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Trump issues first comment on CIA chief’s mysterious visit to Moscow
Trump issues first comment on CIA chief’s mysterious visit to Moscow
Pentagon’s Colby pushes Europe to do more on defence
Europe has made progress in taking over the responsibility for its conventional defence but more needs to be done, US Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby told allies in Brussels ahead of talks about potential US troops cuts in Europe.
“Let’s look at some of things like access, basing, overflight. Well, there is a lot of good, but there’s some things that we need to work out to make sense going forward,” Colby said at Nato headquarters, adding Europe would remain a critical interest of the US and he had come in a spirit of consultation.
Nato allies worry that a six-month review of troops in Europe, announced in June and due by December, will lead to large-scale cuts to the roughly 80,000 US forces across Europe and punish countries that Donald Trump believes failed to support the war against Iran.
James Reynolds27 August 2026 12:30
Ukraine’s president coos over a puppy, starting a new volley in his war of visuals against Russia
Wait. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s war chief, holding a puppy?
Yes, and it’s no accident. In a collision of dog lovers, sports and ongoing war with Russia, the Ukranian president on Tuesday was captured on video as never before — cuddling and cooing over a floppy, three-month-old American pit bull terrier, handed to him by U.S. former boxer Terence Crawford.
The cute and fluffy scene in Zelenskyy’s office in Kyiv was the latest volley in a deadly serious battle of visuals that runs in parallel to Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s brutal four-year invasion.
Crawford, a longtime supporter of Ukraine and a devotee of the American pit bull terrier, came forward and handed a reddish-yellow puppy to Zelenskyy.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 12:15
Watch: Trump issues first comment on CIA chief’s mysterious visit to Moscow
Maira Butt27 August 2026 11:45
Kremlin dismisses US media reports that Russia may attack Nato as ‘scare-stories’
The Kremlin has dismissed US media reports that Russia could attack a Nato member state and that the purpose of CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s visit to Moscow this week had been to warn Moscow against such a move.
Asked to comment on the reports, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “A lot of this kind of scare-story material is being published right now. Of course, it has nothing to do with reality and nothing to do with the intentions of the Russian Federation.”
Maira Butt27 August 2026 11:15
In pictures: Aftermath of Russian attack on Ukraine
People watch as smoke rises over a warehouse, which was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 27, 2026. (Reuters)
A man looks on as smoke rises over a warehouse, which was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 27, 2026. (Reuters)
Smoke rises over a warehouse, which was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, August 27, 2026. (Reuters)
Maira Butt27 August 2026 10:45
Full story: Russia threatens to bomb UK military bases over support for Ukraine
Russia has warned it could strike British military targets both inside and outside Ukraine over the UK’s support for Kyiv.
Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman told Britain to back off on what she called London’s hostile stance on Ukraine, which she said risked taking the conflict to an entirely new level.
She told the same Moscow news briefing earlier that Britain and France were “playing with fire” by supplying sensitive missile technology to Ukraine.
Britain announced on Monday it would allow Kyiv access to classified technology to start its own production of Storm Shadow long-range cruise missiles, capable of carrying out strikes deep within Russia.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 10:25
Russia threatens to attack British military targets over ‘hostile line’ on Ukraine
Russia has said on Thursday that it could retaliate against London over its help for Kyiv by striking British military targets both inside and outside Ukraine.
The country called on Britain to back off its “hostile line” on Ukraine, which is creating risks of taking the conflict to a new level.
Earlier this week prime minister Andy Burnham doubled down on the UK’s support for Ukraine and in response to Kremlin comments that Britain was “fuelling the fire”, he responded: “Who started the fire?”
Maira Butt27 August 2026 10:04
Why did Trump’s CIA director make a mysterious short trip to Moscow?
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said he did not have any information about the visit, while President Donald Trump stayed uncharacteristically silent on the matter.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 09:55
Russia’s top commander says his troops are 4 kilometres from Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk
Russia’s top military officer Valery Gerasimov has said that his forces are just four kilometres (2.49 miles) from the eastern outskirts of the Ukrainian fortress city of Sloviansk.
The chief of Russia’s General Staff, made the comments in a video released by the Defence Ministry on Thursday.
President Vladimir Putin has made clear Moscow wants to control the fortress.
The Independent could not immediately verify the claim.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 09:30
Russia launches missiles and drones at Ukraine, authorities say
Russia has launched an overnight barrage of missiles and drones at Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and other cities in an overnight attack on Thursday, Ukrainian authorities said.
Ukraine’s air force said the barrage included two Oniks anti-ship cruise missiles, 258 drones, and an unspecified number of ballistic missiles.
The air force said that nearly 90 per cent of the drones were downed, as well as one Oniks and seven ballistic missiles.
Maira Butt27 August 2026 09:10