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Germany’s Defense Minister Is Latest Foreign Official to Visit Kyiv, Vows More Aid for Ukraine 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius boards a train bound for Kyiv, in the east Polish border town of Przemysl on November 20, 2023. (AFP)
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius boards a train bound for Kyiv, in the east Polish border town of Przemysl on November 20, 2023. (AFP)
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Germany’s Defense Minister Is Latest Foreign Official to Visit Kyiv, Vows More Aid for Ukraine 

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius boards a train bound for Kyiv, in the east Polish border town of Przemysl on November 20, 2023. (AFP)
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius boards a train bound for Kyiv, in the east Polish border town of Przemysl on November 20, 2023. (AFP)

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Tuesday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv’s efforts to win its war against Russia.

His trip came a day after US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin traveled to Ukraine and pledged American support “for the long haul,” including an additional $100 million in weapons from US stockpiles.

The visits appeared to be part of an international political effort to keep the war in the public mind as other issues clamor for attention, including the Israel-Hamas conflict.

European Council President Charles Michel reportedly was also due in Kyiv on Tuesday, which is the 10th anniversary of what Ukraine calls its Revolution of Dignity. That uprising that brought momentous change for Ukraine, pushing it closer to the West and bringing confrontation with Moscow.

Ukraine’s fight to push out the Kremlin’s forces has lasted almost 21 months. A recent Ukrainian counteroffensive apparently has yielded no major changes on the battlefield, and another tough winter of attritional warfare lies ahead.

Germany is the second biggest single provider of military and financial support to Ukraine after the United States, and German officials said Pistorius aimed to assess the effectiveness of its aid as well as take stock of the fighting during his visit.

“I am here again, firstly to pledge further support,” Pistorius said at the start of his second Kyiv visit, adding that he also wants to “express our solidarity, our deep solidarity and admiration for the courageous, brave and costly fight that is being waged here.”

Pistorius was to meet his Ukrainian counterpart Rustem Umerov, German news agency dpa reported.

Meanwhile, two Russian missiles struck a hospital in the eastern Donetsk region, wounding six people and possibly leaving more buried under rubble, Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Tuesday.

Russian forces attacked Ukraine overnight with 10 Shahed-type drones, four S-300 missiles and one Iskander-K cruise missile, Ukraine’s air force said Tuesday.

Nine Shahed drones and the Iskander-K missile were successfully intercepted on Monday night, it said. No casualties were immediately reported.

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World

China Urges US to Handle Taiwan Issue ‘with Utmost Caution’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Munich, on February 12, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Munich, on February 12, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
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China Urges US to Handle Taiwan Issue ‘with Utmost Caution’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Munich, on February 12, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (L) shakes hands with China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Munich, on February 12, 2026. (AFP/Getty Images)

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the US to handle matters related to Taiwan with "the utmost caution", during a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday, Wang's ministry said on Wednesday.

"A slight move on the Taiwan issue could affect the whole situation," Wang said, adding that ‌China and ‌the US should work to manage ‌all ⁠kinds of risks, ⁠according to an official Chinese summary of the phone conversation.

The US State Department did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The call followed a mid-May summit between Chinese President Xi ⁠Jinping and US President Donald ‌Trump in Beijing, ‌where Xi told Trump that mishandling the countries' ‌disagreements over Taiwan could push China-US relations ‌into an "extremely dangerous place".

Beijing claims the democratically governed island as its own territory and refuses to rule out military force to gain ‌control of it. Taipei rejects Beijing's claims, and the United States ⁠is bound ⁠by law to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself.

Wang said the US and China should work to build a "constructive, strategically stable relationship".

"Both sides should eliminate disruptions, overcome obstacles, and continue firmly along this correct direction," Wang said.

The Chinese foreign ministry said Wang and Rubio agreed to "continue maintaining communication in a flexible manner".

World

‘Thought They’d Never Be Caught’: The Strike That Killed Iran’s Ali Khamenei

An Iranian man rides a motorbike past a large-scale poster of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed along a highway, in Tehran, Iran, 01 July 2026. (Reuters)
An Iranian man rides a motorbike past a large-scale poster of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed along a highway, in Tehran, Iran, 01 July 2026. (Reuters)
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‘Thought They’d Never Be Caught’: The Strike That Killed Iran’s Ali Khamenei

An Iranian man rides a motorbike past a large-scale poster of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed along a highway, in Tehran, Iran, 01 July 2026. (Reuters)
An Iranian man rides a motorbike past a large-scale poster of late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei displayed along a highway, in Tehran, Iran, 01 July 2026. (Reuters)

On Saturday, February 28, Tehran residents were embarking on the working week during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, nervously anticipating celebrations for the Iranian New Year against the background of diplomatic efforts to stave off war with the US and Israel.

