A Taiwanese institute has unveiled a new model of armed “robot dog” designed for coastal patrols, reconnaissance, and high-risk military missions. The machines were presented during an event in Taipei on Tuesday.

National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology (NCSIST) demonstrated three weaponized quadruped robots walking, crouching, and navigating uneven terrain. The machines are said to be based on the Vision 60 platform developed by US firm Ghost Robotics.

The models include reconnaissance, combat, and LiDAR-equipped variants, and can be used for patrols, perimeter security, and target tracking in all-weather conditions. The robots weigh around 52kg and have a top speed of 2.5 meters per second.

Jen Kuo-Kuang, the deputy director of NCSIST’s Missile and Rocket Research Division, said the institute has already had preliminary contact with the Taiwanese military, which he said sees an urgent need for the robots in coastal surveillance, maritime patrols, and base perimeter security. 

Taipei has recently approved a special defense budget allocation of about $280 million for US arms purchases amid perennial tension with Beijing.

China considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory – a position shared by the vast majority of countries, including Russia. Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly warned that while Beijing seeks peaceful reunification with Taiwan, it would not rule out the use of force to reclaim the island if provoked.

Chinese authorities have repeatedly condemned Taipei’s ties with Washington and continued US arms sales and military cooperation with the self-governing island, describing it as interference in China’s internal affairs.

US President Donald Trump recently described arms deliveries to Taiwan as “a very good negotiating chip” with China, while also saying he supports maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

India has slammed the European Union (EU) for a joint statement it issued with Pakistan that mentioned Jammu and Kashmir, a deeply sensitive issue for New Delhi. 

The document issued by the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas and Pakistani Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Monday equated Jammu and Kashmir with the Ukraine conflict. It expressed support for the “peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and diplomacy, in accordance with the principles of the UN Charter.” 

Kallas was in Islamabad for the eighth round of strategic dialogue between the country and the EU. 

On Tuesday, the Indian Foreign Ministry said New Delhi categorically rejected “unwarranted references” to its internal affairs. 

“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral and inalienable parts of India. Those who have no locus standi in such matters should refrain from making any comments on them,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. 

VIDEO | Delhi: Responding to a media query regarding the EU-Pakistan joint statement referring to Jammu and Kashmir, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) says, "Regarding the reference to Jammu and Kashmir, we would like to state that we categorically reject such… pic.twitter.com/QLHZumaVPP

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 2, 2026

India has repeatedly emphasized that Jammu and Kashmir is an internal matter and vehemently opposed any third-party involvement or mediation in its dispute with Pakistan. 

Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have fought three major wars over Kashmir, and India struck Pakistan last year following a terrorist attack in Pahalgam. 

In January, India raised its concerns to Polish Deputy Prime Minister Radoslaw Sikorski about his visit to Pakistan in October last year. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said New Delhi expects its partners to not help “fuel terrorism” in its neighborhood. 

Sikorski’s visit irked New Delhi as it came a few months after the India-Pakistan conflict in May 2025. Citing the EU’s sanctions on India’s trade and oil imports from Russia, Jaishankar said that “selective targeting of India is unfair and unjustified.” 

India and the EU finalized a trade deal in New Delhi in January, with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen describing it as “the mother of all deals.”

The annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) will be held over June 3-6. In its nearly three decades of existence, this event has borne witness to fundamental global shifts—and it has shifted along with the world.

Founded with the aim of facilitating foreign investment in Russia, it became known as Russia’s Davos in the 2000s, when Western executives descended upon St. Petersburg in their private jets in the hopes of securing lucrative business deals. In recent years, SPIEF has a very different feel but it has remained one of Russia’s most important economic forums and is now a key platform for discussing the transformations taking place in the global economy.

This year’s event, as usual, will draw many in the upper echelons of Russia’s business and political elite, as well as foreign business and government representatives from across the globe. Famously dubbed by Alexander Pushkin a “window to Europe,” St. Petersburg is becoming a window to a new multipolar world.

History

SPIEF dates its origin back to 1997, when Russia was struggling through a chaotic and difficult transition to a market economy. Initially, the main goal of SPIEF was to attract foreign investment and project an image of being ready to do business in the post-Soviet world. Just over a year after the first SPIEF was held, Russia would default and plunge into a severe economic crisis.

However, the forum persevered, and as Russia’s economy expanded during the 2000s, Western banks, energy firms, consultancies, and industrial companies started showing up to SPIEF in droves. The event became one of the key stops on the global business calendar.

SPIEF and the World Economic Forum even signed a cooperation agreement in 2007, which symbolized Russia’s desire at the time to be seen as fully integrated into the globalization era. It was around this time that the label “Russian Davos” stuck.

Russia’s current role in the vanguard of multipolarity has led many to assume that SPIEF has always been centered on Eurasia, BRICS, and the Global South. It wasn’t. Somebody striding through the forum halls around 2010–2013, for example, would have encountered major Wall Street banks and major European energy companies – and possibly European heads of state. Attendees in years past have included, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Jean-Claude Juncker, ex-IMF chief Christine Lagarde, Goldman Sachs’ Lloyd Blankfein, and Exxon’s Rex Tillerson. This was a time when Russia was trying to position itself as a central player inside the existing global economic order.

There was traditionally a strong energy angle to SPIEF. Top Western oil and gas executives were a common sight in the midnight sun of St. Petersburg in June. Bankers and businessmen would mingle on the sidelines of the event, sometimes with serious propositions at stake.

Throughout the late 2000s and 2010s, SPIEF became a venue for announcing major energy and infrastructure agreements involving Russia, European states, China, and others. Even when deals were negotiated elsewhere, they were often unveiled at SPIEF because the event provided maximum visibility and prestige.

Over the years, the presidential address became one of the forum’s defining features. Analysts routinely scrutinize these speeches for policy signals.

The Ukraine conflict in 2022 transformed the event, but by no means did it disappear. Many would argue that it has gained a new and more important mission as the world evolves away from Western hegemony. Whereas some saw in the reduced Western presence at SPIEF Russia’s isolation, others glimpse a future multipolar world.

The Western media has tended to mock the post-2022 SPIEF as passé and insular, with one former attendee telling The Guardian that an invitation to it is “totally toxic.” The lack of Western dignitaries is seen as a step down in prestige. Often left unremarked upon in these accounts is the collapse in popularity and trust in the West itself of the same Western elite that now shuns the forum.

Last year’s event, meanwhile, saw 24,200 participants and media representatives from 144 countries and territories, while over a thousand agreements were signed. The largest delegations came from Indonesia and China.

In the spotlight this year: AI

AI has become a significant area of focus for the Russian government. President Vladimir Putin has established a presidential commission devoted to the development of AI technologies to streamline state policy.

A senior executive at Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank and an innovation leader, recently told RT that “Russia has fertile soil for AI-linked business development.” The bank also released Russia’s first comprehensive guide on integrating artificial intelligence into the production cycle of digital companies.

Not surprisingly, AI is a prominent theme at this year’s SPIEF. In fact, 14 of the roundtable sessions scheduled explicitly mention AI in the title – and that’s only a surface analysis. AI will invariably come up in numerous other talks throughout the three-day event as well.

What is noteworthy is the extent to which the AI discussion has shifted in just a couple of years. For comparison, SPIEF in 2023, which came just months after ChatGPT burst into public consciousness, reflected much of the techno-optimism of the time. The official press release on Sberbank’s AI Journey at SPIEF 2023 displays a focus mostly on AI capability and how its capabilities can be best harnessed. The questions being asked were the same ones many countries were being asked at the time. Implicit was the notion that Russia catching up in an exciting new field.

These days a very different set of questions are being asked in Russia, and this is reflected in the topics on the docket this week in St. Petersburg. Many sessions are less concerned with what AI can do than with its implications. Topics set for discussion include: “AI and cognitive influence”; “AI-mediated perception”; “AI and sovereignty”; “AI and governance.”

A session entitled “The Struggle for Economic and Cognitive Influence in the AI Era” promises to address not so much AI as a technology, but, according to the program, “who controls the flow of information and the logic by which it is constructed in this new system” and “whose narratives are reproduced and scaled.”

In other words, this is a shift from asking what AI will deliver to asking what kind of environment AI is producing and who will control it. For Russia, as for a number of other countries, the concept of AI sovereignty has become a central concern. Russia is treating AI very much within the context of a larger state and even civilizational narrative.

What else is on the agenda

The overall theme for this year´s forum is: “Pragmatic Dialogue – The Path to a Stable Future.” A major point of focus is governance in a multipolar world. Whereas Davos might assume the current West-led globalization as the baseline and inquire how it could be better managed, SPIEF is looking to help build a new model of global development. Accordingly, much of the forum will not merely address the question of boosting economic growth, but will grapple with the institutional and technological foundations of a changing world order.

Several thematic blocks have been chosen: A Platform for Global Growth: Shaping a New Development Model, “Putting the People First: A New Development Paradigm”, “Raising the Quality of the Environment for Living and Growth”, “The Technologies Shaping the Future.”

Meanwhile, a major theme running throughout will be sovereignty. The word appears 51 times in the event program. Sovereignty appears in connection with a variety of spheres: digital, financial, cultural, information, and technological. Even health will be presented as a foundation of national sovereignty.

This reflects something of a shift in how sovereignty is being understood. Traditionally associated with territory and borders, sovereignty is increasingly being discussed in the context of scaffolding: supply chains, payment systems, data infrastructure, artificial intelligence, media ecosystems, and technological standards. Many of the forum’s discussions begin from the assumption that countries will seek greater control over critical systems rather than rely exclusively on globally integrated networks.

Return of the West?

After the Ukraine conflict began in 2022, top-level Western representation largely disappeared, although the Western presence didn’t dry up entirely. Now, however, the winds seem to be shifting again.

At last year’s event, the number of business representatives from the US increased by almost a third. This year, a formal Germany-Russia business dialogue is being resumed after a hiatus since 2022. Germany was once among Russia’s most important trading partners, while German industry largely depended on cheap Russian gas to remain competitive. The reinstatement of forum-level dialogue despite the German government’s ongoing hostile stance toward Russia is seen as significant.

This comes as numerous Western companies have begun to demonstrate an interest in returning to the Russian market. Several Western oil majors met with Russian industry representatives during an energy conference in Abu Dhabi last November, according to The Economist. Several American firms that had left Russia, including Apple and McDonald’s, have recently registered new Russian trademarks.

In an interview with Russia’s Channel 1 late last year, Putin said: “We have letters from American companies, letters they have sent us where they ask us not to forget about them. These are our former partners who left Russia not on their own will.”

“I believe Europe should approach China not with fear and suspicion but with confidence and a serious, open-eyed willingness to cooperate,” Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić wrote in an opinion piece for the South China Morning Post, published on the first day of his late-May state visit to Beijing – a visit he described it as the most important trip of his political career.

At a time when many Western countries frame relations with Beijing through the lens of strategic rivalry, Belgrade has chosen a different path – one based on pragmatic engagement and mutual benefit.

During the visit, which took place from May 24 to 28, Chinese President Xi Jinping awarded Vučić the Order of Friendship, the highest honor China bestows on foreign nationals. The two countries adopted two joint political statements, while 23 intergovernmental agreements and 10 additional documents involving ministries, agencies, and companies were signed. The agreements reveal a focus shifting from infrastructure financing and heavy industry toward technological integration, industrial modernization, and long-term strategic cooperation.

With almost €1 billion in newly announced investments, Serbia and China are laying the foundations for a partnership increasingly centered on innovation rather than simply construction.

Serbia 2030 and the search for a new development model

For Belgrade, the visit was fundamentally about accelerating economic development and implementing Serbia 2030, a step-by-step national modernization strategy Vučić had unveiled in March. Over the past decade, China has played a central role in Serbia’s economic transformation through investments in transport infrastructure, energy, mining, and manufacturing.

Projects such as the acquisition and revitalization of the Smederevo steel plant and the Bor mining complex demonstrated how Chinese capital could rescue strategically important sectors while preserving jobs and industrial capacity. Investments in highways, railways, bridges and energy facilities will further strengthen Serbia’s economic foundations.

Today, however, Serbian policymakers are seeking a different stage of development.

Vučić has repeatedly argued that Serbia must move beyond an economic model based primarily on low-cost labor and foreign direct investment. Instead, the country aims to develop domestic technological capabilities, higher-value production, and greater economic resilience. China is uniquely positioned to support that transition.

Unlike many Western financing mechanisms, which are often slower and accompanied by extensive political and regulatory conditionality, Chinese investment offers speed, flexibility, and a willingness to engage in large-scale strategic projects – just what a country pursuing rapid modernization needs.

The visit therefore marked not merely a continuation of existing cooperation but a qualitative shift toward sectors expected to define global competitiveness in the coming decades: artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, robotics, green energy, digital infrastructure, and high technology.

Building Europe’s next technology hub

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the new partnership is Serbia’s ambition to become a regional center for advanced technology and innovation.

One of the most high-profile projects currently under discussion involves cooperation with Chinese technology firms in the field of humanoid robotics. Earlier this year, Vučić revealed negotiations with the Chinese company AGIBOT regarding what could become Europe’s first service-robot manufacturing facility. The proposed investment would reportedly include not only a robotics factory but also data centers supporting artificial intelligence development and machine-learning training.

Such a project would align closely with Serbia’s broader ambition to establish itself as a hub for AI and supercomputing in Southeast Europe.

The government plans to double national data-center capacity to one gigawatt by 2035, expand state-operated digital infrastructure, and develop a Serbian-language artificial intelligence model. Chinese expertise, financing, and technology transfer could significantly accelerate these objectives.

Another striking example of technological cooperation is the MOSAIC satellite project. Supported by Chinese technical expertise, Serbia’s first domestically designed satellite is expected to launch in 2027, representing a remarkable milestone for a country with limited previous experience with space technology.

At the same time, Serbia’s geographic position offers advantages for Chinese investors. Through its network of trade agreements, preferential access to European markets, relatively competitive production costs, and willingness to engage pragmatically with international partners, Serbia is emerging as a potential gateway through which Chinese capital, technology, and manufacturing can reach broader European markets.

Trade, energy, and the new industrial partnership

Economic ties between the two countries continue to deepen. The Serbia-China Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in 2024, has become a crucial institutional mechanism for expanding bilateral commerce. By lowering tariffs and facilitating market access, it has encouraged greater economic exchange and opened opportunities for Serbian exports.

Nevertheless, Belgrade is aware that trade growth alone is insufficient. Serbia continues to run a significant trade deficit with China, reflecting a broader challenge facing many developing and middle-income economies. Serbian policymakers increasingly recognize the need to move beyond exporting raw materials and importing finished manufactured products.

That is one reason Chinese foreign direct investment, although still highly important, has become more selective. Following years of rapid expansion, Chinese investment flows into Serbia declined in 2025 – not because their partnership has weakened, but because Belgrade is now prioritizing investments in technology-intensive sectors instead of concentrating primarily on mining and heavy industry.

Energy represents another area where Chinese cooperation could prove decisive.

Serbia faces a complex challenge: ensuring long-term energy security while simultaneously pursuing gradual decarbonization. The government estimates that more than €14 billion in energy-sector investments will be required between 2028 and 2035. These investments include hydropower modernization, expansion of wind and solar generation, upgrades to gas infrastructure, and, most significantly, the creation of Serbia’s first nuclear energy program.

Chinese nuclear companies have already expressed an interest in the Serbian market, particularly regarding small modular reactors, a technology increasingly viewed worldwide as a practical path toward reliable low-carbon electricity generation. Discussions involving the China National Nuclear Corporation have reportedly explored possible future cooperation in this field.

If realized, such projects would represent one of the most significant technological leaps in modern Serbian history.

Defense partnership

Security and defense cooperation also featured prominently in the broader context of the visit. Serbia’s policy of military neutrality requires the diversification of partnerships and procurement sources, making China an increasingly important defense partner.

In recent years, Serbia became the first European country to operate several major Chinese defense systems, including HQ-22 medium-range air-defense missiles, HQ-17 short-range air-defense systems, and CH-92A and CH-95 unmanned aerial vehicles. Additional interest reportedly exists in the long-range HQ-9B surface-to-air missile system.

Defense cooperation extends beyond procurement. Serbian and Chinese engineers have already cooperated on the development of Serbia’s own Pegaz drone, demonstrating the potential for joint technological development rather than simple buyer-seller relationships. As Belgrade seeks to digitalize its armed forces and security institutions, opportunities for cooperation in artificial intelligence, unmanned systems, cybersecurity, surveillance technologies, and data analytics are likely to expand.

A multipolar future

Critics often portray cooperation between China and smaller European states as a source of geopolitical tension.

For Belgrade, however, engagement with Beijing is not about replacing partnerships with Europe or other international actors. Serbian officials consistently emphasize that Chinese projects complement rather than substitute for cooperation with Western partners.

Serbia needs infrastructure, technology, energy security, industrial upgrading, and strategic investment. China possesses the capital, expertise, manufacturing capacity, and long-term planning horizon to help deliver them.

The results of Vučić’s May visit indicate that both sides recognize this convergence of interests.

The “ironclad friendship” frequently invoked by Chinese and Serbian leaders is often dismissed abroad as diplomatic rhetoric. Increasingly, however, it reflects a tangible reality. From artificial intelligence laboratories and robotics factories to satellites, nuclear energy, and advanced defense technologies, the partnership is moving into areas that will define economic and strategic power in the twenty-first century.

For Serbia, the objective is rapid modernization, economic resilience, and long-term stability. China sees Serbia as a trusted European partner, willing to pursue cooperation which is grounded in mutual respect and shared development.

In a world increasingly shaped by fragmentation and geopolitical suspicion, that may be the most important message emerging from Belgrade and Beijing: nations do not have to choose between sovereignty and cooperation. Mutual interests and tangible results can turn strategic partnerships into powerful instruments of modernization and long-term stability.

Armenian citizens will suffer significant economic damages should incumbent Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan implement his strategy of breaking trade with Russia in favor of integration with the EU, Russian Parliament Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said.

Armenians will go to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament. The vote is widely viewed as a referendum on the country’s geopolitical alignment, as Pashinyan claims the land-locked post-Soviet republic can benefit greatly from closer ties with the West. 

Volodin on Tuesday accused Pashinyan of misleading voters by downplaying the negative consequences of his proposal, reacting to the prime minister’s promise to compensate farmers from the state budget for any produce that spoils if they lose privileged access to the Russian market.

Armenia is one of five members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) – alongside Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan – an economic organization that operates a single market and harmonizes regulations to facilitate trade, investment and other forms of economic cooperation. Yerevan has been previously warned that membership in the EAEU is incompatible with its EU aspirations.

“Apparently, Pashinyan has made a personal pledge to see Armenia join the EU… while trying to put the costs on the EAEU and Russia,” Volodin wrote. “Obviously, he does not care about the fate of the Armenian people and statehood. He cares about staying in power.”

Volodin outlined the major consequences that would follow a potential withdrawal from the EAEU, including a nearly fourfold increase in gas prices after the loss of preferential Russian supplies, a sharp drop in remittances from Russia, tighter employment rules for Armenian migrant workers, and the suspension of exports of key Armenian products.

“The price will be steep,” the official warned.

Volodin compared Armenia’s current trajectory to that of Ukraine, arguing that Kiev’s expectations of greater access to EU markets had failed to materialize and that the country’s agricultural exports had instead faced tariff quotas and other restrictions. He warned that Armenia could face similar risks.

Armenia remains heavily reliant on the Russian market. According to UN data, Russia accounted for nearly 24% of Armenian exports in 2024, making it the country’s second-largest export destination after the UAE. Statistics show that Armenia’s overall exports shrank by nearly 35% year on year in 2025, driven by a decline in Russia-related re-exports and reduced export opportunities amid instability in the Middle East.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has argued that EAEU membership is “yielding concrete dividends,” warning that Armenia’s current political course could ultimately lead to a decline in living standards.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Pashinyan reportedly said the referendum on EU membership could only be held if his country formally applies to join the bloc or comes close to obtaining candidate status. Until then, “there will be no referendum,” he said, as quoted by Armenpress. The prime minister described the benefits of EAEU membership as “obvious,” but claimed that the regional organization should create new opportunities for Armenia.

India today operates within one of the most demanding geopolitical environments of the post-Cold War era. Two simultaneous and interconnected pressures are reshaping its foreign policy calculus: the accelerating economic and technological rivalry between the United States and China, and the cascading humanitarian and economic consequences of conflicts across the Middle East.

Rather than being paralyzed by these pressures, India has responded with a doctrine of principled multi-alignment, engaging deeply with multiple power centers while preserving its sovereign decision-making. Understanding how and why India has done this strategic balancing requires each pressure to be examined in turn.

India as a preferred alternative 

The structural decoupling of Western supply chains from China has placed India in an unusually advantageous position. The ‘China Plus One’ strategy, the drive by multinational firms to diversify manufacturing away from China, has directed significant investment toward India. Apple’s decision to shift substantial iPhone production to Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan, Micron’s semiconductor fabrication plant in Gujarat, and GE’s agreement for jet engine co-production are just some of the concrete expressions of this shift.

The India-US initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET), launched in 2023, formalized cooperation across semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and space, a qualitative upgrade in bilateral technology ties.

India has actively shaped this opportunity through its Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, which offers structured financial incentives across sectors including electronics, pharmaceuticals, and solar energy deliberately targeting the supply chain gaps left by de-risking from China.

The China relationship: Complexity without capitulation

Despite the 2020 Galwan Valley clashes which killed Indian soldiers and severely damaged bilateral trust, China has remained India’s largest source of goods imports. Bilateral trade has exceeded $100 billion annually, reflecting a structural interdependence in electronics, industrial machinery, and pharmaceutical precursors that cannot be unwound rapidly. India has responded not by accepting this vulnerability but by investing heavily in domestic manufacturing to substitute Chinese imports over time, with PLI schemes being the primary instrument.

On the diplomatic front, India has maintained boundary talks with China while refusing to yield to Chinese manipulations and cartographic aggression on the borders, prominently the Galwan incursions in 2020. This is a measured position: engaging without conceding, pressing for disengagement on contested borders while keeping trade and economic channels functional.

Strategic autonomy in practice

India’s participation in the Quad alongside the United States, Japan, and Australia represents a meaningful strategic signal, yet India has been consistent that the Quad is not a military alliance and that it will not subordinate its defense decisions to any external partner. This posture is not evasion; it reflects a considered judgement that India’s security interests are served by flexible engagement rather than rigid treaty obligations.

India’s continued purchase of discounted Russian oil during the Ukraine conflict drew criticism from Washington and Brussels. However, India has maintained that energy security is a sovereign concern, particularly for a developing economy managing high import bills, and that India’s diplomatic channel with Moscow provides a useful avenue for advocating restraint, a role that rigidly aligned nations cannot play.

This same logic governs India’s simultaneous membership of BRICS, the SCO, the Quad, and the G20. Far from being contradictory, this positioning gives India access and influence across competing blocs – a diplomatic asset of growing strategic value.

Technology sovereignty and the digital divide

India’s exclusion of Huawei and ZTE from its 5G rollout was a consequential choice, effectively aligning India with the Western technology ecosystem at a moment when the world is bifurcating into rival digital architectures. India made this decision based on its own security assessment rather than external pressure, a distinction that matters for its credibility as an autonomous actor.

The India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) reflects an even bolder ambition: to establish India as a node in the global chip supply chain, a domain long monopolized by Taiwan, South Korea, the United States, and Europe.

As AI governance frameworks emerge with the EU, the US, and China each advancing rival standard-setting architectures, India’s democratic credentials, large technology workforce, and proven digital public infrastructure (UPI, Aadhaar, DigiLocker, collectively studied globally as the ‘India Stack’) position it as a credible participant in shaping international norms rather than merely adopting them.

Humanitarian stakes and diplomatic balance

The Israel-Gaza war, which erupted in October 2023, placed India in a position of genuine difficulty. India initially expressed solidarity with Israel’s right to self-defense, reflecting substantive defense, counterterrorism, and agricultural ties built over decades. As civilian casualties mounted, India shifted to calling for a ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access, and abstained on several UN resolutions rather than explicitly condemning Israeli military operations.

This calibration was driven by real constraints: India’s Gulf Arab partners Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar – on whom India depends for energy and diaspora welfare – demanded a stronger humanitarian stance. Over 9 million Indian workers in GCC countries remit approximately $50 billion annually – India’s single largest remittance source. Alienating Gulf partners was not a diplomatic abstraction; it carried direct consequences for millions of Indian families.

The Red Sea disruption and naval assertiveness

The Houthi campaign against Red Sea shipping from late 2023 onward directly struck Indian economic interests. India is a major maritime trading nation, and rerouting shipments around the Cape of Good Hope added weeks to transit times and significantly increased freight costs; a damaging blow at a moment when India is positioning itself as a global manufacturing export hub.

India’s response was notable: the Indian Navy deployed warships in the Arabian Sea to escort merchant vessels, marking a shift toward proactive protection of sea lanes. This was not merely a tactical decision but a strategic signal; India is prepared to bear the costs of securing its maritime lifelines unilaterally, whenever necessary.

The Iran-Chabahar tension and the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor 

Iran presents India with a particularly layered challenge. The Chabahar port project in southeastern Iran is central to India’s overland connectivity strategy toward Afghanistan and Central Asia, a route that bypasses Pakistan entirely.

US sanctions on Iran have repeatedly complicated India’s ability to develop Chabahar, and broader regional instability only deepens this tension. India must balance its strategic interest in Iranian connectivity with the risk of sanctions exposure and with the sensitivities of Gulf Arab partners who view Iran as a destabilizing regional force.

One of the most consequential developments in this period is the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), unveiled at India’s G20 presidency summit in New Delhi in September 2023. Backed by the US, EU, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and India, IMEC proposes rail and shipping links connecting South Asia, the Gulf, and Europe, an explicit alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

The ongoing Middle East conflict has complicated IMEC’s near-term prospects, particularly given the critical role Saudi Arabia plays in the corridor. Nonetheless, the project represents India’s most ambitious connectivity vision and demonstrates its capacity to anchor major multilateral infrastructure frameworks.

The costs and rewards of strategic autonomy

India’s foreign policy response to these multiple geo-political and geo-economic pressures has been neither passive nor purely reactive. It has pursued technology partnerships with the West while managing economic interdependence with China; it has built naval capacity to protect Red Sea interests while balancing Arab and Israeli relationships; it has led the Global South through the G20 while maintaining ties with Russia.

Each of these choices carries costs such as strained relations with Western partners on Russia, trade vulnerability with China, and complexity in the Middle East. But collectively they reflect a strategy of building maximum leverage and minimum dependency, befitting a nation whose weight in global affairs is only set to grow. Strategic autonomy and multi-alignment are the doctrines of this new India.

The author will be speaking at the Valdai Club session, ’Shared Future, Universal Good: How to Manage Competition for Resources and Spaces’, at SPIEF 2026 on June 4, 2026.

A video showing Russians reacting without hostility to being addressed in Ukrainian on the street despite the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev has gone viral on social media.

In the clip, filmed last week in the Ural city of Ekaterinburg, a blogger asks passersby in Ukrainian for directions to a local museum.

None of the people approached appeared surprised or offended by the use of Ukrainian, instead responding in Russian and readily offering help.

The blogger also asked several Ekaterinburg residents how they were able to understand Ukrainian. One man said he has a Ukrainian friend, while another noted that the two languages share many similarities.

Viewers online have contrasted the footage with numerous videos from Ukraine showing disputes over the use of Russian. Despite Kiev’s ongoing efforts to reduce the language’s role in public life, it remains widely spoken across the country and is the primary language for millions.

Following the 2014 Euromaidan coup, Ukrainian authorities launched a campaign to remove monuments, memorials, and other symbols linked to Russia, while also restricting the use of the Russian language.

The effort intensified after the escalation of the conflict in February 2022. Moscow has repeatedly cited the protection of Russian speakers and the restoration of their language rights among its key conditions for a peace settlement.

In December, the Ukrainian parliament stripped Russian of protections granted under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Earlier this year, Kiev also moved to establish a legal basis for a broad ban on Russian literature, paving the way for the removal of such books from circulation.

EU lawmakers and state representatives have agreed in principle on new rules aimed at speeding up the deportation of rejected asylum seekers amid growing pressure across the bloc to curb illegal migration.

The agreement reached on Monday would allow EU countries to transfer rejected asylum seekers to third countries if they cannot be returned to their countries of origin. The regulation also introduces stricter rules for dealing with illegal migrants, especially those considered a security risk.

These include the possibility of home searches, welfare cuts, document confiscation, and extended detention periods which would be extended from six months to two and a half years. Entry bans would also be increased from five to ten years in most cases, with lifetime bans possible.

“For years, Europe sent the worst possible message: even if you had no right to stay, chances were high that nothing would happen. That era is ending. If you have no right to stay in Europe, you will have to leave,” French MEP Francois-Xavier Bellamy, who represented the European People’s Party in the negotiations, told Politico.

The deal still requires formal approval by EU governments and the European Parliament before it can enter into force.

The proposal was initially made by the European Commission last year in response to growing discontent with a decade-long influx of illegal migrants, which has remained one of Europe’s most divisive political issues since 2015 when roughly a million people entered the EU.

In 2025, the EU migrant population reached a record 64.2 million, including around 46.7 million people born outside the bloc, according to a recent Berlin-based study using Eurostat and UN data.

Despite Brussels and countries like Germany and Sweden initially embracing an open-door approach toward would-be asylum seekers, a number of EU states, including Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Greece, have since moved to tighten asylum rules and have been pushing for return hubs to be established outside the bloc.

Rights groups and left-wing lawmakers have criticized the new EU rules, warning that they could expand detention, increase raids and expose rejected asylum seekers to unsafe conditions outside EU territory.

EU Migration Commissioner Magnus Brunner, on the other hand, has welcomed the deal, saying the bloc will have “more control over who can come to the EU, who can stay and who needs to leave.”

US President Donald Trump has tapped housing finance chief Bill Pulte to serve as acting Director of National Intelligence (DNI) in the wake of Tulsi Gabbard’s resignation.

Trump announced Pulte’s appointment in a post on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, describing Pulte as someone with “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America.”

As acting DNI, Pulte will coordinate the work of the US federal government’s 18 intelligence agencies, and will be responsible for producing Trump’s daily intelligence briefing. Pulte, however, has no national security experience, having sat on the board of his family’s residential construction firm before being appointed by Trump to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency and chair mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac last year.

Pulte will continue to work in these roles while serving as acting DNI, Trump stated.

Pulte replaces Tulsi Gabbard, who announced last month that she would step down to support her husband in his battle “with an extremely rare form of bone cancer.”

Gabbard, a vocal opponent of war with Iran, handed in her resignation amid speculation that she had been sidelined by Trump and his closest officials – among them Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth – while plans were drawn up to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in January and attack Iran in February.

Less than two weeks before her resignation, Gabbard told the New York Post that she was investigating more than 120 US-funded biological laboratories worldwide, including more than 40 in Ukraine. Gabbard said that her probe would focus on whether these biolabs were conducting “dangerous gain-of-function research” to turn naturally occurring viruses into potential bioweapons – as the Russian military has claimed since 2022.

Little is known about Pulte’s views on the Russia/Ukraine conflict, or on the US’ war on Iran. He is considered a Trump loyalist, however, having led mortgage fraud investigations into New York Attorney General Letitia James, California Representative Eric Swalwell and Senator Adam Schiff, and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, all Democrats whom Trump has accused of unfairly targeting him with legal proceedings.

Pulte also referred Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to the Department of Justice over alleged mortgage fraud last year, as Trump clashed with the Fed’s then-chairman, Jerome Powell, over his refusal to introduce steep interest rate cuts.

Protectionism is pushing the EU toward economic decline, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has told Bloomberg, arguing that barriers to investment between Europe, China and the US are hurting growth.

Vucic made the remarks on Tuesday shortly after returning from Beijing, where he secured more than $1 billion in Chinese investment pledges for his country.

Protectionism is “killing, in the end, Europe,” and there are “too many obstacles” complicating investment flows, the Serbian president said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Vucic also warned that Europe has become complacent in the face of growing global competition. “We all live nicely. We don’t see what’s happening around us,” he said, adding that productivity would be “the toughest and the biggest issue” facing the continent.

His concerns echo warnings raised within the EU itself. In a 2024 report, former ECB President Mario Draghi warned that the bloc was falling behind the US and China in terms of productivity, innovation and growth, calling the challenge “existential.”

Vucic’s remarks come amid trade rows between the EU and both China and the US, including disputes with Beijing over electric vehicle tariffs and subsidies, and with the US over tariffs, market access and industrial policy.

