Category World News

In response to recent increases in Russia’s bombing campaign, despite American-led efforts to end the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will meet with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Zelenskyy and Merz are expected to discuss sanctions against Russia during their Wednesday meeting in Berlin.

At 10:00 GMT, Merz will be presented with military honors at Zelenskyy, according to a spokesperson for the German government.

Following Russia and Ukraine’s earlier direct face-to-face discussions in Turkiye in May, the Berlin talks come next. The talks failed to lead to a ceasefire agreement despite President Donald Trump’s demand to put an end to the conflict.

Merz added doubts about the likelihood of a quick resolution to put an end to the conflict on Tuesday, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “at the moment no interest in a ceasefire, or a peace deal.”

In consequence, Ukraine must continue to defend itself and that we must actually intensify our efforts to enable Ukraine to do so.

The German leader added that the territorial integrity of Ukraine was the main focus of the conflict.

He explained that the political order that we established with Russia after 1990 is being essentially questioned.

Long-range weapons

Merz claimed a day earlier that the US and the UK no longer had restrictions on the supply of weapons to Kyiv.

With very few exceptions, Ukraine has the ability to defend itself by attacking military installations in Russia. He claimed in a TV interview that it now has that capability.

The German leader, however, did not specify when the government had decided to impose the restrictions.

The Kremlin claimed it would be “dangerous” to lift Ukraine’s arms range restrictions.

According to Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for the Kremlin and Alexander Yunashev, “These decisions are completely at odds with our aspirations for a political (peace) settlement,” if they were made, they would be completely incompatible with our aspirations for peace.

Along the roughly 1, 000-kilometer (620-mile) front line, fighting has persisted, and both sides have engaged in extensive strikes. On Sunday, Russia launched its biggest drone attack against Ukraine.

Late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday, Russian air defenses detonated 296 Ukrainian drones over 13 regions, according to the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, 33 drones were shot down as they approached the capital.

42 drones were downed, according to Moscow Governor Andrei Vorobyov. No one was hurt when drone fragments reportedly impacted three Troitskoye residential buildings.

Numerous flights were delayed or diverted by Moscow’s airports.

Russian forces launched an attack on Ukraine over the weekend using 88 drones, one guided air-launched missile, and five Iskander ballistic missiles, according to the Ukrainian Air Force on Wednesday. 34 drones were shot down by air defense units, and 37 were encircled.

Overnight and on Wednesday morning, Ukraine’s state railway company Ukrzaliznytsia reported that the Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Sumy regions’ railway infrastructure and equipment were in trouble. There were no reported injuries.

Las Vegas, Nevada, will host the largest Bitcoin conference in the world on May 27 and 29.

Donald Trump’s circle, including Vice President JD Vance, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as White House crypto tsar David Sacks, are speakers at this year’s event.

Trump’s favorable opinion of cryptocurrency and his family’s significant involvement in it are raising questions about how well-intentioned he is as president of the United States is.

How has Bitcoin fared under Trump?

Bitcoin increased by 2.6 percent from its previous Inauguration Day peak of $109, 114 over the past week to reach its all-time high of $ 111, 970.

Bitcoin has increased 60% since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, from its previous high of $ 69,539 at the close of the election to its current record high.

On February 25, the cryptocurrency briefly fell below $90,000 due to market jitters brought on by Trump’s announcement of new tariffs for various global economies and industries before recovering.

What regulations did the Biden administration use?

Government policy on cryptocurrency was erratic during the Biden administration, with Gary Gensler, the then SEC chair, taking the place of many lawsuits against crypto companies. Major moves were also made to adopt cryptocurrency, with the SEC approving 11-spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.

Following the demise of the Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2022 and the regional banking crisis in the early 2023, the crypto market experienced significant drawdowns. The Federal Reserve Board issued statements to banks regarding the risks of crypto assets, which it recently pulled.

What crypto policies does Trump have in mind?

Trump and other lawmakers have benefited from the crypto industry’s significant political influence.

Under the Trump administration, the US Senate passed significant pro-crypto legislation, including the establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and the Digital Asset Stockpile, which seek to maintain control of the Bitcoin seized as part of “criminal or civil asset forfeiture proceedings.”

Trump’s cryptocurrency policies included appointing pro-crypto individuals to important regulatory positions, such as replacing Paul Atkins as SEC chair.

Investors’ optimism over a more crypto-friendly administration and proposed regulatory changes to lower entry barriers to the crypto asset markets are largely to blame for the most recent rise in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has a maximum supply of 21 million coins, compared to fiat currencies. In light of this, the White House has stated that being one of the first nations to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve is advantageous.

What if there was a country for Bitcoin?

With a market capitalization of roughly $ 2.18 trillion and a circulating supply of roughly 19.87 million BTC, Bitcoin is priced at $11, 000.

By gross domestic product (GDP), Bitcoin would rank roughly in the top 10 worldwide, on par with nations like Brazil ($2.17 trillion), Canada ($2.14 trillion), or Russia ($2.02 trillion).

What rules and codes of conduct govern government involvement in cryptography?

Trump introduced the $TRUMP meme coin at a Crypto Ball in Washington, DC just before taking office. Although meme coins are frequently made as a joke and subject to fluctuating price movements, Trump’s coin has benefited wealthy investors.

