Global Pulse

标签： Europe

欧洲

  • Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels

    Amsterdam bans public adverts for meat and fossil fuels

    Amsterdam has cemented its place in climate policy history by becoming the world’s first capital city to implement a full public advertising ban on both meat and fossil fuel products. Since May 1, all promotions for beef burgers, petrol-powered cars, airline travel and other high-carbon goods have been removed from municipal billboards, tram shelters, and metro stations across the city.

    At one of Amsterdam’s busiest downtown tram stops, positioned next to a lush roundabout blooming with bright yellow daffodils and iconic orange Dutch tulips, the transformation of the city’s outdoor advertising landscape is impossible to miss. Where ads for chicken nuggets, gas-powered SUVs and low-cost international flights dominated public display space just last week, posters now promote Amsterdam’s world-famous Rijksmuseum and upcoming local piano concerts.

    City policymakers explain the new rule is designed to align the capital’s public spaces with the municipal government’s ambitious environmental goals, which target full carbon neutrality by 2050 and a 50% reduction in local meat consumption over the same timeline. “The climate crisis is incredibly urgent,” noted Anneke Veenhoff of Amsterdam’s GreenLeft Party. “If we claim to be leaders in climate action, but then rent out our public advertising space to products that directly undermine those targets, what message does that send? Most residents cannot understand why the city would profit from promoting products our own policies actively work against.”

    Anke Bakker, group leader of the animal rights-focused Party for the Animals in Amsterdam and the politician who spearheaded the new restrictions, has pushed back against criticism that the ban represents overreaching “nanny state” governance. “Every person is still free to make their own purchasing choices,” Bakker explained. “What we are doing is stopping large corporations from constantly pushing these products on the public. In fact, this gives people more freedom to make uncoerced choices for themselves.” Removing constant visual prompts for high-carbon products, she added, both cuts down on impulsive buying and redefines cheap meat and fossil-fuel heavy travel as no longer desirable, aspirational lifestyle options.

    In market terms, meat advertising makes up only a tiny fraction of Amsterdam’s outdoor ad industry, accounting for roughly 0.1% of total outdoor ad spend, while fossil fuel-related promotions make up around 4%. Clothing brands, film promotions and mobile phone ads currently dominate the city’s public display space. But the policy carries major symbolic and political weight: grouping meat with air travel, cruises and fossil-fuel cars reframes meat consumption from a purely private dietary decision to a pressing public climate issue.

    Unsurprisingly, industry groups have pushed back against the new rule. The Dutch Meat Association, which represents the country’s meat producers, has called the ban “an undesirable way to influence consumer behaviour,” arguing that meat “delivers essential nutrients and should remain visible and accessible to consumers.” The Dutch Association of Travel Agents and Tour Operators has also criticized the ban on air travel advertising as a disproportionate restriction on businesses’ commercial freedom.

    For climate and animal welfare activists, however, the ban represents a landmark shift that aims to create what they call a “tobacco moment” for high-carbon food. Environmental lawyer Hannah Prins, whose organization Advocates for the Future collaborated with campaign group Fossil-Free Advertising on the push for the ban, draws a parallel to the widespread shift in public attitudes toward tobacco advertising over the past decades. “Looking back at old photos, you see legendary Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff in tobacco ads – that used to be completely normal,” Prins pointed out. “Cruyff died of lung cancer, and today the idea of allowing cigarette ads in public spaces feels absurd. What we accept as normal in our public spaces shapes what we accept as normal in our society. I don’t think it’s normal to have advertisements for slaughtered animals on public billboards, and it’s good that this is changing.”

    Amsterdam’s move is not without precedent. In 2022, the nearby Dutch city of Haarlem, just 18 kilometers west of the capital, became the first city in the world to announce a broad ban on most meat advertising in public spaces, which took full effect in 2024 alongside its own ban on fossil fuel ads. Utrecht and Nijmegen have since introduced similar restrictions on municipal meat advertising – with Nijmegen extending its ban to include dairy as well, on top of existing fossil fuel, petrol car and air travel ad prohibitions.

    Globally, dozens of cities have already implemented or are moving toward bans on fossil fuel advertising, including Edinburgh, Sheffield, Stockholm and Florence. France has even put a nationwide fossil fuel ad ban in place. Campaigners now hope Amsterdam’s approach of linking meat and fossil fuel promotion as interconnected climate issues will serve as a legal and political blueprint for other cities around the world to follow.

    Still, the new rule leaves a major gap: while meat and fossil fuel ads have disappeared from Amsterdam’s tram stops and billboards, the same promotional offers still appear regularly on consumers’ social media feeds, and most pedestrians spend much of their time waiting for transit staring at their phone screens anyway. This has led to questions: if municipal bans only cover public outdoor spaces and leave digital advertising untouched, how much real impact can they have on consumer habits, or are they just symbolic virtue-signaling?

