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☆ Why has Ukraine stepped up its strikes on occupied Crimea?
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

CNN —Ukraine has ramped up missile and drone strikes on occupied Crimea in recent weeks, as it attempts to land both strategic and symbolic blows against Russian forces that annexed the peninsula in 2014. The next night, Russian air defenses shot down 11 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. The shift in focus to Crimea occurred after Russia allowed the Black Sea Grain Initiative to lapse in July. Russia’s Black Sea Fleet has since resumed its blockade of Ukraine’s ports, preventing vital grain exports and threatening global food security. Symbolic valueYet the strikes on Crimea also have huge symbolic value and are intended to damage Russian President Vladimir Putin’s prestige.

Persons: Russia –, Russia’s, Vladimir Putin’s, “, Putin, Marilyn Monroe, Vasyl Maliuk, ”, Stringer, Rybar Organizations: CNN, Russian, Kyiv, Russian Ministry of Defense, Fleet, Kremlin, Russia, Security Service, Reuters, Ukraine’s Air Force Locations: Ukraine, Crimea, Russian, Sevastopol, Ukrainian, Kerch, Russia, Odesa, ” Russia, Europe, Novorossiysk, United Kingdom, France

CNN —Two Russian warships were damaged after Ukraine launched an extensive assault on a Russian ship repair base in Crimea early Wednesday morning, officials said, in what appears to be Kyiv’s most ambitious strike on the port since the war began. Russia’s Defense Ministry said Ukrainian armed forces attacked the Sergo Ordzhonikidze shipyard in Sevastopol, which Russia uses as a repair base for its Black Sea Fleet, with 10 cruise missiles and three unmanned boats. But Russian officials confirmed that the attack had damaged two Russian warships and left 24 people injured. An ambulance leaves the area next to the shipyard in Sevastopol, Crimea, on September 13, 2023. Stringer/ReutersAnother prominent Russian military blogger said the attack on the Sevastopol shipyard was carried out by the Ukrainian Air Force, which launched 10 Storm Shadow cruise missiles at the facility.

Persons: Vasily Bykov, Mikhail Razvozhaev, Razvozhaev, Don ”, Stringer, Rybar, ” Rybar, Andriy Yermak, ” Yermak, Mykola Oleshchuk, Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk, Walter Isaacson’s Organizations: CNN, Russia’s Defense Ministry, Reuters, Ukrainian Air Force, Su, Storm, Ukrainian, Russian, SpaceX Locations: Ukraine, Russian, Crimea, Ukrainian, Sevastopol, Russia, Rostov, Minsk, ”, United Kingdom, France, Novorossiysk, Kerch, Crimean

CNN —More than 800 people have been rescued over the past two days from severe floods in Greece, local officials said, after extreme rainfall turned streets into deadly rivers, tore down buildings and bridges and left whole villages submerged. The rainstorms also hit neighboring Bulgaria and Turkey, killing at least 16 people across the three countries, including six in Greece. The downpour has lasted days, but is expected to weaken from Thursday afternoon, according to Greece’s meteorological service. Firefighting crews are seen on a collapsed bridge in the village of Kala Nera, in central Greece, September 7 2023. The severe flooding comes just days after a two-week deadly wildfire tore through the north of the country, killing at least 18 people.

Persons: Pavlos Marinakis, Stamos Prousalis, Vassilis Kikilias, Palamas, Megala, ”, Kikilias, Konstantinos Tsakalidis, Marinakis Organizations: CNN, Residents, Bloomberg, Getty Images, Police Locations: Greece, Bulgaria, Turkey, Thessaly, Volos, Karditsa, Trikala, Kala Nera, Proastio, Agia Triada, Larissa, Attica, Athens

CNN —The United States has decided to send controversial depleted uranium munitions to Ukraine for the first time, as part of a new aid package worth more than $1 billion announced Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know about depleted uranium munitions – and why their use has sparked questions. What is depleted uranium? But depleted uranium is extremely dense, making it a highly effective projectile. When depleted uranium munitions strike a tank’s armor, it can ignite and produce uranium dusts or aerosol particles, which, if inhaled, can enter the bloodstream and may cause kidney damage.

