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A US appeals court upheld Monday a jury’s $83.3 million penalty against President Donald Trump for defaming author E. Jean Carroll, whom he was found to have sexually assaulted.  The January 2024 order consisted of $65 million in punitive damages after the jury found Trump acted maliciously in his many public comments about Carroll, $7.3 million in compensatory damages and $11 million to pay for an online campaign to repair Carroll’s reputation.The civil order, which prompted an audible gasp in the federal court, far exceeded the more than $10 million in damages for defamation that Carroll had sought.Trump — whom a jury found liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a separate federal civil case in New York — used his Truth Social platform at the time to fire off a spate of insulting messages attacking Carroll, the trial and the judge, whom he called “an extremely abusive individual.”- ‘Substantial financial penalty’ -“We hold that the district court did not err in any of the challenged rulings and that the jury’s duly rendered damages awards were reasonable in light of the extraordinary and egregious facts of this case,” the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit wrote.  Carroll, 81, alleged that Trump defamed her in 2019, when she first made her assault allegations public, by saying she “is not my type.”Jurors were shown Trump’s October 2022 deposition during which he confused a picture of Carroll for his former wife Marla Maples, which threatened to cast doubt on his claim Carroll was not his “type.”In 2023, another federal jury found Trump liable for sexually assaulting Carroll in a department store dressing room in 1996 and subsequently defaming her in 2022, when he called her a “complete con job.””We agree with the district court that the jury was entitled to find that Trump would not stop defaming Carroll unless he was subjected to a substantial financial penalty,” the appeals court ruled Monday.Trump was not required to attend the trial or to testify. However, he used the case to generate heated media coverage and to fuel his claims of being victimized as he campaigned for a return to the White House.

US President Donald Trump cheered Monday after a West Point military academy ceremony honoring “Saving Private Ryan” star and outspoken critic Tom Hanks was canceled.The multiple Oscar-winning actor — who was also an executive producer for several acclaimed miniseries about World War II — was meant to be hosted by the academy’s alumni association later this month.However news emerged over the weekend that this had been abruptly scrapped.Trump, who has overseen a purge of perceived opponents across civil society and the government — including inside the US military — said he was pleased. “Our great West Point (getting greater all the time!) has smartly cancelled the Award Ceremony for actor Tom Hanks. Important move!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.”We don’t need destructive, WOKE recipients getting our cherished American Awards!!!” the president wrote, in an apparent reference to Hanks’ Democratic political leanings.Hanks was due to receive the prestigious Sylvanus Thayer Award from the West Point Association of Graduates (WPAOG) on September 25.According to The Washington Post, an email from the alumni association announcing the change did not specify whether Hanks would still receive the award without the ceremony.- Supporting veterans and military -The Thayer award is given to “an outstanding citizen of the United States whose service and accomplishments in the national interest exemplify personal devotion to the ideals expressed in West Point’s motto: ‘Duty, Honor, Country,'” the WPAOG said when announcing Hanks as the 2025 recipient.”Much of Hanks’ five-decade career reflects his support of veterans, the military, and America’s space program,” it said in a statement.Hanks starred as an Army captain who landed at D-Day in “Saving Private Ryan,” and portrayed a destroyer commander crossing the Atlantic as U-boats hunted for American ships in “Greyhound.” He also executive produced three miniseries about World War II: “Band of Brothers” about paratroopers in Europe, “The Pacific” about Marines fighting against Japanese forces, and “Masters of the Air” about the crews of US bombers.Hanks — who also served as a national spokesperson for the World War II memorial campaign and was chair of the D-Day museum capital campaign — had expressed excitement about visiting West Point.”To have my first ever visit to the Academy be to accept such an honor as the Thayer Award is simply astounding,” the WPAOG statement quoted him as saying.The alumni association did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the cancelation of the ceremony, which comes after Trump’s administration took aim at both library books and personnel at West Point earlier in the year.In May, the Pentagon ordered a hunt for and sequestration of materials in US military academy and war college libraries that contain information on subjects including diversity, anti-racism and transgender people.Two months later, the secretary of the army directed West Point to rescind an offer for a former cybersecurity agency chief to hold a prestigious position at the military academy after she drew the ire of a far-right conspiracy theorist.