    To date, there is no direct empirical evidence that removing meat advertising from public spaces shifts whole societies toward more plant-based eating patterns. But some public health researchers are cautiously optimistic about the policy’s potential long-term impact. Joreintje Mackenbach, an epidemiology professor at Amsterdam University Medical Center’s Department of Epidemiology and Data Science, calls Amsterdam’s new ban “a fantastic natural experiment” to study the impact of advertising on social norms and consumption. “When we see fast food ads everywhere, it normalizes the behavior of frequent fast consumption,” Mackenbach explained. “If we remove those environmental cues from our shared public spaces, that will inevitably change how people perceive these products and shift social norms.” She pointed to prior research showing London Underground’s 2009 ban on junk food advertising led to a measurable drop in junk food purchases across the U.K. capital.

    Prins, for her part, argues the ban will open up opportunities for Amsterdam’s small local businesses. “All the things we love most about this city – neighborhood festivals, local artisanal cheese, the corner flower shop – those don’t need big national advertising campaigns,” she said, standing along the banks of a central Amsterdam canal. “They grow through word of mouth and people walking past them every day. I think local businesses will actually thrive with more public advertising space available. And I hope this makes big polluting companies stop and think, and rethink the products they sell. That’s how change starts.”

  • ‘No Irish need apply’ – New exhibit shows how Irish immigrants have fared in England

    ‘No Irish need apply’ – New exhibit shows how Irish immigrants have fared in England

    For more than two centuries, the iconic and deeply hurtful phrase “No Irish need apply” hung over job postings across 19th and 20th century Britain and the United States, a public marker of systemic anti-Irish discrimination. Today, that phrase gives its name to a groundbreaking new exhibition at Dublin’s EPIC, the world’s only fully digital immigration museum, which unpacks the long, complex, and often painful history of Irish emigration to England across 200 years.

    Centuries of cross-channel migration have shaped demographic and cultural landscapes on both sides of the Irish Sea. Today, roughly 500,000 people born in Ireland call England home, with peak numbers hitting 900,000 in the 1970s, a legacy of the mass emigration wave that swept Ireland in the 1950s. Even before the catastrophic Great Famine of the 1840s, more than 400,000 Irish-born people already resided in England; that number grew by more than 50% in the decades following the famine, and migration has remained a constant feature of Irish life ever since. Since the formation of Northern Ireland, between 25% and 35% of all Irish emigrants heading to England have come from the region, many fleeing economic hardship or political violence during the decades of the Troubles.

    The exhibition draws on rigorous new research from the London School of Economics (LSE) that offers unprecedented insight into the socioeconomic conditions of Irish communities in England across generations. To build their dataset, LSE researchers analyzed more than 500,000 surnames from the 1911 United Kingdom Census to identify Irish family lineages, tracking outcomes for both first-generation immigrants and descendants born in England to Irish heritage. They also cross-referenced this data with core civil records including census returns, birth certificates, marriage registrations, and death records to measure living standards via infant mortality rates and life expectancy.

    The study’s findings paint a stark picture of long-term disadvantage. Across the 19th and 20th centuries, Irish households in England remained, on average, 50% poorer than their English neighbors, a gap that persisted across generations even as native English families gradually accumulated intergenerational wealth. Professor Neil Cummins, one of the lead researchers on the project, attributes this persistent gap to two key factors. First, for most of the modern era, migration from Ireland to England was overwhelmingly made up of working-class people with lower levels of formal education. Second, multiple lines of evidence — from anecdotal accounts to new LSE statistical analysis — confirm that systemic discrimination against Irish workers was widespread in English labor markets, creating what Cummins terms an “Irish penalty” that held back economic progress for generations.

    Despite this documented history of exclusion and hardship, the exhibition also highlights the dramatic social and economic transformation of Irish communities in England over the past 30 years. Cummins, who has lived in England for two decades, notes that modern London is a radically different space for Irish people than it was half a century ago. “It is a multicultural place where being Irish confers many advantages,” he explains.

    Curator Dr Christopher Kissane echoes that observation, noting that shifting economic tides in Ireland — particularly the growth of the Celtic Tiger economy from the 1990s onward — have transformed both migration patterns and outcomes. Mass emigration from Ireland is no longer the norm it once was, and the highly skilled Irish professionals who do move to England today are among the highest earning groups in the country, integrating seamlessly into English society. “The Irish have gone from being one of the poorest groups in England to one of the best off,” Kissane says.

