David Merner

SIKORSKI: I'm skeptical about negotiating with Putin. First, Vladimir Putin is a man whose word and whose signature cannot be trusted. He has lied to us repeatedly: “These are not my men in Crimea,” remember? “I have absolutely no intention of invading Ukraine.” This is a man whose signature is on Russo-Ukrainian border treaty. How can we expect Putin to respect next treaty when he is already in breach of current ones? Second, when you've been dictator for over 20 years, everybody lies to you, and you always drop your maximalist demands too late, because you don't know true situation you are in. I also think dictators like Putin correctly understand that they cannot admit a mistake or withdraw from one without losing power. Therefore, I believe this war will be ended by someone else.

Disproportionate one-party majorities hand total power to politicians from a single party, leading to policy decisions made behind closed doors. Proportional representation requires broad consensus, meaning less power concentrated in secret and more open collaboration.

Zelenskyy: Russians just destroyed the Chornobyl museum — built one month ago. Crazy assholes. We strike military targets — weapons production, energy that funds their army. Russia hits museums, schools, apartments. 1/

It is important now to continue conveying to all political leaders that air defense for Ukraine is the number one priority. It is important to continue working together on the resilience of Ukrainian communities – and therefore on the experience of resilience that will be useful to communities in your countries. It is enormously helpful for Ukraine to feel that we are not alone in our defense. People in your countries, as well as here in Ukraine, must continue to feel that evil will not prevail. And we will remain very grateful to you for every joint project, every strong decision, every step that helps our defense and the protection of our cities and villages from Russian strikes, and for your participation in Ukraine’s reconstruction. The fate of our freedom and yours is being decided here, in Ukraine, in this war – in which system prevails here: our shared European system, or Moscow’s. From the speech at the 4th International Summit of Cities and Regions. (3/3)

Chances are you know the climate is changing, and that means trouble. From rising emissions to melting permafrost and economic risks, these 7 graphs break down the climate crisis today. Ahead of #WorldEnvironmentDay, explore UNEP data and why the world must act #NowForClimate: unep.org/news-and-stori…

MP Marilyn Gladu implies funding was tied to joining the Liberals. Though 29k locals voted Liberal, their voices were ignored because they did not win unless their MP crossed the floor. Proportional representation fixes this so governments cannot ignore your needs.

There are only a few places on earth where thousand year old trees still stand. The west coast of Canada is one of them but every day they are logged. Time to stop the logging: buff.ly/CKJRcLy #ProtecttheIrreplaceable #ActOnClimate #nature pics @TJWattPhoto #cop16cali

We have entered the incredible new era of 24/7 firm renewable power, an industrial and sovereign inevitability. The economics are brutal for anyone holding fossil assets. Here's the raw data from the latest 2026 IRENA, IEA, and Ember reports: THREAD

Since last night, first responders and all necessary services have been working wherever needed. As of now, at least 83 people have been confirmed injured since midnight. Tragically, there are fatalities. My condolences to the families and loved ones. It was a heavy attack – 90 missiles of various types, many of them ballistic missiles – 36 in total. There were 600 drones. Unfortunately, not all of the ballistic missiles were intercepted – the largest number of hits was in Kyiv. Kyiv was the primary target of this Russian attack. Putin can’t even pronounce the word “hurrah” clearly anymore – slurs and mumbles – yet he is still vanquishing residential buildings with his missiles. Launched three Russian missiles against a water supply facility. Burned down a market. Damaged dozens of residential buildings. Hit several ordinary schools. Launched his “Oreshnik” against Bila Tserkva. They really are unhinged. It is important that this does not pass without consequences for Russia. Today, everyone in the world who will not stay silent and chooses to help Ukraine is a defender of life. It is critically important to continue working to secure air defense for Ukraine, especially anti-ballistic capabilities. We are doing our best to achieve peace and protect people – everything. It is important that Ukraine is not alone. Decisions are needed – from the United States, from Europe and others – to make that old “Oreshnik” in Moscow finally utter the word “peace.”

