WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russian shelling kills one, injures seven in southern Ukraine, officials say Waves of Russian shelling and drone attacks struck the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson on Saturday, killing one person and injuring seven, officials in the region said. Russian forces also shelled a power station closer to the front lines in eastern Ukraine, injuring five workers and knocking out electricity to the town of Kurakhovo. Russian forces a year ago abandoned positions on the western bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region but constantly shell areas there from new positions on the eastern bank. Ukrainian troops have…

UN approves watered-down resolution on aid to Gaza without call for suspension of hostilities The U.N. Security Council adopted a watered-down resolution Friday calling for immediately speeding aid deliveries to hungry and desperate civilians in Gaza but without the original plea for an “urgent suspension of hostilities” between Israel and Hamas. The long-delayed vote in the 15-member council was 13-0 with the United States and Russia abstaining. The U.S. abstention avoided a third American veto of a Gaza resolution following Hamas’ surprise Oct. 7 attacks inside Israel. Russia wanted the stronger language restored; the U.S. did not. Still, “It was…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine claims to down three Russian fighter-bomber jets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and military officials said the country's forces shot down three Russian Su-34 fighter-bomber aircraft on Friday on the southern front, hailing it as a success in the 22-month-old war. The Russian military made no mention of the incident. But Russian bloggers acknowledged the loss, and analysts suggested U.S.-supplied Patriot missiles had probably been used. Reuters could not independently confirm the reports. "Today at noon in the southern sector -- minus three Russian Su-34 fighter-bombers!" Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk wrote on the Telegram messaging app.…

Israel intensifies Gaza strikes, Hamas fires rockets amid truce talks Fighting in the Gaza Strip escalated on Thursday with some of the most intense Israeli bombardment of the war and Hamas demonstrated its ability to rocket Tel Aviv, even as the foes engaged in the most serious talks for weeks on a new truce. Israeli bombing was at its most intense over northern Gaza, where orange flashes of explosions could be seen from across the fence in Israel in the morning hours. Later, Israeli planes roared over central and southern areas, dropping bombs that sent up plumes of smoke, residents…