Worldcrunch
While voluntary enlistment is still strong in Ukraine, it is no longer enough. Kyiv has begun allowing prisoners to apply for early release in exchange for military service. While Russia’s similar policy was criticized, Ukrainian officials insist there are crucial differences.
Gazans who had long sought to leave the enclave are suddenly getting permission, but now they’re wondering why. It may be the first step to fulfill the idea proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump to clear out the territory of its Palestinian inhabitants.
The Russian president has no problem talking about negotiations and peace treaties. But he’s a master decoy artist. Putin has built his power on conflict, and now he needs war to hold on to it.
Hours before he was killed in an Israeli airstrike, 23-year-old journalist Hossam Shabat filed an article with Drop Site News describing Israel’s scorched-earth campaign in his hometown of Beit Hanoun. His editor Sharif Abdel Kouddous shares his thoughts, and we share Shabat’s final piece.
In Paris where he met with Emmanuel Macron, the Ukrainian president urged Europe to provide more weapons and soldiers, accusing Putin of having no interest in a ceasefire. French daily Le Figaro’s Isabelle Lasserre spoke with him in an exclusive interview.
Would you fight for your country? My generation hears this question a lot these days. But my generation was taught to fight for peace — so why aren’t we holding onto that aim, especially now?
We’re still far from the 30-day ceasefire the Americans had hoped for. Even Tuesday’s announcement of a halt to hostilities in the Black Sea comes with Russian conditions. The negotiations are shaping up to be a long game — one that feels more like a high-stakes bluff than a real path to peace.
The documentary by a Palestinian-Israeli collective satisfies multiple and divergent audiences at the same time, and has been met with critical success. But the film never evokes the idea that there is another land for Palestinians: that of historic Palestine.
Poland, one of the staunchest supporters of Ukraine since the beginning of the war, and a neighboring country to Ukraine, has accepted over one million refugees fleeing the Russian invasion. However, as time has gone on, Poles have grown to increasingly resent Ukrainians. But why? Olena Babakova, a Ukrainian journalist, explains for Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza.
The Russian president has no problem talking about negotiations and peace treaties. But he’s a master decoy artist. Putin has built his power on conflict, and now he needs war to hold on to it.
For three days, war has raged once again in Gaza, leaving hundreds of Palestinians dead. Yet a segment of Israeli society is pushing back against the justifications put forth by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Backed by Trump, Netanyahu carries on his brutal policy.
Europeans may see seizing Russian assets as a financial and moral boost, they should resist the idea to avoid a triple boomerang effect.
Israel has upended the ceasefire in Gaza, resuming war amid propaganda of continuing negotiations under fire. Can Egypt spearhead a “semi-permanent” solution to end the conflict and prevent further escalation?
After more than two hours of talks with Trump, Putin agreed only to a partial truce on energy infrastructure and laid out his conditions for moving forward — chief among them, an end to Western aid for Ukraine. Who knows if Trump pushed back at all.
The porn industry and amateur and professional adult content plays a role in the Israeli war on Gaza. Some pornographic companies did not only provide support to Israel, but adult content also contributed to drawing a violative imagination about Israeli soldiers and their relationship with the battlefield and the Gazan victims. It is part of a long history linking pornography and war.
As Gazan families struggle to find food and shelter amid the rubble, the future remains uncertain. Residents remain in a constant state of waiting, oscillating between hope and despair.
Zelensky immediately agreed to the 30-day ceasefire without conditions, but Putin took his time responding — essentially delivering a “no” to the U.S. proposal. Negotiations between Washington and Moscow are ongoing, but much hinges on Donald Trump’s mood.
Russia announced that it has taken back Sudzha, the biggest town in Kursk, just hours after a surprise visit from the Russian president in the region and as a U.S. delegation arrives in Moscow to discuss a ceasefire proposal. All eyes are now on Putin.
One-third of the dialysis patients at the country’s National Kidney Center came for treatment after working abroad, often at jobs with grueling hours and few water or bathroom breaks in stifling heat.
Known in France and on social networks under several false identities, the daughter of a Russian millionaire was born in 2003 from an extramarital relationship with the Russian president, who never recognized her.
Ukraine secured the restoration of U.S. aid and agreed to a 30-day ceasefire. But the questions around Trump’s expectations of Putin leave the storyline suspended.
