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Ukraine says Russia targets energy infrastructure in massive attacks ahead of winter

By
IFP Media Wire
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“Just today, Russia struck our gas infrastructure with 35 missiles, including ballistic weapons. It was a combined strike, and only half of the missiles were shot down,” Zelensky said after a meeting with Ukraine’s top military command.

Zelensky added additional attacks also hit the Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts, while ballistic missiles struck energy facilities in Donetsk Oblast, including in Kramatorsk, Sloviansk and Druzhkivka.

On Friday, a massive Russian air assault struck some of Ukraine’s main gas production facilities, causing critical damage. Russia attacked facilities of Ukraine’s state gas and oil company Naftogaz in the Kharkiv and Poltava oblasts, Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said.

Koretskyi called it the largest attack on the company’s sites since Russia’s full-scale war began in 2022. Top private energy provider DTEK said it had suspended operations at several gas facilities in Poltava Oblast.

Russia has repeatedly targeted Ukraine’s power grid, gas facilities and heating systems ahead of winter in an attempt to make living conditions unbearable for civilians. Last year, sustained strikes plunged millions into darkness and left entire cities without heat during freezing months.

Zelensky praised emergency workers and local authorities for quickly repairing damage and restoring power.

The president also urged Ukraine’s military command to strengthen air defenses, especially in the country’s northeast, to better protect against drones and missiles aimed at vital infrastructure.

Bloomberg has reported, citing sources close to the Kremlin, that Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to continue targeting Ukraine’s energy network this winter as part of a broader escalation meant to pressure Kyiv into peace talks.

Ukraine’s Energy Ministry has announced it was stockpiling fuel and equipment while coordinating with the army to defend energy sites from aerial attacks. Officials hope to reach 17.6 gigawatts of power generation capacity to meet winter demand, though that is still far below the 36 gigawatts available before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Guardiola calls for global action to end Israeli genocide in Gaza

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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According to reports from Arabic Sport and ISNA, the Spanish coach urged the global community to act swiftly to stop the “genocide in Gaza,” where thousands of civilians, including many children, have been killed.

“We are witnessing a genocide in Gaza, where thousands of children have lost their lives, and the number keeps rising,” Guardiola said. “The region has been destroyed, and countless people are living without shelter, food, clean water, or medicine.”

He added that civil society could play a crucial role by pressuring governments to take urgent measures to protect civilians and end the bloodshed perpetrated by the Israeli regime.

Guardiola also noted that demonstrations were planned across Catalonia at noon on Saturday, where protesters were expected to demand an end to the violence in Gaza.

The Manchester City coach has previously spoken out on humanitarian issues, calling for peace and justice in conflict-affected regions.

Hamas agrees to parts of US Gaza plan, seeks more negotiations

By
IFP Media Wire
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Hamas Group

Trump has responded early Saturday by telling Israel to “immediately stop bombing Gaza”, adding that Hamas was “ready for a lasting peace”.

While overall relentless Israeli bombardment appears to have eased relatively, the military carried out a drone strike on a tent in al-Mawasi, southern Gaza, killing two children and injuring several other people, a source at the Nasser Medical Complex told Al Jazeera.

The deaths represent the first confirmed Palestinian casualties in Gaza since Trump instructed Israel to “immediately” halt its bombing of the enclave after Hamas responded positively to his plan.

Israel announced it is preparing to implement the “first stage of Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza”. The government has instructed the military to reduce offensive activity in Gaza after it said it was preparing for an “immediate implementation” of the first stage of Trump’s Gaza plan following Hamas’s response to the plan, Israeli media reported.

Hamas handed over its response to Trump’s 20-point plan to halt the war on Friday, an informed source told Al Jazeera, hours after Trump gave the group until Sunday to respond to the proposal.

Trump’s 20-point plan included demands for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of all remaining 48 Israeli captives – 20 are believed to be alive – for Palestinian prisoners, the introduction of a transitional government led by an international body, and the disarmament of Hamas.

The group’s response, which did not address the issue of disarmament, stated that it had agreed “to release all occupation captives – both living and the remains – according to the exchange formula outlined in President Trump’s proposal, with the provision of field conditions necessary for the exchange”.

It added that it was ready to “immediately enter negotiations through mediators to discuss the details” of the exchange.

The group also noted it was ready to “hand over the administration of the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian body of independents [technocrats] based on Palestinian national consensus and with Arab and Islamic support”.

That element of the statement appeared to indicate that Hamas, which would have to relinquish power under Trump’s plan, wants Gaza to be administered by Palestinians rather than Trump’s proposed “Board of Peace”.

