Oct 9, 2026, 04:00 PM UTC

Former Slovenian national football team captain Aleš Čeh and striker Jan Mlakar have weighed in on their connections to rivals Olimpija Ljubljana and Maribor ahead of the upcoming derby.

Čeh, who captained Slovenia during manager Srečko Katanec’s tenure and later spent over a decade as his assistant, expressed deep affection for both Olimpija and Austrian club Grazer AK, while emphasizing his respect for Maribor. Following his playing career, Čeh coached alongside Katanec for 11 years, including seven years managing in Asia.

Meanwhile, 27-year-old Ljubljana-born forward Mlakar discussed his third stint with Maribor. Despite his hometown roots, Mlakar stated that he "was never close to Olimpija" and expressed complete trust in Maribor's leadership. Mlakar also noted that while Olimpija currently faces a rough patch, a derby match presents an ideal opportunity for a struggling team to recover.

Sources: Delo, Siol.net

Historical analyses continue to identify 1989 as the pivotal year that established the contemporary international order. While Western perspectives often focus on the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of communism across Eastern Europe, historians emphasize that simultaneous events worldwide created distinct trajectories for global powers.

In Asia, Beijing's suppression of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations reinforced authoritarian governance alongside state-directed market reforms. Meanwhile, the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan underscored Moscow's declining strategic influence, hastening the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc. Analysts contend that these interconnected developments fundamentally reshaped the post-Cold War world, replacing ideological bipolarity with today's complex multipolar dynamics.

Sources: Die Presse

In Geneva, 128 nations established a formal definition for autonomous weapon systems, marking a milestone in global regulation. The consensus arrived as the UN and the International Committee of the Red Cross warned that machines autonomously targeting humans risks crossing a "moral red line." Concurrently, Germany’s Defense Ministry clarified that while overall force decisions remain under human control, specific weapon functions may operate without step-by-step human intervention. To ensure technological sovereignty, the Bundeswehr rejected software from US vendor Palantir, opting instead to build a proprietary AI data analysis platform. Analysts stressed that sovereign decision-making capabilities are becoming vital for modern defense.

Sources: Correctiv, Der Spiegel, Der Standard, Die Zeit, ESUT.

Polling ahead of the Berlin state election places Die Linke in the lead at 22 percent, driven by strong youth support, followed by the CDU and AfD tied at 18 percent. Demographic reporting highlights contrasting trends: while overall turnout among residents with a migrant background remains lower, some young citizens of Turkish origin cite safety concerns in considering the AfD. Simultaneously, election officials fixed a data transmission error in Spandau, reallocating a constituency seat from the CDU to the AfD and reducing the state parliament size by five seats.

Sources: Correctiv, DW, FAZ, Tagesschau, Die Zeit

Forensic procedures are under way to identify the remains of at least 23 individuals recovered from three sites in Zubin Potok, northern Kosovo. Exhumation operations in the municipality concluded on August 21 under the direction of Kosovo's Governmental Commission on Missing Persons, supported by international bodies.

The International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) is leading the genetic testing, analyzing bone samples to compare against family reference databases. ICMP Western Balkans head Samira Krehiq noted that locating and exhuming the remains represents only the initial phase of a complex identification process. The victims are suspected to have died during the 1998–1999 Kosovo conflict.

Sources: Gazeta Tema, Koha.