Mitchell Fairbarn found guilty of animal cruelty after prosecutors say he hurt and frightened the 27-year-old bird

A Canadian man was convicted of animal cruelty charges on Monday for snatching a flamingo named Peachy from its enclosure at an iconic Las Vegas hotel.

Prosecutors said it was a malicious prank while a lawyer for the tourist insisted it was drunken foolishness not meant to harm the bird.

During their visit to Kyiv in September, US President Donald Trump’s envoys urged Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to consider restarting the pipelines that once carried Russian gas to Europe, The New York Times reported on 17 October. They presented it as part of a peace deal with Russia. In the weeks that followed, they pressed the idea with European officials, while Washington freed Russian diesel and spared Russia’s oil buyers from new US penalties.

Energy sales fund Russia’s war, and Ukraine’s halt of transit in January 2025 left TurkStream as Gazprom’s only pipeline route into the EU. Meanwhile, Russia has kept bombing Ukraine’s grid through the energy truce Washington declared on 11 October.

The pitch in Kyiv

Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner put the idea to Zelenskyy when they met him in Kyiv, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the talks. Trump officials argued that transit fees, which Ukraine gave up at about $1 billion a year, would benefit Kyiv, and that European voters would eventually want cheaper energy. Russia’s share of EU gas imports had fallen from 45% in 2021 to 13% last year.

The envoys presented renewed Russian gas sales as one of the economic incentives in a wider settlement covering Russia’s relationship with NATO, security guarantees for Ukraine, and territorial control. Some European and Ukrainian officials suspected Washington would seek a cut of the profits. The White House denied that the Nord Stream pipeline had been a subject of recent discussions. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov claimed that resuming energy cooperation is in Russia’s interest and, right now, even more in Europe’s.

Germany pushes back

At Ukraine talks the envoys hosted in Florida last week, Günter Sautter, security adviser to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, forcefully opposed the idea. German lawmakers have called a return to Russian deliveries a disaster for European security, even treason, as the far-right AfD courts Gazprom to bring the gas back. Former Economy Minister Robert Habeck, who steered Germany off Russian gas after 2022, said Trump “seems to have more sympathies with Vladimir Putin than he has with the Ukrainians.”

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One concession after another

Rather than pressure Putin or strengthen Ukraine, the administration has spent much of its peace effort on economic incentives for Russia, the newspaper wrote. The US Treasury cleared imports of Russian diesel on 9 October. On 16 October, Trump waived the penalties on Russia’s oil buyers that Congress had passed in the Graham Act. Washington is also weighing relief for sanctioned shadow fleet tankers. And the White House ordered limits on the military satellite service Ukraine’s forces rely on, Reuters reported.

Putin’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev claimed the ice had broken and more joint initiatives would follow, including data centers powered by Russian nuclear energy. The talks also cover the sale of Lukoil’s foreign assets to a group that includes the US government, the newspaper reported earlier this month. Zelenskyy, who had heard the pitch in Kyiv, alluded to it in a Financial Times interview this week.

“The question will be when will the next deal be? Maybe it will be gas. Definitely it will be gas,” he said.

Reopening the pipelines could hand Moscow back significant revenue and strengthen its sway over Europe’s energy market, Liga noted. Each new concession lowers the price Russia pays for continuing the war.

The remains of Edward Lelburian Jackson were first discovered in 2022, and an initial autopsy revealed he was killed decades ago

After four years, a piece of the haunting mystery uncovered in the waning waters of drought-stricken Lake Mead has been solved.

Since the remains of an unknown homicide victim were discovered stuffed inside a barrel in 2022, Las Vegas investigators have been searching not for his killer – but for his identity. At a press conference on Thursday, Clark county coroner Melanie Rouse shared his name publicly for the first time: Edward Lelburian Jackson.

Europe keeps buying record amounts of Russian gas even as it plans to punish its war machine against Ukraine. The EU ports took in a record 12.18 million tons of Russian liquefied natural gas from January to September, 9.5% more than in the same period of 2025, according to a study by the German group Urgewald based on Kpler tracking data.

Europe spent about 7.88 billion euros on that Russian gas in nine months, revenue that helps fund a war Russia wages with daily missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities. The flow continues even as the EU prepares its largest-ever package of sanctions against Russia’s military industry.

