Global Pulse

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  • JD Vance says Epstein had connections to CIA and Mossad

    JD Vance says Epstein had connections to CIA and Mossad

    In a wide-ranging interview with prominent podcaster Joe Rogan this week, U.S. Vice President JD Vance made explosive claims linking disgraced convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to the highest echelons of both American and Israeli intelligence circles, while also accusing hardline elements within the Israeli government of funding a covert influence campaign to derail the recent Iran negotiation agreement he spearheaded.

    Vance, who identified himself as an “original Epstein conspiracy theorist,” doubled down on long-circulated unconfirmed speculation about the late financier’s intelligence connections. When Rogan noted that a widespread popular narrative frames Epstein as an asset for Israel’s Mossad external intelligence agency, Vance said the connections could extend to either the Central Intelligence Agency, deep state actors in the U.S., Israeli intelligence, or a combination of multiple groups. He specifically pointed to ties between Epstein and left-leaning figures in Israel’s deep political establishment, naming former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak as a key example, noting that Epstein’s connections did not extend to Israel’s center-right political bloc.

    For decades, unsubstantiated theories have circulated about whether Epstein operated on behalf of a foreign or domestic intelligence service. The disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 while awaiting new sex trafficking charges, built a sprawling network of relationships with rich and powerful global figures, from former U.S. President Bill Clinton to pro-Israel billionaire retail magnate Les Wexner, senior British politician Peter Mandelson, and Prince Andrew, Duke of York, the late Queen Elizabeth II’s second son. Over his decades in elite social circles, Epstein was widely reported to have collected extensive compromising information on his high-profile contacts, a common intelligence tradecraft tactic for leverage.

    While no conclusive public evidence has ever emerged to confirm Epstein worked as an active intelligence asset for any nation, multiple official and unofficial records have hinted at potential connections. Earlier this year, a senior adviser to the Indian government publicly stated “100 percent” that Epstein was a Mossad asset when asked directly. The publicly released Epstein court documents confirm that the financier made donations to prominent Israeli causes, including Friends of the Israel Defense Forces and the Jewish National Fund, a group that supports Israeli West Bank settlements, and document his repeated personal connections to current and former members of Mossad. A 2020 FBI memo from the bureau’s Los Angeles field office also noted that an anonymous source had claimed Epstein was a “co-opted Mossad agent” who received formal spy training from the Israeli service.

    Beyond his claims about Epstein, Vance used the Rogan interview to level serious accusations about Israeli interference in American domestic and foreign policy, specifically targeting the Iran nuclear negotiation framework he spent months negotiating. The preliminary memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran, signed just last month, has already collapsed, and the two nations have resumed direct cross-border military strikes in recent weeks.

    According to Vance, a well-funded, covert campaign is actively working to scuttle the Iran deal to perpetuate ongoing military conflict. He specifically confirmed that some of the funding for this campaign originates from Israeli government-linked actors, referencing a recent Time magazine exposé detailing an organized Israeli influence operation targeting the Make America Great Again (MAGA) conservative base that Vance is courting as he positions himself as a potential 2028 Republican presidential candidate and a political heir to former President Donald Trump. The Time report alleges that Brad Parscale, who served as digital campaign strategist for Trump’s 2020 presidential run, receives $1.5 million per month to run the influence operation. Vance said the operation pays multiple American influencers to attack his Iran negotiation efforts, and that these critics have launched vicious personal attacks against him in an effort to keep the U.S. tied to indefinite military escalation against Iran.

    “I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there have been people within the Israeli government who are trying to, like, actually shift us away from that policy [the Iran negotiations] because they want to continue the military campaign,” Vance told Rogan.

    The vice president pushed back against hardline hawks in the U.S. political system who have opposed the Iran deal, challenging them to present a viable alternative to negotiations. He framed himself as a “reasonable moderate” in the deeply polarized American debate over Israel policy, noting that he has faced widespread baseless accusations of antisemitism for his push for negotiations with Iran, which he called “insane.”

    When asked whether the U.S. would have entered its most recent open war with Iran if not for Israeli influence efforts, Vance replied, “Yes, yes I do.” He clarified that he shares the Biden administration’s core position that Iran must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, a stance he said the president holds independent of external pressure.

    Vance also rejected the theory that Israel is able to coerce former President Trump using the Epstein files or other compromising material, calling that claim “crazy.”

