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.

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.

NASA has launched a robotic mission to try to prevent one of its ageing telescopes from burning up in the atmosphere in a complicated operation expected to last several months. Northrop Grumman launched the Link spacecraft - built by United States-based Katalyst Space Technologies - from the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean on Friday. Initially scheduled for Tuesday, the robot's launch was postponed due to weather, then technical issues. Blast-off happened on Friday at 0836 GMT from an atoll in the Pacific Ocean. The unprecedented $30m effort involves sending a robot to rescue the Swift space telescope that is falling towards Earth.

Is the war entering a new phase? The overpriced gas Anatoly has been buying in recent weeks in Moscow will ruin his white Kia's engine. "It's low-quality," the taxi driver told Al Jazeera withholding his last name for security purposes. "The engine already sounds like a sick heart The government allows a'temporary decrease in quality,' but what am I to do when I need new spare parts" that are barely available because of Western sanctions, he asked rhetorically. They don't knock, they kick the door," said the 49-year-old with a three-day stubble and bloodshot eyes. Russia's top military brass has not commented on Ukraine's assaults. But even the Kremlin's most outspoken supporters have changed their once-triumphant tune. "We have to get ready for hardships and self-sacrifice," Vladimir Solovyov, a popular talk show host on the Rossiya 1 television network, said in mid-June. Solovyov has a penchant for aggressive, loud monologues and military-style attire. He once urged the Kremlin to "erase" Ukrainian cities with nuclear strikes and said that Kyiv and its Western allies "serve the prince of darkness." Military bloggers are even more pessimistic because of their proximity to the frontline. One of them, Prizrak Novorossii (The Ghost of New Russia), wrote on Telegram in late June that the Kremlin should conduct a massive mobilisation campaign because Russians already "foresee big changes and possible cataclysms because of, to put it mildly, the unfavourable dynamics of hostilities." The reason is simple - outmanned Ukrainians use "an asymmetrical tactic of long-range drone strikes with technological solutions that Russia is only catching up on," he wrote. "So, the question isn't about whether or not to have mobilisation, but about how to conduct it," the blogger concluded, adding that recent events "inspire little optimism." 'I'm afraid my son will be drafted' "I'm afraid my son will be drafted, but we don't have money to send him abroad," Kseniya, a mother of two from the western city of Tula, told Al Jazeera. She withheld her last name and personal details for security purposes. "We've been told a thousand times that [Russian President Vladimir] Putin brought stability, and instead, we see total chaos.

Is the war entering a new phase? Ukrainian officials say at least four people have been killed and 10 injured in the latest Russian attacks, a day after Moscow hit Kyiv in the deadliest series of attacks this year. In the bordering Sumy region, two women, an elderly man and a toddler were killed and three others injured after a Russian drone hit a residential apartment building, Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration, said on Friday. Two of the injured women remain in hospital, said Vilkul, adding that nine apartment blocks, a school building, a company, several shops, garages and about 10 vehicles were damaged. Two residential buildings were also cut off from the gas supply.

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Is the war entering a new phase? Kyiv came under a ballistic missile and drone attack overnight, with at least two people killed and 11 injured after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned of an impending "massive" attack by Russia. Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, writing on the Telegram messaging platform, said the roof of a hotel was on fire early on Thursday morning. "Kyiv is under attack from ballistic missiles and UAVs," Klitschko wrote, using the acronym for unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. Klitschko later said that 11 people were injured, with others trapped in a damaged nine-storey residential building, and the roof of another high-rise apartment building on fire.

The world's oceans are under heat stress, with average sea surface temperatures hitting 21 C, surpassing the record highs of 2023 and 2024. They're expected to rise further as El Niño, a natural climate pattern that warms the tropical Pacific for months, develops. How AI is being weaponised against India's Muslim women

'They played really well in the enemy's country.' Iran's football team has landed back in Tehran after their World Cup exit to hundreds of fans warmly welcoming them home. How AI is being weaponised against India's Muslim women

The US and Israel have signed a deal allocating land for a permanent US embassy in West Jerusalem, years after a temporary one was established during Trump's first term in office. The move is yet another blow to the hopes of a future Palestinian capital. How AI is being weaponised against India's Muslim women