As Russia continues to bombard Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky made a landmark virtual address to the US Congress this week. US lawmakers gave him a standing ovation the moment he showed up on screen. Speaking almost three weeks after the Russian invasion first began, Zelensky showed a graphic video of victims of the war and referred to the September 2001 terror attacks in the US, saying Ukraine has been experiencing a 9/11 every day for three weeks.

With war raging in Ukraine, it's not easy to know how to speak about fashion – if at all. The best answer is to face the paradox. Thanks to the French Federation for Haute Couture and Fashion, Ukrainian designer Lilia Litovskaya is now safe in Paris. At Balenciaga, Demna Gvasalia, who fled a Kremlin-backed civil war in Georgia in 1993, offers up a hostile backdrop for his collection. Labels Marine Serrre, Atlein, Benmoyal and Germanier, meanwhile, are championing freedom of expression with their eco-friendly offerings.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz reiterated a plan to bolster defense spending while pledging to take on more refugees. "We are standing before a monumental challenge," he said.

French car giant Renault announced Wednesday it was immediately suspending operations at its Moscow factory after Kyiv called for a boycott of the company for remaining in Russia.

Speaking to CNN, actor Sean Penn said the Ukrainian president should be invited to speak about the war at the Academy Awards and it would be "obscene" if Hollywood did not oblige.

US President Joe Biden's speech in Warsaw had strong words for Vladimir Putin, but even stronger words in support of a free world. DW's Bartosz Dudek writes that Biden may just have made history.

A victory for free speech or for disinformation? That is the 44-billion dollar question after Elon Musk's swoop for Twitter. Does it matter any more than Amazon's Jeff Bezos owning The Washington Post or all the French captains of industry whose often money-losing media purchases buy them a platform to voice their views?

The war in Ukraine overshadows Moscow's annual celebration of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany. Following the huge military parade, the Russian president has claimed Russia is defending the "Motherland" in Donbas.

A nuclear threat from Ukraine? A Ukrainian invasion of Crimea? Ukrainian neo-Nazis? Russian President Vladimir Putin's May 9 speech contained new and familiar accusations amid the war in Ukraine. Most of them are false.

Enter the twilight of the world's longest reign. The 96-year-old Queen Elizabeth II missed what is arguably the highlight of any British monarch's calendar: the reading of the government's parliamentary program instead delivered by her son, the crown prince. The importance is mostly symbolic, since the Queen's Speech is written by the prime minister. However the optics of the exercise beget the question: what United Kingdom will Charles inherit?

Beijing has accused the US of spreading "disinformation" after Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned China could try to upend the international order.

For over 100 days, the Ukrainian politician has been sending his country's wartime message out to the world, via all channels and by expressing all kinds of emotion and argument.