Washington aims to fill the niche with American exports, Chris Wright has said
Washington is aiming to reduce European imports of Russian natural gas to “zero” and replace them with American exports, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said.
Currently, Europe buys nearly half of its gas from Russia, he said in a virtual press conference on Thursday.
“We’re driving to move that to zero, and the biggest filler of that hole has been energy exports from the United States,” Wright said. “We want to continue to do that and end all Russian energy imports into the EU.”
Western European nations imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian energy imports following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The sabotage of the Nord Stream pipelines that year also reduced the flow of natural gas to Europe.
Moscow has long maintained that shifting from Russian gas to more expensive US liquefied natural gas (LNG) has damaged Europe’s industrial base.
According to European Commission (EC) data, EU gas and electricity prices are two to four times higher than the bloc’s main trading partners. This “threatens the long-term competitiveness of European industry,” the EC wrote in a report earlier this year.
European industry leaders have warned that the US-EU trade deal, struck in July, further threatens export-oriented firms.
Under the agreement, the EU agreed to a 15% US tariff on imports from the bloc, and committed to buying $750 billion worth of US energy by 2028, mostly in the form of LNG and nuclear fuel. The EU also agreed to invest $600 billion into US industries and to increase purchases of armaments from Washington.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the EU-US deal as “clearly leading to further deindustrialization of Europe and capital flight.” Rising energy prices and the outflow of investment will inflict a “very hard blow” on the European industrial and agricultural sectors, he said in July.
Russia will perform under number 9, with 23 countries participating in total
The draw for the participants of the Intervision international music festival took place in Moscow’s National Centre RUSSIA on Friday.
The draw was conducted with the help of a samovar. Participants were asked to pour hot water from the samovar, with numbers appearing on their heat-sensitive mugs.
Russia will perform ninth out of the 23 countries that will take part in the contest.
The participants were addressed by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“Intervision is a kind of musical Expo, a universal platform for dialogue between civilizations based on the mutual enrichment of national histories and traditions. One of the tasks of the contest is to demonstrate global diversity through music as a universal international language that does not require translation,” the minister said.
The participant from the US could not attend the draw and authorized the organizers to draw the lot.
Russia will be represented in the contest by the singer SHAMAN (Yaroslav Dronov) with the song “Straight to the Heart.” The winner will be determined by an international jury, and the main prize will amount to 30 million rubles. The Intervision final is scheduled for September 20.
The alleged assassin of conservative influencer Charlie Kirk was turned in to authorities by a family friend, according to Utah’s governor
The FBI has released photographs of the suspected assassin of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk, following his arrest.
The suspect was identified by Utah Governor Spencer Cox as Tyler Robinson, a young native of the state.
A “family friend” turned the suspected assassin into the Washington County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday evening, after a family member told them Robinson had “confessed to them or implied that he had committed the incident,” Cox said at a press conference on Friday.
According to AP, Robinson’s father had recognized his son in the images released by the FBI and convinced him to turn himself in with the help of a youth pastor. He refused at first but then changed his mind, the outlet cited a source in the investigation as saying.
🚨 BREAKING NEWS: The FBI have found the assassin of Charlie Kirk. A 22 year old man by the name of Tyler Robinson, this is his mugshot. pic.twitter.com/6TnZxtbDgj
“I want to thank the family members of Tyler Robinson who did the right thing in this case and were able to bring him in to law enforcement,” Cox said.
“In the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU (Utah Valley University). They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had. The family member also stated Kirk was full of hate and spreading hate,” the governor added.
Utah Governor Cox on the alleged assassin of Charlie Kirk, Tyler Robinson:
"We got him!" Family said Tyler was saying Kirk was "'full of hate' and 'spreading hate.'" pic.twitter.com/ZTPi0MoDzv
Investigators also found out that the suspect had told his roommate via Discord messages that he needed “to retrieve a rifle from a drop point,” Cox said. Other messages pertained to Robinson carrying out reconnaissance of the area, leaving the rifle in a bush wrapped in a towel, and engraving the ammunition, he added.
