Day News Recap: Kyiv death toll rises as Gaza war grinds on and Hormuz tensions keep markets on edge

At least 18 people were killed in Kyiv after a major overnight Russian drone and missile attack tore through residential areas of the Ukrainian capital, with a fire also breaking out in central Kyiv during an air raid alert.  🔗 🔗

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Ukraine's pressure campaign on Russia's energy sector is feeding back into the Russian economy, with reports that Moscow has begun importing petrol from India as refinery strikes disrupt domestic supplies and a separate account saying the fuel crisis is now being felt by ordinary citizens.  🔗 🔗

New analysis says Russia has suffered about 1.4 million casualties since the start of its full scale invasion, while researchers also accuse Moscow of running an 18 month drone surveillance campaign over nuclear and military sites across several European countries.  🔗 🔗

In the Middle East, the Gaza war reached 1,000 days, with enclave authorities saying more than 90% of the territory has been destroyed and Israeli forces now control 80% of it, while an Israeli drone strike in northern Gaza killed at least three Palestinians near al Hilu station in Gaza City.  🔗 🔗

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Diplomatic and military tensions around Iran remained high as officials warned the United States and Israel ahead of Ali Khamenei funeral ceremonies, indirect talks with Washington resumed in Doha, and Tehran renewed threats linked to the Strait of Hormuz after the discussions ended with cautious progress.  🔗 🔗 🔗

Shipping through Hormuz reopened faster than traders expected, helping Brent crude fall for a third day, although a vessel linked to a sanctioned Iranian oil network remained stuck in the strait amid a tracking dispute.  🔗 🔗

Elsewhere in the region, Syrian state television said five people were killed in a blast in central Damascus caused by an explosive device planted in a cafe, while Syria's interim president Ahmed al Sharaa completed the formation of a new 210 seat parliament and later received a phone call from the UAE president.  🔗 🔗 🔗

In Europe, Greece faced deadly fires and suspected arson, with wildfires near Thessaloniki and in central regions forcing evacuations and killing two people, and a separate explosion and fire in Thessaloniki killing the mother of a ruling New Democracy politician.  🔗 🔗

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Southern France was also hit by a fast moving wildfire, while in the UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer apologised in parliament for the state's role in decades of forced adoptions involving unmarried mothers and the poor.  🔗 🔗

Further afield, separatist rebels in Indonesia's Papua region said they shot dead an American pilot and burned a civilian plane in Yahukimo, Queensland flooding damaged endangered turtle nesting sites, Australia backed Phosphate Hill with a $160 million loan, and India announced a major reshuffle of senior military leadership while also condemning the demolition of a 125 year old gurdwara in Pakistan's Farooqabad.  🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗

In the Americas, the US Supreme Court expanded coordinated political spending by parties, a federal judge blocked proposed mail in ballot restrictions in Washington, DC, the US designated Ecuador's Chone Killers gang as a terrorist organisation, and prosecutors brought fresh cases against alleged Tren de Aragua members, a Scattered Spider suspect extradited from Finland, and several other defendants in bank robbery, drug fraud and a $179 million trading fraud case.  🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗

US politics also stayed active as Donald Trump urged Senate Republicans to fire the parliamentarian and promoted an America 250 anthem on Truth Social, while the top US diplomat in Taiwan urged the island to build a dense drone force to deter conflict and US led post war Gaza planning advanced through secretive meetings in Cyprus.  🔗 🔗 🔗 🔗

In South Africa, police arrested more than 900 people after antimigrant protests turned violent in some places, and a diplomatic row opened with Ghana after Accra said a Ghanaian man was killed during the unrest in Cape Town.  🔗 🔗

On the political and legal front in Europe, Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech went on trial over the 2017 car bomb murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, while in India rebel Trinamool Congress legislators told the Election Commission they hold two thirds of the party in a split dispute.  🔗 🔗

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