Persons: ” Edward Geist, Antony Blinken's, –, Sabrina Singh, ”, Singh, “, Joe Biden’s, Vladimir Putin, …, ” Putin, Putin, Sergei Ryabkov Organizations: CNN, Abrams, RAND Corporation, RAND, Associated Press, US, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, United Nations, Pentagon, United, British Army Locations: United States, Ukraine, Washington, Kyiv, Moscow, Here’s, United Kingdom, “, West, Russia

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called US military aid "the most profitable investment into world's security" during a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Kyiv on Wednesday. Kuleba said he and Blinken had “an open, sincere and friendly conversation” and reiterated that the US support for Ukraine is long-standing. “Anyone in the world who has doubted that Ukraine and the US will stand shoulder to shoulder until the end of this war have received a powerful signal today that they are wrong. We are moving forward together because we understand this war is not just about the future of Ukraine, but the future of the world,” he said. The leaders also ate at a McDonald’s in Kyiv, which had recently reopened.

Persons: Dmytro Kuleba, Antony Blinken, ” Kuleba, Kuleba, United States “, Blinken, ” Organizations: “, Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, Tactical Missile Locations: Ukraine, Kyiv, United States, Ukrainian, Romania

CNN —At least 17 people have been killed, including a child, after a Russian missile struck a market in a town in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, officials said, one of the worst attacks in months. “Russian troops are terrorists who will not be forgiven and will not be left in peace,” Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal wrote on Telegram. “There will be a just retribution for everything.”Russian missile attacks regularly hit civilian areas but tolls this high are unusual. But footage of the attack shared by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky showed civilians walking along the market street before the missile struck on Wednesday afternoon. In a brief exchange with Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba, Blinken noted the “good progress” Ukraine has made in its counteroffensive.

Persons: Denys Shmyhal, Kostiantynivka, Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, ” Zelensky, Utter, Antony Blinken, Dmytro Kuleba, Blinken, “, Rustem Umerov, Umerov Organizations: CNN, Dnipro, Ukrainian, Firefighters, Reuters, Ukrainian Defense Forces Locations: Russian, Ukrainian, Donetsk, Uman, Bakhmut, Ukraine, Kyiv, Russia, Kostiantynivka, Denmark

CNN —Ambassadors from Russia and Belarus have been invited back to the Nobel Prize banquet after being excluded last year because of the invasion of Ukraine, the Nobel Foundation said. The foundation said it wanted to involve even those who do not share the values of the Nobel Prize. The Nobel Foundation would like to reach out with this message to everyone,” it said in a statement. The Nobel Foundation also reversed its longstanding policy of excluding the leader of the Sweden Democrats, a far-right party which forms a part of the country’s coalition government. The Nobel Banquet takes place annually in Stockholm on December 10, where five out of six Nobel Prizes are awarded.

Persons: ”, Vidar Helgesen, “, ” Helgesen, Nobel, Karin Karlsbro, Karlsbro, Putin, Jimmie Akesson Organizations: CNN, Nobel Foundation, Swedish Liberal, Swedish, Nobel, Sweden Democrats, Facebook Locations: Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Iran, Swedish, Stockholm, Moscow, Minsk, Ukrainian, Europe, Sweden, Oslo, Norway

☆ The West’s ‘see no evil’ approach to Serbia’s Vucic is destabilizing the Balkans
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +20 min

The result is that, despite Serbia’s professed hopes to join the EU, Vucic has continued to walk a tightrope between Moscow and western powers. A Pristina government official told CNN that they did not want to “surrender” official government buildings to protesters. A decade on, these municipalities have not been created, leaving disputes to fester over the degree of autonomy for Kosovo Serbs. After such episodes, Joseph told CNN that the “see no evil” approach to Vucic’s regime may be starting to crack. “The situation is clear who the bully of the Balkans still is,” Meliza Haradinaj, Kosovo’s former foreign minister, told CNN.

