Ukraine tensions, US Afghanistan withdrawal, Hong Kong, Notre-Dame Cathedral

What could possibly go wrong? Russia is insisting that the deployment of 83,000 troops for its land and sea manoeuvres at the Ukrainian border is routine. Ukraine responded with military drills of its own, with diplomatic lobbying in overdrive. The latest stop for President Volodymyr Zelensky is Paris, where lunch at the presidential palace came with a phone call to German leader Angela Merkel. Tensions were dialled up further on Wednesday with the expected arrival of two US warships. The Russians then decided to stage live fire naval exercises. But in the end, those two warships never came.