UKRAINE: Armed forces spokeswoman Sarah Ashton-Cirillo has vowed that Russian journalists opposing the Kiev regime will be killed.

She said in an X (formerly Twitter) posting on Wednesday that all Russian “war-criminal propagandists” would be caught and justice would prevail because “we in Ukraine are moving towards this mission with the help of faith in God, freedom and complete liberation.”

NIGER: French official Stephane Jullien, who was detained last week, has been released, the French government said today.

The Foreign Ministry in Paris said in a statement that Mr Jullien, a counsellor for French citizens abroad, had been freed on Wednesday, five days after his arrest. 

No details of the release or the reason for the arrest were given.

CHINA: The Commerce Ministry has protested at a decision by the European Union to investigate exports of Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), saying today that it was a “protectionist” act aimed at distorting the supply chain.

The EU announced on Wednesday that it would probe government subsidies provided to Chinese vehicle makers that the bloc claims keep EV prices artificially low. 

China has become the biggest market for electric vehicles after investing billions of dollars in subsidies to make them affordable.

EUROPEAN UNION: MEPs adopted a resolution today defending member states’ abolition of prostitution.

The text said that the European Parliament recognised prostitution “as a form of violence against girls and women that must be combated in order to guarantee equality between the sexes.”

The resolution also called for the decriminalisation of “prostituted people,” with the “perpetrators of violence, pimps and buyers of sexual acts” being criminalised instead.