World News Roundup: Israel airstrike on Gaza kills seven working for celebrity chef's NGO; One child killed, two wounded in Finland school shooting, 12-year-old suspect held and more

Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin made the remarks during an interview with Reuters two years after the mass killing of civilians in the town of Bucha, shortly after Moscow began its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022. In Gaza, Palestinians risk death in desperate rush for aid Omar Deeb was nearly hit by Israeli tank fire while searching for food in Gaza, and then saw people killed around him when he set out once more to feed his family in the beseiged enclave.

Following is a summary of current world news briefs.

Ukrainian drone hits Russia's third biggest refinery, damage not critical

A Ukrainian drone struck Russia's third largest oil refinery on Tuesday about 1,300 km (800 miles) from the front lines, hitting a unit that processes about 155,000 barrels of crude per day though an industry source said the damage was not significant. Russian officials said its jamming devices locked onto a Ukrainian drone near Tatneft's Taneco refinery, which has an annual production capacity of more than 17 million tons (340,000 barrels per day).

One child killed, two wounded in Finland school shooting, 12-year-old suspect held

One child was killed and two seriously wounded in a shooting at a school outside the Finnish capital on Tuesday, police said, with a 12-year-old fellow pupil suspected of the attack taken into custody. In the aftermath of the shooting, police cordoned off a building at the Viertola school in the Vantaa suburb of Helsinki.

Iran vows revenge on Israel after Damascus embassy attack

Iran vowed on Tuesday to take revenge on Israel for an airstrike that killed two of its top generals and five other military advisers at the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus, underlining the risk of further escalation after the unprecedented attack. Conflict has rippled across the Middle East since the onset of the Gaza war; until now, Tehran has carefully avoided direct conflict with Israel while backing allies attacking Israeli and U.S. targets.

Israel airstrike on Gaza kills seven working for celebrity chef's NGO

Citizens from Australia, Britain and Poland were among seven people working for celebrity chef Jose Andres' World Central Kitchen who were killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Monday, the NGO said. The workers, who also included Palestinians and a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, were travelling in two armoured cars emblazoned with the WCK logo and another vehicle, WCK said in a statement.

Analysis-Forza Italia defies doom-mongers to outlive Berlusconi

After Silvio Berlusconi's death last June, senior figures in his Forza Italia party openly speculated that the group would not be able to survive without its charismatic leader at the helm. Nine months on and the party, founded in 1994 when Berlusconi first stood for election, has actually pushed higher in the polls and is helping to moderate the image of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's nationalist government.

Egypt's Sisi: Authoritarian leader with penchant for bridges

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been criticised as a despot for crushing opposition lingering from a brief period of democracy, while winning praise from supporters for boosting security and driving an army-led infrastructure binge. The former general began a third term on Tuesday after sweeping a Dec. 10 election overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Gaza and a faltering economy, a decade after he toppled Egypt's first democratically-elected president.

Russia sentences Pussy Riot activist to eight years for Ukraine 'war fakes'

A Moscow court sentenced in absentia Pytor Verzilov, a Russian-Canadian activist and independent news site founder, to eight years and four months for social media posts criticising the war in Ukraine, Russian media reported on Tuesday. Verzilov, 36, rose to prominence as the unofficial spokesperson of the feminist opposition group Pussy Riot after the jailing of its members following a stunt in Feb. 2012 in which they donned balaclavas and stormed into Moscow's Christ the Saviour Cathedral, shouting out a song against Putin.

'Hallmarks of genocide' in Russian crimes across Ukraine, Ukrainian prosecutor says

Ukraine's top prosecutor said on Tuesday that Russian crimes across occupied Ukrainian territories, including the Bucha massacres, show a pattern of genocidal behaviour that should be tried domestically and ultimately by the International Criminal Court. Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin made the remarks during an interview with Reuters two years after the mass killing of civilians in the town of Bucha, shortly after Moscow began its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

In Gaza, Palestinians risk death in desperate rush for aid

Omar Deeb was nearly hit by Israeli tank fire while searching for food in Gaza, and then saw people killed around him when he set out once more to feed his family in the beseiged enclave. But like many Gazans who could soon face famine he has no choice but to embark on what he calls "death missions", risking his life to provide for his six children, who live in a school shelter.

Benedict backed me up on rights for LGBT couples, Pope Francis says

Pope Francis found an ally in his predecessor Benedict XVI when he spoke in favour of civil partnerships for same-sex couples, the pontiff said in a new book due out in Spain. The work is set for publication on Wednesday, but its contents were shared in advance on Tuesday with several media, including Reuters.

(With inputs from agencies.)