Ariana Grande won the MTV Video Music Awards’ top honor on Sunday, taking home Video of the Year for “Brighter Days Ahead”, which also claimed Best Pop Song at the ceremony near New York City.Visibly emotional while accepting the evening’s most prestigious award, the 32-year-old singer-songwriter and actor delivered an extended thank you to her fans, whom she described as “fiercely loving and supportive.””Thank you for growing with me and being so supportive of me as a human being,” said Grande, who thanked her “therapist and gay people” while accepting her first prize earlier in the night.Lady Gaga emerged as another major winner, beating out industry heavyweights including Bad Bunny, Kendrick Lamar, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd for the top artist honor. The 39-year-old interrupted her concert series to accept the Artist of the Year award on stage and also won Best Collaboration with Bruno Mars for “Die with a Smile”.Rose, who is pursuing a solo career after rising to fame with K-pop group Blackpink, received Song of the Year for “APT”, also co-written with Bruno Mars.Sabrina Carpenter won Best Album of the Year for “Short n’ Sweet”.The evening featured a nostalgic aesthetic with performances by veteran artists including Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes and Ricky Martin, while newer performers like Doja Cat and Tate McRae incorporated choreography heavily borrowed from the 1980s and 1990s.Notably, rapper Kendrick Lamar, who dominated the recent Grammy Awards with five wins, left empty-handed despite multiple nominations.Unlike last year’s ceremony, which occurred during election season and saw winner Taylor Swift urge fans to vote for Kamala Harris, this year’s event appeared to carefully avoid political messaging.

President Donald Trump on Sunday warned foreign companies to obey US law after immigration officials arrested some 475 individuals including South Korean workers at a Hyundai-LG battery plant being built in the southern state of Georgia.The arrests were made in a raid by US authorities on Thursday during the largest single-site operation implemented so far under Trump’s nationwide anti-migrant drive.”Please respect our Nation’s Immigration Laws,” the president posted on social media Sunday.”Your Investments are welcome, and we encourage you to LEGALLY bring your very smart people… What we ask in return is that you hire and train American Workers.”Footage of the raid showed detained workers, in handcuffs and with chains around their ankles, being loaded onto a bus.Steven Schrank, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Georgia, told reporters that the raid targeted “unlawful employment practices going on at this massive, 100-acre construction site.”LG Energy Solution has said 47 of its employees were arrested — 46 South Koreans and one Indonesian.The company has also said about 250 of those arrested were believed to be employed by its contractor, and most of them were South Koreans.In addition to being a key security ally on the Pacific Rim, South Korea is Asia’s fourth-biggest economy and a key automaker and electronics producer with multiple plants in the United States.Seoul has heeded Trump’s repeated call for global investment in US businesses during his tariff negotiations with countries around the world.Last month, hours after South Korean President Lee Jae-myung met with Trump in Washington, Korean Air announced it would purchase 100 Boeing aircraft, inking the largest deal in South Korea’s aviation history. Seoul also pledged $350 billion in US investment in July.And South Korea secured an agreement for a 15 percent tariff for exports to the United States — significantly below the 25 percent that Trump had earlier threatened to introduce.- Migrant crackdown -Domestically, Trump has promised to revive the US manufacturing sector while also vowing to deport millions of undocumented migrants.While admonishing investors on Sunday to abide by the law, Trump appeared to acknowledge a skill deficiency in the domestic workforce.”ICE was doing right because they were here illegally,” he said of the raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that has strained relations with South Korea.”But we do have to work something out where we bring in extras so that our people can be trained so that they can do it themselves.”Seoul said Sunday that negotiations to secure the release of the detained workers had been concluded and they would soon be freed and flown home.”The immediate priority now is the swift release of both our LG Energy Solution employees and those of our partner firms,” company executive Kim Ki-soo told reporters before boarding a plane to Georgia earlier in the day.Hyundai has said none of those arrested are its employees.With hundreds detained, the size of the Georgia raid is a departure from operations elsewhere.In Los Angeles, immigration agents have repeatedly raided small businesses, targeting hardware stores, restaurants, car washes and street vendors.

