
Is Macron the West's new Putin-whisperer?
CNN
If there was one indication that French President Emmanuel Macron may be well on his way to replacing former German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the leading figure in Western Europe, it is his expanding relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Macron meets Putin face-to-face in Moscow on Monday before heading to Kyiv the following day for another in-person session with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky -- all while as many as 100,000 Russian troops remain poised on Ukraine's frontiers.

Cuba is going dark under US pressure. How the crisis unfolded and why its troubles are far from over
Almost three months after the US effectively imposed an oil blockade on Cuba that worsened its energy crunch, nearly every aspect of Cuban society has been feeling the strain.

The Department of Homeland Security has been ensnared by a partial government shutdown as Congress did not act to fund the agency by the end of Friday. But nearly all DHS workers will remain on the job — even if many won’t get paid until the lapse ends — and the public probably won’t notice much of a change.











