Poland has approached the US about stationing nuclear weapons on its soil, according to its president, Andrzej Duda.
Speaking to a Polish newspaper, Mr Duda said the country wanted to “share” atomic weapons with the United States.
“The problem, first of all, is that we don’t have nuclear weapons,” he told the Gazeta Polska newspaper, which was published on Wednesday.
“There is always a potential opportunity to participate in nuclear sharing.
“We have spoken to American leaders about whether the US is considering such a possibility” of Poland sharing the weapons, Mr Duda told the newspaper.
“The topic is open.”
Nuclear sharing can mean anything from offering escort or reconnaissance jets for a nuclear mission, or offering dual-capable aircraft available for nuclear roles to actually hosting an ally’s nuclear weapons.
A senior diplomat in Warsaw said Mr Duda’s comments could potentially include any of those activities.
The diplomat, who declined to be named, said hosting the weapons would be in the security interests of Poland, the region and all of Europe.
Allies such as Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey have US nuclear weapons on their soil, according to the Centre for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation.
But the US and Nato have publicly stated that they have no plans to deploy nuclear weapons in countries that joined the alliance after the collapse of communism more than three decades ago.
A White House official said they were unaware of the issue being raised by Poland and referred further questions to its government.
The step would be seen as provocative by Russia, which said that it would respond to any expansion of the alliance’s military capabilities in its former back yard.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned in recent weeks that further escalation in Ukraine may involve the use of nuclear weapons, which have not been deployed in war since 1945.
Russia is on the back foot in its war against Ukraine, despite a partial mobilisation of 300,000 reservists.
Earlier this week, Ukraine embarked on a new phase of operations in Kherson Oblast, which Russia recently claimed after referendums denounced as a sham by the west.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Novovoskresenske, Novohryhorivka and Petropavlivka to the north-east of Kherson city had been liberated.
Switching from Ukrainian to Russian, Mr Zelenskyy addressed pro-Moscow forces, telling them they had already lost.
"Ukrainians know what they are fighting for. And more and more citizens of Russia are realising that they must die simply because one person does not want to end the war," he said in a reference to Mr Putin.
British military intelligence said Ukrainian units have pushed the front line forwards by up to an additional 20 kilometres in their southern advance, “primarily making gains along the east bank of the Inhulets and west bank of the Dnipro, but not yet threatening the main Russian defensive positions".
“Russian forces have typically broken contact and withdrawn,” the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
“Russian commanders are likely to see the growing threat to the Nova Kakhovka sector as one of their most pressing concerns.”
The damaged river crossing at Dnipro is one of the few routes available in the area to resupply forces, the MoD said.
“Russia faces a dilemma: withdrawal of combat forces across the Dnipro makes defence of the rest of Kherson Oblast more tenable; but the political imperative will be to remain and defend.
“Russia has committed the majority of its severely undermanned airborne forces, the VDV, to the defence of Kherson.
“Therefore, Russia currently has few additional, high quality rapidly deployable forces available to stabilise the front: it [will probably aim] to deploy mobilised reservists to the sector.”
Moscow's map of Ukraine appears to show shrinking areas it controls.
A map of "new regions" published by state news agency RIA included the full territory of the Ukrainian provinces, but some parts were labelled as being under Ukrainian military control.
Ukraine's military in the south said its forces had killed at least 58 Russian fighters, destroyed nine tanks, 17 armoured vehicles and four howitzers.
Overnight, seven Russian missiles hit the city of Zaporizhzhia, damaging or destroying several buildings and causing fires and injuries, regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said. "Rescuers are already pulling people out from under the rubble," he said.
Before invading Ukraine, Mr Putin demanded that Nato pull back to positions it held in 1997, before the rush of former communist countries to join the alliance’s protective umbrella against their former Soviet master.
In April, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Poland’s government “has recently caused deep concern: the line is extremely militant, anti-Russian, and the proposed actions, of course, can only lead to a further increase in tension on the continent”, according to Prime state news agency.
The specs: McLaren 600LT
Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Boston%20Strangler
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
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More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
