Russia bombards Ukrainian city hours after Washington summit
Russia struck the central Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk overnight, leaving a thick column of smoke hovering over the city in an attack that the local mayor called a sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin does not want peace, Reuters reported.
The bombardment on that city as well as other locations in Ukraine was Russia's largest so far in August, according to the Ukrainian air force. It followed Donald Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders in Washington on Monday as the U.S. president seeks an end to Russia's war in Ukraine.
Moscow launched 270 drones and 10 missiles, the Ukrainian air force said. Although it said it had downed 230 of the drones, it said 16 sites were struck.
"While hard work to advance peace was underway in Washington, D.C. ... Moscow continued to do the opposite of peace: more strikes and destruction," Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha wrote on X, according to Reuters.
Trump says Putin may not want to make a deal on Ukraine
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he hoped Russia's Vladimir Putin would move forward on ending the war in Ukraine but conceded that the Kremlin leader may not want to make a deal at all, adding this would create a "rough situation" for Putin, Reuters reported.
In an interview with the Fox News "Fox & Friends" programme, Trump said he believed Putin's course of action would become clear in the next couple of weeks. Trump again ruled out American boots on the ground in Ukraine and gave no specifics about the security guarantees he has previously said Washington could offer Kyiv under any post-war settlement.
"I don't think it's going to be a problem (reaching a peace deal), to be honest with you. I think Putin is tired of it. I think they're all tired of it, but you never know," Trump said.
"We're going to find out about President Putin in the next couple of weeks ... It's possible that he doesn't want to make a deal," said Trump, who has previously threatened more sanctions on Russia and nations that buy its oil if Putin does not make peace, according to Reuters.
Iraq says its tip to Lebanon leads to the destruction of an amphetamine factory
One of Lebanon’s largest factories making the highly addictive amphetamine Captagon has been discovered and destroyed as part of rare security cooperation between intelligence agencies in Iraq and Lebanon, Iraq’s Interior Ministry said, Associated Press reported .
The announcement late Monday came a month after the Lebanese army issued a statement about the discovery of a drug factory in Yammoune village in the eastern Bekaa Valley with large amounts of drugs inside.
Iraq’s Interior Ministry said the Lebanese operation in Yammoune in mid-July came after Iraqi authorities gave Beirut information about the factory, according to Associated Press .
Pakistan restores electricity and reopens roads in areas where floods killed over 300
Pakistan restored 70% of electricity and reopened damaged roads in the country’s north and northwest after flash floodskilled more than 300 people, officials said Tuesday, Associated Press reported.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar told a news conference that engineers were working to fully restore the electricity system that was knocked out by flooding last week.
Most roads have been cleared, facilitating the supply of food and other essential items to flood-affected areas, he said.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities to accelerate recovery efforts in Buner, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where torrential rains and a cloudburst Friday killed at least 280 people, Tarar said, according to Associated Press.