At his opulent golf course in Northern Virginia last week, President Trump hosted top investors for a cryptocurrency project. According to the top 25 spending more than $111 million, according to crypto intelligence firm Inca Digital, according to the Reuters news agency, investors estimated to have spent $ $ 148 million to secure seats at the dinner.

Trump spoke at the event behind a podium with the presidential seal, despite the White House insisting that he would be speaking at the event “in his personal time.”

When Trump’s meme coin was first introduced, its value initially rose before falling while its creators, which include a group connected to the Trump Organization, earned hundreds of millions in trading fees.

The Trump family has a stake in World Liberty Financial, a 2024-founded cryptocurrency company, as well as First Lady Melania Trump’s coin.

When a man on the screen plays the character played by superstar Malini Fonseka in a movie with Srimathi Mallika Kaluarachchi as a girl, Kaluarachchi would cry.

In desperation, she would then turn to her father. Kaluarachchi, 68, recalls that “we used to scream at the screen, telling our father to save her.” We adored her, they said.

Fonseka passed away on May 24 at the age of 78 while receiving treatment in a hospital, joining thousands of fans on Monday to bid her final farewell. The nature of Fonseka’s illness has not been made public by either her family or the hospital. Fonseka, one of the country’s most well-known actresses, was regarded as the queen of Sri Lankan cinema.

Fans flocked to Colombo’s Independence Square to view her coffin before she was cremated with full state honors as they admired her in full state tutelage. A projector drone flew above the crowd, playing songs from Fonseka’s films, displaying a montage of scenes from her career.

Anura Kumara Dissanayake, president of Sri Lanka, described Fonseka as a “true icon of Sri Lankan cinema whose grace and talent inspired generations” and that “her legacy will forever shine in our hearts and on our screens.”

a pioneer

Fonseka had a more than 50-year career in Sinhala cinema, where she starred in more than 140 movies.

We would forget how hurt we had in our hearts if we saw her, Kaluarachchi said, wiping away tears. “We know that movies aren’t real, but when we were kids, we didn’t.”

Because of how she represented how common people experience love, Fonseka, according to Kaluarachchi, was special.

Before making her film debut in 1968’s Punchi Baba, she began her acting career as a stage actress.

In the 1970s and 1980s, Lester James Peries and Dharmasena Pathiraja were among Lester James Peries and Dharmasena Pathiraja, her popularity grew.

In many of her most well-known roles, the struggles of women in a society predominated by men were a common theme. In the movie Nidhanaya (1972), she portrays a wife who was killed by her husband, a college student who was involved in a difficult relationship in Thushara (1973), a village girl who was hounded by men in Eya Dan Loku Lamayek (1975), and a girl from a rural fishing village who was drawn to the big city lifestyle in Bambaru Avith (1978).

She also expanded into directorial work, including the 1987 movies Sasara Chethana and Ahimsa, which helped her continue to succeed into the 1980s.

“A bridge” between generations

In 1978, she and legendary Indian Tamil actor Sivaji Ganesan co-starred in the first Indian-Sri Lankan co-production Pilot Premnath.

She never had a category to fit into. She worked in arthouse and commercial cinema, according to 27-year-old teacher Prabuddhika Kannagara. She played a grandmother, a married woman, a young woman, a mother, and even a grandmother. She made a diverse range of female statements.

According to Buddhist customs, Kannagara was one of the final mourners at the funeral, sitting and watching as sparks emitted from the white cloth tower in the square for Fonseka’s cremation.

She claimed to Al Jazeera that Fonseka had acted as a “bridge” between various eras of film, from black and white to digital, and that she had remained a star for both her mother’s generation and her own.

At Sri Lanka’s Presidential Film Awards, Fonseka won five times for Best Actress. Her most recent success came in 2006 with her directorial debut in the movie Ammawarune. At both the New Delhi Film Festival and the Moscow International Film Festival, she also received numerous awards.

In the 1980s, when women’s roles in front of the camera were uncommon, she became Sri Lanka’s first female television drama director. Additionally, Finseka made a brief foray into politics by serving in the parliament of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015 while under the former president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Anuradha Kodagoda, a journalist and critic of movies in Sri Lanka, described Fonseka as “rare and unique in Sri Lankan cinema” for the range of characters she portrayed.

Fonseka “represented the beauty idol for Sri Lankan women” and was “petite and fair, with an oval face and soft features.”

She “portrayed her characters with a lot of organic and realty in them.” That is, in my opinion, the magic of it,” Kodagoda said.

There will be no more queens, the saying goes.

Many mourners recall conversations or conversations with Fonseka, some of whom traveled far away for the funeral.

She served as our role model. Pushpa Hemalatha, a 56-year-old jam factory worker, said, “We saw her as an example when we went to the cinema. She exhibited no arrogance. When we were younger, we had a crush on her.

In the song Eya Wasanathaya Nowe, Fonseka reprised her role as an elderly woman remembering her late husband in the 2024 music video.

Ivanka Peiris, an actress and musician who co-starred with her in the TV series Hithuwakkara, claimed that Fonseka was “very empowering” as a role model for women and “everything” for younger actresses in the field.

And, she continued, Fonseka would never be a replacement.

She is the queen, she says. That is it, according to Peiris. No other queens will exist in Sri Lanka. She will be both the first and last.