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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Meets Greta Thunberg and Others to Address the War’s Effect on Ecology

Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist, member of the newly created international working group on environmental crimes of Russia, speaks during a press briefing following the group first meeting in Kyiv on June 29, 2023. (AFP)
Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist, member of the newly created international working group on environmental crimes of Russia, speaks during a press briefing following the group first meeting in Kyiv on June 29, 2023. (AFP)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskyy Meets Greta Thunberg and Others to Address the War’s Effect on Ecology

Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist, member of the newly created international working group on environmental crimes of Russia, speaks during a press briefing following the group first meeting in Kyiv on June 29, 2023. (AFP)
Greta Thunberg, Swedish environmental activist, member of the newly created international working group on environmental crimes of Russia, speaks during a press briefing following the group first meeting in Kyiv on June 29, 2023. (AFP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met Thursday with Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg and prominent European figures who are forming a working group to address ecological damage from the 16-month-old Russian invasion.

The meeting in the Ukrainian capital came as fighting continued around the country.

The governor of the Kherson region, Oleksandr Prokudin, said two people were killed in the region's capital in a Russian strike that hit residences, a medical facility and a school where residents were lined up to receive humanitarian aid. Another person was killed in a morning strike on the village of Bilzoerka, the regional prosecutor's office said.

The presidential office said Thursday morning that at least eight civilians died in Russian attacks during the previous 24 hours.

Zelenskyy also met former US Vice President Mike Pence who visited Kyiv. Pence, an advocate of US support to Ukraine, is running for the 2024 Republican nomination for president.

"We appreciate that both major US parties, the Republican and Democratic, remain united in their support for Ukraine. And, of course, we feel the strong support of the people of the United States," Zelenskyy told Pence, according to the presidential website.

The working group on the environment includes Thunberg, former Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Margot Wallström, European Parliament Vice President Heidi Hautala, and former Irish President Mary Robinson.

Zelenskyy said forming the group is "a very important signal of supporting Ukraine. It’s really important, we need your professional help."

Thunberg said Russian forces "are deliberately targeting the environment and people’s livelihoods and homes. And therefore, also destroying lives. Because this is after all a matter of people."

The objectives of the working group are evaluating the environmental damage resulting from the war, formulating mechanisms to hold Russia accountable, and undertaking efforts to restore Ukraine’s ecology.

In Moscow, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Kirill met with Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Vatican envoy for seeking peace between Russia and Ukraine.

Kirill, a supporter of the war, said: "It is very important that the Christian communities of East and West take part in the process of reconciliation," according to video circulated by the Russian church.

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Varieties

Melania Trump Hosts White House Event to Unveil Barbara Bush Postage Stamp 

US first lady Melania Trump speaks during an unveiling of a US postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 8, 2025. (Reuters)
US first lady Melania Trump speaks during an unveiling of a US postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Melania Trump Hosts White House Event to Unveil Barbara Bush Postage Stamp 

US first lady Melania Trump speaks during an unveiling of a US postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 8, 2025. (Reuters)
US first lady Melania Trump speaks during an unveiling of a US postage stamp honoring former first lady Barbara Bush, in the East Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, May 8, 2025. (Reuters)

In the White House's East Room on a rainy Thursday, first lady Melania Trump and members of the Bush family gathered to unveil a US postage stamp bearing the portrait of former first lady Barbara Bush.

Amid the anticipation of the unveiling, Trump, Bush’s daughter Dorothy “Doro” Bush Koch and Judy de Torok, a vice president at US Postal Service, took turns sharing stories chronicling the former first lady's life and achievements.

Bush Koch held back tears recalling moments from her mother’s early life. “Mom was never one to shy away from speaking the truth or taking a stand,” she said. “With her signature white hair and pearls, she became an icon in her own right, and yet, even as a former first lady, she remained humble and humorous.”

The image on the stamp is Barbara Bush’s official White House portrait, which currently hangs in the entrance to the East Wing. She is depicted in a black suit and purple blouse, wearing her hallmark triple strand of pearls.

After a commemoration ceremony in Kennebunkport, Maine, where the Bush family compound is located, the stamp will go on sale June 10th.

Bush notably championed literacy programs and helped destigmatized people with AIDS and HIV when she cradled an infant during a 1989 visit to a hospice for children with the disease.

Trump also said she appreciated how Bush inspired people to pursue their personal dreams and was ahead of her time when she made the call for a female American president.

“Who knows?” Trump said. “Somewhere out in this audience may even be someone who will one day follow in my footsteps and preside over the White House, and I wish him well,” she said to laughs.

Barbara Bush died in 2018 at 92 years old. She was married to President George H. W. Bush. She is the mother of former President George W. Bush.

She was one of only two first ladies who had a child who was elected president. The other was Abigail Adams, wife of President John Adams and mother of President John Quincy Adams.

And in 2016 — at 90 years-old — Barbara Bush campaigned for her son, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush when he vied for the Republican presidential nomination, according to the George H. W. Bush library.

She had strong words for Donald Trump — back in 2016 she said in a joint CNN interview with Jeb Bush that she was “sick” of the current president. “He’s said terrible things about women, terrible things about the military. I don’t understand why people are for him, for that reason,” she said at the time.

Melania Trump attended Bush's funeral in 2018 while Donald Trump did not attend. The White House said he stayed away to avoid security disruptions.

Bush is the eighth first lady to be honored with a US postage stamp.

Bush Koch said: “It’s unlikely that mom ever pictured herself on the postage stamp, and it’s very likely that she would be wondering what all this fuss is about.”