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Russia has officially confirmed that 16 Cameroonian soldiers have been killed while fighting in its ongoing war against Ukraine. This marks the first time Cameroon has publicly discussed the involvement of its nationals in the conflict.In a statement broadcast on state media, the Foreign Ministry of Cameroon urged the families of the deceased to contact officials in the capital city of Yaounde. A diplomatic note referred to the deceased as 'military contractors of Cameroonian nationality' operating in a special military operation zone, a term Russia uses to describe Ukraine.The confirmation comes amid reports of foreigners from various nations being pulled into Russia's invasion forces. Cameroon has warned its citizens against taking part in foreign conflicts, and its defence minister has expressed concern about soldiers leaving the country to join the war in Ukraine.Ukraine has reported that over 1,700 Africans are fighting for Russia, though analysts believe the true figure may be higher. Several African countries have reported that their citizens have been tricked into fighting for Russia with promises of lucrative jobs or skills training.Other nations have also reported citizens being recruited to fight in Ukraine. For example, Kenya's parliament was presented with an intelligence report stating that 1,000 Kenyans were recruited after being misled with false promises of jobs. Two Nigerians were killed late last year while fighting for Russia, according to Ukraine's intelligence agency.Russian authorities have denied illegally recruiting African citizens to fight in Ukraine. However, young men from South Asia have also joined the Russian army after being promised lucrative salaries and benefits. At least 202 Indian nationals have been recruited, with at least 26 killed, according to India's Foreign Ministry.

Israel's latest invasion of Lebanon has resulted in a massive displacement of over 1.2 million people, including 350,000 children, making it one of the world's fastest-growing and most severe displacement crises. Since March 2, Israeli forces have launched over 1,840 attacks on Lebanon, killing more than 1,497 people and injuring over 4,639, according to Lebanon's Ministry of Public Health. The Israeli army claims it is targeting strongholds of the Iranian-backed group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Israel's Defense Minister, Israel Katz, stated that Israel plans to destroy Lebanese border towns and continue its occupation of southern Lebanon. The conflict has led to 20% of Lebanon's 5.9 million population being displaced, with one in five people affected. This crisis ranks among the top 10 displacement crises in recent years, according to UNHCR's 2025 data. Attacks have been concentrated in areas such as Bint Jbeil, Nabatieh, Tyre, Marjayoun, and Sidon, with over 2,000 attacks reported between March 2 and March 27. Israel carried out 1,840 of these attacks, mostly air or drone strikes and shelling. The destruction of bridges and crossings in southern Lebanon aims to isolate communities, with the Dalafa bridge and roads between villages like Sohmor and Yohmor being targeted. This has severe implications for access to hospitals and public services. Israel's evacuation orders now cover over 1,470sq km (568sq miles), or about 14% of Lebanon's territory, approaching the scale of Russian occupation in Ukraine.

