By THOMAS ADAMSON, Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin is stalling at the peace table while preparing a new military offensive in Ukraine, two senior U.S. senators warned Sunday, arguing that the next two weeks could shape the future of a war that has already smashed cities, displaced millions and redrawn Europe’s security map.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham and Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal spoke to The Associated Press in Paris after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and touring neighborhoods shattered by what they called the worst Russian bombardments since the full-scale invasion began.

In Paris for talks with French President Emmanuel Macron — who they say is “100% aligned” with them on the war — the senators warned the window to prevent a renewed assault is closing.

A sweeping U.S. sanctions bill could be the West’s last chance to choke off the Kremlin’s war economy, they said — adding that they hope their firsthand findings will shift momentum in Washington and help bring a skeptical President Donald Trump on board.

“What I learned on this trip was he’s preparing for more war,” Graham said of Putin. Blumenthal called the sanctions proposed in legislation “bone-crushing” and said it would place Russia’s economy “on a trade island.”

“It is crunch time for Putin and for the world because Russia is mounting a new offensive,” he said.

At the heart of their push is a bipartisan sanctions bill, backed by nearly the entire U.S. Senate but still facing uncertain odds in Washington. It would impose 500% tariffs on countries that continue buying Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations like China and India that account for roughly 70% of Russia’s energy trade and bankroll much of its war effort.

Graham called it “the most draconian bill I’ve ever seen in my life in the Senate.”

“The world has a lot of cards to play against Putin,” he said. “We’re going to hit China and India for propping up his war machine.”

Peace talks or stalling tactic?

With peace talks yielding little and Trump’s approach to Ukraine highly uncertain, Graham and Blumenthal have stepped into the breach — blunt emissaries on a lonely mission. Political opposites moving in lockstep, they’re crossing Europe, and the aisle, with the moral urgency of two men trying to forestall another Russian offensive before it’s too late.

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Peace talks are scheduled to resume Monday in Istanbul. But Ukrainian officials say Moscow has yet to submit a serious proposal — a delay both senators described as deliberate and dangerous.

“Putin is playing President Trump,” Blumenthal said. “He’s taking him for a sucker.” The senator said Putin “is, in effect, stalling and stonewalling, prolonging the conversation so that he can mount this offensive and take control of more territory on the ground.”

Graham added: “We saw credible evidence of a summer or early fall invasion, a new offensive by Putin. … He’s preparing for more war.”

Trump has yet to endorse the sanctions bill, telling reporters Friday: “I don’t know. I’ll have to see it.” Graham said the legislation was drafted in consultation with Trump’s advisers.

Graham backed the president’s diplomatic instincts but said, “By trying to engage Putin — by being friendly and enticing — it’s become painfully clear he’s not interested in ending this war.”

Blumenthal hoped the bipartisan support for Ukraine at least in the Senate — and the personal testimonies they plan to bring home to Congress and the Oval Office— may help shift the conversation.

“He needs to see and hear that message as well from us, from the American people,” he said of Putin.

A moral reckoning

In Kyiv, the senators said, the war’s human toll was impossible to ignore. Graham pointed to what Ukrainian officials and Yale researchers estimate are nearly 20,000 children forcibly deported to Russia — calling their return a matter of justice, not diplomacy.

Blumenthal described standing at mass grave sites in Bucha, where civilians were executed with shots to the head. The destruction, he said, and the stories of those who survived, made clear the stakes of delay. “Putin is a thug. He’s a murderer.”

Both said that failing to act now could pull the U.S. deeper into conflict later. If Putin isn’t stopped in Ukraine, Blumenthal said, NATO treaty obligations could one day compel American troops into battle.

They see resolve in Europe

After a one-hour meeting with Macron in Paris, both Graham, of South Carolina, and Blumenthal, of Connecticut, said they left convinced Europe was ready to toughen its stance.

“This visit has been a breakthrough moment because President Macron has shown moral clarity in his conversations with us,” Blumenthal said. “Today, he is 100% aligned with that message that we are taking back to Washington.”

