Hezbollah media head killed in Israeli strike on Beirut, security sources say Lebanese armed group Hezbollah confirmed its media relations chief Mohammad Afif was killed by an Israeli strike on a building in central Beirut on Sunday. Israel has rarely hit senior Hezbollah personnel who do not have clear military roles, and its air strikes have mostly targeted Beirut's southern suburbs where the group has its heaviest presence. Israel's military, which earlier declined to comment, issued a statement late on Sunday reporting it had "eliminated" Afif. The Lebanese health ministry said the strike had killed one and injured three. A…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE 'Massive' Russian attack causes Ukraine blackouts A “massive” Russian missile and drone attack has targeted power infrastructure across Ukraine, the country's President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. At least 10 people were killed in the strikes, which hit the capital, Kyiv, as well as multiple targets in several regions including Donetsk, Lviv and Odesa. Ukraine’s largest private energy company, DTEK, said its thermal energy plants had suffered “significant damage”, resulting in blackouts. The country's state-owned energy operator, Ukrenergo, says it will enforce "restriction measures" for the whole of Ukraine on Monday. The co-ordinated assault overnight on Saturday was largest…

Two flash bombs fired into garden of Netanyahu's home in north Israel Two flash bombs were fired towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's home in the northern Israeli town of Caesarea on Saturday and fell into the garden, police said. Neither Netanyahu nor his family were present and there was no damage reported, it added in a statement. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said the incident crossed "all red lines" in a post on X early on Sunday. "It is not possible for the Prime Minister of Israel, who is threatened by Iran and its proxies who are trying to…

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE Russia open to Ukraine talks based on June proposals, Putin tells Scholz Russia is open to talks to settle the conflict in Ukraine based on the proposals that were announced at the Foreign Ministry in June, Russian President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz as they spoke by phone, the Kremlin said. "As for the prospects for a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict, the Russian president noted that the Russian side has never refused and remains open to the resumption of the negotiations that were interrupted by the Kiev regime," the Kremlin said in a…