The gas comes from Russia’s Yamal project, which sent 167 cargoes to EU ports over the nine months, roughly one every 1.6 days. Europe took 85% of the project’s recorded deliveries by volume, remaining by far its biggest market, Urgewald reports.

Europe’s share grew even as Yamal’s worldwide deliveries fell 1.3%, so the EU absorbed a larger slice of Russia’s Arctic output. In September alone, EU ports received 792,440 tons worth an estimated 818 million euros, nearly three-quarters of it going to France.

Washington could pull the plug by 18 October

The imports run up against a looming US decision. The Trump administration has until 18 October to complete its first review under the Lindsey Graham sanctions act, signed into law on 18 September, which allows Washington to sanction this gas trade at any time, the group notes.

However, after the US allowed Russian diesel to enter the US and global market, the decision will likely remain stalled.

Originally, the law covered Yamal’s leadership, foreign vessels that knowingly carried Russian LNG, and foreign ports that serviced US-sanctioned ships. Yamal depends on specialized Arc7 ice-class tankers and on nearby European ports where they can unload and quickly return, so closing that route would make the Arctic trade far harder to sustain.

Europe’s own ban is still months away

The EU’s measures so far have barely dented the trade. A ban on short-term LNG contracts took effect in April and has had no visible effect, while the full import ban under long-term contracts only starts on 1 January 2027, Urgewald says.

Every month of largely uninterrupted trade means more revenue for Russia while Ukraine suffers daily attacks, sanction campaigner Sebastian Rötters says. The next EU package should close the remaining loopholes, above all those keeping the Arc7 tanker fleet running.

Russia is attempting to build a new "shadow fleet" to "circumvent sanctions and sustain revenues from its gas exports," the UK Foreign Office said on 1 October. Britain sanctioned eight vessels linked to the trade, including some that entered service this year, as part of a 31-designation package.

The sanctions come as the EU prepares to end imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG), which arrives by tanker, from the beginning of 2027. London presented the package as part of a push to increase economic pressure on Moscow before winter, noting that Russia launched more than 3,100 jet-powered drones at Ukraine in September, beating the wartime record it had set in August.

The UK sanctions target three shadow fleet vessels, two vessels providing them with bunkering services, and three Russian-owned ice-class vessels, according to the UK Foreign Office.

Russian-built ice-class tankers

The sanctioned vessels include the Russian-flagged Aleksey Kosygin and Konstantin Posiet, which are among a new generation of LNG tankers, The Telegraph reported. The vessels were assembled in Russia and are designed to break through ice up to two meters thick. The Aleksey Kosygin was delivered in December 2025 before entering service this year, according to the paper.

The other sanctioned vessels are the Pyotr Stolypin, Portovyy, Chaivo, Avacha, Bebek-E, and Galle Energy, according to the UK Sanctions Notice. The Telegraph reported that the Pyotr Stolypin entered service this year, while Bebek-E was built in 1979 and Galle Energy is a 75-foot crew transport vessel flagged in Sri Lanka.

From oil tankers to gas carriers

Moscow has also long been accused of moving its oil past Western restrictions using what The Telegraph describes as “a secretive fleet of ageing tankers often with obscure ownership and insurance.” The EU said it had placed more than 670 vessels on its shadow fleet sanctions list as of 23 July, while the UK government said it had targeted nearly 600 tankers.

In June, Britain sanctioned four LNG carriers—the Orion, Merkuriy, Kosmos, and Luch—which are listed in the UK Sanctions List with shipping and trade sanctions. gCaptain reported that the vessels had been purchased through intermediaries, reflagged, and renamed, and were sailing toward China after LNG was transferred to them ship-to-ship near Murmansk.

Later in June, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service said Russia was assembling a fleet of aging gas tankers ahead of the EU restrictions. The service said seven of about 23 vessels had been bought through front companies between February 2024 and May 2025, and that their use “allows Russia to partially circumvent restrictions.”

Sanctions spare LNG bound for Japan and South Korea

The package also targets Novatek Gas and Power Asia, a Singapore subsidiary of Russia's largest LNG producer, Novatek. Vladyslav Vlasiuk, the Ukrainian president’s commissioner for sanctions policy, described it as Novatek’s Singapore trading arm in a post on X.