Blumenthal pointed to the rare bipartisan unity behind the sanctions bill. “There are very few causes that will take 41 Republicans and 41 Democrats and put them on record on a single piece of legislation,” he said. “The cause of Ukraine is doing it.”

Ahead, Ukrainian military leaders are set to brief Congress and a sanctions vote could follow.

“President Trump said we’ll know in two weeks whether he’s being strung along,” Graham said. “There will be more evidence of that from Russia on Monday.”

By VANESSA GERA, Associated Press

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland has elected Karol Nawrocki, a conservative historian and staunch nationalist, as its next president in a closely watched vote that signals a resurgence of right-wing populism in the heart of Europe.

Nawrocki, who is set to take office on Aug. 6, is expected to shape the country’s domestic and foreign policy in ways that could strain ties with Brussels while aligning the Central European nation of nearly 38 million people more closely with the administration of President Donald Trump in the United States.

Here are some key takeaways:

Conservative populism on the rise

Nawrocki’s victory underscores the enduring appeal of nationalist rhetoric among about half of the country along the eastern flank of NATO and the European Union, and its deep social divisions.

The 42-year-old historian who had no previous political experience built his campaign on patriotic themes, traditional Catholic values, and a vow to defend Poland’s sovereignty against the EU and larger European nations like Germany.

A woman prepares to cast her vote during the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

His win also reflects the appeal of right-wing nationalism across Europe, where concerns about migration, national sovereignty, and cultural identity have led to surging support for parties on the right — even the far right in recent times.

Far-right candidates did very well in Poland’s first round of voting two weeks earlier, underlining the appeal of the nationalist and conservative views. Nawrocki picked up many of those votes.

As his supporters celebrate his win, those who voted for the defeated liberal candidate, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, worry that it will hasten the erosion of liberal democratic norms.

“Poland remains a deeply divided country,” said Jacek Kucharczyk, the president of the Polish Institute of Public Affairs.

“Although the electoral turnout was highest ever in history of presidential elections, Mr. Nawrocki’s margin of victory is very small, which means that half of Poland will be cheering his presidency, whereas half of Poland, the other half, remains deeply worried or even disturbed,” he added.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s troubles

Nawrocki’s presidency presents a direct challenge to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who returned to power in late 2023 pledging to mend relations with the EU and restore judicial independence which Brussels said was eroded by Law and Justice, the party that backed Nawrocki.

But Tusk’s coalition — a fragile alliance of centrists, leftists, and agrarian conservatives — has struggled to push through key promises including a civil union law for same-sex couples and a less restrictive abortion law.

Nawrocki, who opposes such measures, will have the power to veto legislation, complicating Tusk’s agenda and potentially triggering political gridlock.

Ties with the Trump administration

Nawrocki’s election could signal a stronger relationship between Poland and the Trump administration.

Poland and the U.S. are close allies, and there are 10,000 U.S. troops stationed in Poland, but Tusk and his partners in the past have been critical of Trump. Nawrocki, however, has a worldview closely aligned with Trump and his Make America Great Again ethos.

Trump welcomed Nawrocki to the White House a month ago and his administration made clear in other ways that he was its preferred candidate.

A shifting focus on Ukraine

While Nawrocki has voiced support for Ukraine’s defense against Russian aggression, he does not back Ukrainian membership in NATO and has questioned the long-term costs of aid — particularly support for refugees.

Presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki, second right, poses with his wife Marta Nawrocka, second left, and daughter Katarzyna at a polling station during the presidential election runoff in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

His rhetoric has at times echoed that of Trump, for instance by accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of what he said was insufficient gratitude for Poland’s assistance. With growing public fatigue over helping Ukrainian refugees, Nawrocki’s approach could shift Poland’s posture from strong ally to conditional partner if the war drags on much longer.

Ties with the EU

The election result is a setback for the EU, which had welcomed Tusk’s return in 2023 as a signal of renewed pro-European engagement.

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“This is very bad news for the European Union as well as Poland’s key European partners, both Germany and France as well as Ukraine,” said Kucharczyk, the analyst.

“Mr. Nawrocki is well known for his Eurosceptic stand. He’s opposed to deepening European integration and European cooperation. He is also opposed to Ukraine’s NATO membership,” he added.

