WHO reports release of staff member detained by Israeli forces in Gaza
The World Health Organization said a staff member was released on Sunday more than four weeks after being detained in Gaza by Israeli forces, Reuters reported.
"Extremely relieved that our colleague, detained since 21 July in Gaza, was released this morning," agency Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X. He reiterated a call for protection of all WHO staff and personnel, and health and humanitarian workers.
In July, the United Nations agency said the Israeli military had attacked its staff residence and main warehouse in the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah.
During that time, the WHO said that two of its staff members and two family members were detained by Israeli forces. Three were later released, while one staff member remained in detention, according to Reuters.
Ukraine drone hits Russian nuclear plant, sparks huge fire at Novatek's Ust-Luga terminal
Ukraine launched a drone attack on Russia on Sunday, forcing a sharp fall in the capacity of a reactor at one of Russia's biggest nuclear power plants and sparking a huge blaze at the major Ust-Luga fuel export terminal, Russian officials said, Reuters reported.
Despite talk of peace by Russia and Ukraine, the deadliest European war since World War Two is continuing along the 2,000 km (1,250 mile) front line accompanied by missile and drone attacks deep into both Russia and Ukraine.
Russia's defence ministry said at least 95 Ukrainian drones had been intercepted across more than a dozen Russian regions on August 24, the day that Ukraine celebrates its declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, according to Reuters.
Widespread protests held in Australia to support Palestinians
Thousands of Australians joined pro-Palestinian rallies on Sunday, organisers said, amid strained relations between Israel and Australia following the centre-left government's decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Reuters reported.
More than 40 protests took place across Australia on Sunday, Palestine Action Group said, including large turnouts in state capitals Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. The group said around 350,000 attended the rallies nationwide, including around 50,000 in Brisbane, though police estimated the numbers there at closer to 10,000. Police did not have estimates for crowd sizes in Sydney and Melbourne, according to Reuters.
In Sydney, organiser Josh Lees said Australians were out in force to "demand an end to this genocide in Gaza and to demand that our government sanction Israel" as rallygoers, many with Palestinian flags, chanted "free, free Palestine".
Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the umbrella group for Australia's Jews, told Sky New television that the rallies created "an unsafe environment and shouldn't be happening".
Syria delays parliamentary vote in Sweida after sectarian violence
Syria's first parliamentary election under its new Islamist administration, scheduled for September, will not include the southern province of Sweida and two other provinces due to security concerns, the electoral commission said on Saturday, Reuters reported.
Hundreds of people were reported killed in July in clashes in Sweida pitting Druze fighters against Sunni Bedouin tribes, and government forces were sent to the city to quell the unrest.
Israel intervened with airstrikes to prevent what it said were mass killings of Druze by government troops.
The Druze are a minority offshoot of Islam with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Sweida is predominantly Druze but is also home to Sunni tribes, and there is longstanding tension between the communities over land and other resources, according to Reuters.