Persons: Moscow’s, Aleksandar Vucic, Vladimir Putin, Daniel Mihailescu, ” Jasmin Mujanovic, Vucic, “, Mujanovic, Alicia Kearns, ”, –, Serbia's Aleksandar Vucic, Albin Kurti, Serbia’s, you’ll, Kearns, wouldn’t, Putin, Viktor, Orban, ” Majda, you’re, Quint, ” Kurti, Kurti, Edward Joseph, Laura Hasani, He’s, Shqiprim Arifi, Arifi, Ben Kilb, ” Dusan, Milorad Dodik, Oliver Bunic, Boris Grdanoski, ” Joseph, Viktor Oban, Joseph, Biden, Aleksandar Vulin, ” “ He’s, ‘ we’re, ’ He’s, I’ve, ” Vucic, Meliza Organizations: CNN, European Union, Putin, Belgrade, Getty, Serbian Progressive Party, SNS, NATO, National Security, United Nations, Kosovo's, EU, Anadolu Agency, Gazprom, Serbian, European Council, Foreign Relations, ”, US, Kosovo Serbs, Kosovo’s, Johns Hopkins University, …, Kosovo Serb, Reuters, British, Kosovo, Kosovar Business Alliance, Kosovar, Serbs, “ Association of, Bloomberg, ASM, Russian, AP, Serbia ”, KFOR, NATO’s Kosovo Force, Red Star, Red Star Belgrade soccer Locations: Russia, Ukraine, United States, Serbia, Europe, Belgrade, West, Kosovo, Kosovo’s, Kosovar, AFP, Russian, Balkan, Western Balkans, British, United, EU, Brussels, Belgium, Moscow, ” Kosovo, Serbs, France, Germany, Italy, Balkans, Pristina, … Serbia, Zvecan, Serbian, Presevo, Albanian, Leposavic, Republika Srpska, ” Republika Srpska, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Dayton, Banja Luka, Kurti, Ohrid, North Macedonia, Republic of Serbia, appeasing Serbia

CNN —South Africa’s former President Jacob Zuma was returned to prison on Friday to comply with a ruling that his release on ill health was unlawful – but was freed after just an hour under a remission process to address overcrowding in jail. In September 2021 the government’s correctional services department said Zuma, then 79, had been released from prison on medical parole due to ill health. The department announced that Zuma had been released from prison in October 2022. But South Africa’s Court of Appeal ruled in November that Zuma should return to prison, saying the decision to release him on medical parole was unlawful. To comply with the ruling, Zuma returned to prison on Friday, but benefited from South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s policy of granting remission to nonviolent offenders in South Africa, in order to reduce overcrowding in prisons.

Persons: Jacob Zuma, “, Makgothi Thobakgale, Zuma, Cyril Ramaphosa’s, Ronald Lamola, ” Organizations: CNN, Correctional Services, ” Correctional Locations: South Africa, Africa’s

London CNN —Asylum-seekers have been removed from a controversial barge in southern England after Legionella bacteria was discovered in the water – days after experts warned of the risk of infection. Thirty-nine asylum-seekers disembarked the Bibby Stockholm barge, a UK Home Office spokesperson said in a statement Friday – just days after they were first housed in it. Legionella bacteria, which is commonly found in water, and can cause Legionnaires’ disease, a serious lung infection. The spokesperson said that no individuals on board the barge showed symptoms of Legionnaires’ and that the asylum-seekers were being provided with appropriate advice and support. “The presence of life-threatening bacteria onboard the Bibby Stockholm is just another shocking revelation that we’ve seen unfold over the past few weeks.

Persons: Bibby, Ben Birchall, Kolbassia Haoussou Organizations: London CNN —, Bibby, Home, Channel, Fire Brigades Union, CNN Locations: England, Portland, Bibby Stockholm, Dorset, Portland , Dorset, Britain

☆ PSNI data breach: Northern Ireland police investigating 'calamitous' leak revealing information on current employees
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-09 | by ( Christian Edwards Jennifer Hauser | Christian Edwards | Jennifer Hauser | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has apologized for mistakenly sharing sensitive data in response to a Freedom of Information (FOI) request seeking to understand the numbers of officers in the organization. Police in Northern Ireland remain under threat and have been regularly targeted in long years of conflict over British rule in the region. The data breach comes just months after a serving Northern Irish police officer was left fighting for his life after being shot multiple times in front of his young son in February. Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd apologized to PSNI officers at a news conference Tuesday. Kelly said many serving officers “do everything possible to protect their police roles,” due to heightened security concerns in Northern Ireland.