The new package leaves a limited route for some Russian LNG to continue reaching Japan and South Korea. The UK said existing licensing arrangements have been extended to cover LNG, on a targeted and time-limited basis, to support the two countries’ energy security.

Vlasiuk said Russia’s Arctic gas is “one of the Kremlin’s key future revenue streams,” and that “it must stay frozen,” according to his post on X. He also thanked the UK for taking Ukraine’s proposals into account.

Torture and child indoctrination also targeted

The 1 October package contained 31 designations in total. It also targeted eight people involved in the arbitrary detention, torture, and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians and seven people over the indoctrination and militarization of Ukrainian children, according to the UK government. The government said international sanctions have already deprived Russia of nearly $500bn in funding for its war effort.

Ukraine's state energy giant Naftogaz has commissioned a new exploration well producing 383,000 cubic meters of natural gas per day through its subsidiary Ukrgazvydobuvannya, CEO Sergii Koretskyi announced on July 8.

The 5.7-kilometer deviated well was drilled and commissioned six weeks ahead of schedule as Ukraine works to boost domestic production amid Russian attacks on its energy infrastructure, including gas storage facilities in western Ukraine.

"This is a significant achievement, given the country's need for gas," Koretskyi said.

Naftogaz produces the lion's share of Ukrainian gas, but its production facilities were severely damaged in a series of Russian missile strikes earlier this year, reducing production by as much as 40%.

According to data from Naftogaz, Ukrgazvydobuvannya lost about 50% of its production due to shelling.

Ukrgazvydobuvannya managed to increase commercial gas production to 13.9 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2024 compared to 13.2 bcm in 2023, commissioning 83 new wells despite wartime conditions.

Ukraine previously produced 52 million cubic meters daily before Russia's full-scale invasion, but required 110-140 million cubic meters during winter months, covering the shortfall from underground storage.

Russian strikes have repeatedly targeted Ukraine's gas infrastructure, including a February 11 combined missile and drone attack that damaged Naftogaz production facilities in Poltava Oblast.

To secure winter supplies, Naftogaz has signed four contracts with Poland's Orlen for delivery of 440 million cubic meters of U.S. liquefied natural gas. The latest agreement, announced July 2, covers an additional 140 million cubic meters.

According to Bloomberg estimates, in 2025 Ukraine may import a record 5 billion cubic meters of gas from Europe.

Ukraine's gas storage situation has also deteriorated significantly, with underground reserves falling to 6.02 bcm as of May 11 — the lowest level in at least 11 years.

The facilities are operating at just 19.4% capacity, with 2.79 billion cubic meters less gas available than the previous year.

Ukraine’s minerals fund focus of private investment ahead of major recovery conference

This week, thousands of companies, business heads, and global leaders are headed to Rome for the fourth Ukraine Recovery Conference on July 10, with many companies hoping for more clarity around the future of a U.S.-Ukraine minerals deal. It’s been over two months since President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Washington’s so-called “minerals deal” — which, in reality, covers all Ukraine’s natural resources, including oil and gas, related infrastructure, and now, defense projects. While the Economy

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell

Russian authorities are planning to begin gas extraction from the Sea of Azov, citing Soviet-era geological data and identifying 22 potential offshore fields, including several located near the occupied Ukrainian city of Berdiansk, Ukrainian officials told Suspilne on July 1.

According to the Berdiansk Municipal Military Administration, Russia's Federal Subsoil Resources Agency (Rosnedra) has announced plans to explore and possibly develop gas fields such as the Morske, Pivnichno-Kazantypske, and Skhidno-Kazantypske deposits.

"(Russia) has declared commercial reserves of gas in the Sea of Azov, referring to Soviet archives listing 22 oil and gas structures," Ksenia Kleshchenko, acting head of communications for the Berdiansk administration, told Suspilne.

"These include the Morske field, discovered in 1977 (and still under conservation). It is necessary to conduct further exploration and pilot operation."

