Over the weekend, Russian forces made limited progress in Donbas, moving south from the museum and north from Volnovka. In what sort of looks like a pincer movement aimed at occupying the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, However, Ukraine was able to stage counter-offensives around Kharkiv where it looks like they're trying to cut off Russia's supply lines to Isium and therefore hamper Russia's pincer movement. Unfortunately for Putin, the news gets worse because on Monday, Ukrainian forces reportedly killed yet another Russian general while they were visiting the lions in Isium and by Tuesday, it looked like the Russian advance had mostly stalled. Some commentators suggested that Putin might be forced to resort to a general mobilization against Ukraine in the next few days. This would involve wider general conscription of Russian men of fighting age, but such a move is unlikely to be popular in Russia.

Last Friday evening, it was reported that a Russian spy plane had entered Danish and Swedish airspace, and neither country was particularly pleased about this. As a result, yesterday, Denmark and Sweden summoned Russia's ambassador to their respective foreign ministries. In an email about the situation, the Danish foreign minister said of the event, "it's totally unacceptable and particularly worrying in the current situation." Additionally, in March this year, Russia threw four jets through Sweden's airspace, so this isn't the first time. But what makes this situation even more important is that Sweden isn't currently a member of NATO, but is seriously considering if they want to join soon. Russia's recent violation of their airspace may then push Sweden more seriously to consider their application, and it's worth noting that Denmark is already a NATO member.

Moving over to the U.S., on Monday, Politico published a report that indicated the U.S. supreme court had voted to overturn Roe v Wade, a landmark case regarding abortion. The report contained a draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito that eviscerates Roe, stating that Roe was egregiously wrong from the start and that abortion should go to the state legislatures. For those who don't know, Roe v. Wade was a decision first made by the supreme court in 1973 that stated that a woman's choice to have an abortion was constitutionally protected. However, with a 6-3 conservative court, many pro-life activists saw it as a chance to overturn the row precedent, and if this story is true, they seem to have done just that. If Roe is overturned, it could also see changes on the horizon for other more liberal policies that are backed up by similar legal principles. However, it is likely to shake the country's political landscape and may further motivate Democrats to vote in the November midterm elections.

The premier of the British Virgin Islands has been arrested by the United States' drug enforcement agency on drug trafficking and money laundering charges. In the wake of this arrest, a 12-month inquiry into corruption and maladministration in the overseas territory was released early. This inquiry has called for a partial suspension of the constitution and for direct rule by the London-appointed governor to be imposed for at least two years. In response to this proposal, hundreds of people in the British Virgin Islands gathered to protest what's been described as a colonialist policy. The island's acting premier has described the reimposition of direct rule as unacceptable and added that the people of the Virgin Islands are capable of working collaboratively with the UK to implement the agreed recommendations of the report.

Cost of living crisis continues it seems that some are suffering more than others, and that's because British petroleum has seen its profits skyrocket to a 10-year high in its first quarterly report of this year. The company's underlying replacement cost profits doubled from 2.1 billion pounds a year ago to about 5 billion pounds now. However, there are some nuances here, firstly the company had a quarterly loss of about 20.4 billion pounds following its decision to withdraw from Russia. Secondly, it's been reported that BP is planning to invest about 18 billion pounds into the UK's energy system by 2030. Nonetheless, even with these nuances taken into account, some are calling for a windfall tax on the profits of energy companies to help those who are suffering the consequences of the cost of living crisis. But there's no information yet about whether such a policy is really being considered or whether it will ever be introduced.