MULTILATERAL: Russian Drones in NATO Airspace & more – 16th Sep 2025

Saluton from BA! This is the Rorshok Multilateral Update from the 16th of September twenty twenty-five. A summary of what's going down in the world's major multilateral institutions.

Our first story this week is about a major new security concern: on Wednesday the 10th, Poland pushed NATO into consultations after alliance jets downed Russian drones that strayed into Polish skies. It was the first time such aircraft were destroyed over a NATO country.

Russia is insisting the drones weren’t meant for Poland, and Belarus floated the idea of navigation glitches. NATO’s chief stressed this wasn’t an isolated event and pledged close watch along the eastern frontier.

On Thursday the 11th, the UN Security Council, backed by the US, condemned recent airstrikes in Qatar that killed Hamas political figures. All fifteen council members signed onto a statement denouncing the attack, though it did not say that Israel carried it out. The remarks stressed Qatar’s sovereignty and called for tensions to dial back. Qatar argued the attack undermined the ceasefire talks on the war in Gaza it was helping mediate.

More on the UN, as on Friday the 12th, the General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a non-binding resolution pushing for a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine. 142 countries voted in favor, ten opposed, and twelve abstained.

Sponsored by France and Saudi Arabia, the plan lays out phased steps toward ending the decades-long conflict. It calls for a Palestinian state, governance by the Palestinian Authority over its territories, and a temporary international mission for stabilization.

Israel and the U.S. rejected the resolution, arguing it’s counterproductive and dismissing the idea of a Palestinian state.

For some context, the idea of creating an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel was first discussed in a British plan in nineteen thirty-seven and later in the nineteen forty-seven UN partition plan. Despite repeated negotiations and international support, deep disagreements over borders, security, Jerusalem, and refugees have prevented its realization.

Also on Friday the 12th, the EU dropped its antitrust case against Microsoft regarding the communication platform Teams, after Microsoft agreed to a set of changes that addressed competition regulators’ concerns. Microsoft will now offer versions of its services without Teams at a lower price. This fix and others are legally enforceable for years, letting Microsoft avoid a major fine.

The European Union has made several high-profile legal cases against Microsoft, mainly over antitrust violations starting in the late nineteen nineties and early two thousands. The EU fined Microsoft for abusing its market dominance, particularly by bundling Windows with software like Windows Media Player and by restricting interoperability with competitors. These cases resulted in billions of euros in fines and set major precedents for how the EU regulates large technology companies.

In health news, on Friday the 12th the World Health Organization announced that in twenty twenty-four, cholera became a bigger health concern: infections went up only a little, but deaths soared to above 50% more compared to twenty twenty-three, with over 6,000 lives lost. Despite being preventable and treatable, the disease remains under-reported.

In twenty twenty-four, sixty countries logged cases, mostly in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Some nations, including Comoros, saw major outbreaks after long quiet periods. A high fatality rate in Africa shows how weak access to care is. While vaccine stockpiles improved, demand still outpaces supply.

The World Health Organization is calling for better water and hygiene, faster treatment, stronger tracking of outbreaks, public awareness, and more vaccine production to bring both deaths and infections down.

Still in updates on health, on Wednesday the 10th, UNICEF reported that obesity rates among kids have finally overtaken underweight rates. The number of school-age children and adolescents carrying excess weight has more than tripled since two thousand. Regions such as the Pacific Islands, Latin America, and the Middle East are seeing especially high rates.

UNICEF is urging governments to clamp down on junk food advertising, improve school food rules, protect policy-making from industry influence, expand access to healthy diets, and boost surveillance of diet and nutrition trends.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the 10th, the Pan American Health Organization rolled out a new regional initiative to tackle rising suicide rates across the Americas. The plan is designed to help countries strengthen national prevention strategies, expand access to mental health services, and improve early detection and follow-up care. It also emphasizes reducing stigma, guiding responsible media coverage, and promoting community awareness.

The Organization highlighted that this is the only region worldwide where suicide deaths have climbed since two thousand, underscoring the urgency of coordinated action to reverse the trend and protect vulnerable populations.

On another note, on Tuesday the 9th, the Food and Agriculture Organization convened a major international meeting in Brazil. It brought together hundreds of experts to coordinate responses to the fast-spreading bird flu, which has severely impacted poultry, wildlife, trade, and even reached dozens of mammal species since twenty twenty. Key themes include boosting early warning systems, vaccination, and biosecurity, especially in poorer and backyard poultry setups.

A couple of days later, on Thursday the 11th, the UN Development Program or UNDP, with support from Saudi Arabia, started fixing bakeries in Syria to help more people get affordable bread. The project covers thirty-three bakeries in eight regions and should benefit about 1.4 million people, including displaced families and vulnerable groups. Repairs will modernize equipment, add mobile bakeries, and boost daily bread output. Around 350 bakers will be part of the effort.

The UNDP says the goal is not only to improve food access but also to create jobs and support communities, as they deal with ongoing conflict and the aftermath of the collapse of the previous government.

In Ukraine, on Friday the 12th, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe finished a specialized workshop in Kyiv to help businesses and financial experts use open data more effectively. Running in cooperation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, the National Bank, the banks’ association, and other partners, the training brought in mostly business leaders.

They learned how to use open data for market research, visualizations, automating processes, and building start-ups or banking tools. The effort is part of a larger project funded by the U.S., Poland, and Norway to foster good governance and a friendlier business environment via digitalization.

In other news, on Thursday the 11th, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development announced that governments worldwide have been progressively imposing tax reforms in twenty twenty-four, mainly to keep up with bigger spending needs like health care and pensions. Many countries lifted social security contributions to cover long-term protection systems, while also rolling back temporary breaks first introduced during the pandemic or inflation spikes. Officials leaned more on excise taxes for things such as alcohol, tobacco, and sugary drinks, and widened the use of VAT and carbon pricing.

In Africa, on Thursday the 11th, the International Monetary Fund finished its twenty twenty-five review of Djibouti and gave a mixed message: growth and reserves are steady, but debt levels remain a worry. The Fund urged the government to strengthen its public finances by reforming state-owned firms, broadening taxes, and trimming non-essential spending.

Djibouti’s economy is based on its strategic location along key shipping lanes, making port services and logistics central to its growth. The government relies on revenue from foreign military bases, port fees, and related services. Beyond logistics, the economy is small and dependent on imports, with limited natural resources and high unemployment remaining major challenges.

And for our final story this week, on Thursday the 11th, the International Organization for Migration began requesting sixteen million US dollars to meet the urgent needs of about 130,000 people hit by recent earthquakes in eastern Afghanistan as winter approaches. The focus is on shelter, clean water, healthcare, sanitation, and mental health support.

Afghanistan and its surrounding region sit on a special area where the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates collide. As a result, earthquakes are relatively common, especially in the Hindu Kush mountains, and can sometimes be powerful and destructive. The combination of frequent seismic activity and vulnerable infrastructure makes the region particularly prone to earthquake-related disasters.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

Don’t forget that we do many other updates. We’ve got country and non-country updates, including the Arctic and Ocean shows.

Check the full list with the link in the show notes.

See you next week!