On 12 August, the leaders of all five coastal countries adopted a framework convention on the legal status of the Caspian Sea during the Caspian Summit in Aktau, Kazakhstan.

On 18 August, Alyaksandr Lukashenka carried out a major government overhaul, dismissing the prime minister, four out of five deputy prime ministers and four ministers.

On 18 August, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting at the castle in Meseberg near Berlin.

The shortage of truck drivers has already reached 45,000. That is also the number of truck drivers who retire annually, and only 16,000 new drivers are available annually.

The Chinese company Yantai Taihai withdrew from its attempt to purchase Leifeld Metal Spinning, a manufacturer of machinery and spare parts for the aerospace industry.

On 1 August, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on two Turkish ministers, those with the portfolios of internal affairs and justice.

The history of the special services and the ideas which organise them in the symbolic sphere are an important part of the reflection on their contemporary role and position. Over the centuries, the secret services defined Russia's…