Author: staff

At least three people were killed in Russian strikes in Donetsk, the region’s governor said. Large parts of the territory on Russia’s border have been occupied by Moscow’s troops, but Ukraine maintains critical defensive fortifications in the region. Russian President Vladimir Putin last week demanded Ukraine cede full control of the region as part of a peace deal, according to reports. In Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said a child was killed and several people injured in a Russian assault, while in Odesa, an overnight bombardment set fire to an energy facility. The barrage comes just two days after Putin met with…

Published on 18/08/2025 – 8:36 GMT+2 Veteran American stuntman Ronnie Rondell Jr., who was famously set on fire for the iconic cover of Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ album, has died aged 88. Rondell Jr. performed in more than 200 films, inclduing How The West Was Won, Lethal Weapon, Twister and The Matrix Reloaded. Arguably one of his most famous stunts – especially for music fans – can be seen in the photograph created by legendary artist Storm Thorgerson and Aubrey Powell of the English art design group Hipgnosis for Pink Floyd’s ninth studio album, 1975’s ‘Wish You Were…

But the booming arms business isn’t undermining Fico’s political pledge on aid to Ukraine, Deputy Defense Minister Igor Melicher told POLITICO. “The Slovak government pledged to its citizens in its manifesto that we will not send a single bullet from our state warehouses to Ukraine, and we are keeping this promise,” Melicher said in a statement to POLITICO.  Slovakia’s official help is made up of non-lethal aid and critical electricity supplies “necessary for the functioning of Ukraine as a state.” However, the government makes no secret of the fact that it has no problem with private companies selling arms.  “We…

The legal frameworks on either side of the Atlantic are starkly different. Washington treats them as strategic assets, with laws like the Defense Production Act allowing the government to fund domestic mining, steer supply chains and prioritize defense needs in emergencies. The U.S. maintains a national reserve through the Defense Logistics Agency — a federal safety net designed for wartime contingencies. Despite that, it continues to need China. Brussels, by contrast, has taken a softer path: the Critical Raw Materials Act establishes high-level targets and frameworks, but leaves actual implementation to voluntary coordination among member countries — with no central authority…

Nach dem Alaska-Gipfel zwischen Trump und Putin kommt es heute zum nächsten Treffen, diesmal im Weißen Haus: Merz, Macron, Meloni und weitere europäische Staats- und Regierungschefs begleiten Wolodymyr Selenskyj. Was können die Europäer ausrichten, während Trump erneut vor allem Druck auf die Ukraine ausübt? Jonathan Martin analysiert die heikle Mission von Washington aus.Im 200-Sekunden-Interview: CDU-Außenexperte Norbert Röttgen darüber, was die Europäer Trump wirklich anzubieten haben – und warum sie in Washington nicht als Vermittler auftreten.Finanzminister Lars Klingbeil schließt im ZDF-Sommerinterview Steuererhöhungen nicht aus. Rasmus Buchsteiner über die Hintergründe und die gewaltige Haushaltslücke von 170 Milliarden Euro. Und: Außenminister Wadephul in…

Zelenskyy put out his own message shortly thereafter, reiterating that “we all share a strong desire to end this war quickly and reliably” — and alluding to parameters of his own around territorial concessions and security guarantees. “Peace must be lasting,” Zelenskyy wrote in a post to X. “Not like it was years ago, when Ukraine was forced to give up Crimea and part of our East—part of Donbas—and Putin simply used it as a springboard for a new attack. Or when Ukraine was given so called ‘security guarantees’ in 1994, but they didn’t work.” Trump reportedly said he believed…

“We think it’s a shared responsibility … There’s no single bullet or silver bullet to say: This one company, solve it for everyone,” said Vinay Goel, director of age assurance at Google. “Developers are best situated to know what is potentially risky.” The ban debate There’s doubt, even among the staunchest supporters of strict action and teenagers themselves, that a ban would be effective. “Well-enforced age verification, parental tools and digital literacy programs,” for example, might achieve better outcomes than bans, said WHO Health Security Director Natasha Azzopardi-Muscat. Others, including Kuźmitowicz, are concerned that there are always ways to circumvent…

Published on 17/08/2025 – 21:02 GMT+2 Ahead of a landmark meeting of the ‘Coalition of the Willing’ in Washington on Monday, European leaders reiterated the need for a united front with Ukraine to achieve a robust peace.  These European leaders took part in a video call with Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday ahead of Monday’s talks with US President Donald Trump.  Discussions reportedly focused on key matters such as the need to stop the fighting in Ukraine, the commitment to maintain full pressure on Russia through sanctions, the principle that it…

According to Zelenskyy, Russia has failed to conquer the Donetsk region of Eastern Ukraine, which Moscow has pushed to control since 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin “has been unable to take it for 12 years, and the constitution of Ukraine makes it impossible … to give up territory or trade land,” Zelenskyy said. The New York Times reported on Sunday that Trump told European leaders that he believed peace could be negotiated if Ukraine agreed to give up territory in the east of the country. Key parts of the Donetsk region, including the strategic cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, have…

Von der Leyen stressed that existing measures have proven effective against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, highlighting that frozen Russian assets have already been redirected to support Ukraine. “We need to prepare the 19th package so that Russia sees that we are serious,” she said. “We must continue to limit Russia’s potential.” She added that the EU would keep targeting Russia’s war economy “to bring President Putin to the negotiation table.” Von der Leyen is set to be among the European leaders who will accompany Zelensky when he meets with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on…