This handout photograph posted on the official Telegram channel of the Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration on June 15, 2026 shows damage to the House of Organ and Chamber Music in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Handout / Telegram / @dnipropetrovskaODA / AFP)
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Russian Strikes Kill Three in Eastern Ukraine
This handout photograph posted on the official Telegram channel of the Head of the Dnipropetrovsk Regional Military Administration on June 15, 2026 shows damage to the House of Organ and Chamber Music in Dnipro, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Handout / Telegram / @dnipropetrovskaODA / AFP)
Russian attacks killed three people in the Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions in eastern Ukraine, local authorities said on Sunday.
Moscow and Kyiv have escalated attacks on each other in recent weeks, as US-led talks on ending the conflict that began in February 2022 remain effectively frozen.
"One person was killed and nine were wounded" in Russian strikes in three districts of Dnipropetrovsk, head of the regional military administration Oleksandr Ganzha wrote on Telegram.
The fatality was a 70-year-old woman in the Nikopol district, according to Ganzha.
Vitali Dyakivnych, head of the Poltava regional military administration, said a Russian strike on Saturday evening killed two people and wounded 13, including six children.
Russia's defense ministry said it had shot down 239 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Counterterror Police Investigate after 5 Hurt in Edinburgh Attacks that Appeared to Target Muslimshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5286657-counterterror-police-investigate-after-5-hurt-edinburgh-attacks-appeared-target
A still from a video showing British police officers arresting the suspect in Edinburgh.
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Counterterror Police Investigate after 5 Hurt in Edinburgh Attacks that Appeared to Target Muslims
A still from a video showing British police officers arresting the suspect in Edinburgh.
Counterterrorism detectives in Scotland were investigating after five people were injured in attacks in Edinburgh that appeared to target Muslims, police said Saturday.
Police Scotland said that a 36-year-old man was arrested late Friday after officers received multiple reports of attacks in the west and north of the city, The Associated Press said.
The force said that five men — two of them age 22, and others ages 24, 27 and 39 — sustained a range of injuries and three needed hospital treatment. None of the injuries is considered life-threatening.
The charity Muslim Engagement and Development said that several of those injured are Muslim. The Scottish Association of Mosques said that two of the injured men were attacked after attending prayers at their local mosque.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the suspect “appears to be motivated by anti-Muslim hatred.”
“I will not tolerate this — he will face the full force of the law,” Starmer said in a post on X.
Video posted on social media appeared to show a shirtless man carrying a long weapon roaming a street and battering a restaurant door in the Scottish capital. Another video seemed to show the same man on the ground shouting about “protecting the country” while being held by a police officer.
U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that she was “horrified by news of the attack in Edinburgh.
“There is no place for hatred and violence against Muslims,” she said. “I know it is not who we are as a country.”
The Muslim Council of Britain said in a statement that the Muslim community is “rightly nervous and worried.” It said that the violence was “a direct consequence of political rhetoric that demonizes entire communities.”
Police Scotland Assistant Chief Constable Catriona Paton said that it was a “shocking” incident. She said that officers “are being supported by Counter Terrorism Policing.
“I want to send a clear message of support to all our communities that there is no place for racism or faith-based hate in a Scotland, which is at its best when we stand together,” she said.
Zelenskiy Again Urges Belarus to Dismantle Relay Stationshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5286656-zelenskiy-again-urges-belarus-dismantle-relay-stations
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy waits for arrival of Honduras' President Nasry Asfura in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP)
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Zelenskiy Again Urges Belarus to Dismantle Relay Stations
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy waits for arrival of Honduras' President Nasry Asfura in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged authorities in neighboring Belarus for the second day running to dismantle relay stations he said were playing a role in staging Russian drone attacks on Ukrainian regions.
Belarus, under longtime President Alexander Lukashenko, has been one of Moscow's closest allies in the more than four-year-old war against Ukraine and allowed the Kremlin to use its territory to launch the February 2022 invasion.
Lukashenko, in power since 1994, has repeatedly said he wants no further involvement in the conflict, but Zelenskiy has urged Belarus to prove that it will not provide direct support for Moscow's war effort.
Zelenskiy did not refer directly to Lukashenko in his nightly video address and alluded to his contested re-election to new terms in office. But he said Ukraine knows of four relay stations in Belarus assisting Russian military activity.