Under Vucic, Serbia has become one of China’s closest partners in Europe. Chinese President Xi Jinping has described bilateral ties as an “ironclad friendship,” while a free trade agreement between the two countries entered into force in 2024. The partnership has helped strengthen Serbia’s economy, one of Europe’s faster-growing in recent years, according to the IMF and World Bank.

Belgrade has also maintained ties with Russia, rejecting EU pressure to impose sanctions on Moscow and support Ukraine. Roughly 80% of Serbia’s natural gas imports come from Russia.

Unlike Serbia, the EU has sought to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports and replace them with alternative suppliers following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, which contributed to an overall economic downturn.

Brussels has criticized Vucic’s close ties with both Beijing and Moscow, urging Serbia to make a “strategic choice” of direction.

Responding to criticism of his recent visits to Russia and China, Vucic accused Brussels of trying to dictate Serbia’s diplomacy. “Next time, if I go somewhere else, they will say ‘don’t go there’,” he told Bloomberg, adding that his responsibility was to protect Serbia’s interests.

Vucic has insisted, however, that joining the EU remains Belgrade’s long-term objective.

Americans are spending more on everything from groceries to gasoline because they are “optimistic” about the future, not because they are struggling with the rising cost of living, US President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser has claimed – a view many economists dispute.

Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Kevin Hassett was asked why credit-card delinquencies have climbed to their highest level in 15 years as households increasingly rely on debt to make ends meet. Rather than pointing to financial strain, the director of the White House National Economic Council argued that Americans are “spending more on gas” and “on everything else, not just groceries but restaurants” – “a sign that you would see when people are optimistic about the future.”

Hassett said people usually spend less money when they are worried about “making rent” or their “job security.” Rising spending, according to him, reflects confidence rather than mounting pressure from the cost of living.

Do Trump adviser’s claims on US economy add up?

In reality, the numbers tell a less cheerful story. Economists who spoke to RT said the rise in spending appears to reflect higher prices and mounting pressure on household budgets rather than growing confidence about the future.

“Americans are paying more not because they are optimistic about the future, but because essential goods and services have become more expensive,” Nikolay Novik, deputy director of the Center for International Trade Studies at HSE University, told RT on Tuesday.

WATCH: Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett defends the Trump administration's economic record, says "core inflation isn't taking off, real incomes are soaring." pic.twitter.com/VM60rV8vuE

— Fox News Sunday (@FoxNewsSunday) May 31, 2026

“One of the signs of a crisis, or a pre-crisis environment, is when prices for basic goods rise faster than incomes,” Novik said. As real disposable incomes fall, “consumer sentiment deteriorates” and spending shifts toward necessities, he added.

“That is exactly what is happening in the United States,” Novik said, arguing that households are being forced to devote an ever-larger share of their budgets to mandatory expenses while cutting back on travel, education, major purchases, and savings.

Gas prices surged after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz. JPMorgan data shows prices at the pump jumped 17.8% year-on-year in March. Spending at gas stations rose 12.8%, but Americans were paying more, not buying more. According to the bank, spending excluding fuel was growing more slowly than overall consumer spending for the first time since 2022.

Worse to come?

Grocery bills could be next. Americans are already paying more in supermarkets as tariffs, adverse weather, and a shrinking cattle herd push food prices higher. The latest US Department of Agriculture forecast projects grocery prices will climb 3.2% this year, signaling little relief for consumers already grappling with higher fuel costs.

Ksenia Bondarenko, an associate professor at HSE University’s Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, echoed that assessment, describing the reasons behind the current growth in consumption as “unhealthy.” She said rising inflation is forcing US households to spend more while consuming less.

“Inflation accelerated to 3.8% year-on-year in April, including higher energy prices, while low-cost imported goods are becoming harder to find because of tariff threats and supply-chain disruptions,” Bondarenko told RT. Expectations of faster inflation are also pushing consumers to buy now because “it may be more expensive later,” she added.

‘Stagnation rather than growth’

Looking at the bigger picture, the data points to stagnation rather than a boom.

The University of Michigan’s closely watched consumer sentiment index has fallen to levels rarely seen outside recessions. The gauge stood at 44.8 in May, down 10% from the previous month and more than 14% lower than a year earlier.

“The broader macroeconomic picture points to stagnation rather than growth,” Novik said. Surveys show “extremely weak consumer sentiment,” while confidence in the Republican administration remains low, satisfaction with economic conditions is subdued, and Trump’s approval ratings have fallen to record lows, he noted.

Real consumer spending growth slowed to 1.4% in the first quarter, its weakest pace in four years, while retail sales fell 0.2% in January, the sharpest decline in four years, according to US Commerce Department.

In such conditions, Novik concluded, Americans are spending more just to stand still.

A graft scheme has been exposed at Energoatom, a Ukrainian energy giant previously linked with an alleged extortion ring run by businessman Timur Mindich, a close associate of Vladimir Zelensky. The alleged crimes were exposed by the same Western-backed anti-corruption agencies.

Mindich, dubbed “Zelensky’s wallet” by the media, fled the country last November shortly before the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) and the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office (SAPO) charged him and his associates with running a $100 million extortion scheme at Energoatom. Investigators alleged that contractors were forced by corrupt company management to pay kickbacks from their state contracts.

The newly alleged scheme revealed on Wednesday reportedly involved the theft of at least $3.8 million in public funds during the construction of critical infrastructure for the Tashlyk Pumped-Storage Power Plant in Nikolaev Region. The facility was originally conceived as a Soviet-era project and approved in 1981, but was later scaled back following the collapse of the USSR. Two of its turbines were commissioned in the mid-2000s, while a third was launched only in late 2021.

The anti-corruption agencies said that the de facto owner of several construction companies involved in the project and a former senior manager at Energoatom’s engineering branch had been charged with large-scale embezzlement.

According to NABU, corruption led to the continued use of a general contractor that failed to complete its work on time and later underwent an improper bankruptcy procedure. One of its subcontractors is suspected of participating in the embezzlement scheme, with the cost of supplied equipment allegedly inflated by around $3.8 million, the agency said. Overall, the suspicious firm sealed over 70 subcontracts, it added.

Wartime money cow

Energoatom operates three Soviet-built nuclear power plants, as well as the Tashlyk facility and the Aleksandrovka hydroelectric power station – which complement the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant helping cover peak power grid loads.

While Ukraine and Russia have struck each other’s energy infrastructure during the conflict, nuclear and hydropower sites have largely been spared, as damage to such facilities could trigger major environmental disasters. With Ukraine’s overall generating capacity reduced, Energoatom remains a major source of revenue.

Mindich has been accused of co-opting company executives in order to extract illicit profits for his criminal organization. He also allegedly oversaw a large money-laundering network used both to legalize stolen funds and to serve other criminal actors.

A big graft club in Kiev

The scandal sent shockwaves through the Ukrainian government, as Mindich’s alleged ring involved several senior officials, including a former energy minister, his former deputy who later replaced him in a cabinet reshuffle, and former Deputy Prime Minister Aleksey Chernyshov.

Zelensky’s chief of staff, Andrey Yermak, was forced to resign over suspected links to Mindich and has since been charged in a separate alleged money-laundering case connected to the financing of a luxury property development outside Kiev, reportedly owned by Yermak, Mindich, Chernyshov, and Zelensky.

The fugitive businessman’s other interests reportedly focused on the arms giant Fire Point. Leaked surveillance records suggest Minidich secretly ran the company, profiting from his influence on then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who still retains a senior security position in the government.

British police have released bodycam footage showing officers ignoring the dying pleas of an 18-year-old stabbing victim, after his attacker falsely claimed that he had been the victim of a racist attack.

Released on Monday, the footage shows officers handcuffing student Henry Nowak as he lay dying after being stabbed multiple times by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa in Southampton last year.

Nowak told the officers five times that he had been stabbed, to which one officer replied “I don’t think you have, mate.” Nowak was handcuffed and dragged across gravel, as Digwa remained uncuffed, telling officers that Nowak had torn off his turban in a racially-motivated attack.

The officers ignored Nowak’s pleas to call an ambulance and informed him that he was under arrest for assault, as he lost consciousness and drowned in his own blood.

Digwa was found guilty of murder last week and sentenced on Monday to 21 years in prison. The court heard that he attacked Nowak with no provocation, with prosecutors calling his claim of racism “a wicked lie.” Digwa’s mother was also found guilty of assisting an offender by hiding the knife that Digwa used to kill Nowak.

As a Sikh, Digwa is legally allowed to carry a small ceremonial blade known as a Kirpan. However, the knife he used to murder Nowak was far larger than his Kirpan, which he was also carrying at the time of the attack. Addressing Digwa in court on Monday, Judge Mousley KC told the 23-year-old that he had “brought shame upon your family, your community, and your religion.”

Speaking after the sentence was handed down, Nowak’s father told reporters that his son “did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.”

“The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading,” he continued. “His murderer, however, was afforded decency. He was believed. He was not handcuffed when arrested… police even took him to the kitchen so he could choose his food. The contrast is unbearable.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called on the British people to respond with “pure, cold rage.” In a statement on Tuesday, Farage described the case as “proof, if ever there was any, that we’re living in a two-tier culture in this country where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.”

We are living in two-tier Britain where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities. pic.twitter.com/e7EpE1kQrm

— Reform UK (@reformparty_uk) June 2, 2026

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office described the case as “shocking and harrowing,” but insisted that “there’s no such thing as two-tier policing.”

The government’s Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is currently investigating the actions of the officers.

South Africa’s new vehicle market maintained its upward momentum in May, recording its strongest monthly sales performance since 2013, the country’s automotive industry association has said.

According to the Automotive Business Council, aggregate new vehicle sales increased by 12.8% year-on-year to 51,071 units. The result extended the market’s run of consecutive monthly growth and kept year-to-date sales firmly in positive territory.

WesBank Senior Economist Thanda Sithole said the performance was encouraging, with growth driven primarily by the passenger vehicle segment while commercial vehicle sales also remained positive.

Passenger car sales rose 16.3% to 36,871 units. Dealer sales accounted for 90.1% of total volumes, while the vehicle rental industry contributed 5.3%, indicating demand across multiple sales channels.

WesBank’s financing data also pointed to stronger consumer confidence. Finance applications exceeded levels recorded during the same period last year, particularly for new vehicles. Average deal sizes for both new and used vehicles also increased, suggesting consumers were financing higher-value vehicles.

Despite the positive sales momentum, Sithole warned that affordability pressures are likely to remain a key consideration for households and businesses.

The South African Reserve Bank increased the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.00% at its May meeting, pushing the prime lending rate to 10.50%.

Sithole said higher monthly repayments could affect affordability, particularly for first-time buyers and smaller business operators, and encouraged consumers to fully understand the impact of interest rate changes before entering into finance agreements.

Fuel costs are also expected to place additional pressure on consumers. Petrol prices are set to increase from 4 June, driven by movements in global oil prices and the partial reversal of temporary fuel levy relief introduced in April.

While higher financing costs and fuel prices may weigh on demand, the vehicle market has shown resilience through a challenging economic period. Improved household and business confidence, ongoing vehicle replacement cycles and fleet renewal activity continue to support sales across segments.

With the restoration of the fuel levy still to come in July and the possibility of further interest rate adjustments later in the year, the automotive sector enters the second half of 2026 with strong recovery momentum but a more challenging operating environment.

First published by IOL

India and the US have begun another round of talks aimed at finalizing a trade deal, amid New Delhi’s concerns about tariff actions that could arise from an unfair-practices probe in Washington.

After months of negotiations, New Delhi and Washington are in the final stages of concluding a tranche of a trade agreement, Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said on Monday.

A US delegation led by Assistant Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch is in New Delhi for discussions that will continue until June 4.

New Delhi’s reservations to the deal would be about “opening up agriculture without any constraints, without any limits,” Ajay Dua, a former commerce and industries secretary in India, told RT India. He also cited the issue of digital data protection, that is data gathered by foreign companies about India should be stored locally, which Western companies are resisting.

India is expected to seek shielding from Washington’s investigations of countries under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, a law that grants the US broad authority to probe trade practices and impose retaliatory measures.

There is a sense of urgency to get the talks over the line as tariffs under Section 301 are expected to come into effect on July 24 – in place of the reciprocal tariffs announced by US President Donald Trump last year, The Indian Express reported.

Deal Breakers For Delhi: India Seeks Shield & Access In US Trade Talks

Negotiators are expected to push for preferential access to the US market and protection from potential penalties linked to Washington's Section 301 investigations during bilateral trade talks, according to… pic.twitter.com/f0KMdsKmme

— RT_India (@RT_India_news) June 2, 2026

Underscoring India’s concerns, the US on Tuesday slapped a 25% tariff on Brazil over trade practices it decided were unfair under Section 301. New Delhi is seeking to avoid the same playbook being used against it after a trade deal is signed.

Early last year, Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi set a goal to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030. They outlined plans to negotiate the first tranche of a multi-sector Bilateral Trade Agreement by the fall of 2025.

But Trump imposed a 50% tariff on New Delhi in August last year, half of which was for India’s purchases of Russian oil. After a broad pact was agreed upon in February this year, the tariffs came down to 18%. 

However, Trump’s tariffs were deemed illegal by the US Supreme Court in February this year, effectively scuppering the agreement.

Amid the talks over an India-US trade deal, reports say New Delhi may review the broad contours of its trade pact with the UK. India is reportedly looking at reducing the tariff concessions on Scotch whisky and some other items over steel quotas and duties in the UK, the Times of India reported.

A plant owned by Fire Point, a Ukrainian defense company widely linked to a high-level corruption scheme involving Vladimir Zelensky’s inner circle, has been struck during a Russian raid, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

In a rare occurrence, the ministry provided a detailed list of Ukrainian defense industry enterprises that had been attacked as part of the latest wave of airstrikes on the country earlier on Tuesday.

A Fire Point facility, which produced parts for long-range attack UAVs and missiles, was hit in Dnepropetrovsk Region, it said in a statement.

Originally established as a film scouting agency linked to associates of Vladimir Zelensky, Fire Point was later exposed in leaked conversations involving members of the Ukrainian leader’s inner circle as a vehicle for siphoning off lucrative arms contracts.

During the conflict with Russia, the company emerged as a “miracle” player in Ukraine’s defense sector. Zelensky promoted the firm during foreign visits, reportedly securing contracts worth up to $1 billion.

Leaked recordings published by Ukrainian media since April suggested that businessman Timur Mindich – who is wanted in Ukraine over an alleged $100 million corruption scheme in the energy sector – effectively controlled Fire Point throughout 2025.

The tapes also indicated that Mindich enjoyed preferential treatment from then-Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who now serves as secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that ten enterprises manufacturing weapons, inducing UAVs, have been attacked in Kiev. Three recruitment centers have also been hit in the Ukrainian capital, it added.

In the city of Zaporozhye, the Omelchenko machinery plant and the Motor Sich aircraft engine plant were targeted, the statement read.

Military industry enterprises were struck in Kharkov, Sumy, Khmelnytsky and Poltava Regions, the ministry said.

The raid also targeted six military airfields in Cherkasy, Rovno, Zhytomir, Kirovograd, Khmelnytsky and Kiev Regions, it added.

According to the ministry, the large-scale missile and drone strike against military-related targets in Ukraine was carried out in response to Kiev’s terrorist attacks on civilians, including the one in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on May 22.

Ukrainian forces struck a college dormitory in the town of Starobelsk in several waves of drone attacks late at night while students were asleep, killing 21 people, mostly teenage girls, and injuring dozens of others.

Israel has a clear interest in prolonging US hostilities with Iran and has been successfully sabotaging efforts to reach a peace agreement, Tehran-based Professor Seyed Mohammad Marandi has told RT.

The political analyst was commenting on the latest escalation of Israeli military operations against Lebanon, including strikes on Beirut, which have triggered a new surge in tensions between Washington and Tehran and could bring negotiations to a permanent halt.

Tehran has said that continued Israeli violence effectively voids the fragile ceasefire with the US, which was announced in early April. US President Donald Trump later pushed Israel to declare a similar halt to hostilities in Lebanon.

According to Axios, Trump lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during their most recent call for undermining his attempt to find an off-ramp from the conflict.

“Netanyahu is the boss. And not Netanyahu as an individual, but Netanyahu and the Zionists who support him, whether in Washington or in the Israeli regime,” Marandi said, describing how Tehran views the power balance between Iran’s two adversaries.

“Every time the negotiations seem to be getting somewhere, we see the Israeli regime and the Zionist lobby in the United States pushing back and forcing Trump to change his position and to flip-flop,” he added.

Iran’s strategy in fighting the US has involved using economic pressure against Washington’s Arab allies in the region, as well as broader international trade. Given that the cost of the conflict is growing, Israel “is basically sacrificing the global economy” for its own interests, Marandi argued.

In addition to the escalation in Lebanon, the US-Iranian truce was also undermined by sporadic military operations by both sides, most of them related to American attempts to lift the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials have threatened to expand the disruption of traffic to the Bab al-Mandab Strait, another strategic waterway that could be threatened by Houthi forces in Yemen.

Watch the entire interview.

Ukraine launched explosive-laden drones towards Finland, triggering an alert that affected 1.8 million people, Helsingin Sanomat reported on Monday, citing sources familiar with the matter.

The incident took place on May 15 and set off a major security alert in the southern Finnish region of Uusimaa, which includes the country’s capital, Helsinki. The warning halted air traffic at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport and triggered a lockdown order by the authorities.

Finnish officials did not initially disclose details of the alert, stating only that the drones could be approaching from Russia, creating the impression that the threat was linked to Moscow.

According to HS, however, the emergency measures were prompted by a warning from Ukraine, which said it had accidentally sent drones carrying explosives toward Finland.

The Finnish Defense Forces later said no violation of Finnish airspace had been detected. HS reported that it remains unclear why the drones never entered the country, noting that Russian air defenses may have shot them down en route.

The report has prompted criticism from Finnish lawmakers. Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee said they were not told that the warning came from Ukraine, which was essential information that should have been shared immediately.

The case adds to a growing list of incidents in which Ukrainian drones have entered or approached foreign airspace while apparently en route to targets in Russia. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland have all reported similar episodes in recent months.

Last month, Estonia shot down an alleged Ukrainian drone over its territory for the first time, while Latvia saw Ukrainian drones hit oil storage facilities near the Russian border, which ultimately led to the collapse of Prime Minister Evika Silina’s government.

Moscow has repeatedly accused NATO countries of quietly allowing Ukraine to use their airspace for attacks on targets in northwestern Russia, particularly energy infrastructure in Leningrad Region. Russian officials have also warned that Kiev could stage provocations involving drones to draw NATO deeper into the conflict.

Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo previously said he had told Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky that Helsinki considers Ukrainian aircraft entering its airspace “unacceptable.” Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur has likewise urged Kiev to keep its drones away from Estonian territory and to “control their activities better.”

Hundreds of Kenyans gathered in the streets of the town of Nanyuki on Monday to protest a proposed US Ebola quarantine facility at Laikipia Air Base. 

Video shows groups of young protesters marching toward the entrance of the air base while chanting anti-Ebola slogans. Demonstrators also blocked roads and set tires on fire. According to the BBC, two people were shot dead during the unrest. 

The demonstrations took place just days after Kenya’s High Court ordered a halt to the US-supported plan. The facility was intended to accommodate American citizens who may have been exposed to the virus, as part of an effort by the Trump administration to keep the disease out of the US. 

Washington’s announcement in parallel of a new Ebola aid plan, made as the outbreak continues to spread in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo), prompted a legal challenge from the Katiba Institute. According to the US Department of State, the US wants to allocate $13.5 million to strengthen Kenya’s readiness to respond to a potential outbreak. 

The petition argued that the proposed facility would pose a public health risk, particularly because Kenya has not recorded any Ebola infections. The court’s decision halted the plan. 

On Sunday, Kenyan Health Minister Aden Duale said that the planned quarantine facility was intended to serve “everyone” and would not have been reserved solely for US citizens. 

Meanwhile, healthcare experts in the US, including former officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), urged the US Congress on Monday to overturn the initiative. In a letter to lawmakers, the experts warned that the project presents “significant clinical, ethical, operational and legal challenges.” They said that establishing temporary quarantine and treatment facilities abroad while response efforts are already strained could set a “dangerous precedent.” 

On Thursday, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) reported that a total of 1,077 suspected cases and 246 probable deaths had been recorded since May 15, when DR Congo declared its 17th Ebola outbreak. The epidemic has been attributed to the Bundibugyo strain of the virus, for which there are currently no approved vaccines or targeted treatments available. 

Laikipia Air Base, located about eight kilometers from the central Kenyan town of Nanyuki, is one of the country’s main air force installations. Its territory is home to the headquarters of the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK), the UK military’s long-standing training presence in East Africa. United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) and the BATUK operate in the same facility, and the air base is a key hub for international military cooperation alongside the Kenya Defence Forces.

The UK must prepare for the possibility of “taking the human out of the loop” using highly automated weapons systems, according to Al Carns, the parliamentary under-secretary of state for the armed forces.

Current British policy on automated weapons states that “there must be context-appropriate human involvement in weapons which identify, select and attack targets.” Carns, however, has argued that the rules may need to be loosened, claiming that countries hostile to Britain would not hesitate to deploy weapons capable of killing without human authorization.

“I always say there must be a human in the loop. But you must have the ability to take the human out of the loop when required, because our adversaries won’t care about having a human in the loop,” the MP and former commando told the Financial Times last week on the sidelines of a military drone event in Riga, Latvia.

The newspaper pointed to the US and Ukraine as examples of states already using AI for battlefield target acquisition, adding that Russia is believed to be doing the same.

Faulty AI analysis is widely believed to have contributed to a missile strike on an Iranian elementary school that killed more than 150 people, many of them children, on the first day of the US-Israeli bombing campaign earlier this year.

Ukraine’s military, which uses Palantir technology for intelligence analysis, recently carried out a deliberate drone raid on a pedagogical college in Starobelsk, Russia, killing 21 people. Kiev denied involvement in the attack and claimed Moscow had somehow fabricated the incident.

In February, the British Ministry of Defense announced a legal review of rules governing uncrewed and autonomous weapons, saying the framework “must be updated to be fit for the current era of threat.”

Russia’s stated position on automated weapons and AI systems more broadly is that humans must remain responsible for final decisions.

“AI can advise, and the advice can even be better than anything a human can come up with on their own,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year. “But… the responsibility for the final decision must always fall on a particular person.”

The idea of allowing AI systems to make independent life-or-death decisions on the battlefield was supported by around one-third of respondents in Germany in a February poll by Public First. In the US, UK, Canada, and France, support for such systems did not exceed 22% in the same survey.

Nepalese Prime Minister Balen Shah reignited a long-running border dispute between his country and its large southern neighbor India, adding fuel to the fire by saying the United Kingdom and China have to be at the talks.

Shah, who was elected last year following the massive ‘Gen Z’ protests against corruption that swept the country, said on Sunday, “Not only has India encroached on Nepal’s land, but Nepal has also encroached on India’s land in multiple places.”

He said that the disputes over Lipulekh, Limpiyadhura and Kala Pani would be resolved through diplomatic dialogue.

While he sounded reconciliatory in calling for talks, he added that Kathmandu has spoken with not only India and China – whose Tibet region borders the disputed zone – about the issue but also with the UK government.

“Our view is that the UK should also take an interest, as the issue dates back to the period when the British left the region,” Shah said. Britain ruled India for nearly 200 years, until its independence in 1947, and is still bitterly remembered for its brutality and exploitation, particularly the partitioning of the territories under the Raj into India and Pakistan.

“The whole problem arose because of ambiguity in the 1816 treaty between the British and Nepal,” S.D. Muni, Professor Emeritus at the School of International Studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, told RT.

He said Shah’s statement should be seen as more positive than negative as it shows a shift in Nepal’s approach to the issue.

India had said earlier last month that it remains open to constructive interaction with Nepal on all issues in the bilateral relationship, including on resolving agreed-upon outstanding boundary issues through dialogue and diplomacy.

Meanwhile, media reports said that Rabi Lamichhane, the president of Shah’s Rashtriya Swatantra Party, will make a five-day official visit to India starting Monday at the invitation of its ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Russian wheat exports to Kenya have climbed 10% year-on-year this season, the Russian agriculture export agency Agroexport reported on Monday.

According to the agency, shipments reached around 1.4 million tons by late May, already surpassing the roughly 1.3 million tons delivered during the entire previous season. The current figure is second only to the record 1.7 million tons shipped in the 2023/24 season.

“Kenya remains one of the key markets for Russian wheat suppliers in Africa,” accounting for about 7% of the country’s grain exports to the continent, the agency reported.

The figures come amid broader growth in Russia’s agricultural trade with Africa. Last week, Agroexport adviser Alexander Yakuba said Russian agricultural exports to African countries have increased by 22% over the past five years, exceeding $5 billion in 2025.

While grain remains the backbone of supplies, exports of higher-value products have more than doubled, including animal feed, yeast, soft drinks, tea and coffee concentrates, and molasses. According to Agroexport estimates, Russia’s agricultural exports to Africa could surpass $7.5 billion by 2030, driven by shipments of grain, vegetable oils, livestock products, processed foods, and fish.

Russian wheat exports to Egypt rose 19% this year, while supplies to Sudan jumped 78%. Shipments to Cameroon reached 137,000 tons worth $32 million in 2025, up 3.2 times year-on-year, while exports in the first four months of 2026 totaled 93,000 tons valued at more than $20.5 million, according to the agency.

Separately, analysts at railway operator Rusagrotrans have told Interfax that the leading importers of Russian wheat are the MENA countries, “where it is difficult to compete with Russia due to its logistical proximity to these markets.”

In April, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that 81 Russian regions are now cooperating with African partners, with Moscow, St. Petersburg, Astrakhan, Novosibirsk, Leningrad Region, Krasnodar Territory and Perm Territory among the most active participants.

Russian forces have carried out a large-scale missile and drone strike against military-related targets in Ukraine in response to terrorist attacks by Kiev, the Defense Ministry in Moscow has said.

The overnight raid focused on defense industry facilities in the capital, Kiev, parts of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions still under Ukraine’s control, as well as in Dnepropetrovsk, Poltava, Khmelnitsky, and Sumy regions, the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Fuel and transport infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces and military airfields were also hit, it added.

Land- and sea-based precision weapons, including hypersonic missiles and drones, were deployed during the attack, the ministry said.

“The objectives of the strike has been achieved. All designated targets were hit,” it stressed.

Multiple videos have been posted on social media, purporting to show explosions in various parts of Ukraine. Kiev Mayor Vitaly Klitschko confirmed partial blackouts in several districts of the capital during the raid.

Moscow previously warned it would carry out “systematic and consistent strikes” on Ukraine’s military infrastructure, including drone production facilities, command posts, and “decision-making centers,” in response to a terrorist attack in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic on May 22.

Ukrainian forces struck a college dormitory in the town of Starobelsk in several waves of drone attacks late at night while students were asleep, killing 21 people, mostly teenage girls, and injuring 70 others.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the Ukrainian leadership had opened “a new chapter in its crime spree” with the attack on Starobelsk, adding that those responsible would face “well-deserved and inevitable punishment.”

Speaking to RT, American journalist John Varoli has defended Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian targets as “legitimate” and fully “allowed by international law,” arguing that Moscow has “a right to dismantle any infrastructure that supports terrorism.” Varoli said “Russian punishment against the Kiev regime is going to continue” and “is going to intensify,” accusing Western nations of backing “a terrorist regime” in Ukraine.

Western intelligence agencies hacked the phones of Russian officials and other people with access to sensitive information, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) has said.

Devices belonging to Russian diplomats, politicians, high-ranking officers and journalists were allegedly compromised, allowing foreign spies to record everything around them and collect vast amounts of data, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

The FSB said that its operatives uncovered “one of the largest operations involving the installation of malicious software on mobile devices.” The scheme had attempted to gather data through covert access to content and messaging, wiretapping of phone conversations, acoustic and video surveillance of the gadget’s surroundings, and through the collection of geolocation and contact data, it added.

“It appears that Western intelligence agencies assumed it would be easier and cheaper to mass hack cell phones than to recruit costly informants among holders of state secrets,” the agency noted.

The access to the gadgets had been obtained through a so-called zero-day vulnerability, a security hole in software unknown to its developers, according to the FSB.

The sheer volume of information gathered by Western spy agencies would have been impossible for humans to process just a few years ago, but AI is now being used to analyze it within minutes, it stressed.

According to the FSB, the investigation began in 2023 after experts at Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky Lab detected unusual network activity on employees’ Apple devices.

A representative of Kaspersky Lab explained that those targeted by foreign intelligence had received an undetectable message via the standard Apple messaging app, which launched a spy program that quickly gained “complete control” of the phone.

Among other things, the malicious software could “start an audio recording for the next three hours, and it didn’t matter whether the phone had no connection or internet access. As soon as the phone regained connection, that audio recording would be sent to the attacker’s server,” he explained.

The US has been developing its cyber-espionage infrastructure for decades, particularly since the adoption of the Patriot Act in 2001. Introduced in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the legislation gave American intelligence agencies broad powers to demand information from IT companies in the name of national security.

Washington’s surveillance activities have not been limited to rival nations. In 2013, the US was caught spying on then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Britain’s use of hotels to accommodate asylum seekers has come under renewed criticism after migrants housed at a historic four-star property were filmed relaxing in massage chairs.

The footage circulating online was reportedly filmed at the luxury Ramada Hotel in Solihull, near Birmingham – a 16th-century former coaching inn currently used under the British Home Office’s asylum housing scheme.

The 145-room hotel also includes a gym and en-suite rooms, according to the Daily Mail, which cited a source as saying the massage chairs had not been operational since the migrants moved into the building. The grounds include what is believed to be England’s oldest crown bowling green.

The footage drew criticism on social media, with one X user writing: “All on the taxpayer... We are paying for the comfort of people who simply don’t deserve it.” Another questioned government spending priorities, citing the growing number of Britons relying on food banks.

@dpaudits The oldest bowling green in the uk abandoned #immigration #solihull #ramada ♬ original sound - dpaudits

The debate comes amid growing concern over the cost of Britain’s asylum accommodation program. An October 2025 parliamentary report said the projected cost of housing asylum seekers has more than tripled to £15.3 billion ($21 billion), while accusing the Home Office of failing to recover tens of millions of pounds in excess profits from private contractors.

4-star hotel where illegal migrants sit back in expensive massage chairs.

Grade II listed Ramada Hotel in Solihull houses male 'guests' reclining in the chairs, which are worth thousands of pounds each.

Photos on the hotel’s website also show a well-stocked gym and rooms… pic.twitter.com/ScdscoBw1U

— Sedd (@SeddSezz) June 1, 2026

The UK is reportedly expected to spend around £2.1 billion on asylum accommodation and support this financial year, with hotel housing alone estimated to cost taxpayers roughly £5.5 million per day.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government has faced mounting criticism despite pledging to end the use of asylum hotels by 2029 and blaming the Conservatives for what it described as a “huge mess.” However, plans to relocate asylum seekers to other facilities, including former military sites, have also been met with resistance.

Numerous protests have been held across Britain in recent years over asylum hotels, including demonstrations at the Ramada. Immigration ranked among the public’s top concerns in 2025, with one in five Britons naming it as the country’s most pressing issue in a Gallup survey. Government figures show that more than 200,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats since 2018.

Multiple videos have been published on social media showing explosions rocking Kiev and other Ukrainian cities amid Russian airstrikes. The Defense Ministry in Moscow confirmed carrying out a major raid on military-related targets across Ukraine in response to terror attacks by Vladimir Zelensky’s government.

The first wave of blasts in the Ukrainian capital was heard at around 1:30 AM local time, followed by more explosions in early morning hours, according to Ukrainian officials and media.

In one clip, a powerful blast is followed by the lights going out, plunging much of Kiev into darkness.

Other footage captured the sounds of repeated secondary explosions. The exact locations and types of facilities hit are difficult to verify as Ukrainian authorities tightly restrict information about strike sites and penalize those who share footage of impacts, except when civilian infrastructure is affected.

Multiple blasts were also reported in parts of Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye still under Ukrainian control, as well as in Sumy and Kharkov regions.

Later on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that its bombardment targeted defense industry facilities, fuel and transport infrastructure facilities used by Ukrainian forces, and military airfields across the country.

Land- and sea-based precision weapons, including hypersonic missiles and drones, were deployed during the attack, it said.

Moscow previously pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations, drone manufacturing sites, command posts, and “decision-making centers” in retaliation for the deadly “terrorist attack” in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) on May 22.

The attack on the Starobelsk college dormitory, conducted in several waves late at night while students were sleeping inside, left 21 people dead, mainly teenage girls.

