Russian Strikes Kill 12 Across Ukraine

Rescuers work at the site of the apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of the apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Strikes Kill 12 Across Ukraine

Rescuers work at the site of the apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2026. (Reuters)
Rescuers work at the site of the apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine March 7, 2026. (Reuters)

Russia fired a volley of missiles and drones across Ukraine overnight on Friday to Saturday, killing 12 people and wounding more than a dozen, including children. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had launched 29 missiles and 480 drones, several of which targeted energy and railway infrastructure. 

Authorities in Kharkiv, the second-largest city, said a ballistic missile strike destroyed a five-storey apartment block, killing 10 people. 

AFP reporters saw rescuers sifting through the debris, where several people were believed to be trapped. 

"Since last night, the rubble of a residential building in Kharkiv is being cleared following a Russian ballistic missile strike," Zelensky said on social media. 

The victims included two women and their two children, mayor Igor Terekhov said. 

"Russia has not abandoned its attempts to destroy Ukraine's residential and critical infrastructure," Zelensky added, urging the country's allies to continue providing military support. 

The Ukrainian leader said he informed French President Emmanuel Macron about the consequences of the attacks during a phone conversation. 

During the call, Zelensky said it was important that a 90 billion euro ($105-billion) EU aid package as well as the next round of sanctions against Russia, currently blocked by Hungary, "are implemented". 

Russia said it had carried out a "massive high-precision strike" against military targets in Ukraine. It routinely denies targeting civilian infrastructure. 

The Russian army said earlier it had intercepted over 120 Ukrainian drones overnight. 

The Moscow-installed authorities of Ukraine's occupied Kherson region said one person was killed and four were wounded in a Ukrainian drone strike. 

- Air defense supplies - 

An air raid alert was triggered during the night across the entire country. 

The Polish air force said on X it had scrambled military aircraft to protect its airspace in regions bordering Ukraine, as it usually does in the event of large-scale Russian strikes. 

One person died in Ukraine's eastern region of Dnipropetrovsk and three were wounded in the capital Kyiv, authorities said. 

In the Sumy region bordering Russia, a 24-year-old man died in his car when it was hit by a Russian drone, according to local officials. 

The drone barrages from either side follow on the heels of an exchange between Moscow and Kyiv of 500 prisoners of war each, in line with accords reached during the latest round of peace talks in Geneva. 

Negotiations appeared to have stalled amid a lack of progress and since the eruption of war in the Middle East. 

Zelensky earlier warned that a prolonged Middle East conflict could hinder deliveries of US-made air defense missiles. 

Ukraine is facing a shortage of expensive US PAC-3 air defense ammunition. 

Zelensky has offered to the United States an exchange of Ukraine's drone interceptors for the missiles. 

He has also suggested sending drone specialists to help shield Washington's Gulf allies from Iranian drones. 

A delay in US missile supplies during winter made Ukraine's civil infrastructure more vulnerable to widespread Russian airstrikes that left hundreds of thousands without heating in freezing temperatures. 



Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

 Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
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Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

 Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)

Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against “the violence of war that kills and destroys,” saying “we need this song of hope today” as conflicts spread around the world.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.

Leo, the first US-born pope, addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s message of hope.

The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” he said.

He quoted his predecessor Pope Francis in warning against falling into indifference in the face of “persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,” because “it is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.”

He will later deliver the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world.”

Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.

The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was limited to just 50 people.

The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On Tuesday, the pope had expressed hope that the war could be finished before Easter.


France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

 A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
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France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

 A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)

France said China has executed a French citizen convicted of drug trafficking after keeping him on death row for more than 15 years. 

Chan Thao Phoumy, 62, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, despite French authorities’ clemency appeals, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday. It didn’t say when the sentence was carried out. A Chinese court sentenced him to death in 2010. 

The ministry’s statement expressed “consternation” and added: “We particularly regret that Mr. Chan’s defense did not have access to the final court hearing, which constitutes a violation of his rights.” 

“We extend our condolences to his family, whose grief we share,” it said. 

In a short statement Sunday that didn't mention Chan by name, the Chinese Embassy in Paris said that China “treats defendants of all nationalities equally, handles all cases impartially and strictly in accordance with the law.” 

France abolished the death penalty by act of parliament in 1981, and has become a vigorous campaigner against its use and for its abolition everywhere. 

China's use of executions — carried out by firing squads or lethal injections — is shrouded in secrecy but has long been extensive. Amnesty International says China is the world's lead executioner, believed to sentence and put to death thousands of people annually. 


Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)

Iran's internet blackout, first imposed well over a month ago, is now the longest nationwide shutdown on record, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

"Iran's internet blackout is now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country, exceeding all other comparable incidents in severity having entered its 37th consecutive day after 864 hours," NetBlocks said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the monitor noted some countries had experienced intermittent or regional-level shutdowns over longer periods, while North Korea had never been connected to the global internet at all.