With Trump’s return to power, Russia is rapidly moving closer to the United States; Putin has even agreed to mediate talks between Washington and Tehran. But can Iran still trust Russia? Or is it, like Ukraine, just another bargaining chip?
Ukraine needs satellite internet defense capabilities like that provided by Starlink. But do they really want to be dependent on Elon Musk? The good news is that Europe is not completely empty-handed. But time is of the essence.
It is likely that there will not be a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia this year — or ever one at all. If negotiations stagnate, they could resemble the post-World War II relations between Japan and the Soviet Union: A peace treaty was never signed, and the dispute over the Kuril Islands has persisted for more than 70 years.
Although Poland is known as a key supporter of the Ukrainian cause, public opinion is beginning to shift, especially among the far-right. Leading the charge is far-right presidential candidate Grzegorz Braun.
The documentary by a Palestinian-Israeli collective satisfies multiple and divergent audiences at the same time, and has been met with critical success. But the film never evokes the idea that there is another land for Palestinians: that of historic Palestine.
Unthinkable just a few months ago, the return of Russian gas to supply European countries is now being advocated by some on the continent. But the move faces both political and technical barriers, and its medium-term benefits are not clear.
Ukrainians are still processing Friday’s meeting. Donald Trump speaks about Zelensky’s “cards.” It’s as if he doesn’t realize what a war is.
Following Volodymyr Zelensky’s Washington visit last week, Russia has started exerting more pressure on Ukraine, confident that Trump will do little to interfere. Monica Perosino reports from the Ukrainian side of the frontline.
Donald Trump has suspended U.S. military aid to Ukraine until Volodymyr Zelensky demonstrates “good faith” in negotiating with Vladimir Putin. It’s an unprecedented move with an interesting parallel with what’s happening with Israel, where the U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has expedited the delivery of $4 billion in military aid.
Even his critics inside Ukraine are uniting behind Volodymyr Zelensky for standing up to U.S. President Trump and Vice President Vance to defend their nation’s interests.
Gathered in London alongside Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, top European leaders set forth the goal to keep the U.S. engaged, even if it means swallowing their pride in the face of the disgraceful behavior of America’s top leaders.
Iran prefers the EU’s discretion and apparent respect for its ideological red lines, in contrast with Donald Trump’s ostentatious and menacing style. So the growing rift between the U.S. and EU over resolving the Ukraine-Russia war may be a welcome chance for Tehran to revive secret contacts it loves so much with an EU in search of diplomatic clout.
Poland was right to vote alongside Ukraine and other Western countries on a UN resolution this week that clearly indicated President Vladimir Putin’s Russia as the culprit in the outbreak of the war in Ukraine. But would Polish diplomats have made that same choice if the nationalist-conservative Law and Justice Party (PiS) were in power. The election in May could see that happen.
After walking the 50 kilometers that separate the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and the Russian border, Spanish reporter Unai Aranzadi arrives in the small village of Kozacha Lopan. Places like these are perhaps the ones where it will be most difficult to heal the wounds of all that has been suffered to date.
An AI-generated video shared by Donald Trump on his social network depicts the transformation of Gaza he has proposed: luxury resorts, and no Palestinians. An abomination toward the victims of the war, it also contains a depiction of Trump himself that is the seed of his own inevitable downfall.
While Arab countries have rejected U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to expel Palestinians from Gaza, they have yet to outline an alternative plan. It seems some have accepted the idea of searching for alternatives that align with American-Israeli desires. But this is a historic opportunity for Arab countries to prove to their peoples their ability to break free from the American orbit.
It’s as if, before our very eyes, the president of the United States were reading a script written by the Kremlin. French political analyst Dominique Moïsi, says the reversal on Ukraine is an ally’s betrayal of historical proportions.
French President Emmanuel Macron spoke of a “turning point” after his discussions with his U.S. counterpart at the White House on Monday. But Donald Trump did not confirm. The United States remains ambiguous, especially as, at the United Nations, it voted with Russia and against the European Union and Ukraine — an unprecedented move.
As Russia negotiates exclusively with the U.S., Putin aims to redraw spheres of influence, pulling former Soviet states back under Moscow’s control. All of this, paradoxically, continues to leave the fate of Ukraine as the vital issue for our times.