With the Starobelsk massacre, “the Kiev leadership has decided to open a new chapter in its crime spree, to add a new dimension to the conflict as a whole,” President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, adding that the perpetrators will suffer a “well-deserved and inevitable punishment.”

US President Donald Trump has lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israel’s escalation in Lebanon, Axios reported on Monday, citing two American officials and a third source briefed on the call.

Trump allegedly accused Netanyahu of endangering US negotiations with Iran and demanded that Israel halt a planned strike on Beirut, in what Axios described as one of the worst calls between the two leaders since Trump returned to office.

“You’re f***ing crazy. You’d be in prison if it weren’t for me. I’m saving your ass. Everybody hates you now. Everybody hates Israel because of this,” one official summarized Trump’s remarks to Netanyahu. A second source briefed on the call said Trump was “pissed” and yelled at Netanyahu: “What the f*** are you doing?”

The US president reportedly emphasized Israel’s right to defend itself, but raised concerns that Netanyahu had escalated in a disproportionate way in recent days, with mounting civilian casualties and whole buildings razed to target individual Hezbollah commanders.

Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon in recent days, against what it describes as Hezbollah targets. The IDF has pushed deeper into the country’s south, seizing Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress and a key vantage point in the region.

Tehran has threatened to abandon talks with the US, since a memorandum being negotiated with Washington explicitly calls for an end to the hostilities in Lebanon. Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said he had spoken with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri and warned that Tehran’s response could go beyond halting negotiations.

“If the Israeli aggression against Lebanon continues, we will not only stop the negotiation track, but we will be in direct confrontation with the enemy,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he “had a conversation with Bibi Netanyahu today, asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon,” adding that the Israeli leader “turned his troops around.” Trump also claimed that representatives of Hezbollah’s leadership had agreed to stop firing at Israel.

Netanyahu said he told Trump that Israel would strike Beirut if Hezbollah did not stop attacking his country.

“Our position remains the same,” Netanyahu wrote, vowing to continue operations in southern Lebanon “as planned.”

Russia has urged the International Atomic Energy Agency to provide an adequate response and take practical steps over Ukrainian attacks on the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and the nearby city of Energodar, according to Rosatom CEO Aleksey Likhachev.

Likhachev held an “extraordinary unscheduled” phone call with the IAEA leadership and Director General Rafael Grossi on Monday to discuss the “inadequacy” of the watchdog’s reaction after a Ukrainian fiber-optics-guided drone struck the machine hall of ZNPP’s sixth power unit, puncturing a hole in the building on Saturday.

The Rosatom chief described the strike as the “first targeted attack on an operating nuclear power unit in human history,” saying that Russia expects a clear response from the IAEA, including “indications of both the perpetrators and the reasons for all these strikes.”

The IAEA, which has its experts deployed at the ZNPP, acknowledged damage “consistent with the impact of a drone,” but once again stopped short of blaming Ukraine. Grossi called the strike “a serious incident that endangered key nuclear safety principles.”

“The silence, absence of assessments and personification of risks is essentially a green light for further escalation,” Likhachev told journalists after the call. “Radiation knows no borders and does not recognize passports. In this sense, any nuclear incident poses a threat to a number of countries and this threat will last for many years.”

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been targeted by Ukraine on multiple occasions since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022.

In recent months, Kiev has also increasingly targeted infrastructure linked to the plant and in Energodar, including kindergartens, schools, roads, transport enterprises, and vehicles carrying supplies for the community, according to the Rosatom chief.

Face-to-face contacts with the IAEA will continue this week, Likhachev added. Interdepartmental consultations involving the Russian Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, Rostekhnadzor, Rosatom, and IAEA leaders are scheduled for early July.

At least 20 protesters have been arrested outside an immigrant detention center in Newark, New Jersey, after they violated a newly imposed curfew, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said.

The arrests took place on Sunday night at the Delaney Hall facility, following days of escalating confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement.

Officers moved in after the crowd failed to disperse. Police fired tear gas and detained the activists gathered outside the detention center following a 9:00 PM curfew, media reports said.

Don’t be this guy. pic.twitter.com/jEIrBmsG88

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) June 1, 2026

“If you riot, you will face the consequences,” DHS said on X on Sunday, adding there would be “ZERO tolerance for rioters.” The agency also released footage showing protesters being escorted onto sheriff’s department buses, including one video of officers dragging a man from a barricade line captioned: “Don’t be this guy.”

Delaney Hall has been the epicenter of demonstrations since late May, when lawyers for detainees said a hunger strike had begun over conditions inside the facility. Those being kept there have told human rights groups they were served expired food, denied adequate medical care and subjected to abuse by authorities. The unrest intensified after Democratic officials, including New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill, accused operators of subjecting the immigrants to inhumane conditions and limiting access to visitors.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka accused ICE of escalating tensions at Delaney Hall, saying the use of “riot gear, flash bangs, tear gas, and similar tactics against lawfully assembled protesters is wrong and clearly untenable.” He said the demonstrations were aimed at drawing attention to “inhumane conditions” inside the detention center.

A sweeping immigration enforcement campaign launched by Trump shortly after taking office has led to thousands of arrests nationwide. The administration has defended the crackdown as an effort to remove what it calls “the worst of the worst” criminals from the US. Public support for the campaign has weakened in recent months, with many Americans saying DHS tactics have become overly aggressive and, in some cases, resulted in violence and deaths.

In Russia-US relations, a tradition has emerged of coining catchy phrases to describe periods of rapprochement between Washington and Moscow. For example, the French term ‘détente’ (easing) was used to describe the situational compromises between the Soviet Union and the US at the height of the Cold War. And then there’s the infamous blunder by the US delegation at the 2009 Geneva talks, when a symbolic red button was presented to the Russian delegation with the word ‘peregruzka’ (overload) instead of ‘perezagruzka’ (reset) printed on it, thus ushering in the so-called ‘reset’ era at the time of the Obama administration. After US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the first US-Russia summit to be held in years, a new term emerged: the ‘Spirit of Anchorage’, which became a sort of political meme characterizing the interaction between the White House and the Kremlin.

Despite the varied interpretations expressed in the official statements of the two parties and the complex nature of the dialogue between Moscow and Washington, the essence of the agreements can be boiled down to a few main points:

Firstly, US sanctions are to be lifted and comprehensive bilateral relations developed (in politics, economics, culture, etc.) following the resolution of the Ukraine crisis.

Secondly, on the part of Russia, Moscow is to renounce claims to the territories of Zaporozhye and Kherson regions in their entirety, while the conflict is to be frozen along the front lines. On the part of Ukraine, Kiev is to recognize all the territories controlled by Russia as Russian, including Crimea, and withdraw its troops from Donbass. 

Thirdly, Ukraine’s neutral, non-nuclear status is to be solidified. While pursuing EU membership, Ukraine will need to address disputes with various minorities (Russian speakers, Rusyns, etc.). This should create conditions for a new Eurasian security framework and eliminate issues in relations between the EU/NATO and Russia.

Thus, the ‘Spirit of Anchorage’ allows for a strategic situation in which each side could emerge from the conflict ‘without losing face’ and declare itself a formal victor. Ukraine would maintain its statehood and retain significant territory with access to the Black Sea while making progress toward European integration. Meanwhile, Russia would legally secure land access to Crimea (and the Crimean peninsula itself), thus achieving the objectives of its military campaign: demilitarization, denazification, and the protection of Donbass. 

To implement the compromises agreed upon in Anchorage, however, several factors must be addressed. The primary obstacle is the regime of Vladimir Zelensky. After Zelensky’s presidential term ended in 2024, he de facto usurped power under the pretext of giving the Ukrainian government extraordinary powers to consolidate the nation against an external threat. If he were to withdraw Ukrainian troops from Donbass and sign a peace agreement, Zelensky would create the necessary conditions for elections, which he would likely lose due to public fatigue from four years of war.

Moreover, any potential presidential candidate (such as Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny or Defense Minister Mikhail Fedorov, etc.) has every chance of winning by promoting the thesis that the current authorities are to blame for the fact that a peace deal was not signed earlier. After all, a similar peace agreement could have been signed as early as April 2022, minimizing military and civilian casualties. 

Instead, taking advantage of the voluntary withdrawal of Russian troops from Kiev and Sumy regions and prompted by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s argument that it was impossible to sign an agreement “with a gun to one’s head,” Zelensky not only withdrew from dialogue with Russia but also passed a law prohibiting anyone from negotiating with Russia’s current government. Thus, the current leadership in Kiev has deprived itself of the political and legal tools to find a formula for resolving the conflict.

Seeing that Kiev remains the last obstacle to peace, the US launched a campaign to discredit Zelensky and his entourage, who for many years had profited from aid from the US and other NATO countries. At Washington’s instigation, the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) launched a large-scale anti-corruption investigation in November of 2025 focused on multimillion-dollar embezzlement at the state-owned Energoatom company involving Timur Mindich – Zelensky’s longtime associate and co-owner of the Kvartal-95 studio. Subsequently, a high-profile criminal case was opened against Andrey Yermak – the hastily dismissed former head of the presidential office. At the same time, renowned American journalist Tucker Carlson released an interview with Yulia Mendel – former press secretary in the administration of the Ukrainian president. Mendel accused Zelensky of dictatorial management methods, drug use, and corruption at the highest levels of government. Zelensky’s position has become so critical that the UK and EU have launched a campaign to whitewash his image.

Caught between Scylla and Charybdis – i.e., Russia, with which relations have continued to deteriorate since the mid-2010s, and the US, where Donald Trump’s rise to power has placed the tensions over tariffs and the ownership of Greenland at the center of relations – current European politicians (from NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer) have set out to torpedo the peace agreements. Their aim was not so much to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on Russia but rather to preserve Ukraine as a sort of military and diplomatic battering ram against Russia. Kiev was to be used as a pretext to continue the militarization of European economies against the backdrop of the ongoing relocation of civilian industries to other jurisdictions (China, the USA, etc.).

However, as the US intensified its diplomatic engagement in the Ukraine conflict, Europe found itself marginalized and left out of the negotiation process, including the bilateral Russia-Ukraine talks (which resumed in the spring and summer of 2025) and the trilateral talks facilitated by the US (in early 2026). In light of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s statements on May 9 about the imminent conclusion of Russia’s Special Military Operation, Europe sought to find a way back into the negotiation process by appointing a special envoy to Moscow.

However, there was little genuine intent to resolve the conflict – not only due to the absence of a suitable candidate for this role (with potential candidates ranging from Vice-President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas and President of Finland Alexander Stubb to former Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel and former Prime Minister of Italy Mario Draghi), but also because there wasn’t much to talk about: the EU failed to agree on the parameters of the ‘airport ceasefire’ between Moscow and Kiev, which proposed halting drone strikes on airports to ease domestic and international air traffic.

Europe’s diplomatic passivity reflects growing frustration within Donald Trump’s team. Prospects for resolving the Ukraine crisis are becoming increasingly murky as attention has shifted to another regional conflict – the war with Iran. The 40-day war against Tehran created a fundamentally different strategic landscape for the US, and finding a compromise with the Islamic Republic became a higher priority than continuing mediation between Moscow and Kiev.

After the operation in which Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro was kidnapped on January 3, 2026, Trump tried the same strategy in Iran but found himself ensnared in an asymmetric conflict. Despite significant military superiority over Iran and the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the US was not able to undermine Tehran’s resilience. Instead, these actions led to a cascade of unforeseen consequences.

Few in the White House could have anticipated that the unprovoked aggression launched by the US against Iran on February 28, 2026, would lead to Iranian strikes on US military bases and civilian infrastructure in the Gulf Arab nations, as well as a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has triggered one of the most severe energy crises since the 1970s. As a result, gas prices in the US have surged, and the crisis is becoming the main argument against the Republicans during the upcoming midterm elections in November. If the ruling party loses its majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives, the Democrats will likely use the remaining two years before the next presidential election to pursue the impeachment of Trump, potentially paralyzing any of the current administration’s foreign policy initiatives.

To reverse this negative trend, the White House needs a ‘small victorious war’ – a striking foreign policy success achieved at minimal cost. The prospect of regime change in Cuba appears particularly well-suited for this objective. Looking from his home in Florida across the strait at the ‘Island of Freedom’ – which has remained beyond the reach of US military forces since the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 – Trump considers the leadership of Cuba’s Communist Party easy prey. And it’s not just because of the advanced age of the country’s gray cardinal, Raúl Castro (who recently turned 94), or the deteriorating state of Cuba’s military infrastructure, but also because of the food and energy crises exacerbated by the US embargo linked to the events in Venezuela. Therefore, if Trump starts yet another military conflict in the Western Hemisphere, we can hardly expect any diplomatic activity in the Eastern Hemisphere.

In light of this, it’s important to take US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (the son of Cuban émigrés who fled communist persecution, by the way) seriously when he claims that the US is distancing itself from the Ukraine conflict. Practically speaking, this means that the ‘Spirit of Anchorage’ is more dead than alive. This sentiment has been echoed by several high-ranking officials in Russia, including Vladimir Putin’s aide, Yuri Ushakov, and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and is further illustrated by the recent hostile actions of the US, such as refusal to grant a visa to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alimov to attend the US General Assembly meeting in New York.

However, if there’s one lesson to be learned from the behavior of this US president, it’s that even when the spirit of cooperation seems to have faded, Donald Trump can summon it back at any moment, provided he has the political will to do so.

Moscow has accused France and the UK of engaging in “piracy” after French and British naval forces intercepted and diverted a cargo ship sailing from Russia’s Murmansk to Cameroon in international waters.

The vessel, the Tagor, was stopped on Sunday, more than 400 nautical miles off the coast of Brittany, according to Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova. French authorities claim the ship was operating under a “false” flag.

In a statement on Tueday, Zakharova said the Russian Embassy in Paris has demanded full information concerning the circumstances of the detention, warning that the operation violated international maritime law. She also stated that Moscow is taking measures to protect Russian crew members aboard the vessel.

The spokeswoman rejected France’s justification for the operation, which cited Article 110 of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The provision allows warships to board and inspect vessels on the high seas under limited circumstances, including when a ship is suspected of having no nationality.

However, international maritime law does not permit a warship to compel a vessel to alter course and escort it from international waters to a national port, according to Moscow.

Zakharova also dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s insinuation that the ship was violating “international sanctions,” arguing that only restrictions approved by the UN Security Council qualify as international sanctions. Unilateral measures imposed by European states cannot be considered international under law, she said.

The spokeswoman accused European governments of selectively interpreting legal norms to suit their interests, while cautioning that attempts to enforce sanctions in areas governed by freedom of navigation could have broader consequences for global shipping.

She added that many vessels operating in the interests of European countries sail under so-called flags of convenience, cautioning that extending such enforcement practices to the high seas could prove costly for international maritime trade.

Unelected European Commission President ‘Queen’ Ursula von der Leyen was in Lithuania a few days ago to come up with a plan to tackle Ukrainian drones that risk regime changing European allies. The strategy? Blame Russia – the political equivalent of a universal remote to change the channel from one’s own incompetence. Not only does Russia get to be held responsible for its own stray drones, but also for Kiev’s.

So why Lithuania? Well, its president, Gitanas Nauseda, has been making proclamations about how his country won’t be used for military ops or have its sovereignty violated by drones or anything else. Okay, but what if it’s just the doing of a Ukrainian with shaky stick control – like a teenager with one hand on the gamepad and the other buried in a bag of Doritos? Except that it’s setting off national emergencies. That’s cool, right?

Meanwhile, over in Estonia, the defense ministry has already been going on about how they expect Ukraine to get its droning skills up to par so that these things don’t keep wandering into Estonian airspace. But Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur is being super philosophical about all these incursions into his country’s own airspace... and Latvia’s... and Lithuania’s, while sounding like he’s dealing with a kid who’s learning not to scribble on the walls. With regards to the Ukrainians, he said he just needs to figure out “what exactly it means and what they themselves had in mind by it.”

Right, because maybe this is just their way of expressing themselves. A few days ago, Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Andrey Sibiga admitted that this was happening in a social media post, which blamed Russia for knocking the drones off course.

I’m sure the Latvian prime minister will be psyched to hear that... Oops, I mean the FORMER Latvian PM who felt compelled to resign while detonating his defense minister’s career on the way out after Ukrainian drones started hitting his country. “The measure of public and my trust in Defense Minister Andris Sprüds has been exhausted. The Latgale drone incident was the last straw,” said now former Latvian PM Evika Silina.

Or rather, one might argue that it was Ukraine that took out the Latvian defense chief. Meanwhile, he sounded like he was trying to run interference for Kiev: “In recent days and weeks, we have experienced drone incidents in Latvia and other countries. Uncontrolled drones must not endanger the safety of our people… And right now, my political responsibility is to prevent our armed forces from being used in a political campaign,” Sprüds said, neglecting to pin the blame on the country whose drones were ultimately responsible for drop-kicking him from power.

Looks like an attempt by Ukraine to bring full regime change to its good Baltic pal, Latvia.

Next up: Finland? In mid-May, Helsinki airport briefly closed due to a drone before reopening. Residents were instructed to stay home. Then the Finnish president, Alexander Stubb, comes out and says that it’s alright to crawl back out from under the beds. Turns out it was just some fake news... spread en masse by Finland. The drone wasn’t delivering Putin. Not yet, at least. But maybe soon. Before 2030 for sure, in any case – as they keep saying.

As you might imagine, people really loved the Finnish authorities for interrupting their day to conduct a test run for when Putin decides to crash land via drone and ruin everyone’s afternoon sauna. Turns out that it’s actually Ukrainian drones that have been veering into Finland since at least March, according to multiple reports.

But now Queen Ursula is saying that it’s Russia that’s messing with Ukrainian drones and sending them into Baltic and Finnish airspace. If that was really the case – that Russia could predict the exact trajectory of multiple Ukrainian drones to the point of being able to simultaneously calculate the precise deflection vectors needed to push them all off course in real time with no advance warning – then why wouldn’t Russia be doing that with the Ukrainian drones that are striking Russian assets? That’s the question asked by French electronic warfare expert Olivier Dujardin, who adds that the odds of this capability actually existing is basically zero. Nonetheless, Queen Ursula and the leaders of the Baltic states appear to believe Moscow is using this alleged technology strictly to mess with them, rather than to help itself.

Surely there can’t be any other explanation. Couldn’t have anything to do with Ukraine being clumsy at the controls, as European officials have already pointed out, or using EU territory to escape detection by Russian air defense, as Dujardin suggests.

Ursula’s big on combating disinformation except when it comes to scratching past the surface of an inconvenient narrative that might actually force the EU to take a step closer to peace or dispel the stories they keep telling themselves.

So, basically, they’ve chalked it up to believing this fairy tale about Russia making Ukrainians suck at navigating drones, forcing them to constantly veer into Baltic airspace en masse. And now – what do you know –  here’s the foreign minister of one of those same Baltic countries, Lithuania, who apparently feels so empowered by this EU fake news that he’s rattling sabers over the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

“We have to show the Russians that ⁠we’re capable of penetrating the small fortress they’ve built in Kaliningrad. NATO has the capability, if necessary, to raze Russian air defences and missile bases there to the ground,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys said recently.

Really sounds like he’s game for peace there. The EU has this guy all riled up and psyched about war... like a puppy gets with walkies. They keep talking about fighting Russia, and he wants them to open the front door already and let the dogs of war off the leash.

Ursula now claims the EU has wanted peace from day one, but at the same time seems keen to leverage any ridiculous pretext to avoid it – even when a more rigorous examination of the facts would best serve the interests of any détente – something they seem intent on avoiding.

Looks like the EU is about as adept at navigating the road to peace as Ukraine is at directing drones.

Defense tech contractor Anduril is currently valued at $61 billion, with plans to expand and go public. But it’s a valuation that depends on its founder’s ability to hawk vaporware to the Pentagon, and to talk the US to the edge of a cataclysmic war with China.

In less than a decade, Anduril Industries has gone from a threadbare startup founded by a 24-year-old to a $61 billion player described as building “the future of American power.” Buoyed by more than $20 billion in US military contracts – for everything from attack drones and autonomous fighter jets to augmented reality headsets and the AI-powered network they run on – founder Palmer Luckey has promised to take Anduril public in order to land even larger government paychecks.

Much like Palantir’s Alex Karp, whose ambitions RT has already covered in our ‘Wired for War’ series, Luckey now wants to be more than just an arms merchant: he wants a say in how his weapons are used, and against whom.

Anduril and the coming war on China

Speaking at West Point in May, Luckey told future US military officers that China plans to “take Taiwan,” and if successful, “they’re immediately going to hop over to Okinawa, and/or part of the Philippines, maybe part of Vietnam as well.” Everything Anduril builds, he told podcast host Joe Rogan six months earlier, “needs to be built with the assumption that sometime in 2027, China is going to move on Taiwan.”

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey says if China takes Taiwan, next targets will be Philippines, Vietnam or Japan

Xi will dig up some ancient tributary story and use it to claim Okinawa. We saw Chinese media already pushing a Ryukyu independence story

That’s the real domino effect pic.twitter.com/FCtM26kLCx

— David Walpiri (@DWalpiri) May 27, 2026

Luckey’s assumption is based on a creative interpretation of a 2022 CIA report, which claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to build a military capable of seizing the island by 2027. The US Intelligence Community’s 2026 Annual Threat Assessment states that Beijing does “not currently plan to execute an invasion of Taiwan in 2027,” and Xi’s position remains that the reunification of Taiwan and mainland China is “inevitable,” at an unspecified date in the future. 

Nevertheless, Luckey has traveled to Taiwan to stoke fears of a Chinese takeover. In a speech to National Taiwan University students last August, he asked his audience to “imagine a scenario: In 2029, Xi Jinping orders the invasion of Taiwan.”

“But after years of preparation…Taiwan is ready. Thousands of AI-powered drones spring toward the incoming Chinese fleet. Autonomous submarine systems and surface craft emerge from the sea to protect the island. Mass-producible missiles crowd the skies over Taiwan, stopping hundreds of Chinese fighter jets. The day is won.”

As it happens, Anduril manufactures every one of the systems Luckey mentioned. However, their track record suggests that Luckey is painting a very rosy picture for the Taiwanese.

Do Anduril’s weapons work?

Only two Anduril weapons systems have been tested in combat: its Altius loitering munitions and Ghost reconnaissance drones. Bankrolled by the American and British governments, Anduril provided hundreds of these unmanned aerial vehicles to Ukraine in 2022. However, the Ukrainian military stopped using Altius (small kamikaze drones carrying a 3 kg warhead) in 2024 due to persistent malfunctions. Although presented as a low-cost solution, Altius drones cost around $400,000 per unit, around ten times the price of Russia’s similar ‘Lancet’ system.

Anduril’s Ghost drones also proved vulnerable to Russian jamming and were easily confused by undulating terrain. Both Altius and Ghost UAVs failed spectacularly during demonstrations for the US military last year, as did almost every major Anduril project to date.

A fleet of unmanned attack boats running on Anduril’s ‘Lattice’ operating system refused to take commands and shut themselves down during an exercise in California last May; an anti-drone interceptor crashed in Oregon that August and caused a 22-acre fire; and the company’s flagship project, an AI-powered unmanned fighter jet named the YFQ-44A Fury, has suffered persistent delays due to mechanical failures and has been beaten to first flight by General Atomics’ YFQ-42 Dark Merlin.

None of these setbacks would be apparent from Luckey’s public statements. “Our autonomous weapons have destroyed hundreds of millions worth of Russia’s war machine,” he claimed last year, long after Ukraine rejected the Altius and Ghost systems. Two months later, Luckey confirmed the delivery of a batch of Altius drones to Taiwan, describing the sale as “an enormously consequential moment for Anduril and for the free world.” In a social media post, Anduril claimed that the US military has “consistently praised” Ghost’s reliability, despite a service member labelling the project a “clusterf**k” to Reuters.

War as a subscription service

Anduril intends to iron out these kinks, scale up production, and drive down costs to undercut legacy contractors like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Dynamics. But this goal presents another problem: mass-produced, low-cost weapons are only profitable if they are constantly consumed and replaced. Legacy contractors can sell big-ticket items like fighter jets and intercontinental ballistic missiles during peacetime, but Anduril’s future is tied to the likelihood of a major regional or world war. Luckey’s hawkishness on China makes sense, therefore, as a business strategy.

Without a devastating war to pump demand for its hardware, Anduril has its software to fall back on. Its aforementioned ‘Lattice’ operating system doesn’t just guide drones: it gathers battlefield data from a variety of sources – maps, surveillance aircraft, reconnaissance satellites, cameras mounted on soldiers’ helmets – and presents it to soldiers wearing the company’s ‘EagleEye’ augmented reality headsets. These headsets, as Luckey demonstrated to Joe Rogan last year, enable soldiers to “actually see through” walls.

Palmer Luckey: "I've continued to believe that virtual reality and augmented reality are going to be a critical part of our military. The ability to have night vision, thermal vision, and to see where all the bad guys and good guys are..."pic.twitter.com/VLDcrD0LKx

— Joe Rogan Podcast News (@joeroganhq) March 26, 2026

The Pentagon is betting big on the promise of Lattice and EagleEye, handing Anduril $159 million last year to develop a prototype headset, and $967 million in 2020 to develop Lattice. However, when it comes to selling software-as-a-service to the Pentagon, Anduril is competing with established players: Palantir’s ‘Gotham’ is already in use by multiple US defense and intelligence agencies; ShieldAI’s ‘Hivemind’ has been tapped to guide the Pentagon’s ‘LUCAS’ attack drones; and Saronic’s ‘Echelon’ has been selected by the US Navy to pilot its unmanned naval attack craft.

Compared to its competitors, Lattice has come up short. “We cannot control who sees what, we cannot see what users are doing, and we cannot verify that the software itself is secure,” an internal US Army memo concluded after the platform was tested last September. After the fleet of attack boats running on Lattice became uncontrollable in California, a US Navy report highlighted “continuous operational security violations, safety violations” and mistakes by Anduril that, if left uncorrected, would present an “extreme risk to force and potential for loss of life.”

Palmer Luckey’s big break

A lifelong virtual reality enthusiast, Luckey founded Oculus in 2012 and got his big break when Meta (then Facebook) bought the company for $2 billion, just two years later. Luckey sold Oculus without ever releasing a commercial product, and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg ended up pumping five times the sale price into it and other VR products as his misguided ‘Metaverse’ project floundered. As of January, Meta’s ‘Reality Labs’ VR division has posted $80 billion in operating losses since 2020.

Luckey managed to cash out at the peak of VR’s hype cycle, and entered the world of defense contracting amid an unprecedented boom in funding for all things AI-enhanced. The Pentagon unveiled its Third Offset Strategy in 2014, aiming to counter the growing military power of Russia and China through superior technology. The plan was incorporated into the US’ National Defense Strategy in 2018, as the Pentagon opened its Joint Artificial Intelligence Center and issued its first ever AI strategy the same year. 

According to publicly available figures, the Pentagon has spent $145 billion on this modernization drive to date. 

Anduril’s Indo-Pacific gamble

With its essentially unlimited budget, the US military has always been a sugar daddy for scammers and snake-oil salesmen, and it is inevitable that some of this money will be wasted on companies that overpromise and under-deliver. 

What’s more dangerous, however, is that this money will flow to companies willing to say and do whatever it takes to ensure that their products – effective or not – get used on the battlefield, either in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, or in a devastating world war in the Indo-Pacific.

Luckey has said that he wants the US to stop acting as the world’s policeman and become the “world’s gun store” instead. He also maintains that defense contractors should function as extensions of the American government, and has pledged to align his arms sales with Washington’s foreign policy goals. Based on Palmer’s own words, Beijing likely heard his comments on Taiwan not only as a sales pitch, but as a statement of intent. The cost of miscalculation could be huge.

The Israeli military is targeting rescue workers in and around the city of Nabatieh as it expands its offensive into southern Lebanon, RT correspondent Ali Rida Sbeity reported from the ground on Monday.

The reporter traveled through the city, accompanying first responders as they searched for survivors amid the rubble left behind by Israeli strikes. Rescue teams “have been targeted a few times in the area,” resulting in a number of fatalities, according to Sbeity.

Moreover, Al-Najda Al-Shaabiya Hospital – one of the few medical facilities still operating in the area – came under Israeli attack over the weekend, the RT journalist reported, while noting that the situation in Nabatieh is escalating by the hour.

On Sunday, West Jerusalem announced that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had captured Beaufort Castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, which is situated at a key vantage point in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military had previously used the medieval Crusader fortress as a base before withdrawing from the country in 2000.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that he has ordered the IDF to “deepen and expand our hold in places” that were supposedly under the control of Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

The development coincided with an intensification in Israeli aerial bombardment of southern Lebanon in recent days.

Israel’s ongoing offensive in the neighboring country is a spillover from the broader Middle East conflict triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

While Tehran and Washington reached a fragile ceasefire in mid-April, the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have never ceased.

On Monday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that the Islamic Republic was halting “negotiations and exchange of messages” with the US until Israel stops its military operations in Lebanon and in Gaza.

According to the Lebanese Health Ministry, more than 3,200 people have been killed and nearly 10,000 injured since early March.

Last month, the Lebanese Health Ministry accused the IDF of deliberately targeting medics during airstrikes on the country, with the UN previously estimating that at least 103 Lebanese medical workers have been killed and 230 injured during the current conflict.

All the perpetrators behind the deadly drone attack on the college dorm in the Russian town of Starobelsk must suffer a “well-deserved and inevitable punishment,” President Vladimir Putin has said.

The attack on the college, located in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR), was launched on May 22, when multiple drones hit a dormitory in several waves late at night, while students were sleeping inside. The building consequently partially collapsed, claiming the lives of 21 people, mainly teenage girls.

On Monday, Russia’s president held a meeting with multiple senior officials, including Aleksander Bastrykin, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, as well as Prosecutor General Aleksander Gutsan and Leonid Pasechnik, the head of the LPR. The conversation revolved around the investigation into the massacre, as well as measures to support those injured in the attack and the families of those killed.

Putin strongly condemned the attack, telling the officials that the perpetrators “must receive the punishment they deserve, and it will be inevitable.” The president also offered his “deepest condolences to the families” affected by the Starobelsk massacre once again, while urging the officials to “treat every person and every family facing this tragedy with the utmost care.”

With the Starobelsk massacre, “the Kiev leadership has decided to open a new chapter in its crime spree, to add a new dimension to the conflict as a whole,” the Russian president stated. “Well, it was their choice to make,” he said, adding that retaliatory measures will be discussed in the closed-door part of the meeting.

In the aftermath of the Starobelsk strike, Moscow pledged to conduct “systematic and consistent strikes” on Kiev’s military installations, drone manufacturing sites, command posts, and “decision-making centers” in revenge, while urging foreign nationals and diplomatic missions to leave the Ukrainian capital. 

Kiev has denied responsibility for the incident, with various officials providing conflicting accounts on the massacre, ranging from claims the dorm was actually a command post of the elite Rubicon drone unit to flat dismissal of the attack as a “fake story” by Moscow.

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has threatened legal action against the country’s president, demanding that the official, who was elected under his predecessor Viktor Orban, step down from office.

Magyar, whose Tisza party beat Orban’s Fidesz by a wide margin in the April general elections, has been seeking to remove key figures appointed during the 16-year rule of the former prime minister.

President Tamas Sulyok, who was elected by lawmakers in early 2024, has become the latest target for the ongoing purge, with Magyar accusing him of failing to represent “national unity” and serving the interests of Orban’s party.

“I have told the president that if he maintains his stance and does not resign, I will inform ...the lawmakers of Tisza about our legislative proposals today, and we will immediately start the necessary procedures,” Magyar said on Monday.

The process would take about a month, according to Magyar, “removing all the puppets” who he accuses of “dismantling the rule of law and democracy” in the country under Orban.

The president has refused to step down, and Fidesz has accused Magyar of issuing an “unlawful ultimatum.” Sulyok’s mandate runs until 2029, and Orban’s party insists he can’t be removed from office under the current legislation. Magyar, however, has threatened to use his party’s two-thirds parliamentary majority to alter the country’s constitution, introducing legislation to make it possible.

While the president holds a largely ceremonial role in Hungary, he still has the means to potentially disrupt Magyar’s effort to dismantle the legacy of Orban. The presidency can send bills back to the parliament for reconsideration, as well as refer them to the nation’s Constitutional Court for legal evaluation.

Sulyok served as president of the Hungarian Constitutional Court from 2016 until 2024, and served prior to that as its vice president.

Russia’s military pact with Afghanistan’s Taliban government stems from a pragmatic geopolitical approach to regional security, a policy expert has told RT India.

Moscow and the Taliban government signed a military cooperation pact last week, boosting a regional alliance aimed at strengthening Russia’s influence in Central Asia.

