The Cosmopolitics Edit: Ukraine fight club

Inside Trump's latest travel ban and his call with China's Xi, the new pope gets political and the IDF vs Greta Thunberg.

credit: Freedom Flotilla

NOTE: Welcome to the Cosmopolitics Edit. Each week, I’ll give my takes on the biggest stories, along with a curation of stories that I found interesting and suggestions on some lighter weekend fare to enjoy.

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Russia retaliated this week for Ukraine's recent strikes by pummeling Kharkiv with a devastating swarm of drones and missiles, killing at least four people in what the mayor called "the most powerful attack" since the war began. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited the White House Thursday hoping to harness America's leverage to end the Ukraine war, only to hear Trump suggested a Ukraine fight club, where the world might need to "let them fight for a little while." The escalating use of drones by both sides is the new face of modern warfare - turning the territorial conflict into a high-stakes aerial battle.

Xi loves me not On Thursday Trump's sweet-talked President China's Xi Jinping on a call he'd been desperately seeking, claiming they "straightened out" complex trade issues. HIs one concrete achievement was