Karim Baksh of Dasht, a remote Balochistan village, once relied on a diesel‑powered pump to irrigate his watermelon fields. After the 2022 Russia‑Ukraine war drove diesel prices sky‑high, he could no longer afford the fuel, forcing him to cut back his cultivated area. In 2023 he took a gamble: borrowing 300,000 Pakistani rupees (≈ $1,075) from relatives and installing a modest row of solar panels. Three years later, the panels run his pump without diesel, letting him water his crops even as global oil markets tumble amid the US‑Israel war on Iran and the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of world oil and gas normally flows. Baksh’s experience reflects a broader national shift. Pakistan imports about 80% of its oil via the Hormuz chokepoint and sources 99% of its LNG from Qatar and the UAE. A Council on Foreign Relations report warns that a prolonged closure could trigger severe power shortages, factory shutdowns, and transport disruptions. Yet a quiet solar revolution is building resilience. Since 2018, rooftop solar installations have saved Pakistan over $12 billion in fuel imports, and at current prices the sector is projected to save another $6.3 billion this year alone. According to the independent think‑tank EMBER, solar’s share of the national energy mix surged from 2.9% in 2020 to 32.3% in 2025. This growth is not the result of a single government plan but of millions of individual decisions—farmers swapping diesel pumps, businesses installing panels, and households seeking reliable electricity. In urban centres such as Lahore and Karachi, solar rooftops are commonplace. Homeowners typically recoup installation costs within a few years, enjoy free electricity thereafter, and can even sell surplus power back to the grid through net‑metering. By 2025, 25% of Pakistani households use solar in some form, up from 15% in 2023, with over 280,000 consumers now participating in net‑metering schemes. However, the benefits are uneven. The upfront cost of a 3 kW system—about 450,000 rupees ($1,610)—and larger commercial setups costing up to 2.2 million rupees ($7,874) remain out of reach for many low‑income families. Analysts warn that non‑solar users, largely poorer households, are subsidising the grid usage of solar owners. Net‑metering has already shifted an estimated 159 billion rupees (≈ $570 million) of costs onto other consumers, raising concerns about a two‑tier energy system. The rapid expansion is powered largely by imports from China, which controls roughly 80% of the global solar supply chain. Chinese lithium‑ion batteries, now 20% cheaper than in 2024, enable storage for nighttime use, further reducing reliance on the national grid. Solar panel prices have plummeted: from 100‑120 rupees per watt in the early 2010s to about 30 rupees per watt today. This price collapse, combined with electricity shortages and rising tariffs after the 2022 oil price spike, made solar an attractive alternative for those able to invest. Government policy has been mixed. A 2015 net‑metering scheme encouraged adoption by offering roughly 25 rupees ($0.090) per kilowatt‑hour for exported power and by reducing import taxes on panels. More recently, concerns over the financial strain on the power sector led to a cut in the buy‑back rate to about 10 rupees ($0.036) per kilowatt‑hour. For Baksh, the policy shifts matter little. His solar‑powered pump guarantees water for his watermelons regardless of diesel price swings or geopolitical turmoil. He plans to expand his solar array, increase production, and ship his harvest to larger markets in Quetta and Karachi. In a region where temperatures can soar to 51 °C (124 °F), the sun has become a reliable ally—ensuring that, for farmers like Baksh, “the water keeps flowing no matter what.”

Donald Trump's open threats to commit war crimes in Iran have raised concerns about his impunity. The US Supreme Court's recent ruling in Trump v United States has given him reason to believe he can act with impunity within the US. However, there are international options for prosecution that lie beyond the court's lawless license.Trump's plan to bomb Iran and destroy civilian infrastructure, such as desalination plants, electrical-generating facilities, and bridges, would violate international humanitarian law's rule of proportionality. The destruction of civilian infrastructure would have a disproportionate impact on civilians, and therefore, it is not justified.The International Criminal Court (ICC) has charged Russian military commanders with war crimes for attacking electrical infrastructure in Ukraine. Similarly, Trump's actions could be prosecuted as war crimes. However, the ICC has no jurisdiction over crimes committed on Iranian territory since Iran is not a member of the ICC.There are alternative routes for prosecution. The Iranian government could join the ICC and grant it retroactive jurisdiction, similar to what Ukraine did to allow prosecution of Russian war crimes. Additionally, under the concept of universal jurisdiction, governments can use their national courts to prosecute certain crimes even if committed by non-nationals abroad.A group of countries, such as the European Union, NATO, or the G7, could establish an international tribunal to address crimes committed in Iran, including war crimes and aggression. This would allow Trump to be prosecuted as soon as the tribunal is established, without waiting for him to leave office.

The threat of bombing Iran back to the 'stone ages' by US President Donald Trump has raised concerns about the morality, legality, and utility of such a campaign. In 2006, Israel bombed Lebanon's Jiyeh power station, causing a massive oil spill and significant damage. However, this did not prevent Hezbollah from rearming and continuing to fight. Similarly, Russia's sustained bombardment of Ukraine has not forced the country to concede. History has shown that bombing campaigns, including the British 'area bombing' of Germany in World War II and the US Rolling Thunder campaign against North Vietnam, have not always achieved their desired outcomes. Experts argue that bombing Iran's infrastructure would not change the regime's strategic calculus and would likely give the Iranian government a powerful propaganda tool. The US lacks a credible military option to force Iran into submission, and pressure alone may not be enough to break Tehran. The effectiveness of bombing campaigns in achieving war objectives is highly contested. The article cites the example of the British bomber command's promise to bring about the collapse of Germany within four months, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. Trump's threat to bomb Iran's infrastructure has been met with skepticism by experts, who argue that it is unlikely to achieve its desired outcome and may instead escalate the situation.