“There is no grey zone. You either stand with freedom or with aggression. If we stop supporting Ukraine, we are effectively supporting Russia.” — Kaja Kallas Simple as that...🤷‍♀️

If you give a politician $5 to influence a vote, it’s bribery. If billionaires spend $50 million to influence an election, it’s legal. That is what a corrupt campaign finance system looks like.

One in four cars sold in 2025 was electric. The International Energy Agency (IEA) just published its latest annual Global EV Outlook. It provides estimates for electric vehicle sales in 2025. One in four (25%) cars sold in 2025 were electric, more than double the share from just four years earlier. But there are large differences in adoption rates across the world. This chart shows new sales shares by country. In Norway, almost every new car is an electric one. In China, more than half are, while in the United States, it’s just 10%. These figures include fully electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids. You can find this data broken down by vehicle type in this chart. (This Data Insight was written by @_HannahRitchie.)

The critically endangered Amur Leopard About 100 left in the wild. Nature is amazing. Protect it. 📹 itseriksen

Hungarian PM Péter Magyar said that the international community "didn't really do its job" and failed to "guarantee Ukraine’s territorial integrity and independence" under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. "Now we need a peace agreement with real guarantees, security guarantees. I think it's crucial for Ukraine as well," he added.

The U.S. ambassador to Ukraine resigned and openly accused Trump of aligning with Putin. Respect to Bridget Brink — a brave and honest woman.

The largest animal ever to have lived, the majestic blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus). Nature is amazing. Protect it. #ActOnClimate #climate #nature #rewilding #oceans #biodiversity via dolphindronedom/IG

APPLEBAUM: If you are leader of Russia or China, what's thing that's most threatening to you? Language of liberal democracy. All this stuff we find boring and we're used to, like idea of freedom of speech, separation of powers, rule of law, all those things we take for granted in our societies are huge challenge to political systems in Russia or China. What's Putin most afraid of? He's most afraid of street revolution of the kind we had in Ukraine in 2014. When people are standing in the street and they have signs saying "we're against corruption, we want democracy, we want to be in the European Union, we want to be integrated with Europe." He's afraid of that happening in Russia because if you live in autocratic state where you don't have freedom of speech, where there's no justice, where government decides what all the rules are, then those ideas are explosive and exciting. They were the same way in 18th century when they first appeared in Declaration of Independence. People can be motivated by them, people will go into the street for them, people will risk their lives for them, and autocrats know that. Really, for the past decade you see them seeking to spread those ideas, to promote them. I mean, we all know now about Russian propaganda campaigns, we know what Russian disinformation looks like. There's a Chinese version, too, which we don't see that much in English, but it appears in other countries. We see them seeking to undermine democracy, trying to spread the influence of different set of ideas.

"Russia must immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders." - Sanna Marin Former Prime Minister of Finland concise and clear...! 😉

Proximity to nuclear power plants was associated with elevated mortality from breast, colon, and lung cancers. From 2000 to 2020, an estimated 39,767 female deaths (95% CI: 9312–69,381), representing 2.01% (95% CI: 0.47–3.50%), and 38,124 male deaths (95% CI: 16,106–59,600), representing 2.33% (95% CI: 0.98–3.64%), were attributable to this proximity. Lung cancer accounted for the largest burden in both sexes, followed by breast and colon cancer in females and colon cancer in males. Mortality risks declined with increasing distance, becoming negligible beyond 50 km. Nature 20th May 2026 nature.com/articles/s4137…

Putin didn't invade Ukraine because of NATO. He invaded because Ukrainians were proving democracy works. Historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Anne Applebaum puts it plainly: Putin looked at Ukraine's democratic movement and thought, "If they can do it in Ukraine, then people could do it in Russia. So I need to crush this." That's the real threat Ukraine posed. Not missiles. Not borders. A working democracy next door. Applebaum frames the war as a fault line between the democratic and autocratic worlds. Russia isn't just trying to take territory. It's trying to erase Ukraine as a nation, reduce it to a colony, and send a message to every country that the post-1945 rules of Europe no longer apply. Those rules were simple: no invasions, no wars, borders don't change by force. Russia understood exactly what it was breaking when it crossed into Ukraine.