Persons: ”, Chris Todd, PSNI’s, Todd, Rebecca Black, ” Liam Kelly, Kelly, you’ve Organizations: CNN, Police Service of Northern, Police, Northern Irish, Irish Republican Army, IRA, Northern Ireland’s Police Federation, BBC Locations: Northern Ireland, Police Service of Northern Ireland, Ireland, Belfast

Ukraine’s National Resistance Center — an official body — claimed Tuesday that the construction of another camp to host Wagner Group fighters has begun in the Zyabrovka Air Base in Belarus. “On the border with Ukraine, in the village of Zyabrovka in the Republic of Belarus, a new camp for 'Wagner' PMC mercenaries is being built,” the center said on its website. Zyabrovka is located near Gomel in southeastern Belarus, about 40 kilometers from the border with Ukraine's Chernihiv region. The camp can house around 1,000 personnel, the center said, and it looks like a tent city. Moscow used Belarusian territory to facilitate its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, strengthening ties between President Vladimir Putin and Lukashenko.

Persons: —, Wagner, Alexander Lukashenko, Wagner’s, Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko, ” Organizations: Resistance Center, Wagner Group, Zyabrovka, Base, PMC, “, CNN, Ukraine, NATO Locations: Belarus, “, Ukraine, Zyabrovka, Republic of Belarus, Chernihiv, Gomel, Ukraine's Chernihiv, Russia, Moscow, Poland, Europe, Warsaw, Belarusian

CNN —An alleged informant for Russia has been detained in connection to a plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said Monday. However, SBU agents had obtained information about the “subversive activities of the suspect” and adopted additional security measures, foiling the plot. Russian special forces were tasked with eliminating the Ukrainian president at the start of the war. Several more attemptsUkrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said in March last year that Zelensky had survived more than a dozen assassination attempts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed questions about his personal questions in an interview with CNN in July.

Persons: CNN —, Volodymyr Zelensky, SBU, Zelensky’s, “, ’ Zelensky, Zelensky, Oleksiy, ” Arestovych, ” Zelensky, ’, Mykhailo Podolyak, Podolyak, Putin, ”, Mick Krever, I’ve, doesn’t, I’m Organizations: CNN, Ukrainian Security Service, Ukrainian, British, Ukrainska Pravda Locations: Russia, Ukrainian, Mykolaiv, Russian, Ochakov, Mykolaiv region, Kyiv, Ukrainska

London CNN —A barge on which the United Kingdom government plans to house hundreds of asylum-seekers has been described as a “death trap” by the country’s Fire Brigades Union. Yui Mok/WPA Pool/Getty Images/FileThe Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it will write to the UK Home Office on Wednesday to set out its safety concerns. The government’s plans to house migrants on the barge has been widely criticized by human rights groups. “We’ve got British taxpayers stumping up millions of pounds a day to house migrants in hotels.”Rival protesters argue in Portland, Dorset, where the Bibby Stockholm docked on July 18, 2023. Ben Birchall/PA/APThe Home Office announced plans to house around 500 single adult males on the barge in April.

Persons: Rishi Sunak, Bibby, it’s, ” Sunak, hasn’t, ”, Sunak, Yui Mok, Ben Selby, ” Selby, Selby, ” Natasha Tsangarides, “ We’ve, Ben Birchall Organizations: London CNN, country’s Fire Brigades Union, LBC, Channel, Fire Brigades, Office, Sky News, CNN, “, ”, Home Office, United Nations Locations: United Kingdom, Portland, Dorset, England, Bibby Stockholm, “, Britain, Australian, Dover, London, Portland , Dorset, France

☆ Sweden and Denmark consider ban on Quran-burning protests as security fears rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

CNN —A spate of Quran-burning protests in Sweden and Denmark has caused angry demonstrations in Muslim-majority countries, heightened security fears at home and left both Scandinavian nations questioning whether they need to review their liberal laws on freedom of speech. But both countries signaled Sunday that they are exploring legal ways to prevent such protests, amid security and geopolitical concerns. While freedom of speech has long been a constitutional right in Sweden and Denmark, the scrapping of blasphemy laws was a more recent development. But neither country tightened their free speech laws in response to these attacks. “Sweden is right now the target of influence campaigns, supported by states and state-like actors, whose purpose is to harm Sweden and Swedish interests,” said Bohlin.

