HUNGARY: Foreign Minister Anita Orban said today that a criminal complaint has been filed with prosecutors over possible fraud related to the previous government’s purchase of ventilators worth some $965 million (£715m) during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The previous administration purchased around 17,000 ventilators in 2020, drawing criticism that it was buying far more units than could be realistically deployed.

KILLER ROBOTS: The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross issued a joint call today for countries to adopt bans and restrictions on the use of autonomous weapons systems, known as killer robots.

“We are now dangerously close to crossing a moral red line: The autonomous targeting of humans by machines,” said a joint statement by UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric.

HUMAN RIGHTS: The European Court of Human Rights today slammed Turkey’s courts over the imprisonment of prominent philanthropist Osman Kavala, saying it highlighted a “systemic problem” that was “marked by the detention and prosecution of political opponents, human rights defenders and journalists.”

Mr Kavala was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2022 on charges linked to 2013 protests and a coup attempt in 2016.

MECCA PACT: Bangladesh said today that it would consider joining the Mecca pact, a mutual defence agreement signed this month by Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan, a minister said.

“If there is a security arrangement among Islamic nations in the Middle East, it is not unusual for us to consider participating. It is being viewed positively,” said junior Foreign Minister Humayun Kabir.