Russian Strikes Kill One, Wound Two Dozen in Ukraine

A resident removes broken glass from a window of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 1, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident removes broken glass from a window of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Strikes Kill One, Wound Two Dozen in Ukraine

A resident removes broken glass from a window of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 1, 2026. (Reuters)
A resident removes broken glass from a window of an apartment building damaged by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 1, 2026. (Reuters)

Russian drones killed one person and wounded two dozen others in cities across Ukraine, local authorities announced Monday, as Kyiv and Moscow step up long-range strikes with peace talks stalling.

One person was killed in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson and eight people were wounded in the northern town of Chernigiv, where power was cut to 10,000 people, authorities said.

Emergency services published images from Chernigiv showing teams of firefighters dousing a large blaze in the middle of the night following the attacks.

The Ukrainian air force said Russian forces had launched 265 combat drones in the barrage, and that its air defense units had downed 228 of the unmanned aerial vehicles.

Seven people were wounded in Russian strikes in the Black Sea port city of Odesa, four more in the central city of Kharkiv, one in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia and at least two more were hurt in Kherson.

Moscow launches attacks almost nightly on Ukraine, which has stepped up its retaliatory strikes in recent months, mainly targeting Russian energy infrastructure.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 has become the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, killing hundreds of thousands of people and displacing millions.



Building Fire Kills 14 in China’s Northern City of Taiyuan

Firefighters work at the site of a fire at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, November 8, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of a fire at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, November 8, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
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Building Fire Kills 14 in China’s Northern City of Taiyuan

Firefighters work at the site of a fire at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, November 8, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Firefighters work at the site of a fire at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, November 8, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)

A fire on Sunday at a high-rise building in Taiyuan, the capital of China's northern province of Shanxi, killed at least 14 people, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.

State media said 25 people were still in hospital, nine with serious injuries, citing authorities after the fire broke ‌out on Sunday ‌evening in the building ‌on ⁠a busy downtown ⁠main road.

Smoke billowed over the 40-storey structure as firefighters poised on cranes outside fought flames that spread upward from a lower annex, video images circulated online and verified by Reuters showed.

The ⁠fire appears to have ‌started around the ‌fourth floor of the annex before spreading ‌to the eighth and ninth floors, ‌which house a hotel, the state broadcaster said.

The entire building is a mixed-use commercial and residential property with several hotels, short-term ‌rental apartments, smaller venues as well as tutoring centers, the report ⁠said.

The ⁠fire was put out after about two hours and authorities said rescue operations wrapped up by 8:30 p.m. on Sunday night, with 38 people taken to hospital.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the fire in the northern manufacturing hub, state media added.


Kremlin Denies that Europeans Will Participate in Abu Dhabi Peace Talks

FILED - 19 December 2024, Russia, Moscow: FILE PHOTO - Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference. Photo: Kremlin Press Office/dpa -
FILED - 19 December 2024, Russia, Moscow: FILE PHOTO - Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference. Photo: Kremlin Press Office/dpa -
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Kremlin Denies that Europeans Will Participate in Abu Dhabi Peace Talks

FILED - 19 December 2024, Russia, Moscow: FILE PHOTO - Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference. Photo: Kremlin Press Office/dpa -
FILED - 19 December 2024, Russia, Moscow: FILE PHOTO - Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends Russian President Vladimir Putin's annual end-of-year press conference. Photo: Kremlin Press Office/dpa -

The Kremlin said on Monday that peace talks on Ukraine in Abu Dhabi this week would take place between Russian, Ukrainian and US ‌delegations in ‌a three-way format, ‌not ⁠including European officials.

Kremlin ⁠spokesman Dmitry Peskov's comments to reporters appeared to conflict with a statement on ⁠Sunday by French Foreign ‌Minister ‌Jean-Noel Barrot, who ‌said French representatives would ‌be present at the November 10-11 meeting, where the sides are ‌set to discuss ending the war ⁠in ⁠Ukraine, post-war security pacts and de-escalation.

Peskov said the Ukrainians and the US both had their own communication channels with European counterparts.


Iran Defends Two-day Proposal for Peace Talks after US Rejects Conditions

People drive past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People drive past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Defends Two-day Proposal for Peace Talks after US Rejects Conditions

People drive past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
People drive past a billboard about the Strait of Hormuz, on a building in Tehran, Iran, September 16, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran ‌defended a proposal on Monday to restart peace talks in as few as two days as the most reasonable offer on the table, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called some of Iran's conditions "outrageous and ridiculous".

"Is it unreasonable that Iran ‌demands that ‌US illegal sanctions and its ‌naval ⁠blockade must be ⁠lifted before negotiations start and that the war should end on all fronts?" Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told a weekly press conference in response ⁠to Rubio's remarks.

Iran has ‌made the ‌offer to shorten the time to ‌restart talks from an earlier seven-day ‌proposal, which calls for Washington to first meet conditions including halting hostilities, lifting a blockade and waiving sanctions.

Baghaei ‌also said US pressure on Iraq to close ⁠most ⁠of its borders with Iran should not affect bilateral ties with Baghdad, after Iraq's foreign minister said Washington was pushing for such a move. Baghaei dismissed a US military task force aimed at restricting Iran's land trade as a diversion following President Donald Trump's Republicans' losses in midterm elections.