Top Palestinian official meets US ambassador to Israel in Ramallah

• Sheikh, a close aide to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and seen as a potential successor, said the meeting took place in his office
• "Discussions were held regarding support for efforts to stop the war in the Gaza Strip, release the hostages and deliver urgent aid to the Palestinian people there," he wrote on X

91% of new renewable projects now cheaper than fossil fuels alternatives

• IRENA’s new report confirms renewables maintained their price advantage over fossil fuels, with cost declines driven by technological innovation.
• In 2024, solar photovoltaics (PV) were, on average, 41 percent cheaper than the lowest-cost fossil fuel alternatives, while onshore wind projects were 53 percent cheaper.

Humans beat AI gold-level score at top maths contest

• Google and OpenAI models didn't score full marks -- unlike five young people at IMO, a prestigious annual competition where participants must be under 20.
• Google said Monday that an advanced version of its Gemini chatbot had solved five out of the six maths problems set at the IMO, held in Australia's Queensland this month.

Gaza hospital says 21 children dead from malnutrition and starvation

• Mohammed Abu Salmiya, the director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza, said that new cases of malnutrition and starvation were arriving at functioning hospitals "every moment".
• "We are heading towards alarming numbers of deaths due to the starvation inflicted on the people of Gaza," he added.

WHO says Gaza facilities attacked as Israel expands operations, calls for ceasefire

• WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the Israeli military had entered the UN agency's staff residence, stripped and interrogated male staff at gunpoint
• Tedros, who also condemned an attack on the WHO's main warehouse in Deir el-Balah, said: "A ceasefire is not just necessary, it is overdue," he said on X.

US President Trump ‘caught off guard’ by Israeli strikes in Syria

• Israel had launched strikes on the the southern Druze-majority city of Sweida, saying it aimed to put pressure on the Syrian government to withdraw its troops from the region
• Trump "was caught off guard by the bombing in Syria and also the bombing of a Catholic church in Gaza," Leavitt told reporters at a press briefing

Iran says will not halt nuclear enrichment ahead of European talks

• Iran is due to meet Britain, France and Germany in Istanbul on Friday, to discuss its nuclear programme, with Tehran accusing European powers of scuppering the 2015 nuclear deal
• The meeting will be the first since Iran's 12-day war with Israel last month, during which the United States carried out strikes against Tehran's nuclear facilities

Russia publishes rare footage of largest drone factory

• The plant is near the town of Yelabuga in the central Russian region of Tatarstan, located in what was initially planned to be a special economic zone to boost science and business
• More than 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from the Ukrainian border, it has now become a target for Kyiv's own long-range attacks.

Western nations call for immediate end to Gaza war as Israel expands offensive

UNRWA says some Gaza staff starving as malnutrition soars

• "The suffering in Gaza is manmade and must be stopped," it wrote. "Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale."
• The civil defense agency on Sunday reported at least three infant deaths from "severe hunger and malnutrition" in the past week.