Patrick Ryder

Four Israeli soldiers were killed and 51 wounded, including seven seriously, in a drone attack launched Sunday night by Hezbollah against a military base in Binyaminah in northern Israel, according to a statement from the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Boyko Borissov, leader of Bulgaria's GERB party, has strongly condemned Iran's missile attack on Israel. Last night, Tehran launched over 100 missiles in retaliation for limited ground operations in Lebanon and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

The Greek-flagged crude oil tanker Sounion that was recently attacked by Yemen's Houthis is still on fire in the Red Sea and now appears to be leaking oil, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday.

The defense ministers of Russia and the United States engaged in a telephone conversation for the first time in over a year, reported Reuters. The two sides presented starkly different accounts of the discussion.

Amid escalating cross-border clashes with Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, Israel has approved plans for a military offensive, according to a statement from the Israeli Security Forces (IDF) quoted by AFP.

The United States will send 300 more military personnel to the Middle East to help with the disposal of explosive devices, maintaining communications and other activities, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said, quoted by Reuters.

He noted that the servicemen will not be stationed in Israel.

If Ukraine's allies were hoping for a breakthrough after Kyiv's forces launched a new attack in the southeast of the country last week, they were deeply disappointed, Politico writes.

Otherwise, Bundestag deputy Ralf Stegner criticized the US decision to supply Kyiv with cluster munitions, stressing that their use could lead to the death of civilians.
Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Melnyk told Stegner and other German politicians who criticized the delivery of cluster munitions to Ukraine to "go to hell."

According to the Pentagon, the Chinese balloon, which was shot down by the US military over US territorial waters in early February, did not gather intelligence, DPA reported.

As he said, he still appreciates Washington's support for Kyiv.
Zelensky told The Washington Post that the White House had not contacted him about the leak of top-secret US intelligence documents last month.