Kleshchenko noted that the Pivnichno-Kazantypske and Skhidno-Kazantypske fields were discovered in the late 1990s and early 2000s during Ukraine's independence, but have not been developed. Ukrainian company Chornomornaftogaz had conducted surveys at the Pivnichno-Kazantypske and Strilkove sites before Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 and seized Ukrainian offshore assets.

Ukrainian authorities say the Kremlin's interest in mineral resources may have partially motivated the occupation of southern Zaporizhzhia Oblast, including Berdiansk.

"All of the (Russia's) 'plans' are focused on enriching themselves and the Russian Federation, but not on the welfare of the citizens of the occupied territories," the Berdiansk administration said in a statement. "While residents of Berdiansk face constant water and electricity outages, (Russian authorities) are laying grand schemes to exploit the region’s resources."

The administration also warned of potential environmental consequences. Due to the shallow average depth of the Sea of Azov, around 14 meters (about 46 feet), any extraction could cause serious ecological damage. The exploratory work is reportedly planned for 2026–2030.

Russia's interest in resource-rich territories extends beyond the Sea of Azov. In June, Russian forces took control of a major lithium deposit near the village of Shevchenko in Donetsk Oblast, one of Ukraine's most valuable sites for the mineral used in electric vehicle batteries.

Ukraine has now lost two of its four known lithium deposits to Russian occupation, including the Kruta Balka deposit in Zaporizhzhia. According to the Kyiv School of Economics, Ukraine holds about one-third of the European Union's lithium reserves.

Russia seizes Ukraine’s most valuable lithium deposits, but US minerals deal not at risk, investor says

Russian troops have taken over the site of one of Ukraine’s most valuable lithium deposits near the village of Shevchenko, Donetsk Oblast, as Russia ramps up its summer offensive. While Ukrainian troops control territories near the site, the deposit is now under Russian occupation, Roman Pohorilyi, founder of open-source

The Kyiv IndependentDominic Culverwell

Russia is making another attempt to expand its exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after U.S. sanctions disrupted production at its flagship Arctic LNG 2 plant, Bloomberg reported on June 28.

Arctic LNG 2, owned by the Russian company Novatek, was envisaged as Russia's largest LNG plant and aimed to produce almost 20 million metric tons of LNG per year. The U.S. State Department targeted the Arctic LNG 2 project with sanctions in 2024.

An LNG vessel has reportedly docked at the Arctic LNG 2 facility for the first time since October, according to ship-tracking data and satellite images analyzed by Bloomberg. Data suggests that at least 13 vessels of Russia's "shadow fleet" have been assembled to potentially serve Arctic LNG 2.

These include four ice-class vessels, including the one currently docked at Arctic LNG 2. Three others are idling in the Barents Sea, along with three traditional LNG vessels. Two more vessels are being repaired in China and another two are idled in the Gulf of Finland. One ship is located near a floating storage facility in Russia's Far East.

While pipeline shipments of Russian gas to Europe have declined sharply since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia's shadow fleet — a group of aging oil tankers used to circumvent global sanctions — continues to grow.

Moscow now has more vessels at its disposal than it did last year, according to Malte Humpert, founder of the Arctic Institute think tank.

"If (Russia) can find buyers, this small fleet should be sufficient to lift cargoes," Humpert told Bloomberg.

Finding buyers may present a difficulty, due to wariness about sanctions violations. Former U.S. President Joe Biden sanctioned ships and companies connected with exports from Arctic LNG 2 in 2024, thought it is not yet clear if U.S. President Donald Trump will enforce sanctions as strictly.

Representatives of Arctic LNG 2 have continued to search for buyers in China and India, but have not yet made any sales, traders familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

Arctic LNG 2 cut production from its gas fields to almost zero in November 2024, after halting liquefaction the previous month due to Western sanctions. The U.S. sanctioned two vessels and two entities connected to Arctic LNG 2 in September 2024, after previously targeting the project in a sweeping round of sanctions late August.

The August sanctions likely forced Novatek to scale back its operations at the facility. Novatek itself was sanctioned after the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.

Despite escalating war plans, Putin claims Russia will cut military spending starting in 2026

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed on June 27 that Moscow plans to cut its military expenditure beginning next year, in a rebuke of NATO members’ plans to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

The Kyiv IndependentDmytro Basmat

Around 50% of Americans support sanctions against countries that purchase Russian oil and gas, according to the results of a YouGov poll published on June 27.