Persons: “, Ulf Kristersson, Denmark “, Salwan Momika, Momika, Ahmad Al, ” Marten Schutlz, ” Sofie Blomback, ”, Bruno Jerup, Chris McGrath, Blomback, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, Sweden’s Kristersson, Posten, Prophet Mohammed, Lars Vilks, Mohammed, ” Kristersson, Carl, Oskar Bohlin, ” Bohlin, ” Schulz Organizations: CNN, NATO, of Islamic Cooperation, ”, Danish, Protesters, Getty, Stockholm University, Sweden’s, Appeal, Mid Sweden University, Sweden’s Civil Defense Locations: Sweden, Denmark, Stockholm, Turkey, Danish, Copenhagen, ” Sweden, Iraqi, Sweden's, Baghdad, Iraq, AFP, Swedish, United States, Istanbul, Ukraine, Vilnius, Turkish, Russia

London CNN —Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been cleared of all charges after a four-week trial in London on claims of sexual assault. Spacey thanked the jury after it cleared him following 12 hours and 26 minutes of deliberation across three days. The complainant said that one time, Spacey acted so forcefully it “took his breath away.” Spacey denied this ever happened. Spacey invited him to his London apartment two weeks later and sexually assaulted him, the man alleged. The complainant alleged that he had been drugged by the actor, and said he woke up to Spacey performing a sexual act on him.

Persons: London CNN — Oscar, Kevin Spacey, Spacey, “, ”, Christine Agnew, ” Spacey, Spacey “, Patrick Gibbs KC, Anthony Rapp Organizations: London CNN, Hollywood, Southwark Crown, Old, “, Netflix, Media, PA Media Locations: London, Southwark, New York

London CNN —The United Kingdom government has been heavily criticized by Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee for underestimating the growth of Russia’s Wagner private mercenary group, despite it posing a major threat to the country’s interests. Wagner “essentially operate like a criminal mafia,” Kearns said in an interview with Sky News Wednesday. Barbara Debout/AFP/Getty Images/FILEIt also criticized the UK government for only beginning to seriously monitor the group after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine. “It is deeply regrettable that it was not until early 2022 that the Government began to invest greater resource in understanding the Wagner Network, despite Wagner fighters having already conducted military operations in at least seven countries for almost a decade,” read the report. “The Government has not told us anything specific that it is doing to challenge the network’s influence and impunity outside of Ukraine,” the report said.

Persons: Russia’s Wagner, Wagner, ”, Alicia Kearns, Wagner “, ” Kearns, “, Barbara Debout Organizations: London CNN, United, Parliament’s Foreign, “, CNN, Sky News, Getty, Government, Wagner Network, European Union Locations: Africa, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Sudan, Syria, Central African Republic, Libya, Mozambique, Mali, Bangui, AFP, “, United States

☆ Why are far-right parties on the march across Europe?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-22 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +14 min

Far-right parties are propping up coalitions in Finland and Sweden. Afraid of losing voters to UKIP (and other far-right parties), the governing Conservatives ended up adopting many of its positions. Chesnot/Getty Images Europe/Getty ImagesConversely, far-right parties have attempted to sanitize some of their rhetoric, hoping to appear a more credible electoral prospect. Leon Neal/Getty ImagesA different type of populismAnd so the recent successes of far-right parties cannot be explained by dramatic shifts in public opinion. A lot depends on the ability of mainstream parties – particularly on the left – to build tents big enough to accommodate their differences, rather than compromising with far-right parties to prop up their coalitions.

Persons: Donald Trump, –, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel’s, Mario Draghi, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, Viktor Orban, Andrej Babis, Czech Michael Bloomberg, Czech Donald Trump, Meloni, Mussolini, Nigel Farage, Jack Taylor, Farage, Jean, Marie Le Pen, Marine, Lionel Jospin, Jacques Chirac, Petteri Orpo, Sanna Marin, Vilhelm Junnila, Ulif Kristersson, Mark Rutte’s, Pen, Chesnot, Philippe Marlier, ” Le, Matteo Salvini, Vladimir Putin, Tino Chrupalla, Alice Weidel, Thomas Lohnes, Omer Messinger, Larry Bartels, Boris Johnson, Leon Neal, Giorgia Meloni, Odd Andersen, Orban, Kaczynski, Rutte’s, Pedro Sanchez Organizations: CNN, White, Channel, European Central Bank, Italy’s, Vox, UK Independence Party, UKIP, European Union, EU, Conservatives, National, Socialist, Socialists, Finns Party, Swedish, Sweden Democrats, Rassemblement National, University College London, Lega, Ukraine, Russia, Former British, Italy's, NATO, Getty, Spain’s Locations: United Kingdom, United States, Europe, Brussels, Spain, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Czech, France, Finland, Sweden, Austria, European, Netherlands, Russian, Oxfordshire, Vilnius

