Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in the UK on Tuesday to agree a new defence partnership aimed at tackling cheap attack drones. Downing Street said the deal would bring together Ukrainian expertise and the UK's industrial base to manufacture and supply drones and other capabilities. The two leaders are also expected to discuss further support Ukraine against Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fourth year. Their meeting comes as the US-Israeli war with Iran enters a third week, during which US President Donald Trump has criticised the UK and other countries over the extent of their response to the conflict. Under the partnership between the UK and Ukraine, closer co-operation in the defence industries will also be sought with third countries as part of efforts to bolster international security.

The US and Iran are trading blows in the Gulf with a simple drone that costs as little as $50,000 to make. But why is a slow, cheap and relatively primitive drone seeing use in 2026 alongside hypersonic missiles and stealth jets? Iran invented the relatively simple Shahed 136 attack drone, but is now fending off US copies launched against it in combat. Why, when the US military has expensive, cutting-edge and hi-tech weapons, is it making flimsy drones powered by a motorbike engine? Iranian company Shahed Aviation Industries originally designed the 136.

Australia to spend $1.1bn on underwater'Ghost Shark' attack drones Australia will spend 1.7 billion Australian dollars ($1.1bn) on a fleet of extra-large underwater "Ghost Shark" attack drones, in a move that officials said would supplement the country's plans to acquire sophisticated nuclear-powered submarines. Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said on Wednesday that the Ghost Shark autonomous underwater vehicles will complement Australia's naval surface fleet and submarines to provide "a more capable and more lethal navy". "We have consistently articulated that Australia faces the most complex, in some ways, the most threatening, strategic landscape that we have had since the end of the second world war," Marles said. The government said it signed the $1.1bn, five-year contract with Anduril Australia to build, maintain and develop the uncrewed undersea vehicles in Australia. "This is the highest tech capability in the world," Marles said, adding that the drones would have a "very long range" as well as stealth capabilities.

Pizza, fries and a martini... all served up by a robot. 'Bar Rescue' host Jon Taffer checked out tech trends in the restaurant industry and shed some light on the expansion of'Taffer's Tavern.' The hottest topic nowadays revolves around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential to rapidly and imminently transform the world we live in -- economically, socially, politically and even defensively. Regardless of whether you believe that the technology will be able to develop superintelligence and lead a metamorphosis of everything, the possibility that may come to fruition is a catalyst for more far-leftist control. The likeliest starting point will be more calls for Universal Basic Income (UBI), a program by which the government guarantees every American some form of ongoing payment (such as a monthly stipend).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that a Russian drone had struck a cover built to contain radiation at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, adding that "radiation levels have not increased." The Ukrainian air force said that Russia had launched more than 100 drones across the country overnight -- including attack drones -- targeting northern regions of the country where the Chernobyl power plant lies. "Last night, a Russian attack drone with a high-explosive warhead struck the cover protecting the world from radiation at the destroyed 4th power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant," Zelenskyy said in a social media post. The International Atomic Energy Agency also reported an "explosion" at the site, and said "radiation levels inside and outside remain normal and stable." The agency, which has had a team deployed on the site since the early stages of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, published images apparently showing the drone on fire after crashing into the covering.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has called for accelerating the mass production of attack drones, according to state media, as international concerns mount over the country's deepening military cooperation with Russia. The official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Friday that Kim supervised the latest tests of "various types of suicide attack drones" produced by Pyongyang's Unmanned Aerial Technology Complex. The unmanned drones can hit land and sea targets, effectively acting as guided missiles. Kim "underscored the need to build a serial production system as early as possible and go into full-scale mass production", noting how drones are becoming crucial in modern warfare as he oversaw the tests on Thursday, KCNA said. North Korea first unveiled its suicide drones in August and military experts said the capability could be attributed to the country's growing alliance with Russia, with both sides signing a mutual defence pact.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised a test of domestically-developed attack drones, state media KCNA reported. Photos published by North Korean media on Monday showed a white drone with X-shaped tails and wings crashing into and destroying a target resembling South Korea's K-2 main battle tank. Kim, who was pictured at a desk surrounded by advisers, has been modernising his country's military and developing its weapons capabilities amid rising tensions with Washington and Seoul. The North Korean leader supervised the test on a visit to the Drone Institute of North Korea's Academy of Defense Science, KCNA said. Kim said that global trends in military technologies and modern combat showed the importance of drones in war and that Pyongyang's military should be equipped with them "as early as possible".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time stated the aim of Ukraine's August 6 incursion into Russia's Kursk region, saying the operation was necessary to create a buffer zone. Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk said the air force destroyed a second strategically important bridge over the Seym River in the Kursk region. He posted an aerial video of a blast tearing through the bridge, which appeared to be near the village of Zvannoye, about 15km (nine miles) north of the Ukrainian border. Vasily Golubev, the governor of Russia's southern Rostov region, said falling debris from a Ukrainian drone attack triggered a large fire at an oil storage facility in the town of Proletarsk. There were no reports of injuries.

One person has been killed and others wounded in a Ukrainian drone attack on a ferry at port in southern Russia, the regional governor has said. Krasnodar governor Veniamin Kondratyev said the ferry had caught fire at Port Kavkaz but there was no risk of it spreading. The port lies a few kilometres from the Kerch bridge, which enables road and rail travel between Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. "Unfortunately there are injured and dead among the crew and port staff," Mr Kondratyev said. He added that emergency services were on the scene.

Chinese and Russian companies are developing an attack drone similar to an Iranian model deployed in Ukraine, European officials familiar with the matter said, a sign that Beijing may be edging closer to providing the sort of lethal aid that western officials have warned against. The companies held talks in 2023 about collaborating to replicate Iran's Shahed drone, and started developing and testing a version this year in preparation for shipment to Russia, said the officials, who asked not to be identified to discuss private information. The Chinese drones have yet to be used in Ukraine, they said. Providing Russia a Shahed-like attack drone would mark a deepening of Beijing's support for Russia despite repeated warnings from the U.S. and its allies. Chinese President Xi Jinping has sought to portray China as neutral in the conflict in Ukraine even as western officials say it's provided components and other support for Russian President Vladimir Putin's forces.