This week’s bonus episode is an extended interview with Bektour Iskender, a journalist and co-founder of Kloop, an NGO and leading news publication in Kyrgyzstan. Through his work with Kloop, Bektour trains young journalists to cover politics and investigate corruption, while also reporting on the most significant stories happening in his home country and near abroad.
We spoke to Bektour about his work in journalism and the history of Russian colonial aggression in Kyrgyzstan, creating a snapshot of a country whose past mirrors Ukraine’s, and whose present is also being determined by Russia’s war.
Sources told CNN that U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who currently lacks a chief of staff or senior advisers, believed the move aligned with President Donald Trump's "America First" priorities.
Russia launched another mass missile and drone attack overnight on July 9, targeting Ukrainian cities, including in the country's far-west regions located hundreds of kilometers from the front line.
"With Putin I said, 'If you go into Ukraine, I’m going to bomb the sh*t out of Moscow. I’m telling you I have no choice,'" Donald Trump told a group of donors in 2024, according to CNN.
The European Union is considering establishing a fund for Ukraine worth 100 billion euros ($117 billion) in the next seven-year EU budget, Bloomberg reported on July 8, citing sources familiar with the proposal.
The European Union's 15th, 16th, and 17th packages of sanctions against Russia are now "fully effective in Ukraine," President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on July 8.
The financial hole in Ukraine's budget is linked to reduced U.S. support and the lack of prospects for a swift ceasefire with Russia that Europe had hoped for, the Financial Times reported.
"She is extremely effective and charismatic, but surely every diplomat has a rotation cycle," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said of Ambassador Oksana Markarova.
The 5.7-kilometer deviated well was drilled and commissioned six weeks ahead of schedule as Ukraine works to boost domestic production amid Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, including gas storage facilities in western Ukraine.
In a statement, the ICC named Taliban supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and Afghanistan's top judge Abdul Hakim Haqqani as suspects in a campaign of systematic oppression targeting women, girls, and others who do not conform to the group's rigid gender ideology.
According to officials familiar with the matter, the Pentagon's munitions tracker showed Patriot interceptor stocks had dipped below acceptable levels. That prompted concerns that sending more to Ukraine could put U.S. defense readiness at risk.
Trump also addressed U.S. legislation on sanctions, saying the Senate's Russia sanctions bill was "totally optional" for him to implement or terminate. "I'm looking at it very strongly," Trump said.
Ukraine's Cabinet of Ministers rejected a nominee to lead the economic crimes agency, drawing swift criticism from lawmakers and businesses over alleged interference in the selection process.