    That personal experience of modern Irish migration to England is reflected in the stories woven through the exhibition, including that of Holly McGlynn, head of communications at EPIC. McGlynn moved to London with her partner following the 2008 Irish financial recession, lived there for 16 years, and raised three children in the city. Recounting her experience to BBC Northern Ireland, she said: “I had a very positive experience living in London. People were always very excited to hear that I was Irish.” The Covid-19 pandemic prompted her to re-evaluate her priorities and return to Ireland, but her experience reflects how far conditions have shifted for Irish people in England from the dark days of “No Irish need apply” job ads.

  • United flight landing in Newark strikes light pole on New Jersey Turnpike, FAA says

    United flight landing in Newark strikes light pole on New Jersey Turnpike, FAA says

    A routine commercial flight landing at one of the busiest air hubs on the U.S. East Coast took an unexpected turn on Sunday afternoon, when a United Airlines passenger jet made contact with a light pole along the adjacent New Jersey Turnpike before touching down at Newark Liberty International Airport. Federal transportation officials have since launched a full investigation into the collision, which surprisingly resulted in no injuries to anyone on board the aircraft.

  • Irish actor and Banshees of Inisherin star dies aged 61

    Irish actor and Banshees of Inisherin star dies aged 61

    Renowned Irish stage and screen actor Gary Lydon, widely celebrated for his standout roles in beloved films including *Calvary*, *The Guard*, and *The Banshees of Inisherin*, has passed away at the age of 61. Tributes from across Ireland’s arts community and local circles have honored his decades-long career and warm personal legacy.

    Born Gary O’Brien in London in 1964 to Irish parents, Lydon moved with his family to Wexford in childhood, where he grew up and developed his connection to the local arts scene. For his professional acting career, he adopted his mother’s maiden name, Lydon, launching a multi-decade journey that saw him perform across both theater and major film productions.

    Lydon first rose to public and critical acclaim in the mid-1980s, when he took the stage in Billy Roche’s iconic *Wexford Trilogy* of plays, a production that cemented his reputation as a rising talent in Irish theater. Over the following decades, he would go on to build a resume that included memorable on-screen performances alongside some of Ireland’s most celebrated actors.

    In a statement released Sunday on behalf of Wexford Arts Centre, executive director Elizabeth Whyte expressed profound shock and sorrow at the news of Lydon’s passing. “Gary honed his craft as one of Ireland’s finest actors right here on the Wexford Arts Centre stage, in many of Billy Roche’s most beloved works,” Whyte said. “He built an extraordinary career performing across Ireland and the United Kingdom, leaving an indelible mark on every production he joined.”

    Notably, Whyte shared that Lydon’s final performance at the Wexford venue was a particularly meaningful moment: he shared the stage alongside his son, James Doherty O’Brien. “The lights of the global theater community burn dimmer with Gary’s passing, but we will forever hold the memory of his extraordinary performances in reverence,” she added.

    Beyond his acting career, Lydon maintained close ties to his local community in Wexford, including his former Gaelic Athletic Association club, St Michael’s. The club paid tribute to Lydon on social media, noting that he often joined the team to play when his busy acting schedule allowed, and remained a dedicated supporter in later years. “In the years after his playing days, he was a constant presence on the sidelines cheering on the club, especially when his son James was competing,” the club’s statement read. “May he rest in peace.”

    Irish national broadcaster RTÉ confirmed that James Doherty O’Brien released a formal statement on behalf of the Lydon family, describing the actor’s passing as a sudden and devastating loss. “The loss of our dad is a huge shock and a deep grief for all of our family,” the statement said. “He will be sorely missed by me, my brother Seanluke, our mother Kara, his beloved partner Paula and her daughter Aoife, all of his brothers, and our entire extended family.”

    The statement added that despite Lydon’s widespread acclaim and numerous professional achievements, his greatest source of joy and pride was his role as a father. “We will miss the countless ways he loved and protected us. All of our wonderful memories with him will stay in our hearts forever,” the family shared.

  • OPEC+ countries agree modest rise in production as Iran retains chokehold on key Strait of Hormuz

    OPEC+ countries agree modest rise in production as Iran retains chokehold on key Strait of Hormuz

    VIENNA — In a move that underscores ongoing efforts to balance volatile global energy markets, seven key OPEC+ oil-producing nations, including heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Russia, have greenlit a small, incremental production increase set to launch in June, framing the step as a deliberate contribution to sustained market stability. The coalition, which also counts Algeria, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Oman among its members, formalized the decision to add 188,000 barrels of crude per day to global supplies following a virtual negotiating session held on Sunday. Energy analysts widely characterize the output increase as largely symbolic, given the severe supply disruptions currently roiling the Persian Gulf. Amid escalating regional tensions tied to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict, Iran has imposed restrictions on vessel traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — the strategic waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world’s total oil and natural gas trade. The blockage has sidelined the bulk of seaborne oil exports from Gulf producing states, removing millions of barrels of daily supply from the global market far outweighing the small planned output increase from OPEC+. The decision comes on the heels of a seismic shift in the global oil order: the United Arab Emirates’ historic announcement that it will exit OPEC, the 65-year-old oil cartel that commands roughly 40% of the world’s total crude production and holds outsized sway over global energy pricing. The departure has thrown long-standing alliance dynamics into uncertainty, forcing member and partner states to reassess their coordinated production strategies. Institutional context clarifies OPEC+’s structure: Iran holds a seat as one of OPEC’s 12 current core members, while Russia is not a formal cartel participant, instead collaborating with the Vienna-headquartered alliance through the broader OPEC+ partnership framework. Moving forward, the seven nations that approved the production hike say they will convene monthly review sessions to assess evolving market conditions, monitor member compliance with production quotas, and address any necessary production adjustments to offset past deviations. The next full review meeting is scheduled for June 7, when leaders will revisit market outlooks and adjust plans as needed in response to shifting global supply and demand dynamics.

