Putin Warns Talks or Force as Trump Pressures Moscow
Xi and Putin Caught Discussing Immortality at Parade
Kim Brings Daughter to China, Backs Russia
Trump Authorised the Strike on Suspected Drug Boat
Israel Readies Gaza City Push Amid Mass Displacement
France Fines Google, Shein Over Cookie Breaches
Judge Overturns Harvard $2.2B Funding Freeze
Climate Change Supercharged Iberia Wildfires
Portugal Mourns 15 After Lisbon Funicular Crash
Study Shrinks Global CO2 Storage Potential
Russian President Vladimir Putin said the war in Ukraine could be resolved through negotiations “if common sense prevails,” but warned he would use force if talks fail. Speaking in Beijing after finalizing a new gas pipeline deal with China, he said the Trump administration showed a genuine desire to broker peace. He also repeated his willingness to meet President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Moscow, a proposal Ukraine’s foreign minister rejected as unacceptable.
In Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested consequences if Moscow does not make concessions. “If we’re unhappy, you’ll see things happen,” he told reporters. Trump has encouraged a direct meeting between Putin and Zelenskyy, while Kyiv pressed for new sanctions if progress stalls.
Despite these moves, Moscow insists Ukraine must recognize four annexed regions, while Kyiv rules out territorial concessions. With both sides holding firm, the gap between diplomacy and escalation remains wide.
Sources: Reuters, Al Jazeera
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping were overheard at Beijing’s Victory Day parade musing about biotechnology, organ transplants, and the possibility of immortality. Hot mic recordings captured Putin saying that modern science could enable humans to live younger for longer, even suggesting eternal life might be achievable. Xi reportedly responded that people might reach 150 years of age this century.
The exchange occurred as the two leaders walked through Tiananmen Square with fellow attendees including North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The parade commemorated 80 years since Japan’s surrender in World War II and featured China unveiling new weapons.
Putin later confirmed to Russian media that he had discussed longevity research with Xi, citing organ replacement and medical advances. Both leaders, already entrenched in extended rule, have previously backed initiatives aimed at prolonging human life and maintaining political dominance.
Sources: Euronews, Politico Europe
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Beijing with his daughter, who is believed to be about 12, marking her first international appearance and fuelling succession speculation, analysts said. Photos showed Kim Ju Ae following directly behind her father off the train and ahead of Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, as senior Chinese officials welcomed them.
Source - KCNA
Kim attended a massive military parade alongside China’s Xi Jinping and Russia’s Vladimir Putin — the first such gathering of the three leaders in decades — before travelling in the same car as Putin for bilateral talks. North Korean state media has not shown additional images of the girl beyond the arrival.
Separately, Kim pledged to do “everything I can to assist” Moscow. Putin thanked Pyongyang for sending troops that fought in Russia, praising their “courage.” The countries signed a mutual defence treaty in 2024 and both face extensive international sanctions.
Sources: Washington Post, Reuters
U.S. forces destroyed a small boat in the Caribbean on Tuesday, killing 11 people suspected of smuggling drugs from Venezuela. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that President Donald Trump personally ordered the strike, framing it as a deterrent against traffickers. Rubio said past interdictions failed to stop smuggling and that “blowing up” vessels would send a stronger message.
The White House said the attack was conducted against a designated terrorist organisation and in defense of U.S. interests, citing post-9/11 military authorizations. Officials claimed the crew belonged to Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, though experts have questioned its role in large-scale drug trafficking. Critics warned the strike may violate international law, since the U.S. is not formally in armed conflict with Venezuela.
Regional leaders expressed alarm. Colombian President Gustavo Petro called the attack “murder,” while Mexico emphasised respect for sovereignty during Rubio’s visit. The Trump administration signalled such strikes could happen again.
Sources: Washington Post, Al Jazeera
Israel’s military is intensifying operations around Gaza City ahead of a planned ground offensive to seize the enclave’s largest urban centre. The army chief vowed to keep striking Hamas “until it is defeated,” while a senior official overseeing civil affairs said about 70,000 people had already left the north in recent days. Israeli authorities expect up to a million people to move south, though no timeframe was given.
UN agencies and aid groups warned the stepped-up operations are having “horrific humanitarian consequences” for displaced families sheltering in the city, where a famine was declared last month. Hospitals reported women and children among more than 30 people killed in strikes on Wednesday, mostly in northern and western districts.
