World
More Russians are urged to flee Ukraine's cross-border attack as the Kremlin scrambles to respond
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — An official in the Kursk border region of Russia on Monday urged more residents to evacuate due to the “very tense situation” in the area, where Russian forces are still scrambling to respond to a surprise Ukrainian attack after almost a week of fierce fighting.
Russia’s emergency authorities say more than 76,000 people have fled their homes in areas of Kursk, where Ukrainian troops and armor poured across the border on Aug. 6, reportedly driving as deep as 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Russia and sowing alarm.
Ukrainian forces swiftly rolled into the town of Sudzha about 10 kilometers (6 miles) over the border after launching the attack. They reportedly still hold the western part of the town, which is the site of an important natural gas transit station.
The Ukrainian operation is taking place under tight secrecy, and its goals — especially whether Kyiv’s forces aim to hold territory or are staging a raid — remain unclear. The stunning maneuver that caught the Kremlin’s forces unawares counters Russia’s unrelenting effort in recent months to punch through Ukrainian defenses at selected points along the front line in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has seen previous incursions into its territory during the nearly 2 1/2-year war, but the foray into the Kursk region marked the largest attack on its soil since World War II, embarrassing President Vladimir Putin and constituting a milestone in the hostilities.
The advance has delivered a blow to Putin’s efforts to pretend that life in Russia has largely remained unaffected by the war. State propaganda has tried to play down the attack, emphasizing the authorities’ efforts to help residents of the region and seeking to distract attention from the military’s failure to prepare for the attack and quickly repel it.
Retired Gen. Andrei Gurulev, a member of the lower house of the Russian parliament, criticized the military for failing to properly protect the border.
He noted that while the military has set up minefields in the border region, it has failed to deploy enough troops to block enemy raids.
“Regrettably, the group of forces protecting the border didn’t have its own intelligence assets,” he said on his messaging app channel. “No one likes to see the truth in reports, everybody just wants to hear that all is good.”
Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Finland-based Black Bird Group open-source intelligence agency, which monitors the war, said the toughest phase of Ukraine’s incursion is likely to begin now as Russian reserves enter the fray.
He said that “if the Ukrainians are going to advance any further from where they are now, it’s going to be a tough battle, unlike the opening moments of this offensive.”
Ukraine’s progress on Russian territory “is challenging the operational and strategic assumptions” of the Kremlin’s forces, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
It could compel Russia to deploy more military assets to the long border between the two countries, the Washington-based think tank said in an assessment late Sunday.
It described the Russian forces responding to the incursion as “hastily assembled and disparate.”
In other developments:
— The International Atomic Energy Agency said a fire near Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant had “no impact” on the facility’s safety.
Radiation levels are unchanged at what is one of the 10 biggest nuclear plants in the world, the U.N. body said.
Russia and Ukraine blamed each other for the blaze at a cooling tower outside the plant’s perimeter, and the IAEA chief said late Sunday that the war continues to imperil the Zaporizhzhia facility.
“These reckless attacks endanger nuclear safety at the plant and increase the risk of a nuclear accident. They must stop now,” Rafael Mariano Grossi said.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
World
Turkey detains over 200 suspects, including alleged ISIS militants, in sweeping raid ahead of NATO summit
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Turkish authorities reportedly detained more than 200 people, including suspected ISIS-linked militants, in a sweeping Tuesday raid in capital Ankara ahead of a July 7-8 NATO summit.
The raid came after Turkish authorities issued detention orders for 241 suspects, 209 of whom were taken into custody, The Associated Press reported, citing a statement from the office of Turkey’s chief prosecutor.
Among the 209 detained, 56 were allegedly ISIS militants, according to the AP. This comes after Turkish authorities said they detained 125 ISIS members in December.
The detention operations occurred just two weeks before a planned NATO summit in Ankara on July 7 that President Donald Trump is expected to attend.
TURKEY’S NATO ROLE UNDER SCRUTINY AMID NEW REPORT ON HAMAS, MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TIES
President Donald Trump greets Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a summit in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on Oct. 13, 2025, to support ending the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza after a breakthrough ceasefire deal. (Evan Vucci/AP Photo/Pool)
Other militants scooped up were 35 alleged members of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front, which a Turkish statement described as “a far‑left group known for armed attacks and assassinations in Turkey,” according to the AP.
The ISIS-combating operations demonstrate the terrorist group’s ongoing activity in the region, showing the group is still functioning despite the U.S. campaign during Trump’s first term to eliminate the group’s caliphate and its control of large swaths of territory in the Middle East.
