Zelenskiy names new ambassadors during Ukraine political shakeup
(Reuters) -Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appointed over a dozen new ambassadors on Monday, during a big shakeup that has seen him replace top cabinet officials and envoys to shore up relations with Washington and isolate Russia internationally.
The new envoys named on Monday include ambassadors to NATO members Belgium, Canada, Estonia and Spain, as well as major donor Japan and regional heavyweights South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
Zelenskiy launched a major government reshuffle last week, promoting Yulia Svyrydenko, 39, who had served as economy minister and is well known in Washington, to head the cabinet as prime minister.
Deputy Prime Minister Olha Stefanishyna is set to become Ukraine's new envoy to the United States, as Ukraine seeks to mend ties with the Trump administration.
In remarks to the diplomatic corps released by his office, Zelenskiy said envoys needed to support "everything that causes Russia pain for its war".
"While the content of our relationship with America has transformed following the change in administration, the goal remains unchanged: Ukraine must withstand Russia's strikes," Zelenskiy said.
(Reporting by Yuliia DysaEditing by Peter Graff)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malaysia Sun
30 minutes ago
- Malaysia Sun
$10mn of USAID contraceptives to be burned in France media
The shipment destined for poor nations ended up stuck in Europe due to the shutdown of the agency A $10 million shipment of US-funded contraceptives will be incinerated in France, after Washington rejected offers to send the supplies to poorer nations, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The stockpile - made up of birth control pills and implants - has been stuck in Belgium since early 2025, when President Donald Trump shut down USAID and froze foreign aid programs. The supplies were originally meant for distribution in developing countries. A State Department spokesperson confirmed the destruction plan, saying the disposal will cost around $167,000 and take place at a medical waste facility in France. The contraceptives are being stored in the city of Geel and will require dozens of truckloads and at least two weeks to move, sources told Reuters. Belgian authorities have attempted to prevent the destruction of the supplies yet ultimately failed to do so, having exhausted "all possible options to prevent the destruction, including temporary relocation." "Despite these efforts, and with full respect for our partners, no viable alternative could be secured. Nevertheless, Belgium continues to actively seek solutions to avoid this regrettable outcome," the country's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that "sexual and reproductive health must not be subject to ideological constraints." Human rights groups that attempted to buy the supplies from Washington have also suggested the impending destruction is being driven by "ideological" motives rather than a desire to cut costs. Sarah Shaw, Associate Director of Advocacy at MSI Reproductive Choices, told Reuters the NGO approached Washington with an offer to pay for repackaging of the supplies without USAID branding and for shipment to their destinations, but the proposal was declined. "MSI offered to pay for repackaging, shipping, and import duties, but they were not open to that... We were told that the US government would only sell the supplies at the full market value," said Shaw. "This is clearly not about saving money. It feels more like an ideological assault on reproductive rights, and one that is already harming women," she added. The UN sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, also reportedly offered to buy the shipment. The talks ultimately broke down, partially due to a lack of response from the US government, a source with direct knowledge told Reuters. (
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
US House Speaker Johnson says Epstein case 'not a hoax'
FILE PHOTO: U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) takes questions from reporters at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 23, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal was "not a hoax" in an interview released on Thursday, as the case continued to stoke turmoil within President Donald Trump's party. Trump has denounced the furor over his late friend, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender as "the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax" and urged his fellow Republicans without success to drop the issue. "It's not a hoax. Of course not," Johnson said in an interview with CBS News. Johnson said on Tuesday he would send lawmakers home a day early for a five-week summer recess to avoid a political fight over whether to make public additional files on Epstein, who hung himself in a New York City jail in 2019, according to New York City's chief medical examiner. Even so, a Republican-controlled subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday approved a subpoena seeking all Justice Department files on Epstein. Three Republicans joined five Democrats to back the effort, in a sign that Trump's party was not ready to move on from the issue. "We want full transparency. We want everybody who is involved in any way with the Epstein evils — let's call it what it was — to be brought to justice as quickly as possible. We want the full weight of the law on their heads," Johnson told CBS in the interview, conducted on Wednesday. A disclosure on Wednesday about Trump's appearance in the Justice Department's case records threatened to deepen a political crisis that has engulfed his administration for weeks. The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi told Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to Epstein. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Hulk Hogan, who helped turn pro wrestling into billion-dollar spectacle, dies at 71