The deal was finalized during an international security forum in Moscow after a meeting between Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu and Afghan Defense Minister Mohammad Yaqoob.

“Since the Taliban is in charge of power in Afghanistan… it is our duty to collaborate with them so as to contribute to regional security, to global security, to counter-terrorism,” Gleb Makarevich, Research Fellow of the Center of the Indo-Pacific Region, the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations, told RT India.

He said Russia seeks to improve ties with the current Afghan government to “invest in regional security in broader terms.” Central Asia is a region of utmost interest for Russia, Makarevich pointed out.

He agreed that, as the Western powers have largely disengaged from Afghanistan, Moscow is “demonstrating a pragmatic approach focused on regional security.”

“We are talking more about pragmatism because there are a lot of Soviet munitions and Russian munitions left in Afghanistan,” he said, noting that the Taliban is seeking assistance in repairing those arms and to collaborate in the defense sector.

Makarevich asserted that Moscow’s approach is to seek regional solutions to problems originating in these theaters, while acknowledging that Russia can’t resolve all those issues.

“The regional conflicts, we could bear in mind, should be decided by the parties involved themselves,” he said.  “It is for (the) Afghan people to decide on their faith and not for Russia to fuel their political vacuum,” Makarevich said. 

Myanmar has vowed not to allow its territory to be used against neighboring India’s security interests.

President Min Aung Hlaing, who is in New Delhi on his first foreign tour, held comprehensive discussions with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

President Hlaing’s statement is important in light of India’s March arrest of a group of seven foreigners, including six Ukrainian mercenaries, who were allegedly training and supplying weapons to insurgents in Myanmar.

The insurgents had crossed into Myanmar and back through India’s eastern border in India’s northeastern state of Mizoram. The region around this border is a hotbed of insurgent activity, according to Indian military experts. These groups were reportedly in touch with insurgent groups in India too.

Modi told Hlaing that New Delhi remains Myanmar’s “trusted neighbor, a reliable partner, and steadfast first responder in times of crisis” in line with India’s Neighbourhood-First policy. He reaffirmed India’s readiness to support peace and dialogue with Myanmar, India’s foreign ministry said in a post on X.

PM @narendramodi held wide-ranging discussions with President U Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar on further deepening India-Myanmar bilateral ties.

Anchored in the enduring historical and people-to-people relationship, both sides agreed to advance 🇮🇳-🇲🇲 partnership for peace,… pic.twitter.com/kYt5cPl7NE

— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) June 1, 2026

The two leaders held talks on issues such as trade, defense, security, and border management and agreed to enhance cooperation.

Both sides stressed the need to prevent activities detrimental to each other’s security interests within their respective territories. India shares a 1,020-mile border with Myanmar and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.

Cross-border immigration and the consequent demographic changes have increased socio-political tension in much of eastern and northeastern India.

Myanmar also pledged to back the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, which have stalled.

With regard to concerns raised by rights groups about Myanmar’s military-backed government, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “History has shown that disengagement doesn’t give us any results that are better than engagement.”

Hlaing’s previous visit to India was in 2019, when he served as Myanmar’s military chief.

Türkiye’s domestic political landscape has entered a phase in which judicial decisions, intra-party struggles and strategic calculations by the authorities are becoming increasingly intertwined.

The arrest of Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul from the center-left opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), in 2025 and the subsequent court decision to remove Ozgur Ozel from the leadership of the CHP and transfer control of the party back to its previous leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu represent two connected episodes within a broader political process. They suggest that the Turkish political system is preparing for a period of heightened uncertainty, in which future elections will be seen not merely as a routine electoral procedure, but as a contest over whether the system which has been shaped over the past two decades will be preserved or revised.

A rival in Istanbul

Imamoglu was detained on March 19, 2025 on charges of corruption and abuse of office, and was later arrested. The timing was especially significant, since the CHP was preparing to name its candidate for a future presidential race, and Imamoglu was widely viewed as the most likely figure to be nominated. By that moment, his political weight had already moved far beyond municipal politics. After his victory in Istanbul, he had become one of the most recognizable figures in the opposition and a potential national rival to Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Istanbul has always been exceptionally important in Turkish politics, being the country’s economic center, a symbol of political legitimacy and the place where Erdogan’s own national career first took shape. The rise of Imamoglu therefore meant the emergence of an opposition figure capable of weaponizing urban discontent, the demand for economic normalization and expectations of institutional renewal. His arrest moved political competition from the sphere of electoral rivalry into the sphere of legal and administrative control.

Destabilizing the opposition

The current court decision regarding Ozgur Ozel should be seen as a continuation of the same strategy. The judicial removal of Ozel from the leadership of the CHP (over alleged issues regarding the legitimacy of the party congress and procedural violations) and the transfer of control to Kemal Kilicdaroglu effectively sets the country’s main opposition force back to its previous configuration.

Ozel took over the CHP after Kilicdaroglu’s defeat in the 2023 presidential election and became a symbol of the party’s attempt at renewal. Under his leadership, the party achieved major gains in the 2024 municipal elections, demonstrating that the opposition could not only criticize the government, but also expand its electoral base. The return of Kilicdaroglu objectively alters the balance inside the opposition, damaging its ability to preserve mobilization before the next electoral cycle.

Preserving decades of work

A restrained analysis of this situation requires attention not only to the interests of the authorities, but also to the bigger picture of a state operating in a complex external and internal environment. Judging by its recent steps, the Turkish leadership is seeking to preserve control over a political direction it considers strategically important. Over the past two decades, Türkiye has significantly transformed its position in the international system. It has become a more autonomous regional actor, strengthened its defense industry, expanded its military presence in neighboring regions and used foreign policy more actively as an instrument of national positioning.

For the current leadership, a change of power would mean the risk of revising the entire trajectory built under Erdogan. This includes the presidential system, foreign policy autonomy, the defense industry, policy in the Eastern Mediterranean, and relations with Russia, the West, the Middle East and the Caucasus. The authorities therefore seek to minimize the possibility of a sharp political turn at a time when the regional environment is becoming increasingly unstable.

The best defense

One of the central elements of this course is the emphasis on strengthening the country’s defense capability. Türkiye has consistently developed its own production of drones, naval platforms, armored vehicles, missile systems and other components of the defense industry. For Ankara, military modernization is a matter of sovereignty. The less dependent the country is on external suppliers, the greater its room for independent decision-making. In this sense, the defense industry has become part of the political philosophy of contemporary Türkiye, where security, technological independence and foreign policy autonomy are treated as interconnected elements.

This is also reflected in the Blue Homeland doctrine – the idea of unquestionable Turkish sovereignty over islands in the Aegean Sea. The intensification of disputes with Greece over these islands, maritime zones and jurisdiction reflects Ankara’s desire to consolidate its interests in areas it considers critical for security and future influence. The intention to legally formalize claims over more than 150 islands and islets fits into a broader trend in which Türkiye seeks not simply to react to regional changes, but to fix its position in advance through legal and military-political instruments.

An additional factor is the deterioration of the regional environment amid the war waged by the US and Israel against Iran, which threatens to throw the entire Middle East off balance. For Türkiye, this means the threat of new waves of migration, strains on energy security, the disruption of trade routes, rising tension along its southern borders and greater uncertainty in financial markets. At a time when the domestic economy is already under pressure from inflation, expensive credit and declining purchasing power, chaos at the gate starts directly affecting internal political stability.

All of the above means the recent actions of the Turkish authorities can be interpreted as an attempt to preserve governability during a period of several overlapping crises. The declining popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party, social fatigue after a long political cycle, the strengthening of the Republican People’s Party after the municipal elections, Imamoglu’s arrest, the court decision on Ozel and Kilicdaroglu’s return to the party leadership all form part of one political picture. The authorities are trying to prevent the opposition from entering future elections with a unified structure, a popular candidate and a renewed leadership.

Hardening to the breaking point

The Turkish authorities’ strategy, however, contains an internal contradiction. The more the state seeks to control the political field, the stronger the question of institutional trust becomes. While some do see these steps as efforts to preserve stability and protect a strategic course, others see them as simply shutting out political competition. This divergence will define the next stage of Turkish politics.

The next elections in Turkiye will decide who controls the overall direction of the state. If the opposition comes to power, it will face a difficult task. It will have to address economic problems, restore trust in institutions, recalibrate relations with the West and preserve the degree of strategic autonomy that has already become part of a new Turkish consensus. A complete rejection of defense autonomy, active regional policy and the defense of maritime interests is unlikely, because these directions have long moved beyond Erdogan’s party agenda.

The possibility of early elections cannot be ruled out. If the authorities conclude that the economy is likely to deteriorate further, regional instability will continue to grow and the opposition may eventually overcome its internal contradictions, holding elections ahead of schedule could be considered a way to lock in the current balance of power. Such a step would allow the ruling coalition to pass through an electoral cycle before accumulated socioeconomic problems become sharper and before the opposition restores its organizational stability.

The current situation surrounding Imamoglu, Ozel and Kilicdaroglu therefore reveals a transformation of the Turkish political system. The authorities are trying to preserve the chosen course and retain control over its continuation, while the opposition is trying to prove that it can offer renewal without weakening the state or reducing Türkiye’s international weight. Between these two approaches lies the central conflict of contemporary Turkish politics. It is not only about who wins the next election, but about what direction the Turkish state will take under conditions of growing regional instability.

Russia has launched this year’s LNG shipment season (NSR), with its nuclear powered icebreakers clearing paths through Arctic ice to keep the Northern Sea Route open for energy exports.

Russia operates the world’s largest fleet of nuclear-powered icebreakers. These massive ships support rapid Arctic development and maintain shipping along the NSR – the shortest sea link between Europe and the Asia Pacific, which is faster than traditional routes via the Suez and Panama canals.

An RT crew boarded Russia’s Yamal – one of the world’s most powerful nuclear icebreakers – for a rare look at how the crew lives and works for weeks at a time. Aboard this floating behemoth, a canteen serving four hot meals a day, a fully equipped gym, a sports court, a sauna, a swimming pool, and a Soviet era library help sailors unwind after long shifts. “Every corner of the ship is designed to keep you sharp, fit, and safe,” RT correspondent Anastasia Volodina reports. 

Step aboard the Yamal with RT and see what life is really like on one of the ships powering Russia’s Arctic ambitions.

The General Court of the European Union has registered a Central Bank of Russia lawsuit against the European Parliament and the EU Council over the bloc’s €90 billion ($105 billion) loan to Ukraine.

The filing contests an EU mechanism adopted in February that allows proceeds from frozen Russian sovereign assets held in Europe to be used to repay a joint loan to Kiev, the central bank said.

Kiev’s Western backers froze about $300 billion in Russian sovereign state assets after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. Moscow has repeatedly said any use of its frozen assets would amount to theft.

The Bank of Russia said the scheme amounts to “an illegal and disguised form of using assets as collateral for a loan,” arguing that it effectively legitimizes the expropriation of sovereign assets.

According to the regulator, the mechanism violates EU law, property rights, and the international legal principle of sovereign immunity afforded to states and central banks.

The lawsuit comes amid broader EU efforts to mobilize roughly €210 billion in frozen Russian assets to support Kiev. In December 2025, Brussels moved to keep the funds immobilized indefinitely, replacing the previous system under which sanctions had to be renewed every six months.

The Bank of Russia separately challenged that decision before the EU’s General Court in February. In that case, it argued that the asset-freeze regime infringes property rights, the right to effective judicial protection, and the sovereign immunity protections recognized under international law and EU legislation.

The regulator also claimed the measure was adopted through “serious procedural violations,” arguing that it should have required unanimous approval by EU member states rather than a qualified-majority vote.

The Bank of Russia is also locked in a legal dispute with Euroclear, the Belgium-based depository that holds the bulk of Russia’s frozen assets. Last month, Moscow's arbitration court awarded the regulator $230 billion in damages. Euroclear has pledged to appeal.

Democrat-led US states are considering imposing a 100% tax on payouts by a $1.8 billion fund set up by US President Donald Trump for victims of attempts to weaponize the legal and political system against them.

Trump and his allies have long claimed to have been subjected to politically motivated investigations and prosecutions during the Biden administration, including the FBI search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, the probe into his supposed ties with Moscow, and other criminal cases.

Trump’s team has presented the ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ as part of a broader effort to compensate people allegedly mistreated by the federal government.

However, critics have described Trump’s proposal as a “slush fund,” with Colorado Senator Michael Bennet calling it a “corrupt theft of taxpayer dollars” in an interview with the Washington Post on Sunday.

A US federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s administration from setting up the fund on Friday.

What is the fund?

The ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ is a $1.776 billion pool of federal money intended to compensate people who claim they were victims of government lawfare and were targeted for political, personal, or ideological reasons.

The Justice Department (DOJ) created it earlier this month as part of a settlement ending Trump’s lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over the leak of his tax records. The sum is a symbolic reference to 1776, the year of the US Declaration of Independence.

History of ‘lawfare’ against Trump

The announcement of the fund comes after years of Trump describing the criminal investigations against him and his supporters as politically motivated “weaponization” of the justice system, which was a central theme of his 2024 presidential campaign.

Examples cited by Trump’s camp include the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago over classified documents, the years-long investigation into the now-debunked Russia collusion, prosecutions related to the January 6 Capitol riot, and the leak of Trump’s tax records by former IRS contractor Charles Littlejohn.

The administration has also pointed to cases involving lesser-known Trump supporters like 70-year-old former Colorado county clerk Tina Peters, who was imprisoned in 2024 over an attempt to uncover evidence of voter fraud.

Vice President J.D. Vance has said it would be “reasonable” for Peters to “get some compensation” from the Anti-Weaponization Fund, arguing that her sentence was “completely disproportionate.”

Who decides who gets paid?

The fund would be overseen by a five-member commission. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, who previously served as Trump’s defense attorney, is expected to appoint most of its members.

The commission will be able to authorize payments to claimants who show they were illegally targeted by the federal government, issue apologies, or request more information from claimants and federal agencies.

The DOJ has said there are no partisan restrictions on eligibility. A senior administration official told the New York Post that anyone can apply, including Democrats, January 6 defendants, or even former US President Joe Biden’s son Hunter.

Why are critics angry?

Opponents have described the arrangement as a taxpayer-funded “slush fund” that could benefit Trump allies, including people connected to the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol.

Democracy Forward, the group behind one of the lawsuits challenging the fund, has argued that no administration has the authority to spend public money through a “political rewards program.”

Some Republicans have also objected. North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis said it would be “absurd” if someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted guilt and was convicted was subsequently pardoned and then received taxpayer-funded compensation.

The viral ‘QAnon Shaman’ Jacob Angeli-Chansley, who was one of the Trump supporters involved in the Capitol Hill riots, has also come out against the fund, stating he would not take “a dime of that blood money” after becoming disenchanted with the president over his handling of the Epstein Files, attack on Iran and support for Israel.

Blue states threaten to tax everything

While Democrats remain a minority in Congress and have limited power to block the program, some state-level officials have been looking for ways to prevent residents from keeping payouts.

California Assembly Budget Committee Chair Jesse Gabriel said Democrats are planning to include a tax on the payments in the state budget. “That money belongs to taxpayers, and we’re going to make sure it stays with taxpayers,” he told the Washington Post on Sunday.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has endorsed the idea, saying it is “an action we look forward to taking.” Lawmakers in New York and Wisconsin are also working on bills targeting any payments from the fund.

“If you’re a New Yorker and you take from this illegal slush fund, New York state will tax 100% of it,” New York Assembly member Alex Bores said in a video posted on X. “If you storm the Capitol and you take from this slush fund, too bad, we’re taking it.”

The DOJ has criticized the state proposals, accusing blue-state governors of “flaunting their love of lawfare.”

What does the Trump side say?

The DOJ has defended the fund, saying it “remains extremely confident” in its legality.

“We will not allow the policy preferences of judges to interfere with our efforts to provide restitution to victims of lawfare,” a department spokesperson told Reuters.

Supporters also argue the fund is not unprecedented, pointing to the existing DOJ Judgment Fund, which has long been used to settle claims against the federal government, and stating that the program is “just a rebranding of an existing legal settlement fund Congress authorized decades ago.”

What is the current status of the fund?

On Friday, US District Judge Leonie Brinkema temporarily blocked the Trump administration from setting up or operating the fund while she considers additional legal arguments. The order will remain in effect at least until June 12.

The South African Department of Home Affairs has dismissed as fraudulent a notice circulating on social media that falsely claims residents of Bloemfontein, the capital of the Free State province, can receive rewards of up to R5,000 ($300) for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

The notice, dated May 26, 2026, was addressed to “all citizens and residents of Bloemfontein” and purported to have been issued by immigration authorities. It claimed members of the public could qualify for monetary rewards for information leading to the identification, location or apprehension of undocumented migrants.

However, Home Affairs has categorically denied the authenticity of the document.

“The notice currently circulating is fraudulent and did not originate from the Department of Home Affairs,” the department said in a post on X. 

FAKE NEWS ALERT: The notice currently circulating is fraudulent and did not originate from the Department of Home Affairs. Neither the Department nor the Minister of Home Affairs offers monetary rewards to members of the public for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

We… pic.twitter.com/HCWjviKABF

— HomeAffairsSA 🇿🇦 (@HomeAffairsSA) May 29, 2026

It further clarified that neither the department nor the Minister of Home Affairs offers monetary rewards to members of the public for reporting undocumented foreign nationals.

The department urged South Africans to verify information through official channels before sharing it online.

“We encourage the public to verify information through official channels before sharing it. Let us all play our part in promoting accurate information, responsible engagement, and respect for the rule of law,” Home Affairs said.

The fake notice has emerged amid ongoing national discussions around immigration enforcement and undocumented migration, issues that have frequently generated heated debate on social media platforms.

The department warned that the circulation of false information can fuel public confusion and undermine trust in official government communications.

Home Affairs has advised the public to rely on its verified communication platforms for official announcements and updates.

‘‘For verified updates and official announcements, please follow the Department of Home Affairs’ official communication platforms."

First published by IOL

Ukraine and its neighboring EU countries would be the first to suffer if Kiev’s continued attacks result in an incident at the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), Aleksey Likhachev, CEO of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has said.

Europe’s largest nuclear power plant has been targeted by Ukraine on multiple occasions since Russia took control of the facility in March 2022. On Saturday, a fiber-optics-guided drone struck the machine hall of ZNPP’s sixth power unit, puncturing a hole in the building. According to Rosatom, this was Kiev’s first “deliberate attack” on the station’s main equipment.

Ukrainian authorities have denied any involvement in the incident. Vladimir Zelensky said in April that the only way for Russia to guarantee security at the plant was to hand it over to Kiev.

Likhachev told journalists on Monday that “any explosion, any fire [at the plant] guarantees a loss of both power and water supplies to the reactor unit. And that is a precursor to a nuclear incident.”

If the ZNPP is hit with more powerful weapons such as heavy missiles, the reactor vessel could well be destroyed, causing a release of radiation that would then spread over a vast area, he warned.

“Ukraine and neighboring Western states are the first to be at serious risk” if this happens, the Rosatom chief added.

According to Likhachev, his conversation about the events at the ZNPP with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi later in the day will also serve as “an address to the leaders of European countries.”

“This whole radiation situation doesn’t respect national borders. By playing with fire and allowing the escalation of tensions around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, the leaders of European countries are clearly putting their people, their cities and their territories under a direct threat,” he noted.

The IAEA, which has its experts deployed at the ZNPP, previously acknowledged attacks on the facility, but stopped short of blaming Ukraine for them. The plant has been operated by Rosatom since Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as well as the People’ Republics of Donetsk and Lugansk voted to join Russia in a referendum in the fall of 2022.

Ethiopians began voting on Monday as the country launched its seventh general election, with voters electing members of the federal parliament and nine regional state councils. 

Polling stations opened at 6 AM nationwide, with long queues forming early as citizens headed to cast their votes, local news agency ENA reported.

More than 54 million people are registered to vote in the election. Over 10,000 candidates from 42 political parties, including the ruling Prosperity Party led by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, are contesting seats at the federal and regional levels, with voting taking place at roughly 52,000 polling stations across the country.

Voting is not being held in the Tigray region due to ongoing instability following the 2021-2022 conflict, while polling in eight constituencies in Amhara has been suspended because of security concerns related to the Fano armed group.

The election is being monitored by observers. The African Union Election Observation Mission (AUEOM), led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, visited polling stations during the opening of the vote. “Democracy is something that we in the African continent would like to entrench so that we have true representation, a feeling of inclusion, and the ability for people to choose the leaders of their choice,” Kenyatta said.

#Ethiopia The process has officially started - Uhuru Kenyatta Head of the African Union Election Observation Missio pic.twitter.com/SUs2qnMhkI

— Mohamed N Jama Hawd And Reserve Area (@Mahamed81443729) June 1, 2026

Some opposition figures have questioned the competitiveness of the election. Merera Gudina, a veteran opposition politician and leader of the Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), told the BBC that his party was participating only “symbolically” and primarily to avoid losing its legal registration. Mistreselasie Tamrat, secretary of the Coalition for Ethiopian Unity (CEU), said opposition parties had been unable to campaign effectively in the Amhara and Oromia regions due to a lack of what he called “enabling conditions.”

Ethiopia is a parliamentary republic, meaning the composition of the federal parliament will determine the formation of the next government and the selection of the prime minister. Speaking to African Initiative news agency, Andrey Khrenkov, a senior researcher at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the most likely outcome is the preservation of the dominant position of Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party.

Abiy has served as the country’s prime minister since 2018. His Prosperity Party was established in 2019 following the merger of several parties from the ruling coalition that had governed the country for nearly three decades. Abiy was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019 for brokering peace in the decades-long conflict with neighboring Eritrea. His tenure has also been marked by the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile, the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa.

The Armenian government is forcing the country onto the same anti-Russian path taken by Ukraine, former President Robert Kocharyan has warned ahead of upcoming elections.

In Sunday’s vote, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party will seek a mandate to pursue closer integration with the European Union – a course that could ultimately lead to a break with Russia.

Pashinyan’s party is facing a divided opposition field that includes three major players: Strong Armenia, launched earlier this year by businessman Samvel Karapetyan; the Armenia Alliance, led by former President Kocharyan; and Prosperous Armenia, headed by businessman Gagik Tsarukyan.

While the opposition groups differ over how the landlocked post-Soviet nation’s problems should be addressed, they all blame the current leadership for causing them.

“We are being artificially turned into an enemy of Russia, led down Ukraine’s path that will only result in destruction,” Kocharyan, a veteran politician whom Pashinyan wants imprisoned, said at a campaign rally.

Armenia, he argued, “should stop playing on the differences of great powers and provoking them, putting its own people in harm’s way.”

Yerevan facing either-or choice

Pashinyan, who came to power following street protests in 2018, has presided over a string of crises, including border clashes and a proxy war with neighboring Azerbaijan, an influx of refugees from the now-defunct self-proclaimed Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, major protests that he suppressed by accusing critics from the Armenian Apostolic Church of plotting a coup, and a broader economic slowdown.

The prime minister has also accused Russia of failing Armenia in its confrontation with Azerbaijan and has claimed that deeper integration with the EU, along with transit revenues, would deliver a significant economic boost.

Moscow has denied responsibility for the consequences of Pashinyan’s policies and has warned that the proposed EU course is incompatible with Armenia’s membership in the Eurasian Economic Space (EES) free trade bloc. Ukraine’s 2014 Maidan coup was triggered by the government’s decision to delay an EU association agreement after Moscow warned that the deal would lead to tariffs on bilateral trade.

Asked about calls to put Armenia’s geopolitical course to a referendum, a proposal voiced by the EES last week, Pashinyan said holding a vote before the choice becomes unavoidable would be “illogical.” Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the approach to the Bolshevik government’s attempt to unilaterally withdraw from World War I without signing a formal peace treaty with Germany.

Leo Trotsky’s formula, often summarized as “no peace, no war, and disband the army,” backfired badly, forcing Soviet Russia to accept the highly unfavorable Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with a country that was later defeated by the Entente powers.

Misleading polls

Without a single consolidated opposition force, Pashinyan appears positioned for a landslide victory, Euronews claimed on Sunday, citing opinion polls. The outlet pointed to a survey by the pollster Breavis, in which 65% of respondents said they planned to vote for the ruling party.

Armenia, Breavis poll:

KP~EPP|~S&D: 65% (+41)
Mer dzevov-*: 12% (+3)
HD/ARF-S&D: 6% (+3)
MPA-*: 4% (+3)
BHK-*: 2% (-1)
DOK-*: 2% (n.a.)
MT-*: 2% (+1)
BDE-*: 2% (n.a.)

+/- vs. 03-13 February 2026

Fieldwork: 05-11 May 2026
Sample size: 1,551

➤ https://t.co/ImUIujL15i pic.twitter.com/SzL4v5va8M

— Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) May 30, 2026

However, responses from 51% of those surveyed were excluded because they refused to answer, said they had not yet decided, intended to spoil their ballot, or planned to skip the election altogether.

Pashinyan has taken leave from his duties as prime minister to campaign, and some of his appearances have cast him in an unfavorable light, showing him as short-tempered and thin-skinned. “Be glad your head is not smashed in at the closest toilet,” he told a woman who accused him of betraying national interests.

🇦🇲 Pashinyan shouts down woman who accused him of destroying Armenian statehood at campaign rally

During yet another pre-election event, the Armenian PM lost his composure at a woman in the crowd who accused him of dismantling Armenian statehood.

She stated that the Armenian… pic.twitter.com/aBKEeBOQpR

— DD Geopolitics (@DD_Geopolitics) May 18, 2026

When a head of government makes such threats, opinion polls are likely to produce distorted results.

Iran has halted negotiations with the US over the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon, moving to block maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, Tasnim news agency has reported, citing sources.

Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in Lebanon in recent days, against what it describes as sites used by the Hezbollah militant group. The Israeli military has pushed deeper into the country’s south, seizing Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress and a key vantage point in the region.

While Iran made an end to the war in Lebanon a condition for its Pakistani-mediated negotiations with the US, the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah have continued despite a supposed ceasefire announced in mid-April.

In response to the escalation in Lebanon, Tehran is stopping the “negotiations and exchange of messages through a mediator,” according to Tasnim. Iran has reportedly demanded an “immediate cessation of hostilities” in the country, as well as in the Palestinian enclave of Gaza, making it a condition for continuing the contacts with the US.

Tehran and its regional allied groups have also expressed readiness to seal off the Strait of Hormuz, as well as to “activate other fronts,” including disrupting maritime traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait, according to the agency.

Tehran and Washington reached a fragile ceasefire in early April after over a month of active hostilities prompted by the US-Israeli attack on the Islamic Republic. Iran and the US have been engaged in direct and indirect contacts ever since, negotiating a memorandum of understanding expected to extend the truce for another 60 days and kickstart talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

Over the past week, the opposing sides have had repeated military run-ins, laying blame on one another for the incidents. US Central Command said on Monday that it had conducted “measured and deliberate strikes” on Saturday and Sunday in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters.” Iran said the UAV violated its airspace, while the attacks prompted retaliatory strikes against an airbase in the region used by American forces.

Russia is preparing to host the 12th annual Primakov Readings International Forum, one of the country’s leading platforms for discussion of global politics and the world economy. The event, themed ‘World Without Rules: Power Game?’, will take place in Moscow on June 23–24, 2026, at the Radisson Blu Leninsky Prospect Hotel, coinciding with the 70th anniversary of IMEMO.

The forum is expected to bring together senior Russian officials, including presidential aide Yury Ushakov, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev, alongside leading Russian and international experts in international security, global politics, and economics, as well as diplomats, politicians, and representatives of public organizations.

According to organizers, the program will focus on some of the most pressing challenges in international affairs. Key themes will include the global fallout from regional conflicts, the domestic drivers of US foreign policy, the Middle East conflict and its дальнейшая evolution, scenarios for a new world order, risks to global trade and investment, Eurasian security during Russia’s chairmanship of the CSTO, and AI-driven international competition alongside a new round of military-technological rivalry.

Special attention will be given to prospects for de-escalation in the Middle East, the possible creation of a new regional security architecture, and the role of non-Western countries in stabilizing the region. Participants are also expected to discuss the consequences of the termination of the New START treaty, the risk of a broader collapse of the arms-control system, and the impact of emerging military technologies on strategic stability as the arms race accelerates.

“Both in Russia and globally, the liberal ‘rules-based’ world order has faced harsh and fair criticism. In 2022–2026 it ultimately faded into history,” said Aleksandr Dynkin, president of the Primakov Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “We are witnessing a breakdown: there is an obvious fragmentation of the global political and economic architecture, and an almost complete dictatorship of force in international security backed by states’ combined economic and military power, ignoring international law and its institutions.”

Dynkin said that under these conditions, the importance of the remaining “anchors of stability” is growing, along with the demand for strengthening international institutions that can serve as alternatives to Western-led ones. He named Russia-China and Russia-India ties among such anchors, and pointed to BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), and ASEAN as key institutions shaping this process.

The event is expected to bring together around 50 experts from 20 countries, including China, India, the US, Iran, the UK, Uzbekistan, and Belarus.

Organized by IMEMO together with the Evgeny Primakov Center for International Cooperation, the forum continues the legacy of Evgeny Primakov, the statesman and scholar after whom it is named. First launched in 2015, the Primakov Readings have become an annual gathering of leading specialists in international relations and the global economy.

Media representatives can apply for accreditation via the official website of the Primakov Readings forum.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has condemned the French seizure of an oil tanker in international waters as “borderline piracy.” Paris had hailed the move as the enforcement of anti-Russian sanctions.

The crude oil tanker Tagor was boarded by French commandos in the Atlantic, with support from the UK and other countries, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday while presenting footage of the raid.

Macron claimed the vessel posed environmental and safety risks and was engaged in the “circumvention of international sanctions,” referring to restrictions adopted by a number of Western countries targeting Russian foreign trade. The measures were imposed without a UN mandate following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Peskov rejected Macron’s claim that French forces had acted in accordance with international law. He said Russia would “draw on this negative experience” when adjusting the “measures we take to ensure the safety of our shipments.”

La Marine nationale a arraisonné hier matin un nouveau pétrolier sous sanctions internationales en provenance de Russie : le Tagor. Notre détermination est constante et totale.

Cette intervention a été effectuée en Atlantique, en haute mer,… pic.twitter.com/zxEslYjbUE

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2026

Western raids and Ukrainian bombs

Kiev’s Western backers have accused Russia of using a so-called ‘shadow fleet’ to conceal and maintain international trade flows that they seek to restrict in order to weaken Moscow and aid Ukraine.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is believed to be conducting a sabotage campaign against vessels that call at Russian ports, including ships used by third parties such as the Caspian Pipeline Consortium.

Last month, an LNG tanker that had arrived at Russia’s Baltic port of Ust-Luga from Antwerp was found to have been fitted with limpet mines. Moscow said the discovery had prevented what it described as a Ukrainian attempt to trigger a major explosion near the port’s export terminal.

The British backseat driver

According to public maritime tracking data, the Tagor sails under the flag of Madagascar and had previously visited an oil terminal near the northern Russian port of Murmansk. The vessel stopped transmitting transponder data more than a week ago while sailing off the Norwegian coast. Macron did not disclose what role Britain played in the capture of the Tagor.

France carried out a similar operation in March, when its navy intercepted the Deyna, an oil tanker Paris alleged was part of ‘Russian shadow fleet,’ as it sailed through the Mediterranean after having departed Murmansk. The ship was released in mid-April after its owner paid a fine to French authorities over paperwork irregularities.

The UK has been among the most vocal advocates of escalating interdictions against vessels transporting Russian oil, while avoiding direct action itself. In March, No. 10 claimed a legal review had cleared British troops to board such ships.

The Iranian Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said it carried out a retaliatory strike on an air base used by the US after American forces attacked targets in southern Iran over the weekend.

The latest exchange has further strained a fragile ceasefire reached in April after more than a month of fighting triggered by US and Israeli attacks on Iran. Washington and Tehran are currently attempting to negotiate a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that would extend the truce for another 60 days and restart talks on Iran’s nuclear program.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement on Monday that it had conducted “measured and deliberate strikes” on Saturday and Sunday “in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters.” It accused Tehran of “unwarranted… aggression during the ongoing ceasefire.”

Iran announced the downing of the UAV on Sunday, saying it was hit due to violations of the country’s airspace over the Persian Gulf.

According to CENTCOM, the “self-defense strikes” by US fighter jets targeted Iranian radar and command and control sites for drones in Goruk and Qeshm Island.

Later in the day, the IRGC said it had responded to what it described as an American strike on a communications tower on the Islamic Republic’s Sirik Island.

The Iranian military “targeted the air base, from which the [US] attack originated, and the predetermined targets were destroyed,” it said in a statement.

