There are several significant takeaways from the leaked US documents about the course of the conflict in Ukraine. Russian ground forces in the country are approaching exhaustion and there are few reinforcements available. Ukrainian air defenses are depleted, making any counteroffensive vulnerable to Russian air superiority. And the United States does not expect the war to end this year. The 53 documents reviewed by CNN provide a snapshot of capabilities and vulnerabilities as perceived by the US Defense Department in the first quarter of this year. Snapshots are inherently risky: Circumstances change, as do resources and intentions. But the documents tend to confirm that Ukrainian forces are preparing for an offensive and that Russia is putting extensive effort into holding what it already has, while looking to aviation to blunt any Ukrainian attacks. And if the Russians were unaware of the way the Ukrainian military would design its counteroffensive, the documents may have given ...
Germany’s nuclear exit was delayed to this year after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine wreaked havoc in energy markets. Germany nuclear power plant A general view shows the Neckarwestheim nuclear power plant, as Germany shuts down its last nuclear power plants [Heiko Becker/Reuters] Published On 15 Apr 2023 15 Apr 2023 Germany will switch off its last three nuclear reactors on Saturday, exiting atomic power even as it seeks to wean itself off fossil fuels and manage an energy crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. While many Western countries are upping their investments in atomic energy to reduce their emissions, Germany is bringing an early end to its nuclear age. KEEP READING The presidents of Brazil and China have pledged to bolster cooperation between their two countries, as Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Xi Jinping held in the Chinese capital. The meeting on Friday in Beijing came on the second day of Lula’s visit to China, the South American nation’s most important trading pa...