European Union

Putin and Erdoğan agreed on Monday in Sochi to establish a demilitarised zone to avert an offensive against Idlib, the last rebel stronghold in Syria. Russia has sided with Assad in the Syrian war, whereas Turkey is seen as the opposition's protecting power. Commentators believe Erdoğan has scored a success with the talks, and outline Ankara's interests in Syria.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's has upgraded Cypriot government bonds' status to "investment-worthy". After six and a half years at junk status the analysts have assigned them the BBB credit rating. Journalists examine the impact the 2013 banking crisis is still having on the country today.

Croatia's Labour Minister Marko Pavić has proposed bringing the raise in the retirement age forward to 2031. Originally the planned increase from from 65 to 67 years of age was not to take place until 2038. Bringing the retirement age up to 67 has been stipulated by the European Commission. For some journalists the initiative is timely, but others worry about the fate of future pensioners.

In the Netherlands, one recycling plant is doing what many in the industry have labelled “impossible”, by recycling household packaging and making a financial success of it. EURACTIV went north of the Belgian-Dutch border to see the operation in action.

African emigrants are defying a campaign by Morocco to keep them away from land and sea crossings to Spain, which has become the main entry point to Europe for migrants and refugees following crackdowns elsewhere.

Today’s adoption by the European Commission of a new ‘Connectivity Strategy’ linking Europe and Asia throws down the gauntlet to an increasingly assertive China, writes Bart Broer.

EU antitrust regulators will decide by 19 October whether to clear US software giant Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of privately held coding website GitHub.

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