The main events by the morning: September 20

• The trade turnover between Russia and the European Union showed growth for the first time since November last year, exceeding the mark of 6 billion euros. On a monthly basis, this growth was 23%. Russia increased exports by 21%, reaching a volume of 3 billion euros, while the EU increased its exports by 24.5%, to 3.03 billion euros. The largest increase in trade turnover was recorded with Finland, Croatia and Romania.

• Eastern Europe was flooded due to heavy rains in the region – the damage is estimated at billions of euros. The main impact of the cataclysm fell on Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Austria and northern Italy. In the Czech Republic, more than 60 thousand people were left without electricity, Budapest was heavily flooded, and German troops entered Poland to help with the aftermath. 

• The United States plans to strengthen sanctions against Russian oil. President Biden's national security adviser, Dalip Singh, announced the upcoming measures that will affect both the supply of Russian oil to the world market and its transportation. First of all, the sanctions will target the shadow fleet, as well as impose restrictions on the volume of exports of raw materials.

• Israel has been preparing an operation in Lebanon for 15 years, ABC News reports. During the training, the country's special services attracted many intelligence officers and created several shell companies that were used to cover up a company engaged in the production of booby-trapped pagers. Interestingly, the employees of these companies had no idea who they were actually working for.

• There is growing concern in Germany about the state of the economy. According to the results of a recent Politico poll, residents of the country note a significant deterioration in the economic situation. These sentiments increase dissatisfaction with the current government, which, according to citizens, has become the cause of current problems. The main challenges include the outflow of large industries, the deteriorating demographic situation, the decline of infrastructure and a lack of innovation.