Daily World Briefing, Aug. 15

Starmer, Zelensky meet in London, focusing on expectations for U.S.-Russia meeting

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday at Downing Street in London, the Prime Minister's Office said.

According to an official statement, the two leaders discussed Wednesday's virtual meetings hosted by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as the upcoming Trump-Putin summit in the U.S. state of Alaska on Friday.

"They agreed to stay in close touch in the coming days," the statement noted, stressing their expectations for the talks in Alaska.

Putin-Trump meeting to center on settlement of Ukrainian crisis

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold one-on-one talks with U.S. President Donald Trump before the meeting of delegations from both countries, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said Thursday.

The talks will center on the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis and "the most pressing international and regional issues," Ushakov said.

The talks are scheduled at 11:30 local time (1930 GMT) in the Elmendorf-Richardson military base in Anchorage, the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska.

Russia, Ukraine swap 84 prisoners each in latest exchanges

Russia and Ukraine on Thursday each exchanged 84 prisoners captured during their ongoing conflict, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

The freed Russian service members were in Belarus and would be transported to the medical facilities of the Russian military for treatment and rehabilitation, it said.

The latest prisoner exchanges between the conflicting parties were mediated by the United Arab Emirates, according to the ministry.

Wife of S. Korea's ex-president Yoon arrives at special counsel's office to be questioned

Kim Keon-hee, wife of South Korea's former ousted President Yoon Suk-yeol, on Thursday arrived at a special counsel's office to be questioned over corruption allegations involving the presidential couple.

A prison van carrying Kim arrived at the office in central Seoul at around 9:53 a.m. local time (0053 GMT) from the Seoul Southern Detention Center in southwestern Seoul, a live broadcast showed.

Kim has been detained since a Seoul court issued a detention warrant against her on Tuesday night, requested by independent counsel Min Joong-ki, leading the investigation into the corruption charges.

EU urges Israel to drop West Bank building plan

European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Thursday urged Israel to drop plans to advance settlement construction in the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, warning the move would violate international law and irreparably damage prospects for a two-state solution.

"If implemented, settlement construction in this area will permanently cut the geographical and territorial contiguity between occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank and sever the connection between the northern and southern West Bank," Kallas said in a statement.

Casualties mount as Israel hikes attacks on Gaza residential areas

Israel's intensified attacks on residential areas in Gaza are causing a high number of casualties, UN humanitarians said Thursday.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that airstrikes and shelling have intensified in parts of Gaza City over the past couple of days, as attacks also continue in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

"If the announced Israeli ground operation in Gaza City moves ahead, thousands of families already in appalling humanitarian conditions could be pushed over the edge even further," OCHA said. "With 86 percent of the Strip now in Israeli-militarized zones or under displacement orders, aid groups lack the access and supplies to address the dire needs at the scale required."■