  • A cargo ship near Strait of Hormuz reports being attacked as Iran makes new peace proposal

    A cargo ship near Strait of Hormuz reports being attacked as Iran makes new peace proposal

    DUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A new suspected attack targeting an unidentified northbound cargo ship has been documented off the coast of Sirik, Iran, east of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), Britain’s leading maritime security monitoring agency, announced Sunday. This incident brings the total number of maritime attacks recorded in and around the world’s most critical energy chokepoint to at least two dozen since the outbreak of the ongoing Iran war, and marks the first reported assault in the region after a lull that began April 22, when another cargo vessel came under fire. All crew members aboard the targeted ship emerged unharmed, UKMTO confirmed, though no group has yet stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack. The overall threat rating for commercial shipping transiting the area remains classified as critical, as Tehran has effectively disrupted normal traffic through the strait through a campaign of targeted attacks and threats against passing vessels. For months, Iranian officials have maintained that any non-U.S. and non-Israeli flagged vessels may safely pass the waterway only upon payment of a transit toll. The small assault craft used in these attacks, many operated by Iranian forces and outfitted only with twin outboard motors, are notoriously agile, difficult for international naval forces to detect, and have been linked to multiple assaults on commercial shipping in recent months. Tensions in the region remain high even as a fragile three-week ceasefire between U.S.-led forces and Iran has largely held. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters Saturday that additional military strikes against Iranian targets remain on the table should diplomacy fail to resolve the standoff. Parallel to the maritime security escalation, Iran has submitted a new 14-point peace proposal to the United States through diplomatic intermediary Pakistan, which hosted direct, face-to-face negotiations between the two countries last month. The proposal, reported by Iranian state-linked security outlets Nour News and Tasnim, aims to reach a full end to hostilities within a 30-day timeline rather than just extend the current ceasefire. It calls for the U.S. to lift all sweeping economic sanctions on Iran, end the ongoing American naval blockade of Iranian ports, withdraw all U.S. military forces from the broader Middle East region, and force an end to Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Notably absent from the proposal is any mention of Iran’s controversial nuclear program and its stockpiles of enriched uranium – the core longstanding point of contention between Tehran and Western powers, which Iran has indicated it prefers to address in later negotiations. Pakistan continues to serve as a key go-between for the two adversaries, with the country’s prime minister, foreign minister and army chief all pushing for sustained direct dialogue between Washington and Tehran, according to two unnamed Pakistani officials authorized to discuss the sensitive diplomacy. On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Abbas Araghchi also held talks with his Omani counterpart Badr al-Busaidi, whose government oversaw previous rounds of pre-war negotiations between the two sides. The strategic Strait of Hormuz, located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, normally carries roughly 20% of the world’s daily traded oil and natural gas, alongside critical fertilizer shipments that global food markets depend on. Since the outbreak of war on February 28, Iran’s tightening grip on the waterway has sent shockwaves through global energy and commodity markets. During a visit to the strategically vital Larak Island port facilities Sunday, Iranian deputy parliament speaker Ali Nikzad reaffirmed Tehran’s uncompromising stance, saying, “Iran will not back down from our position on the Strait of Hormuz, and it will not return to its prewar conditions.” Nikzad does not hold formal decision-making authority in the Iranian legislature, but his comments signal the hardline position popular among Iranian political elites. The U.S. has responded by warning global shipping companies that any form of payment to Iran for safe transit – including digital assets – could expose them to harsh U.S. sanctions. Compounding pressure on Tehran, the U.S. naval blockade implemented April 13 has cut off most of Iran’s oil export revenue, a critical lifeline for the country’s already ailing economy. U.S. Central Command announced Saturday that 48 commercial tankers have already been ordered to turn back from Iranian ports. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Fox News Sunday that Iran has collected less than $1.3 million in total transit tolls to date – a tiny fraction of the country’s pre-war daily oil export earnings. “They’re going to have to start shutting in wells, which we think could happen in the next week,” Bessent said, noting that Iran’s onshore oil storage facilities are rapidly filling to capacity. Iran’s domestic economic situation continues to deteriorate rapidly, with the national currency the rial hitting new record lows against the U.S. dollar Sunday. On the second day of Iran’s working week, the dollar traded at 1,840,000 rials in Tehran’s central Ferdowsi Street currency exchange, a sharp drop from the already record low of 1.3 million rials per dollar recorded last December. At that time, the currency collapse sparked widespread nationwide protests over the soaring cost of living. Iranian markets remain deeply unstable, with prices for basic consumer goods rising on a daily basis, and local media reports indicate that dozens of factories have failed to renew worker contracts after the Iranian new year in March, leaving thousands unemployed. Yousef Pezeshkian, son and senior adviser to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, acknowledged the stalemate in a Telegram post over the weekend, writing that both the United States and Iran continue to view themselves as the war’s victor and remain unwilling to make concessions. In a separate development Saturday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee issued an urgent public appeal for Iran to immediately allow imprisoned 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to transfer to Tehran to receive specialized care from her personal medical team, after a sharp deterioration in the human rights lawyer’s health. The committee confirmed it is in regular contact with Mohammadi’s family and legal team, and warned that the activist’s life remains in imminent danger. Mohammadi, who is imprisoned in Zanjan prison in northwestern Iran, fainted twice in custody Friday, and was admitted to a local hospital, according to her personal foundation. Her legal team has said she is suspected to have suffered a heart attack in late March. This report included contributions from Associated Press correspondent Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, with additional reporting from Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, and Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Pakistan.

