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The G7 leaders, representing the countries with most of the world's wealth, convened a special video conference on Sunday, following the Iranian attack on Israel. During the meeting, the members decided to use all possible channels of influence, to prevent Israel from launching a retaliatory attack against Iran. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, said that " We unanimously condemned Iran's unprecedented attack against Israel. All sides must show restraint. We will continue all our efforts to work towards de-escalation. Ending the crisis in Gaza as soon as possible, notably through an immediate ceasefire, will make a difference." Ahead...

Rikkie Valerie Kolle, 22, will be the second trans woman to go for Miss Universe A transgender woman has been crowned Miss Netherlands for the first time in the beauty pageant's history and is now set to compete for the Miss Universe title. Rikkie Valerie Kolle, 22, made history after she won the competition on Sunday. The new Miss Netherlands wore a red gown as she was overcome by emotion while receiving her crown from her predecessor Ona Moody and reigning Miss Universe R'Bonney Gabriel from the USA. The model stood victorious with a bouquet of flowers while her competitors...

The United States will soon follow Europe in implementing laws against so-called hate speech, a top Eurocrat claimed at the World Economic Forum’s meeting in Davos. The vice president for Values and Transparency for the European Commission, Věra Jourová predicted on Tuesday that hate speech laws will be imposed upon the American public, despite longstanding case law at the Supreme Court protecting such speech under the First Amendment. “Illegal hate speech, which you will have soon also in the U.S. I think that we have a strong reason why we have this in the criminal law,” Jourová said.

French gun owners were handing over their weapons at police collection points across the country this week as part of a campaign to round up unlicensed firearms, often heirlooms lying in attics or forgotten at the back of cupboards. Gun ownership in France is nowhere near as prevalent as in the United States, for instance, and gun crimes are relatively rare, but France is keen to limit the number of illegally owned firearms - as many as six million, authorities estimate. "They were my dad's and I didn't know what do with them," Lionel said at a police station in...

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

Ukraine has touted large numbers of Russian losses throughout the eight-month conflict, though Russia has not publicly confirmed the claims. "This morning, the [Ukrainian] Air Force successfully shot down 44 Russian cruise missiles," the ministry tweeted. "All this before their first cup of coffee." Russia allegedly launched 50 missiles toward "critical infrastructure facilities" in Ukraine at about 7 a.m. local time, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine wrote in a Facebook post. The attack included Kh-101 and Kh-555 missiles, which were launched from aircraft north of the Caspian Sea from the Rostov region. Only six of the...

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is being accused of election interference after threatening to use “tools” if the wrong election result is achieved in Italy’s national elections, set to take place this Sunday, Sept. 25. She added that those same tools are already being used against Hungary and Poland. “We will see the result of the vote in Italy,” said von der Leyen. “If things go in a difficult direction — and I’ve spoken about Hungary and Poland — we have the tools.” Von der Leyen made the comment while responding to a journalist after a talk she...

“The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia,” protested Igor Girkin, a far-right nationalist, in a video address to his 430,000 Telegram followers on Monday. “We have already lost, the rest is just a matter of time,” he writes characteristically.

The U.S. State Department said the Kremlin is preparing to hold "sham" referenda to annex Russia-controlled areas of Ukraine, warning that Moscow will employ propaganda and disinformation campaigns, falsify voter turnout and exaggerate the percentage of Ukrainians who want to join Russia to conduct its illegal land grab. The United States has previously warned that Moscow was moving forward to hold elections to disguise its annexation of Ukrainian regions, but State Department Principal Deputy spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters for first time Tuesday that the effort was being overseen by Sergey Kiriyenko, the first deputy head of Russia's presidential administration....

This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the...

Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski on Wednesday asked the country's Prime Minister Denis Shmyha to consider the possibility of legalizing same-sex marriage in the country. Zelenski thus responded to a petition presented on July 3 and signed by more than 28,000 people. However, he stressed that, as stated in the country's Family Code, the "family is the basic primary unit of Ukrainian society". "A family consists of people living together, connected by a common life, with mutual rights and obligations. According to the Ukrainian Constitution, marriage is based on the free consent of a man and a woman," the president said,...