  • White House teleprompter operator accused of making $100k off Trump speech bets

    White House teleprompter operator accused of making $100k off Trump speech bets

    A former White House teleprompter technician is at the center of a federal investigation after being accused of exploiting confidential access to President Donald Trump’s prepared speeches to place illegal insider bets that netted nearly $100,000 in potential profits, multiple major U.S. news outlets have confirmed.

    Gabriel Perez, who had served on the White House staff since Trump first took office in 2016, allegedly placed wagers on Kalshi, a digital prediction marketplace that allows users to bet on the outcome of real-world events, including specific word choices in high-profile political addresses. The scheme focused on major public remarks from the president, most notably the annual State of the Union address, where Perez used his advance knowledge of the speech’s text to bet that specific pre-selected terms would appear in the address.

    In an official statement shared with the BBC, Kalshi representatives confirmed that their internal risk team first flagged suspicious activity in March, when analysts identified irregular patterns in betting on the platform’s so-called “mention markets” — contract listings that let users predict whether a public speaker will reference specific topics, countries, economic phrases or campaign slogans during a given address.

    “The words of top political leaders, from presidents to Federal Reserve chairs, can move billions of dollars across foreign exchange markets, oil futures and global stock markets,” Kalshi noted in its comment, underscoring the inherent risk of insider activity on prediction contracts tied to public policy remarks.

    After cross-referencing account details and user information, the company confirmed that the account linked to the suspicious trades belonged to Perez, a federal employee responsible for drafting and operating the president’s teleprompters. Acting quickly to block potential illicit gains, Kalshi froze the account before Perez could withdraw more than $90,000 in accumulated profits.

    Robert DeNault, Kalshi’s head of enforcement, confirmed the firm immediately reported the suspicious activity to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the federal regulator that oversees prediction market platforms operating in the United States, and turned over all collected evidence to investigators.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Tuesday that President Trump had been briefed on the allegations against Perez. She stated that Perez has been placed on unpaid leave and will no longer serve on the White House staff, ending his tenure that began in 2016.

    The investigation was first reported by ABC News, and the BBC’s U.S. news partner CBS News later independently confirmed key details of the case. Sources close to the probe told reporters that Perez has been fully cooperative with CFTC investigators throughout the inquiry. As of this report, federal prosecutors in Manhattan have declined to open a criminal investigation into the matter. When reached for comment by the BBC to confirm the ongoing probe, a CFTC spokesperson said the agency could not “confirm or deny” the existence of any ongoing investigation.

  • Watch: What to know as Genoa bridge disaster trial ends

    Watch: What to know as Genoa bridge disaster trial ends

    Eight years after one of Italy’s deadliest modern infrastructure failures, the high-profile criminal trial over the 2018 collapse of Genoa’s Morandi Bridge is reaching its final stage. The tragic incident, which claimed 43 lives when a 200-meter span of the busy highway bridge crumbled onto residential and industrial areas below during a heavy rainstorm, has gripped the nation for years, sparking fierce debates over infrastructure maintenance, corporate accountability, and regulatory oversight.

    At the heart of the proceeding held in Genoa’s courthouse are more than 50 defendants facing a range of charges, including manslaughter, negligence, and failure to maintain critical infrastructure. The accused group spans a wide cross-section of stakeholders: senior executives from the companies responsible for the bridge’s design, construction, and decades of upkeep, as well as former infrastructure agency officials and public works managers who oversaw safety inspections and approval processes for the aging structure.

    The collapse immediately raised urgent questions about the state of Italy’s aging transportation network, with critics pointing to decades of underinvestment in maintenance and alleged conflicts of interest between private concessionaires and public regulatory bodies. Over the course of the trial, prosecutors have presented thousands of pages of evidence, including engineering reports, internal corporate communications, and testimonies from survivors and expert witnesses, arguing that the disaster was preventable, caused by long-known structural flaws that were left unaddressed by responsible parties.

    As the court prepares to deliver its verdict, families of the victims have pushed for full accountability, saying that justice for the 43 lives lost is the only way to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future. The trial’s outcome is also widely expected to set new precedents for infrastructure safety regulations and corporate liability across Italy, prompting broader reforms to how the country inspects and maintains its network of aging bridges and highways.

