When Ukrainian children’s home director Liubov Rudyka took the minors in her care to Naples after Russia invaded, she thought she was bringing them to safety. It never occurred to her that Italy might not want to give them back. And yet, four years later, their return has become a legal battlefield. Ukrainian authorities have told CNN that several children who were evacuated to Italy with Rudyka are among dozens of Ukrainian minors whose return home has been prevented by the Italian courts. A dispute over their situation escalated in April, after Kyiv announced that one of the Ukrainian children, a 15-year-old boy named Sasha, had been legally adopted by an Italian family – despite having a mother who wants him to return to Ukraine. Kyiv argues that the evacuations were meant to be temporary and that while the war continues, the situation has stabilized in parts of the country and there are safe places for the children to return to. The Ukrainian government’s main worry is that the longer the children stay abroad, the less likely they are to return in the future – a worrying prospect for a country that faces a major demographic crisis.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/europe/ukraine-children-italy-dispute-adoption-intl-cmd
A South Korean court sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison on Friday over charges linked to military drones sent over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration, Yonhap reported. The Seoul Central District Court found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset, the news agency said. The phone notes that reveal an alleged plan to bait Kim Jong Un with drones
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/11/asia/south-korean-yoon-suk-yeol-drone-case-jail-intl-hnk
The US’ top general made a secret, rushed visit to US Central Command headquarters in Florida late last month to be briefed in person on plans for the US military to send ground troops into Iran to forcibly seize its highly enriched uranium, the key component necessary to produce a nuclear weapon, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN. The briefings were so urgent and sensitive that they required Gen. Dan Caine, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to rush from a meeting of senior NATO officials in Brussels back across the Atlantic to Tampa, Florida, on May 19, the sources said. The high-level and pressing nature of the briefings underscores how close the administration came to greenlighting the high-risk ground operation, sources said. A Joint Staff spokesperson declined to comment about the preparations for a potential operation.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/politics/us-military-plan-uranium-iran-ground-troops
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/world/video/trump-promises-iran-agreement-war-vrtc
When Iranian officials convened in Tehran to discuss the nation’s water crisis this month, President Masoud Pezeshkian asked them to remove their blazers to cope with the sweltering heat instead of switching on the air conditioning. Dressed in a short-sleeved polo shirt, his gesture was meant to symbolize a commitment to conserve energy amid war, but it quickly sparked controversy. Hardline politicians slammed the president’s unorthodox choice of attire and activists accused him of double standards, where under Iran’s strict dress codes, ordinary people would be barred from dressing down. The next day, London-based opposition news outlet Iran International reported that he had submitted his resignation. The news sent the president’s team into crisis management as officials took to social media to dismiss the report as “wishful thinking.” It was the latest of several false reports about Pezeshkian offering to step down.
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/12/middleeast/irans-accidental-president-masoud-pezeshkian-intl