Iraqi government forces celebrate while holding an Islamis Sate (IS) group flag after they claimed they have gained complete control of the Diyala province, northeast of Baghdad, on January 26, 2015 near the town of Muqdadiyah. (YOUNIS AL-BAYATI/AFP via Getty Images)
In recent years, ISIS has spread into the African continent, prompting a strong response from the U.S. In May, Trump authorized a series of strikes in Nigeria to combat the group.
PENTAGON SLASHES NATO COMBAT COMMITMENTS AS TRUMP PUSHES EUROPE TO DEFEND ITSELF
A May 16 strike killed ISIS leader Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, who was the group’s second-in-command globally.
U.S. and Nigerian forces conducted kinetic strikes against ISIS fighters in northeastern Nigeria on May 17, 2026, AFRICOM said. (X/U.S. Africa Command)
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“Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, second in command of ISIS globally, thought he could hide in Africa, but little did he know we had sources who kept us informed on what he was doing,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social after the strike. “He will no longer terrorize the people of Africa, or help plan operations to target Americans.”
The group’s renewed activity also includes a call to supporters to make attacks on U.S. soil during the World Cup.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Euronews with AFP
Published on
Two whales were killed off the coast of Iceland overnight Sunday, two days after commercial hunting resumed, local media and animal rights activists reported Monday.
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The kill ends a two-year pause and marks the first catches since 2023.
Icelandic public broadcaster RUV reported that two fin whales were killed. The fin whale is the second largest animal on Earth after the blue whale.
Before the vessels set off on Friday, a protester had attached himself to one of the masts in the port of Reykjavik, but climbed down and was escorted away by police.
Iceland, Norway and Japan are the only three countries that still openly permit whaling, despite international condemnation from the public and animal welfare organisations.
Iceland cancelled its whale hunt over the past two years, partly because economic problems had cut demand and the industry was not deemed profitable enough.
“The first fin whale deaths in Iceland’s hunt this year are devastating,” said Joanna Swabe, European senior public affairs director for animal rights group Humane World for Animals.
“Iceland has killed more than 1,000 fin whales in the past two decades — not only the second largest animal on the planet but also a species classified as globally vulnerable to extinction,” Swabe said in a statement.
Iceland’s government has said it is planning to introduce a bill aimed at banning whaling this autumn.
The International Whaling Commission banned the commercial killing of whales in 1986 amid alarm at the declining stock of the marine mammals.
Iceland’s Marine and Freshwater Research Institute has recommended that no more than 150 fin whales are caught in the 2026 season.
That represents a 28-percent drop on the annual quota it recommended for the period 2018–2025, it said.
The institute has set an annual catch of 168 animals for the minke whale hunt this year, a 23-percent drop on 2018-2025.
Paramount+ has commissioned a docuseries about shamed “X Factor” judge Tulsa from Dorothy Street Pictures, the producers behind Victoria Beckham doc “Victoria” and Pamela Anderson doc “Pamela: A Love Story.”
Tentatively titled “Tulisa: The Reckoning,” the unscripted series will follow the former pop star and talent show judge as she reflects on her journey, from her humble beginnings to soaring success as the frontwoman for the band N-Dubz, her pivot to “X Factor” judge and the scandal that saw her career come crashing down.
In 2013 an undercover U.K. tabloid journalist nicknamed the “Fake Sheikh” tricked the singer into “setting up a cocaine deal” which saw her arrested and charged. The trial collapsed after the journalist was found to have tampered with evidence (he was later convicted of perverting the course of justice).
Tulisa later revealed she had been entrapped by the journalist, who claimed he could bag her a role in a movie worth £3.5 million.
Although she was never convicted, Tulisa lost endorsements and jobs, including the “X Factor” gig and effectively disappeared from public life.
As well as telling her story, the three-part docuseries will follow the singer’s campaign for media regulation.
“This isn’t just a story of survival, it’s a reckoning,” reads the synopsis for the docuseries. “After years of reflection, Tulisa is ready to confront and change the system that once brought her down.”
Tulisa says of the project: “For years, so much has been said about me, but not always by me. This series is about taking back control of my story and speaking openly about everything I’ve been through, not just for myself, but for anyone who’s had similar experiences in the media spotlight.”
“Tulisa: The Reckoning” (working title) is set to land on Paramount+ in 2026.
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