Day News Recap: Russia escalates Ukraine strikes as wildfires, storms and Middle East tensions spread

Russia intensified its overnight bombardment of Ukrainian cities, killing 13 people and injuring 90, as the latest wave of strikes hit multiple areas and deepened fears over the coming winter.  🔗

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Volodymyr Zelensky warned Ukraine could enter winter with virtually no working thermal power plants after fresh Russian strikes killed four in the Kyiv region, while Kyiv also said its 40 day strike campaign inside Russia had hit oil and gas infrastructure at least 100 times.  🔗  🔗

Ukraine also said Russia may deploy 30,000 to 50,000 North Korean troops on Russian territory to support the war effort, adding to concerns over the scale of Moscow's military backing.  🔗

In the Middle East, Lebanese soldiers were wounded in southern Lebanon while dealing with unexploded ordnance in Zawtar al Gharbiyah, with Beirut saying Israeli troops had allegedly entered the area.  🔗 Yemen's government forces said they counterattacked Houthi positions after renewed shelling of Marib, and Saudi officials said a fire at an Aramco facility in Jizan was extinguished after a claimed Houthi drone strike.  🔗  🔗

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Israel rejected a Trump backed 15 point Gaza plan and said there would be no withdrawal before Hamas disarms, while Israeli media also reported approval of infrastructure work in a designated area of eastern Rafah in southern Gaza.  🔗  🔗 Gaza civil defence crews meanwhile recovered 19 bodies from the rubble of the destroyed Karam residential building in Gaza City after four days of searching.  🔗

Elsewhere in the region, Syria said it had reached an agreement with Russia to end Moscow's military use of Hmeimim air base and part of two strategic Mediterranean sites, and Iran's Revolutionary Guard said the Strait of Hormuz would remain closed until the United States pays compensation and meets Tehran's conditions.  🔗  🔗 Iran also said footage of Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei would be released as shipping lane talks with Oman neared a deal.  🔗

In wider geopolitics, the United States criticised China over its move to designate Scarborough Reef as a nature reserve, calling it an attempt to use environmental language to strengthen its claim in the disputed South China Sea.  🔗 Turkiye said its new defence pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was not aimed at Iran, while Israel also moved to expropriate about 450 acres around Sebastia in the occupied West Bank and tendered 627 settler units in Kochav Yaakov.  🔗  🔗  🔗

Asia Pacific and North America were hit by severe weather and safety incidents. China evacuated more than 1 million people as Typhoon Dolphin made landfall, British Columbia declared a state of emergency as the Bald Range fire forced more than 20,000 evacuations, and Indonesia closed Mount Bromo national park as a wildfire spread in East Java.  🔗  🔗  🔗 In Utah, a firefighting helicopter crashed on the Widemouth 2 fire near Richfield, killing the pilot and one crew member, while in Sydney an investigation widened after a Jetstar plane braked to avoid a Qatar Airways aircraft in a near miss that injured a cabin crew member.  🔗  🔗

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In Europe and beyond, the Royal Navy reported a surge in Russian warships and shadow fleet activity near UK waters, Hungary's Tisza party nominated former Supreme Court chief Andras Baka for president, Japan marked the 81st anniversary of Nagasaki with renewed debate over its nuclear stance, and Serbia and Ukraine pledged closer economic ties with a free trade deal target by year end.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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