Drones
Iran targets sites in Bahrain, Kuwait after wave of U.S. strikes
Iran targets sites in Bahrain, Kuwait after wave of U.S. strikes Security forces stand guard in front of a portrait of Iran's slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei as mourners gather for a funeral procession in Najaf on Wednesday. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait on Wednesday after the U.S. launched a wave of military strikes on Iran in response to attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. In the latest blow to the fragile ceasefire agreement, the IRGC said it carried out a joint missile and drone operation against key U.S. military sites in Bandar Salman, Bahrain's Fifth Naval District and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone attempting to interfere in the operation. Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and Kuwait, and the Kuwaiti army said air defenses were confronting "hostile" missile and drone attacks. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
NATO agrees to 50 billion in defense deals to placate Trump
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte delivers the keynote speech at the NATO Summit Defense Industry Forum, on the sidelines of the NATO leaders' Summit, in Ankara on Tuesday. NATO allies have agreed to at least $50 billion in defense industry deals, according to an alliance official, to show to U.S. President Donald Trump that Europe is heeding his spending demands. Secretary-General Mark Rutte revealed some of the contracts on Tuesday during a defense industry forum in Ankara, where the military alliance's leaders are meeting for their annual summit this week. Those included $12 billion in deals to buy next-generation drones, surveillance planes and military aircraft. Notably, some of the contracts show Europe moving to locally source some equipment it previously bought from the United States.
Zelensky to press Nato for air defence systems after intense Russian strikes
Ukraine's president plans to use the Nato meeting in Turkey to urge Kyiv's allies to deliver the air defence systems it urgently needs to protect it from escalating Russian attacks. Volodymyr Zelensky's call for help rings with extra intensity after Russian missiles rained down on the Ukrainian capital twice in less than a week, crashing into blocks of flats and killing more than 50 civilians. The summit in Ankara will also be a chance for Zelensky to hold a crucial meeting with Donald Trump and press home his case that Russia's brutal attacks are a show of weakness, not strength, and that Vladimir Putin should be pressured into talks towards a dignified peace. The latest strikes on Ukraine come as it has been stepping up its own long-range drone attacks against Russia, hitting oil refineries and military targets there and causing significant fuel shortages and power cuts. To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Russian social media accounts are full of videos of people queuing for hours to buy petrol and fighting over what little they're allowed.
El-Obeid under siege by RSF: Could this be Sudan's next el-Fasher?
El-Obeid under siege by RSF: Could this be Sudan's next el-Fasher? Half a million people are trapped in the Sudanese city of el-Obeid, the capital of North Kordofan state, as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group tries to enforce its dominance over the Kordofan and Darfur regions during a civil war that has wrought devastation on the country for three years. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned of an impending humanitarian "catastrophe" as el-Obeid is expected to be the next site for major ground clashes between the RSF and Sudanese military. Many countries have also raised the alarm about atrocities being carried out in the city. El-Obeid, which has been cut off by continuous drone attacks for months, is under threat after the mass atrocities carried out by the RSF in el-Fasher, capital of North Darfur state.
Why Ukrainian strikes on annexed Crimea are a blow to Putin
To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. A resident inside Crimea has told the BBC the situation there is catastrophic, as Ukrainian drones strike oil refineries and power plants on the peninsula, as well as military targets. The strikes on Russian-annexed Crimea have increased significantly in recent weeks - partly to cut off supply lines to Russian troops attacking Ukraine from the south. Eastern Europe correspondent Sarah Rainsford explains why Kyiv is striking now and why the peninsula matters to Vladimir Putin personally. Updates from your News topics will appear in My News and in a collection on the News homepage .
Ukraine hits major oil terminal in Russia's St Petersburg
Image caption, Ukraine's military described St Petersburg's oil terminal as one of the largest in Russia A major oil terminal in Russia's second city of St Petersburg in the north-west was struck overnight by Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky has said. He described it as key infrastructure that generates revenue for Russia's war. Ukraine also said a major Russian naval base in the region was hit. St Petersburg Governor Aleksandr Beglov said the city was under a massive drone attack, admitting the oil terminal was hit. Ukraine has recently intensified its long-range drone attacks on Russia's critical energy infrastructure, causing widespread fuel shortages.
Ukraine hits oil and military facilities near Russia's St Petersburg
Is the war entering a new phase? A wave of Ukrainian long-range drones has struck the St Petersburg region overnight, hitting an oil terminal and a Baltic Sea port in one of the largest deep-strike operations targeting President Vladimir Putin's home city. Leningrad region Governor Alexander Drozdenko said air defences shot down 72 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over the region on Saturday. Russian authorities briefly halted flight operations at Pulkovo Airport and throttled municipal mobile internet networks to jam the drones' cellular-backed navigation systems. St Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov said that one drone crashed in the grounds of the 18th-century Peterhof Palace complex, and another hit an oil terminal in the city's Kirovsky district.
Russia looks to students to make up for mounting losses in Ukraine
He studied drones for three months - and yet they still threw him into a frontal assault, into the meat grinder, said Valery Averin's foster mother Oksana Afanayeva. The 23-year-old is among the first Russian students known to have been killed in Ukraine after signing up as part of a new large-scale drive to recruit young people from universities and colleges into Russia's drone forces. He had never even served in the army, Afanasyeva complained. The campaign to encourage students at universities, technical colleges and vocational schools to sign army contracts began early this year, as Russia sought to sustain its war effort into a fifth year. It has focused particularly on those struggling academically or considering taking a break from their studies.