  • Trump speech to focus on election ‘integrity’

    Trump speech to focus on election ‘integrity’

    Nearly six years after his disputed 2020 presidential election loss, second-term U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to deliver a primetime national address Thursday focused on what the White House frames as protecting election integrity, a move that has amplified partisan friction and stoked unease within his own Republican Party. The 80-year-old commander-in-chief has spent years amplifying unsubstantiated claims that widespread voter fraud cost him victory in the 2020 race, and this televised speech marks his latest high-profile push to advance that narrative ahead of November’s critical midterm congressional elections.

    White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt confirmed the core focus of the 9:00 pm ET (0100 GMT Friday) address in comments to reporters, framing it as a necessary intervention to address widespread voter concerns about electoral processes. “President Trump will deliver a major address to the nation on protecting the integrity of our elections, and we encourage every American to tune in,” Leavitt said, adding that the speech would include what she described as fact-backed claims that would “shock” viewers. She did acknowledge, however, that Trump will likely open his remarks with brief mentions of two top voter priorities: the ongoing Iran war and soaring U.S. cost of living, issues that Republican leaders worry Trump has largely neglected in recent public messaging.

    The path to Thursday’s address has been shrouded in incremental reveals. Trump first announced he would deliver a national speech this week on Monday, offering no details on its topic. A day later, he teased “really big news” related to “free and fair elections” but still declined to share substantive specifics about the address’s content.

    New reporting from CBS News has shed light on underreported elements of the speech’s planned content: according to the outlet, Trump will lay out previously unrevealed allegations that China interfered in U.S. elections, including claims that Beijing gained unauthorized access to American voter data. He is also expected to accuse U.S. intelligence agencies—including the Central Intelligence Agency—of failing to disclose knowledge of the alleged Chinese interference to him during his first presidential term. CBS added that the heads of the CIA, FBI, Office of the Director of National Intelligence and Department of Homeland Security have all been invited to attend the speech in person.

    A core policy priority tied to the speech is Trump’s push for Congress to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping piece of legislation that would install new voting restrictions across the U.S. Despite Trump’s aggressive lobbying, the bill has garnered little support even among congressional Republicans, who hold majority control of the chamber ahead of the midterms. Many of the bill’s requirements, such as proof of citizenship to register to vote, are already mandated by federal and state election laws. The proposal also adds new requirements for photo ID at polling places and imposes stricter limits on mail-in voting, a voting method Trump has repeatedly attacked since 2020.

    Trump’s refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election, in which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, has had lasting consequences for U.S. politics. In January 2021, months after the election was called, Trump incited a crowd of his supporters to storm the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to block the certification of Biden’s victory, an act that led to his second impeachment during his first term. Now, as the country prepares for midterm elections that will determine control of the House and Senate for the final two years of Trump’s second term, the president faces a new threat: if Democrats retake control of the House of Representatives in November, he could be impeached for a third time.

    This speech marks Trump’s first major national address since April 1 of this year, when he delivered his first full public justification for the U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Iran, more than a month after the operation launched. For many congressional Republicans, the decision to center a primetime national address on election integrity, rather than top voter priorities like the Iran conflict and cost of living, has sparked deep concern that the party is misaligned with what ordinary voters care about ahead of the high-stakes midterms. For their part, Democrats have pushed back hard against the speech, arguing that Trump is spreading unproven voter fraud claims to tilt public opinion in his party’s favor ahead of the November vote.

  • Video captures tree trimmers falling 45ft

    Video captures tree trimmers falling 45ft

    A shocking on-the-job accident has been captured on camera, showing two professional tree trimmers plunging 45 feet from elevated work position while carrying out vegetation maintenance work. The incident involved Isaac Reyes and Andrew Reyes, two workers who were performing routine trimming duties at the time of the fall. According to local emergency response reports, both men sustained critical, life-threatening injuries immediately after the impact and were rushed to a nearby medical facility for urgent surgical intervention and intensive care. After several days of targeted treatment and monitoring from the hospital’s care team, the pair have made enough progress in their recovery to be released for outpatient rehabilitation and at-home care. The footage of the fall has spread across local community networks, prompting renewed discussions about worksite safety protocols for arboriculture workers who often operate at significant heights. Local occupational safety officials have not yet announced whether a formal investigation into the incident will be launched to identify the root cause of the accident and prevent similar events in the future.