That is an international transitional governance body that would be overseen by Trump himself and the highly divisive figure Tony Blair, who was British prime minister during the 2003 United States-led invasion and occupation of Iraq based on false claims about weapons of mass destruction, and is regarded by many in the Arab world and in the United Kingdom as a “war criminal”.

Signalling that further negotiations would be required, it said aspects of the proposal touching on “the future of the Gaza Strip and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people” should be decided on the basis of a “unanimous national position and relevant international laws and resolutions”.

The statement came after Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform that if an agreement was not reached by Sunday, then “all HELL, like no one has ever seen before, will break out against Hamas”.

The group’s response to the 20-point plan came as Israel continued its offensive on Gaza, with reports it was using remote-controlled vehicles packed with explosives to demolish entire neighbourhoods in besieged Gaza City after issuing a “last chance” demand that hundreds of thousands of trapped Palestinians leave the urban centre.

More than 66,200 people, mostly women and children, have been killed in Israel’s assault on Gaza since October 2023, according to Palestinian health authorities.

Turkey refuses US demand to abandon Russian gas

By
IFP Media Wire
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The remarks followed calls by US President Donald Trump for NATO states to halt Russian oil and gas purchases in exchange for new sanctions on Moscow, pitched as a way to speed up the Ukraine peace process.

After meeting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, Trump suggested that Ankara, a fellow NATO member, would likely comply with his demand. Bayraktar dismissed the notion, stressing steady supplies were crucial for his country’s energy security.

“We cannot tell our citizens, ‘we have run out of gas.’ To ensure uninterrupted supply, we need to ensure access to these resources without discrimination,” he said.

“Türkiye will naturally continue to receive gas from Russia as the agreements are already in place. Winter is coming. We need to get as much gas as possible from Russia.”

He added that Türkiye will keep diversifying suppliers, as well as expanding domestic production. “Türkiye has significant natural gas consumption. A diversification strategy is crucial… The more sources we buy from, the safer it is,” he stated.

Western states have significantly reduced Russian energy imports since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. The EU now plans to abandon Russian fossil fuels by 2027, though many states still buy it.

Hungary and Slovakia are both major importers of Russian energy, and strongly oppose the phase-out. Türkiye is not an EU member but remains a key partner and NATO state.

It refused to join Western sanctions on Russia in the aftermath of the escalation of the Ukraine conflict. It continued energy imports and maintained close diplomatic ties with Moscow. Moscow has called restrictions targeting its energy illegal and self-defeating, warning the EU would have to turn to costlier alternatives or indirect imports.

Russian officials also view Trump’s push to steer NATO members away from Russian supplies as intended to boost US exports. “Trump has never hidden his intention to secure US economic interests. The simplest way is to force the entire world to pay more for American oil and LNG,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RBK last week.

Tomahawk missiles deliveries to Ukraine ‘unlikely’: Reuters

By
IFP Media Wire
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US Vice President J.D. Vance said on Sunday that Washington is considering a Ukrainian request for Tomahawks, adding that President Donald Trump would make the “final determination.” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly asked Trump for the missiles at a behind-closed-doors meeting, portraying the request as a way to expedite the end of the conflict with Russia.

However, the Trump administration’s interest in providing Tomahawks – which have a range of 2,500km and cost an estimated $1.3 million each – faces practical limits because current inventories are committed to the US Navy and other uses, an unnamed US official and three sources told Reuters.

The official emphasized there is no shortage of the weapon itself, which US forces often use for land-attack missions, but noted priorities elsewhere. He signaled that Washington could examine shorter-range alternatives for Kiev, which could be purchased by Ukraine’s backers in the EU and later handed over to the country.

Speaking at the Valdai forum on Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that possible US supplies of Tomahawks to Ukraine would represent a serious escalation – noting that their operation would be “impossible” without the “direct participation of American military personnel” – but said they would not change Kiev’s battlefield fortunes.

“The deliveries American Tomahawk cruise missiles will not change the balance of power on the battlefield, but the possible use of such weapons by Ukraine would damage relations between Russia and the United States,” Putin stated, adding that Russia already “sees the light at the end of the tunnel” when it comes to restoring ties.

Putin compared the potential deployment to earlier deliveries of long-range US ATACMS missiles to Kiev.

“There were ATACMS, and what? Yes, they caused some damage, but in the end, Russia’s air defense systems adapted. Can Tomahawks cause damage? Well, we will shoot them down, we will improve our air defense system,” he continued.

Iran executes six convicted of terrorism in Khuzestan province

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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The executions were carried out at dawn on Saturday after the Supreme Court upheld the death sentences, officials said.

The men were identified as members of a “separatist terrorist group” who had links with Israel.

