Britain is to develop new air defence weapons alongside the EU's four biggest military powers, deepening ties with the European defence sector. The project will invite manufacturers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Poland to submit plans to build low-cost missiles and autonomous drones. The allies are pledging a speedy process to build the weapons together, inspired by Ukraine's development of cheap drones to counter attacks from Russia. The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) says the programme will prioritise a lightweight, affordable surface-to-air weapon, with the first project to be delivered by next year. The plan, announced at a meeting of the five countries' defence ministers in the Polish city of Krakow, marks a boost to UK-Europe ties after the failure of talks last year over UK participation in the EU's new €150bn (£130bn) defence fund.

'People are being more discerning about spending money,' he says. 'People are being more discerning about spending money,' he says. T hey are already packing our groceries and delivering shopping. Now robots are coming to the kebab shop, alongside self-service screens and loyalty apps, as takeaways look for ways to tackle rising costs. German Doner Kebab (GDK), a perhaps surprisingly British-owned chain that has been springing up across the country, has turned to technology to keep its fast food business buzzing in the face of rising costs and tough times on the high street.

Agibot, which led global humanoid robot shipments in 2025 with 5,168 units, demonstrates production-ready technology through massive robot performance event in Shanghai.

Claire chatted to Agata Suwala from the Manufacturing Technology Centre about leveraging robotics to make manufacturing systems more sustainable. Agata Suwala is a Technology Manager at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, where she leads cutting-edge work in automation and robotics. With over a decade of experience in R&D, Agata specialises in developing and implementing advanced manufacturing systems--particularly for the aerospace sector--transforming complex, skill-intensive processes through automation. Her recent focus is on enabling the transition to a circular economy by leveraging automation and robotics to create sustainable, scalable technologies. Robot Talk is a weekly podcast that explores the exciting world of robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous machines.

Inside Dewar's cavernous whisky warehouses, man's best mechanical friend--a Boston Dynamics robot dog with an ethanol sensor for a nose--is on the hunt for leaky barrels. Wooden barrels are what make the magic happen in your favorite bottle of whisky . At Bacardi Limited, the world's largest privately held spirits company, barrel leakage is a massive headache. Consider the company's Dewar's blended Scotch whisky brand (just one of the dozens it owns). Most of the time, Dewar's will have over 100 warehouses full of aging barrels of whisky, 25,000 casks in each one.

The Good Robot podcast: what makes a drone "good"? Hosted by Eleanor Drage and Kerry McInerney, The Good Robot is a podcast which explores the many complex intersections between gender, feminism and technology. What makes a drone "good"? In this episode, we talk to Beryl Pong, UKRI Future Leaders Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where she leads the Centre for Drones and Culture. Beryl reflects on what it means to think about drones as "good" or "ethical" technologies and how it can be assessed through its socio-political context.

Three aid workers killed, 4 wounded in RSF drone attack in Sudan's Kordofan At least three aid workers have been killed and four others wounded in a drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on an aid convoy in Sudan's South Kordofan state, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, in the latest carnage against civilians caught up in the nation's brutal civil war. The convoy of trucks carrying food and humanitarian supplies was targeted by the RSF, and its ally, the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North, while travelling through the Kartala area on its way to the cities of Kadugli and Dilling on Thursday. The network said that this attack marked the "second such incident in less than a month, following the shelling of a United Nations aid convoy in the town of Al-Rahad," adding: "this dangerous escalation threatens the safety of humanitarian operations and further exacerbates civilian suffering". The Sudan Doctors Network reiterated its call to the "international community, the United Nations, and human rights organisations to exert urgent and effective pressure on the leadership of the Rapid Support Forces to ensure the protection of aid convoys and their workers, to open safe and sustainable humanitarian corridors, and to hold those responsible for targeting aid accountable". Al Jazeera could not independently verify the latest RSF attack, which came a month after the government-aligned Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) announced that it had broken a nearly two-year-long RSF siege on Dilling.

How the US left Ukraine exposed to Russia's winter war Will Europe use frozen Russian assets to fund war? How can Ukraine rebuild China ties? Russian forces launched 448 attacks on 34 settlements in Ukraine's front-line Zaporizhia region in a single day, injuring a six-year-old child and damaging homes, cars and other infrastructure, regional governor Ivan Fedorov wrote on the Telegram app. Russian drone, missile and artillery attacks on Ukraine's Kherson region injured five people and damaged homes, including seven high-rise buildings, the local military administration said on Telegram. Russian attacks also continued in Ukraine's Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, but local officials there noted that "fortunately, no people were injured".

On the 30th floor of the Chartered Square building in downtown Bangkok, the low-key office of Skyhub Technologies serves as a nexus for a burgeoning and contentious trade. The space, rented out by a serviced office provider, is visited only rarely by the company's sole director and occasionally by Chinese nationals, according to building staff who asked not to be identified speaking about clients. No contact number is listed on its online registration documents. No one was available during a visit in late January. Despite the appearance of inactivity, this is a busy conduit for advanced drones. Trade documents show that Skyhub Technologies is Thailand's second-biggest importer of unmanned aerial vehicles from China.

On TikTok, Chinese manufacturers are advertising signal-blocking weapons with the breezy cadence of consumer lifestyle advertising. "Pew, pew, pew!" a woman wearing sneakers and high-waisted pink trousers says cheerfully in a video uploaded to TikTok. She is standing on what appears to be an industrial rooftop while demonstrating how to use a black device resembling an oversized laser tag gun. "Jamming gun, good," she adds, flashing a thumbs up. These days, nearly any product imaginable is available for purchase on TikTok straight from Chinese factories, ranging from industrial chemicals to mystical crystals and custom pilates reformers.