Ukraine, Russia attack each other's Black Sea coasts after latest round of peace talks
Ukraine and Russia launched fresh airstrikes along the Black Sea early Thursday, shortly after peace talks in Istanbul failed to yield progress.
Russian drones hit Odesa, injuring four and damaging the city’s historic center, including the Pryvoz market. In Russia’s Sochi region, falling drone debris killed one woman and injured another, and briefly shut down the airport after a strike on an oil facility, according to Reuters.
Ukraine’s Cherkasy region was also hit, with seven injured, including a child. Ukrainian President Zelensky said Russia responded to ceasefire proposals with more drone and missile attacks, targeting civilian and transport sites.
Russian plane crashes in Russia's Far East, nearly 50 people on board feared dead
An Antonov An-24 passenger plane carrying around 50 people crashed in Russia’s Far East on Thursday, with all on board feared dead, according to Reuters.
The aircraft, operated by Siberia-based airline Angara, was flying from Blagoveshchensk to Tynda when it disappeared from radar near its destination. Its burning wreckage was later spotted by a helicopter in a forested area roughly 15 km from Tynda in the Amur region.
Preliminary reports said there were 43 passengers—including five children—and six crew members. The aircraft, built in 1976, was nearing 50 years old.
Emergency services confirmed debris had been located and that rescue teams were en route. Authorities have launched an investigation into the crash, Reuters reported.
US-funded contraceptives for poor nations to be burned in France, sources say
U.S.-funded contraceptives worth nearly $10 million are being sent to France from Belgium to be incinerated, after Washington rejected offers from the United Nations and family planning organisations to buy or ship the supplies to poor nations, two sources told Reuters.
A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department confirmed to Reuters on Wednesday that a decision had been taken to destroy the stock.
The supplies have been stuck for months in a warehouse in Geel, a city in the Belgian province of Antwerp, following President Donald Trump's decision to freeze U.S. foreign aid in January.
They comprise contraceptive implants and pills as well as intrauterine devices to help prevent unwanted pregnancies, according to seven sources and a screengrab shared by an eighth source confirming the planned destruction, according to Reuters.
Gaza facing man-made 'mass starvation', says WHO's Tedros
Gaza is suffering man-made mass starvation caused by a blockade on aid into the Palestinian enclave, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday, Reuters reported.
He spoke following an appeal by more than 100 aid agencies warning of hunger in Gaza while tons of food, clean water and medical supplies sit untouched just outside the territory.
"I don't know what you would call it other than mass starvation, and it's man-made, and that's very clear," Tedros told a virtual press conference live-streamed from Geneva. "This is because of (the) blockade."
Gaza's food stocks have run out since Israel, at war with Palestinian militant group Hamas since October 2023, cut off all supplies to the territory in March and then lifted that blockade in May - but with restrictions that it says are needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups, according to Reuters.