In Jerusalem, protesters pressed for a truce-and-hostage deal, staging a “day of disruption.” Some relatives urged the government to prioritise an agreement over expanded military action, arguing an assault on Gaza City could endanger captives still held there.
Sources: RFI, BBC
France’s data watchdog issued two of its heaviest penalties over advertising cookies, fining Google €325 million and Shein €150 million for failing to obtain users’ free and informed consent. The authority said Google displayed ads between Gmail inbox items without prior consent and set advertising cookies during account creation without valid consent. Both firms can appeal.
Regulators ordered Google to comply within six months and secure valid consent practices, with additional daily penalties if it fails. Prior penalties against Google in 2020 and 2021 were cited as aggravating factors. Decisions were dated September 1 and announced late Wednesday. The watchdog said the scale of users affected contributed to the size of the fines.
The action comes amid heightened political sensitivity. The U.S. president has threatened severe tariffs against countries imposing “discriminatory” tech rules, and European officials have tussled over separate enforcement moves. Shein said it had updated systems to comply with French and European law and would appeal; Google said it is reviewing the decision.
Sources:Politico Europe, France 24
A federal judge voided the administration’s freeze of $2.2 billion in grant funds for Harvard, calling it unlawful and blocking officials from enforcing the orders. The ruling said the freeze was a targeted, ideologically driven action that violated constitutional and procedural safeguards.
The court found the grant conditions infringed protected rights and ran afoul of federal administrative law and anti-discrimination statutes. The freeze, imposed after Harvard rejected demands including ending diversity programs and screening international students for ideological bias, had halted work on projects ranging from tuberculosis research to astronaut radiation exposure and veterans’ suicide-risk modeling.
The White House said it would appeal. Officials argued Harvard failed to protect students from harassment and asserted the university has no right to taxpayer funding. The order vacates the freezing directives and bars reimposition by the current administration while the case proceeds.
Sources: CNBC, The Harvard Crimson
Climate change made the hot, dry and windy conditions that fuelled Spain and Portugal’s deadly wildfires around 40 times more likely and about 30% more intense, according to researchers. Fires broke out at the end of July amid temperatures above 40°C and strong winds, spreading extremely rapidly and breaking burn-area records across both countries.
Scientists said Spain endured its hottest consecutive ten days on record during the event, with such fire-prone conditions now expected roughly every 15 years at 1.3°C of warming, compared with once every 500 years previously. A related heatwave of this strength would have been expected less than every 2,500 years without climate change but is now about once every 13 years.
The scale has strained Europe’s firefighting system. Spain made its first request for reinforcements through the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism on 13 August. At least eight people were killed, tens of thousands evacuated, and smoke spread to France, the UK and Scandinavia.
Sources: Euronews, The Guardian
Portugal declared a national day of mourning after the Gloria funicular in Lisbon derailed on Wednesday, killing at least 15 people and injuring 18 near one of the city’s busiest tourist areas. The car veered off a steep track near Liberty Avenue and crashed into a building around 6 p.m., according to officials. Some of the victims were foreign nationals. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
Lisbon’s mayor called it “a tragedy that our city has never seen,” and national leaders expressed condolences. Authorities said all victims were recovered from the wreckage. Operations of other streetcars were suspended and immediate inspections ordered. Initial reports suggested the cable came loose, though the cause has not been confirmed.
The municipal operator said maintenance protocols had been followed, noting general maintenance in 2022 and intermediate work in 2024. The funicular, which can carry about 40 people, first entered service in 1885 and was electrified in 1915.
Sources: France 24, The Independent
A new analysis finds the world has far less safe underground capacity to store carbon dioxide than previously thought. Researchers estimate global storage potential at about one-tenth of earlier figures after excluding areas with leakage risks, seismic hazards or groundwater contamination concerns.
The study concludes that using all prudent storage would cut warming by roughly 0.7°C, far below prior expectations of 5–6°C. It attributes the downward revision to stricter screening of geologic formations and other limitations. The findings come as carbon capture projects remain small relative to annual emissions.
Researchers say storage should be reserved for hard-to-abate sectors and paired with rapid emissions cuts. The reassessment challenges scenarios that relied on abundant storage to draw down temperatures later this century. While emerging approaches (such as mineralising CO2 in certain rocks) are being explored, the study emphasises that banking on vast storage to offset prolonged fossil fuel use could leave future generations with limited options.