July 10 – Ukrainian air defence units were defending Kyiv against Russian drones early on Thursday for the second night running, with officials reporting a fire in a city-centre apartment building and drone fragments landing in different districts.

Ukraine’s military issued warnings on the Telegram messaging app that the city could also be subject to a missile attack.

Reuters witnesses reported a series of loud explosions.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram that two dwellings had caught fire in the central Shevchenkyvskyi district. He said emergency crews had been dispatched to different parts of the city.

Tymur Tkachenko, head of Kyiv’s military administration, said the roofs of two buildings were on fire. Drones had struck in and around other buildings in different districts.

Tkachenko said data on casualties was being compiled.

REUTERS

WASHINGTON, July 9 – The United States is delivering artillery shells and mobile rocket artillery missiles to Ukraine, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday, days after President Donald Trump’s administration halted the shipments of some critical weapons to Kyiv.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said 155 mm artillery shells and GMLRS (mobile rocket artillery) missiles were now being provided to Ukraine.

The officials did not say how many weapons were being sent and whether the shipment was complete. It was also unclear whether the new shipment represented any change in policy by the administration.

REUTERS

OVIEDO, Spain – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday accused Israel of committing genocide in Palestine and said Europe is not doing enough to try to stop it.

“No one that tramples on the EU’s founding principles – or that uses hunger and war to annihilate a legitimate state – can be a partner of the European Union,” he said.

Speaking before the Spanish parliament, Sanchez criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, saying its actions would be remembered “as one of the darkest episodes of the 21st century.”

“The horrifying images of children searching for their families under rubble, or dying of hunger in tents, should not only move us and shame us – they should compel the international community, and Europe in particular, to act,” he added.

He said Spain and Ireland first requested the EU to assess Israel’s compliance with the EU-Israel Association Agreement in February 2024.

“We had to push hard for that analysis to be carried out,” he added.

Sanchez said the EU’s special representative presented the report to foreign ministers on June 23, concluding that there were “more than sufficient indications” that Israel had violated Article 2 of the agreement, which links cooperation with respect for human rights.

While the EU has not taken any action against Israel, Sanchez said Spain is pushing for the immediate suspension of the agreement.

“What we denounce (Russian President Vladimir) Putin for doing in Ukraine, we cannot allow Netanyahu to do in Palestine,” he added. ​​​​​​​

Israel has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 and destroyed the enclave, making it uninhabitable.

ANADOLU, 9.7.2025

BRUSSELS – A total of 774 unaccompanied refugee children went missing in Belgium in 2024, with at least 101 cases classified as particularly alarming, according to the daily De Standaard.

On average, nearly 15 unaccompanied minors vanished each week. Only 246 were eventually located, while over 500 remain untraceable.

The alarming cases involve minors under 13, children with medical needs, or those last seen in unsafe circumstances.

“Children who flee unaccompanied by an adult are extremely vulnerable. The fact that our government cannot even protect these children is a sad failure,” said Green Party MP Matti Vandemaele, who obtained the figures.

He urged Belgium’s ministers of asylum and justice to take immediate action, including appointing guardians upon arrival and improving reception conditions to prevent disappearances.

Experts warn that some children are trafficked, exploited, or forced into crime, while others leave in fear after asylum rejection. Many disappear before being properly registered, making it difficult for organizations to intervene.

Between 2021 and 2023, 2,257 unaccompanied minors disappeared in Belgium, placing it among the top three countries in Europe.

ANADOLU, 9.7.2025

BERLIN – NATO chief Mark Rutte warned on Wednesday that China and Russia present growing threats to the transatlantic alliance, confirming that NATO is preparing for a possible full-scale Russian attack on alliance territory in the coming years.

“Xi Jinping, the president of China, before he would attack Taiwan, he will first make a call into Moscow to ask (Russian President) Putin to keep us busy in this part of Europe,” Rutte told reporters at a news conference with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Berlin.

“China is rapidly building up its armed forces. They have now more ships sailing than the US. They will have another 100 ships sailing by 2030. They have now 1,000 nuclear warheads. This is not to organize parades in Beijing. This is indeed to use, to make use of this,” he asserted, predicting that China will try to somehow take control of Taiwan.

“Our assumption is, based on many discussions we have had, and of course, what we know from our sources is that the risk is increasingly there,” he said.

Rutte argued that the security threats to NATO from the Indo-Pacific have grown significantly in recent years. He cited North Korea’s active participation in the Ukraine war supporting Russia, China’s provision of dual-use goods to Russia and Iran’s sharing of drone technology with Russian forces.

He speculated that Russia would not stop in Ukraine and would likely launch an attack on NATO territory within the next seven years.

“It has been some of your own German, very senior generals, predicting that three, five, seven years from now, Russia might be able to mount a full-scale attack on NATO territory. Three years is today, five years is next week, seven years is next month,” he warned, and said European allies must boost their defense spending to strengthen deterrence.

Rutte emphasized that NATO allies decided to increase their defense spending goals at last month’s summit not to appease US President Donald Trump, but because they recognize the growing threat.

“We are not doing the 5% and the 3.5% core spending to make one person happy. We do this because we know the threat is there. A threat against the US, a threat against Canada, a threat against the European allies. And that is why we need to spend more on defense,” he said.

ANADOLU, 9.7.2025

ISTANBUL – The severe heat wave sweeping across Europe since last week is estimated to have caused around 2,300 deaths, according to a study released on Wednesday.

Approximately 1,500 (65%) of the estimated 2,300 heat-related deaths are linked to climate change, which brought about a more severe heat wave across the continent, according to the study done by scientists at Imperial College London and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

The study said climate change tripled heat-related deaths in early summer across Europe.

Researchers focused on 10 days of heat from June 23 to July 2 and covered 12 European cities, including London, Paris, Frankfurt, Budapest, Zagreb (Croatia), Athens, Rome, Milan, Sassari (Italy), Barcelona, Madrid, and Lisbon.

“The findings of this analysis and many others are extremely clear: heat extremes all across Europe are increasing rapidly due to human-induced climate change,” the study noted.

It further underscored that these cities experienced up to a 4C rise in temperatures.

The study warned that heat wave temperatures will continue to increase, likely raising death tolls.

The EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service also said on Wednesday in a monthly climate bulletin that June 2025 was the third-warmest June globally.

“June 2025 saw an exceptional heat wave impact large parts of western Europe, with much of the region experiencing very strong heat stress. This heat wave was made more intense by record sea surface temperatures in the western Mediterranean,” said Samantha Burgess, strategic lead for climate at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

Burgess warned that the heat waves are likely to become “more frequent, more intense,” and impact more people across Europe.

ANADOLU, 9.7.2025