(Reuters) -Hulk Hogan, the American sports and entertainment star who made professional wrestling a global phenomenon and loudly supported Donald Trump for president, has died at the age of 71, World Wrestling Entertainment said on Thursday. "WWE is saddened to learn WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan has passed away. One of pop culture's most recognizable figures, Hogan helped WWE achieve global recognition in the 1980s," WWE said on X. It gave no cause of death. The bleach-blond, mahogany-tanned behemoth became the face of professional wrestling in the 1980s, helping transform the mock combat from a seedy spectacle into family-friendly entertainment worth billions of dollars. A key moment in that evolution came at the WrestleMania III extravaganza in 1987, when Hogan hoisted fellow wrestler André the Giant before a sold-out Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan for a thunderous body slam of the Frenchman. Hogan parlayed his wrestling fame into a less successful career in Hollywood, starring in films like "Rocky III" and "Santa With Muscles," but kept returning to the ring as long as his body would allow. In 2024, he appeared at the Republican National Convention to endorse the presidential bid of Trump, who in the 1980s had played host to Hulk-headlined WrestleManias. Hogan said he made the decision to support the Republican candidate after seeing his combative, fist-pumping reaction to an attempted assassination on the campaign trail. "Let Trumpamania run wild, brother!" Hogan bellowed to a cheering crowd, ripping off his shirt to reveal a Trump tank top. "Let Trumpamania rule again!" BECOMING 'HULK' Born Terry Gene Bollea in Augusta, Georgia, on Aug. 11, 1953, the future Hulk and his family soon moved to the Tampa, Florida area. After high school, he played bass guitar for area rock bands, but felt a pull to the red-hot wrestling scene in Florida in the 1970s. Many of the details of his career were showbusiness exaggerations, representative of the blurred lines between fact and fiction in wrestling. His first trainer reportedly broke Hogan's leg to dissuade him from entering the business, but he kept at wrestling, weight training, and - he later admitted - anabolic steroids. He gained in notoriety as his biceps turned into what he dubbed the "24-inch pythons." The "Hulk" moniker came from comparisons to the comic-book hero portrayed on TV at the time. He would end up paying royalties to Marvel Comics for years. "Hogan" was the invention of promoter Vincent J. McMahon, the owner of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), who wanted Irish representation among his stable of stars. His appearance as wrestler Thunderlips in "Rocky III," where he dwarfed leading man Sylvester Stallone, rocketed Hogan to the mainstream. Upon a return to the WWF, now controlled by McMahon's son Vincent K., he defeated the Iron Sheik in 1984 to claim the world championship, a belt he would hold for four years. Hogan became a household name, appearing on the cover of magazine Sports Illustrated and performing alongside pop culture stars like Mr. T. The WWF came to dominate wrestling, anchored by its annual WrestleMania pay-per-view events. FACING 'THE ROCK' Later, he joined competitor World Championship Wrestling, swapping his trademark yellow tights for black and taking on a persona as the villainous "Hollywood" Hogan, the head of a gang of rulebreakers known as the New World Order. The gimmick reinvigorated his career. Hogan eventually returned to the WWF, now known as WWE, and faced Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson at WrestleMania in 2002. "I'm in better shape than him," Hogan told Reuters at the time, five months shy of his 50th birthday. "I'll stand next to The Rock and pose down with him if he wants to." The Rock ultimately won the match. Hogan was inducted twice into the WWE Hall of Fame, and referred to himself as the "Babe Ruth" of wrestling - after the New York Yankees' famed baseball player. But Hogan's support of Trump in 2024 did not go down well with all wrestling fans, and he also faced other controversies. Gossip website Gawker was shuttered after it posted parts of a sex tape between him and a friend's wife and Hogan sued on privacy grounds, winning a $140 million judgment. In 2015, he was suspended by the WWE after another surreptitious recording revealed that Hogan had used a racial slur. He was reinstated in 2018. He was married three times and had two children, who starred alongside him and first wife Linda in a 2005-2007 reality TV show, "Hogan Knows Best." (Reporting by Rocky Swift in Tokyo, additional reporting by Bhargav Acharya and Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien and Olivier Holmey)
