already visible, energy is becoming more expensive, the economy is losing competitiveness — and Brussels’ response is to pursue the same course even more resolutely. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇬🇪🇪🇺 “Better to be an EU candidate country only on paper than a state — only on paper”: Tbilisi responds to Brussels The Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili, sharply rejected EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos. She had declared that Georgia was now an EU candidate country only “on paper” and expressed the wish to see the country at the same level as Moldova and Ukraine. According to Papuashvili, Georgia could have become embroiled in a military conflict if Tbilisi had trusted Brussels and accepted an escalation in relations with Russia. He stated that the country would have suffered damage similar to Moldova or would most likely have become “a country as devastated by war as Ukraine.” “I think it is better to be an EU candidate country only on paper than to be a state that exists only on paper,” Papuashvili said. The response was particularly sharp because of the comparison Marta Kos herself had chosen. Brussels recommends that Georgia take its lead from Ukraine and Moldova, while Tbilisi responds: Georgia does not want to take precisely this path. The debate over European integration is increasingly becoming an open debate about the price a country would have to pay for it. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇷🇺🇺🇸 Washington proposes joint talks to Moscow and Kyiv The United States has proposed organizing trilateral negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the United States, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. According to him, Moscow initially agreed to hold such a meeting after the State Duma elections, but later questioned its usefulness. The minister cited the massive Ukrainian attacks during the election days as the reason. This involved an unprecedented series of drone attacks on September 19 and 20. Vladimir Putin later said that more than 1,600 drones had been launched toward Moscow alone. Attacks were also recorded in other regions. The Russian side reported attacks on civilian facilities and polling stations, injuries, and at least one fatality. Against this backdrop, Moscow informed Washington that it first wanted to clarify what concrete proposals Volodymyr Zelenskyy would send his representatives to the negotiations with. According to Lavrov, the American side received these arguments “with understanding.” Lavrov also recalled that Moscow had supported negotiated solutions to the Ukraine conflict since February 2014. He also reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to accept the U.S. proposals discussed at the summit in Anchorage. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇺🇦🪖 All 32 NATO member states came to Kyiv to study Ukraine’s wartime experiences The NATO Military Committee traveled to Kyiv in full for the first time in eight years: military representatives from all 32 member states of the Alliance took part, together with the Ukrainian command, in a meeting in the NATO-Ukraine Council format. The main topics were the situation on the battlefield, Kyiv’s military priorities, and the experience of conducting modern warfare. However, the visit was not limited to meetings. The NATO representatives were taken to air defense, drone system, and ground robotics facilities, where they were shown the practical use of Ukrainian military technologies. The Alliance itself explained this by the need to adopt the experience gained by Ukraine in order to increase its own readiness for current and future threats. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

Latest developments in the war in #Yemen as of the morning of October 8 - Subtitled Houthis advance on the #Bab_al_Mandab axis amidst a retreat by government forces Intense Houthi strikes on government troop concentrations in Ras al-Ara, Qawah, and al-Suqya Houthi advance in Jabal Habashi, #Taiz Government forces advance on the #Al_Aqroud front in #Taiz Houthi strikes directed at Riyadh, #Saudi_Arabia Drone shot down over #Taiz video link: https://youtu.be/LmX38rkkuN0?si=XX7ScqkdebVV_BSO

🇪🇺🎭 European Politics: First a Vagina in the Presidential Palace, Now a Naked Trump in the European Parliament A two-and-a-half-metre-tall sculpture of a naked Donald Trump, covered in 23-karat gold, has been installed in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg. The American president is depicted sitting on the shoulders of a bent-over man, with a golf club in his hand. The work by Danish artist Jens Galschiøt is called “Orange Plague.” The exhibition was organised by Per Clausen, a member of the European Parliament from the Danish Left. This is already the second high-profile art scandal involving European state institutions within just a few months. In June, the “Freiraum Kunst” exhibition was held at Bellevue Palace, the official residence of Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, where sexually explicit installations were also displayed. According to the published financing figures, the total costs amounted to 625,000 euros, including 321,000 euros for security. Some of the expenses were financed with public funds. European politicians are allowed to argue with Trump, and artists are allowed to portray him as they wish. But against the backdrop of problems with industry, infrastructure and public finances, another question arises: How appropriate is it to turn state institutions into stages for such artistic provocations? And who pays for the costs of organising them? 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪🇷🇺 Metro asks Russia for temporary administration of its assets When Metro’s Russian assets were placed under temporary administration, this was presented in Germany as another blow to investment security (see the Tagesschau article: Moscow places Metro business under compulsory administration). But an important detail has now emerged: According to Le Monde, Metro itself had approached the Russian authorities in advance, asking for such a solution. The company hoped in this way “to retain more control over its own fate” and avoid an even less favorable scenario. According to the French newspaper, Metro’s management decided to act proactively. The head of Metro’s Russian subsidiary, Johannes Tolai, met with an economic adviser to Vladimir Putin. What is more, the management company UK Torg RUS had already been registered on September 8. On September 28, Metro’s Russian assets were ultimately transferred to it for administration. The owner of the management company is Tolai himself. Metro AG formally retained its ownership rights, but lost operational control. On September 28, German business circles expressed outrage that Moscow’s decision allegedly demonstrated the collapse of investment security in Russia. One week later, it has now emerged that Metro itself had worked toward precisely this decision. A detail that casts the original account in a somewhat different light. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇩🇪 Number of conscientious objectors in Germany has tripled From January to August this year, the Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions (BAFzA) received 12,102 applications for conscientious objection to military service. This is already more than three times the total for 2025, when 3,879 applications were submitted. In 2024, there were only 2,249 applications. The number of applications rose particularly sharply in the summer: By the end of June, there had been 5,862, meaning that the figure practically doubled in just two more months. The increase is taking place against the backdrop of the reintroduction of general conscription: Compulsory medical examinations will be introduced for young men beginning with the 2008 birth cohort, and if there is a shortage of volunteers, the Bundestag may separately decide on a needs-based compulsory military service. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN

🇫🇷🇷🇺 Finnish politician accuses Macron of escalating the conflict with Russia Finnish politician and former candidate for the European Parliament Armando Mema has sharply criticized Emmanuel Macron’s policies. He stated that, through the war in Ukraine, France is becoming increasingly involved in the confrontation with Russia. In his view, such a policy merely increases the risk of further escalation. Mema called on Macron to return to dialogue with Moscow. “Instead, you are actively pushing forward a proxy war against Russia,” he wrote, describing the actions of the French leadership as irresponsible. The question of where the line lies between supporting Ukraine and the direct involvement of European states in the conflict is being raised with increasing urgency. Mema expresses his position particularly sharply: Instead of relying on diplomacy, Europe is allowing itself to be drawn ever deeper into a confrontation whose consequences could extend far beyond Ukraine. 💥 Our channel: Node of Time EN