## 'Ukraine will never be forced into compromise. We need a just peace' — Zelensky's Independence Day address

Authored by kyivindependent.com

Editor's note: This is the transcript of President Volodymyr Zelensky's address released by the President's Office on Aug. 24, 2025, Ukraine's 34rd Independence Day.

And now, in a full-scale war for independence, it is here, on Maidan, that one can find such important symbols.

It is the starting point where distances to Ukrainian cities are written: to our Donetsk, our Luhansk, our Crimea.

And there are our people, and no distance between us can change that, and no temporary occupation can change that.

One day, the distance between Ukrainians will disappear, and we will be together again as one family, as one country.

So that on this square, on the Maidan of our Independence, under our flags, on our land, our children and grandchildren will celebrate Independence Day.

With respect and gratitude to all who defended Ukraine in this war, the war for independence. »

### UK loan company goes bust and wipes debt for thousands of customers overnight

Authored by metro.co.uk

But that’s exactly what’s happened to thousands of customers in the northwest of England, after a payday lender went bust and wiped all of their debts overnight.

If you’ve taken out a loan with Fernwood Financial Limited, you do not need to make any further payments.

‘Normally your debt is an asset of the loan company, and this is sold to another company during liquidation – meaning you need to keep paying the money back, just to a different company.’. »

### U.S. releases Emmett Till investigation records ahead of 70th anniversary of his killing

Authored by nbcnews.com

Just days ahead of the 70th anniversary of his killing, the federal government made public thousands of pages of records Friday on the lynching of Emmett Till.

The records were released in accordance with the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection Act of 2018.

The records can be viewed in the Civil Rights Cold Case Records Collection on the National Archives and Records Administration website. »

### Reliance Industries, IOCL, BPCL, HPCL, CPCL vs global players: Why US narrative on India’s Russia oil is all gas

Authored by thehindubusinessline.com

This narrative on India profiteering by purchasing ‘cheap’ Russian oil and selling its derivatives is one such unsustainable trend.

In fact, hard numbers reveal that it is the US oil and gas companies that have profiteered from the Russia-Ukraine war.

From under 2 per cent of India’s oil imports in 2021, purchases from Russia in 2024 were at around 33 per cent. »

### Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from striking deep inside Russia – report

Authored by theguardian.com

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Pentagon has blocked Ukraine from using US-made Army Tactical Missile Systems, or Atacms.

Ukraine was previously given authority by the Biden administration to use the missile system against targets inside Russia in November after North Korean troops entered the war.

Before the inauguration in January, Trump told Time magazine that the decision to allow Ukraine to use US weapons systems to attack targets inside Russia had been a mistake. »

## In pictures

## Also in the news

#### Stopping Trump’s Dictatorship Is a Vital Message—and a Winning One

#### Zelenskyy: Ukraine does not need US permission to strike Russia

#### Marineland orcas: Male 'sexually stimulated' to avoid inbreeding

#### A Broadly Protective HIV Vaccine Shows Promising Results in Monkeys

#### Scientists found the missing nutrients bees need — Colonies grew 15-fold