A bipartisan sanctions bill in the U.S. Senate aims to slap 500% tariffs on imports from countries that continue to purchase Russian energy products. U.S. President Donald Trump has not backed the measure and a vote on the bill has reportedly been postponed.

In a YouGov survey of adult U.S. citizens conducted June 12-16, 24% said they "strongly support" sanctioning Russian energy buyers while 25% said they "somewhat support" secondary sanctions against these countries.

Like the Senate bill, support for secondary sanctions among respondents was bipartisan. Of "strong supporters," 26% indentified as Democrats while 27% were Republicans.

More Republicans than Democrats said they favored the specific 500% tariff penalty proposed by legislators. While 29% of respondents who "strongly supported" the measure were Democrats, 41% were Republicans. Only 32% of survey respondents overall said they supported the 500% tariff.

The 500% tariff has been championed by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, a Trump ally and co-author of the sanctions bill alongside Democrat Richard Blumenthal. Along with tariffs on countries purchasing Russian oil, the bill would also slap "bone-crushing" new sanctions against Russia, according to Graham.

A majority of Americans support increasing or maintaining U.S. sanctions against Russia, the survey found. Here the division along party lines is stark, with 59% of those in favor of increasing sanctions on Moscow identifying as Democrats and only 37% identifying as Republicans.

The poll also showed that about 50% of Americans oppose cutting military aid to Ukraine. According to YouGov, 26% of U.S. adults are in favor of increasing military aid while 23% believe Washington should maintain its current levels of support.

The results illustrate the contrast between the prevailing views of the American public and the policies of the Trump administration. Trump has repeatedly undercut the Senate sanctions bill, requesting delays to the vote and calling on lawmakers to weaken the proposed measures.

While Trump has at times threatened to impose new sanctions on Russia, he has never followed through on any of those threats and consistently shoots down domestic and international appeals to get tough on Moscow. At the recent G7 Summit in Canada, Trump reportedly insisted that sanctions would be at odds with U.S. business interests.  

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also announced earlier this month that Washington will cut military aid to Ukraine in its upcoming defense budget.

‘Putin cannot stop’ – Estonian foreign minister says war in Ukraine existential for Russian president

As Russia continues to intensify its onslaught on Ukraine more than three years into the full-scale invasion, Kyiv faces a new challenge – keeping its Western allies, namely the new U.S. administration, engaged in the struggle. This became clear during the NATO summit in The Hague on June 24-25, where

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek

Iran has partially suspended production at the South Pars gas field — the world’s largest — after an Israeli airstrike triggered a fire at the site, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on June 14, according to Reuters. If confirmed, it would mark the first Israeli strike targeting Iran’s vital oil and gas infrastructure.

The South Pars field, located offshore in southern Bushehr province, is responsible for the bulk of Iran’s gas output. Tehran shares the field with Qatar, which refers to its portion as the North Field. A strike on South Pars represents a significant escalation, coming after oil prices surged 9% on June 13 following Israel’s initial wave of attacks, which had not targeted energy infrastructure, Reuters reports.

Israel launched its air offensive against Iran on June 13, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites, in what it described as an effort to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons.

The Iranian oil ministry said the fire caused by the strike has been extinguished. According to Tasnim, the fire broke out in one of four units of Phase 14 at South Pars, halting the production of 12 million cubic meters of gas.

Iran, the world’s third-largest gas producer after the United States and Russia, produces around 275 billion cubic meters of gas per year, about 6.5% of global output.

Due to international sanctions, the country consumes most of this domestically. Qatar, which operates the majority of the shared field with support from global firms such as Exxon and Shell, produces 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually, supplying both European and Asian markets.

Israel-Iran war could provide economic boost Russia needs to continue fight against Ukraine

Israel’s “preemptive” strikes against Iran targeting the country’s nuclear program and killing top military officials could have far-reaching implications for Ukraine and could boost Russia’s ability to continue its full-scale invasion, experts have told the Kyiv Independent. Iran has been one of Russia’s staunchest allies throughout the war, providing thousands

The Kyiv IndependentChris York