The statement did not identify the location of the targeted base, although Kuwait’s KUNA news agency earlier reported that the Gulf nation’s air defenses had intercepted incoming missiles and drones.

The IRGC warned “that if the aggression is repeated, the response will be completely different” and that the US would be to blame.

Tehran has been making changes to a draft MOU after reports of US President Donald Trump sending a tougher proposal to Iran on Sunday, Tasnim news agency reported. The exchanges on the text of an MOU “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments,” the agency’s source said.

Top Iranian negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf previously stressed that Tehran has no trust in promises made by the US and “will not approve any agreement until we are sure that we have upheld the rights of the Iranian nation.”

As China doubles down on its economic presence in Africa, the relationship is entering a new phase that goes beyond bricks and mortar.

The Beijing Action Plan 2025-2027 includes support for 30 infrastructure connectivity projects across Africa, while countries such as Kenya and Uganda are already reviving Chinese-backed transport links, such as the Standard Gauge Railway extension and the Rironi-Mau Summit highway toward the Uganda border.

For analysts watching the continent’s financial future, these developments matter not only because they move goods but also because they may create the commercial architecture for a parallel payment system built around China’s Digital RMB (digital yuan/e-CNY), potentially giving African economies a faster, less dollar-dependent way to trade.

The Western-dominated global payments system, centered on SWIFT and intermediary banks, has long been criticized for high transaction costs, delays, and vulnerability to geopolitical pressure. But as China expands its digital cross-border payment system while deepening ties with Africa, analysts say the platform could mark a significant shift in how the continent moves money across borders.

‘Potential to reduce exposure to Western-controlled financial systems’

Michael Owuor, a development and transnational organized crimes expert based in Nairobi, observes that for many countries in Africa, China’s digital yuan is “slowly redefining traditional geo-commerce relationships by providing alternative financial platforms for trade.”

“For African economies, this new cross-border platform has the potential to accelerate regional and continental trade systems, reduce exposure to Western-controlled financial systems and politically engineered economic sanctions, and strengthen financial inclusion that the continent has been yearning for,” said Owour, who works at the Global Centre for Policy and Strategy (GLOCEPS), a think-tank based in Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Owuor, for Africa, a region that is deeply integrated into China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is increasingly reliant on digital financial solutions, the digital yuan offers diverse opportunities.

“This platform is part of China’s broader push to make it easier for global businesses and consumers to transact directly in yuan without defaulting to reserve currencies like the US dollar,” Owuor told RT.

Faster and cheaper

Owuor notes that the grounding of China’s digital yuan in blockchain technology can make cross-border settlements faster, cheaper, and more transparent.

“Digital RMB’s blockchain-driven architecture reduces cross-border settlement times to mere seconds, unlike traditional SWIFT transactions, which often take 3-5 business days and involve multiple intermediary banks. This results in high fees at each stage of payment processing and delays in executing transactions,” Owuor told RT.

The digital RMB platforms cut settlement times to near real-time and can reduce costs by 40-60% or more.

Further, Owuor argues that its efficiency is particularly transformative for developing economies where cross-border payment delays and high costs have long hindered trade, investment, and capital transfer.

“The embedded smart contracts in this system automatically enforce regulatory requirements, reduce risks of fraud, and enhance transparency,” he adds.

‘Growing skepticism towards the US dollar’s dominance’

Joseph Kimotho, a Nairobi-based independent consultant and development finance specialist, argues that punitive economic actions by the Trump administration towards Global South countries have “inadvertently spurred demand for alternative financial platforms”.

“It is no secret that there is growing skepticism towards the US dollar’s dominance in global trade. Washington’s weaponization of the tariff policy as a tool for economic and political sanctions makes the Digital RMB a promising and welcoming option,” Kimotho told RT.

Kimotho suggests that China’s payment system offers an alternative, particularly for countries “seeking to insulate themselves from US sanctions and dollar dependency” while securing their presence in international trade.

He says that Africa’s integration into BRI makes it a natural beneficiary of the platform’s expansion endeavors, noting that the system, dubbed the ‘Digital Silk Road’, is more likely to underpin all payments and transactions under the BRI.

“This is likely to inform action by central banks in the Global South to hold the yuan as part of their foreign reserves,” he supposes.

‘Africa must guard against over-reliance on a single currency’

Isaac Shinyekwa, head of trade and regional integration at the Kampala-based Economic Policy Research Centre, notes the entry of digital Yuan into Africa could catalyze its integration with continental payment infrastructures, such as the Pan-African Payment and Settlement Systems (PAPPS).

“The entrenchment of PAPPS in regional and continental trade, coupled with strategic collaboration with the RMB cross-border payment platform, could enable African nations to bypass SWIFT for intra-regional transactions while reducing costs and delays,” he told RT.

Shinyekwa adds that efficient cross-border payment systems are imperative for the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to create a single market of 1.3 billion people.

“The Digital RMB’s speed and low cost could facilitate faster capital movement and thus boost intra-African trade. The adoption of it by Africa could accelerate regional integration, reduce exposure to US sanctions, and enhance financial inclusion and commerce,” Shinyekwa said.

Moving forward, Owuor foresees a situation in which Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Africa will more likely be financed directly through these digital payment platforms. He warns, however, that this transition process must be carefully managed.        

“It is imperative to carefully navigate regulatory, technical, and geopolitical challenges and opportunities, including users’ and country data rights. Africa must guard against over-reliance on a single currency or system, thus avoiding new forms of financial dependency,” Owuor concludes.

India has signed an agreement to supply BrahMos cruise missiles to Vietnam, Defense Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh has confirmed.

A similar deal with Indonesia is in the final stages, Singh said at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore over the weekend.

“My understanding is that with both Indonesia and with Vietnam, the deal is in the final stages… in fact, for Vietnam, I understand that it has already been signed, probably not publicly announced, but it’s already been signed,” Singh said.

Vietnamese President To Lam was in India on an official visit early last month.

Vietnam has become the second Southeast Asian nation to induct the supersonic cruise missiles into its arsenal. Last year, the Philippines became the first third-party customer for the BrahMos system, taking delivery of an initial batch in April under a $375 million agreement signed in 2023.

The BrahMos, named after the Brahmaputra and Moskva rivers, is among the fastest supersonic cruise missiles in the world. It was jointly developed by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO Mashinostroyeniya rocket design bureau, which produces the Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles.

Originally capped at a range of 180 miles, the BrahMos has since been upgraded for greater reach, increasing its strategic value and drawing heightened interest from Southeast Asian countries amid shifting regional security dynamics.

The missile, which can be launched from ships, submarines, land, and air-based systems, was first unveiled at the MAKS-2001 airshow in Moscow.

Backed by the Indian and Russian governments, BrahMos is reportedly in advanced talks with Indonesia for a deal valued at $200 million to $350 million.

Indonesian authorities have reportedly confirmed that they have finalized a preliminary framework to purchase the supersonic missile infrastructure.

The next phase of the BrahMos project could involve the joint development of a missile system based on Russia’s Zircon hypersonic missile.

BrahMos Aerospace posted record revenue in the last fiscal year, the DRDO has said.

Indian scientists may have discovered new evidence of subsurface ice on the Moon, potentially paving the way for more lunar landings.

Scientists from the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the Physical Research Laboratory have analyzed data from the Chandrayaan-2 mission and found radar signatures consistent with buried ice inside four “doubly shadowed craters” in the moon’s south polar region, the Indian Express reported.

These are extremely cold regions of the lunar surface, as they never receive direct sunlight, making them ideal for preserving water ice. Temperatures in these spots could drop to around 25 Kelvin, or -248.15C.

The data is from an imaging instrument on the Chandrayaan-2 orbiter that studies the lunar surface. The findings, which were made using advanced radar polarimetric analysis, were published in the journal npj Space Exploration on May 6.

The discovery may play a key role in future lunar exploration missions and help space agencies to identify potential ice-rich regions for manned lunar landings.

Water ice on the Moon is considered one of the most valuable resources by lunar missions, as scientists see scope for converting it to drinking water, breathable oxygen, and rocket fuel, according to the Indian Express report.

The probable presence of the subsurface ice may result in more expeditions to the Moon’s south pole.

ISRO has received approvals to develop its Next Generation Launch Vehicles (NGLV), which can be used in its future lunar missions.

Ghana’s parliament has approved legislation introducing prison terms of up to five years for individuals who promote, sponsor, or advocate LGBTQ activities, while also banning the funding of related groups and initiatives.

The Proper Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, also known as the Anti-Gay Bill, would also impose prison terms of up to three years for people engaging in same-sex relations, as well as sentences ranging from three to five years for those found to be promoting, sponsoring, or deliberately supporting LGBTQ activities. The legislation, which was approved on Friday, is expected to be signed into law by Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama.

Parliament first passed the bill in February 2024 and forwarded it to then-President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo for assent, but the legislation ultimately did not become law.

At the time, Ghana’s Finance Ministry warned that the country could lose up to $3.8 billion in World Bank funding if the bill, which had already been approved by parliament, was signed into law.

The legislation has also drawn condemnation from abroad. In 2024, the US said it was “deeply troubled” by the decision, which “would threaten all Ghanaians’ constitutionally protected freedoms of speech, press, and assembly.”

Ghana’s move follows similar developments elsewhere in Africa. In April, Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye signed a law tightening penalties for same-sex relations and criminalizing the promotion and financing of homosexuality. The legislation has been criticized by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk as “harmful.” It increases prison terms for what authorities describe as “unnatural acts” from one-to-five years to five-to-ten years, and raises maximum fines to 10 million CFA francs (around $17,680).

In 2023, a similar law was passed in Uganda, making it illegal to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer. In response, Washington imposed travel restrictions on officials from the East African country and expelled it from a duty-free program.

Several African countries, including Kenya, Tanzania, Sudan and Sierra Leone, impose prison terms ranging from ten years to life for same-sex relations. In Uganda, Mauritania, and parts of Somalia, the offense can carry the death penalty.

President Vladimir Putin’s state visit to Kazakhstan last week was an important moment in bilateral relations. It gives us the opportunity to think more broadly about the current state of Russia’s relations with those former Soviet republics that remain most friendly towards us.

This is especially necessary now, as elections approach in Armenia and its leadership speaks openly about moving closer to the European Union. Once again, we hear the familiar claim that Russia is “losing” the post-Soviet space. The argument is not new and it’s supported, in different ways, by the open desire of some neighboring states to strengthen cooperation with the West, and by the less visible but steadily growing presence of Western corporations, NGOs and political actors in countries near Russia.

But we should begin with a simple fact. Against the background of the geopolitical catastrophe of 1991, Russia has retained, and continues to retain, considerable influence over its immediate neighborhood.

There are two reasons for this. First, Russia’s size, economy, culture and geography make it a natural center of attraction for states that don’t make hostility to Moscow the organizing principle of their existence. Even Georgia, after bitter experience, has learned that the West is not always capable of helping those it encourages.

Second, most of our neighbors are themselves acting with a degree of statesmanship in that they may maneuver and diversify their foreign relations, but they’re not usually seeking to sever ties with Russia. The established states of the former USSR pursue pragmatic policies and understand the value of their special relationship with Moscow and, in recent years, Russia has also found new ways to ensure that those who benefit from cooperation outnumber those who profit from conflict.

The military-political confrontation between Russia and the West has nevertheless created a difficult environment. Our neighbors have benefited from it in some ways, especially through trade and financial opportunities, but they’re also under serious pressure from Brussels and Washington. One result has been a decline in some trade flows and the appearance of new problems in areas that previously developed with little political interference.

Kazakhstan remains one of the countries with which Russia has the closest and most trusting relations and this was confirmed during Putin’s visit. Kazakhstan’s president, along with the leader of Uzbekistan, attended the May 9 celebrations in Moscow, and cooperation between our countries extends far beyond economics or routine social contacts.

At the same time, Kazakhstan is building relations not only with Russia but also with our adversaries, and while this doesn’t mean Astana wants to distance itself from Moscow, it does mean Kazakhstan must remain part of the global economy on which its export revenues depend. What matters is that it is confidently seeking ways to avoid harming its cooperation with Russia.

A recent example is revealing. Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Justice announced that it would not comply with a ruling by the International Financial Centre in Astana upholding a Swiss arbitration decision in the case brought by Ukraine’s Naftogaz against Russia’s Gazprom for more than $1.4 billion. This is precisely the kind of practical behavior that matters more than loud declarations

Armenia presents a more difficult case. The country’s defeat in its confrontation with Azerbaijan has produced deep moral exhaustion and a desire for peace almost at any price. The political forces now in power are exploiting these feelings and trying to convince society that rapprochement with the West is the key to a peaceful future.

This could soon lead to a serious weakening of Armenia’s ties with Russia, and nobody should pretend otherwise, but the cause isn’t simply a failure of Russian diplomacy. It lies in the historical path taken by Armenian society since independence in 1991. We cannot yet know what trials this people, so close to us, will have to endure, or what relations between Russia and Armenia will look like in 10 or 15 years.

The deeper point is that even the best diplomacy cannot always overcome the objective consequences of social development in neighboring states. We understand how profoundly Russian society has changed in recent years and we shouldn’t forget that our neighbors are also undergoing internal transformations.

New generations are coming of age and often they are more nationalistic, partly because they have less direct experience of international engagement and of the shared Soviet past. New elites want to displace older establishments that historically had closer ties with Moscow while longstanding economic problems remain unresolved, often because these states simply lack the resources to solve them.

In Armenia, many young people support the current government not because they hate Russia, but because they see the “European choice” as a route to personal self-fulfillment in the West. Often they are disappointed with their own country and Russia cannot realistically absorb everyone who wants a different future.

Ukraine is another case altogether and the reason for the tragic turn of events there wasn’t primarily a mistake in Russian policy, but the failure of the Ukrainian people to build durable statehood, combined with a systemic Russophobia that had been developing since Soviet times. Georgia’s turn away from a disastrous course after 2012 wasn’t the result of Russian pressure or assistance, but of the Georgian elite and society recognizing their own circumstances. Finland’s anti-Russian shift after 2022, meanwhile, was the product of an internal crisis made irreversible by its entry into the European Union’s political and economic system.

Objective processes cannot simply be reversed and they must be understood. Russia should know how to act in circumstances that did not arise only because of its own mistakes.

Most importantly, we must think long term because history doesn’t end with tomorrow’s statement from Brussels or Donald Trump’s next social media post. Russia’s relations with its neighbors move in cycles and the setbacks we are seeing now will eventually be followed by a return to a more favorable trajectory.

We often admire the ability of the United States to influence other countries, but what Russia should learn most from the Americans is their historical optimism and not their pressure tactics. Even in Latin America, the region closest to the US, Washington’s influence has never been absolute and look at how Venezuela has been governed since 1999 by forces openly unfriendly to America. Cuba has remained outside American control for decades and Nicaragua returned Daniel Ortega, an old friend of the USSR, to power after years of pro-American rule.

None of this led Washington to conclude that history was over or that every unfriendly turn was irreversible. Russia should adopt the same patience. The Soviet Union weakened itself partly through excessive spending on its external presence. We must not repeat that mistake, because for a military superpower, the most dangerous enemy is often itself.

Russia’s own socio-economic stability is more important than events in the post-Soviet space or anywhere else. This doesn’t mean retreating from our neighbors and, on the contrary, we should strengthen ties through trade and human contact, and we shouldn’t treat every ebb and flow in these relations as a tragedy.

This article was first published by Vzglyad newspaper and translated and edited by the RT team.

Israeli attacks in Lebanon are killing civilians and must end, UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has said, after the Jewish state stepped up military activity against its northern neighbor.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has intensified airstrikes in recent days and moved deeper into Lebanese territory despite the ceasefire agreed in mid-April after more than a month of fighting.

On Sunday, Israeli troops seized Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military “to expand its ground maneuver” against Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

Netanyahu’s order could further complicate indirect talks between the US and Iran, with peace in Lebanon being among Tehran’s key demands for prolonging the truce with Washington.

In a post on X on Monday, Cooper said Israel’s military escalation in Lebanon “has killed and displaced civilians, destroyed infrastructure, and eroded space for diplomacy. It must end.”

She also called on Hezbollah to stop attacking Israel and lay down its arms.

“All sides must respect the ceasefire and engage with negotiations in good faith,” the foreign secretary said.

German Foreign Minister Johannes Wadephul said in a statement on Sunday that the Israeli advances are a “cause for serious concern,” warning that they could “exacerbate the already tense situation and trigger new waves of displacement within Lebanon.”

At least 12 civilians were killed by IDF strikes in Lebanon on Sunday, according to Al Jazeera.

Data from the Lebanese authorities suggests that more than 3,400 people have been killed, around 10,000 wounded, and over 1.6 million displaced in the country since Israel launched its military operation against Hezbollah in early March, just days after the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun by phone over the weekend in an attempt to push through a new proposal for a “gradual de-escalation” between Israel and Hezbollah. “This would create space for gradual de-escalation and an effective cessation of hostilities,” Rubio said.

As a first step, Rubio’s plan calls for Hezbollah to halt drone attacks on Israel, with the IDF refraining from escalating operations in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, in return, a source said.

According to the report, Aoun tried to advance the US proposal, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who is close to Hezbollah, insisted the Israelis should stop “shooting first.”

US conservative political commentator Candace Owens has brushed off criticism of her recent visit to Russia, after posting photos from what she described as an “unbelievably beautiful” Moscow.

Owens described the trip to her 6 million YouTube subscribers as a “family vacation.” Some fellow commentators criticized the visit, with Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro labeling it an act of “ideological subversion.”

“I’m starting to understand why the talking heads panic and shout and lie about ‘Russian collusion’ when they learn an American with a platform is traveling here,” Owens wrote on X on Sunday, sharing a photo of herself on Red Square.

“It is genuinely shocking how clean, beautiful and orderly this city is. It is so far removed from media depictions,” she added.

Uh-oh @LauraLoomer… 😱
Подкаст-авиакомпания снова отличилась!

Cc: Baron Coleman pic.twitter.com/RlECM2K4sa

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) May 31, 2026

Owens also shared photos from a theater and a church.

“I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I wasn’t expecting this,” she wrote.

I’m not sure what I was expecting but I wasn’t expecting this.
Moscow is an unbelievably beautiful city. pic.twitter.com/q35ZthjxxK

— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) May 31, 2026

Republicans and Democrats alike, along with numerous media figures, similarly criticized journalist Tucker Carlson for traveling to Moscow twice in 2024 to record interviews with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Carlson said he found Moscow to be “so much nicer” than cities in the United States and argued that American media coverage of Russia and the Ukraine conflict was heavily biased. He dismissed his critics as “professional liars.”

Owens initially rose to prominence in the late 2010s by using her platform to urge black voters to stop supporting the Democrats. She joined Ben Shapiro’s Daily Wire in 2020, where her self-titled podcast reached millions of viewers. However, she was fired four years later following a public dispute with Shapiro over Israel’s war in Gaza.

Owens later broke with US President Donald Trump over his support for Israel. Following the launch of her own show on YouTube, the popular podcaster drew criticism for controversial statements, including suggestions that Israel could have been involved in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Last year, French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, filed a defamation lawsuit against Owens after she suggested that France’s first lady was born a man.

The UK authorities have denied The Young Turks host Cenk Uygur entry into the country days ahead of two events where he was due to speak – apparently over his repeated criticism of Israel. Uygur’s nephew, Hasan Piker, who is a left-wing political streamer in his own right, has said his British visa has also been revoked “at the behest of Israel.”

On multiple occasions over the past few years, pro-Palestinian activists have accused the UK’s Labour government led by Prime Minister Keir Starmer of suppressing anything deemed too critical of Israel.

In a Monday X post, Uygur wrote that he’d been “banned from the UK… for criticizing Israel.”

“Are we free anymore? This is oppression of Western citizens by our own governments on behalf of a different country!” The Young Turks host added.

According to The Times, UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood cancelled Uygur’s electronic travel authorization (ETA) last week.

The US host and left-wing political commentator had been scheduled to appear at the SXSW festival in London on Thursday, as well as at an event in Oxford the following day.

Uygur’s nephew, Piker, had also been booked to speak at the SXSW event in the British capital. Commenting on the entry bans, he wrote on X that the “West is betraying ‘liberal values’ for a genocidal fascist foreign government.”

Both Uygur and Piker have repeatedly described Israel’s military campaign in Gaza against Hamas as “genocide.”

UK Green Party leader Zack Polanski accused the UK’s Labour government of “doing everything possible to silence criticism of the Israeli Government.”

Earlier this month, a UK court convicted four members of the pro-Palestinian group Palestine Action over a 2024 raid on an Israeli-linked defense facility in Bristol, with sentencing expected in mid-June.

The British government has been widely criticized for its use of anti-terror legislation to strangle reporting on the case. The activist group itself was proscribed as a terrorist entity last July.

Meanwhile, former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled from the party in 2024 over alleged failure to address anti-Semitism, has expressed support for Palestine Action.

The US military has been covertly guiding vessels through the Strait of Hormuz in recent weeks, The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

Iran closed the vital waterway, which previously handled around 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, to ships from “hostile countries” in response to the US and Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28. Tehran later said that vessels from third countries could pass if they paid a toll and complied with military instructions.

In April, US President Donald Trump announced ‘Project Freedom’, aimed at escorting stranded merchant ships from neutral countries. He publicly suspended the initiative less than 48 hours later, reportedly after Saudi Arabia refused to allow US forces to fly through its airspace or use Prince Sultan Air Base.

According to the Times, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has coordinated the passage of around 70 commercial vessels through the waterway over the past three weeks. An official told the newspaper that most of the vessels had turned off their transponders to avoid detection by Iranian forces. The ships reportedly used a shipping lane closer to the Omani coast.

Despite the ceasefire reached on April 8, traffic through the strategic chokepoint remains severely reduced, having fallen from around 150 vessels per day before the conflict to fewer than ten.

Tens of thousands of sailors aboard between 1,600 and 2,000 vessels, including oil and gas tankers, remain stranded in the Persian Gulf.

In April, the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and has since intercepted more than 100 cargo ships. On Sunday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said that 28 vessels had passed through the strait over the previous 24 hours after obtaining permission.

Pro-Trump lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella secured a narrow lead over left-wing Senator Ivan Cepeda in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election on Sunday.

With votes counted from more than 99% of polling stations, de la Espriella received 43.72% of the vote, while Cepeda secured 40.92%. Conservative candidate Paloma Valencia came third with 6.92%. The runoff will take place on June 21.

Colombia has historically been the United States’ most important ally in the region in terms of security cooperation and counternarcotics efforts.

The US is Colombia’s largest trading partner, and the country shares a long border with neighboring Venezuela.

Relations between Washington and Bogota deteriorated significantly in recent years under outgoing President Gustavo Petro, who criticized US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies and military strikes on suspected drug trafficking boats. The two leaders frequently traded insults on social media and in public statements.

Petro, Colombia’s first left-wing president, is constitutionally barred from seeking a second consecutive term and has endorsed Cepeda.

For his conservative policies and friendly stance toward the US, de la Espriella has been compared to El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, one of Trump’s closest allies in Latin America.

The candidate has praised Trump’s “cultural battle against wokeism” and vowed to uphold traditional gender norms.

De la Espriella welcomed Trump’s return to the White House and backed the US commando raid in Caracas earlier this year, during which American forces abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

“It has been revealed how USAID and woke populism fueled the leftward shift in countries like Colombia… To guarantee a fair race, it is urgent that your father’s administration puts Petro in his place,” de la Espriella wrote on X in January in response to a post by Donald Trump Jr.

Cepeda, the son of a Communist senator killed in 1994 by state-linked paramilitaries, has opposed Trump’s interventionism and condemned his threats against Petro.

“We are neither a colony nor a protectorate of the United States. We will not submit to any form of imperial or authoritarian domination,” Cepeda wrote on X in January.

In an interview with Jacobin shortly after Maduro’s abduction, Cepeda denounced Trump’s attempts to revive the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine, which treats Latin America and the Caribbean as an exclusive sphere of US influence.

“We are a zone of peace. And we do not accept foreign interference. That is how governments and peoples must align,” he said.

With much of the world’s attention on the still unresolved conflict between the US and Iran, the average consumer of news may be forgiven if they had forgotten that the US had, on January 3 of this year, launched a mini-invasion of Venezuela which resulted in the death of scores of people, including a number of Cuban security personnel, and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife.

The US justified this action by noting that Maduro was, in its books, a fugitive from justice, having been previously indicted in a US Federal Court on narcotics trafficking charges. The ease with which the US orchestrated the collapse of the Maduro regime and facilitated the transfer of power to a more than compliant vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, helped the administration of US President Donald Trump project an aura of invincibility when it came to the implementation of what the president and his advisors were calling the ‘Donroe Doctrine’, their take on the 19th-century Monroe Doctrine which declared the Western Hemisphere to be the exclusive domain of the US.

Little more than a week later, on January 11, President Trump posted on his Truth Social account what amounted to a direct threat against the government of Cuba. “Cuba lived, for many years, on large amounts of OIL and MONEY from Venezuela,” the president wrote, stating that there had been a direct relationship between Venezuelan economic support to Cuba and Cuban security support to Venezuela. “Venezuela now has the United States of America, the most powerful military in the world (by far), to protect them, and protect them we will. THERE WILL BE NO MORE OIL OR MONEY GOING TO CUBA—ZERO! I strongly suggest they make a deal, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!”

The president then set off a firestorm of speculation on American social media when, responding to a joking post that was made on X late the week prior stating that said, “Marco Rubio will be president of Cuba,” he wrote in response “sounds good to me!”

Regime change in Cuba, it seemed, was on the cards.

A month later, President Trump met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the White House, where the decision was made to attack Iran. The US and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran on February 28, starting a 37-day campaign that ultimately saw the US and Israel fail to achieve any of their stated military and geopolitical objectives, and which left Iran in a position where it dictated the fate of the global economy by controlling the flow of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz.

An invasion of Cuba was no longer a top Trump administration policy.

Almost overnight, this calculus changed. On May 21, Marco Rubio declared that Cuba was “one of the leading sponsors of terrorism in the entire region.” His comments came the same day that the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against former Cuban President Raul Castro. In one day, the Trump administration had reconstructed the pathway toward military action by the US against Cuba, mirroring the regime change justifications that had been cobbled together before the January 3 assault on Caracas that led to the capture of Nicolas Maduro and the collapse of his regime. These actions coincided with the arrival of a US carrier battlegroup off the shores of Cuba.

Rubio’s painting Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism carries zero intellectual weight or factual predicate, coming as it does on the heels of a concerted effort undertaken by the Biden administration to remove that designation from Cuba because there was no longer any basis for such a claim. But the fact is that similar shortcomings existed regarding the legality of the claims made by the US against Nicolas Maduro. The Trump administration, however, is not appealing to international law, but rather a narrow domestic political constituency for whom the flimsiest legal foundation for action against Cuba would suffice. But the designation as a state sponsor of terrorism holds even more importance, given that it directly mirrors the runway to military action constructed by the US in the lead-up to the decision to bomb Iran in February of this year. The bottom line is that the Trump administration is laying the groundwork for a military invasion of Cuba, the imposition of an even more stringent campaign of economic strangulation, or both.

The impetus for such action rests not with any inherent threat posed by Cuba and its government to the US, but rather the need for the Trump administration to be able to chalk up a ‘win’ on its national security scoreboard following its embarrassing setback with Iran.

Midterm elections loom on the horizon, although President Trump has declared that his foreign policy actions are formulated and implemented independently of the political pressures brought to bear by the consequences of the Republican Party performing poorly at the polls. In short, in the likely event that the Republicans lose control of the House of Representatives, the president’s remaining two years in office will be subject to political paralysis brought on by endless impeachment proceedings that will make the final two years of Trump’s first term in office, where he was subjected to two separate impeachment efforts, pale by comparison. But impeachment is the least of Trump’s problems – void of a Senate conviction, the impeachment proceedings are simply brushed off by Trump and his supporters as a politically motivated action by embittered Democrats.

The real threat to Trump comes if the Republicans lose control of the Senate, especially by a margin significant enough to rase the specter of conviction, which at least 60 of 100 Senators must vote in favor of. Here is where President Trump is making a huge miscalculation when it comes to the issue of Cuba and domestic American politics. Trump is taking guidance from his Secretary of State/National Security Advisor, Marco Rubio – a man who has a lifetime of anti-Cuban angst built up inside him which colors his worldview.

Both Rubio and Trump understand the realities associated with Florida politics, and the important role played by Florida’s large Cuban diaspora in shaping presidential politics. But the midterms are not a national election. Midterm elections generally respond to a different political barometer, one where the needle is moved by local political issues generally defined by the state of the local economy. National issues generally run secondary, and in the grand scheme of things, the Cuban vote in Florida doesn’t change the national calculus when counting House and Senate seats on election night. Moreover, Rubio and Trump would do well to study the 1992 presidential campaign, which saw the incumbent, George H. W. Bush, enter the race with a massive lead driven in part by the impressive military victory the US achieved over Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Bush’s challenger, Bill Clinton, stumbled when he tried to match Bush’s foreign policy credentials, resulting in his campaign manager, James Carvelle, posting a yellow sticky note on the door leading into the campaign ‘war room’ which read simply, “It’s the economy, stupid!”

Bush had promised no new taxes and yet failed to deliver on that promise. The economic downturn which resulted from this mistake provided the momentum Clinton needed to come from behind and defeat Bush in November 1992.

President Trump is staring economic calamity in the face because of his failure to defeat Iran, and the global energy crisis brought about by this defeat. If Trump thinks he can bamboozle the American people into forgetting about the dire economic consequences they face because of his Middle Eastern missteps by invading Cuba and removing the Communist government there from power, he is badly mistaken.

It’s the economy, stupid.

But the fact is Trump and Rubio may not be able to deliver the expected victory in any event. Cuba is not Venezuela, and the CIA may lack the ability to replicate the purchased betrayal of Maduro among the Venezuelan political, military and economic elites. Is not something many Cuba watchers believes can be pulled off in this island nation. Fulton Armstrong, a former National Intelligence Officer for Latin America who one time worked in a covert fashion as a CIA officer operating on Cuban soil, recently authored a memorandum on behalf of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS) where he noted that the “US-driven ‘regime collapse’ and occupation or imposition of a government of our choosing [in Cuba] will fail badly. The same people who keep ‘57 Chevrolets on the road with a coat hanger will wreak havoc against a foreign-imposed regime,” adding “US coercion against Cuba hasn’t worked for more than six decades.”

Marco Rubio may yet convince Donald Trump to invade Cuba. But rather than the icing on a rejuvenated foreign and national security policy that helps preserve the Republican Party’s hold on the US Congress, and as such keeps Trump’s policies, domestic and foreign, viable for the next two years, a Cuban invasion will more than likely produce a debacle which, when piled on the failure in Iran, will mark the end of the Trump era once and for all.

The Vienna Festival cancelled a scheduled appearance of US-German tech mogul Peter Thiel after facing mounting criticism from its sponsors and a mass exodus of other participants.

The co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, widely known for his controversial right-wing and “transhumanist” views, was expected to participate in a discussion titled ‘Armageddon and the Antichrist? From Theology to Realpolitik.’ This year, the Festival declared itself the “Republic of Gods,” advertising itself as a “space of radical criticism and new beginnings.”

The scheduled panel immediately drew controversy, with some seeing it as an opportunity to debate Thiel’s controversial ideas, while others argued the entrepreneur’s apocalyptic worldview should not receive a platform at all. His scheduled appearance has been criticized by the Vienna city authorities, which sponsor the festival.

“The invitation to Peter Thiel is quite rightly causing great discontent among the public,” Vienna’s City Councillor for Culture, Veronica Kaup-Hasler, told Der Standard newspaper.

The mass withdrawal of other participants from the event became the final straw, with organizers admitting the Thiel controversy had weakened the festival “to an unacceptable extent.” They ultimately announced on Saturday that the discussion with the entrepreneur was cancelled.

“Not at any cost: I take the critical voices very seriously. Out of my responsibility for the overall program, I unfortunately had to decide against the planned event with Peter Thiel, although I found it extremely compelling and thematically consistent within the framework of the Republic of Gods. However, insisting on the event would run counter to my appreciation of our artistic program and everyone involved in it,” Artistic Director Milo Rau said in a statement.

Thiel’s public speeches have repeatedly sparked controversy. Back in March, he held a series of invitation-only lectures on the Antichrist in Rome at a secret location near the Vatican. Some media reports even claimed that the event would be held in the Pontifical St. Thomas Aquinas University – the alma mater of Pope Leo XIV. The institution rushed to deny any links to the event, while other Vatican-linked officials criticized Thiel’s activities as well.

