World News Roundup: Gaza's Shifa hospital a war zone as Blinken meets Sisi in Cairo; EU leaders discuss using profits from Russian assets to arm Ukraine and more

Earlier this month, a tax tribunal dismissed its appeal to pause recovery of 1.35 billion rupees ($16.32 million) in income tax from its bank accounts. Russia launches largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks Russia staged its largest missile attack in weeks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people and damaging schools, residential buildings and industrial facilities, officials said.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Gaza's Shifa hospital a war zone as Blinken meets Sisi in Cairo

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in Cairo on Thursday as part of talks with Arab officials to seek a ceasefire in Gaza, after Israel's prime minister told U.S. Republicans there would be no let-up in the war against Hamas. In Gaza itself, Israel's offensive focused on the Al Shifa hospital, the only partially working medical facility in the north of the Strip, for a fourth day, and local residents said they had seen buildings inside the complex in flames.

EU leaders discuss using profits from Russian assets to arm Ukraine

European Union leaders arrived at a summit on Thursday to discuss whether to use billions of euros in profits from frozen Russian financial assets to buy arms for Ukraine as they try to bolster Kyiv in its fight against Moscow's invasion. The European Commission, the EU's executive body, this week proposed taking profits from Russian assets frozen in Europe after Moscow's invasion and transferring 90% to an EU-run fund used to finance arms for Kyiv.

Ukrainian women tell of beatings and threats under Russian occupation

Alla Antonova says she suffered beatings, had a plastic bag thrust over her head and endured many other threats from Russian soldiers in occupied Ukraine who wanted to know where her son-in-law was serving in the Ukrainian army. Her mother Natalia Kucherova, 73, was made to sit in an adjacent room of their apartment, but says she was generally left alone - the soldiers were only interested in her daughter.

India's Congress accuses Modi of 'crippling' it ahead of elections with tax case

India's main opposition Congress party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday of crippling it before the upcoming general election by freezing its accounts in an income tax case. A part of the Congress' bank accounts was frozen last month pending a tax case that dates back to 2018-19, the party has said previously. Earlier this month, a tax tribunal dismissed its appeal to pause recovery of 1.35 billion rupees ($16.32 million) in income tax from its bank accounts.

Russia launches largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks

Russia staged its largest missile attack in weeks on Kyiv and the surrounding region on Thursday, injuring at least 17 people and damaging schools, residential buildings and industrial facilities, officials said. The air force said its defences shot down all the inbound missiles that were fired after a 44-day pause in such attacks on the Ukrainian capital. The damage appeared to have been caused by falling debris.

UN agencies, 36 countries mull aid to Gaza through Cyprus

Officials from 36 countries and U.N. agencies gathered in Cyprus on Thursday to discuss how to expedite aid to besieged Palestinians in Gaza via a sea route launched last week. Thursday's gathering is being attended by Sigrid Kaag, the U.N.'s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, as well as Curtis Ried, chief of staff of the U.S. National Security Council.

Navalny's mother fails with suit alleging improper medical care, ally says

The mother of late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has failed with a lawsuit alleging he had received inadequate medical care in the Arctic penal colony where he died, because he did not make the complaint himself, a Navalny ally said on Thursday. Navalny's family and supporters have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of having him killed, an accusation the Kremlin has angrily rejected. He had survived a poisoning with a Soviet-era nerve agent in Russia in 2020 and years of harsh treatment in prison, including long spells in solitary confinement.

Israel determined to take Rafah despite 'potential breach' with U.S.

Israel will take control of Rafah even if it causes a rift with the United States, a senior Israeli official said on Thursday, describing the Gazan city packed with refugees as a final Hamas bastion harbouring a quarter of the group's fighters. The prospect of tanks and troops storming Rafah worries Washington in the absence of a plan to move more than a million Palestinians who have sheltered there since being displaced elsewhere in the Gaza Strip during the five-month-old war.

Somali pirates' return adds to crisis for global shipping companies

As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline. No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said in an audio message to the ship's owners.

Australia earmarks billions for naval infrastructure as BAE wins AUKUS submarine work

Australia said Thursday it would spend billions on docks, shipyards and factories at home and in Britain for nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS security pact, and named Britain's BAE Systems to help build the boats. The AUKUS agreement among Australia, Britain and the United States will see Australia buy up to five nuclear submarines from Washington in the early 2030s before jointly building and operating a new class, SSN-AUKUS, with Britain, roughly a decade later.

(With inputs from agencies.)