About this Episode
Kyiv suffered a major overnight barrage that officials described as the “most massive” attack on the capital, leaving at least 20 people dead and about 90 injured after more than 11 hours of strikes. Waves of weapons hit residential areas, an ambulance station and a Ukrainian Red Cross warehouse. Thousands sheltered in metro stations, air defences intercepted many projectiles but 25 missiles and 12 drones struck 33 locations, and Ukrainian leaders urged allies for more air‑defence support while condemning the strikes as attacks on civilians.
Clashes broke out in Tirana as protesters opposed to a Trump‑linked luxury resort tried to block parliament, forcing police to use water cannon and pepper spray and leading to several arrests and injuries to nine officers, officials said. The development on protected coastal areas and Sazan Island has drawn sustained demonstrations since late May over environmental and transparency concerns, and the government defended the project as transformative for tourism while critics warned it could jeopardise Albania’s EU accession progress.
Germany’s ruling coalition agreed a 34‑point reform package aimed at reviving the economy. It will include income‑tax cuts for low‑ and middle‑income households, measures to expand fixed‑term contracts and Sunday opening hours, stricter sick‑leave rules requiring a doctor’s certificate from day one, a ban on nationalising housing firms, sunset clauses to cut red tape, and a pension overhaul that would gradually raise retirement ages in line with life expectancy to stabilise payout. Chancellor Friedrich Merz framed the “Programme for Revival and Employment” as cutting burdens and protecting the welfare state, SPD leaders endorsed the deal, and critics including the AfD attacked it as insufficient or misguided ahead of regional elections in September.