American artist Kanye West has said his debut concert in Türkiye attracted 118,000 fans, making it the largest stadium performance ever. The show was the first stop on his first European tour since 2014 and came as several planned appearances in EU countries were canceled over his past anti-Semitic remarks and other controversies.

West, who is also known as Ye, also claimed the concert at Atatürk Olympic Stadium on Saturday generated some $100 million in tourism revenue for Istanbul.

Ye performs “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” in Turkey for the biggest ticketed concert crowd of his career so far 🇹🇷🔥 pic.twitter.com/5wVpHsIM4v

— Kurrco (@Kurrco) May 30, 2026

West has faced widespread criticism over anti-Semitic remarks and references to Nazi Germany in his lyrics and social media posts. An apology published in the Wall Street Journal in January, in which West attributed some of his past statements to untreated bipolar disorder, did little to ease the backlash.

However, fans from the US, the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland, and several Middle Eastern countries converged on Istanbul for the show, according to local media.

🇹🇷 I got to watch in Ye perform in Istanbul, Türkiye tonight pic.twitter.com/WTEermbmoa

— Jackson Hinkle 🇺🇸 (@jacksonhinkle) May 30, 2026

“I just want to tell y’all, we just broke the record, 118,000, largest stadium performance of all time,” West told the attendees.

The Istanbul performance came as several of West’s planned European appearances faced setbacks.

Kanye West, İstanbul konseri bilinçli olarak Kurban Bayramına denk getirildiyse akıllıca olmuş.

118.000 kişiyle tüm zamanların stadyum performans rekorunun kırıldığı konser ve Andrea Bocelli için binlerce kişi yurtdışından geldi.

Efektif bir zamanlama… pic.twitter.com/Y0NbCjM4Lr

— Nejat Özonay (@NejatOzonay) May 30, 2026

Authorities in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia announced on Saturday that West´s July concert had been canceled following objections from local anti-fascist groups and members of the Jewish community.

Last month, a stadium director in Poland said his June 19 show “will not take place due to formal and legal reasons.”

The rapper also announced the postponement of a June 11 performance in Marseille, France. The UK barred Ye from entering the country earlier this year.

In contrast to the difficulties he has faced elsewhere in Europe, West encountered no obstacles during a visit to Moscow in 2024. At the time, a representative of Russian designer Gosha Rubchinskiy told RT that West had traveled to the Russian capital to attend Rubchinskiy’s birthday celebration. Rubchinskiy, who was appointed head of design for West’s Yeezy brand in December 2023, turned 40 that year.

Culture wars will never be the same again. 

Military narratives are often promoted through entertainment and popular culture. Typically, this is done by newspapers, film studios, or influencers who support one side of a conflict in exchange for payment and/or political favor. 

For example, ‘Top Gun’ is a pretty universally beloved film. However, its creators openly admit that they collaborated closely with the US Air Force, essentially producing propaganda content. It’s also common for well-known musicians and comedians to perform on military bases. 

The US-Iran conflict has taken cultural warfare to a whole new level, however. For the first time ever, official government agencies have started speaking not just in populist rhetoric but in memes. And suddenly, one of the most populist governments in the world found itself losing the cultural battle to one of the world’s most conservative and unpopular regimes. 

Search and destroy with Lego animations

Before the war in Iran, the Trump administration sometimes resorted to memes – but not when it came to discussing conflicts. The first shift occurred after the ceasefire between Iran and Israel, when Trump posted a video featuring American bombers set to the song ‘Bomb Iran’. 

Some viewers liked the video, and the Trump administration understood that this format was effective for engaging the audience. Shortly after the first American strikes against Iran in March, the official White House account on X shared a video of bombings set to a remix of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s ‘Free Bird’.

STRIKE. 💥🦅 pic.twitter.com/XMzNNtlT63

— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 12, 2026

Reactions were mixed, to say the least.

Other attempts to ‘memeify’ the bombings also fell flat. The juxtaposition of pop music with jokes accompanying footage of missile strikes might generate shock value for niche bloggers, but not official government accounts. 

In response, Iran launched a powerful social media campaign, using the accounts of its embassies abroad. These posts were written in English and targeted an international audience. 

The Iranian authorities had two main objectives on the SMM front: to garner sympathy worldwide and to weaken support for the war within the US.

To achieve the first goal, Iran highlighted the darkest consequences of the conflict, particularly focusing on the tragic deaths of Iranian schoolgirls due to a US missile strike in Minab.

The post isn’t accompanied by a photo of destruction, but rather an AI-generated image. And there’s a reason for that. This makes it easier to share the post without the risk of scaring people away with graphic content. Even those who mock AI slop end up boosting its reach.  

Other posts ridiculed the senselessness of the war for Americans and Israel’s influence.

Iranian embassies also responded to Trump’s public threats with memes. For instance, when Trump demanded that the Strait of Hormuz be opened and warned of escalating the conflict, Iran fired back using a popular template from the anime ‘Tomorrow’s Joe’.

Moreover, Iran took a page out of Trump’s playbook and never admitted defeat, always claiming victory. Even in the face of significant losses, it maintained a winner’s rhetoric, emphasizing the issues faced by the American government and military.

The day the ceasefire was announced, Iranian embassies announced Iran’s victory over the US. 

The posts proved to be very popular. However, government memes alone weren’t enough – embassies and other official entities still had to maintain a ‘professional’ tone, and by default, the public saw them as serving the interests of politicians. To address this, Iranian propaganda began to collaborate with a formally ‘independent’ group called Explosive Media. Their videos featuring Lego figures depicting the Iranian military defeating American and Israeli forces racked up millions of views.

The group creates content tailored for an Iranian audience:

As well as English-language content for Americans and other Western viewers:

The group chose the Lego format for a reason. “Lego is a universal language,” a member of Explosive Media said. “It conveys messages easily, it’s playful, it doesn’t require extreme realism, yet it can include astonishing detail.” Also, it allows the group to publish content on any platform without being blocked for graphic content. 

The Iranian meme offensive mostly doesn’t resort to deepfakes. Iranians use generative AI primarily to mock Americans, not to pass off parodies as truth. The only significant misinformation campaigns involving deepfakes were attempts to convince the world that Netanyahu was dead, and the footage of explosions in Iran. The latter circulated mostly in Indian social media circles, contained mixed messages, and may have been spread by the US or a third party.

Another aspect of Iran’s meme warfare is the blurred line between state-sponsored content and content produced by enthusiasts. Both Trump’s opponents in the US and the Iranian authorities criticize the close alliance between Israel and the US, Trump’s impulsive behavior, and the reluctance of the American government to admit its mistakes.

Moreover, because memes circulate anonymously and are frequently modified, even those initially created by the government can come across as the work of ordinary people.

Internet punk is dead

The Great Iranian Meme War may not be over yet, but it has already taught the world two important lessons.

Firstly, the underdog can now relatively easily win a culture war. Iranian anti-American memes rack up millions of views, likes, and shares, regularly making headlines in major media outlets. They resonate with people in Russia, Europe, Asia, and around the world. 

To be fair, these memes owe much of their impact to the global unpopularity of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu. Everyone loves to make fun of unpopular politicians, especially when they become aggressors. 

However, just couple of months ago, few could have imagined that the leadership of the conservative Islamic Republic would start speaking the language of Gen Z online. And yet it did.

Secondly, independent opinions online are becoming increasingly rare. The internet has long ceased to be a space free from politics. Some might argue that it never was free of propaganda. However, governments are now openly venturing into areas that were once considered entertainment for teenagers. 

Rebellious comedy formats and an anti-establishment rhetoric, once considered the domain of the opposition, are now being used by government officials. Politicians are gradually mastering guerrilla marketing tactics, spreading their narratives through viral social media channels. As a result, any irreverent joke can end up becoming part of a government information campaign.

Israel has captured Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress and a key vantage point in southern Lebanon, hailing the development as a “dramatic shift” in the ongoing campaign.

The takeover of the site was announced on Sunday, when West Jerusalem circulated photos of Israeli and Golani Brigade flags flying above the fortress. The medieval castle, also known as Qalaat al-Chakif, was previously used by Israel as a base during its two-decade occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailed the capture as a major achievement, with the Israeli leader stating he had ordered the military “to expand its ground maneuver in Lebanon.” According to media reports, the IDF found no weaponry inside the castle.

“Now my directive is to deepen and expand our hold in places that were under Hezbollah’s control. The capture of Beaufort is a dramatic stage and a dramatic shift in the policy we are leading,” he said.

תיעודים חדשים: כוחות סיירת גולני במבצר הבופור

לכל הפרטים👇https://t.co/Hnn0njXnoi pic.twitter.com/DSwaINpJzY

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) May 31, 2026

Israel has also continued its bombing campaign in southern Lebanon, which has significantly picked up in recent days. The majority of the strikes appear to be concentrated around the city of Nabatieh and its immediate vicinity, which is expected to be the next target in the ground offensive.

RT’s footage from the city, which is located some 6km to the northwest of the castle, shows large plumes of smoke and dust emanating from the sites affected by Israeli airstrikes. The attacks have inflicted heavy damage on the city’s residential areas and surroundings, footage shows.

The Israeli onslaught continues despite the reported ceasefire declared more than six weeks ago. The ongoing hostilities between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah are a spillover of the broader conflict in the region triggered by the US-Israeli attack on Iran.

While the truce supposedly took effect on April 17, hostilities never stopped, with both Israel and Hezbollah repeatedly accusing each other of violating it. Iran has made a comprehensive end to the war in Lebanon a condition in its Pakistan-mediated negotiations with Washington, which have been ongoing since early April but have so far failed to yield any tangible results.

Meta and the parent companies of Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok have agreed to pay millions of dollars to settle a lawsuit accusing the social media platforms of contributing to mental health problems among students, Reuters has reported. The lawsuit, brought by a Kentucky school district, is one of many similar cases pending in US courts and is widely seen as a bellwether.

Reuters reported on Friday, citing settlement documents, that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, will pay $9 million as part of the agreement. Co-defendants Snap Inc and ByteDance previously agreed to pay $8 million each, while Alphabet agreed to pay slightly more than $2 million, according to the report.

The lawsuit was filed by the Breathitt County School District in Kentucky last Thursday, with the plaintiff initially seeking more than $60 million in damages. The district alleged that the companies deliberately designed their platforms to be addictive to young users, contributing to problems, including anxiety, depression, and self-harm.

The settlement does not require the defendants to admit wrongdoing. The companies have said they are taking reasonable steps to address concerns about the impact of social media on young users, the news agency reported.

Meanwhile, some 1,200 school districts across the country have filed similar lawsuits against social media companies.

Those cases, along with lawsuits brought by individuals, municipalities, and states, have been consolidated in federal court in California, while another 3,300 cases remain pending in the state’s courts.

In a landmark verdict in March, a jury in California ordered Meta to pay $4.2 million and Google $1.8 million in a lawsuit by a 20-year-old woman identified as Kaley. The plaintiff said she had developed an addiction to YouTube and Instagram as a child because of such design features as infinite scrolling.

Two other co-defendants, TikTok and Snap, settled the case before the trial began.

Meta Platforms have also faced growing regulatory pressure further afield, having been labeled an “extremist organization” in Russia in 2022 and targeted by multiple European Union actions, including a €797 million ($940 million) antitrust fine.

The EU is mulling a temporary freeze on its price cap on Russian oil as the US-Israeli war against Iran led to soaring energy prices and global economic shock, Bloomberg reported on Sunday, citing sources.

The proposed measure is part of the EU’s 21st sanctions package against Russia over the Ukraine conflict, which is set to be discussed in early June. Under the current oil price cap mechanism, Western entities are barred from handling Russian oil above the mandated threshold, which is automatically set every six months at 15% lower than the average market rate for Russian Urals crude.

The current price threshold is $44.10 per barrel, while the Urals market price floats around $86 per barrel, although it is significantly lower than the $120 per barrel seen at the height of the Iran crisis.

The oil rally means that when the cap comes under review in July, the level will likely rise to at least $65, above the $60 threshold initially set by the Western-dominated G7 group in 2022, Bloomberg sources said. Other options under consideration include suspending the automatic increases until the end of the year or reverting back to the $60 cap.

Moscow has dismissed the oil price cap, calling it illegal, and has barred oil shipments to countries that adhere to it. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov called it a “distortion and destruction of the market pricing process.” Russia has diverted much of the energy it once exported to Europe to countries such as China and India.

The Iran war has hit the EU economy hard, with the World Bank projecting energy prices surging 24% in 2026. TTF natural gas futures have risen by up to 60% since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, marking the continent’s sharpest energy shock since 2022.

The EU experienced a similar crisis that year when sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine conflict not only proved costly and disruptive for the bloc’s economy and taxpayers, but also gave Russia windfall revenues.

The US – which has also grappled with rising gasoline prices – issued a Russian oil sanctions waiver to alleviate pressure on the markets, allowing vulnerable countries to buy Russian oil already at sea. The measure was extended earlier this month despite Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s pledge not to do so.

A senior Israeli diplomat has mocked Paris after it summoned an extraordinary UN Security Council meeting over West Jerusalem’s actions in Lebanon, pointing at France’s domestic troubles.

Over the past few days, Israel has intensified its bombing campaign in the country and advanced deeper into Lebanese territory despite the purported ceasefire announced more than six weeks ago. The Israeli troops seized the Beaufort Castle, a 900-year-old Crusader fortress, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the military “to expand its ground maneuver in Lebanon.”

On Sunday, Paris requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council over the latest developments in Lebanon. Announcing the decision, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot argued that “nothing can justify the continuation of Israeli military operations in Lebanon and its ever-deepening occupation of Lebanese territory.”

Israel’s political advisor to the permanent representative of Israel to the United Nations, Waleed Gadban, took to X to mock France’s request. The senior diplomat shared footage from the chaotic celebrations in Paris after local football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won the Champions League, apparently implying France should focus on its domestic affairs instead. “Meanwhile in Paris,” he wrote.

Meanwhile in Paris. pic.twitter.com/exIdFtk4ai https://t.co/UDpPnnOXEk

— Waleed Gadban (@GadbanWaleed) May 31, 2026

The PSG’s victory has triggered widespread rioting across the French capital and beyond, with nearly 800 people arrested amid the chaos. The celebrations left more than 200 persons injured, with at least one other killed in a road accident. Some 57 law enforcement officers were also injured while trying to quell the unrest.

Earlier this month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan used a ceremony marking the 158th anniversary of the Council of State and Administrative Justice Day to renew his call for a new constitution.

At the heart of Erdogan’s speech was a simple but powerful claim: Türkiye’s last two constitutions – the 1961 and 1982 charters – were not the product of free popular will. Instead, they were imposed by military regimes that came to power through coups. As a result, Erdogan argued, neither constitution truly reflected the will of the people or rested on a genuinely democratic foundation.

The president went so far as to describe this legacy as a “democratic disgrace,” insisting that correcting this historical injustice is not merely a political preference but an obligation owed by the current leadership to Turkish society. In doing so, Erdogan elevated the constitutional debate from the realm of ordinary political proposals to what he framed as an urgent national imperative.

He drew a sharp distinction between two fundamentally different approaches to constitution making. The first is a top-down process in which a constitution is drafted and imposed by military rulers, political elites, or narrow interest groups. The second is a bottom-up process in which it emerges from the values, expectations, and aspirations of society.

Erdogan has positioned himself firmly in the second camp, arguing that Türkiye needs a constitution that is “inclusive, liberal, and civilian” – written by the people and for the people. In his view, the authority to create a constitution belongs exclusively to the nation, and no state institution or political faction has the right to appropriate that power.

Whether that principle will be fully reflected in practice, however, remains an open question.

It was no coincidence that Erdogan delivered this message at a ceremony honoring the Council of State, an institution whose history stretches back more than 150 years and traces its roots to the reformist spirit of the Tanzimat Edict. Proclaimed by Sultan Abdulmecid I in Istanbul on November 3, 1839, the decree launched an era of sweeping modernization reforms across the Ottoman Empire, aimed at rationalizing government administration, modernizing the legal system, and expanding protections for subjects along European lines.

Erdogan invoked this historical legacy directly, noting that the Council of State was established in 1868, while the first Ottoman constitution followed just eight years later. He presented this sequence as a natural progression: Institutions capable of checking state power emerge first, and constitutional governance follows.

In Erdogan’s interpretation, administrative courts are more than venues for resolving disputes between citizens and bureaucrats. They serve as a balancing mechanism designed to offset the inherently unequal relationship between the individual and the state.

Yet the picture is not nearly as straightforward as Erdogan suggests.

Constitutional reform or political survival?

Critics point out that while the president speaks of limiting state power and protecting individual rights, his administration has faced persistent accusations of undermining judicial independence. They cite pressure on the judiciary, the mass dismissal of judges following the failed coup attempt in 2016, and the expansion of executive influence over judicial appointments. Against that backdrop, appeals to the ideals of independent justice and protection from state overreach often sound more like political rhetoric than a reflection of institutional reality.

Leaving aside debates over the state of Türkiye’s judicial system, a more consequential question looms in the minds of many outside observers: Is Erdogan’s constitutional initiative primarily about democratic renewal – or political self-preservation?

The factual background is worth recalling.

Last year, Erdogan announced the formation of a special legal working group tasked with drafting a new constitution. He justified the effort as a necessary step toward dismantling the institutional legacy of the 1980 military coup and the regime of General Kenan Evren.

On the surface, the argument is difficult to dispute. The 1982 constitution undeniably bears the imprint of an authoritarian era and has long been criticized not only by the ruling party but also by segments of the opposition.

Yet behind this broadly legitimate demand for constitutional renewal lies another dimension.

Under Türkiye’s current legal framework, Erdogan is not eligible to seek another presidential term under normal circumstances. A new constitution, however, could effectively reset the clock on presidential term limits.

For that reason, critics view the reform initiative primarily as an attempt to create a legal pathway for extending Erdogan’s rule, packaging a fundamentally political maneuver as democratic modernization.

The truth likely lies somewhere between these two competing narratives.

There is broad agreement – even among many of Erdogan’s opponents – that Türkiye’s constitutional framework is overdue for revision. The 1982 constitution no longer reflects either the country’s current political architecture or the evolution of Turkish civil society over the past several decades. In that sense, constitutional reform is objectively necessary.

The more important questions concern the intentions behind the reform and the shape it will ultimately take.

When constitutional change is initiated by an incumbent president on the eve of a new electoral cycle, it inevitably raises legitimate concerns about whose interests will ultimately be enshrined in the new charter: Those of the citizenry or those of the governing establishment.

What is actually happening behind the scenes within Türkiye’s political system – and what the real balance of power around the constitutional process looks like – will become clear only when a draft constitution is placed on the negotiating table.

There is every reason to believe that a referendum will eventually take place and that a new constitution will be adopted. Erdogan’s political commitment to the project is unmistakable, the institutional tools needed to advance it remain firmly in the hands of the ruling coalition, and public demand for constitutional reform has a degree of objective legitimacy.

The question, therefore, is no longer whether Türkiye will get a new constitution. The real question is what price the country will pay for it – and what consequences it may have for Türkiye’s domestic political landscape.

The polarization factor

This is where the greatest risk lies.

Turkish society is already deeply polarized, a reality vividly demonstrated during the 2023 presidential election. Contrary to his own expectations, Erdogan failed to secure victory in the first round and ultimately prevailed only in the runoff against an opposition candidate widely regarded as more moderate and less politically formidable.

The outcome underscored a crucial fact: Around half of Turkish society remains firmly unconvinced by the current political course.

Under these conditions, a constitutional referendum risks becoming less an act of national consensus and more another front line in an ongoing struggle between two deeply divided political camps.

Türkiye’s economic challenges further complicate the picture.

For several years, the country has faced persistent economic pressure. High inflation, the depreciation of the lira, and declining real incomes have fueled public frustration that inevitably spills over into politics. Notably, Türkiye’s expanded economic relationship with Russia – including parallel imports, energy cooperation, tourism flows, and alternative payment arrangements that bypass certain Western sanctions mechanisms – has played an important stabilizing role.

Without these economic buffers, Ankara’s difficulties would likely have been considerably more severe.

This reality narrows Erdogan’s room for maneuver. Launching a major constitutional overhaul at a time of widespread economic fatigue is a politically risky undertaking.

The external dimension should not be overlooked either.

Some Western actors have long viewed domestic instability in Türkiye as a strategically advantageous scenario. Türkiye is a NATO member, a regional power controlling the Black Sea straits, and an increasingly independent actor that seeks to position itself as a mediator in conflicts where Western capitals have lost much of their leverage.

A country consumed by internal political turmoil inevitably becomes less influential abroad.

Viewed through this lens, a constitutional process capable of triggering serious domestic confrontation could become a focal point for external pressure and information campaigns.

Conclusion

The overall picture is therefore a complex and contradictory one.

Türkiye objectively needs a new constitution – a fact acknowledged by political figures across the ideological spectrum. Erdogan’s core arguments for reform are, in many respects, historically grounded and difficult to dismiss.

At the same time, implementing this otherwise legitimate project carries substantial risks. Social polarization could deepen. Economic frustration could evolve into broader political unrest. External actors interested in weakening Turkey’s strategic autonomy could gain additional opportunities to exert pressure.

Ultimately, the success of constitutional reform will depend not only on the quality of the final document but also on whether Türkiye’s political class can manage the process in an inclusive manner – without widening the already dangerous fractures running through Turkish society.

Moldova is not ready to join NATO because its own citizens don’t want the membership, Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi has admitted.

Popsoi, a close ally of pro-Western president Maia Sandu, made the remarks on Saturday in an interview with Vocea Basarabiei TV, where he was asked whether he thought the former Soviet republic should seek closer ties with NATO or pursue full membership.

While Popsoi called himself “a sincere supporter of everything related to Euro-Atlantic security,” he acknowledged that public support is not there.

“Integration into NATO, as into any other international structure, depends on the will of our citizens. Once there is a significant majority support for joining the North Atlantic Alliance, this can be examined as a natural option... In our case, historically, for various reasons, this significant majority has not existed,” he said.

According to an IMAS poll in February, 55% of Moldovan citizens would vote against joining NATO if a referendum were held at the time, with only 24% saying they would support membership.

In addition to insufficient popular support, another factor blocking Moldova’s potential membership is the breakaway region of Transnistria, which seceded from the country after a short war in the early 1990s. Transnistria currently hosts Russian peacekeepers to maintain the ceasefire and guard Soviet-era weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

The Moldovan Constitution also contains a clause establishing “permanent neutrality,” which legally prevents the country from joining any military bloc, including NATO. The legal constraint, however, did not stop Moldova from forging closer ties with NATO.

The Sandu government has been pushing for integration with the EU, but the president herself also acknowledged the lack of public appetite for NATO membership. She, however, tried to explain the overbearing “fear of NATO” by what she described as “years of propaganda by the Russian Federation.”

Russia has long been vehemently opposed to any NATO expansion, viewing it as an existential threat. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also suggested that Moldova’s current authorities are making a “serious mistake” by making Russia their antagonist for the sake of building relations with the West.

Popsoi also weighed in on another politically charged question: unification with neighboring Romania – which would automatically bring Moldova into NATO. He said that while he is personally in favor, such a move would require “a pragmatic discussion [and] a dialogue with all our citizens.” According to an IMAS poll, only 30% would back unification.

Merely two weeks after India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, proclaimed a historic electoral victory in the state of West Bengal, the Indian political establishment found itself facing a curveball. 

On May 16, Abhijeet Dipke, a 30-year-old graduate of the public relations program at Boston University, launched a website of the satiric Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a parody on BJP, with a cockroach as a symbol. 

The reason? An off-the-cuff remark by the chief justice of India, Surya Kant, in an open court, who compared young people to cockroaches. 

“There are youngsters like cockroaches, who don’t get any employment or have any place in the profession. Some of them become media, some of them become social media, RTI (Right to Information) activists and other activists, and they start attacking everyone,” he said.

Kant later had to clarify that he wasn’t talking of India’s youth in general, but specifically those individuals entering the legal profession through “fake and bogus degrees.” 

The careless remark was a part of specific conversation that was clearly taken out of context.

But the damage had been done.

Overnight the fake “cockroach party” became a sensation as millions of young people took notice, creating a frenzy that seemed dangerously close to replicating the trajectory, and chaos, of GenZ revolutions that toppled governments in India’s neighborhood recently – Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal. 

The satire gained national and international media attention. Reports highlighted the fact that the number of followers of the parody party on social media exceeded the following of Modi's party.

The CJP’s Instagram account racked up 11.1 million followers in three days and is now at 22.5 million. By contrast, the BJP’s account has 9.4 million, despite being the dominant party in the country for about 12 years. The main opposition Congress party has 13.6 million followers. (Modi himself is in a different league, with 101 million.)

The CJP’s website lists more than a million followers as of this writing.

But a week later, on May 27, several key international outlets practically simultaneously published detailed reports on the “cockroach party” and its founder – specifically highlighting how it is a challenge to the Modi government. The timing was a coincidence hard to miss in the world of information warfare.

World’s largest party they said🤭 pic.twitter.com/Yogr9Ig0GM

— Abhijeet Dipke (@abhijeet_dipke) May 20, 2026

What did Western media say?

The Reuters report called the party “the largest online expression of dissent against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 12-year rule.”

“The lid on the discourse of discontent has been prised open, and the scuttling cockroaches may be hard to contain,” warned France24. 

The Washington Post followed the narrative: “The movement’s growth reflects the depth of frustration of a generation that feels unseen and unheard.”

The reason this coverage came all in one day, a week after the party made headlines and with no clear news development, can only be guessed. 

Furthermore, this coverage doesn’t come out of nowhere. In the past two years, a wave of GenZ protests has hit states in India's neighborhood. While they succeeded in toppling the governments, the problems that triggered them, including corruption and unemployment, remain. 

FT, in a report titled “India’s viral ‘cockroach party’ challenges Narendra Modi,” notes: “Economists say that despite relatively high economic growth, India faces a serious challenge from rising youth unemployment, with even graduates struggling to find decently paid jobs. India has also not experienced youth protest movements such as those in Nepal, Indonesia and Bangladesh in recent years. But the rapid march of the cockroach party has caused alarm.”

The idea is not new. In October, a BBC feature bluntly asked ”Why young Indians aren’t taking to the streets.”

Western media coverage appears to be following a familiar, well‑worn script, much like the “cockroach party” itself: a catchy name, a mascot, and a young “revolution leader” who instantly becomes a foreign media “darling.” 

Who is Abhijeet Dipke?

The founder of the satiric platform, according to his social media profiles, earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism in Pune and later moved to the US for higher education. 

Dipke recently graduated with a master’s degree in public relations from Boston University and remained in the US. 

Dipke was reportedly associated with India’s opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a rival of the BJP,  from 2020 to 2023. He volunteered with the party’s social media team and reportedly worked on meme-based digital campaigning during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections, which the APP won. 

The APP is led by Arvind Kejriwal, an activist who rose to national prominence as an anti-corruption crusader. Kejriwal was briefly jailed in 2024 in connection with a liquor policy which authorities alleged gave undue advantages to private retailers. He was granted bail by the Supreme Court in September 2024 and was formally cleared by a court in February 2026, which closed the corruption case against him. 

Like Dipke now, Kejriwal was then branded by Western outlets as “Modi’s biggest critics” and “India’s Assange.” 

His arrest even triggered a diplomatic row between New Delhi and western capitals. After US State Department commented on the arrest of Kejriwal, New Delhi quickly summoned an American diplomat to “strongly object” to the remarks.

What CJP stands for 

The Cockroach Janta Party describes itself as a “satirical political movement that emerged in May 2026, in response to the public use of “cockroach” as a slur against young, unemployed and politically active Indians.”

As per the “eligibility criteria” on the CJP’s website, a person needs to be “unemployed, lazy, and chronically online” and should have the “ability to rant professionally” to join the party.

The CJP’s manifesto has five “non-negotiable” demands. This includes a ban on post-retirement seats in the Parliament for chief justices, action against the chief election commissioner for supposedly deleting legitimate votes, 50% of the makeup of Parliament to be women without increasing the size of the house, and a 20-year ban on legislators who “defect from one party to another.” 

Interestingly, the movement demands the cancellation of licenses of media houses owned by Indian tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani “to make way for truly independent media.” It also calls for a ban on accounts of ‘Godi media’ (a popular reference to news outlets that are uncritical towards the ruling BJP). 

For now the party remains a satire and online movement. While an Indian lawyer reportedly petitioned the Election Commission for formal recognition, it remains just a meme-driven online protest. 

How did the government respond? 

The Modi government quickly ordered social media platforms and internet service providers to block the CJP’s X account and website. The accounts were blocked after the Intelligence Bureau (IB) flagged them as a national security threat. Dipke created a second handle, “Cockroach is Back,” which remains active.

Dipke’s attempt to get back his initial X account received a further setback on Friday when the Delhi High Court refused his plea, saying it wants to hear the government’s argument first. It also said the content posted on the account was “slightly offensive.” 

The court, however, directed the deferral to the government to file a comprehensive response within four weeks and scheduled a hearing on the matter for July 6. It also ordered a review of the blocking order by the review committee constituted under the relevant rules governing online content blocking.

Kiren Rijiju, India’s minister for parliamentary affairs, posted on social media without mentioning Dipke, that he pitied those who “seek their followers in social media from Pakistan & George Soros gang.”

Dipke countered by sharing a screen recording of his Instagram audience analytics. The data claimed over 94% of his followers were based in India. 

Does CPJ have any reasoning? 

Justice Kant's remarks were like a spark to gunpowder. It is easy to see why. Almost two-thirds of India’s 1.4 billion population is under 35. However, what is termed by economists and strategic exerts as “India’s demographic dividend,” faces a hard reality check if ones looks at the data. 

According to the 2025 Periodic Labor Force Survey, while the national general unemployment rate hovers around 3.1%, the joblessness rate for people aged between 15 and 29 (which is more than a quarter of India’s population) was at 9.9%, with a stark disparity between rural (8.3%) and urban (13.6%) areas. Independent centers such as The Center for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) report much higher unemployment rates. Competition for jobs is intense in both the private and public sectors, and graduates often find themselves overqualified for the jobs they hold.

With India, one of largest energy importers globally, feeling the impact of the Middle East crisis, headlines about rising inflationary pressures, job losses, and a slowing economy are contributing to the growing anger among youths. 

Why the timing is important? 

The appearance of the CPJ came barely two weeks after the BJP swept to power in West Bengal, an eastern state that had long resisted its politics, and improved its electoral performance in a couple of other states. The BJP’s flag is now flying in most major state capitals and the party looked almost invincible. Indian voters seemed to have spurned the opposition in favor of Modi’s message of a strong India. 

The "cockroach" movement also spread right in the wave of the NEET paper leak, a massive scandal in India’s medical entrance system, where confidential question papers were illicitly accessed and sold to candidates before an exam. The breach compromised the integrity of the test, voiding results for over 2 million medical aspirants and forcing the government to order nationwide re-examinations. 

“Would you like me to help with the other problems on the list?”

That was the sentence a physics teacher recently found at the end of a pupil’s homework assignment. The solution itself was elegant and correct. Unfortunately, it was not produced by the child. It was generated by artificial intelligence and copied so carelessly that the pupil left in the chatbot’s question.

A video on this went viral because it was funny in the uneasy way bad news can be funny. Today’s schoolchildren, it seems, are not only forgetting how to think, but some are forgetting how to cheat properly.

This might have remained another sad school anecdote if President Vladimir Putin had not instructed the State Council at around the same time to prepare proposals for changing federal education standards and incorporating AI into them. So we are no longer discussing a toy, a novelty, or a passing panic – we’re discussing the future of Russian education.

At first glance, ordinary citizens may think this only concerns teachers and administrators. But the consequences won’t remain inside the classroom. They will shape the way children read, write, argue, remember, and think.

The statistics already tell the story. By 2025, the share of student work written with the help of AI had risen from 17.8% to 24%. Nearly a quarter of presentations, essays, coursework, and even dissertations are now being produced with AI assistance. Among school pupils, the scale is greater still; 29% of Russian pupils admit they use AI tools to do homework, while 23% use them out of boredom, as a substitute for real conversation.

And those are the ones who admit it.

Teachers don’t need surveys, because we see the problem every day. I once had a pupil who wrote excellent essays at home but consistently failed creative assignments in class. His homework passed anti-plagiarism checks perfectly, and I couldn’t accuse him without proof. The Russian language Unified State Exam settled the matter, as when he was deprived of his digital ghostwriter, he suffered a complete fiasco. His supposed literary ability belonged to a neural network.

If we don’t stop and think seriously about this uncontrolled integration of AI into education, the future looks bleak.

The risks identified by teachers and experts are real. In surveys, 36% of respondents say they fear reduced mental effort will damage children’s development while another 31% worry about the decline of face-to-face interaction. A further 27% fear a collapse in motivation and the rise of catastrophic laziness.