  • UK school with hundreds of Muslim students evacuated after bomb threat

    UK school with hundreds of Muslim students evacuated after bomb threat

    On the last day of the 2023-2024 academic year, a prominent Muslim-faith private school in Birmingham, United Kingdom, was forced to evacuate all 450 of its 11 to 16-year-old students following a emailed bomb threat that disrupted planned end-of-term celebrations, local media has confirmed.

    Hamd House School, an institution rated “Outstanding” and lauded as “highly inclusive” by education regulator Ofsted, received the threatening email early Tuesday morning, with a copy of the message also sent directly to Ofsted itself. The threat came as students and staff gathered to distribute annual academic awards and mark the start of summer break with a day of community-focused festivities, turning a joyful annual tradition into an emergency scenario.

    Israr Khan, the school’s proprietor, told local outlet Birmingham Live that the incident caused significant unnecessary disruption to a day meant for celebration. “School was full and pupils were celebrating the last day before summer, we were giving out awards and having a day of celebration and fun on this special day, and this was hugely disrupting,” Khan said.

    Emergency response teams from West Midlands Police, including canine units trained to detect explosive materials, were dispatched immediately to sweep the entire school campus. After a thorough search of the grounds and buildings, authorities cleared the school as safe and lifted the evacuation order.

    Khan told reporters that the school appears to have been deliberately targeted, noting that this bomb threat is not an isolated event: the institution and its staff have faced a string of separate hostile incidents in recent weeks. He added that law enforcement has formally logged the incident as harassment, with an active investigation still ongoing. “The matter remains an open police investigation. An unusual and bizarre quirk to this situation is that the threat was also sent to Ofsted. The police have logged this incident as harassment,” Khan said, confirming that the school would continue full cooperation with investigating authorities.

    Neither West Midlands Police nor Hamd House School has issued additional public statements beyond the initial details shared by Khan, despite requests for comment from independent outlet Middle East Eye.

    The incident has drawn sharp criticism from the anti-Islamophobia NGO Mend, which says there has been widespread “near silence” from mainstream media and political leaders over the threat against the Muslim-majority school. In a post on social platform X, the organization questioned the double standard in how such incidents are covered and prioritized: “Ask yourself what the reaction would be if 450 children at any other school were threatened this way. The quiet tells you something about whose safety is treated as a story and whose is treated as background noise.”

    Mend has called for authorities to reclassify the investigation as a hate crime probe, arguing the threat intentionally targeted Muslim children against a backdrop of rising anti-Muslim hostility in the UK, consistent with the pattern of earlier incidents against the school and its staff.

  • Israeli opposition tops new poll as Netanyahu allies explore voting restrictions

    Israeli opposition tops new poll as Netanyahu allies explore voting restrictions

    As Israel prepares for its 27 October parliamentary election, a newly released public opinion survey from broadcaster Channel 13 has delivered a potentially game-changing projection: a coalition of opposition parties united by the goal of ousting long-serving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would win the slimmest possible governing majority, securing 61 out of the 120 seats in the Knesset. This marks the first major poll released in over a month that shows the anti-Netanyahu bloc capable of forming a majority government without relying on support from Palestinian-majority political parties.

    Breaking down the projected seat shares, the poll forecasts that former Israeli army chief Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar party will capture 21 seats, falling just one seat short of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, which is projected to take 22 seats. Following the two leading blocs are former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Together alliance at 15 seats, Yair Golan’s Democrats at 11 seats, and Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu at 10 seats. The final four seats required to push the opposition bloc across the 61-seat threshold would go to a new alliance led by Yoaz Hendel and Chili Tropper.

    By contrast, the current coalition of far-right and ultra-Orthodox parties aligned with Netanyahu falls well short of a majority in the projection. United Torah Judaism is forecast to win 8 seats, while Shas and Itamar Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power take 7 seats apiece, and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party is projected to win 6 seats. For Palestinian-majority parties, the poll projects Hadash-Ta’al will win 5 seats and Ra’am will take 4, while the Balad party and former Defense Minister Benny Gantz’s Blue and White both fail to cross the minimum electoral threshold required to gain parliamentary representation. Notably, Channel 13 has not released public details of the poll’s sample size or margin of error, leaving its methodological transparency unconfirmed.