Russell Crowe’s nerve-shredding portrayal of a notorious Nazi on trial and Angelina Jolie’s deeply personal dive into the world of French fashion led a busy Sunday of world premieres at the Toronto film festival.Crowe’s depiction of the second-ranking Nazi, Hermann Goering, in “Nuremberg,” as he plays a cat-and-mouse game with a psychiatrist (Rami Malek), drew an unusually lengthy standing ovation at North America’s biggest movie fest.The movie, out in theaters in November and based on Jack El-Hai’s book “The Nazi and the Psychiatrist,” depicts Goering as a charming, smart and wily prisoner, while not shying away from the colossal evil in which he played a pivotal role.”You can’t play a character like this and not walk away, at the end of the day, feeling things that maybe shake you about what went down,” Crowe told journalists on the world premiere’s red carpet.Crowe speaks German in parts of the film, depicting how Goering believed he could use the post-World War II Nuremberg trials to justify his actions on a global stage.The Oscar-winner signed up just after reading the script, in which he could see Goering’s “ambition bloom” and “how his egotism told him that he could control the narrative.”The movie contains devastating archive footage of Nazi concentration camp victims being bulldozed into their graves — the same film reel that was shown in the real Nuremberg courtroom.Director James Vanderbilt said he asked his actors not to research the footage before they were confronted with it on the day the scene was filmed.Crowe’s role was “a dark person to play — that takes an emotional toll on an actor,” Vanderbilt told AFP. “He was game for all of it, and I’m eternally grateful to him for that.”In an early review, Deadline called the movie “unrelenting” and “enormously effective,” praising Crowe’s “stunning” performance.- ‘Stitches’ -Elsewhere at Toronto on Sunday, Angelina Jolie premiered “Couture,” a drama focusing on some of the human stories behind the often superficial world of fashion.Set in Paris and coming from French director Alice Winocour, it follows an American filmmaker who is diagnosed with cancer as she prepares for a runway show, and told she needs a double mastectomy — echoing Jolie’s real-life health issues.”It’s about couture — in French, it means stitches,” the actress told AFP.”So stitches, when you think of our surgeries, our bodies, the way our lives and stories are sewn together, you understand what the film is.”The film does not yet have a release date.Meanwhile, Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao walked the red carpet for “Hamnet,” which colors in the gaps of the little we know about William Shakespeare and his wife, and a tragedy that inspired arguably his greatest work.”To see them fall in love and come together, be torn apart… it’s an inner civil war that we all battle with as we grow and mature,” she told AFP.The movie, starring Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley, hits theaters in November and is expected to be an Academy Awards contender.And at a Toronto press conference, stripper-turned-actor Channing Tatum said his performance in “Roofman,” which tells the true story of a man who robbed dozens of McDonald’s and hid out in a toy store, had helped him overcome “imposter syndrome.” The film, out next month, recounts the life of Jeffrey Manchester, who robbed dozens of fast food stores through the 1990s, entering the restaurants through the roof. He famously built a secret hideout inside a Toys “R” Us store in the city of Charlotte, coming out after closure at night to wash in the bathroom, surviving largely on snack food like M&Ms.”For the very first time, maybe even on this movie, I feel like I’ve actually earned my seat at the table” with the role, Tatum said.The Toronto International Film Festival runs until next Sunday.

