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Russia strikes Kharkiv hospital, UN convoy as Ukraine seeks US Tomahawks

Russia strikes Kharkiv hospital, UN convoy as Ukraine seeks US Tomahawks

The latest attacks on civilians come days before talks in which Zelenskyy hopes to secure the long-range missiles from Trump. Russian forces have struck a hospital and a United Nations convoy in Ukraine, officials say, in attacks likely to bolster President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s pitch for long-range Tomahawk missiles when he meets his United States counterpart later this week. Officials said on Tuesday that overnight attacks involving drones and glide bombs struck a hospital in Kharkiv, injuring 57 people and forcing the evacuation of 50 patients. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Meanwhile, Russian forces attacked a UN convoy that was delivering aid to the front-line town of Bilozerka in the partially occupied southern region of Kherson, UN and Ukrainian officials said. No casualties were reported. The attacks in Kharkiv and Kherson – condemned, respectively, by Zelenskyy as a “terrorist” attack and by the UN as a violation of international law – come days before a scheduled meeting between Zelenskyy and US President Donald Trump in Washington, DC, on Friday when the pair is expected to discuss the potential supply of long-range, precision-strike Tomahawk missiles to Kyiv to allow it to hit back at Moscow. Trump has suggested in recent days that he was considering providing Kyiv with Tomahawks, which would be the longest-range missiles in Ukraine’s arsenal and could allow it to accurately strike targets deep inside Russia, including Moscow. Washington had previously ruled out supplying Ukraine with the cruise missiles, which the Kremlin has warned could have serious consequences and would entail direct US involvement in the conflict. Hospital attacked The overnight attacks on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, hit the city’s main hospital, Zelenskyy said in a post on X. Advertisement He described the strikes as an “utterly terrorist, cynical attack on a place where lives are saved”. A Russian attack caused injuries, evacuations and damage at a hospital in Kharkiv, Ukraine [Handout/Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP] He said the main targets of the overnight raids across the country had once again been energy facilities and power facilities in the Kherson and Sumy regions were hit. “Every day, every night, Russia strikes power plants, power lines, and our [natural] gas facilities,” Zelenskyy said on Telegram. For the past three years, Russia has started to target Ukraine’s power grid before each winter in a campaign to demoralise the population by leaving millions without power in freezing conditions. In response to the escalating attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities, which forced outages across the country on Monday in a bid to reduce pressure on the grid, Zelenskyy has called on Ukraine’s allies to help blunt Russia’s long-range attacks by providing more air defence systems. Ukraine has dispatched a senior delegation to Washington to discuss boosting its defence and energy resilience, officials said on Monday. Attack on aid convoy Meanwhile, in Kherson, the UN said its convoy of four vehicles, clearly marked with World Food Programme branding, came under attack from Russian drones and artillery while delivering aid. Two trucks were damaged in the strike although no one was injured, said the UN’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Matthias Schmale. “Such attacks are utterly unacceptable. Aid workers are protected by international humanitarian law and should never be attacked,” he said. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called the strike “another brutal violation of international law, proving Russia’s utter disregard for civilian lives and its international obligations”. The UN’s sexual and reproductive health agency, UNFPA, told the AFP news agency that the convoy was carrying 800 individual packages “containing essential items for older persons, women and girls”. Aid groups have reported throughout the nearly four-year invasion that their staff and facilities have come under attack from Russian forces. Adblock test (Why?)

Supreme Court declines Alex Jones challenge to defamation judgement

Supreme Court declines Alex Jones challenge to defamation judgement

In 2022 it was ruled that the conspiracy theorist would have to pay $1.4bn to families of the victims of Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting which, he claimed, was a hoax. By Reuters Published On 14 Oct 202514 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share The United States Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to a $1.4bn judgement awarded to families of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting in Connecticut over the Infowars website founder’s false statements that the 2012 incident was a hoax. The high court made the decision on Tuesday. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The justices turned away his appeal of the Connecticut Appellate Court’s decision in a defamation lawsuit against him to uphold most of the judgement issued by a judge and jury in 2022 to 14 family members of children and school employees who were killed, and an FBI agent who responded to the shooting. In doing so, the top US judicial body left the judgement in place. Twenty-six people – 20 students and six staff members at the school in Newtown, Connecticut – were killed in the incident by a 20-year-old former student who then fatally shot himself. Jones has argued that the judgement in the lawsuit brought against him in Connecticut violated his rights under the US Constitution to due process and free speech. It is believed to be the largest judgement in US libel case history, according to his filing to the Supreme Court. He also lost a similar lawsuit in Texas, though the roughly $50m judgement in that case was far lower. Jones is separately appealing that judgement. He declared bankruptcy after losing the lawsuits. Jones was sued for defamation after calling the shooting a “false flag” operation meant to stir up anti-gun-rights sentiment among Americans, and he has said that the parents of slain children were “crisis actors” who were faking their grief in television interviews. Advertisement Jones refused to cooperate in the legal proceedings. He has objected to the fact that Connecticut Superior Court Judge Barbara Bellis determined he was liable for defaming the parents, and that a six-member jury was asked only to consider how much he should pay. Jurors awarded compensatory damages of $965m in the trial held in the city of Waterbury. The judge then added $473m in punitive damages, and an appeals court later reduced that amount to $323m after Jones appealed. In his appeal to the Supreme Court, Jones challenged the original $1.4bn sum. Multiple cases The verdict is so large that it “can never be paid”, according to the filing, and a bankruptcy court has ruled that Jones cannot use his personal bankruptcy to avoid paying the debt. In his filing to the Supreme Court, Jones said that the judge’s default judgement was based on “small discovery errors” and “trivial” missteps by his lawyers, and led to an unfair trial. Jones previously asked the US Supreme Court to intervene in the Connecticut case in 2021, after Bellis imposed sanctions on Jones for public statements he made during the litigation but before he was found liable for defamation. The Supreme Court declined to take the case at that time. Jones is separately appealing his loss in Texas, and is currently challenging a court order that would force the sale of Infowars. Jones faces two more defamation lawsuits from other Sandy Hook parents and the family of a man who was falsely identified as a school shooter. Those cases have not yet gone to trial. Adblock test (Why?)

Forever Chemicals: A Toxic Legacy

Forever Chemicals: A Toxic Legacy

Pervasive and permanent, Forever Chemicals have poisoned the planet. We meet those fighting to hold someone to account. From remote polar regions to the depths of the Amazon, one group of chemicals can be found almost everywhere. PFAS – per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances – have caused one of the most widespread contamination crises in history. They’re known as Forever Chemicals because they don’t biodegrade, staying and accumulating in our bodies and in the environment. And they’re toxic, with exposure linked to a list of health problems, including cancer. For decades, PFAS have been used in countless products, lauded for their heatproof, waterproof and greaseproof qualities. They’re in cooking utensils, cosmetics, raincoats, firefighting foam, motor oil and thousands more. But now they’re in our bodies, too. People & Power tells the story of how a single group of chemicals poisoned the entire planet, and meets the men and women fighting to bring those responsible to justice. Published On 14 Oct 202514 Oct 2025 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Adblock test (Why?)