    While Eisenkot has positioned himself as a leading figure in the movement to oust Netanyahu, his past policy stances suggest little substantive shift in Israeli policy toward the Gaza Strip if he enters government. As a member of Netanyahu’s wartime war cabinet in 2024 during the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Eisenkot privately discussed plans to restrict humanitarian access that would exacerbate widespread starvation among Palestinian civilians, a policy that Netanyahu ultimately implemented to push Gaza into a state of famine.

    The release of the poll comes amid growing controversy over efforts by Netanyahu’s allies to restrict ballot access ahead of the vote, moves widely interpreted as an attempt to suppress turnout among voters likely to oppose the prime minister. Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently reported that senior officials in Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s office held discussions about imposing strict restrictions on incoming international flights immediately before election day, including limits on charter travel. Officials involved in those talks acknowledged the policy was motivated by fears that tens of thousands of Israeli citizens living overseas would return home to cast votes against Netanyahu.

    In a separate restrictive move, a Knesset committee has advanced legislation that would eliminate dedicated polling stations at retirement and assisted-living facilities across the country. The change is projected to impact approximately 37,000 eligible voters, a population demographic that overwhelmingly opposes Netanyahu, and that number roughly equals the total number of votes required to secure one full Knesset seat.

    While consecutive recent polls have consistently shown Netanyahu’s incumbent coalition at risk of defeat, Israel’s deeply fragmented political landscape still creates significant uncertainty for the opposition’s path to power. Even if the anti-Netanyahu bloc secures a narrow majority, negotiating a stable governing agreement across its multiple competing factions could prove a major challenge.

  • Watch: Residents flee massive Canadian wildfire by boat

    Watch: Residents flee massive Canadian wildfire by boat

    As wildfire conditions continue to escalate across Canada, authorities have confirmed that more than 850 blazes are currently burning uncontrolled across the country, with dozens of new fire outbreaks detected in just a single 24-hour period.

    The scale of the 2024 Canadian wildfire season has already outpaced many early projections, leaving emergency management teams stretched thin as they respond to blazes that span from British Columbia to the Atlantic coast. On Thursday alone, officials recorded 23 new active fires, adding to an already overwhelming number of burning zones that have consumed millions of hectares of forest and grassland.

    In hard-hit communities surrounded by advancing flames, traditional land-based evacuation routes have been cut off, forcing hundreds of residents to flee to safety via boat along coastal waterways and inland lakes. Dramatic footage captured from affected regions shows columns of thick, gray smoke rising into the sky, obscuring the sun and turning daytime skies an ominous orange, as evacuation vessels carry families, pets and essential belongings away from danger.

    Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre officials warn that unseasonably high temperatures and persistent dry conditions have created extreme fire risk across most of the country, with more new outbreaks expected in the coming weeks. The ongoing crisis has also drawn international attention, as smoke from the wildfires has previously drifted across North America, triggering air quality alerts as far south as the United States’ Gulf Coast.

    Emergency response teams from multiple countries have already deployed to Canada to assist with fire suppression and evacuation efforts, as authorities urge residents in high-risk zones to remain alert and follow evacuation orders immediately when issued.

  • New law will remove 32 million annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport

    New law will remove 32 million annual passenger cap at Dublin Airport

    Nineteen years after Dublin Airport’s annual passenger cap of 32 million was first written into planning rules, Ireland has formally enacted legislation to eliminate the long-contested limit, marking a major shift in the country’s aviation strategy.

    The newly signed Dublin Airport (Passenger Capacity) Act 2026 grants Ireland’s Transport Minister the formal authority to fully scrap the 2007-era restriction. The legislation cleared Ireland’s lower house of parliament, the Dáil Éireann, earlier this week, and received formal presidential approval from President Catherine Connolly this past Thursday.

    The 32 million cap has been tied up in legal challenges for years, and has been temporarily suspended since a 2024 High Court ruling, with the suspension set to remain in place until a ruling from the European Court of Justice. Even with the cap on the books, official data from Irish national public broadcaster RTÉ shows the airport far exceeded the limit last year, handling roughly four million more passengers than the cap allowed. As far back as 2024, the restriction already created disruptive travel disruptions: Leinster Rugby was forced to depart from Belfast International Airport for away matches to avoid eating into Dublin Airport’s limited passenger quota. Last year, the airport also secured separate planning approval to expand its allowed number of nighttime flights, loosening another key operational constraint.