Nawrocki and the Law and Justice party have criticized what nationalists view as EU overreach into Poland’s national affairs, especially regarding judicial reforms and migration policy.

While the president does not control day-to-day diplomacy, Nawrocki’s symbolic and veto powers could frustrate Brussels’ efforts to bring Poland back into alignment with bloc standards, particularly on rule-of-law issues.

Market jitters

Though an EU member, Poland has its own currency, the zloty, which weakened slightly on Monday morning, reflecting investor concerns over potential policy instability and renewed tensions with EU institutions.

Billions of euros in EU funding has been linked to judicial reforms which Tusk’s government will now be unlikely to enact without presidential cooperation.

AP’s video journalist Rafal Niedzielski in Warsaw, Poland, contributed to this report.

By COLLEEN SLEVIN and OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ, Associated Press

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Eight people calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza were injured at an outdoor mall in Boulder, Colorado, by a man who police say used a makeshift flamethrower and hurled an incendiary device into a crowd. The FBI immediately described the violence as a “targeted terror attack.”

The suspect, identified by the FBI as 45-year-old Mohamed Sabry Soliman, yelled “Free Palestine” during the Sunday attack on the group of demonstrators, said Mark Michalek, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office.

Law enforcement officials dress to investigate after an attack on the Peark Street Mall Sunday, June 1, 2025, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Soliman was arrested and taken to the hospital for treatment, but authorities didn’t elaborate on his injuries.

Here is what we know about the attack:

How the attack unfolded

Authorities said the attacker targeted demonstrators with a volunteer group called Run for Their Lives, which organizes run and walk events to call for the immediate release of the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza since they were captured by militants during the incursion into southern Israel that started the Israel-Hamas war in 2023.

The group had gathered at the Pearl Street pedestrian mall, a four-block area in downtown Boulder frequented by tourists and students.

The map above highlights Pearl Street Mall in Boulder, Colorado, where a man with a makeshift flamethrower yelled “Free Palestine” and hurled an incendiary device into a crowd. (AP Digital Embed)

The Israel-Hamas war has inflamed global tensions and contributed to a spike in antisemitic violence in the United States. A week earlier, two Israeli Embassy staffers were shot to death in Washington by a man who yelled “I did it for Palestine, I did it for Gaza” as he was being led away by police.

Hamas has been designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Police in Boulder evacuated multiple blocks of the pedestrian mall. The scene shortly after the attack was tense, as law enforcement agents with a police dog walked through the streets looking for threats and instructed the public to stay clear.

The violence occurred four years after 10 people were killed a shooting rampage at a grocery store in Boulder, about 25 miles northwest of Denver. The gunman was sentenced to life in prison for murder after a jury rejected his attempt to avoid prison time by pleading not guilty by reason of insanity.

Several people hospitalized

The people injured in the Pearl Street attack range in age from 52 to 88.

Photos from the scene showed a woman lying on the ground in the fetal position with her hair soaked, and a man helping her and getting water from someone with a water jug.

The injuries authorities found were consistent with reports of people being set on fire, Boulder Police Chief Steve Redfearn said, adding that injuries ranged from serious to minor.

Redfearn told reporters Sunday evening that it was too early to discuss a motive but that witnesses were being interviewed.

“It would be irresponsible for me to speculate on motive this early on,” he said.

The suspect was arrested at the scene

Mohamed Sabry Soliman, 45, was arrested at the scene. No charges were immediately announced, but officials said they expect to hold him “fully accountable.”

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Video from the scene showed him shirtless and wearing jeans and holding two clear bottles with a transparent liquid in them while shouting at onlookers.

Another video shows a witness shouting, “He’s right there. He’s throwing Molotov cocktails,” as a police officer with his gun drawn advanced on the suspect.

FBI leaders in Washington said they were treating the Boulder attack as an act of terrorism, and the Justice Department — which leads investigations into acts of violence driven by religious, racial or ethnic motivations — decried the attack as a “needless act of violence, which follows recent attacks against Jewish Americans.”

“This act of terror is being investigated as an act of ideologically motivated violence based on the early information, the evidence, and witness accounts. We will speak clearly on these incidents when the facts warrant it,” FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said in a post on X.

