In a surprising twist this Monday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned of nuclear war over the invasion of Ukraine in a TV interview. He continued the interview by saying that “The danger is serious, real. It can’t be underestimated.” He went on to say that there are few rules left in terms of foreign policy between Russia and the United States, or vice versa. His statement came after United States Secretary of Defense Lloyed Austin said that the US wants to see Russia “weakened” after the invasion of Ukraine. The west doesn’t seem to be very scared of Lavrovs remarks, because a top official in the UK military has called it “Bravado.” The UK’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has also denied the Kremlin accusation that the war in Ukraine was a proxy war between Russia and Nato. Russia has also made the decision to ban gas imports to Poland and Bulgaria, which are both Nato members.Meanwhile, on the front lines, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky has said that Russia is trying to attack Ukraine by occupying another front – a breakaway region in Moldova. Zelensky continued by saying the Ukrainian Military was prepared to battle troops coming from that region. In other frontline news, Germany will be sending anti-aircraft tanks to Ukraine, which will not only help Ukraine win the war, but it is also a sign of reaffirming Germany’s commitment to Nato. This all comes as French President Emmanuel Macron has secured a 2nd term in a rematch with far right candidate Marine Le Pen. While on the surface, you may think the race was a landslide, as Macron won by 17 percent of the popular vote – something that has not happened in the United States since Ronald Reagen’s landslide victory in 1984, this was in fact a very close campaign, compared to 2017, where Macron nearly doubled Le Pen’s popular vote total. This drastic improvement for the far right candidate signals a big change in world ideology, as far right ideology like that of Donald Trump have begun to take shape in the rest of the world. Speaking of Trump, new audio recordings show that he wasn’t very popular with House Republicans after January 6th, with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy saying that he would advise the then-President Trump to resign from office. He has however seemed to flip, as he aligned himself heavily with Trump in the months after. In financial news, the richest man alive Elon Musk has bought Tesla for 44 billion dollars. He says that he wants to make the online platform sensitive to free speech, which could possibly mean Trump will be unbanned. Trump rejected this notion however, and said he will continue using TruthSocial, a social media site he created earlier this year (this is a bit weird however, as Trump doesn’t really post there). A takeover from Mr. Musk will also likely mean the option to edit your tweets. And finally, halfway around the world in India a major heatwave is taking place, which was the highest in 122 years. This event has spoiled many crops, and is also bad for the general population as many live without air conditioning. From threats of nuclear war to major heat waves, you’ve heard it here. Make sure to tune in for the next blog to see more of the week’s biggest stories.
