🇮🇱 235 Children Killed by Israeli Forces in West Bank Since Oct. 7
Israeli human rights organisation B'Tselem reports that 235 Palestinian children and teenagers have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank between October 7, 2023 and June 2026.
The figure covers the occupied West Bank — separate from Gaza — over a period of roughly 32 months. B'Tselem, which monitors Israeli military and settler conduct in the occupied territories, compiled the data from documented cases during that period.
A Russian drone struck a warehouse in Kyiv's western suburbs overnight, killing at least 27 people and triggering a massive fire and multiple explosions, Ukrainian authorities said Saturday.
Ukrainian prosecutors opened a criminal negligence investigation, noting the warehouse appeared to have been storing "explosive objects." President Zelensky confirmed the strike, describing it as hitting the warehouse and being "followed by a detonation."
Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified long-range strikes in recent months. The attack is one of the deadliest single drone strikes near the capital since the war began.
🌍 US Envoy's Kashmir Remark Triggers Pakistan Diplomatic Protest
US Ambassador Sergio Gor described Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir as "an important part of India" during a visit to Srinagar on August 19 — the first by a US ambassador to the region in six years.
Pakistan summoned top US diplomat Natalie Baker in Islamabad within hours to lodge a formal protest. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in full, making any US statement on the territory's status politically explosive across South Asia.
Ukraine has appointed two high-profile commanders — Andriy Biletskyi and Denys Prokopenko — to lead forces defending the Donbas, as Russia intensifies assaults and long-range missile strikes across eastern Ukraine.
The pair will command more than 100,000 troops. The key cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Dobropillia are under direct pressure, with their defence now contingent on the new command structure holding the line against sustained Russian advances on Day 1,646 of the war.
🇮🇱 Democratic Senators Demand Israel Halt West Bank Settlement Plan
More than a dozen Democratic senators, led by Arizona's Ruben Gallego, have written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding he reverse a planned housing development in the West Bank that would effectively divide the Palestinian territory.
The letter, sent Friday, calls on the Israeli government to halt the bidding process for the settlement expansion, which lawmakers say would further fragment Palestinian land and undermine prospects for a two-state solution.
The move reflects growing unease among Democratic legislators over Israeli settlement policy in the occupied West Bank.
🇮🇷 Iran's Invisible Supreme Leader — Six Months Into War
Six months after airstrikes launched the war and propelled a badly wounded Mojtaba Khamenei into the role of Iran's supreme leader, he has not been seen or heard by Iranians — leaving a leadership vacuum at the centre of the country's wartime governance.
Questions over his condition and actual role are growing increasingly urgent as Iran faces critical decisions in a conflict that has destabilised the wider Middle East and severely damaged its already fragile economy.
🌍 War Criminal Ratko Mladic Dies in UN Custody at 84
Ratko Mladic, the former Bosnian Serb military commander convicted of genocide, has died at 84 while serving a life sentence at a UN detention facility in The Hague, Serbian state broadcaster RTS reported Thursday.
Dubbed the "Butcher of Bosnia," Mladic was convicted of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the 1992–1995 Bosnian War, including the 1995 Srebrenica massacre — Europe's worst act of mass killing since World War II. He had suffered several strokes in recent months before his death.