US President Donald Trump threatened Sunday to impose more sanctions on Russia, after the Kremlin unleashed its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine.Russian missiles and drones rained down across Ukraine early Sunday, killing four people and setting government offices in the capital Kyiv ablaze.Trump told reporters after the assault he was “not happy with the whole situation” and said he was prepared to move forward on new sanctions on Moscow.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was counting on a “strong” US response.Russia has intensified its onslaught against Ukraine since a meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on August 15 failed to make any breakthrough on a ceasefire.After Sunday’s attack on Kyiv, flames could be seen rising from the roof of the sprawling government complex that houses Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in the heart of the city — the first time it has been hit during the three-and-a-half-year conflict.Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in the Ukrainian capital, according to emergency services.Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.It said it struck a plant and a logistics hub in Kyiv, with the Russian defence ministry saying “no strikes were carried out on other targets within the boundaries of Kyiv”. “It is important that there is a broad response from partners to this attack today,” said Zelensky in his evening address, adding that Putin was “testing the world”.”We are counting on a strong response from America. That is what is needed.”- ‘Deliberate crime’ -Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video showing a damaged floor in the government building.”We will restore the buildings,” she said. “But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country.”Zelensky discussed the attack in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron and said France would help Ukraine strengthen its defence.Macron was among European leaders who condemned the attack, posting on X that Russia was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror”. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the attacks as “cowardly” while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen accused the Kremlin of “mocking diplomacy”.Earlier, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington might slap tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil.”The Russian economy will be in full collapse. And that will bring President (Vladimir) Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC television.- European troop proposal -At least two people were killed in a strike west of Kyiv, prosecutors said.More than two dozen were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency services.Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, with doctors fighting to save her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported.Two more died and dozens were wounded in overnight strikes across the east and southeast, authorities said.Ukraine’s foreign ministry highlighted that seven horses had also been killed at an equestrian club.”The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives — human or animal — every single day,” it posted on X.The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to oversee any agreement to end the war, some of which said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but Putin has warned that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.Trump has tried to find a way to end the war in recent weeks but has little to show for his efforts.Russia has continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles and now occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine.Tens of thousands have been killed and millions forced from their homes in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was issuing a “last warning” to Hamas, saying the Palestinian militant group must accept a deal to release hostages in Gaza.”The Israelis have accepted my terms. It is time for Hamas to accept as well. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning,” Trump said on social media, without elaborating further. In a statement released shortly after, Hamas said it was ready to “immediately sit at the negotiating table” following what it described as “some ideas from the American side aimed at reaching a ceasefire agreement.”US news outlet Axios reported that White House envoy Steve Witkoff sent a new proposal for a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal to Hamas last week.The White House has not released any details about the proposal but late Sunday Trump said “you’ll be hearing about it pretty soon,” as he portrayed the negotiations in a positive light.”We had some very good discussions. Good things could happen,” he told reporters. “I think we’re going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.”In early March, Trump issued a similar ultimatum to Hamas, demanding it free all remaining hostages immediately and turn over bodies of dead hostages, saying if not, “it is OVER for you.”Israeli campaign group the Hostages and Missing Families Forum welcomed the US president’s latest intervention as a “true breakthrough.”Hamas militants seized 251 hostages during the massive October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with 47 still believed to be in Gaza.The Israeli military says 25 of them are dead. Israel is seeking the return of their remains.- Assault on Gaza City -The statements from Trump and Hamas came as Israel’s army bombed a Gaza City residential tower Sunday — the third in as many days — after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the military was “deepening” its assault on the key urban center.Witness Mohammed Al-Nazli told AFP that the strike on the Al-Roya tower “felt like an earthquake.”At least 48 people were killed in Sunday’s Israeli attacks, according to Gaza civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal.The air force has leveled two other residential high-rises under the same claim that Hamas had used them as observation points.Netanyahu said on Sunday that around 100,000 residents had already left Gaza City, accusing Hamas of trying to prevent evacuations and of using civilians as “human shields.”The escalation has fueled fears of a further deterioration in already dire humanitarian conditions for Palestinians living in the area.On Saturday, Israeli protesters took to the streets to call on their government to reverse the decision to seize Gaza City, fearing for the fate of hostages believed to be held there.The October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 64,368 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency or the Israeli military.

