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A man employed by the US defense contractor V2X has been killed in a drone attack on Erbil airbase, amid concerns from colleagues that they are being placed in harm’s way and pressured to remain in Iraq despite security risks, five sources said.

The worker, from Kenya, died in a night attack in his sleeping quarters on the base on 24 March. Another five workers were injured. They are from Kenya and India, and are among a group of about 45 workers employed by V2X who have remained on the base. One of the workers is in a critical condition with severe burns, sources said.

“The company has messed up here bad,” said a source speaking on the condition of anonymity. “He didn’t have to die. The company thought it was more important to keep the mission going rather than get people to safety.”

V2X has almost 300 employees in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan, who are mainly American, Indian and Kenyan. Other US defense contractors active on Erbil’s military base, including Lockheed Martin and Amentum, evacuated their staff several weeks ago, according to V2X workers interviewed, who question why efforts have not been made to repatriate them. Lockheed Martin and Amentum did not respond to requests for comment.

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Ukraine has returned seven more children from temporarily occupied territories as part of the “Bring Kids Back UA” initiative, Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported on Saturday, April 4.

The group, consisting of childrAmong those returned is a 13-year-old boy from the Kherson region who had been placed in a rehabilitation center after losing both parents. Two brothers, aged 13 and 16, were also repatriated after resisting attempts by occupation officials to prevent them from reuniting with their sister in government-controlled territory. Another 14-year-old boy was reunited with his mother after a four-year separation.en aged 13 to 17, includes several orphans who had been held in Russian-controlled social centers or subjected to psychological pressure by occupation authorities. Lubinets expressed gratitude to US First Lady Melania Trump for her “humanitarian support” in facilitating the return.

Among those returned is a 13-year-old boy from the Kherson region who had been placed in a rehabilitation center after losing both parents. Two brothers, aged 13 and 16, were also repatriated after resisting attempts by occupation officials to prevent them from reuniting with their sister in government-controlled territory. Another 14-year-old boy was reunited with his mother after a four-year separation.

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The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in March liberated a bit more territory held by enemy forces than it lost to Russia, according to compiled data made public by the AFU on Wednesday and reviewed independently.

Ukrainian troops in March in battles across the Russo-Ukraine War’s 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) fighting front scored a net gain of 27 square kilometers (10.4 square miles) more ground recaptured from Russian forces, for the first time since at least October, a March 31 review published by the Washington D.C.-based Institute for the Study of War said. The finding tallied with Kyiv Post research during the month.

The finding that Ukraine has actually shifted combat dynamics to the point where its forces have the initiative and are making net ground gains against Russia was noted by Ukraine’s army commander General Oleksandr Syrsky in comments to ICTV television on Tuesday. In an hour-long interview, Syrsky said that since late January, his troops have been advancing slowly but continuously, with local counterattacks in the southern Olesandrivka-Zaporizhzhia sectors scoring the biggest successes.

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Palestinians across the occupied West Bank observed a general strike on Wednesday in protest against a new Israeli law allowing the execution of prisoners, as international condemnation mounted.

Fatah, the movement led by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, called for the strike, describing the legislation as a “dangerous escalation” against Palestinians.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/general-strike-leaves-west-bank-streets-empty-over-death-penalty-bill
“This criminal law will not break the will of our people or the determination of our prisoners, but will instead strengthen our resolve to continue the struggle for their freedom and legitimate rights,” it said in a statement.

The Knesset approved the bill in its final readings on Monday by 62 votes to 48, despite international calls to abandon it.

The legislation has drawn widespread criticism for violating the right to life and for its potentially discriminatory application.

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Leading lawyers and legal experts have called on the governing bureau of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to uphold the findings of a judicial panel that cleared the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, of wrongdoing following a sexual misconduct complaint.

The 21-member bureau of the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties (ASP) is set to convene again on Monday for the third time to discuss its response to the report by three senior judges and the next course of action in the long-running saga, which has sidelined Khan since he took indefinite leave in May 2025.

Speaking to Middle East Eye ahead of Monday’s meeting, Khan’s lead counsel, Sareta Ashraph, said the process followed by United Nations investigators and judges had been “gender-competent” after a number of civil society groups called on the bureau to reject the panel’s findings.

Other legal experts voiced confidence in the competence and experience of the three-judge panel in their handling of the highly sensitive and complex case.

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Israeli forces blocked two senior Catholic leaders from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the Custody of the Holy Land said Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch, and Father Francesco Ielpo, custos of the Holy Land, were stopped en route to the church.

The leaders had attempted to enter privately without any ceremonial procession or public gathering, but were refused access.

The church bodies said this was the first time in centuries that the heads of the Catholic Church had been prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass at the Holy Sepulchre.

“This incident is a grave precedent, and disregards the sensibilities of billions of people around the world who, during this week, look to Jerusalem,” they said.

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