Latest news for 22 October 2025

GERMANY

Changing tides.

China overtook the US as Germany’s biggest trade partner in the first eight months of the year, primarily due to biting US tariffs on European goods. (Reuters)

Comment: The US had only just overtaken China as Germany’s top partner, as China raced up the value chain to produce things (like cars) it used to buy from Germany. The list of economies caught between China’s over-capacity and America’s tariffs will just get longer.

CAMEROON

Election chaos.

The electoral commission has declared incumbent Paul Biya (92) the provisional winner of last week’s presidential elections, with security forces now using tear gas to disperse protestors angry at the world’s oldest leader lining up his eighth term. Assuming this gets ratified, he’ll be 99 when his next term ends. (AfricaNews)

Comment: He’s been ruling Cameroon since 1982, doctoring the occasional election along the way, so this result was never really in doubt. The doubt is more around what happens now: Biya’s candidacy irritated key allies, and while his opponent (Tchiroma) is no spring chicken at 76, he still managed to unite a tired opposition, and claimed victory last week. Cameroon is a major cocoa exporter, so keep an eye on prices.

SOUTH KOREA

Off the hook.

A South Korean court has acquitted the founder of popular local messaging app Kakao of stock manipulation charges tied to a takeover battle for a K-pop firm. (Bloomberg)

Comment: In the immediate term, this verdict clears the billionaire (Brian Kim) to rebuild his tech empire and regain investor confidence. But for Korea’s broader economy, it’s a signal that maybe you don’t have to be a chaebol (Korea’s massive, dominant, family-controlled conglomerates) to thrive.

AUSTRIA

Sent back.

Austria has deported its first Afghan national (with criminal convictions) since the Taliban’s 2021 return to Kabul, dismissing safety concerns. Vienna was also recently Europe’s first to deport a Syrian national since Syria’s civil war. (Kabul Now)

Comment: Afghanistan and Syria are the top two sources of asylum seekers in Austria. With both wars now ostensibly over, and immigration-sceptic parties gaining ground in Austria and elsewhere, this trend will accelerate.

AUSTRALIA

Stop that.

Canberra and Beijing are again trading accusations after their latest military encounter in the South China Sea, with Australia’s defence minister criticising China’s “unsafe and unprofessional” release of flares near an Australian surveillance plane. For its part, Beijing claims Australia “intruded” into China’s airspace. (ABC)

Comment: Australia’s statement didn’t specify the exact location, beyond noting it was international airspace. China’s statement, meanwhile, argued it occurred within China’s ‘Xisha’ airspace — ie, the Paracel Islands, which are roughly equidistant between (and claimed by) China and Vietnam, but China has controlled them since ousting South Vietnamese forces in 1974.

UNITED STATES

School’s out.

More than 270 schools in the unincorporated US territory of Puerto Rico have shorter schedules this week, after a major water pipe broke on Sunday, leaving 165,000 folks across 15 cities (including San Juan) facing shortages. (AP)

Comment: The timing could’ve been worse: local megastar Bad Bunny only just wrapped his three-month / 30-concert residency on the island, single-handedly delivering a much-needed $200M tourism sugar hit.

SUDAN

Change of plans.

The international airport in Sudan’s capital of Khartoum was set to re-open today (Wednesday), though a presumed drone attack by the notorious RSF paramilitary might’ve just delayed the idea. There’s been relative calm since the army retook Khartoum from the RSF in March. (BBC)