  • Russian strikes kill 10 as Zelensky says Ukraine hits oil tankers and terminal

    Russian strikes kill 10 as Zelensky says Ukraine hits oil tankers and terminal

    Over a 24-hour period, a fresh wave of Russian drone and missile assaults across multiple Ukrainian regions has left at least 10 civilians dead and 76 others injured, marking another escalation in the ongoing aerial campaign targeting Ukrainian populated areas. Fatalities were confirmed across five Ukrainian administrative regions, consistent with Russia’s sustained pattern of regular strikes on urban and civilian infrastructure throughout the country. Three fatalities were recorded in separate incidents in the southern Kherson region, according to the region’s governor. Two deaths each were reported in Odesa, Donetsk, and Zaporizhzhia, while one additional fatality was confirmed in the northeastern Sumy region. Ukrainian air defense forces reported they intercepted the vast majority of incoming Russian weapons, which included one ballistic missile and close to 270 attack drones launched in the assault.

    Parallel to these defensive operations against Russian strikes, Ukrainian authorities have confirmed a series of successful cross-border attacks targeting key Russian energy infrastructure and maritime assets. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that a major oil terminal in northwestern Russia sustained extensive damage, while two Russian oil tankers were hit in strikes near the key Black Sea port of Novorossiysk. Zelenskyy confirmed the two damaged tankers were part of Russia’s so-called ‘shadow fleet’ of vessels operated to bypass Western price caps and sanctions on Russian crude oil exports. No official details on the extent of damage to the ships have been released by Russian authorities as of yet.

    Zelenskyy added in a Telegram post accompanying black-and-white footage that appeared to show a naval drone approaching one of the targeted tankers: ‘These tankers were actively used for transporting oil. Now they will not be.’ In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces have ramped up a coordinated campaign of long-range drone strikes on Russian oil export infrastructure spread across the country’s western and southern regions. Kyiv officials confirm these strikes have taken out billions of dollars in Russian oil export capacity. Over the weekend, Zelenskyy added that infrastructure at the Primorsk export terminal in Russia’s Leningrad region, located near the Finnish border, was also heavily damaged, alongside three vessels stationed at the facility.

    Russian officials reported that in total, Ukraine launched at least 334 drones in cross-border attacks over the same 24-hour period, with the Leningrad region facing the heaviest assault. While Moscow has largely sought to downplay the impact of Ukrainian long-range strikes on its territory, the Kremlin has openly acknowledged growing security concerns over the deep strike range of Ukrainian drones. Most notably, this security anxiety prompted the Kremlin to announce this week it would scale back its annual Victory Day military parade, scheduled for May 9 to mark the Soviet defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II, citing what officials described as an elevated ‘terrorist threat’ from Ukraine.