BERLIN - The main natural gas pipeline between Russia and Germany shut down for scheduled maintenance Monday, raising concerns that Moscow could use the repairs as a pretext for a longer shutdown as it wields energy supplies as leverage in the Ukraine war.European ministers warned that it was unclear whether Moscow would turn the taps on the Nord Stream 1 pipeline back on after the 10 days of scheduled work. Germany's economy minister, Robert Habeck, said Berlin was concerned about a "nightmare scenario" this winter if Russia decides against doing so."Everything is possible, everything can happen," he told Deutschlandfunk radio...

The European Parliament on Wednesday voted not to block a proposed rule that would designate gas and nuclear power plants as “climate-friendly.” The rule will take effect unless 20 of the European Union’s (EU) 27 member states band together to stop it. The EU keeps a “taxonomy,” or rulebook, that designates which types of energy investment can be labeled “green.” The terminology is considered valuable for marketing purposes and to attract investors looking for climate-friendly projects. “Green” projects are also eligible for favorable government loans, and even outright government subsidies. The taxonomy is supposed to prevent “greenwashing,” loosely defined as...

A detailed list of the destroyed and captured vehicles and equipment of both sides can be seen below. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available

Ukraine War Blows Up EU's Superpower Delusion by Soeren Kern June 21, 2022 at 5:00 am As the war has dragged on, European unity has collapsed and efforts to transform the European Union into a European superstate — a United States of Europe — have been exposed for what they are: delusions of grandeur. The EU's largest member states — France and Germany — have sought to appease Putin at the expense of Ukrainian sovereignty. French President Emmanuel Macron, the strongest backer of European strategic autonomy, insists that Putin should not be "humiliated" and has even called on Ukraine to...

An 88-year-old retired NYPD cop living out his golden years in Ireland was busted in a dragnet worthy of a Hollywood movie — for keeping an old, decommissioned revolver in his home. The daring morning police raid was the largest in recent memory in the tiny village of Swanlinbar, County Cavan, population 200, when up to 10 armed officers in six vehicles descended on the picture-postcard hamlet.

More than 100 are deployed in a training and advisory role with Polish, US and Canadian forces. The move to shape an exit strategy follows Defence Secretary Ben Wallace saying it is "highly unlikely" UK forces will fight Russian troops on Ukrainian soil. Satellite images from US firm Maxar Technologies have revealed a new brigade-level unit, consisting of hundreds of tanks and armoured vehicles, situated at an army base in Crimea. Moscow has also published changes in regulations to allow military fatalities to be buried in theater rather than be repatriated to Russia. This is widely seen as an attempt...

Russia on Friday published draft security demands that NATO deny membership to Ukraine and other former Soviet countries and roll back the alliance's military deployments in Central and Eastern Europe — bold ultimatums that are almost certain to be rejected by the U.S. and its allies. The proposals, which were submitted to the U.S. and its allies earlier this week, also call for a ban on sending U.S. and Russian warships and aircraft to areas from where they can strike each other's territory, along with a halt to NATO military drills near Russia. The demand for a written guarantee that...

LONDON (Reuters) - Securities settlement for Irish assets worth more than 100 billion euros ($119 billion) has left London for the European Union in the latest adjustment in markets to Brexit. Pan-European exchange Euronext, which runs the Irish stock exchange, said on Thursday it had completed the migration of securities settlement for 50 Irish companies from Crest in London to Euroclear Bank in Brussels from March 15.

The world’s gambling community is getting in line behind American polls and betting the farm on Joe Biden to win the presidency. In European markets alone, over $150 million has been staked, and the bets are going more than 2-to-1 for Biden. In the latest OddsChecker wrap up of betting sites in Europe, where gambling on American political campaigns is legal, the spread has echoed the most extreme polling in the United States. Currently, OddsChecker spokesperson Pete Watt told Secrets, the betting predicts that Biden has a 69.25% chance of victory compared to Trump’s 33.33%. “Over $150M has been staked...