
Why Ukraine's battle for survival may be far from over
CNN
Another day of horrific civilian carnage in Ukraine underscored the desperate need for a ceasefire -- and explained why an end to the barbaric war may still be far away.
Russian forces Wednesday escalated their assault on soft targets, which prompted President Joe Biden to call Russian President Vladimir Putin a war criminal. The fate of hundreds of people sheltering in a theater in the coastal city of Mariupol is unknown after a Russian barrage slammed into a building flanked with the word "children" on the ground to ward off attacks. Another bombardment hit a swimming pool in the same city used as a shelter.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, after delivering a moving virtual address to the US Congress, revealed that at least 103 children have perished so far in Moscow's onslaught. The World Health Organization criticized what it said were deliberate attacks on Ukraine's health care infrastructure. More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled in a refugee exodus, according to the UN.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.

Authorities in Colombia are dealing with increasingly sophisticated criminals, who use advanced tech to produce and conceal the drugs they hope to export around the world. But police and the military are fighting back, using AI to flag suspicious passengers, cargo and mail - alongside more conventional air and sea patrols. CNN’s Isa Soares gets an inside look at Bogotá’s war on drugs.

As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.