According to the judiciary, the group was responsible for a series of armed attacks and explosions that targeted security forces and civilians in recent years.

The six were accused of involvement in the killings of several law enforcement officers. They also confessed to planting bombs, bombing a gas station in Khorramshahr, and attacking banks, military centers, and mosques.

Authorities said the network had received support from foreign entities and maintained direct contact with Israeli operatives.
Officials added that the group’s actions had repeatedly endangered public safety and disrupted stability in the southern province.

Iranian Quds Force cmdr.: Israel used chemical bombs to martyr Hezbollah leader                                                                                                                         

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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In a televised interview, Brigadier General Esmail Ghaani added that the attack was carried out with some of the heaviest bombs in the world, combined with chemical agents.

According to him, this was not only an explosion but a chemical assault, which he described as a war crime. Ghaani noted that Israel’s calls for a ceasefire show its inability to disarm Hezbollah through military means. “If the regime could do it by force, it would not ask for a ceasefire”, the Quds Force commander said.

He praised Nasrallah as “the tallest and strongest mountain of Lebanon”.
He also said the martyred leader of Hezbollah was seen by all Lebanese people, both Shia and non-Shia, as a refuge.

Despite Nasrallah’s martyrdom, Ghaani said, Hezbollah has entered one of its most powerful periods. Over the past year, the group has carried out targeted operations against Israeli settlements in northern occupied territories, showing that the loss of leaders has not weakened the resistance, he added.

Ghaani also recalled his meeting with Nasrallah on October 7, the day Hamas’s Operation Al-Aqsa Storm began. He said he arrived in Lebanon in the afternoon and found Nasrallah already focused on his religious and strategic duties required by the unfolding events.

Ghaani noted that neither Hezbollah nor Hamas leaders were fully aware of the details of the Gaza operation in advance, calling it a sign of careful planning and secrecy.

Four dead, dozens injured in bus crash in Iran’s Firouzkouh

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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Iran Road

According to Firouzkouh Governor Abolfazl Zamaninejad, the accident occurred before 8 a.m. in the Aminabad area when a bus carrying 34 passengers veered off the main road and overturned in a nearby valley.

The fatalities included three women and one man. Of the 30 injured, three received outpatient treatment, while 27 others were transferred to hospitals for further care. Four critically injured passengers were airlifted to a hospital in the capital, Tehran.
The remaining injured were taken to medical centers in Firouzkouh and Damavand.

Zamaninejad said their timely actions helped prevent higher casualties. He also noted that the likelihood of the death toll rising further is low.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation by local authorities.
Road accidents are common in Iran, often attributed to poor road conditions, driver fatigue, or vehicle safety issues.

Bajelvand wins gold in World Para Athletics, secures Iran’s fourth title

By
IFP Editorial Staff
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On the seventh day of the 12th edition of the championships on Friday, Bajelvand competed in the F11 class discus throw and secured the title with a throw of 41.70 meters.

His compatriot, Mehdi Olad, also competed in the event but managed only one valid attempt of 35.96 meters, finishing in seventh place.

The achievement comes less than a year after Bajelvand earned a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, highlighting his steady rise on the international stage.

The gold medal adds to Iran’s growing success in the tournament. So far, Iran’s delegation has collected four gold medals, two silver, and three bronze. Gold medals were won by Amirhossein Alipour, Elham Salehi, and Saeed Afrooz, besides Bajelvand.

Silver medals went to Olad and Hajar Safarzadeh, while bronze medals were earned by Amanollah Papi, Salehi, and Zeinab Moradi.

Tehran Residents Rally Against Israeli Interception of Gaza-Bound ‘Sumoud’ Aid Convoy

By
IFP Media Wire
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The demonstration, titled “With Sumoud Until Israel’s Disgrace and Downfall,” was held at 11 a.m. in Tehran’s Enghelab (Revolution) Square, prior to Friday prayers.

Participants from various social groups and student organizations chanted anti-Israeli slogans, denouncing the latest atrocities committed by the occupying regime.

They strongly condemned the Israeli action against the Sumoud convoy — which was carrying popular aid for the besieged people of Gaza — describing it as a clear sign of Tel Aviv’s desperation and cruelty.

Protesters also highlighted the ongoing killing of Palestinian women and children, calling it a crime against humanity, and emphasized that the silence of international organizations in the face of such atrocities amounts to complicity.

Carrying Palestinian flags, demonstrators voiced strong opposition to the comprehensive blockade of Gaza and to Israel’s policy of starvation and economic pressure against the enclave.

They stressed that Palestinian resistance would continue and that free nations around the world would not allow the inhumane siege to persist.

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