WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Ukraine says Russia eases Bakhmut attacks, Kyiv talks up counteroffensive Russian troops have temporarily eased attacks in and around the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut to regroup and strengthen their capabilities, a senior Kyiv official said on Saturday. Separately, senior Ukrainian officials indicated their forces were ready to launch a long-promised counteroffensive to recapture territory taken by Russia since the start of the war. Russia's Wagner private army began handing over positions to regular troops this week after declaring full control of Bakhmut following the longest and bloodiest battle of the war. Kyiv though has insisted that…

Truce reduces fighting in Sudan, but little relief for humanitarian crisis Khartoum was calmer on Saturday as a seven-day ceasefire appeared to reduce fighting between two rival military factions although it has not yet provided the promised humanitarian relief to millions trapped in the Sudanese capital. A truce signed on Monday by the two fighting parties - Sudan's army and a paramilitary group called the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) - aimed to secure safe passage for humanitarian aid and lead to wider talks sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia. The conflict, which erupted on April 15, has killed…

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE Russian attack on Ukrainian clinic kills two and wounds 30, Kyiv says A Russian missile hit a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday, killing two people and wounding 30 in an attack that President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called a crime against humanity. Video footage showed a devastated building with smoke pouring out of it and rescue workers looking on. Much of the upper floor of what appeared to be a three-storey building had been badly damaged. A covered corpse lay in the road nearby. "Another (Russian) missile attack, another crime against humanity," Zelenskiy wrote on…

Sudan army calls on ex-soldiers to re-enlist, sporadic fighting persists Sudan's army called on Friday for reservists and retired soldiers to re-enlist amid a deadly conflict with a rival paramilitary and asked the United Nations to change its envoy to the country. The call to former soldiers to present themselves at their nearest military base looked aimed at strengthening the army in its battle with the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary, but may add fuel to the conflict days into a truce. Sporadic fighting has continued all week, though the ceasefire monitors Saudi Arabia and the United States said earlier…