With an acting defence minister in place and a new commander-in-chief in charge of the military, Ukraine's recent political crisis is over, right? The political fallout from President Volodymyr Zelensky's 15 July decision not to re-appoint Mykhailo Fedorov as defence minister, as part of a cabinet reshuffle, continues to reverberate about Kyiv and beyond, even as air raid sirens wail and Russian drones and missiles are intercepted overhead. Fedorov's mostly young supporters are still mounting daily street protests, demanding that Zelensky reinstate the popular young innovator widely credited with driving much of Ukraine's recent technological innovation. On Thursday, Fedorov said he had rejected Zelensky's offers of alternative posts in government, saying there were only three positions worth having to influence the course of the war: minister of defence, commander-in-chief of the military or president of Ukraine. If you don't have a ministry under you, you don't have a budget, ex-deputy defence minister Alina Frolova said, and you don't actually have the authority to do something. Fedorov's reference to the presidency did not go unnoticed.

Ukraine's ousted defence minister insists on being reinstated Ukraine's ousted defence minister Mykhailo Fedorov has refused to accept an alternative post in Volodymyr Zelensky's government, insisting he wants his job back. He thanked the president, but said there were only three positions in the state - in addition to soldiers on the battlefield - which determine the course of the war: president, defence minister and commander-in-chief. Zelensky said he had offered Fedorov several posts, including deputy prime minister. Last week's removal of Fedorov - who is praised for transforming the armed forces - triggered mass protests. Zelensky was later forced to sack commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, who conflicted with Fedorov.

But he was acclaimed for his reforms while serving as Ukraine's minister of digital transformation, and his new duties included logistics, budgets, reforms, anticorruption measures and deals to secure multibillion-dollar Western aid or loans. After his appointment in January, Fedorov provided Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy with a list of urgent problems and ways to solve them. He mentioned a "chaotic" management system, constant rotations of commanding officers, non-transparent distribution of arms and military equipment, bureaucracy, resistance to reforms from Commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskii's General Staff of Armed Forces, decision-making based on loyalty and not data analysis, and "isolation" of effective commanders and proponents of reforms. Then on Wednesday, just seven months into his role, Fedorov was removed from his position by Zelenskyy. The changes that Fedorov was trying to bring about in Ukraine's military had angered Syrskii. But Fedorov's ouster appears to have angered Ukrainians even more -- potentially presenting Zelenskyy with a political challenge. Rallies, relatively large by wartime Ukraine's standards, have since erupted in Kyiv and key Ukrainian cities. "He's a young, smart, educated person who proved with his previous job that he really is a reformer and can make Ukraine a nation of the future," Taisiya, who rallied on Thursday in central Kyiv, told Al Jazeera.

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Let me start by thanking Antti [Kaikkonen, Minister of Defence of Finland] and all the Finnish colleagues for an excellent couple of days – 24 hours - of this informal meeting of the European Union Member States' Defence Ministers. It has been extremely productive and intense. Our agenda has been very heavy – heavy in terms of content, but light in terms of the kind of approach and relations we have had. The wonderful Helsinki sun has helped establishing a friendly atmosphere and I would say that the exchanges have been extremely consensual, productive and positive. Thank you for that, because your hospitality has contributed to set a positive and constructive tone.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has the potential to have transformative impact on national security. It is also seen that AI is essentially a dual use technology.

For the second time in months, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said "we will fight on to liberate every inch of our land". The last time Assad made a similar statement, he was scolded by the Russian ambassador to the UN who said this was not in line with the Kremlin's policies. At the time, it wasn't - Russia was pushing for a political settlement and was involved in efforts with the United States to bring about a cessation of hostilities to create a conducive atmosphere for peace talks. This time around, however, Assad has so far not been told off. Instead, Russia sent its defence minister to Iran's capital Tehran to take part in talks with his Syrian and Iranian counterparts.