  • Ukraine hits key Russian oil-loading port and 3 ‘shadow fleet’ tankers

    Ukraine hits key Russian oil-loading port and 3 ‘shadow fleet’ tankers

    On Sunday, Ukraine escalated its long-range targeting campaign against Russian energy assets, launching a coordinated wave of drone strikes that hit a major Baltic Sea oil export terminal and multiple vessels Kyiv links to Russia’s sanctions-evading shadow crude fleet. The cross-border attacks came amid a wave of reciprocal strikes that left civilian casualties on both sides, deepening the ongoing military escalation in the third year of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

    The first and highest-profile strike targeted Primorsk, Russia’s largest Baltic Sea oil export terminal operated by state-owned energy giant Transneft. Located more than 1,000 kilometers from Ukrainian territory, between the Russian-Finnish border and St. Petersburg, the facility is capable of processing hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude daily and has been targeted by Ukrainian drones multiple times since March. Russian regional governor Alexander Drozdenko confirmed that a nighttime drone attack sparked a fire at the port, but noted no oil spill occurred. He offered no immediate details on potential casualties or the extent of infrastructure damage.

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed the operation delivered significant damage to Russian assets in a post on the Telegram messaging platform Sunday. He confirmed the strike, adding that one more Russian Kalibr missile-carrying vessel had been put out of action, alongside destruction of key port infrastructure. Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian drones hit a Karakurt-class missile ship, a Russian patrol boat, and one tanker belonging to Russia’s notorious shadow oil fleet — a network of unregistered or loosely registered vessels used to bypass Western price caps and sanctions on Russian crude exports.

    In an earlier separate statement Sunday, Zelenskyy announced a second strike targeting two additional shadow fleet tankers near the entrance to Novorossiysk, Russia’s major Black Sea port. “These tankers were actively used to transport oil. Now they won’t,” he said, confirming the operation was directed by the chief of Ukraine’s general staff, Andrii Hnatov. The Kremlin has not issued any official confirmation of Zelenskyy’s claims regarding the two tanker strikes as of Sunday evening.

    Sunday’s attacks mark the latest acceleration of Ukraine’s recent campaign against Russian energy export infrastructure. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly justified the targeting, noting that oil and gas revenue forms a core pillar of funding for Russia’s full-scale invasion, which entered its third year in February 2024.

    The coordinated Ukrainian strikes were matched by a large-scale Russian air assault across Ukraine overnight into Sunday, which left multiple civilians dead and injured. Ukraine’s Emergency Service confirmed that a Russian drone strike on the southern Odesa region killed two people and wounded three more, damaging three residential buildings and port infrastructure before emergency crews extinguished a resulting fire. In central Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, six people were wounded in overnight strikes. A passenger bus carrying 40 children was damaged in the attack, though no children onboard were injured.

    Reciprocal strikes also caused civilian casualties inside Russian territory. A 77-year-old man was killed in a Ukrainian drone strike west of Moscow near the town of Volokolamsk, 120 kilometers from central Moscow, regional governor Andrei Vorobyov confirmed via Telegram. Russian officials said six drones were intercepted and downed in the Moscow region, which surrounds the capital, and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin confirmed an additional five drones were shot down while approaching the city itself. In western Russia’s Smolensk region, three people — a man, woman and child — were injured after debris from a shot-down Ukrainian drone crashed into an apartment block, local governor Vasiliy Anokhin reported.

    Russian Defense Ministry figures released Sunday show that Russian air defenses intercepted and downed a total of 334 Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles overnight across Russia and occupied Crimea. For its part, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia launched a total of 269 drones and ballistic missiles against Ukrainian targets overnight. Ukrainian forces shot down 249 of the incoming drones, the service said in a Facebook update, while 19 drones and multiple ballistic missiles successfully hit targets in 15 separate locations across the country.

  • A Serbian bird-watching group uses crowdfunding to buy and preserve a woodland habitat

    A Serbian bird-watching group uses crowdfunding to buy and preserve a woodland habitat

    Nestled in the rolling farmlands of northeastern Serbia, a 2-hectare patch of dense old woodland called Nightingale’s Forest stands as a quiet triumph for grassroots environmental action. Today, bird song drifts through its towering tree canopies, and animal tracks wind across damp, mossy grass — a landscape that very nearly was cleared for timber.

    Last year, Serbia’s Bird Protection and Study Society stepped in to purchase the private plot via a public crowdfunding campaign, saving it from being felled by a commercial buyer. Uros Stojiljkovic, a representative for the society, told the Associated Press that the market value of the forest’s timber already exceeded the land’s asking price, meaning logging was all but guaranteed if the group had not acted. “We protected it this way,” Stojiljkovic said.

    The rapid success of the crowdfunding drive — which raised the full 8,000 euro ($9,500) purchase price in less than a month — has emerged as a telling indicator of shifting public attitudes toward conservation in Serbia, a nation grappling with a cascade of environmental threats. From widespread air and river pollution and failing waste management systems to unregulated profit-driven development that erases green spaces in urban centers, the country’s natural habitats face growing pressure.

    While Serbian authorities have promised to strengthen environmental protections as a requirement for the country’s ongoing European Union membership bid, local conservation groups argue that tangible action has been almost nonexistent. Against this policy gap, the successful campaign for Nightingale’s Forest fills a void, led by ordinary citizens rather than state institutions.