On a summer evening in San Francisco, JT Mason went to dinner with five complete strangers, confident he would have a good time thanks to careful guest selection by a new type of app for meeting people.The platform, called 222, promises something different than your typical dating app.”I’m not getting the image that they want people to see. I’m getting the actual human being,” said the 25-year-old paramedic.Before the evening, Mason completed a lengthy questionnaire covering his values, interests, drug tolerance, character traits, and other personal criteria. After dinner, he joined other app users at a private art deco bar, all hoping to meet potential friends or perhaps find something more.Once connections are made, everyone has the opportunity to tell the app which people they’d like to see again — or not — and explain why. According to 222, the app’s artificial intelligence becomes particularly effective at matching users after they participate in several events, from dinners to yoga sessions to improv classes.”As far as AI getting to the point of understanding human chemistry, I think they’re pretty far off,” Mason observed, but said he thinks it can serve as “the first step in getting us to the table to try to create that connection.”Predicting compatibility between strangers using AI has become the obsession of Keyan Kazemian and his co-founders at 222, which now operates in several major cities from London to Los Angeles.The 26-year-old entrepreneur hopes to “help people not only form initial connections and get to the next interaction, but help people who already know each other form long, lasting relationships.”After working at Match Group — the parent company of Tinder and Hinge — he concluded that traditional dating apps “only seek one thing: are you going to swipe right on the next person?” Most new technologies are “actually placing people not with other humans, but with virtual entities,” he added, referring to social media and AI assistants.- ’15 cigarettes a day’ -The growing difficulties individuals face in forming meaningful connections have alarmed health professionals. In 2017, then US surgeon general Vivek Murthy described a “loneliness epidemic.” In a 2023 report, he warned that “the mortality impact of being socially disconnected is similar to that caused by smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day, and even greater than that associated with obesity and physical inactivity.”He cited increased risks of cardiovascular disease, dementia and depression. The causes, according to various studies, include the gradual disappearance of traditional socializing institutions, addictive digital platforms and, more recently, the pandemic and remote work.- ‘Emotionally challenging’ -When Isabella Epstein moved to New York in 2021 to work at an investment bank, she “tried everything” to build connections. Fresh out of a small university in rural Vermont and accustomed to close-knit communities, she experimented with apps and joined clubs — all in vain.”It was an emotionally challenging period for me,” Epstein recalled. “I ended up approaching strangers on the street, at coffee shops. I would say to a woman, ‘I love your outfit,’ or stop someone and ask, ‘What are you reading?’ People were very positively receptive.”Over time, the young woman accumulated hundreds of contacts. She began organizing impromptu events — inviting some to happy hours, others to pickleball games — and gradually created her own circle of friends.Passionate about solving this widespread problem, she quit her job and launched “Kndrd.”The app targets New York women under 40, allowing its roughly 10,000 users to suggest activities and find partners for them.Other services similar to 222 and Kndrd have emerged in recent years, including Timeleft, Plots and Realroots.”The positive side of these apps is that their business model doesn’t rely on time spent online,” noted Felix-Olivier Ngangue, an investor at Convivialite Ventures.”It’s in their interest for people to meet in real life.”

