Russia bombs Kyiv after missile strikes in Ukraine’s south
Ukraine’s president slams US for ‘weak’ response after Russia’s previous deadly attack on his hometown, Kryvyi Rih. At least one person has been killed and several others wounded in Russian air raids on Kyiv as well as the south of Ukraine after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticised the United States for a “weak” reaction to the attack on his hometown that killed 18 people, including nine children. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the air attacks on the capital early on Sunday caused fires in nonresidential buildings in three districts and left at least one man killed and three other people injured. Separately, Vitaliy Kim, governor of the southern Mykolaiv region, said Russia launched a missile attack at about 10pm (19:00 GMT) on Saturday, damaging several houses and injuring four people. Reporting from Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Zein Basravi said: “Russia is sending a very clear signal. Here is the war at your doorstep. And this is something that is meant to sow fear in the population.” Standing outside a multi-storey building with a smashed roof and blown out windows in a business park in the capital, Basravi said that Kyiv had not seen an attack on this scale for some time, with much of the damage to “civilian infrastructure” caused by blast waves from powerful munitions. Advertisement The entire country was under air alert from 02:00 GMT after the country’s air force warned of an attack, including on regions bordering Poland, forcing the NATO member to scramble aircraft to ensure air safety. Poland’s military said it and allied forces had taken to the skies “due to the intensive activity of long-range aviation of the Russian Federation” across the border in western Ukraine, with ground-based air defence systems on high alert. “The steps taken are aimed at ensuring security in the areas bordering the threatened areas.” Ukraine’s air defence units shot down 13 of 23 missiles and 40 of 109 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack, the air force said on Sunday. It said 53 drones were lost, in reference to the Ukrainian military using electronic warfare to redirect them. The Russian Ministry of Defence said 11 Ukrainian drones were intercepted and destroyed overnight over the Kursk, Belgorod and Rostov regions. Attack on Kryvyi Rih On Friday, a Russian attack on Kryvyi Rih killed at least 18 people, including children as young as three. The Russian missile struck a residential area near a playground in the central Ukrainian city. In an emotional statement on social media, Zelenskyy named each of the nine children killed in the attack on his birthplace, slamming the US embassy for what he called a “weak” statement. US Ambassador Bridget Brink had posted a message on X on Friday, saying she was “horrified” by the attack, without naming Russia as the aggressor. Advertisement “Unfortunately, the reaction of the American embassy is unpleasantly surprising: such a strong country, such a strong people – and such a weak reaction,” Zelenskyy wrote. Al Jazeera’s Basravi said Zelenskyy was “ratcheting up the rhetoric”, criticising Russia for “continuing to violate ceasefire agreements, continuing to not want want to negotiate”. “He says that they want the war to carry on,” said Basravi. Oleksandr Vilkul, the head of Kryvyi Rih’s military administration, said three days of mourning had been declared starting April 7. The attacks came as US President Donald Trump has been pushing for a partial ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, more than three years into Moscow’s full-scale invasion. Zelenskyy said the assault on Kryvyi Rih showed Russia had no interest in peace. Adblock test (Why?)
US revokes all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders
The decision comes as political tensions mount in South Sudan, causing fears of a renewed civil war. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Washington is revoking all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders, accusing the African nation’s government of not accepting the repatriation of its nationals and “taking advantage of the United States”. “Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them,” Rubio said in a statement on Saturday. “South Sudan’s transitional government has failed to fully respect this principle.” Rubio added the US would also “prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders”. It was the first such measure singling out all passport holders from a particular country since President Donald Trump returned to the White House on January 20, having campaigned on an anti-immigration platform. South Sudanese nationals had been granted “temporary protected status” (TPS) by the administration of Trump’s predecessor Joe Biden, with the designation set to expire on May 3 this year. Advertisement The US grants TPS, which shields people against deportation, to foreign citizens who cannot safely return home because of war, natural disasters or other “extraordinary” conditions. Washington “will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation”, Rubio said. South Sudan violence Recent violence between government troops and armed opposition groups has escalated tensions in South Sudan. Some observers fear a renewal of the civil war that killed 400,000 people between 2013 and 2018. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last week urged regional and international leaders to prevent South Sudan from falling “over the abyss” into another civil war. Guterres warned that the world’s newest and one of its poorest countries is facing “a security emergency” with intensifying clashes and a “political upheaval”. Rising tensions between President Salva Kiir and Vice President Riek Machar culminated in the latter’s arrest last month. His party said the arrest collapsed a power-sharing 2018 peace deal that ended years of fighting. The UN reported clashes between forces loyal to Kiir and Machar outside the capital, Juba. Adblock test (Why?)