The cast of the Jungle Theater’s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang’s “Sixpack” features Pagnia Xiong (front) and, from left, Megan Kim, Dorothy Vang, Ashley Horiuchi, Phasoua Vang and Dexieng “Dae” Yang. It plays through June 29. (Courtesy Lauren B. Photography)

Fifty years ago, Hmong people first arrived in Minnesota as refugees from the wars of Southeast Asia. In their Laotian homeland, they were earmarked for destruction for having aided the U.S. side in the Vietnam War, and Minnesota became one of two states to help resettle the vast majority of those who escaped, California being the other.

Today, those of Hmong descent are an integral part of the Minnesota mosaic, but one of them, St. Paul-based playwright Katie Ka Vang, looked around and saw something missing. There were Hmong women with a certain style that never hit the pop culture radar: Tough, streetwise, cocksure and confident, deeply devoted to their families, friends and culture, but not the least bit demure or deferential.

Judging from her new play, “Sixpack,” which premiered this weekend at Minneapolis’ Jungle Theater, Vang knew just where to find them: the volleyball court. That’s where she saw these women’s aggressiveness, competitive fire and camaraderie come through. And she’s taking Twin Cities audiences there via a funny, absorbing and very rewarding 90-minute theater piece that chronicles the friendship of two St. Paul girls whose paths eventually diverged.

Deftly directed by Sara Pillatzki Warzeha, “Sixpack” entertainingly explores the ties that bind six women together, doing so with sharp-eared dialogue, vivid characterizations and an abundance of imagination in its design and choreography. On the latter account, Sandy Agustin has created some fascinating transitional interludes that blend volleyball movements with elements of religious ritual.

Pam (Ashley Horiuchi, left) and Auntie Windy (Phasoua Vang, center) make a plan to help their troubled volleyball teammate, Jou (Dorothy Vang), in the Jungle Theater’s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang’s “Sixpack,” playing through June 29. (Courtesy Lauren B. Photography)

When we first meet Pam and Jou, they seem strangers, but it soon becomes clear that they’re estranged friends. We’re then cast backward to their high school years, when they’re both starting to impress coaches and college recruiters as promising volleyball players. Pam feels ambivalent about leaving for college, while Jou desperately wants out, largely due to a troubled relationship with her mother.

They’re supported and sometimes antagonized by a colorful retinue of women, and each actor in the six-woman cast steps forward to steal at least one scene. Or several, in the case of Phasoua Vang as the comical Auntie Windy, most memorably when she proves the volleyball equivalent of a pool shark while crafting a con.

Pam is the engaging center of the story, and that’s thanks not only to the fine writing, but also to Ashley Horiuchi’s eminently believable portrayal. While Dorothy Vang could bring more of Jou’s exasperated restlessness to the surface, there’s little she can do to upstage what Dexieng “Dae” Yang does with her mother, Smiles, the most brassy, take-no-guff character in the show, a woman both fun-loving and bitter. It feels like a bold breakthrough performance for Yang, one of both force and subtlety.

They’re complemented very well by Megan Kim and Pagnia Xiong in multiple roles, the latter shining when this quite successful Hmong music artist breaks into a sweet-voiced song that no one recognizes until she fast-forwards to the chorus in funny fashion and it turns into an exuberant sing-along.

Four women share a song in the Jungle Theater’s premiere production of Katie Ka Vang’s “Sixpack,” which plays through June 29. From left are Megan Kim, Dexieng “Dae” Yang, Phasoua Vang and Pagnia Xiong. (Courtesy Lauren B. Photography)

Taking its title from the slang term for taking a spiked volleyball in the face, “Sixpack” deals with some jarring realities, but does so with a lot of humor and not a hint of melodrama. It’s a richly real and ultimately powerful production.

Rob Hubbard can be reached at wordhub@yahoo.com.

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‘Sixpack’

When: Through June 29

Where: Jungle Theater, 2951 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $15-$45, available at 612-822-7063 or jungletheater.org

Capsule: A very well-crafted play and production about some very colorful Hmong women.