Russian Missile Attack on Dnipro Kills 2-year-old, Injures 22

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
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Russian Missile Attack on Dnipro Kills 2-year-old, Injures 22

A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine shows Ukrainian rescuers work on a place of rocket hit in the Dnipro area, central Ukraine, late 03 June 2023, amid the Russian invasion. EPA/STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE / HANDOUT

A 2-year-old girl was killed and 22 people injured, including five children, when a Russian missile struck near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said on Sunday.
"Overnight, the body of a girl who had just turned two was pulled from under the rubble of a house," Serhiy Lysak wrote on the Telegram messaging channel.
Seventeen people were being treated in hospital after the attack on a residential area by Iskander short-range cruise missiles, Reuters quoted Lysak as saying.
Reuters could not independently verify the report. There was no immediate reaction from Moscow.
Mykola Lukashuk, head of the Dnipropetrovsk region council, said 17 children have died in the region since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
"No words can soothe the pain of parents who have lost the most precious thing in their lives," Lukashuk said.
The war has killed at least 485 children in Ukraine and injured nearly 1,500, the country's Office of the Prosecutor General said on Sunday on Telegram.
The missile hit between two two-story residential buildings in the Pidhorodnenska community, partially destroying them and damaging a number of houses, cars and infrastructure, Lysak said.
"Once again, Russia proves it is a terrorist state," Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on Saturday after the first reports of the explosions.
Moscow and Kyiv deny their military forces target civilians.
Pictures posted on social media showed rescue teams working at a shattered, smoldering building amid piles of twisted building materials.
Following the attack in Dnipro, Russia launched a new wave of overnight air strikes on the country. Ukraine's air force said on Sunday it destroyed more than half of the air targets.
Four of the six cruise missiles and three of the five Iranian-made Shahed drones launched by Russia were downed, the air force said on Telegram.
Kyiv's city military administration earlier said all Russia-launched targets approaching the capital had been intercepted. It was not immediately clear where the missiles and drones that were not destroyed hit.
Russia has repeatedly attacked Ukraine's capital since May, chiefly at night, ahead of a long-expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to reclaim territory, in what Ukrainian officials say is an attempt to inflict psychological distress on civilians.



Energy Secretary: US to Stop Iran's Nuclear Ambitions 'One Way or the Other'

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
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Energy Secretary: US to Stop Iran's Nuclear Ambitions 'One Way or the Other'

US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
US Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks during a press conference after a meeting with Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodriguez at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on February 11, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)

The United States will deter Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons "one way or the other", US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday.

"They've been very clear about what they would do with nuclear weapons. It's entirely unacceptable," Wright told reporters in Paris on the sidelines of meetings of the International Energy Agency.

"So one way or the other, we are going to end, deter Iran's march towards a nuclear weapon," Wright said.

US and Iranian officials held talks in Geneva on Tuesday aimed at averting the possibility of US military intervention to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

Iran said following the talks that they had agreed on "guiding principles" for a deal to avoid conflict.

US Vice President JD Vance, however, said Tehran had not yet acknowledged all of Washington's red lines.


Iran, Russia to Conduct Joint Drills in the Sea of Oman 

This handout photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepanews on February 17, 2026, shows boats maneuvering around a tanker vessel during a military exercise by members of the IRGC and navy in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sepahnews / AFP)
This handout photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepanews on February 17, 2026, shows boats maneuvering around a tanker vessel during a military exercise by members of the IRGC and navy in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sepahnews / AFP)
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Iran, Russia to Conduct Joint Drills in the Sea of Oman 

This handout photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepanews on February 17, 2026, shows boats maneuvering around a tanker vessel during a military exercise by members of the IRGC and navy in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sepahnews / AFP)
This handout photo released by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepanews on February 17, 2026, shows boats maneuvering around a tanker vessel during a military exercise by members of the IRGC and navy in the Strait of Hormuz. (Sepahnews / AFP)

Iran and Russia will conduct naval maneuvers in the Sea of Oman on Thursday, following the latest round of talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva, Iranian media reported.

On Monday, the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of Iran's military, also launched exercises in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a challenge to US naval forces deployed in the region.

"The joint naval exercise of Iran and Russia will take place tomorrow (Thursday) in the Sea of Oman and in the northern Indian Ocean," the ISNA agency reported, citing drill spokesman, Rear Admiral Hassan Maghsoudloo.

"The aim is to strengthen maritime security and to deepen relations between the navies of the two countries," he said, without specifying the duration of the drill.

The war games come as Iran struck an upbeat tone following the second round of Oman-mediated negotiations in Geneva on Tuesday.

Previous talks between the two foes collapsed following the unprecedented Israeli strike on Iran in June 2025, which sparked a 12-day war that the United States briefly joined.

US President Donald Trump has deployed a significant naval force in the region, which he has described as an "armada."

Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, particularly during periods of tension with the United States, but it has never been closed.

A key passageway for global shipments of oil and liquefied natural gas, the Strait of Hormuz has been the scene of several incidents in the past and has returned to the spotlight as pressure has ratcheted amid the US-Iran talks.

Iran announced on Tuesday that it would partially close it for a few hours for "security" reasons during its own drills in the strait.


First European Flight Lands in Venezuela Since Maduro’s Ouster 

A man holds up a Venezuelan flag while taking part in a march calling for amnesty for political prisoners and to mark Youth Day, in Caracas, Venezuela, February 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A man holds up a Venezuelan flag while taking part in a march calling for amnesty for political prisoners and to mark Youth Day, in Caracas, Venezuela, February 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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First European Flight Lands in Venezuela Since Maduro’s Ouster 

A man holds up a Venezuelan flag while taking part in a march calling for amnesty for political prisoners and to mark Youth Day, in Caracas, Venezuela, February 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A man holds up a Venezuelan flag while taking part in a march calling for amnesty for political prisoners and to mark Youth Day, in Caracas, Venezuela, February 12, 2026. (Reuters)

A plane from Spain's Air Europa landed in Venezuela Tuesday, according to a flight tracking monitor, the first European commercial flight to arrive in the country since the United States toppled president Nicolas Maduro.

A slew of international carriers stopped flying to Venezuela after the United States warned of possible military activity there in late November -- a prelude to its surprise attack on January 3.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner landed at Simon Bolivar International Airport, which serves the Venezuelan capital Caracas, at 9:00 pm (0100 GMT).

Since US forces raided Venezuela and captured Maduro, US President Donald Trump has struck a cooperative relationship with interim president Delcy Rodriguez.

Late last month he called for flights to resume to the country.

Spanish airline Iberia is evaluating security guarantees before announcing a return, according to the Spanish press.

Portugal's TAP has said it will resume flights. Colombian airline Avianca and Panama's Copa have already restarted operations.

Hoping to prompt US flights, the Trump administration has lifted a 2019 ban on US airlines flying to the country.