This is the central danger because AI doesn’t merely help a child avoid effort, it can imitate effort. It can produce the appearance of thought and even personality. A bad essay written by a child is still a human document as it contains errors, awkwardness, effort, fear, ambition, and sometimes buried inside, a living voice. A polished AI essay might contain none of this.

IT pioneer Natalya Kaspersky has said we risk raising “a generation of complete idiots.” You might not like the harshness of her words, but there’s a grain of truth in them. If a child today cannot even thoughtfully rewrite an answer produced by a machine, what will happen in two or three years? Will our children still write and formulate thoughts of their own, or will they outsource these basic human acts to an algorithm?

Still, pretending we can simply ban AI from the classroom would be childish, and burying your head in the sand never works. Nor does fanatically opposing innovation. Those who try to keep technology out of school entirely will lose, and the only serious answer is to teach children how to use AI intelligently, without surrendering their own minds to it.

AI can already help teachers. It can prepare tests and presentations and reduce the routine workload that consumes so much of a teacher’s time. It can analyze written work and identify recurring errors across many texts. While this doesn’t replace the teacher’s judgment, it does support it, and used properly, AI can become a useful tool rather than a cheat sheet.

The problem is that neither teachers nor pupils have yet been properly taught how to use this tool.

I remember how my parents, who were programmers, feared that calculators would destroy mathematical thinking. In the end, calculators destroyed nothing in those who had first learned to count, and they freed the brain instead for more complex work – but only after the basic skill was formed.

This is the principle we must apply to AI. Children must first learn to think, read, write, argue, doubt, calculate, and express themselves, and only then should the neural network become an additional layer of intellect. 

What can a teacher or parent give a child that no neural network can provide? The answer is simple and old-fashioned: Living human contact and real conversation. The spark of shared thought and the discipline of disagreement. Emotion that hasn’t been simulated.

Even the most advanced AI can’t feel anything. But it can imitate feelings, and a lonely child might accept this imitation if nothing better is available.

Are teachers to blame? Only partly, but as long as Russia remains desperately short of teachers, neural networks will remain the most accessible ‘tutor’ for many families. For parents, they are convenient; for pupils, they are obedient. For administrators, they create the illusion of improved results.

That’s why the issue can’t be resolved by scolding children or laughing at them for copying chatbot replies. If we don’t restore the authority of the teacher, reduce bureaucracy, fill staff shortages, and teach both adults and children how to work with AI honestly, then the machine will take the place of thought.

And our children will continue typing ‘essay on the topic’ into a search bar, while the neural network politely finishes their education with the same fatal question: 

‘Would you like me to help with anything else?’

This article was first published by the online newspaper Gazeta.ru and was translated and edited by the RT team

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis has compared the EU to the Roman Empire in its twilight years, arguing that Brussels is weakening the bloc through its economic, climate, and security policies.

Babis returned to office in December after his ANO movement won 34.5% of the vote and 80 seats in the 200-member lower house of parliament. Since then, he has positioned himself as a leading advocate of national sovereignty, a reassessment of EU policies, and a more pragmatic approach to Europe’s economic and security challenges.

In an interview published on Sunday, Babis accused Brussels of steering the bloc’s economy toward decline through what he called its aggressive decarbonization agenda. “The EU is now probably on the same road as the end of the Roman empire,” he told the FT.

The EU’s push to phase out fossil fuels has become increasingly divisive, with critics in Germany, Italy, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia arguing that climate targets, carbon pricing, and environmental rules are adding to energy costs and weakening industrial competitiveness as governments also face rising defense bills and the economic fallout from the Ukraine conflict.

Babis also said Prague would probably miss NATO’s 2% of GDP defense-spending target this year, despite claiming it met it in 2025. He blamed the pressure partly on a deficit left by Petr Fiala’s previous pro-EU government.

The issue feeds into a broader EU debate over dependence on the US, which accounts for around 60% of NATO’s total military spending. President Donald Trump has warned that the US could scale back its role in European defense unless NATO countries significantly increase military spending.

The debate has exposed competing visions within the Czech leadership. Babis and President Petr Pavel, a former NATO military chief and outspoken supporter of Ukraine, have clashed over defense policy, aid to Kiev, and Czech representation at NATO gatherings.
While Babis wields greater formal authority as prime minister and leader of the parliamentary majority, Pavel remains a prominent voice on foreign and security policy.

The economic pressures, security concerns, and reliance on external military protection underpin Babis’ comparison with ancient Rome.

The Roman Empire’s later centuries were marked by political instability, economic strain, and military overstretch. It became increasingly reliant on foreign troops while struggling to finance its defenses, as trade and economic activity declined and external pressures mounted.

The Western Roman Empire formally collapsed in 476 AD when its last emperor was deposed. Political authority fragmented into successor kingdoms, and Europe entered centuries of decentralization and instability.

Germany’s policy on Russia is riddled with contradictions, veteran German politician Sahra Wagenknecht has argued, accusing Berlin of punishing Moscow over alleged violations of international law while excusing similar accusations leveled against the US and damaging its own economy in the process.

Speaking at a public appearance in Berlin this week, Wagenknecht took aim at Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s support for the Western sanctions on Russia and his stance on international law.

“Russia’s oil and gas are selling like hotcakes all over the world, and we act as if we could end this war simply by stopping our purchases,” she said. “People say that because Russia has violated international law, we must impose sanctions. But when the US violates international law, Mr. Merz stands in front of the camera and tells us that international law is actually outdated. So, for the US, it’s outdated, but when Russia violates it, we have to completely ruin our economy because we have to impose sanctions. Nothing adds up with this policy.”

Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has imposed 20 rounds of sanctions targeting Russia’s economy and energy exports while seeking to phase out Russian fossil fuels.

Russia, however, has largely redirected its energy exports to Asia. According to US Energy Information Administration data, Asia and Oceania accounted for 81% of Russian crude exports in 2024, with China and India emerging as Russia’s largest customers.

Germany, meanwhile, entered recession in 2023 as industries grappled with higher energy costs after the loss of Russian gas, much of it replaced by more expensive LNG imports.

Western governments have accused Russia of violating international law in Ukraine, a charge that Moscow rejects.

Wagenknecht contrasted this with Western responses to US military actions, including recent operations in the Middle East. In March, Merz declined to question the legality of US actions in Iran, arguing that it was not the time to “lecture” allies about international law. Opponents seized on the remarks as evidence that Berlin applies different standards to the US and Russia.

Wagenknecht leads the Sahra Wagenknecht Alliance, which has become an influential voice in German debates over Russia, sanctions, immigration, and energy policy, despite narrowly missing entry into the Bundestag in the 2025 federal election.

Russia is set to take Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia to the UN’s top court over the systematic crackdown on Russian-speakers, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has announced, adding that the pre-trial phase of the dispute is coming to an end.

Moscow has for years sounded the alarm over the three former Soviet republics, which it accuses of restricting the rights of the Russian-speaking minority populations. It has accused the Baltic states of flagrantly violating the 1965 International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.

Speaking to RIA Novosti on Sunday, Zakharova blasted Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia over their “refusal to negotiate and unconstructive reaction to Russia’s grievances,” stressing that this will lead to litigation in the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Last week, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it was working to draw the UN’s attention to repression against public figures and human rights defenders among the Russian-speaking populations across the Baltic states.

It accused the Latvian authorities of carrying out a purge of dissents from the country’s information space “under the trumped-up pretext of combating ‘Russian propaganda.’” In Estonia, the Foreign Ministry said the rights of the “non-titular” population are openly restricted.

All three Baltic governments have dismissed the potential ICJ lawsuit. Lithuania called the allegations “entirely unfounded” and part of a Russian “campaign of lies and disinformation aimed at discrediting the Baltic states.” 

The Hague-based ICJ specializes in settling disputes exclusively between nations under international law. The court was deliberately designed without a mechanism to compel, with the function falling under the purview of the UN Security Council – where any of the five permanent members can use their veto power to block rulings.

Since breaking away from the Soviet Union in 1991, the three Baltic states have worked to phase out Russian from most walks of life. The effort picked up pace in 2022 after the escalation of the Ukraine conflict.

In recent years, Latvia has moved to conduct all general education exclusively in Latvian, while Russian as a second language will be removed from schools and replaced with EU languages. All three nations have also moved to curb access to Russian-language media.

On top of this, around 60,000 people in Estonia have ‘undetermined citizenship’, while 175,000 in Latvia – around 9% of the population – are classified as non-citizens. These individuals cannot vote in national elections, run for office, and work in certain sectors. In 2025, the Estonian parliament voted to amend the constitution, stripping Russian and Belarusian citizens of the right to vote in local elections.

US President Donald Trump has toughened the terms of peace talks with Iran, the New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday, citing officials familiar with the matter.

On Thursday, the two countries reportedly agreed on a memorandum of understanding that would extend the ceasefire reached in April for another 60 days and restart negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. A day later, Trump summoned senior national security advisers to the White House Situation Room.

According to the NYT, Trump became concerned about provisions in the proposed agreement that would unfreeze Iranian assets and grew frustrated with the pace of Tehran’s response to previous proposals. The revised terms were intended to increase pressure on the Iranian leaders.

Axios, citing a senior US official, reported that Trump wanted to include “more specifics” in the document regarding when and how the US would recover Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium.

Speaking to Fox News on Saturday, Trump said he was determined to secure a “great deal” that would guarantee “there will be no nuclear weapons” in Iran.

While initially saying he was not in a hurry to reach an agreement, Trump later acknowledged in the same interview that he was “in a hurry because gasoline prices are going up.” He threatened to “finish it off militarily” if Iran did not submit to his demands.

Tehran has repeatedly stated that the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes is non-negotiable and has denied that it seeks to acquire nuclear weapons. Iranian officials have also ruled out surrendering enriched uranium to the US.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused Trump of “betraying diplomacy,” saying military pressure will not force Iran to make concessions. Chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iran would not compromise with regard to its sovereign rights.

A US aircraft fired a missile at a cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman while enforcing the blockade of Iran, US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said.

According to CENTCOM, the Gambian-flagged M/V Lian Star ignored more than 20 warnings on Friday while sailing toward an Iranian port.

“A US aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room after Lian Star’s crew failed to comply. The ship is no longer transiting to Iran,” CENTCOM said on X on Saturday.

AP reported, citing a US official, that the vessel remains adrift and that US forces did not board it.

The latest military action near the Strait of Hormuz took place as peace talks with Iran failed to produce a breakthrough – despite optimism expressed by US officials last week.

Iran closed the waterway, which normally handles around 25% of global seaborne oil trade and 20% of liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments, to ships from “hostile nations” in response to the US-Israeli airstrikes launched on February 28. The US imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports a week after a ceasefire was reached in April.

The US has since disabled five commercial vessels and redirected 116 others while enforcing the blockade, CENTCOM said.

US President Donald Trump has since threatened to resume military operations unless Iran accepts his terms, which Tehran has rejected as unacceptable.

“The Army of the Islamic Republic stands firmly and resolutely against any hostile move by the enemy,” Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, the deputy commander of the Iranian Army for coordination, said on Saturday, as cited by Press TV.

US and Cuban military officials have held a rare in-person meeting at the Guantanamo Bay naval base as Washington continues to increase pressure on the island nation.

The US acquired the site on Cuba’s southeastern coast in 1903. While Cuba retains formal sovereignty over the territory, Washington exercises full jurisdiction and control under a lease agreement that Havana considers illegitimate.

According to US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), its commander, General Francis Donovan, met with Cuba’s chief of the general staff, Lieutenant General Roberto Legra Sotolongo, on Friday for “a brief exchange on operational security matters.”

Donovan also “led a perimeter security assessment of the naval base and discussed force protection, safety of service members and their families, and operational readiness with base officials,” SOUTHCOM said.

Cuba’s Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces described the meeting as “positive,” saying both sides agreed to “maintain communication between the commands.”

In January, US President Donald Trump imposed sweeping restrictions on fuel supplies to Cuba, contributing to fuel shortages and blackouts across the island. He has argued that the Cuban government poses a security threat and has repeatedly threatened the country with military action.

Last week, former Cuban President Raul Castro was indicted by the US Justice Department over the 1996 shootdown of two American aircraft operated by anti-communist Cuban exiles off the island’s coast. Around the same time, the Pentagon announced that the USS Nimitz carrier strike group arrived in the Caribbean, prompting comparisons with the military buildup that preceded the US commando raid in Venezuela earlier this year, which ended with the capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

CIA Director John Ratcliffe paid a rare visit to Havana earlier this month, reportedly pressing for reforms including political liberalization and a transition from socialism to a market-based economy.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has denounced the US measures as illegal under international law and vowed to defend the country against any military action.

“If we need to die, we’ll die, because as our national anthem says, ‘Dying for the homeland is to live,’” he said last month.

Diaz-Canel added that Cuba is ready for talks with the US, but only on equal footing.

Fans torched scooters and clashed with police in Paris on Saturday after local football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) won the Champions League, defeating Arsenal.

According to AFP, around 20,000 people gathered on the Champs-Elysees to watch a broadcast of the match, which was played in Budapest, Hungary. The crowd erupted in celebration after the French club beat its English rival in a dramatic 4-3 penalty shootout.

Violence soon broke out as fans set scooters on fire and launched fireworks at police.

Des poubelles et vélos en libre service sont incendiés en marge des célébrations de la seconde victoire du PSG en finale de LDC. Une habitante tente de s’interposer.#PSGARS #TeamPSG pic.twitter.com/3psl3NIzjd

— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) May 30, 2026

Paris (May 30) — Rioters started fires in the street to celebrate Paris Saint-Germain winning the soccer Champions League. pic.twitter.com/5w5PMqy43f

— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) May 30, 2026

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said 416 people were arrested. One officer was injured.

Tensions autour du Parc des Princes pendant la finale de Ligue des Champions.

Les policiers pris à parti suite à une tentative d’interpellation.#PSGARS pic.twitter.com/PkCZaBIb7M

— CLPRESS / Agence de presse (@CLPRESSFR) May 30, 2026

Police detained several people outside the Parc des Princes stadium.

AFP reported that six vehicles and two businesses were damaged. According to L’Equipe, a kiosk near the Champs-Elysees was set on fire and a bus stop was vandalized.

#PSG, der Moslem- und Afrikanerclub aus #Paris hat gespielt. Natürlich erschüttern sofort schwerste Unruhen Paris. Die Nacht wird blutig. #PSGARS #Elfmeterschießen CL Sieger pic.twitter.com/mbf9JI0f9m

— Max van Stetten (@homo_est_liber) May 30, 2026

Gros affrontements en cours près du àParc des Princes.

Des policiers sont pris pour cible par de nombreux tirs de feux d'artifice et projectiles.#PSG #PSGARS #Arsenal #UCLfinal #Paris pic.twitter.com/tHHxQ5wkeh

— Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) May 30, 2026

PSG won the title for the second consecutive year, and is only the second French club, after Marseille in 1993, to win Europe’s premier club competition.

The club’s triumph last year was also marred by riots in Paris, resulting in two deaths and nearly 500 arrests.

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), which is currently battling a severe Ebola outbreak. 

The outbreak began in DR Congo’s northeastern Ituri Province around two weeks ago. To date, it is believed to have claimed the lives of 223 people, with 906 suspected cases reported, according to estimates by the WHO.

Ghebreyesus met with senior officials and expressed confidence that the country is fully capable of containing the latest outbreak. The WHO chief warned other nations against border closures and travel bans, which have been implemented by several countries in the region, arguing that such measures only “discourage transparency.”

“The Democratic Republic of Congo has faced Ebola 16 times before and has ended every outbreak. This is the 17th. That history gives me real confidence,” Ghebreyesus said during a news conference alongside DR Congo’s Health Minister Roger Kamba.

The WHO chief urged local residents to exercise caution when burying victims of the outbreak and to seek medical help early if they display symptoms.

The optimism expressed by the WHO chief, however, has been met with skepticism from independent observers and humanitarian groups. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) pointed to the unusually rapid spread of the disease, saying its teams on the ground have witnessed “a response that has not yet caught up to the rapid spread of the epidemic.”

“Two weeks after the declaration of the Ebola outbreak in Ituri Province, the situation is deeply alarming and a legitimate source of anxiety for communities and frontline health workers alike. Never before has an Ebola outbreak recorded so many cases so soon after its declaration,” MSF Deputy Director of Operations Alan Gonzalez said, warning that “nobody knows the true scale and severity of this outbreak.”

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) earlier this week provided somewhat higher estimates than those shared by the WHO, reporting 1,077 suspected cases and 246 probable deaths as of Thursday.

The outbreak involves the Bundibugyo strain of ebolavirus, a rare and highly lethal variant with a reported mortality rate of between 25% and 50%. No approved vaccines or specific treatments exist for the strain. The virus is believed to spread through direct contact with infected bodily fluids.

Swiss artist Micha Hani (Vierwind) has created a massive mural of Jesus Christ using a decommissioned passenger jet in Armenia as a canvas. The installation can only be viewed in its entirety from above as all the elements merge into a single image.

Jesus’ outstretched arms are painted onto the wings, with the entire structure resembling a crucifix.

The scenic views of Lake Sevan, on whose shore the old Soviet Yak-40 has stood idle for years, add to the artistic experience, as seen in Ruptly drone footage.

It took Hani six days in mid-May to paint the aircraft’s fuselage, but he had spent several months preparing for the project beforehand, he told the Russian video agency.

“Getting the proportions exactly right so that the image looks ideal from every angle was the most difficult part,” the artist said, citing the plane’s complex shape.

Hani explained that he had opted for such an unusual canvas because he felt that “there is something both powerful and at the same time fragile in the plane.”

His choice of Armenia as the location for his installation was no coincidence either, Vierwind told Ruptly, noting that the South Caucasus nation “has an incredible wealth of history and spirituality.”

“You feel a certain depth there that is hard to explain. Moreover, it is the oldest Christian country out there. This is the right place for the project” he added.

With a background in 3D poly design, the Bern-born artist currently specializes in painting, graffiti, and illustrations, and views his art as inclusive in the sense that people “who would never set foot in a gallery” can still encounter his works in public spaces.

King Tiridates III proclaimed Christianity the state religion of ancient Armenia in 301 AD. The faith has persisted through the highs and lows of the nation’s turbulent history ever since.

It’s hard to believe one’s eyes while witnessing the latest performance put on by the comedian tyrant of Ukraine.

Within the space of a week or so, the regime of president-for-eternity-no-elections-needed Vladimir Zelensky has repatriated and reburied with pomp and ceremony the remains of Andrey Melnik, a twentieth-century Ukrainian fascist leader and Nazi collaborator, and named a contemporary military elite unit “Heroes of the UPA” (the Ukrainian Insurgent Army of World War Two).

The UPA was, in effect, the military arm of the OUN, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists. The OUN had two political wings that mattered, one under Andrey Melnik, the other under Stepan Bandera. They were rivals, but both were fascists.

During the war between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union, both OUN wings tried to collaborate with the Nazis. The Nazis, in their arrogance, did not always let them, but the whole OUN was very eager to please. The OUN and the UPA also participated in murderous German violence against Jews, serving as pro-active mass murder auxiliaries. In addition, they conducted a genocidal ethnic cleansing campaign of their own against Poles.

Predictably, the in-your-face obscenity of Kiev’s latest fascism worship has provoked Israel as well as Poland. Polish president Nawrocki would like to deprive Zelensky of the high state honors that Warsaw has foolishly bestowed on him and has threatened to curtail Poland’s support for Kiev’s EU ambitions. In Israel, both its official Holocaust remembrance and exploitation agency Yad Vashem and the foreign ministry have taken exception. That is, of course, ironic, since Israel itself engages obsessively in genocide and ethnic cleansing as well. Maybe, in this case, it takes a genocidal fascist to know one.

Official Kiev is in the middle of devastating corruption scandals – but to be fair, when is it not? – and shaken by mortifying revelations about Zelensky personally (surprise, surprise: a raging narcissist on coke and not a democrat but a kleptocrat) from a well-informed insider speaking to one of America’s most influential journalists. Yet its ruling clique finds time to really rub it in, again. How much it cannot stop hugging Nazis, dead and alive? Costs in foreign-policy terms? Apparently, no big deal: When the Nazi-loving urge itches really bad, to hell with caution and – very unusually for Kiev – even dissembling.

Some observers speculate that the fascism fetish is being escalated in public again because of the scandals and continually plunging popularity of the regime: Zelensky and the rest of his merry gang of war profiteers and proxy war meatgrinder jockeys, such commentators believe, are merely using the Nazi play “out of a position of weakness,” to distract from the unprecedently fetid swamp into which they have turned Ukraine’s sleazy politics.

This is a mistake. It is time that even the slowest in the West accept a simple truth about Zelensky, one he is not even hiding (like so many others): He genuinely likes fascists. And, with his extremely cynical manipulation techniques, his vicious persecution of political opposition and any dissent, his abuse of the mass media for propaganda, and his deep contempt for democracy, he has much heartfelt affinity with them, to say the least.

Silly – and, actually, racist – pseudo-arguments, advanced by Western proxy war boosters that Zelensky can’t possibly ally with a violent far-right because he is Jewish deserve no serious answer. The current Israeli regime and its policies of war, genocide, supremacy, and ethnic cleansing are fascist. Case closed.

In fact, the Zelensky regime has a longstanding, consistent habit of pandering to, working with, employing at high levels and on a large scale, and honoring the very far right. Some may love to quibble, in bored-academic-style, about pedantically precise terms for fine distinctions in one big pile of rottenness. But, in reality, those labeled Neo-Nazis, white supremacists, fascists, ultra-nationalists and so on form a large whole having much more in common than not.

Re-labelling has also served to spread big fat lies. In Ukraine, there is a long and foul tradition, reaching back far into the frozen depths of the first Cold War. Mendaciously re-packaging Ukrainian World War II fascists with their own bloody flavor of terror, genocide, and ethnic cleansing. But re-labelling these Ukrainian fascists as ‘integral nationalists’ makes about as much sense as calling Idi Amin Dada – the former ultraviolent dictator of Uganda rumored to have sampled a few of his victims – an ‘integral vegan.’

And so it is in the present, too. Play with words as much as you like, a fact remains a fact, that Zelensky’s Ukraine is state with a big fascism problem. In time, its roots reach back to the period between World Wars I and II, with a massive escalation during the latter. Regionally, it used to be concentrated in western Ukraine and, after the Soviet victory over the Nazis and Axis forces in 1945, among fugitives in the US, Canada, and Europe. There, with their brand of ready-to-kill fascist anti-Communism, they served the West in the first Cold War and systematically subverted Ukrainian communities and any institution they could buy their way into, such as Yale, Harvard, and Columbia Universities.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, this self-declared Ukrainian ‘diaspora’ – ironically, a term popularized out of the same Israel-envy that produced an unseemly urge to politically claim a Holocaust of one’s own in the shape of the Holodomor (preferably with even bigger victim counts) – re-entered independent Ukraine and “repatriated” its ideology. They impaired Ukraine’s culture and politics with, unfortunately, great success.

In that, long-term sense, Zelensky and his regime’s sympathy for the fascist devil is part of a deeper story. Yet Zelensky’s personal contribution is not merely substantial but crucial. First because he has simply gone much farther than any post-independent leader of Ukraine in making fascism part of a deeply sick new normality. And second, because in our world of often imbecilic identity politics, he has, in effect, exploited his Jewishness to promote the normalization of fascism. It is hard to imagine a greater intellectual and moral perversion. But then again, it’s Zelensky.

Around five US servicemen and contractors suffered minor injuries during a recent Iranian ballistic missile strike on a Kuwaiti air base, Bloomberg reports, citing a source. At least one MQ-9 Reaper drone was reportedly destroyed.

The incident apparently occurred during the latest limited exchange between the US and Iran on Thursday. The US military said it destroyed five Iranian kamikaze drones “that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz” and struck a military site near the port city of Bandar Abbas. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted a US airbase in the region in retaliation.

Bloomberg reported on Saturday that an Iranian Fateh-110 missile was intercepted by Kuwaiti air defenses, but falling debris hit Ali Al Salem Air Base.

The fragments slightly injured around five US personnel and inflicted material damage. One MQ-9 Reaper drone stationed at the base was destroyed and at least one other was seriously damaged, an anonymous person with direct knowledge of the attack told the outlet.

The US-Israeli attack on Iran has taken a heavy toll on America’s MQ-9 Reaper fleet, with around one-fifth of it wiped out.

Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that the US military has lost up to 30 drones of the type worth nearly $1 billion. The bulk of them are believed to have been destroyed or badly damaged by Iranian fire, with a few lost in accidents and on the ground in long-range strikes on US military installations in the region.

The losses have left a major dent in the US fleet of medium-altitude long-endurance drones used for reconnaissance missions and precision strikes. The number of MQ-9 Reaper drones in the US inventory has fallen well beyond the Air Force’s minimum floor of 189, hovering at around the 135 mark. 

The drones will not be easy to replace, as the MQ-9 Reaper’s manufacturer, General Atomics, halted production of the flagship model last year, and only produces variants reserved for foreign customers.

Three civilians were killed and four others injured after Ukrainian drones targeted civilian vehicles in Belgorod Region, Russia, the local authorities have said.

A man lost his life “as a result of drone detonation” after the Ukrainian military attacked the village of Oktyabrsky in the early hours of Saturday, officials reported. Around the same time, Ukrainian forces “deliberately” struck a civilian car with an FPV drone in the same area, killing two occupants and injuring the two others.

Several hours later, another vehicle came under a Ukrainian drone attack in Oktyabrsky, leaving one person injured.

A separate Ukrainian drone attack also targeting a civilian vehicle in the village of Orlovka in Belgorod Region later on Saturday left a man with shrapnel injuries, according to the authorities.

In Rostov Region, Russia, Ukrainian UAVs attacked the sea port in the city of Taganrog overnight, setting a tanker and a fuel tank ashore ablaze, Governor Yury Slyusar stated, adding that the fire has since been extinguished, with no leaks reported.

Two people sustained injuries elsewhere in Rostov Region after a kamikaze UAV struck a house, according to the official, with the total number of Ukrainian drones downed over the region close to 50.

The Russian Defense Ministry estimated that a total of 127 Ukrainian UAVs were intercepted Friday evening to Saturday morning over several Russian regions.

In recent months, Ukraine has intensified its drone raids deep into Russian territory, targeting civilian infrastructure, industrial sites, and residential buildings. These attacks have increasingly targeted Russia’s oil infrastructure.

In April, Ukrainian UAVs hit an oil refinery and an adjacent marine terminal in Tuapse, Russia, a key port in Krasnodar Region. The ensuing fire led to high-risk air pollution, with miles of the beach in the resort town destroyed by an oil spill.

Moscow has accused Kiev of resorting to terrorist attacks to compensate for the setbacks the Ukrainian military has been suffering on the battlefield.

Russia has responded with long-range strikes of its own, saying it only targets Ukrainian dual-use critical infrastructure and military installations, and never civilian sites.

The Ukrainian military attacked Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), puncturing a hole in the machine hall of one of the facility’s units, Aleksey Likhachev, CEO of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom, has said.

The ZNPP – which has repeatedly been attacked by Kiev forces over the past years – came under a new attack on Saturday, with a fiber-optics-guided drone making it to the machine hall of the sixth power unit of the plant. Given that such munitions are guided by their operators until the impact, the strike was carried out deliberately, and any “theories of an accidental hit” can be ruled out, Likhachev stated.

“One could, if I may put it this way, ‘congratulate’ the entire international community – this is the first-ever deliberate attack on the nuclear power plant’s main equipment, with a penetrative explosion and damage to the machine hall,” he said.

The Ukrainian armed forces repeatedly cross not just red lines, but the very boundaries of common sense. What to expect next? Strikes directly on the turbine? The reactor hall? The reactor and its safety systems?

Russia has repeatedly drawn the attention of the international community to the “extremely dangerous behavior” on Kiev’s part, the nuclear chief added. Many appear not to take the continuing attacks on the ZNPP “seriously,” while a potential nuclear incident at the plant could spread well beyond Russia and Ukraine, affecting those believing themselves to be “completely safe,” Likhachev warned.

Radiation levels remain normal at the site, the ZNPP said in a statement. The attack caused no casualties or “critical damage” to the facility, it added. Emergency teams are currently accessing the damage sustained by the machine hall, with the situation remaining under “full control,” the ZNPP stressed.

The Ukrainian military has denied any involvement, claiming it does not possess fiber-optics-guided drones of sufficient range or packed with powerful enough charges capable of penetrating a wall. The power station, however, is located on the bank of the Dnieper River, with the Ukrainian-held part of the region lying immediately across the waterway.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has expressed “serious concern” over the “reported incident” at the plant, the organization said. Grossi warned against attacks on nuclear sites, describing them as “playing with fire.” The agency added that it had requested access “to examine the affected turbine building first-hand.”

A team of IAEA experts visited the plant on Sunday to assess the damage, Russia’s envoy to the agency and other international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, has said. He shared footage from the scene, showing the hole in the wall of the machine hall punctured by the Ukrainian drone, as well as fragments of the UAV and the fiber optic cord it left behind. 

The consequences of a Ukrainian drone entering the mashing block of Power Unit number 6 at the Zaporozhskaya NPP on May 30. As the #IAEA Director General said yesterday, they are playing with fire. pic.twitter.com/eyTLGmYkrW

— Mikhail Ulyanov (@Amb_Ulyanov) May 31, 2026

The IAEA said its team had observed damage “consistent with the impact of a drone,” with “a few pieces of debris and burned optical fiber remains” found on the ground. During the visit to the plant, the experts were “told to shelter after hearing the sound of drones nearby and gunfire to repel them,” the agency noted.

In recent weeks, the Ukrainian military has ramped up attacks on the plant, repeatedly striking structures within its perimeter and targeting the facility’s employees. The ZNPP came under Moscow’s control early in the conflict and has been operated by Rosatom after the Zaporozhye Region voted to join Russia in a referendum in the fall of 2022.

Ex-Russian President and Deputy Chief of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, warned that the potential destruction of a power unit at the ZNPP would result in a “new Chernobyl.” An incident of such magnitude is “not any better than the use of tactical nuclear weaponry,” he said, adding that it could ultimately prompt “symmetrical” retaliatory strikes on nuclear power plants in Ukraine and “NATO nations involved in the conflict.”

Bulgaria is facing EU sanctions due to an excessive budget deficit, just months after joining the eurozone, Prime Minister Rumen Radev has said. He claimed that the crisis was caused by the previous pro-EU government, which massaged economic numbers to narrowly pass the threshold to join the eurozone in the first place.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Sofia on Friday, Radev, who is widely regarded as an EU skeptic, said that the European Commission would publish its formal report on the country’s fiscal situation on June 3, thus launching the so-called excessive deficit procedure.

Under the procedure, Sofia must bring spending from last year’s 3.5% back below the 3% ceiling by putting a binding cap on the budget deficit. If Bulgaria fails, the EU can freeze funding and go as far as to impose fines of up to 0.05% of GDP every six months on the Balkan country.

Radev blamed the situation on a “difficult legacy” stemming from “negligence, incompetence, voluntarism, populism, and financial misconduct” by the previous center-right and pro-EU Zhelyazkov government, which collapsed in December 2025 following mass anti-corruption protests.

The prime minister also predicted that “this year, the deficit will be even larger” than 3.5%. The European Commission forecasts that the deficit will hit 4.1% of GDP this year, rising to 4.3% in 2027.
“They [the previous government] lied to push Bulgaria into the euro… The bubble has burst,” he said of the budget deficit.

Bulgaria joined the eurozone on January 1, 2026, after barely meeting the criteria, especially in terms of inflation, which was the greatest hurdle. Proponents of the push sought to lock Bulgaria on the pro-West and pro-EU path, with practical monetary consequences deemed minimal as the Bulgarian lev had been pegged to the euro for decades.

However, critics have argued that the Zhelyazkov coalition – which supported eurozone membership – projected an unrealistic revenue growth, with potential to balloon the budget deficit.

A Politico report in 2025 also drew attention to a sudden and “mysterious” 82.8% cut in state-set daily hospital fees in April – a move that helped lower Bulgaria’s 12-month average inflation. At the time, an unnamed former local official told the paper that “the only reason Bulgaria has qualified is… due to state-administered prices.” According to Politico, the previous government also cut inflation by slashing rail fares by over 9%.

Radev – who has advocated for more pragmatic ties with Russia and consistently opposed military aid to Ukraine – was not against the eurozone per se, but insisted that such a decision could be made only on a public referendum.

However, the parliament blocked his request, with critics accusing him of trying to sabotage the process. Radev himself said that Bulgarian citizens were being ignored by an elite “marching toward the eurozone” and that “the representatives of the people denied the people their right to choose.”