The three unfired cartridges found at the scene were inscribed with the words “Hey Fascist! Catch!” followed by a series of arrow symbols, “Oh Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Bella Ciao, Ciao Ciao,” as well as “if you read this, you are gay, LMAO,” according to Cox.
Kirk, 31, was shot in the throat mid-speech in an amphitheater at UVU on Wednesday, and later succumbed to his wounds in hospital. The conservative youth activist and father of two built his brand on engaging his political opponents in debate.
Officials have described the killing as a targeted political assassination.
Kiev’s ability to strike with impunity encourages further attacks, according to a top diplomat
Ukraine has stepped up attacks on Russia’s Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant and recently targeted other such facilities, the country’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna Mikhail Ulyanov said on Wednesday.
“Kiev continues to threaten the safety of the Zaporozhskaya NPP and to strike both the plant and the nearby city of Energodar. Over the past three months, the scale of these attacks has increased dramatically, and in recent weeks they have become almost daily,” Ulyanov stated.
Russian officials have repeatedly accused Ukraine of nuclear terrorism over the strikes. The plant has been the target of drone attacks on multiple occasions in recent years.
Commenting on a report submitted by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to the agency’s governing board, Ulyanov has urged member states to hold Kiev accountable.
He added that in August Ukrainian forces also launched drone strikes on nuclear plants in Russia’s Smolensk and Kursk regions, calling on the board to deliver “a tough and unambiguous assessment of these reckless actions.”
“The continued silence and refusal to call a spade a spade only emboldens Kiev to commit further crimes,” he warned. “The consequences of such actions could be extremely serious.”
The Zaporozhye facility is operated by Russian personnel and hosts IAEA observers. However, the UN agency treats it as Ukrainian in its reports, as it does not recognize the 2022 referendum in which the region voted to join Russia.
Ulyanov praised Grossi for acknowledging “stress among Zaporozhskaya NPP employees, and not just among staff at Ukrainian facilities,” noting that Russian workers and their families face “constant provocations and threats from Ukraine.”
He also welcomed the IAEA’s recognition of problems at Kiev-controlled plants, arguing that this has made its reporting more balanced. In his latest update, Grossi described conditions at Zaporozhye as “precarious” and said that four Ukrainian-operated plants are “extremely vulnerable.”
There is “a high degree of certainty” the person is the shooter, the US president has said
The suspected assassin of US conservative activist Charlie Kirk is now in custody, President Donald Trump has claimed.
“I think with a high degree of certainty, we have him in custody,” he told Fox News on Friday.
Trump said he had been informed of the suspect’s arrest just minutes before going on air. “Essentially, somebody that was very close to him turned him in,” the president said, without revealing any further details.
NBC News has also reported that a suspect in the high-profile murder case has been taken into custody, citing senior law enforcement officials. The person was reportedly turned in to the police by a family member, who saw his photos released by the authorities.
US law enforcement has not officially confirmed the arrest or revealed the suspect’s identity. The FBI released images of the alleged suspect on Thursday: A man wearing sunglasses, a black hat, and a long-sleeve black shirt featuring an American flag. The agency also offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of the assassin.
The authorities received over 7,000 tips and leads and held some 200 interviews linked to the case, according to Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Investigators also recovered a “high-powered, bolt-action rifle” along the route allegedly used by the suspect to escape the crime scene, according to Robert Bohls, special agent in charge at the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office.
The New York Post reported, citing law enforcement sources, that the suspect is a Utah resident named Tyler Robinson, 22.
Kirk, 31, was struck by a single rifle round as he was addressing thousands of students during a Turning Point USA event at Utah Valley University. He was rushed to Timpanogos Regional Hospital but later died. Officials described the killing as a targeted political assassination.