For Konstantin, a 53‑year‑old resident of St Petersburg, the war in Ukraine has become a literal scent in the air. Over the past fortnight he has repeatedly detected the acrid odor of burning crude, fuel and chemicals drifting from Ukrainian drone strikes on Russia’s two largest Baltic oil terminals. The facilities at Ust‑Luga and Primorsk together handle about 40% of Moscow’s seaborne oil exports and roughly 2% of global oil supply, according to the International Energy Agency. Both ports lie within 150 km of St Petersburg, making the smoke visible – and smelt – to locals. Ukrainian drones have flown more than 1,000 km from the front lines to strike storage tanks and loading infrastructure, igniting fires that have burned for days. The smell, described by Konstantin as a mix of diesel exhaust, burning plastic and rotten eggs, first appeared in late March. These attacks are a key element of Kyiv’s strategy to erode Russia’s “unexpected windfall” from oil exports, a revenue stream that has surged as the US‑Israel campaign against Iran pushed global oil prices higher. Satellite imagery shows extensive damage at both terminals, with Ust‑Luga’s sprawling processing complex blackened by fire. As a result, both ports are currently unable to dispatch cargo, forcing traders to reroute oil to smaller Baltic and Black Sea ports that lack the capacity to absorb the displaced volume. Financial analysts estimate that the disruption has already cost Moscow roughly $1 billion in lost export earnings, according to Bloomberg data released on March 31. Moreover, every $10 rise in global oil prices translates into about $1.6 billion of additional monthly income for the Kremlin. Russian officials have blamed European nations for allegedly facilitating the drone overflights, but Ukrainian experts dispute this claim. Andrey Pronin, a pioneer of Ukraine’s drone warfare, emphasized that the strikes are meticulously planned to stay within Russian airspace, bypassing air‑defence systems. Since the campaign began, Ukrainian forces have targeted 13 oil sites, seriously damaging at least eight refineries from the Baltic coast to the Volga region. The attacks are timed to coincide with the heightened profitability Russia enjoys from the Iran‑related oil price surge, according to researcher Nikolay Mitrokhin of Bremen University. Beyond the immediate economic impact, Kyiv views the strikes as leverage in negotiations with Moscow. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has floated the idea of a temporary moratorium on attacks against Ukrainian energy infrastructure in exchange for concessions, though the strategy also inadvertently benefits Iran by sustaining higher oil prices. On the tactical side, Ukraine now relies heavily on FP‑1 drones produced by the domestic Firepoint company. These unmanned aircraft can carry up to 120 kg of explosives and travel roughly 1,500 km, enabling strikes deep inside Russian territory. For civilians living near the conflict zones, the nightly “fireworks” of explosions have become a grim routine. Abdulla, a Tatar resident of Crimea, described the constant shelling as a new normal, while analysts note that President Vladimir Putin remains resolute, using the ongoing talks with the White House as a diplomatic façade. Overall, the Ukrainian drone campaign illustrates how modern warfare increasingly intertwines kinetic attacks with strategic economic disruption, reshaping the dynamics of the Russia‑Ukraine war and its broader geopolitical reverberations.

