A fire broke out at a unit of the Afipsky oil refinery in Russia's southern Krasnodar region following a Ukrainian drone attack, local authorities said. The extent of damage was not immediately clear at the refinery, which, together with the Krasnodar refinery, processed an estimated 7.2 million metric tonnes of crude oil in 2024.

In post-disaster scenarios, rapid and efficient delivery of medical resources is critical and challenging due to severe damage to infrastructure. To provide an optimized solution, we propose a cooperative trajectory optimization and task allocation framework leveraging unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). This study integrates a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for efficient task allocation among multiple UAVs and UGVs, and employs an informed-RRT* (Rapidly-exploring Random Tree Star) algorithm for collision-free trajectory generation. Further optimization of task sequencing and path efficiency is conducted using Covariance Matrix Adaptation Evolution Strategy (CMA-ES). Simulation experiments conducted in a realistic post-disaster environment demonstrate that our proposed approach significantly improves the overall efficiency of medical rescue operations compared to traditional strategies. Specifically, our method reduces the total mission completion time to 26.7 minutes for a 15-task scenario, outperforming K-Means clustering and random allocation by over 73%. Furthermore, the framework achieves a substantial 15.1% reduction in total traveled distance after CMA-ES optimization. The cooperative utilization of UAVs and UGVs effectively balances their complementary advantages, highlighting the system's scalability and practicality for real-world deployment.

--The rapid detection of abnormal body temperatures in urban populations is essential for managing public health risks, especially during outbreaks of infectious diseases. Multi-drone thermal screening systems offer promising solutions for fast, large-scale, and non-intrusive human temperature monitoring. However, trajectory planning for multiple drones in complex urban environments poses significant challenges, including collision avoidance, coverage efficiency, and constrained flight environments. In this study, we propose an enhanced trust region sequential convex optimization (TR-SCO) algorithm for optimal trajectory planning of multiple drones performing thermal screening tasks. Our improved algorithm integrates a refined convex optimization formulation within a trust region framework, effectively balancing trajectory smoothness, obstacle avoidance, altitude constraints, and maximum screening coverage. Simulation results demonstrate that our approach significantly improves trajectory optimality and computational efficiency compared to conventional convex optimization methods. This research provides critical insights and practical contributions toward deploying efficient multi-drone systems for real-time thermal screening in urban areas. This work is founded by National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The growing complexity of urban mobility and the demand for efficient, sustainable, and adaptive solutions have positioned Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) at the forefront of modern infrastructure innovation. At the core of ITS lies the challenge of autonomous decision-making across dynamic, large scale, and uncertain environments where multiple agents traffic signals, autonomous vehicles, or fleet units must coordinate effectively. Multi Agent Reinforcement Learning (MARL) offers a promising paradigm for addressing these challenges by enabling distributed agents to jointly learn optimal strategies that balance individual objectives with system wide efficiency. This paper presents a comprehensive survey of MARL applications in ITS. We introduce a structured taxonomy that categorizes MARL approaches according to coordination models and learning algorithms, spanning value based, policy based, actor critic, and communication enhanced frameworks. Applications are reviewed across key ITS domains, including traffic signal control, connected and autonomous vehicle coordination, logistics optimization, and mobility on demand systems. Furthermore, we highlight widely used simulation platforms such as SUMO, CARLA, and CityFlow that support MARL experimentation, along with emerging benchmarks. The survey also identifies core challenges, including scalability, non stationarity, credit assignment, communication constraints, and the sim to real transfer gap, which continue to hinder real world deployment.

Video released Thursday by the LAPD shows police flying a drone to get a closer look at a man inside a van who had been shot by officers in Boyle Heights last month. Police said they shot the man after he ignored their commands to drop what appeared to be a rifle. The rifle, it turned out, was a battery-powered airsoft gun, which shoots plastic pellets. As the drone zoomed up to the white utility van, it captured a graphic image of Jeremy Flores, 26, slumped over the steering wheel, the fake gun lying on his lap. A SWAT team then approached and pulled Flores out of the vehicle.

Weaponized drones are being tested inside US schools, flying through hallways with the ability to neutralize active shooters in seconds. Equipped with non-lethal pepper spray, powder pellets, and live video feeds, the drones launch from secure charging stations, six per school, when gunfire is detected. Developed by Campus Guardian Angel, the system has already completed trials in Texas and was recently demonstrated in three Florida schools. Permanent installations are scheduled this fall, with full deployment expected by January. The rollout has divided parents, some welcoming the extra layer of protection, while others call it a dystopian nightmare and'an accident waiting to happen.'

The Lebanese military says two soldiers have been killed and two wounded as they investigated an Israeli drone crash in southern Lebanon. The army said the downed Israeli drone exploded on Thursday during an inspection at the crash site in the Naqoura area, not far from Lebanon's border with Israel. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered condolences to the soldiers who were killed and injured, stressing that the military "is paying, in blood, the price of preserving stability in the south" of the country. The deadly incident came as Israel has been carrying out near-daily attacks on Lebanon despite a ceasefire reached with Hezbollah in November. It also coincides with a United Nations Security Council vote to wind down a UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, which has for decades been tasked with maintaining a buffer between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.

An overnight Russian drone and missile attack on Ukraine's capital has killed at least 14 people including three children, say officials. Al Jazeera's Zein Basravi has been at the scene of a strike on an apartment building there.

The latest international effort to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine was launched by US President Donald Trump earlier this month. He met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska and Zelensky with European leaders in Washington. Trump has been pushing for a Putin-Zelensky summit. Ukraine's president has backed the move, but he has sought security guarantees from Western allies to prevent any future Russian attack in the event of a peace deal. On Tuesday, Zelensky met the head of Britain's armed forces, Adm Sir Tony Radakin, in Kyiv, where they discussed efforts to end the war.

Putin and Kim will be among 26 other heads of state who are expected to attend the parade. This is the first time a North Korean leader has attended a Chinese military parade since 1959. China is likely to display its latest weaponry, including hundreds of aircraft, tanks and anti-drone systems. This will be the first time its military's new force structure is being fully showcased in a parade. The highly choreographed event will see tens of thousands of military personnel march in formation through the historic Tiananmen Square, with troops from 45 of the so-called echelons of China's military as well as war veterans. The 70-minute parade, which will be surveyed by Xi, is expected to be closely watched by analysts and western powers.