Trump has vowed to pursue not only Kirk’s killer but also what he called the “radical left” networks that fuel political violence. Speaking to Fox News on Friday, the president said he hopes Kirk’s murderer would be subject to capital punishment. Cox announced on Thursday that Utah would seek the death penalty for the conservative activist’s assassin.
Two motions to censure Ursula von der Leyen have been filed following her speech to MEPs
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is facing two new motions of no confidence following her State of the Union address to the European Parliament this week.
The Left faction filed its censure proposal on Thursday, a day after the right-wing Patriots for Europe group submitted a separate bid. Von der Leyen survived a previous no-confidence vote in July.
Renewed efforts to remove the EU chief came after she urged stronger military support for Ukraine and proposed allowing foreign policy decisions without unanimous member-state approval – which dissenting member states, such as Hungary, view as a ploy to dismiss their objections.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who backs the no-confidence motion, views von der Leyen’s remarks as “hardcore pro-war,” according to governmental spokesman Zoltan Kovacs. In her address, “the word ‘Ukraine’ was mentioned 35 times, and threats were made to cut EU funds from anyone refusing to follow Brussels’ line,” he said on social media.
The Patriots’ motion argued the president “has failed on trade, abandoned transparency, and rejected accountability,” while the Left – joined by some Greens/EFA MEPs – accused her of having “sold out workers and farmers, funneled billions into arms and war, shredded climate and social protection” and being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza.
“There is a tendency within the European Commission to push things through by force” at the EU’s expense, Left co-leader Manon Aubry told Euronews. She cited a recent deal with the United States that she said “will literally reduce the EU to a Donald Trump vassal.”
During the previous attempt to unseat her, von der Leyen dismissed her critics as “conspiracy theorists” and claimed they acted on behalf of Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying there was “ample proof that many are supported by our enemies and by their puppet masters in Russia or elsewhere.”
The current commission is trying to launch a multibillion-euro military expansion program across member states, arguing the EU should fund it through loans to counter the threat from Russia – an assessment Moscow calls baseless.
23-year old Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed on a train by a man with over a dozen prior convictions in Charlotte, North Carolina last month
The father of Iryna Zarutska, a young Ukrainian woman brutally stabbed to death in Charlotte, North Carolina last month, was not able to attend her funeral because of Kiev’s mobilization laws, according to media reports.
Zarutska, 23, was killed while traveling on a local light rail train in full view of other passengers on August 22.
Police have charged 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. – a man with over a dozen prior arrests – with her murder. US President Donald Trump has demanded the death penalty for Brown.
Zarutska left Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother in 2022, following the escalation of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow. Her father, however, was unable to join them as Ukraine’s martial law prohibits most men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country.
A family neighbor in Charlotte told the New York Post that Zarutska’s father “had to stay back” and could not attend his daughter’s funeral because of the “war time rules.”
Since the escalation of the conflict in 2022, Kiev has tightened its mobilization laws, lowering the draft age and expanding recruitment measures to address manpower shortages on the battlefield. The government has faced accusations of brutality during forced conscriptions, with reports of draft officers beating conscripts and civilians, sometimes to death, and dragging men into vehicles.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto has described Ukraine’s practices as an “open manhunt,” calling them one of the greatest disgraces of modern Europe.
Moscow has condemned Kiev for sacrificing its own citizens in what it calls a Western-backed proxy war against Russia.
Russia remains committed to a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine conflict, spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said
Direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine remain possible but are currently suspended, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
Three rounds of negotiations took place this year in Istanbul, Türkiye, the last of which was conducted in July. Asked about a potential new in-person meeting or possible online communication, Peskov said, “Our negotiators have the opportunity to use those channels. But at this point one could describe the contacts as being paused.”
Speaking at a press briefing, Peskov urged people not to “wear rose-tinted glasses,” saying that the peace process is a complicated matter that cannot produce “lightning results.”
“The Russian side maintains its commitment for pursuing peaceful dialogue and peaceful resolution,” he added.