    The original 2007 cap was introduced by city planners primarily to address growing concerns over chronic road congestion in the communities surrounding the airport. Today, opposition to lifting the limit remains, with local residential groups and environmental organizations still backing the cap. For environmental advocates, the restriction is a critical tool to curb growth in the aviation sector, one of the highest-emitting industries contributing to climate change.

    But proponents of repealing the cap, which include major Irish, European and U.S. airlines, argue that retaining the limit would cause severe long-term economic harm to Ireland. Dublin Airport serves as the country’s primary international entry and exit point, and industry groups have repeatedly warned that a binding cap would limit tourism growth, block business connectivity, and harm Ireland’s global competitiveness.

    Transport Minister Darragh O’Brien has emphasized that the new law formally acknowledges the airport’s outsize strategic role as Ireland’s leading international gateway. O’Brien said he intends to move swiftly to amend or fully revoke the cap once required environmental assessments are completed, stressing that all reviews will be finished within the strict timelines laid out in the new legislation. “This legislation recognizes the strategic importance of Dublin Airport as our primary international gateway,” O’Brien said, underscoring the government’s priority of unlocking the airport’s capacity to support national economic growth.

  • Ukraine’s new prime minister takes office with a hard winter looming and protests on the streets

    Ukraine’s new prime minister takes office with a hard winter looming and protests on the streets

    KYIV, Ukraine — In a surprising departure from standard political leadership pathways, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has tapped 48-year-old Serhii Koretskyi, the head of the nation’s state-owned energy sector, to serve as the country’s new prime minister. The appointment, announced Thursday, marks a break from the traditional background of most of Ukraine’s top government officials, who typically rise through partisan politics, parliamentary roles, or civil service ranks. Instead, Koretskyi brings a two-decade private-sector career rooted in engineering and industrial management, spanning both fuel and food sectors, before he was tapped to rescue some of Ukraine’s most troubled state energy assets.

    Over the past several years, Koretskyi has built a well-documented reputation as a results-driven crisis manager, turning around chronically underperforming state-owned enterprises and returning them to profitability. His most high-profile successes came after 2022, when the Ukrainian government reclaimed control of major oil producer Ukrnafta and refinery operator Ukrtatnafta from oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi and appointed Koretskyi to lead both firms. In just two years, he guided Ukrnafta to record annual profits, paid off all of the company’s outstanding tax debts, and grew domestic production, transforming it into one of Ukraine’s largest taxpayers and a critical supporter of the war effort — supplying military fuel and funding frontline drone programs.

    He was later selected to lead national energy giant Naftogaz in 2023, at a moment of acute crisis for the firm: Russian missile and drone strikes on energy infrastructure had decimated production facilities, and previous leadership had failed to build up sufficient gas reserves, leaving stockpiles at historic lows. Koretskyi responded by launching a full organizational audit that led to sweeping restructuring, cutting redundant roles and streamlining operations — changes that sparked internal pushback but delivered tangible results. Under his leadership, Naftogaz rebuilt national gas reserves to over 13 billion cubic meters and raised close to $1 billion in critical revenue for the state.

    Now, Koretskyi steps into what will be the greatest challenge of his career: leading Ukraine’s cash-strapped wartime government. This role demands far more than the corporate turnaround expertise that defined his career to date, requiring sharp political skill, careful diplomatic navigation, and strategic power brokering to keep the government and country functioning through ongoing conflict. Zelenskyy has tasked him with steering the nation through what Ukrainian officials warn will be the most difficult winter of the full-scale Russian invasion, targeting repeated Russian attacks on civilian and energy infrastructure. He is the third prime minister to hold office since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

    From the outset, his premiership has been mired in controversy. When parliament gathered to vote on his confirmation, hundreds of demonstrators assembled in central Kyiv, voicing anger at Zelenskyy over this week’s sudden government reshuffle that sidelined the widely popular Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

    Addressing lawmakers after his confirmation, Koretskyi outlined his immediate policy priorities: shoring up Ukraine’s damaged energy infrastructure ahead of winter, stabilizing the war-battered national economy, ensuring transparent and effective use of incoming international aid, and scaling up domestic arms production to support Ukraine’s military. For his part, Zelenskyy has defended the appointment, framing Koretskyi as the most prepared candidate to lead the country through the coming months, with winter preparedness as his top guiding priority.