Category: Europe

Putin: Foreign-Made Tanks Are ‘Priority Target’ for Russian Forces in Ukraine

MOSCOW—Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Western supplies of weapons to Ukraine would change nothing on the battlefield but only further escalate the conflict, adding that foreign-made tanks were a “priority target” for Moscow’s forces. Mr. Putin, in comments to state television made after a NATO summit in which Ukraine won a promise…


Google Rolls out AI Chatbot Bard to Europe and Brazil and Adds More Features

LONDON—Google said Thursday that it’s rolling out its AI-powered chatbot Bard across Europe and in Brazil, expanding its availability to hundreds of millions more users. The company also said it’s adding more features to Bard as it scrambles to keep up with rival Microsoft—which uses OpenAI’s popular ChatGPT service in its Bing search engine—in the…


Russian Troops’ Death Toll in Ukraine War Surpasses Soviet-Afghan War, Study Finds

The death toll among Russian soldiers as a result of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine has exceeded that of the Soviet war in Afghanistan, according to a new study. Roughly 47,000 Russian troops are estimated to have died since Russia launched its “special military operation” in neighboring Ukraine in February 2022, according to the joint study conducted by…


Biden Says Putin ‘Already Lost the War’ in Ukraine

HELSINKI—The Russian war against Ukraine is all but over President Joe Biden asserted on July 13, saying: “Putin has already lost the war.” The remark came during a press conference welcoming Finland into the NATO alliance. Standing alongside Finland President Sauli Niinisto, Mr. Biden responded to questions about the possibility of Ukraine entering NATO after…


Russian Military Goals Unaffected by Outcome of NATO Summit: Moscow

The outcome of this week’s NATO summit in Lithuania has not affected Russia’s military objectives as they pertain to Ukraine, according to Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Russian Security Council. “The special military operation will continue with its goals unchanged,” Mr. Medvedev, who has previously served as both Russia’s president and prime minister, said…


Ons Jabeur Beats Aryna Sabalenka to Reach Her 2nd Wimbledon Final in a Row

WIMBLEDON, England—Ons Jabeur came back from a set and a break down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6–7 (5), 6–4, 6–3 on Thursday and reach the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year. This will be the third title match for Jabeur in the past five Grand Slam tournaments. The 25-year-old from Tunisia already was the only Arab woman and only…


Traces of Explosives Found in Yacht in Nord Stream Sabotage Investigation, Diplomats Say

BERLIN—Investigators found traces of undersea explosives in samples taken from a yacht that was searched as part of a probe into last year’s attacks on the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, European diplomats told the United Nations Security Council. The diplomats said the investigation has not yet established who sabotaged the pipelines,…


IN-DEPTH: House GOP Spar Over ‘Culture War’ Amendments to $886 Billion Defense Budget

For those steeped in the cement-dense rules of the legislative process who enjoy parliamentary intrigue, power plays, and shifting alliances all entangled in the nation’s must-pass defense budget, the United States House of Representatives is putting together a Republican-produced summer thriller. For everyone else, brace for a series of hotly contested floor clashes on dozens—perhaps,…


Senators Reintroduce Bipartisan Bill to Block the US President From Leaving NATO

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) reintroduced a bill on Wednesday that would constrain any U.S. president from ever withdrawing from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance. “NATO serves as an essential military alliance that protects shared national interests and enhances America’s international presence,” Mr. Rubio said on Wednesday. “Any decision…


Biden Says NATO’s Support for Ukraine ‘Will Not Falter’ as Summit Ends

VILNIUS, Lithuania—President Joe Biden delivered a speech on July 12 following the conclusion of a two-day NATO summit in Vilnius, seeking to convey a clear message to Russia that the alliance’s commitment to Ukraine “will not falter.” “The defense of freedom is not the work of a day or a year. It’s the calling of…