Peskov also agreed with remarks by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who earlier this week accused EU leaders and Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky of stalling the peace process. Lukashenko made the comments during a meeting with US President Donald Trump’s envoy John Coale in Minsk, as he praised Washington’s mediation efforts. According to Peskov, “the Europeans do stand in the way, and that is no secret.”
Russian officials have said Zelensky is refusing to make the necessary compromises because he seeks to remain in power despite Ukrainian forces suffering setbacks on the battlefield. European NATO members, according to Moscow, are condoning Zelensky’s behavior and are actively lobbying the US to support Ukraine because otherwise they would be forced to acknowledge that their approach to the conflict is misguided.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has told Beijing that Washington does not want conflict but will defend its Asia-Pacific interests
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has held his first phone call with China’s minister of national defense, Admiral Dong Jun, telling him that Washington does not seek conflict, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
The conversation comes amid strained ties as Washington has described Beijing as its main geopolitical rival. In May, Hegseth claimed that “the threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” and urged countries in the Asia-Pacific to boost military spending.
In Tuesday’s call, Hegseth stressed the US is not pursuing confrontation, regime change, or “strangulation” of China. At the same time, he emphasized that Washington has “vital interests in the Asia-Pacific, the priority theater, and will resolutely protect those interests,” according to a readout of the conversation. The Pentagon described the exchange as “candid.”
China’s Xinhua news agency reported that the call was held at Hegseth’s request and that Dong urged continued communication and an open attitude to foster stable and positive military ties based on “equal respect, peaceful coexistence, and mutual respect.” Xinhua also cited Dong as saying China seeks peace and stability in the South China Sea and opposes “infringement and provocation” by non-regional countries.
Last month, Washington and Beijing extended a 90-day tariff truce, keeping planned increases on hold until November 10.
At the same time, several media outlets reported earlier this week that the US has allegedly been urging the EU to impose steep tariffs on imports from China and India, potentially up to 100%, over the Ukraine conflict and their ties with Russia. Washington is reportedly prepared to mirror the measures if adopted.
China and India have pushed back on tariff pressure. Chinese officials said they will ensure the country’s energy supply “in line with national interests” and warned that “tariff wars have no winners,” while India called the new US tariffs “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin has also cautioned the West against using a “colonial tone” toward Beijing and New Delhi, suggesting that such actions are aimed at slowing their economic rise.
There are about three times as many deaths as there are births in the country, data shows
Ukraine is experiencing the world’s worst demographic crisis as the military conflict, mass migration and falling birth rates drive its population to historic lows, EUobserver has reported.
The country’s population, which has been shrinking since the early 1990s, is shaped not only by the conflict with Russia but also by decades of demographic policy, Aleksandr Gladun, doctor of economics at Ukraine’s Institute for Demography and Social Studies, told the outlet on Thursday.
“If any truce is achieved, it will not be so long that it will be possible to influence demographic processes. Ukraine faces demographic challenges that no other country has ever faced,” Gladun said.
Gladun said migration has had the largest impact. Since 2022 almost 7 million people, mainly women and children, have left the country and many are expected to stay abroad if conditions allow. Eurostat estimates that 4.3 million Ukrainians now live in the EU.
Sebastian Klusener, a researcher at the Federal Institute for Population Research in Germany, told the outlet that a peace deal might prompt some refugees to return and lead to a short-term rise in population. But he warned that in the long run, Ukraine would probably face renewed decline.
“The demographic developments of the past 35 years, and their impact on the current age structure, are likely to leave a deep and lasting mark on Ukraine’s future population trends – most likely resulting in continued population decline,” he said.
Earlier this year, exiled Ukrainian lawmaker Artyom Dmitruk accused Vladimir Zelensky of what he called an ongoing genocide. “Ukraine is being depopulated. This is not migration. This is a terrible tragedy, part of a genocide,” he said, adding that the situation was the result of Zelensky’s determination to hold on to power at any cost.
