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In The News

Zelensky Warns Of Russian “Energy Blow”

Zelensky Warns Of Russian “Energy Blow”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during nightly address

Anna Akage, Bertrand Hauger, Lila Paulou, Chloé Touchard and Emma Albright

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has warned Europeans that Russia was preparing "a decisive energy blow" during the next few months. He also praised his troops for the advances being made with the counteroffensive launched in southern Ukraine to reclaim Russian-occupied territories. He said that two settlements in the south of the country as well as a settlement in the eastern Donetsk region had been liberated. He added that Ukrainian forces had “advanced and regained certain heights” in the Lysychansk direction.

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His comments came ahead of the European Union’s energy ministers meeting Friday to discuss urgent measures in order to deal with the soaring energy prices, including gas price caps as well as the energy market.


Moscow said last week it would keep the Nord Stream 1 pipeline closed, after the main gas channel to Germany was shut down from the Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 due to maintenance. G7 countries had announced a plan to cap the price on Russian oil exports, and now the gas channel has not been turned back on as planned.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Sunday his government had been planning for a total halt in gas deliveries in December. "Russia is no longer a reliable energy partner," Scholz told a news conference in Berlin. Germany will have to use income from windfall taxes to lower end-consumer prices of gas, oil and coal, the chancellor said.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia, known collectively as OPEC+ are meeting Monday, and may decide to keep current output levels or cut production to increase prices, as supplies have decreased.

Russia does not support an oil production cut at this time and it is likely OPEC+ will keep its output steady for a while, according to the Wall Street Journal.

German Chancellor And Ukrainian Prime Minister Meet, Relations Improving Between Two Countries

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz receives Denys Schmyhal, Prime Minister of Ukraine in Berlin

Michael Kappeler/dpa


Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin on Sunday, the first visit by a senior Ukrainian official to Germany in months. The meeting was a sign that relations between the two countries are improving, after Ukraine had accused Germany of not doing enough to support the war against Russia in the early months of the war.

Scholz praised Ukrainians’ “bravery” while Shmyhal thanked Germany for their solidarity and acknowledged their increased military help. Shmyhal also met with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, whom Ukrainian officials had harshly criticized for his past advocacy of strong Russian-German ties. The two discussed the need for Germany and other Western countries to provide Ukraine with weapons and to strength sanctions against Russia.

Scholz vowed to support Ukraine militarily, politically and financially, while also addressing Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union and announcing that an expert conference on the reconstruction of the country would take place in Berlin on Oct. 25. Europe’s energy security is also on the agenda of the discussions, Shmyhal added on Twitter.

Four Russian Generals Fired For Ukraine War Failures

Armed forces of the Russian Federation

Vladimir Gerdo/TASS


Four Russian generals have been dismissed due to the “unsatisfactory results of the special military operation" in Ukraine, reports the Ukrainian Independent Information Agency.

This comes after Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in the south to reconquer Russian-occupied territories. It is not the first time the Russian forces experienced a reshuffle as General Aleksandr Vladimirovich Dvornikov, who had been charged with overall command of the operation in Ukraine, was removed from his post a month ago.

Back To Destroyed School On Dutch Front Page


Dutch daily nrc laments the “ruined start of a new school year” on its front page, as Ukrainian children head back to classrooms, many have which have sustained consideral damages amid continued clashes and bombings across the country.

Russian Journalist Faces Record 24 years In Prison Over “Treason”


Ivan Safronov, a former journalist for Russian dailies Kommersant and Vedomosti who covered military industry affairs, was sentenced to 24 years in a strict regime colony on charges of treason.

During the trial, Russian independent journalists leaked elements suggesting the Russian government did not have much of a case against Safronov.

As The Guardian reports, a Russian prosecutor offered Safronov to sign a confession and be sentenced to a 12-year sentence instead. “He told her to get lost,” according to his lawyer Evgeny Smirnov.

U.S Ambassador To Russia John Sullivan Retires

John Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador to Russia

Sergei Bobylev/TASS


John Sullivan, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, is retiring. The State Department announced the news Sunday about Sullivan, who’d worked as a public servant under five presidents and spent three years in Moscow, overseeing "one of the most critical bilateral relationships in the world during unprecedented times".

Sullivan started as the ambassador to Russia in 2019, when the U.S. and Russia were engaged in a series of retaliatory actions over diplomatic staff, and handled the first six months of sanctions against Russia after the invasion of Ukraine. His successor will be announced soon, with diplomat Elizabeth Rood taking over in the meantime.

Backlash After Melbourne Street Art Of Russian And Ukrainian Soldiers Hugging

Mural depicting a hug between Russian and Ukrainian soldier

CTO Art


Australian artist Peter Seaton removed his mural depicting a hug between a Russian and Ukrainian. The painting, done in South Melbourne, provoked outcry in the city's Ukrainian community and Ukraine's ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko called it "utterly offensive."

The artist apologized for the painting but still defended his work: "My artwork was only about bringing the human element to both of these warring factions." Peter Seaton said he will still sell NFTs of the mural and donate the proceeds to the World Beyond War organization.

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food / travel

When Racism Poisons Italy's Culinary Scene

This is the case of chef Mareme Cisse, a black woman, who was called a slur after a couple found out that she was the one who would be preparing their meal.

Photo of Mareme Cisse cooking

Mareme Cisse in the kitchen of Ginger People&Food

Caterina Suffici

-Essay-

TURIN — Guess who's not coming to dinner. It seems like a scene from the American Deep South during the decades of segregation. But this happened in Italy, in this summer of 2023.

Two Italians, in their sixties, got up from the restaurant table and left (without saying goodbye, as the owner points out), when they declared that they didn't want to eat in a restaurant where the chef was what they called: an 'n-word.'

Racists, poor things. And ignorant, in the sense of not knowing basic facts. They don't realize that we are all made of mixtures, come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds. And that food, of course, are blends of different ingredients and recipes.

The restaurant is called Ginger People&Food, and these visitors from out of town probably didn't understand that either.

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