Boris Chykulay 🇺🇦

A new exhibition of work by William Kentridge at Kunsthalle Praha looks set to be one of the art events of the year in the city. It includes animated films, sculptural works – and a piece dedicated to Franz Kafka created especially for the show. english.radio.cz/william-kentri…

Tennis players live 9.7 years longer than sedentary people. Not 9.7 months. 9.7 years. Nearly a decade. The Copenhagen City Heart Study tracked 8,577 people for 25 years and ranked every sport by how much life it adds. Badminton: 6.2 years. Soccer: 4.7. Cycling: 3.7. Swimming: 3.4. Jogging: 3.2. Tennis almost triples jogging. A separate study of 80,000 adults found racket sports cut all-cause mortality by 47% and cardiovascular death by 56%. Swimming hit 41%. Aerobics hit 36%. The question is why racket sports destroy everything else. Three mechanisms stack on top of each other. First, the physical demands. A tennis rally requires explosive sprints, lateral cuts, and sustained aerobic output. You're training fast-twitch and slow-twitch muscle fibers simultaneously. Most cardio only trains one system. Second, the cognitive load. You're reading spin, predicting angles, adjusting position, and executing motor patterns in real-time. Your brain is solving spatial puzzles at 80+ mph. That hand-eye coordination and strategic processing builds neural connections that protect against cognitive decline. Third, and this is the one researchers keep coming back to: you literally cannot play alone. Every racket sport requires another person on the other side of the net. That forced social interaction triggers neurochemical benefits that solitary exercise cannot replicate. Strong social connection alone increases your chance of longevity by 50%. Jogging is you and your thoughts. Tennis is you, a strategic opponent, and a community. Dr. Daniel Amen is right. The data is overwhelming. If you want the single highest-ROI activity for a longer life, pick up a racket.

⚡️ Kyiv raises alarm over Russian ship docking in Israel with stolen Ukrainian grain. The Russian bulk carrier Abinsk reportedly docked in Haifa carrying nearly 44,000 tons of wheat that Ukrainian investigators say was taken from occupied territories. kyivindependent.com/ukraine-appeal…

Good discussion with General Grynkewich, @NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe. As war in Ukraine continues and Russian defence industry produces at scale, Europe must do more to boost investment, ramp up production capacity and increase speed. We need an innovative industry to produce both high-end complex systems and cheaper new technologies. To this end, we can learn from Ukraine’s expertise and experience. In an increasingly complex security environment, a strong relationship between the EU and NATO is central to European security.

❝A strong Ukraine today, and a strong Ukraine for the future is how Russian aggression can be stopped.❞ - @SecGenNATO at Ukraine Defence Contact Group’s meeting | #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦

There are important results from the new meeting in the Ramstein format – precisely what we have agreed with leaders is now being implemented. Just now, there was a report from Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Mykhailo Fedorov. Partners at Ramstein noted Ukraine’s strong positions on the battlefield – I am grateful for this recognition to each of our combat brigades. There is also a clear understanding of our needs in air defense and in joint weapons production. The main thing is that every commitment announced is fully and timely fulfilled. When the provision of our defense is sufficient, Russia has no real possibility of achieving its occupation goals. A decision has been confirmed on new contributions to the PURL initiative from five partners. I thank Germany for continuing our work on air defense and Ukraine’s deep‑strike capabilities. I thank the United Kingdom for continuing efforts to supply the necessary drones, and it is important that we further develop joint capabilities. Norway – more than $500 million for equipping brigades with drones, as well as $150 million to strengthen our logistics. The Netherlands — over €200 million for drones, thank you. I am grateful to Spain for its tangible readiness to work within the European SAFE instrument, which will allow us to scale up our joint defense capabilities. I thank Canada for another reinforcement of designated defense directions. Belgium will allocate additional funds for the supply of shells and for strengthening our air defense – thank you. I am grateful to Lithuania and Estonia for their contributions to the PURL initiative. We continue to inform partners about the current needs of our defense and the possibilities of pressuring Russia for the sake of peace. I thank everyone who is helping!

‘Former teacher pleads guilty to improper sexual relationship with 2 teen boys’ wtvm.com/2026/04/13/for…

❝On the front lines, there are so many drones.❞ A Ukrainian 🇺🇦 drone operator shares his frontline experience and explains why sharing that knowledge with NATO troops is so important Link in threaded post for the full video ↓

During meetings with President of the Storting of Norway Masud Gharahkhani and leaders of political parties, I thanked the parliamentarians for their strong and unwavering support throughout all the years of Russian aggression. Support from governments depends on the position of parliamentarians, and we value the unanimity of the Storting on the issues of assistance to Ukraine. Over the years of this struggle, Ukraine has gained unique experience in protecting lives. And we are ready to share it for the security of Norway and the entire region. We discussed with the parliamentarians the work on preparing a Drone Deal between our countries. It is important to realize this opportunity to strengthen each other. We also separately addressed the issue of establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine and the necessary steps to launch it. Justice is needed.