"Belarus still has time to dismantle this equipment. We also know about every factory in Belarus that works for Russia and supports the war," he said.
"Ukraine does not want this and we have warned the de facto leadership of Belarus which has influence over these developments."
On Friday, Zelenskiy said a week should give Lukashenko sufficient time to remove relay equipment from his country and added a threat of Ukrainian action if Lukashenko did not do so.
"If he doesn't do it, we'll do it," Zelenskiy said on Friday, without elaborating.
In his latest remarks on Belarus, Zelenskiy again alluded to Belarus's large oil refining sector and the role he said it played in Russia's war effort.
He said that from January until May, gasoline supplies from Belarus to Russia increased by 13 times compared with the same period last year, while diesel supplies tripled.
"Unfortunately, this helps Russia adapt to pressure and does not bring peace any closer," he said. "It should be the opposite: peace should be brought closer."
Ukraine's military is engaged in a campaign of medium and long-range drone strikes mainly targeting Russia's oil industry as part of efforts to hobble Russia's war efforts.
Report Says UK PM Starmer Ready to Quit, but Source Says He Is Still Focused on the Jobhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5286647-report-says-uk-pm-starmer-ready-quit-source-says-he-still-focused-job
19 June 2026, United Kingdom, London: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with local residents during a visit to a housing development project in north London to announce major reforms for families and first-time buyers to save time, money, and stress during the home-buying process. (dpa)
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Report Says UK PM Starmer Ready to Quit, but Source Says He Is Still Focused on the Job
19 June 2026, United Kingdom, London: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with local residents during a visit to a housing development project in north London to announce major reforms for families and first-time buyers to save time, money, and stress during the home-buying process. (dpa)
Britain's Observer newspaper said Prime Minister Keir Starmer was expected to resign on Monday and set out a timetable for his departure, though a government source said Starmer remained focused on getting on with the job of governing.
The threat to Starmer's position, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when his rival Andy Burnham won a seat in parliament that would allow him to launch a formal leadership challenge.
The Observer report said Starmer was discussing the matter with his wife at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision, but that senior Labour figures expected a clear statement on his future as early as Monday.
However, a government source said Starmer remained focused on his job and pointed to previous statements he has made to that effect.
The British leader said on Friday he would fight any challenge to his leadership and urged Labour not to tear itself apart with infighting.
STARMER'S POPULARITY HAS PLUMMETED
Starmer led the center-left Labour party to a landslide election win in 2024 but has become deeply unpopular after a series of scandals and policy U-turns that have given many voters an overall impression that he cannot deliver the improvement to their standards of living that he promised.
If he were to quit or be ousted, it would mean the country installing its seventh prime minister in just over a decade - the highest turnover in nearly two centuries, reflective of anger at successive governments' failures to improve public services and tackle issues like illegal immigration.
Labour candidate Andy Burnham waves to the crowd after Burnham wins the election for MP of Makerfield, at the count center venue, the Edge in Wigan, northwest England on June 19, 2026. (AFP)
More than 100 elected lawmakers in Starmer's party - roughly a quarter of all Labour representatives in the House of Commons - have publicly said they want him to quit or set out a timetable for his exit, according to a Reuters tally.
The Observer report, which did not name its sources, said Starmer had reached the conclusion that his position was no longer tenable after speaking to cabinet ministers, advisers, donors and trade union leaders.
BURNHAM WAITING IN THE WINGS
Burnham, a 56-year-old career politician, is seen by many in Labour as the most likely successor to Starmer - whether through a negotiated transfer of power or a formal leadership contest.
Having built a power base within Labour as mayor of Greater Manchester in northern England, he comfortably saw off the threat from Nigel Farage's right-wing populist party to win an election for a vacant parliamentary seat on Friday.
Burnham did not immediately make a formal challenge to Starmer but used his victory address to promise a new path for the country. His allies have urged Starmer to agree to step down and hand over power voluntarily.
Former health minister Wes Streeting has also said he is willing to challenge Starmer.
The Times newspaper reported on Saturday that Burnham would sack finance minister Rachel Reeves if he were to become prime minister after his advisers concluded she did not represent a sufficient change of direction. Reuters could not immediately verify that report.
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