That morning, there was also activity around and inside the main government complex in Tehran just off Pasteur Street in the heart of the capital, which housed the residence and offices of then supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The morning rush was rocked as several explosions shook the area, with smoke seen rising from around the government complex, known locally as the beit-e rahbari (house of the leader).

"The State of Israel has launched a preemptive strike against Iran," the Israeli defense ministry announced.

For hours, uncertainty surrounded the fate of the man aged 86 who had ruled Iran for more than three and a half decades and had maintained a position of zero compromise with the United States as well as crushing dissent.

"Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead," US President Donald Trump wrote that night on Truth Social, saying he "was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems".

Iranian officials initially insisted that Khamenei had survived. But on the morning of March 1 a state television announcer, his voice breaking with emotion, declared that the leader had been martyred during the holy month of Ramadan.

- 'Path of sacrifice' -

The New York Times subsequently reported that the CIA had been tracking Khamenei for months and had learned that a meeting of top Iranian officials would take place that Saturday morning at the leadership compound, with the leader present.

The intelligence was passed to Israel and, two hours and five minutes after the Israeli jets took off, at around 9:40 am Tehran time, the long-range missiles struck the compound, it said.

The attack took place in broad daylight, which is highly unusual for such a strike.

"They thought they would never be caught, because we never bomb during breakfast. But we bombed," Trump said during the G7 summit in France last month.

Khamenei was not the only top official killed, with a whole echelon of senior figures wiped out including Revolutionary Guards chief Mohammad Pakpour, Khamenei's military advisor Ali Shamkhani and defense minister Aziz Nasirzadeh.

His family was also not spared with a daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law and infant granddaughter also killed.

While his son Mojtaba Khamenei, a key figure for years in his father's office, lost his wife Zahra Haddad-Adel, he survived albeit with wounds according to Iranian officials. One week later he was named the new supreme leader but has yet to be seen in public.

Ali Khamenei had always taken major security precautions. He never left Iran as supreme leader and his speeches were rarely carried live on television or announced in advance. During Israel's 12-day war against Iran in June 2025, he had reportedly retreated to a bunker.

But in an apparent act of defiance, he had never disappeared totally from public view and on February 17 gave his final public speech in the northern city of Tabriz, saying the US wanted to "devour" Iran.

He urged people to stay calm and go about their business "without any worries".

Observers were startled that, given the risks, Ali Khamenei was present in the very center of Tehran on February 28 rather than in hiding elsewhere in the vast country.

- 'You wouldn't believe' -

But the attack also further revealed the startling US and Israeli intelligence penetration of Iran, a strategic weakness exposed in the 2025 war when Israel killed a succession of key figures in targeted strikes.

According to the Financial Times, road-surveillance cameras in Tehran including around the leadership compound had been hacked years ago by Israel, enabling the identification of guards, their routines and movements.

Trump said at the G7 that satellite surveillance meant that "if somebody walks in and he has got a badge with his name on it... they can tell the name, they can give you the serial number".

"We can see things, you wouldn't believe the quality of the stuff that we have. That's why we have been so successful."

World

France Sets Presidential Election Dates

File photo: A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
File photo: A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
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France Sets Presidential Election Dates

File photo: A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)
File photo: A person casts their vote at a polling station in the Magenta district during the first round of France's crunch legislative elections in Noumea in the first constituency of the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, on June 30, 2024. (AFP)

France will hold the first round of its next presidential election on April 18, 2027, with a run-off set ‌for May ‌2, the ‌government ⁠spokeswoman, Maud Bregeon, said ⁠on Wednesday following a cabinet meeting to officially approve the dates.

The race to ‌succeed ‌President Emmanuel Macron — ‌who cannot run ‌again after two terms — is shaping up as a ‌fragmented contest, with polls placing the ⁠far-right ⁠National Rally in a leading position, and a crowded field raising the prospect of a run-off dominated by political extremes, Reuters said.