London CNN —Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired his ambassador to the United Kingdom on Friday. The ambassador, Vadym Prystaiko, had criticized Zelensky over his reaction to recent remarks by British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, who had suggested Ukraine had not expressed sufficient “gratitude” for Western financial support. Prystaiko said Zelensky’s response to Wallace amounted to “unhealthy” sarcasm. A statement published Friday on the Ukrainian presidency’s website confirmed Prystaiko’s dismissal but did not provide a reason. When asked about those remarks by a reporter at the NATO summit, Zelensky was nonplussed.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Vadym Prystaiko, Zelensky, Ben Wallace, ”, Prystaiko, Wallace, “, ” Wallace, King Charlies III, Kirsty O'Connor, Ben Organizations: London CNN, British, NATO, Buckingham Palace, Getty, Sky News, CNN Locations: United Kingdom, Ukraine, Lithuania, Buckingham

☆ What Zelensky wanted from NATO – and what he got
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —At last year’s NATO summit in Madrid, the alliance formally invited Sweden and Finland to join its ranks. But NATO membership is far more significant than military hardware, and it may be some time before Kyiv’s final wish is granted. “This means that a window of opportunity is being left to bargain Ukraine’s membership in NATO in negotiations with Russia. However, the ultimate goal of NATO membership looks likely to elude Zelensky for some time. Wallace reminded reporters Wednesday that before the summit the question of Ukraine’s NATO membership was still an “if.” Now, it’s a “when.”

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelensky, Vladimir Putin, Zaporizhzhia –, Putin’s, ” Zelensky, Pavel Golovkin, Joe Biden, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Biden, ” “ We’re, We’re, ”, Ben Wallace, Wallace, ” Biden, Andrew Caballero, Reynolds, Dmytro Kuleba, “, Jens Stoltenberg Organizations: CNN, NATO, Kyiv, Ukraine, Sweden’s, AP, Sunday, UK, Getty, Foreign, Twitter Locations: Madrid, Sweden, Finland, Vilnius, Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Vilnius ’, Lithuania’s, United States, Russia, NATO, Zelensky, AFP, Kyiv, Vilnius –, Germany, France

☆ Zelensky gets a NATO boost and rockstar's welcome in Vilnius
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Christian Edwards | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But while Ukraine’s NATO allies reaffirmed their support for Kyiv’s bid for membership, they remained vague about the timing. “Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” the leaders of the alliance declared in the summit’s final communique. This will change Ukraine’s membership path from a two-step process to a one-step process,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltengberg told reporters on Tuesday. The process can be a burdensome and lengthy and its removal could significantly streamline Ukraine’s membership bid once it is formally invited to apply. It seems there is no readiness neither to invite Ukraine to NATO nor to make it a member of the Alliance,” Zelensky said.

Persons: Volodymyr Zelensky, –, Zelensky, ”, Jens Stoltengberg, Stoltenberg, ” Biden, Susan Walsh, “, Joe Biden, “ We’re, We’re, Ben Wallace, Wallace, General, Biden, ” Zelensky, Odd Anderson, Gitanas Nauseda, – Zelensky, Ukraine “, Lenin Organizations: CNN, NATO, AP NATO, United Nations, OSCE, CNN Sunday, Alliance, Getty, Lithuanian, Lukiskes, “ Locations: Vilnius, Ukraine, Russia, ” Ukraine, “, Crimea, Kyiv, NATO, Vilnius –, Lithuania, Soviet Union, Bakhmut, Russian, Ukrainian

CNN —Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday he would step down as leader of the country’s ruling party and leave politics, after his government collapsed over immigration policy, Dutch national broadcaster and CNN affiliate NOS reported. The inveterate survivor of Dutch politics, nicknamed “Teflon Mark” because scandals surrounding his four consecutive governments did not stick to him, announced his surprise decision at a parliamentary debate in the Hague. The more hardline approach to immigration policy came after the numbers of those seeking asylum in the Netherlands soared in recent years. The Netherlands received 36,620 applications for asylum in 2021 and 47,991 last year, with most applicants coming from Syria, according to the Dutch Immigration and Naturalization Service. I respect that.”Lilian Marijnissen, leader of the Dutch Socialist Party also said that it was a “wise decision” for Rutte to leave, and it was “Good for the Netherlands.”“Now is the time for honest politics,” Marijnissen said on Twitter.

