Ukraine said its air defence systems shot down 16 of about 30 drones launched by Russia on Sunday. Authorities said civilian infrastructure and grain storage warehouses were damaged in the Cherkasy region as well as the southern Mykolaiv and eastern Dnipropetrovsk regions. Russia's defence ministry said its forces' air defences in eastern Ukraine had intercepted five United States-made HIMARS shells, an air-launched JDAM bomb and 37 Ukrainian drones. Kyiv began a counteroffensive in June to retake Ukrainian land occupied by Russia since it launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022. Russia's defence ministry said it shot down six Ukrainian drones over Russian regions and two Ukrainian missiles over Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on a visit to Kyiv that Ukrainian forces are "gradually gaining ground" in their counteroffensive against Russian forces. "Every metre that Ukrainian forces regain is a metre that Russia loses," he said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Russia said it destroyed 11 Ukrainian drones overnight in an attack that saw one combat drone drop explosives on a power substation, cutting a local power supply in Russia's Kursk region. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree setting out his country's routine autumn conscription campaign, which will see 130,000 people called up for statutory military service. Adult men in Russia are required to do a yearlong military service between the ages of 18 and 27 or equivalent training while pursuing higher education.

A combat drone dropped explosives on an electricity substation in a Russian village near the border with Ukraine, while Russia's Ministry of Defence reported shooting down more than a dozen Ukrainian drones over the Russian regions of Belgorod, Kursk and Kaluga. In the Russian village of Belaya, located less than 25km (16 miles) from the border, "a Ukrainian drone dropped two explosive devices on a substation", Kursk regional governor Roman Starovoyt said on the Telegram messaging app early on Friday. "One of the transformers caught fire. Five settlements and a hospital were cut off from power supply. Fire crews rushed to the scene," he said.

Israel touts the capabilities of its new AI-enhanced tank, the "Barak" (or "Lightning"), which provides a full 360-degree awareness of the environment, as demonstrated in the video with animation. Israel unveiled the "Barak" tank as its newest artificial intelligence (AI)-powered military advancement, promising a "new era" in combat capabilities. "The Barak tank is very innovative – it takes our maneuvering capabilities to another level, and it is a clear expression of our technological capabilities," Israeli Minister of Defense (IMOD) Yoav Gallant said of the tank, whose name translates to "lightning." "I would like to express my appreciation to the engineers of the Tank and APC Administration, the Israeli Ground Forces and all those involved in the professional process," he added. The fifth-generation Barak tank introduces a 360-degree awareness capability, giving a total vision of the battlefield. In a video that features animated segments to demonstrate the tank's potential, an IDF operator is able to identify targets both in front and behind his tank thanks to a specially designed helmet that helps him filter battlefield data.

Google's mission statement is to make the'world's information universally accessible' - but that hasn't stopped it from self-censoring to avoid offending Russia. A new study has shown the search giant's artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, mostly refuses to answer critical questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin. In fact, it won't answer 90 percent of queries regardless of how offensive or inoffensive they are. One of the two researchers in Switzerland who did the test believe Google is being'pushed' by the Kremlin to censor anything critical about the Russian regime. Google's artificial intelligence chatbot, Bard, mostly refuses to answer critical questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin Mykola Makhortykh, a post-doctoral lecturer at the University of Bern and one of the researchers, told DailyMail.com: 'My personal opinion is that Google might have been pushed by the Russian government to censor some of the results which were critical to the Kremlin similar to how it was done by Yandex.'

Russian aerial defence systems destroyed a wave of 19 Ukrainian drones that were launched overnight in attacks against targets in the Russia-annexed Crimean peninsula, the surrounding Black Sea and other regions of Russia. The Russian defence ministry said early on Thursday that it had "thwarted" the attacks by Ukraine's aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). "In the night from 20th to 21st September, an attempt by the Kyiv regime to commit a terrorist attack with lethal drones on sites in the Russian Federation was intercepted," the defence ministry said on the Telegram messaging app. "Air defence systems destroyed 19 Ukrainian UAVs over the Black Sea and the territory of the Republic of Crimea, and one each over the territories of Kursk, Belgorod and Oryol regions," the ministry said. The Belgorod and Kursk regions of Russia border eastern Ukraine, while Oryol is closer to the capital, Moscow.

During a five-day tour of India earlier this month, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited four cities, dined with tech executives and researchers, took numerous selfies, and sat for a one-on-one conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the AI sector. Huang's India itinerary was so crammed that he confessed to surviving entire work days on spicy masala omelets and cold coffees. Huang may have been treated like a head of state, but the trip's purpose was all business. For Nvidia, whose graphics processors are vital to the development of artificial intelligence systems, the South Asian nation of 1.4 billion people presents a rare opportunity. As the U.S. increasingly clamps down on exports of high-end chips to China and the world seeks an alternative electronics manufacturing base, India could shape up to be a source of AI talent, a site for chip production and a market for Nvidia's products.

Tehran, Iran – Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, has met senior military and security officials in Iran and toured an exhibition of Iranian missiles and drones. Shoigu arrived in Tehran on Tuesday and was officially received by Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces. He has met Iranian Defence Minister Mohammad Reza Ashtiani, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace chief Amir Ali Hajizadeh and security chief Ali Akbar Ahmadian. Bagheri told Shoigu that military cooperation is at the vanguard of expanding relations between Tehran and Moscow, who have been working on a new long-term cooperation plan for months. "This document has serious military and defence dimensions, and can act as suitable grounds to expand long-term cooperation between the two countries," he was quoted as saying by Iranian state media.

Washington, DC – Since its first session in 1946, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has served as a platform for world leaders and diplomats to spell out their countries' priorities and offer assessments of the problems and needs of humanity. UNGA meetings, particularly the general debate, have brought sworn enemies to the same building and allowed some of the United States' most hostile adversaries to visit New York, where the UN headquarters are located. As the assembly convenes for its annual session this week, here's a look at some unforgettable, and sometimes comical, UNGA moments. After more than four decades in power, the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi made it to the UN podium in 2009. And it was a debut to remember.

The war in Ukraine, world food supply and climate change are being discussed as leaders descend of NYC. President Biden on Tuesday said the United Nations General Assembly meets "at an inflection point in history," and called for strengthened alliances while stressing that "no nation can meet the challenges of today alone." Biden, delivering his annual speech to leaders of the UN in New York City on Tuesday, addressed the United States' continued support for Ukraine against Russia's "naked aggression," the importance of denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and efforts to block Iran from nuclear proliferation; the competition between the United States and China; the climate crisis and more. Biden, upon taking the podium, stressed the importance of strengthened alliances and "standing together." U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) at the United Nations headquarters on September 19, 2023 in New York City.