It is for parents to raise their children. Not platforms. The European Age Verification App is ready ↓ twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1…

I had an important call with @vonderleyen, president of the European Commission. We agreed that unlocking the EU funds earmarked for the Hungarian people, but frozen due to the previous government’s corruption, is the top priority. The new government will take the key political decisions on how to unlock and invest these funds, in line with the clear mandate of the Hungarian people last Sunday. The Commission will work closely with us to meet the extremely tight deadline and deliver results.

Auf dem Weg zurück nach Europa kann Ungarn auf Deutschland zählen.

The top diplomatic priority for Ukraine right now is cooperation for the sake of air defense. We need air defense missiles every single day – every day the Russians continue their strikes on our cities. Just over the past 24 hours there were brutal attacks on Dnipro, Cherkasy, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Chernihiv, the Donetsk region, and Zaporizhzhia. In Dnipro alone, five people were killed yesterday by a Russian strike… In Cherkasy, a young boy was killed – he was eight years old… In Zaporizhzhia, a person was also killed in a strike on a bus stop. My condolences to the families and loved ones. Russia is not changing its tactics of combined strikes, and we must be ready to intercept all types of aerial targets. That is why the PURL initiative, which allows us to obtain the necessary anti-ballistic missiles, must continue to operate. In recent days, we have secured additional contributions from Germany and Norway to the initiative. There is also an agreement with Germany on PAC-2 missiles for our air defense and additional launchers for IRIS-T systems. There is also an agreement with Norway to strengthen our air defense. We are preparing new agreements with our other partners as well. Each such result guarantees the protection of thousands of Ukrainian lives. We are also working to ensure that here in Europe we can jointly produce with our partners all the necessary air defense systems, the missiles for them, and every type of drone without which real defense in modern warfare is impossible. Based on this week’s results, we will provide Ukraine with opportunities for further strengthening through our collaboration with European partners on drones and co-production. For every Russian strike, there will be our response – our long-range sanctions against the aggressor, our internal development of the defense system, and our cooperation with partners who truly value human life. Thank you to everyone who is helping!

As always, a good and productive meeting with Prime Minister of Norway @jonasgahrstore. We discussed in detail our cooperation in the production and use of drones. Our experience is already being used in the Middle East and the Gulf. We are improving defense against “shahed” drones, and we believe this should also be done in Europe. Today, for this purpose, we initiated a Drone Deal with Norway and signed a Joint Declaration on Enhanced Defense and Security Cooperation. Now our teams will work out the details. We also focused on our joint production projects and cooperation priorities for this year, and not only in defense. We continue to work together with partners to strengthen our countries. I personally thank Jonas, Norway, and all Norwegians for their military and energy support for Ukraine, for strengthening our air defense, and for their readiness to continue support for the PURL initiative. We feel your support and are sincerely grateful for it.

🇩🇪🤝🇺🇦 A historic day in Berlin. Chancellor Merz and President Zelenskyy just held the first German-Ukrainian Government Consultations in over 20 years—marking a major step toward strengthening ties between both nations. (1/3)

Das war einmalig. Präsident @ZelenskyyUa, @bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz sowie Regierungsmitglieder aus beiden Ländern — an einem Tisch. So sieht „strategische Partnerschaft“ aus. Nach der 22-jährigen Pause fanden die deutsch-ukrainischen Regierungskonsultationen wieder statt.

Wir fordern ein Ende des russischen Angriffskriegs auf die Ukraine: Eine Schwächung von EU und NATO werden wir nicht akzeptieren. Wir setzen uns für weitere Gespräche für einen Friedensplan ein. Dazu gehört, Kyjiw weiter gegen den russischen Aggressor beizustehen.

Raises the perennial question: Is Estonia the only country being spied upon by Russia, or are other countries failing to catch their own? politico.eu/article/estoni…

Drei mutmaßliche Spione, eine geplante Tötung. Ein LKA-Topermittler beschreibt bei einem Prozess in Frankfurt, wie in Deutschland russische Netzwerke aus Geheimdiensten, Staat und organisierter Kriminalität operieren. welt.de/politik/deutsc…

Federal Chancellor of Germany @bundeskanzler Friedrich Merz and I held intergovernmental consultations for the first time in more than 20 years. Our relations are already at the level of a true strategic partnership, and the resumption of consultations will help us move even faster. We discussed concrete results and plans for the future. The main focus was on the documents signed today, a significant part of which is aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s defense capabilities and resilience, developing the bilateral agreement on drones proposed by Ukraine to Germany, and addressing issues related to Ukraine’s future membership in the European Union. Much joint work lies ahead. I thank Germany for its support and readiness to move forward together.