The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) expressed its concern Wednesday over the continued rise in attacks on schools around the world.

UNESCO said this in a press statement on the occasion of the International Day to Protect Education from Attacks, based on the latest global data, which revealed an alarming escalation in such attacks in 2025.

It said that 1,680 attacks on schools were verified by the United Nations in 2025, an increase of 33 per cent compared to 1,265 attacks in 2024.

More broadly, an estimated 258 million children and adolescents have had their education disrupted by crises worldwide, including 93 million who are entirely out of school, UNESCO said.

Nearly 80 per cent of all out-of-school crisis-affected children, some 74 million, live in just 20 countries facing the world’s most severe crises, UNESCO said.

The organisation noted that barriers to learning are steepest for the most vulnerable within these settings, with 74 per cent of refugee children and 52 per cent of internally displaced children.

UNESCO Director-General Khaled El-Enany said schools and universities must always be protected, calling on all parties to conflicts to respect international law and ensure that education can continue safely.

The International Day to Protect Education from Attack was established by a unanimous decision of the United Nations General Assembly in 2020, with September 9 designated as the annual observance. 

President Volodymyr Zelensky is holding talks with Donald Trump’s top envoys, in their first visit to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainian leader greeted Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at Kyiv’s St Sophia Cathedral, close to where a Russian drone hit the headquarters of Ukraine’s security services on Friday.

Ahead of the meeting, Zelensky said Ukraine was ready to talk about bringing “the end of the war closer”.

On Saturday, the two envoys met Vladimir Putin in Moscow for talks on ending the war that were described as “frank” and “constructive” by the Kremlin.

The envoys travelled to Kyiv by train after flying to Poland – Zelensky told the media that it was not possible for them to land their plane despite preparations.

Putin and Zelensky agreed to halt strikes on each other’s capitals for three days while the negotiators carry out their trip.

While Witkoff and Kushner were in talks at the Kremlin on Saturday, Zelensky said he and his team were “ready for a substantive conversation”.

On Sunday, Zelensky wrote on social media that his country “has always been and will remain constructive”.

“We are interested in bringing the end of the war closer. Peace is needed. Security guarantees are needed.

“A dignified character of the postwar peace is needed. Our proposals are ready,” he said.

Overnight, Russian and Ukrainian forces continued to exchange strikes, with Ukraine confirming they struck an oil refinery, an airfield, and two air defence systems.

The country’s defence ministry said they targeted the Ryazan oil refinery, which supplies the Russian army, and an airfield in Rostov-on-Don.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Air Force reported that Russia attacked Ukraine with 108 long-range drones and small cruise missiles.

The country’s air defences downed 82 drones and six missiles, but 11 locations were hit, with debris falling at a further seven sites.

Saturday’s talks in Moscow lasted three hours and were held behind closed doors in Putin’s official residence in the heart of the Russian capital, according to Russian state media.

Details are still emerging, but both sides have given broadly positive remarks without going into specifics.

Putin adviser Yuri Ushakov described the talks as “constructive, extremely frank”.

“The talks were not limited to an exchange of views on resolving the Ukrainian crisis – economic issues and potential major, mutually beneficial Russian-American projects were discussed in considerable detail,” he said.

Ushakov also said “note was made of the Russian army’s tangible advances in the combat zone” and that there was acknowledgement that talks needed to address “the root causes of the conflict”.

Despite an escalation of Russian missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities including Kyiv, Russian ground forces have made very slow advances for most of the conflict, incurring enormous casualties. Russia still controls about one-fifth of Ukrainian territory – areas that it seized back in 2022.

The talks come after Russia and Ukraine have intensified aerial attacks in recent months.

Ukraine says it has struggled to repel ballistic missile attacks due to a lack of interceptor missiles, while Kyiv has focused its strikes on Russian economic infrastructure targets, notably oil installations.

Egyptian television presenter Sarah Khalifa and 11 other people have been sentenced to death by hanging after being convicted of drug charges.

According to state-owned al-Ahram newspaper, they were part of a criminal gang which imported ingredients used to make drugs with the intent of selling them.

They also had illegal firearms and munitions.

Khalifa, 39, is best known for her TV programme Mission Impossible which dealt with crime issues. She has denied the charges.

Nine fellow defendants have been sentenced to life imprisonment, while seven have been acquitted.

Khalifa’s lawyer said she would appeal the death sentence.

The verdict was first announced last month.

However, it was only confirmed a month later after the court obtained a religious opinion from the grand mufti of Egypt – a legal requirement in death sentence cases.

During the trial, the court heard that authorities had seized more than 750kg (1,653lbs) of narcotics and the imported raw materials to make them.

Twenty witnesses had given statements to the prosecutors, al-Ahram said, in addition to electronic evidence that included conversations and video clips.

According to the state-run Akhbar al-Youm newspaper, when asked by the judge about her alleged role during a court appearance last September, Khalifa said she had never seen any drugs until she was photographed with them inside the anti-narcotics authority offices.

According to a 2025 Amnesty International report, there were 492 death sentences in the course of the year, 23 of which were carried out.

The defendants were found guilty of drug trafficking and rape, “crimes that did not amount to ‘intentional killing’ to which the use of the death penalty must be restricted under international law and standards”, the report said.