Zelenskiy Calls on Allies to Honor Promises on Arms Supplies to Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy leaves after a trilateral meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and US President-elect Trump at the Elysee Palace in Paris in Paris, France, December 7, 2024. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/File Photo

Asharq Al Awsat

11:40-12 January 2025 AD ـ 13 Rajab 1446 AH

Asharq Al Awsat

11:40-12 January 2025 AD ـ 13 Rajab 1446 AH

Zelenskiy Calls on Allies to Honor Promises on Arms Supplies to Ukraine

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called on allies on Sunday to honor all promises to supply Ukraine with weapons, including those to counter Russian air attacks.
Zelenskiy said that over the past week Russian forces had launched hundreds of strikes on Ukraine and nearly 700 aerial bombs and over 600 attack drones were used, Reuters reported.
Ukrainian air defenses downed 60 out of 94 drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force said on Sunday. It said that 34 drones were "lost,” in reference to Ukraine's use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones.
"Every week, the Russian war continues only because the Russian army retains its ability to terrorize Ukraine and exploit its superiority in the sky," Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.
He called on Ukraine's allies to fulfil agreements already made.
"The decisions made at the NATO summit in Washington, as well as those adopted during the Ramstein meetings regarding air defenses for Ukraine, have still not been fully implemented," Zelenskiy said.
Ukraine's leader this week said he had discussed with partners and the United States the possibility of granting Ukraine licenses to produce air defense systems and missiles.

China's Xi to Attend SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Visit Egypt, Ministry Says

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers an important speech at a grand gathering to commemorate the birth centenary of late leader Jiang Zemin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (Li Xiang/Xinhua via AP)

09:09-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

China's Xi to Attend SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Visit Egypt, Ministry Says

Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, as part of a state visit there and then to Egypt from August 30 to ‌September 3, ‌China's foreign ministry said ‌on ⁠Wednesday.

At the Bishkek ⁠summit, Xi will discuss deepening cooperation as well as major international and regional issues with participating countries and leaders, foreign ⁠ministry spokesperson Lin Jian ‌told a ‌daily press conference.

During the ‌visit, the Chinese president ‌will hold talks with his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov and will attend various state events, ‌Lin said.

Xi's trip to Egypt will be his ⁠first ⁠state visit to the North African country in 10 years, where he will meet President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and exchange views on bilateral ties and international and regional issues of common concern.

World

South Korea Says Russian Military Planes Entered Its Air Defense Zone

Seoul's defense ministry said multiple Russian aircraft had entered and then left its air defense identification zone over the East Sea. (Republic of Korea Air Force)

07:28-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

07:27-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

07:28-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

07:27-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

South Korea Says Russian Military Planes Entered Its Air Defense Zone

Seoul's defense ministry said multiple Russian aircraft had entered and then left its air defense identification zone over the East Sea. (Republic of Korea Air Force)

South Korea said on Wednesday it had scrambled fighter jets in response to Russian military aircraft entering its air defense zone, the second such incursion in weeks.

The relationship between the countries has worsened since South Korea joined Western sanctions following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and since Moscow built stronger ties with North Korea.

Seoul's defense ministry said multiple Russian aircraft had entered and then left its air defense identification zone over the East Sea, also called the Sea of Japan.

"South Korea's military detected the Russian aircraft before they entered the zone and deployed Air Force fighter jets to prepare for any contingency," it said, without giving details.

The Russian aircraft did not violate South Korean airspace, it said.

An air defense identification zone is not sovereign airspace but a buffer area where countries require foreign aircraft to identify themselves for security purposes.

Military aircraft are generally expected to notify the relevant country before entering its zone, although there is no legal obligation to do so.

In late June, more than 10 Chinese and Russian military aircraft entered South Korea's air defense zone.

Beijing's defense ministry said at the time that Chinese and Russian forces had conducted a "strategic air patrol" over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific Ocean.

Russia's defense ministry said the patrol was part of normal military cooperation plans and "not directed against third countries".

But South Korea still lodged protests with Beijing and Moscow and demanded measures to prevent a recurrence.

World

Pakistan Hospital Fire Kills 14 Infants

Police officers move past an ambulance outside an intensive care unit after a fire broke out at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) hospital in Islamabad, Pakistan, August 26, 2026. (Reuters)

08:40-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

07:07-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

08:40-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

07:07-26 August 2026 AD ـ 13 Rabi’ Al-Awwal 1448 AH

Pakistan Hospital Fire Kills 14 Infants

A fire erupted in a hospital's maternity ward in Islamabad on Wednesday, killing 14 infants, Pakistani authorities said, with the prime minister calling for an investigation.

The fire broke out on the third floor of the Mother and Child Health Ward at the public Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), the Islamabad district office said in a statement.

The statement gave a death toll of 14, who according to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif were all infants.

Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi expressed "deep grief and sorrow over the deaths of 14 infants" in separate statements.

"Such a situation involving children is irreparable," the prime minister said.

"The circumstances that led to the incident should be thoroughly reviewed, those responsible should be identified, and the strictest possible action should be taken."

Authorities have not identified the cause of the fire.

Sohail Ashraf, the Islamabad chief commissioner, said the emergency call was made just before 7:00 am (0200 GMT), with rescue and police teams reaching the scene "immediately" and bringing the fire under control.

Outside the hospital, an AFP reporter saw a woman in tears and a man clear glass from two broken windows, as security guards stood at the entrance to the leading medical facility.

Fires in large buildings are frequent in Pakistan, often due to poor safety laws and building codes as well as lax enforcement.

In January, more than 65 people were killed in a shopping center fire in the port city of Karachi.

At least 11 people were killed in another shopping mall fire in Karachi in 2023.

In 2021, at least 16 workers died after a factory fire in the same city.

In 2012, at least 250 laborers died at a garment factory in Baldia Town, in western Karachi, when a fire engulfed the facility. The building had no fire escape.

Zelenskiy Calls on Allies to Honor Promises on Arms Supplies to Ukraine

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China's Xi to Attend SCO Summit in Kyrgyzstan, Visit Egypt, Ministry Says

South Korea Says Russian Military Planes Entered Its Air Defense Zone

Pakistan Hospital Fire Kills 14 Infants

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