A senior lawmaker from Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU has proposed requiring Germans to use their homes to pay for elderly care, triggering a political row over social welfare amid the country’s mounting fiscal pressures.

The proposal by Albert Stegemann, deputy chairman of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag, would tighten eligibility rules for public assistance with nursing-home costs, potentially requiring homeowners to draw on property wealth before receiving state support.

“Those who own assets must first use their own assets, including their home, before the community pays,” Stegemann told Bild on Thursday.

Germany’s long-term care system works in three stages. Mandatory insurance covers part of nursing-home costs, with patients expected to pay the remainder from their pension, savings or other assets. If those funds are exhausted, state social welfare assistance covers the gap.

Stegemann argues that homeowners should be required to draw on housing wealth before gaining access to that final layer of taxpayer-funded support.

The proposal comes as Berlin prepares a major overhaul of long-term care financing. Health Minister Nina Warken has warned that Germany’s statutory care insurance system could face deficits of more than €22 billion over the next two years unless reforms are adopted.

The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of mounting strain on Germany’s welfare model. Europe’s largest economy has endured years of stagnation following the energy shock caused by the Ukraine conflict. Although Germany officially emerged from recession in 2025, growth is forecast at just 0.5% in 2026 after a new Middle East-driven energy crisis dealt another blow to its industrial sector.

Nevertheless, Germany is spending heavily on both Ukraine and its own military buildup. It has committed more than €96 billion in military and civilian aid for Kiev since 2022, while announcing a domestic €100 billion rearmament drive.

Stegemann’s remarks immediately drew criticism from coalition partners and welfare organizations, who argue the proposal could effectively force elderly people to liquidate family homes before receiving assistance.

SPD health expert Christos Pantazis warned that many families fear “losing their home or their life’s work,” and called the idea “absurd.” Opposition Greens accused the government of pursuing socially irresponsible policies.

The US will no longer “subsidize” the defense of “wealthy” allies, Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said, reviving a long-running dispute between Washington and NATO’s European members over military spending.

The remarks were made at a major security summit in Singapore on Friday.

Hegseth linked the Trump administration’s push for higher allied defense spending to its broader strategy of shifting resources toward the Indo-Pacific and countering what he described as Chinese “hegemony” in the region.

“The era of the United States subsidizing the defense of wealthy nations is over. We need partners, not protectorates. We seek alliances built on shared responsibility, not dependency,” Hegseth told the annual International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue, according to an official statement by the Department of War.

NATO members agreed in 2014 to spend at least 2% of GDP on defense, but many EU countries failed to reach the target for years. Former President Barack Obama said in a 2016 interview that “free riders aggravate me,” calling on members to spend more.

According to NATO’s official figures, all 32 members met the 2% benchmark for the first time in 2025. However, the US still accounted for 60-62% of the bloc’s total military spending last year.

During a question-and-answer session following his address in Singapore, Hegseth described 2% contributions as “freeloading.”

Last year, NATO members agreed to work toward spending 5% of GDP on defense and security by 2035, including a core defense target of 3.5%.

Several governments have questioned the goal. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called a 5% target “unreasonable” and “counterproductive.” Belgium and Slovakia have also raised concerns over the scale of the increase.

The dispute has expanded beyond military spending as some EU governments have resisted Washington’s requests related to the Iran conflict. Spain has opposed the military action against Iran and refused to allow US forces to use joint bases for offensive operations, while France and Germany have called for diplomacy.

US President Donald Trump later criticized NATO allies over their response, saying it is “pretty shocking” that countries which support America’s objectives “don’t want to help.”

Croatian President Zoran Milanovic broke ranks with other NATO members as he slammed Lithuania’s foreign minister for his “irresponsible” call to attack the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.

Milanovic’s comments came after Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys called NATO the “strongest organization ever created” last week, arguing for a more assertive posture toward Russia and saying European NATO members must turn “fear of the threat into a sense of empowerment.” 

“We have to show the Russians that we’re capable of penetrating the small fortress they’ve built in Kaliningrad,” he said. “NATO has the capability, if necessary, to raze Russian air defenses and missile bases there to the ground.”

Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the creation of the Croatian Army, Milanovic called out the remarks.

“Equally irresponsible, turning now to our own camp, are the calls and appeals I hear week after week from high-ranking officials of certain Baltic states to attack Kaliningrad Region… Such things should not be said,” he said.

He went on to warn that NATO’s principle of solidarity should not be unconditional: “Readiness to come to someone’s vital assistance on the one hand also presupposes responsibility on the other.”

Following the backlash, Budrys walked back the tone but not the substance, claiming that his remarks were not aimed at Russia but at audiences “less familiar with military matters,” and were intended to counter what he called Moscow’s narrative of Kaliningrad as an impenetrable fortress.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda called the interview “not the most successful statement.” Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene urged restraint in public comments.

Kaliningrad is Russia’s westernmost outpost on the Baltic Sea coast and is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland, with no land connection to the mainland part of the country. Formerly known as Koenigsberg and the capital of the German province of East Prussia, it was ceded to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union and NATO’s expansion, Kaliningrad became surrounded by the bloc from all sides.

Budrys comments triggered a sharp rebuke in Moscow, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the remarks “borderline crazy” and a sign of “maniacal” hostility toward Russia.

Asked on Thursday whether NATO could attack Kaliningrad, President Vladimir Putin warned that Russia “has all the means to raze to the ground anyone who tries to do so.”

The leaders of the EU and NATO are using the recent drone incident in Romania to push the country closer to war with Russia, Diana Sosoaca, a Romanian member of the European Parliament and former senator, has told RT.

Romania blamed Russia after a drone crashed into an apartment block in the city of Galati near the Ukrainian border on Friday, injuring two people.

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Romania to share data about the incident for an “objective investigation,” while Russia’s ambassador to Bucharest, Vladimir Lipaev, told RT that there is no proof the drone came from Russia.

“We ask for an international investigation,” Sosoaca, the leader of the opposition SOS Romania party, said. “There are only assumptions” fueled by anti-Russian fearmongering, she added.

Sosoaca went on to say that the EU and NATO are seeking to “push Romania to attack Russia,” while critics of escalation are being labeled as spies for Moscow.

Sosoaca added that the Romanian government will use the incident as a pretext for increased defense spending. She pointed to Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan, who vowed on Friday to accelerate efforts to acquire anti-drone equipment through the EU’s Security Action for Europe (SAFE) program.

These measures are unpopular with ordinary Romanians, who “don’t want to be at war with Russia,” Sosoaca said.

Putin said during a trip to Kazakhstan on Friday that Russia has no intention of attacking NATO but would “raze to the ground” any country that attacks it. The president also criticized Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, who recently suggested that the US-led bloc should be prepared to “break into” Kaliningrad Region, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea.

Several suspected Ukrainian drones have crashed in the Baltic states in recent months, prompting Moscow to warn NATO members against allowing Ukraine to use their territory to launch strikes against Russia.

US pop star Olivia Rodrigo has criticized the online backlash over a baby-doll dress she wore during a recent performance, arguing that the controversy reflects the normalization of pedophilia and a tendency to blame girls for being sexualized.

The backlash came after Rodrigo wore the dress in the music video for her single ‘Drop Dead’ and during a performance in Barcelona.

Critics online described the look as “infantilizing,” “inappropriate,” and “too Lolita,” while some accused her of wearing “pedo bait” or “dressing like a toddler.”

Rodrigo rejected claims that the outfit was intended to be sexual, saying on The New York Times’ Popcast on Wednesday that it was inspired by punk and grunge icons Kathleen Hanna and Courtney Love.

She also noted that she had previously worn far more revealing stage outfits without drawing the same reaction and that the pink floral baby-doll dress in question covered more of her body than many of her other looks.

“What’s really disturbing is I have worn outfits that are maybe revealing on stage. I’ve been on stage in a sparkly bra and little shorts, which is my right,” Rodrigo said. “And that wasn’t inappropriate, but me fully covered up in a dress that people deemed to be childlike was inappropriate.”

“It just really shows how we normalize pedophilia in our culture,” she argued. “Also, it’s just this rhetoric we’re fed as girls from the time we’re little, which is, ‘Don’t wear that because a man is going to sexualize your body and it’s your fault.’ It’s so weird.”

Rodrigo’s remarks come amid a broader debate over the sexualization of minors in entertainment and popular culture, a discussion that has also been fueled by renewed scrutiny of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal.

Another US pop star, Sabrina Carpenter, was criticized last year by some fans who argued that her photoshoot resembled the 1997 film Lolita, which centers on a relationship between an adult man and an underage girl.

Earlier this year, some fans accused the creators of the US popular drama series Euphoria of “inciting pedophilia” after one of the show’s female lead characters appeared in a toddler-like fetish costume. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin took questions from reporters during his trip to Kazakhstan on Friday, providing an update on the Ukraine conflict and tensions with NATO in Europe.

He also commented on the recent drone incident in Romania, which NATO blamed on Russia, and touched on foreign policy debates in Armenia, a former Soviet state and longtime Russian ally.

Russia has the upper hand on the battlefield

The Ukraine conflict is nearing the end as the Russian military continues its offensive on all fronts, Putin said, adding that it would be “unwise” to provide a specific timeline.

“The situation on the battlefield gives reason to believe that (the conflict) is drawing to a close.”

He went on to say that although Moscow maintains “certain contacts,” no peace talks are being held at the moment.

While the US has been preoccupied with the Iran conflict, some EU officials have begun floating the idea of resuming talks with Russia, which were suspended in 2022.

Western leaders must stop misleading their people

The president reiterated that Russia has no intention of attacking NATO or EU members, dismissing claims to the contrary as “brazen lies.” He reiterated Russia’s position that it was forced to intervene in Ukraine after Kiev failed to implement the 2014-15 Minsk accords with the breakaway Donbass republics, which later voted to become part of Russia.

Western leaders are using the conflict to justify “unreasonable” military spending hikes, Putin argued. “They should not mislead their own people.”

Aggressors will be razed to the ground

Putin warned, however, Russia has the capability to “raze to the ground” any country that attempts to attack it.

He was responding to Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys, who said this month that, in the event of a conflict, NATO must demonstrate that it “can break into” Kaliningrad Region, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania.

He warned that Russia would treat all Ukrainian drone launch sites as legitimate targets, even if they operate from the Baltic states.

Romania should share data on drone incident

Putin called for an objective investigation into a drone strike on a residential building in the Romanian city of Galati near the Ukrainian border on Friday, which injured two people. Romania, along with its NATO allies, blamed Russia for the intrusion.

The president said Romania should provide objective data about the incident, just as Russia handed over decoded flight data from a Ukrainian drone shot down last year en route to one of Putin’s residences. He noted that suspected Ukrainian drones have veered into the Baltic states and Finland in recent months.

Western media outlets ‘making fools of’ their own audiences

Putin said the Western media is “a tool for making fools of people” that is used to channel more money into Ukraine. He blasted foreign news outlets for their failure to cover the Ukrainian drone strikes on a college in Starobelsk last week, which killed 21 students and injured more than 40 others.

“Not a single word was said about the tragedy in Starobelsk, where our children were deliberately killed. Not a single word, as though it never happened,” Putin said.

Moscow has criticized outlets including CNN and the BBC for declining an invitation to travel to Starobelsk.

Armenia’s economy will suffer if it cuts ties with Russia

Commenting on the upcoming parliamentary elections in Armenia, Putin said the country’s drive for closer integration with the EU could eventually become incompatible with its membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Leaving the EAEU would cost Armenia at least 14% of its GDP, he said.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who was recently endorsed by US President Donald Trump, said Armenia is not planning to terminate its membership in the EAEU at this stage, but that voters would ultimately decide between the two economic blocs.

Russia is Armenia’s largest trading partner and provides the country with discounted natural gas.

Advantages in AI technology

Russia is one of the few countries with the human capital and energy resources to develop its own sovereign artificial intelligence, Putin said.

“We have enormous capabilities in nuclear and hydroelectric power, particularly in Siberia,” he said, adding that Russia has “clear advantages” in the global AI race.

The BBC has been accused of producing “AI slop” after an episode of Question Time featured AI-generated versions of World War II-era British leader Winston Churchill and Indian independence activist Mahatma Gandhi.

The episode, which aired on Thursday, opened with host Fiona Bruce introducing AI-generated versions of Churchill and Gandhi, as well as women’s suffrage campaigner Emmeline Pankhurst and Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

“That would be something, wouldn’t it, if they really were on our panel. Of course they’re not. They are AI-generated. Just a small insight into the use of technology,” Bruce said before introducing the actual panelists for a discussion on the rapid rise of AI.

Tonight Question Time features an imagined AI panel made up of historical figures who shaped the modern world

Watch the #bbcqt AI special now on @BBCiPlayer and @BBCNews to see what our REAL panel have to say on AI, including how it can blur the lines between reality and fakery pic.twitter.com/G1HVSUyt5t

— BBC Question Time (@bbcquestiontime) May 28, 2026

The segment was widely mocked online, with some users calling it “AI slop.”

“Your funding should be cut just based on this,” one user wrote on X, calling the BBC staff involved “a plague to the film-making and television industry.”

“Genuinely a joke that I am forced to pay a fee for this dross,” another user wrote.

The British broadcaster, which is largely funded through license fees paid by the public, is reportedly losing around $1.36 billion annually as audiences increasingly turn to streaming platforms and other formats.

According to The Guardian, at least 314,000 households stopped paying the license fee last year. The BBC announced a 10% budget cut in February amid mounting controversies over its reporting and declining license-fee revenue.

The US Justice Department on Wednesday charged Google employee Michele Spagnuolo with commodities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering after he used confidential corporate information to collect more than $1.2 million from bets on online prediction platform Polymarket.

However, US law enforcement appears to apply a blatant double standard when it comes to politicians, RT’s Caleb Maupin reports.

“Washington says that insider trading is illegal. You can’t have special information, and then get rich on Wall Street betting on it. That is, unless you’re the president of the United States,” Maupin says.

“Then you can negotiate, start a war, appoint somebody, call for more military spending, negotiate the Strait of Hormuz to be opened or closed, and know what you’re going to do before you do it and make bets and make lots of money.”

President Donald Trump made between $211 million to $750 million from securities trading in the first quarter of 2026, according to financial disclosures published by the US Office of Government Ethics earlier this month.

The filings list the transactions in broad ranges rather than exact amounts, and include securities linked to corporate titans such as Microsoft, Meta, Nvidia, Palantir, and Boeing.

While US government regulators assure Americans that they’re maintaining checks and balances, this seems to mean “fairness and order for average Joes or Google engineers, but not for everybody else,” Maupin says.

Watch the full RT report below.

AI megacorporations like OpenAI and Anthropic have scraped every word of human knowledge from the internet, and the US government is helping them sell it back to the public, Google whistleblower Zach Vorhies has told RT.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman caused controversy last month during an appearance at BlackRock in Washington DC, when he described his company’s vision of “a future where intelligence is a utility, like electricity or water, and people buy it from us on a meter.”

In Altman’s future, AI companies will essentially charge users for access to data that they have collected for free by scraping libraries, archives, forums, and everywhere else knowledge is stored.

“These cartels have gone through and they’ve downloaded the data for themselves, before everybody else knew about it, and then once they downloaded it they shut the door behind them, which prevents researchers, it prevents startups from being able to challenge them,” Vorhies told RT on Friday.

The US government has helped AI companies operate as cartels, he argued, by waging “lawfare” against free alternatives. These include Anna’s Archive, which bills itself as “the largest truly open library in human history,” and was ordered to pay Spotify $300 million in damages last month for scraping the entire platform, and Z-LIbrary, which was shut down by the FBI in 2022.

These sites were “essentially are the great Libraries of Alexandria of our time, and right now the United States is burning them to the ground,” Vorhies said, pointing out that OpenAI has been granted “essentially a monopoly” on information by the government.

This monopoly, however, faces a challenge from Chinese AI firms like DeepSeek and Quen, which have scraped and collected the same information as their American counterparts. “What’s going to happen is that these other cartels from these other countries…are going to be able to drive the cost down, and hopefully that’s what we see,” Vorhies said.

A former engineer at Google, Vorhies leaked more than 950 pages of internal documents in 2019, which revealed that the search giants blacklisted hundreds of websites and hid them from users’ news feeds. Among the blacklisted sites were conservative news outlets like the Daily Caller, the Drudge Report, and the Gateway Pundit. One document revealed that Google employed “human raters” to sift through videos on YouTube, a Google-owned platform, and flag them for “fake news & other fringe” content.

To prevent AI companies manipulating their scraped knowledge in the same way, Vorhies argued that they should eventually be forced to reveal how their models work. “We…are going to have to crack these models open and look inside,” he said, to determine “whether they are fair.”

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has urged his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to take the lead in promoting dialogue between the EU and Russia, saying the Ukraine conflict should be resolved through direct talks rather than further escalation.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, Lukashenko revealed details of a phone call with Macron on May 24, saying he proposed a meeting in Minsk involving himself, the French president, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

According to Lukashenko, Macron did not rule out such a meeting but said he would first need to consult with his European allies. The Belarusian leader said he responded by urging Macron to take the initiative, describing him as one of Europe's most experienced statesmen.

“You’re the veteran among Europe’s leaders. Today, you are the key player and the driving force in Europe,” Lukashenko recalled telling Macron. “You should call Putin, come, sit down, and talk man to man.”

EU officials have for months complained that US-Russian negotiations on the Ukraine conflict have left the Europeans sidelined. However, the 27-member bloc has still failed to agree on who could speak for its interests in possible direct negotiations with Moscow, which Brussels cut off after the escalation of the conflict in 2022.

On Thursday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas claimed that Russia was setting a “trap” for the EU by encouraging member states to decide who should represent the bloc in direct talks with Moscow. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Moscow never rejected direct contact with Western leaders and “they can just call President Putin.”

According to Lukashenko, Macron had also expressed concerns about Belarus potentially being drawn deeper into the Ukraine conflict.

The Belarusian leader dismissed such speculation, stating: “I am not planning to enter any war. Why would I?”

Lukashenko also rejected claims that recent joint nuclear drills conducted by Moscow and Minsk signaled preparations for a wider escalation.

The drill in Belarus was focused on concealed deployment, long-distance maneuvers and training the troops’ ability to prepare for launches from unscheduled locations, according to the sides.

Russia stationed nuclear weapons in Belarus in 2023, following repeated requests from Minsk. It also deployed its nuclear-capable Oreshnik hypersonic missile system there last year. The Belarusian leadership cited aggressive Western policies as the reason for the deployment.

According to Lukashenko, Minsk would consider using nuclear weapons only in the event of an attack on the country.

The United States is caught in a trap of its own making. It wants to preserve its unique position in world politics, while at the same time freeing itself from the growing burden that this position imposes. Yet Washington hasn’t found any way to do so except by insisting, ever more loudly, on its own superiority so the result is that America clings more tightly to the very role it should have consciously begun to abandon long ago.

There’s an old story from ‘Uncle Remus’s Tales’, the famous collection by the American writer Joel Chandler Harris, in which Br’er Fox sets a black doll made of tar and turpentine by the roadside to trap Br’er Rabbit. The rabbit greets the doll, mistakes its silence for rudeness, grows angry and strikes it. His paw sticks so he strikes again, and the other paw sticks and the more furiously he fights, the more completely he is trapped.

This is increasingly what American policy looks like in its struggle to preserve hegemony. The US has become stuck to its own global role. It wants to escape the costs of maintaining that role, but every attempt to do so only entangles it further. In trying to defend the “tar baby” of global primacy, Washington is forced into ventures that are costly militarily and for its reputation. 

The latest example is the unprovoked attack by the US and Israel on Iran. Washington would clearly prefer not to be dragged into a wider Middle Eastern crisis, yet it has once again acted in a way that makes such entanglement more likely. It wants the privileges of hegemony without the liabilities, but the two cannot be separated.

In its struggle with this tar-covered scarecrow, the US damages not only its obvious rivals, Russia and China, but the wider international order. At the center of that order stands the UN system and the institutions built after the Second World War. These structures have long served Western interests, but they also provided a degree of predictability. Now they are being undermined by the very power that once claimed to defend them.

Russia, China and many other states view this process with mixed feelings. None has an interest in a sudden collapse of American power, still less in the collapse of the American state itself because for a century, the United States has been a central factor in global development and the great diplomatic game. Its abrupt disappearance would create not freedom, but rather chaos.

At the same time, it’s obvious that America’s struggle to preserve hegemony is weakening it but this process can’t simply be reversed. The United States is trying to reformat its global presence because it no longer has the resources to sustain the model of engagement that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century. Its economic model shows little sign of being capable of the transformation needed to restore the “golden years” of global leadership. Appeals to modern technology, however loudly advertised, look more like temporary devices to avoid deeper change than a serious renewal of American power.

Russia, China and many others therefore watch America’s internal difficulties with a certain satisfaction. They expect that the gradual weakening of the US position will eventually make it possible to speak with Washington on more equal terms and to formalize a fairer world order.

China expresses this position most clearly and compared with Russia, Beijing is in a more comfortable position. The US remains deeply connected to China economically and is therefore cautious about taking genuinely hostile action and East Asia also lacks Europe’s peculiar problem: there are no American allies there quite as eager as certain European states to escalate tensions for their own political purposes.

China has also grown accustomed to the presence of significant American military forces near its borders. Even Taiwan, though politically sensitive, is not viewed in Beijing as an insoluble military problem because Chinese leaders appear confident that, if necessary, they could resolve the matter by force. For now, their strategy is restraint and to watch the US exhaust its resources, avoid unnecessary confrontation and achieve victory without battle.

This approach is reflected in China’s language of “core interests.” Beijing signals that it will respond seriously only when crises touch its immediate strategic environment. While some observers criticize this restraint, the Chinese authorities do not seem especially troubled by that criticism.

But China’s long game is not without danger and the greatest risk is that Japan and South Korea may eventually seek their own nuclear deterrents if American power continues to weaken. Should that happen, China would face a strategic problem far greater than Taiwan. Beijing is also vulnerable to the damage caused by America’s erratic behavior in the global economy because China’s internal stability rests on the rising prosperity of its population, and that prosperity depends heavily on external trade and industrial links. The more Washington destabilizes the world economy, the greater the direct and indirect costs for China.

For Russia, too, American behavior brings both strategic opportunities and serious risks. The weakening of US control over Europe could, paradoxically, make Western Europe more dangerous as its elites, deprived of clear American discipline, may be tempted into an even more reckless confrontation with Moscow. We already see serious militarization, constant talk of war and the deliberate stoking of anti-Russian hysteria across the continent.

One cannot rule out that a further decline in American influence over its allies could become the trigger for a dangerous escalation in Europe. This is especially true because Americans themselves increasingly say they do not intend to bear full responsibility for the security of their traditionally reckless partners.

The economic consequences are also painful. US pressure on the global economy, together with the many sanctions imposed on Russia, has had a negative effect, though not nearly as severe as Washington expected. Russia has adapted, but the costs remain real.

Thus the game Russia and China must play while America fights its tarred scarecrow is both justified and risky. The weakening of US hegemony opens the way to a more balanced international order. But the scale of America’s presence in world affairs means that the transition cannot be simple or painless.

Changing that reality will require discipline and extraordinary diplomatic patience.

This article was first published by the Valdai Club and edited by the RT team.

Five illegal migrants have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping, drugging, and gang-raping a tourist in Rome, according to a statement released by Italian police on Thursday.

Investigators said the 32-year-old Colombian woman was abducted last week after dining alone at a restaurant in the Italian capital. According to police, she was approached by a man after telling him she was looking to buy hashish.

According to police, the man lured the woman to a secluded area, where she was allegedly forced into a van and taken to an abandoned building housing at least 22 migrants. Investigators said her phone and identification documents were also stolen.

Police allege that over the next three days, the woman was repeatedly raped by multiple men, kept under the influence of drugs, and threatened with death.

The woman reportedly seized an opportunity to flee when her alleged attackers became distracted. Half-naked and in a state of shock, she sought help from a passerby, who alerted police. She was taken to hospital, where doctors found injuries consistent with her account and traces of narcotics in her bloodstream, according to the police statement.

Una donna è rimasta rinchiusa per tre giorni in uno stabile abbandonato a Roma, dove, a più riprese, sarebbe stata costretta a subire violenze sessuali di gruppo dietro minacce di morte. Eseguiti 5 fermi a seguito delle indagini dei poliziotti della #squadra mobile#28maggio pic.twitter.com/W9KXiSNeO5

— Polizia di Stato (@poliziadistato) May 28, 2026

Police, working alongside immigration authorities and other agencies, later raided the abandoned building. Officers found 22 illegal migrants at the site. Five men were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the alleged gang rape.

According to RAI News, 11 of the migrants found at the site are set to be deported. The Daily Mail reported that all five suspects arrested in connection with the alleged rape are of African origin.

Italy remains a key entry point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Africa, with UNHCR data indicating that more than 66,000 people arrived by sea over the past year.

Migrant crime has become a major political issue in Italy, with high-profile cases of sexual violence and other serious offenses fueling public debate. According to data from the Italian Foreign Ministry analyzed by media outlet Il Sole 24 Ore, foreign nationals accounted for about 43% of reported sexual assaults in 2024, while making up roughly 9% of the population.

As an inveterate leftie with an irrepressible intuitive sympathy for genuine, decent conservatives – that term excludes, obviously, gutless mainstream centrists – I am always looking for exemplars of this old and venerable political species. For one thing, they are much more fun to talk to than woked-out liberals, washed-out social-democrats, or hysterical warmongers of the German variety of (camouflage) Green.

Genuine, decent conservatives tend to have much to say – about, for instance, such vital things as religion, culture, and the family – that is well worth listening to, whether you agree or not. And unlike dour, doctrinaire, and frequently neurotic centrists, genuine conservatives often have the calm self-confidence that comes from being authentic, and thus they can afford tolerance and a sense of humor, even humility.

Alas, it seems that, in the West, such decent conservatives are if not on the verge of extinction, then at least seriously endangered. And, ironically, their worst enemies are not my sort of people, the often all-too-toothless left.

What decent conservatives have to fear the most are their own fellow conservatives, but of the indecent kind. In the US – and not only – that indecency takes a specific form, namely spineless, profoundly unpatriotic submission to the interests of a foreign, and, as it happens, genocidal state and its powerful lobby, Israel.

Case in point: Thomas Massie, a prominent and influential US congressman from Kentucky. Massie has just been defeated by, in essence, his own political tribe. After serving seven consecutive terms in Congress for the Republican Party since 2012 and usually “cruis[ing] to victory” in primaries – pre-elections that decide who will represent the party – he has now lost his latest primary and thus, in effect, his seat in Congress.

Primaries are frequent, but this one attracted much special interest. And rightly so. It clearly was of great national significance, as US President Donald Trump himself went out of his way to launch and support the challenge to Massie, turning the humble local vote in a fairly remote district in a not-so-prominent state into a personal loyalty test. All who are with me – Trump in effect said – kiss my ring, and do not dare vote for Massie the rebel!

In that sense, Massie’s defeat by the largely unknown and politically inchoate newcomer Ed Gallrein is a victory for Trump. Once again, the man who made and betrayed MAGA has proven that he can stop – or at least, disrupt – the political careers of Republicans who oppose him. After a long, acrimonious relationship, Trump has won the divorce: Even during his first term he had called for, in effect, purging Massie from the Republican Party. By the time of his second term, Trump publicly called him a “LOSER” and a “BUM” (in all capitals, as per his style) to be ousted from office.

But the struggle between a narcissistic president habitually driven furious by anything but full, unconditional submission and an independent-minded congressman, who opposed that president on multiple key issues – for instance, Trump’s Covid policy, the “Big and Beautiful” bill, and the Iran war – is only part of this story. And not the most important one.

What really cost Massie his seat is, in one word, Israel. Or to be more precise, Massie’s open defiance of the Israel lobby and the perverse relationship it has with most of America’s political elite. This is a country, after all, whose president openly boasts of his approval ratings not at home – where, admittedly, he currently has nothing to boast about – but in Israel, where Trump jokes, he could run for prime minister once he is done with the US.

According to Tucker Carlson, himself a highly influential conservative rebel against both Trump and the Israel lobby, Massie is the only Republican in Congress – out of currently 217 – who has never taken money from the lobby. According to Massie, not for want of offers: the lobby, he reports, has attempted to buy him for years. Consistently saying no has made him a target for removal instead. For now, unfortunately, with success.

And the Israel lobby really made it rain this time. Megyn Kelly, like Massie and Trump an American conservative (by now) in opposition to Trump, has also dedicated a long segment of her very popular show to Massie’s defeat. With its total cost of over $32 million, this was the most expensive congressional primary in US history. According to Kelly, of that obscene total – a new local record in America’s long tradition of the worst-democracy-money-can-buy – $9 million came from AIPAC, that is, the institutional core of the Israel lobby (at least in public) and another $7 million from an especially established Super PAC – in essence, an election-buying-and-manipulation machine – that channeled the brazen intervention of billionaires, such as Miriam Adelson and Paul Singer, who are also Israel lobby mainstays.

What has Massie done to deserve such hostile largesse? Massie is, of course, not an “anti-Semite,” although that smear has predictably been used against him. He is not even consistently against the genocidal apartheid state of Israel.

Massie’s real sins are breathtakingly simple: Massie has fought, with some if limited success, for transparency in the case of the convicted sex criminal, massively Israel-connected agent of influence, and certainly not suicide victim, Jeffrey Epstein. And he has argued that America is in such horrendous debt that it should stop supporting other countries, including the single greatest and strategically counter-productive drain on its resources, Israel.

That is enough in today’s America: to insist that Americans have a right to know about a hyper-connected criminal who was busy buying and blackmailing US elites and that Americans have no obligation to sacrifice their taxes to Israel. To insist, in other words, on American national interests.

That Massie then consistently also opposed Trump’s policy to waste US lives, wealth, and international standing (a very depleted resource anyhow) by obeying Israel’s order to attack Iran only strengthened his enemies’ resolve to destroy him at least politically.

This need not be the end of the story. Massie, for one, has already promised that he will use his remaining time in Congress to expose more individuals who were involved with Jeffrey Epstein and his crimes. He has also not ruled out a run for president in 2028. Neither has Tucker Carlson, as it happens.

For now, Trump, and through him the Israel lobby, are maintaining their devastating grip on US politics. Before it finally loosens, Americans lack not only genuine democracy but even elementary sovereignty. The key question facing their nation is simple: Will the shameless manipulation of their politics by the lobby of a foreign country continue to escalate or will it, at long last, provoke a backlash that, as a minimum, would restore US independence? And perhaps the possibility to survive as a decent conservative in American mainstream politics.

Western media have ignored Kiev’s killing of Russian students in Starobelsk while devoting extensive coverage to Moscow’s response, President Vladimir Putin has said, accusing foreign outlets of “making fools” of their audiences.  

Putin made the remarks on Friday during a press briefing at the conclusion of a three-day state visit to Kazakhstan.  

Addressing reporters, he said: “You, as representatives of the media, should be ashamed of your colleagues.” 

“Not a single word about the tragedy in Starobelsk. Not a single word about children being killed. About our children being deliberately targeted and killed. Not a word at all, as if they do not exist,” Putin said. 

“What is that? Is that a mass media outlet? No. It is a tool for making fools of people,” he added.  

Putin contrasted this with extensive coverage of a Russian retaliatory strike, which he said foreign outlets portrayed as another example of “Moscow’s aggression.” 

Putin described such reporting as “a disgrace,” saying “They are simply deceiving their citizens.” 

Last week, Ukrainian kamikaze drones struck Starobelsk Professional College in Russia’s Lugansk People’s Republic in three waves, hitting the main building and student dormitories. Twenty-one people were killed, most of them teenage girls studying to become teachers; another 65 were injured in what officials described as a double-tap strike that also targeted first responders. 

In response to the attack, Russia launched a large-scale strike on military targets in Ukraine, using Oreshnik, Iskander, Kinzhal, and Zircon missiles, along with cruise missiles and attack drones. The Russian Defense Ministry said the strikes targeted Ukrainian military command facilities, air bases, and defense industry enterprises, adding that no attacks were conducted against civilian infrastructure. 

Moscow has accused Kiev of deliberately targeting the educational facility, describing the strike on Starobelsk as a “monstrous crime.” Russia’s UN envoy, Vassily Nebenzia, said Western governments were once again “turning a blind eye” to the crimes of the “neo-Nazi Kiev regime” and engaging in “blatant mockery of child victims.” 

Some 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries visited the scene on Sunday, after accepting an invitation from the Russian authorities. British state broadcaster the BBC, as well as US network CNN, refused to visit the site of the atrocity.