    Natasa Jancic, one of the organizers of the crowdfunding effort, noted that hundreds of donors have continued to contribute even after the purchase goal was met. Extra funds will be put toward ongoing maintenance of the existing forest and future purchases of at-risk green land. “Individually, we can’t do much, but as an active and stable community, we can achieve a lot,” Jancic said.

    Founded three decades ago as a small group of specialized wildlife researchers, the Bird Protection and Study Society has grown dramatically into a broad community of casual and dedicated nature lovers, a shift Jancic says reflects rising public concern for the environment. “We have many families who are members, many nature lovers who may not be that active in the field but they want to contribute somehow,” she explained.

    Nightingale’s Forest now supports a diverse array of native bird and mammal species, sustained by its unique moist undergrowth that is rare in Serbia’s predominantly agricultural northeastern lowlands. Conservationists next plan to conduct a full biodiversity survey to catalog all plant and wildlife species on the land, while leaving the woodland itself untouched.

    Stojiljkovic acknowledges that protecting just 2 hectares of land will not reverse widespread environmental degradation across Serbia on its own. But he frames the project as a critical first step that can be replicated across the country. “Every village or town should have a Nightingale’s Forest of its own for a cumulative effect,” he said. “It is important to start somewhere.”

  • The Iran war has strengthened Ukraine in surprising ways. Could a ceasefire with Russia be closer?

    The Iran war has strengthened Ukraine in surprising ways. Could a ceasefire with Russia be closer?

    When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky walked across a lilac carpet at a high-profile event in Saudi Arabia earlier this year, the moment caught many international observers off guard. What seemed like an unlikely detour for a leader mired in a full-scale war with Russia actually marked the start of a shrewd strategic gambit: leveraging the ongoing Iran conflict to turn an initially bad situation for Kyiv into a series of tangible gains.

    When the conflict in Iran escalated, early forecasts painted a grim picture for Ukraine. The crisis threatened to pull U.S. attention away from Russian-Ukrainian peace talks, and the disruption to global oil markets handed Moscow an unexpected financial windfall. As shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global energy chokepoint bordering Iran, was disrupted, Russia was able to sell its oil at elevated prices to more buyers. The Trump administration, facing soaring global energy costs, even renewed a waiver that allowed nations to purchase sanctioned Russian crude, further padding Russia’s war budget. More revenue for Moscow meant a longer, more brutal war in Ukraine, a reality that spelled disaster for Kyiv’s position.

    But since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has repeatedly defied gloomy international projections, and this moment proved no exception. Zelensky quickly moved to capitalize on the shared threat Gulf states faced from Iranian drone and missile attacks – the same type of assault Russia has pounded Ukraine with for years. Today, Kyiv confirms it has signed new agreements with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar to share battlefield-honed drone defense expertise and technology. The partnerships deepen Kyiv’s alliances with wealthy U.S.-aligned Gulf nations, open new business opportunities, and lay the groundwork for future defense deals Zelensky hopes will follow.

    “We want to help [Gulf states] defend themselves. And we will continue building such partnerships with other countries,” Zelensky said of the new agreements. He has emphasized that Ukraine’s hard-won knowledge of countering low-cost Iranian-designed attack drones, like the Russian-used Shahed-136, fills a critical gap for nations targeted by Tehran. Zelensky points out that Ukraine has developed interception methods that cost as little as $10,000 per drone, a fraction of the multi-million-dollar price tag of traditional air defense missiles – a value proposition that has drawn attention not just from Gulf states, but from NATO members facing growing Russian drone threats across Europe.

    The benefits of this outreach run both ways. Zelensky has made clear he is seeking reciprocal support from Gulf nations to bolster Ukraine’s own air defenses, at a moment when U.S. military stockpiles are strained by commitments to the Middle East. The Trump administration has openly acknowledged it is reallocating defense supplies between regions, leaving Ukraine scrambling to secure alternative sources of critical air defense missiles that Kyiv already lacks.

    Beyond diplomatic and defense gains, the Iran conflict has also let Ukraine apply a key lesson on its own soil: targeting Russia’s critical energy export infrastructure. Using domestically produced long-range drones, Kyiv has made Russian energy facilities a top priority. While higher oil prices and eased sanctions boosted Russian export revenues to 2.3 times their pre-conflict levels in the third week of the Iran crisis, Ukrainian strikes in the following week erased roughly two-thirds of those gains, cutting $1 billion from Moscow’s earnings in a single week. Zelensky says Russia is already suffering billions of dollars in critical losses to its energy sector as a result of the campaign.

