Day News Recap: Ukraine, Middle East tensions and trade strains dominate as markets turn risk off

Russia’s war on Ukraine remained the biggest story, after a Russian drone strike on a shopping centre in Kryvyi Rih killed 16 people and injured about 130, while fresh exchanges of long range strikes also hit rail, energy and economic infrastructure in both Ukraine and Russia. Ukrainian officials said deaths also rose in the Kyiv region and Zaporizhzhia as the attacks continued.  🔗  🔗

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Elsewhere in the conflict zone, Ukraine imposed sanctions on the producers and distributors of the Russian animated series Masha and the Bear, saying the move was aimed at curbing Russian influence and national security risks.  🔗

In the Middle East, violence continued in several theatres. Two Palestinians were killed in separate shootings in the occupied West Bank, including a 17 year old boy in Sa'ir north of Hebron, while an Israeli drone strike injured several people near Beit Jinn in southwestern Syria.  🔗  🔗

Gaza’s humanitarian crisis deepened as families struggled to bury their dead because cemeteries are full, and Britain, Canada and Australia sharply criticised Israel after it declined to open a criminal investigation into the April 2024 World Central Kitchen strike. A separate joint statement from Australia, Canada and the UK repeated that condemnation, while more than 100 former British and French diplomats urged urgent action over what they called the erasure of Palestine.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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Iran featured in several developments, with state media saying it allowed several Iraqi oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz after repeated requests from Baghdad, even as Tehran warned Bulgaria and southeastern Europe over support for US operations. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the war with the United States should end from a position of strength, and officials said commanders were reviewing new strategies after fresh US economic pressure.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

In Asia and Africa, Myanmar’s military was accused of killing 14 people in air strikes on a monastery in Sagaing region, while in the Democratic Republic of the Congo more than 16,000 Ervebo Ebola vaccine doses arrived in Kinshasa as authorities tried to slow a new outbreak. Somalia faced a worsening hunger emergency, with aid cuts forcing more than 200 health and nutrition facilities to close and the UN warning that about six million people are now facing high levels of food insecurity.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

Across Europe, wildfires triggered explosions of old wartime bombs and mines in France, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, and Germany’s gas storage levels fell to a record low for this time of year. Lebanon’s economy was also forecast to contract by 6.4% in 2026 after the March 2026 conflict escalation with Israel disrupted a fragile recovery.  🔗  🔗  🔗

In the Americas and wider diplomacy, Canada called fresh US tariffs a miscalculation after trade talks collapsed, while Mexico’s Sinaloa governor Ruben Rocha Moya returned to office despite US criminal charges. The UN Security Council’s second informal straw poll put Guyana’s Carolyn Rodrigues Birkett ahead in the race to become the next secretary general, Turkey sought Interpol red notices for Benjamin Netanyahu over the Gaza flotilla case, Nigeria and the Sahel states saw their security dispute deepen after Burkina Faso detained an air force crew, and the UN launched a new initiative to protect terrorism victims from online harm.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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In technology and consumer news, PlayStation fans planned a week long boycott over Sony’s decision to stop producing game discs after 2027, while in the United States the Supreme Court let White House ballroom construction continue for now, a temporary win for President Donald Trump, who then publicly backed the project and signalled tougher pressure on Iran.  🔗  🔗  🔗  🔗

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