President Donald Trump’s attendance at the US Open men’s final on Sunday delayed the start of the match, as hordes of tennis fans struggled to get through tightened security checkpoints.The president joined a host of other celebrities taking in the battle between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz in his first visit to the New York tournament in a decade.Trump was greeted with loud boos — mixed with a smattering of cheers — when he was shown on screen during the match, which was delayed by 30 minutes due to his presence.By the start of the second set, an AFP journalist saw roughly 250 people still waiting in stagnant lines to pass enhanced security checks to enter the venue. One couple from South Africa said they had been waiting for more than an hour. Trump has not attended the US Open since 2015 when the then-presidential candidate and wife Melania were booed on arrival by the crowd.While the Republican leader enjoys pockets of support in his native city, it is overwhelmingly Democratic.People watching the Sinner-Alcaraz showdown on television may not see any unfavorable reactions to the president, because event organizers asked broadcasters not to showcase disruptions, according to several US media reports.Spanish star Alcaraz said Friday he planned to “try not to think about” the Trump hubbub in the stands, but appreciated the attention his visit would bring to the sport.”I don’t want myself to be nervous because of it, but I think attending the tennis match, it’s great for tennis to have the president (at) the final.”Major tournament sponsor Rolex welcomed Trump into its stadium box, with the president briefly appearing alongside the company’s CEO, as well as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.The Geneva-based luxury watchmaker’s invite came after Trump hit Switzerland with a 39-percent tariff as part of his trade war, one of the highest rates on US trade partners.Attorney General Pam Bondi, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Steve Witkoff — Trump’s envoy for peace missions — were also present. – Sports fan -Trump has attended a series of glitzy sporting events since retaking office in January.He was booed at the FIFA Club World Cup final in New Jersey but had a warmer reception at the Super Bowl and a number of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bouts, as well as the Daytona 500 NASCAR race.Trump says he also plans to attend the first day of golf’s Ryder Cup later this month, and preparations are underway for him to host a UFC fight on the White House grounds.Trump has hailed the 2026 World Cup — jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico — and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles as part of what he claims is a “Golden Age of America” ushered in by his presidency.Both events were scheduled before he won reelection.The last sitting president to attend the tennis Grand Slam in New York — and the first in history to go to the US Open — was Democrat Bill Clinton, who watched the women’s final in 2000.Trump was there as well and had a cordial meeting with Clinton, according to pictures from the encounter.Though Trump made his name in New York, he changed his residency during his first term from Manhattan to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.The 79-year-old has only intermittently returned to New York, but spent several weeks at his luxury Fifth Avenue condo last year while undergoing a historic criminal trial mid-campaign.He is expected back in the city to attend a baseball game on the anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, as well as to address the UN General Assembly on September 23.

Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early on Sunday, killing four people and setting government offices in Kyiv ablaze, an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war.Zelensky said he was counting on a strong US response shortly after US President Donald Trump indicated to journalists he might be willing to impose more sanctions on Moscow.Russia has intensified its onslaught against Ukraine since a meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin on August 15 failed to make any breakthrough on a ceasefire.After Sunday’s attack on Kyiv, flames could be seen rising from the roof of the sprawling government complex that houses Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in the heart of the city — the first time it has been hit during the three-and-a-half-year conflict.Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in the Ukrainian capital, according to emergency services.Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine.It said it struck a plant and a logistics hub in Kyiv, with the Russian defence ministry saying “no strikes were carried out on other targets within the boundaries of Kyiv”. “It is important that there is a broad response from partners to this attack today,” said Zelensky in his evening address, adding that Putin was “testing the world”.”We are counting on a strong response from America. That is what is needed.”- ‘Deliberate crime’ -Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko posted a video showing a damaged floor in the government building.”We will restore the buildings,” she said. “But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country.”Zelensky discussed the attack in a call with French President Emmanuel Macron and said France would help Ukraine strengthen its defence. Macron was among European leaders who condemned the attack, posting on X that Russia was “locking itself ever deeper into the logic of war and terror”. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer denounced the attacks as “cowardly” while EU chief Ursula von der Leyen accused the Kremlin of “mocking diplomacy”.Earlier, his US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, Washington might slap tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil.”The Russian economy will be in full collapse. And that will bring President (Vladimir) Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC television.- European troop proposal -At least two people were killed in a strike west of Kyiv, prosecutors said.More than two dozen were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency services.Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, with doctors fighting to save her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported. Two more died and dozens were wounded in overnight strikes across the east and southeast, authorities said.Ukraine’s foreign ministry highlighted that seven horses had also been killed at an equestrian club.”The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives — human or animal — every single day,” it posted on X.The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to oversee any agreement to end the war, some of whom said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.Ukraine has insisted on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but Putin has warned that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.Trump has tried to find a way to end the war in recent weeks but has little to show for his efforts.Russia has continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles and now occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine.Tens of thousands have been killed and millions force from their homes in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.