    One of the most significant wins to come out of the crisis for Ukraine is the long-stalled release of a €90 billion EU-backed loan, which Kyiv says it urgently needs to purchase and manufacture military equipment over the next year. The loan had been blocked for months by Hungary’s pro-Kremlin former prime minister Viktor Orbán, a close ally of Donald Trump. But growing public anger over energy price hikes driven by the Iran conflict contributed to Orbán’s resounding election defeat last month, and his successor has adopted a far less Russia-friendly stance. The path is now clear for the funds to flow to Kyiv.

    These cumulative gains have shifted Kyiv’s negotiating position ahead of any potential future peace talks with Russia. For months, Ukraine was forced onto the back foot as the Trump administration’s promised peace efforts stalled. Before his re-election, Trump pledged to end the war in 24 hours; since taking office, his administration’s focus has shifted entirely to the Middle East, and the president’s designated peace envoys – Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff – have repeatedly postponed planned trips to Kyiv. The pair have made multiple trips to Moscow, however, and Witkoff, who has a long history of private business in Russia, has met Putin on multiple occasions.

    Trump has recently claimed he remains confident a solution for Ukraine can be reached “relatively quickly” following a “very good” conversation with Putin, adding that “some people” have made a deal difficult for the Russian leader – comments widely interpreted as implicit criticism of Zelensky. Ukraine’s president has called the repeated absence of Trump’s envoys from Kyiv “disrespectful,” noting that only low-level technical talks are ongoing, and no real progress can be expected until the Iran conflict is resolved – a timeline that remains entirely unclear.

    Compounding Kyiv’s concerns is the Trump administration’s broader policy shift toward Russia. The recent U.S. National Security Strategy notably declined to label Russia a security threat, a position that stands in direct contrast to the view of Washington’s NATO allies, and drew public praise from the Kremlin. The document frames ending the war not as a push for a durable, fair peace for Ukraine, but as a step toward achieving “strategic stability” and a potential future partnership with Moscow that would free up U.S. resources for other priorities. Under Trump, harsh new sanctions that could force Russia to the negotiating table on acceptable terms have failed to materialize, and U.S. military and economic assistance for Ukraine has all but dried up.

    With the world distracted by events in Iran, Russia has only stepped up its attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure. European intelligence officials broadly believe the intensified assaults reflect Moscow’s ongoing determination to continue the war, not a last-minute push before negotiations. While Russia’s economy is stagnant under sanctions, it has fully transitioned to a war footing and is not collapsing. Many European leaders and analysts warn that if Russia secures a favorable peace in Ukraine, it will quickly turn to destabilizing other parts of Europe, potentially even targeting a NATO member.

    Many international analysts argue that Putin’s imperial ambitions, not just economic considerations, are driving the conflict. “If Russia had a rational government, it would end the war,” explained Luke Cooper, Associate Professorial Research Fellow in International Relations at the London School of Economics and Director of the Ukraine programme at pro-peace consortium PeaceRep. “The economy is stagnant or in recession. Russia is sending enormous numbers of men to die who could be in work, the private commercial civilian economy is suffering by the imposition of the war economy… and what has Russia achieved? A sliver of Ukrainian territory. Surely, a ceasefire would be advantageous, if it included sanctions relief? But Putin isn’t thinking in those terms. This is all about the decisions of one person, with imperial ambitions, running an autocratic system.”

    Privately, many Ukrainian officials say they are skeptical that the Trump administration will ever deliver the hard action or ironclad security guarantees Kyiv needs to ensure any peace deal is permanent and lasting. Analysts note that reaching a consensus on reliable security guarantees that satisfies all parties – Ukraine, Russia, the U.S., and European nations – remains an enormous hurdle.

    European leaders are under growing pressure to take more decisive action, analysts say. Tom Keatinge, Director of the Finance & Security Centre at the Royal United Services Institute, argues that Trump’s well-documented impatience could lead him to pivot away from the Iran conflict at any moment if a solution there proves elusive, making it critical for Europe to act now. Keatinge criticizes European leaders for timidity in confronting Russia, noting that while the EU is one of the world’s largest trading blocs, it has hesitated to use the full weight of the €210 billion in frozen Russian central bank assets held in EU jurisdictions, instead opting for a €90 billion loan underwritten by European taxpayers. Critics argue Europe has prioritized managing the conflict over aggressively pursuing a just peace.

    Despite the many challenges Zelensky and Ukraine face, the recent string of wins has left Kyiv in a far stronger position than it was just months ago. While the Trump administration has reacted coolly to Ukraine’s drone technology deals in the Gulf, declining to take up Zelensky’s offer to share Kyiv’s expertise publicly, Zelensky says he remains undeterred. For him, the visibility of these deals serves a core purpose: keeping Ukraine on the global agenda at a moment when all eyes are on the Middle East, and pushing Washington to turn its attention back to Eastern Europe sooner rather than later.