Rains add to misery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises to 3,471
Heavy rains have lashed parts of earthquake-hit Myanmar, complicating relief efforts and raising the risk of disease as the death toll from the powerful quakes that struck the country on March 28 rose to at least 3,471. Aid workers in the hard-hit city of Mandalay, near the epicentre of the earthquake, said on Sunday that rains and winds hit tent camps in the area overnight and in the morning, soaking survivors and their belongings. More bouts of rain were expected later in the day, while temperatures were also forecast to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit). “The weather is very extreme,” Tun Tun, a specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, told the AFP news agency. Aid agencies have warned the combination of unseasonable rains and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, among quake survivors, who are camping in the open. Rainfall hits Sagaing on April 6 Rain poured down again in Sagaing at around 6 am on April 6. On the evening of April 5, unseasonal rain fell in Sagaing, Mandalay and Kyaukse towns, causing further difficulties for earthquake victims on the roads. pic.twitter.com/0ErqYjwJih — Eleven Myanmar (@ElevenMyanmar) April 6, 2025 Advertisement The magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit a wide swath of Myanmar, home to 50 million people, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyidaw. It left many areas without power, telephone or mobile phone connections, and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess. It also worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than three million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN. State media in the military-led country now say the earthquake has caused 3,471 deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing. It has damaged some 5,223 buildings, 1,824 schools, 4,817 pagodas and temples, 167 hospitals and clinics, 169 bridges, 198 dams and 184 sections of the country’s main highway. People sort through the rubble of a collapsed building in Mandalay on April 5, 2025, following the earthquake [Zaw Htun/AFP] ‘Traumatised and fearful’ Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicentre, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city. UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, who is in Mandalay, described the scale of the damage as “epic” and said survivors, who are “traumatised and fearful”, need food, water, shelter and electricity urgently. In a video posted to X, Fletcher noted the quake had brought devastation to communities that were already in crisis. “It’s a compounding crisis,” he said. “It’s earthquake, on top of conflict, on top of huge existing need.” Advertisement He noted that aftershocks continued in the region more than a week after the earthquake. The United States Geological Survey said a magnitude 4.7 quake struck south of Mandalay late on Friday. A week after Mandalay earthquake, with devastating damage and aftershocks strong, this is a traumatised and fearful community. We are determined to save survivors and help them rebuild: we need the world to share that commitment. pic.twitter.com/jDSfvGVMDd — Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) April 6, 2025 Though Myanmar’s military government, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in a coup in February 2021 overthrowing the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi, declared a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said on Friday that the army was restricting aid in areas that did not back its rule. The UN agency also said it was investigating reported military attacks against opponents, including after the ceasefire. Free Burma Rangers, a relief group, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that the military had dropped bombs in Karenni and Shan states on Thursday and Friday despite the ceasefire announcement, killing at least five people. The victims included civilians, according to the group’s founder, David Eubank, who said there had been at least seven such military attacks since the ceasefire. There was no immediate comment from the military on the allegations. US aid team fired Myanmar’s neighbours, such as China, India and Southeast Asian nations, have dispatched relief supplies and rescuers over the past week to the country, while the US – which was until recently the world’s top humanitarian donor – has pledged at least $9m to support earthquake-affected communities. Advertisement Current and former US officials say the dismantling of the country’s foreign aid programme has affected its response. Three US Agency for International Development workers who had travelled to Myanmar after the quake were told they were being let go, Marcia Wong, a former senior USAID official, told Reuters. “This team is working incredibly hard, focused on getting humanitarian aid to those in need. To get news of your imminent termination – how can that not be demoralising?” Wong said. The three USAID workers have been sleeping on the streets in the earthquake zone, Wong said, adding that their terminations would take effect in a few months. In neighbouring Thailand, meanwhile, authorities said the country’s death toll from the quake had risen to 24. Of those, 17 died at the site of an under-construction skyscraper in the capital, Bangkok. Another 77 are still missing. Search operations continue into the night as Thai authorities look for survivors trapped in the wreckage of a collapsed building in Bangkok, Thailand, on April 5, 2025 [Daniel Ceng/Anadolu] Adblock test (Why?)