Ukraine's military has launched a significant drone strike on Russian energy infrastructure in the Black Sea, targeting the port of Novorossiysk. According to Ukrainian drone forces commander Robert Brovdi, the overnight attack hit the Admiral Makarov missile carrier in the port, which serves as Russia's largest oil exporting outlet on the Black Sea.The attack is part of Ukraine's broader strategy to disrupt Russian energy exports and reduce Moscow's revenues. Ukraine has increased its attacks on Russian energy infrastructure in recent weeks, aiming to halt Russian oil exports and impact the Russian economy.Russian authorities reported that at least eight people, including two children, were injured in Novorossiysk. Videos posted on Telegram showed a fire at one of the oil port's docks. Novorossiysk Mayor Andrei Kravchenko stated that debris from drones had fallen on two locations in the city, including a residential area.Russia's military claimed that air defense units had downed 148 Ukrainian drones over a three-hour period. The Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal, located in the Novorossiysk port area, exports oil from Kazakhstan and has major US oil companies, such as Chevron and ExxonMobil, as shareholders.The attack on Novorossiysk comes amid a series of Ukrainian drone strikes on Russian oil infrastructure. On the previous day, Ukrainian drones struck Russia's Baltic Sea port of Primorsk and the NORSI oil refinery in Nizhny Novgorod. These attacks are part of Ukraine's efforts to reduce Moscow's revenues from oil sales, which are crucial for the Russian economy.In response to the attacks, Russia's Ministry of Defence accused Ukraine of deliberately targeting the CPC terminal to inflict economic damage on its largest shareholders, including US and Kazakh energy companies.

The global oil trade is facing a chokepoint crisis, with Libya's oil disputes mirroring the situation in the Hormuz Strait. The Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway for oil transportation, was briefly closed after US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, causing Brent crude oil prices to soar to nearly $120 a barrel.Libya, with its strategically located oil terminals on the northeastern coast, has become a crucial player in the global oil trade. The country's light, sweet grades of oil are particularly valuable to European refiners. However, Libya's political instability and factional oil deals are threatening to disrupt oil supplies, with Europe's energy security hanging in the balance.The Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, controls the territory where Libya's oil is located, while the Government of National Unity (GNU) in Tripoli signs oil contracts. This has led to a situation where Tripoli may sign oil contracts, but Haftar decides whether oil actually flows. The Arkenu agreement, a private oil company linked to the Haftar family, was recently terminated due to corruption allegations, leaving the future of Libya's oil supplies uncertain.The US is attempting to broker new talks between Tripoli and Haftar's camp, but a deal is not yet certain. Meanwhile, European energy security is at risk, with the Mediterranean Sea becoming a battleground for proxy wars between Russia and Ukraine. The sabotage of oil infrastructure and attacks on tankers are exacerbating the situation, highlighting the need for a stable and secure oil supply to Europe.

A Russian court on Monday handed former Kursk governor Alexei Smirnov a 14‑year prison term in a penal colony after finding him guilty of corruption that left the region’s border defenses vulnerable during Ukraine’s August 2024 offensive. According to the verdict, the 52‑year‑old official accepted bribes from construction firms tasked with building anti‑tank barriers. Investigations revealed that the barriers were erected with substandard materials incapable of stopping Ukrainian armored units, directly contributing to the rapid advance of an estimated 11,000 Ukrainian soldiers into Kursk. The court also imposed a fine of 400 million roubles (≈ $4.9 million), confiscated more than 20 million roubles (≈ $220,000) from Smirnov’s assets, and barred him from any employment for ten years. Smirnov, who had been appointed governor in May 2024 and resigned in December of the same year, pleaded guilty and was subsequently detained. He claimed that his predecessor, Roman Starovoit, encouraged the practice of accepting kickbacks. Starovoit, later appointed transport minister, was dismissed by President Vladimir Putin in July 2025 and died under circumstances ruled as suicide. The incursion marked the first time in decades that foreign troops entered Russian soil, forcing an estimated 78,000 Russian soldiers to engage the Ukrainian force and exposing systemic weaknesses in Russia’s border security. The Kremlin responded with a sweeping crackdown on regional and military officials deemed responsible for the failure. Russian forces eventually expelled the Ukrainian units from Kursk in April 2025, reportedly with assistance from several thousand North Korean troops. The episode remains a diplomatic embarrassment for President Putin, highlighting the strategic and political fallout of corruption within Russia’s regional administrations.