Persons: Mark Rutte, “, ” Rutte, Jesse Klaver, ” Lilian Marijnissen, Rutte, ”, ” Marijnissen Organizations: CNN, Dutch, NOS, Immigration, Naturalization Service, Christian Union, D66, Dutch Socialist Party, Twitter Locations: Dutch, Hague, Netherlands, Syria

CNN —Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Monday that Brussels should clear the path for Ankara’s accession to the European Union, before his country approves Sweden’s bid for NATO membership. “First, let’s clear Turkey’s way in the European Union, then let’s clear the way for Sweden, just as we paved the way for Finland,” Erdogan said at a news conference, before he departs for the NATO summit in Lithuania. Erdogan also emphasized that “Turkey has been waiting at the gate of the European Union for over 50 years now,” and “almost all NATO member countries are European member countries.”NATO had been aiming to admit Sweden to the alliance before July 11, when its major summit begins in Vilnius, Lithuania – but Turkey blocked Sweden’s accession due to long-running disagreements between the two countries.

Persons: Recep Tayyip Erdogan, ” Erdogan, Erdogan Organizations: CNN, European Union, NATO Locations: Brussels, Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Turkey, Vilnius, Lithuania –

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine: Live updates
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-09 | by ( Christian Edwards | Ed Upright | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

A view shows Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant from the bank of Kakhovka Reservoir near the town of Nikopol after the Nova Kakhovka dam breach in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, on June 16, 2023. Zakharova responded by calling Ukraine “a terrorist regime.”“Now they have embarked on a plan for ‘their own salvation’ - systematic damage to the Zaporizhzhia NPP. The NATO summit should have focused on this very subject. After all, the vast majority of the Alliance members will find themselves in the direct hit zone,” she said. However, Zakharova’s claim that the “majority” of NATO members will find themselves in the hit zone is false.

Persons: Alina Smutko, Maria Zakharova, Zakharova, Hanna Maliar, Ukraine “, Volodymyr Zelensky, ”, Vladimir Putin, ” William Alberque, Zakhorova, Read Organizations: Reuters Russia's Foreign, NATO, Zaporizhzhia NPP, Alliance, Ukrainian, Technology, International Institute for Strategy Studies, CNN Locations: Kakhovka, Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine, Russian

☆ The war in Ukraine will define Biden’s legacy, but peril and uncertainty lie ahead
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( Stephen Collinson | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +10 min

They include:— A war of words between Ukraine and Russia over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Russia of readying a bomb attack. The back-and-forth is raising fears of another alarming new dimension to a war already marred by alleged war crimes and terrible suffering among civilians. In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned that the potential for “sabotage” by Ukraine at the plant was high. Given Russia’s previous nuclear rhetoric and fog of war misinformation, many Western observers are likely to give Zelensky the benefit of the doubt. Zelensky argued in the interview that the uprising exposed splits inside Russia over the war and an erosion of Russians’ positions.

Persons: Joe Biden’s, Biden, Volodymyr Zelensky, Wagner, Vladimir Putin’s, CNN’s Erin Burnett, Zelensky, Dmitry Peskov, –, CNN’s Christian Edwards, Yevgeny Prigozhin, ” Zelensky, Putin, Mike Turner of, CNN’s Jake Tapper, ”, Burnett, “, Hanna Maliar, Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Xi Jinping, what’s, ” McConnell, “ That’s, it’s, McConnell Organizations: CNN, NATO, Kremlin, UN, International Atomic Energy Agency, Wagner Group, Senior, House Intelligence, Ukrainian, Republican, Senate, Kentucky Republican, America, Trump Locations: Ukraine, Lithuania, Baltic, Soviet Union, Russia, readying, Russian, Belarus, Moscow, Mike Turner of Ohio, Klishchiivka, Bakhmut, Washington, Europe, Fort Knox

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