Iran rejects ‘meaningless’ direct talks with US
As war of words over nuclear weapons deal escalates, FM Araghchi says he wants talks on ‘equal footing’. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has described the prospect of direct negotiations on its nuclear programme with the United States as “meaningless” amid mounting tensions between the two countries. Araghchi’s remarks came in a statement on Sunday, after Trump said last month in a letter sent to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that he hoped there would be a negotiation between their countries aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Trump upped the ante last week, saying: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing.” Araghchi questioned Washington’s sincerity in calling for negotiations, saying on Sunday, “If you want negotiations, then what is the point of threatening?” Tehran, which maintains that it is not seeking a nuclear weapon, has so far rejected Washington’s overtures, but has said it is open to indirect diplomacy – a stance repeated by Araghchi in Sunday’s statement. Araghchi said Iran wanted to negotiate on an “equal footing” with the US, describing it as “a party that constantly threatens to resort to force in violation of the UN Charter and that expresses contradictory positions from its various officials”. Advertisement Upping the ante Western countries, led by the US, have for decades accused Tehran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. In 2018, during his first term as president, Trump nixed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal between Iran and the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that gave Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. Iran has since rolled back on its commitments under the agreement, amassing enough fissile material for multiple bombs, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which carries out inspections of Iranian nuclear sites. Responding to Trump’s threat of war, Hossein Salami, the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said on Saturday that the country was “ready” for war. “We are not worried about war at all. We will not be the initiators of war, but we are ready for any war,” the official IRNA news agency quoted Salami as saying. But Tehran’s position in the region appears to have weakened amid the ongoing war in Gaza and beyond, with Israel’s decimation of Hezbollah’s leadership in Lebanon, and the toppling of another key partner, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, last year. Iran says its nuclear activities are solely for civilian purposes. Israel, the top US ally in the region, is widely believed to have an undeclared nuclear arsenal. Adblock test (Why?)
Israel’s Netanyahu set for talks with Trump in Washington, DC
US media reports citing unnamed US and Israeli officials say the meeting would take place at the White House on Monday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington, DC for talks with US President Donald Trump on a range of issues, including tariffs and Iran, Netanyahu’s office announced. The agenda for the trip will include Turkiye-Israel relations, “the Iranian threat”, Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, tariffs and the “fight against the International Criminal Court,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said on Saturday. US media reports citing unnamed US and Israeli officials said the meeting would take place at the White House on Monday. Trump’s invitation came after a phone call on Thursday between the two leaders. Netanyahu raised the issue of tariffs during the conversation. Israel faces a 17-percent tariff under Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs”. Israel recently moved to cancel remaining tariffs on US imports. The two countries’ free trade agreement, signed four decades ago, ensures that about 98 percent of US goods enter Israel tax-free. Netanyahu is currently visiting Hungary on his first trip to Europe since 2023 in defiance of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against him for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Advertisement Hungary’s government announced its withdrawal from the ICC just before Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed his Israeli counterpart. The United States is not a member of the court. Also on the agenda will be stalled efforts to reach a new agreement on a Gaza ceasefire deal and the return of Israeli captives held by Palestinian groups there. Israel renewed its attacks on Gaza last month, shattering a short-lived truce with the Palestinian group Hamas. Trump also has pressed Iran to enter talks on a new deal regarding its nuclear programme. Iran has said it would be willing to hold indirect talks. Western countries, led by the US, have, for decades, accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons. Iran rejects these allegations and maintains that its nuclear activities exist solely for civilian purposes. Adblock test (Why?)
Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events, day 1,137
Here’s where things stand on Sunday, April 6: Fighting Three women were wounded and several fires broke out in a Russian air attack on the southern Ukrainian region of Mykolaiv, according to Ukrainian officials. The attack also damaged several houses, Mykolaiv Governor Vitaliy Kim posted on the Telegram messaging app. Russia also launched air attacks on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, overnight, with the city’s air defence forces trying to repel the attack, according to officials. The latest strikes come a day after the Ukrainian Air Force reported shooting down 51 of 92 drones launched at the country by Russian forces overnight on Saturday. Russia’s Ministry of Defence has accused Ukraine of increasing its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure, including in the regions of Bryansk, Belgorod, Smolensk, Lipetsk and Voronezh, despite a United States-brokered moratorium. Ukraine dismissed the claims as “fake”. Ukrainian drones struck an explosive production facility in Russia’s Samara region, causing multiple explosions and fires, the Reuters news agency reported, citing a source in Ukraine’s security service. Advertisement Politics and diplomacy Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has expressed disappointment in the US Embassy’s “weak reaction” to a Russian missile strike that killed 18 people, including nine children, in his hometown of Kryvyi Rih. He noted that the US condemnation of the attack made no reference to Russia. Zelenskyy hailed “tangible progress” after meeting with British and French military chiefs in Kyiv to discuss the potential deployment of a multinational peacekeeping force to Ukraine. Adblock test (Why?)
Will Israel’s starvation policy work in Gaza?
There are growing warnings that food supplies in Gaza will soon run out. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is getting worse by the day. The United Nations World Food Programme has warned it only has food stocks to last a few days. With limited supplies and no fuel, all bakeries have already closed across the Strip. That’s left Palestinians with no food, no home, and no sense of security. Israel has been blocking humanitarian aid from entering the Strip for more than a month. So, is famine now inevitable? Presenter: Adrian Finighan Guests: Ahmad al-Najjar – Resident in Gaza who’s been reporting on the war Sam Rose – Acting director of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in Gaza Martin Griffiths – Director of Mediation Group International Firas El Echi – Journalist, host of the Here’s Why podcast Adblock test (Why?)
Israeli attacks on Gaza kill at least 30 as ground assault expands
Medical sources say six killed in an Israeli air strike on Khan Younis and six others in a raid on Beit Hanoon. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, according to medical sources, as the Israeli military said it deployed ground troops to a so-called “security corridor” in the south of the territory. At least six people were killed in an air strike on Khan Younis in southern Gaza and six others in a raid on Beit Hanoon in the north, medical sources told Al Jazeera. Israel has pushed to seize more territory in Gaza since it shattered a weeks-long truce in its war with Hamas in mid-March and resumed its bombardment of the devastated territory. Israel has intensified its attacks since then, saying that it will continue to escalate until the Palestinian group Hamas frees Israeli captives that were seized during the October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel. Israeli troops deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza, the military said on Saturday. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier this week announced the new “Morag Corridor” and suggested it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel had ordered forcibly evacuated, from the rest of Gaza. Advertisement It was not immediately clear how many forces were deployed, or where exactly the new corridor was located. Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, and Netanyahu had suggested it would run between the cities. Maps published by Israeli media showed the corridor running the width of the narrow coastal strip from east to west. Earlier on Saturday, Hamas’s armed wing published a video showing two Israeli captives alive in Gaza, speaking to the camera and describing how they had survived an alleged Israeli strike. Israeli campaign group, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, issued a statement confirming that the family of Maxim Herkin had identified him as one of the two captives featured in the video. Herkin’s family urged the media not to publish the video. Israeli media named the second captive as Israeli soldier Bar Kuperstein. The two men were taken from the Nova music festival and transported to Gaza during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel that killed at least 1,139 people, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics. Fifty-eight captives remain in Gaza, including 34 whom the Israeli military says are dead. During the six-week ceasefire that ended with Israel’s resumption of air strikes on Gaza on March 18, fighters handed over 33 captives, eight of them dead. Israel’s military response to the October 7 attack has killed at least 50,669 people in Gaza, the majority of them civilians, according to figures from the territory’s Health Ministry that the United Nations considers reliable. Advertisement The United Nations said that at least 100 children have been killed or injured every day in Gaza since the strikes resumed. “Nothing justifies the killing of children,” Philippe Lazzarini, chief of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), posted on X on Saturday. Trilateral meeting As part of the diplomatic efforts for a truce in Gaza, French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he would hold a trilateral summit on the situation in Gaza with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II. “In response to the Gaza emergency and during my visit to Egypt at President al-Sisi’s invitation, we will hold a trilateral summit with the Egyptian president and the King of Jordan,” Macron wrote on X ahead of his trip. The French president is expected in Cairo on Sunday evening, where he will hold talks with his Egyptian counterpart on Monday morning. The trilateral summit will be held the same day in the Egyptian capital, according to Macron’s office. On Tuesday, Macron will also visit the Egyptian port of El-Arish, 50km (30 miles) west of Gaza, to meet humanitarian and security workers and demonstrate his “constant mobilisation in favour of a ceasefire”. El-Arish is a transit point for international aid intended for Gaza. Adblock test (Why?)
