Politics today spans war, regional diplomacy and sharpening opposition tactics. In Ukraine, Kyiv endured one of the war’s largest ballistic missile barrages, with at least one person killed and others injured as strikes hit residential and commercial areas across the capital, prompting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to renew appeals for stronger air defences. In West Africa, Nigeria’s Vice President Kashim Shettima travelled to Sierra Leone for the ECOWAS summit, where leaders are set to focus on security, democratic governance and economic integration amid persistent regional strains. In India, the tone ahead of the Monsoon Session turned confrontational as opposition parties briefly walked out of an all-party meeting over the inclusion of rebel Trinamool Congress MPs, signalling a stormy Parliament. Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge also pressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an independent probe into alleged misappropriation of donations linked to the Ayodhya Ram temple trust.