China Urged to Prioritize Economy Over Territorial Ambitions, Says Taiwan’s President Lai 
U.S. Expected to Expand Travel Ban to More Than 30 Countries 
Trump and Lula Discuss Trade, Sanctions, and Security in “Productive” Phone Call 
UN General Assembly Demands Russia Return Ukrainian Children Amid Ongoing Conflict 
U.S. Justice Department Orders Intensified Probe Into Antifa and Domestic Extremist Groups 
New Orleans Immigration Crackdown Sparks Fear as Federal Arrests Intensify 
Trump’s Name Appears on U.S. Institute of Peace Ahead of Rwanda–Congo Deal Signing 
China’s Expanding Maritime Military Presence Alarms Taiwan and Japan 
U.S.-Russia Talks Leave Ukraine Peace Efforts Uncertain 
Pentagon Probe Finds Hegseth’s Use of Signal Risked Exposing Sensitive Yemen Strike Details 
Israel Receives Body of Deceased Hostage as Rafah Crossing Reopening Hinges on Final Returns 
Cuba Reaffirms Anti-Drug Cooperation as Tensions Rise in the Caribbean 
Honduras Election Turmoil Intensifies as Nasralla Blames Trump for Shift in Results 
IMF Deputy Dan Katz Visits China as Key Economic Review Nears 
Taiwan Opposition Criticizes Plan to Block Chinese App Rednote Over Security Concerns 
Trump Claims He Will Void Biden Documents Signed with Autopen 
Michael Dell Pledges $6.25 Billion to Boost Children’s Investment Accounts Under Trump Initiative 
Russia launched a new offensive on Ukraine this week as it regrouped and began its attack from the country’s eastern territory. Ukraine’s defense ministry detailed the new goals of the Russian forces in their attack on the country.
Reuters reports Ukraine’s defense ministry laid out the goals by the Russian military in its new offensive on the country as the war moves into its second month. The ministry said Moscow’s new goal is to seize land, establish a link between its territories in the east and the annexed Crimea, and crush the armed forces of Ukraine.
“The goal is to defeat the Ukrainian forces, to establish control over the territory of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions, and establish a land corridor to Crimea,” said the ministry’s spokesperson Oleksandr Motuznyak during a briefing. Both Luhansk and Donetsk are occupied by pro-Russian separatists and were declared by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin as independent states, sparking the war.
“The main efforts are to break through the positions held by Ukrainian troops and they have not stopped trying to gain full control over Mariupol,” said Motuznyak, who later described Russia’s tactics so far as following “the textbooks of the Soviet era.”
The latest comments come as Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow wants to take control of Mariupol and all the territory that the Ukrainian government forces still control over Luhansk and Donetsk to create land access to Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
The West and many other nations have joined in sanctioning Russia over its unprovoked attack on Ukraine, targeting oligarchs and their family members who have benefitted from Putin’s regime. One particular Russian tycoon, Oleg Tinkov, who was among the Russian elite that was sanctioned, condemned Putin and said that 90 percent of the Russian people are against the war that Putin is waging.
Tinkov made the comments online Tuesday, describing the war in Ukraine as “s***” and calling on the Western leaders to help end the conflict.
“I don’t see a single beneficiary of this crazy war! Innocent people & soldiers are dying,” said Tinkov in a post he shared on Instagram.