‘Hands Off’ protesters rally across US to oppose Trump’s policies
Opponents of US President Donald Trump and his adviser, billionaire Elon Musk, have joined rallies across the United States to protest against the administration’s actions to overhaul the government and expand presidential authority. More than 1,200 “Hands Off” rallies were expected on Saturday, with organisers anticipating the largest single-day mobilisation opposing the administration’s recent initiatives. Protest sites included the National Mall in Washington, DC, where organisers expected more than 20,000 people to attend, and locations in all 50 US states. Reporting from Washington, DC, Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna said the crowd voiced their discontent over the administration’s sweeping executive actions and the restructuring led by Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The reforms have resulted in the elimination of more than 200,000 federal positions and significant reductions in benefits, particularly within the Internal Revenue Service and Social Security Administration. Advertisement “This is one of the biggest demonstrations we’ve seen since Trump began his second term, and it’s perhaps indicative of the rising frustration among Americans,” said Hanna, who also noted the diverse composition of the protesters, spanning various age groups. “Protest organisers have been saying this is not going to lead to immediate change, but it’s an important moment to show that many Americans oppose what Donald Trump stands for,” said Hanna. In Chicago, thousands of demonstrators rallied in the downtown area. Reporting from the protest site, Al Jazeera’s John Hendren said it was “largely a union crowd”. “These people are concerned about their jobs … These people are mostly citizens, they are Chicagoans and their message to the Trump administration and Elon Musk is ‘hands off’”, he said. International protests Around the world, American expatriates and local supporters assembled in cities including Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, and London. In Paris, approximately 200 demonstrators, predominantly Americans, gathered at Place de la Republique, displaying banners with messages like “Resist Tyrant,” “Rule of Law,” and “Feminists for Freedom not Fascism.” Timothy Kautz, a spokesperson for Democrats Abroad, emphasised the importance of global solidarity. “We have to show solidarity with all the demonstrations in a thousand cities today in the USA,” he told Reuters. Protesters gather outside the Minnesota State Capitol during the nationwide “Hands Off!” protest against US President Donald Trump and his adviser, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, in St. Paul, Minnesota, on April 5, 2025 [Tim Evans/AFP] Ezra Levin, co-founder of Indivisible, one of the organising groups, speaking to Reuters said, “This is an enormous demonstration that is sending a very clear message to Musk and Trump and congressional Republicans and all the goose-stepping allies of MAGA that we don’t want their hands on our democracy, on our communities, on our schools and our friends and our neighbours.” Advertisement The White House has defended the administration’s actions. Assistant press secretary Liz Huston stated, “President Trump’s position is clear: He will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programs and crush American seniors.” Pro-Palestinian groups also participated in the Washington demonstrations, protesting against the US administration’s support for Israel’s renewed military actions in Gaza and the crackdown on campus protests. Adblock test (Why?)
Fraud case a “hard blow” for Le Pen’s presidential bid
Journalist Diane de Vignemont breaks down Marine Le Pen’s fraud conviction, her appeal and what it means for her future. Diane de Vignemont, an independent journalist specialising in French politics and history, analyses Marine Le Pen’s fraud conviction and her presidential ambitions. She may appeal, but what comes next? Adblock test (Why?)