Latest news for 24 September 2025

UNITED KINGDOM

At ease?

Health officials from the EU, the UK, and elsewhere are advising that paracetamol is (within dosage and duration guidelines) safe during pregnancy, after President Trump argued there are links between Tylenol and autism. (PBS)

DENMARK

Another day, another drone.

Large unidentified drones have closed the main airports in Copenhagen and Oslo, with Danish authorities saying the disruption bears the hallmarks of a “capable actor”. Local outlets are reporting investigators are looking at three suspicious ships that were present offshore at the time (all with links to Russia). (The Guardian)

Comment: The very public US-Denmark spat over Greenland might explain why a hostile actor would seek to target Copenhagen rather than some other US ally — it’s a low cost way to test (and fan local doubts around) US dependability.

CHINA

No special treatment needed.

China has announced it’s no longer seeking Special and Differential Treatment under its developing country status at the WTO, a major shift long sought by the US. (Straits Times)

Comment: This has the potential to breathe new life not only into US-China trade talks, but also broader WTO reform discussions due in Cameroon next year.

EUROPEAN UNION

Tech tools.

Meta (of Facebook, Insta, and Whatsapp fame) is now allowing certain US allies like France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and South Korea — plus EU and NATO institutions — to use its Llama AI model for defence-related tasks, waiving old restrictions with DC’s blessing. (Euractiv)

Comment: It’s interesting to see how many NatSec players — like the Pentagon, Anduril, and Palantir — are already building with Llama. That’s the benefit of going open-source (clients can download, fine-tune, then deploy without limits).

INDONESIA

Done deal.

After 19 rounds and nine years of talks, Jakarta has finalised a trade deal with the EU to remove tariffs on most EU and Indonesian goods. (Euronews)

Comment: It’s a reminder that, almost counter-intuitively, increased US tariffs will often lower tariffs elsewhere, as US trading partners rush to diversify. The fact the EU is allowing tariff-free palm oil from Indonesia also suggests Brussels might be prioritising economic over environmental resilience (though the two sides will apparently work to ensure compliance with the EU’s deforestation legislation).

BRAZIL

Out of town.

It’s not every day a routine trip by a US diplomat abroad generates headlines back home, but Bloomberg is reporting the top US envoy in Brazil is headed to the COP30 host city of Belem for talks around Amazon deforestation. (Bloomberg)

Comment: It’s generated US headlines because of the arguable dissonance with President Trump’s more climate-sceptical remarks at UNGA. But this Belem trip is really an extension of Trump’s America First approach: his team has long argued that illegal deforestation in Brazil gives farmers an unfair advantage over US competitors.

EGYPT

Go free.

One of the most prominent figures from Egypt’s Arab Spring, dual British citizen Alaa Abd el-Fattah, has scored a presidential pardon from the Sisi administration, walking free after first getting jailed in 2014. (AP)

Comment: This mix of harsh sentences and presidential pardons is partly an attempt to stifle dissent without just fanning more dissent.