Ukraine has launched a series of long-range drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia’s oil industry, including a reported attack on a fuel depot in Rostov. The Ukrainian government sees drones as a vital weapon to disrupt the Russian economy and military operations. It's set the target of producing one million unmanned aircraft this year.

Kyiv

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine has initiated a series of long-range drone strikes targeting Russia’s oil infrastructure. A notable incident involved an attack on a fuel depot in Rostov. Ukrainian officials consider drones essential for disrupting the Russian economy and military operations, with a target of producing one million unmanned aircraft within the year.

A Ukrainian unmanned aircraft has struck buildings in Yelabuga, Tatarstan, marking the furthest reported strike into Russia, approximately 1,300 kilometers from the border. This has underscored the increasing importance of long-range drones in Ukraine’s military strategy, which aims to weaken Russia’s energy sales and fuel supply to its army.

Serhii, a member of a crowd-funder organization, explained that Ukraine has been focusing on drone production due to the lengthy process of obtaining missiles from international allies. The Bober UAV, with its 1,000-kilometer range and seven-hour flight capability, exemplifies these efforts. Petro Garin, a Ukrainian manufacturer, noted the challenges Russia faces in defending against these strikes due to its vast territory.

In addition to long-range drones, shorter-range models for front-line use are also advancing. Garin’s company has developed the Rex drone, capable of identifying and attacking targets with various munitions. Drones have thus become crucial for reconnaissance, front-line strikes, and attacks on infrastructure and energy supplies in this conflict. Ukraine’s ambitious goal to produce up to a million drones this year highlights their strategic importance.



New Ukrainian drones proving a vital battlefield weapon

Everyone knows it's inevitable. A long-range Ukrainian unmanned aircraft slamming into buildings in Yelabuga, Tatarstan. It's the country's furthest reported strike into Russia, 1,300 kilometers from the border. Long-range drones have now become a vital part of Ukraine's war machine, in particular enabling it to attack Russia's oil infrastructure, trying to affect its energy sales and fuel for its army. Serhii's crowd-funder organization collects donations and turns them into weapons for the army. He explains why they're using long-range drones. We have a lot of missiles. That's the trouble. And every time when we ask about some missiles from German partners or French or British or United States, so they need to waste a long time to discuss about everything. So that's why we can produce long-range drones. Here's one of them, a Bober UAV. With a reach of 1,000 kilometers, it can fly up to seven hours. Like others, it's kamikaze, meant to crash into its target and not come back. Such weapons are very tough to stop, says Petro Garin, a Ukrainian manufacturer. It's difficult for the enemy to defend against such strikes for several reasons. Quite an important reason is the large territory that the enemy has to protect. No air defense is capable of covering such a large territory from a massive drone attack. I think it will be tough for Russia to save its economy from Ukrainian drone strikes. Shorter-range drones for use on the front lines are also constantly evolving. This is the newest model from Garin's company, Rex. It's never been filmed by media before. It can identify targets itself and then attack them with whichever of the eight different types of munition that it's built to carry. It's hard to overestimate how important drones are now in this war for reconnaissance, for strikes around the front lines and for attacks on each country's infrastructure and energy supplies. They've really become integral to this fight. Ukraine aims to build a million drones just this year. They've become so important that victory or perhaps just survival depends on them. John Holman, Al Jazeera, Ukraine.

The Paris Olympic Games have officially opened with a ceremony in the rain along the River Seine. Athletes floated along on boats for the parade, while former French sprinter Marie-José Pérec and French judoka Teddy Riner lit the Olympic flame.

Paris

Paris Olympics

Paris Olympics underway after Opening Ceremony

Taiwanese authorities are assessing the damage caused by Typhoon Gaemi. The coastguard has been rescuing boats stranded by the tropical storm. The official death toll has risen to eight, with more than 800 people injured.

Taipei

Cargo crew rescued from Typhoon Gaemi

Wildfires are raging from western Canada to California in the U.S. At least a dozen fires are burning across California, with the Park Fire growing to become one of the biggest wildfires ever recorded in California in just two days.

Chico

Uncontrolled fires burn across California

Typhoon Gaemi has made landfall in southeastern China prompting warnings of flash floods and waterlogging in areas still recovering from torrential rain several weeks ago. Authorities relocated more than 290-thousand people.

Tsim Sha Tsui

Climate Crisis

Thousands evacuated in China as Typhoon makes landfall

Mexican drug kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and a son of his former partner, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, were arrested on Thursday in El Paso, Texas, in a major coup for U.S. authorities that may also reshape the Mexican criminal landscape.

El Paso

Mexican drug lords arrested in El Paso

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had always been warm as the two leaders met on Friday (July 26), and the Israeli leader said he hoped progress was being made in talks on a Gaza ceasefire.

Palm Beach

Netanyahu meets Trump, says working on cease-fire

A North Korean military intelligence operative has been indicted in a conspiracy to hack into American health care providers, NASA, U.S. military bases and international entities.

Kansas City

North Korean charged in U.S. cyberattacks

Arsonists lighting fires across France's high-speed rail network have disrupted the transport network just hours before the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris, however the attacks failed to stop the event from going ahead.

France rail network attacked before Olympics

Saboteurs struck France's TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks that caused chaos on the country's busiest rail lines ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but two security sources said initial suspicions fell on hardline leftist militants or environmental activists.

Saboteurs attack French railways ahead of Olympic ceremony

Typhoon Gaemi pummeled towns on China's coastal Fujian province on Friday with heavy rains and strong winds as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year began its widely watched trek into the populous interior.

Fujian

Typhoon Gaemi lashes China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

Presidential candidates in Venezuela have held their final campaign rallies ahead of the election on Sunday. Opposition leaders are asking voters to oust President Nicolas Maduro, who's seeking a third term. But Maduro has warned the country risks a "bloodbath" if the opposition wins.

Caracas

Final rallies held ahead of Venezuela presidential election

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris pressured Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to help reach a Gaza ceasefire deal that would ease the suffering of Palestinian civilians, striking a tougher tone than President Joe Biden.

Washington

Israel-Gaza War

Harris strikes tougher tone on Gaza ceasefire deal

Dolphins swimming coach Mick Palfrey will remain in Paris for the Olympics, after being criticised for publicly backing South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min. Swimmer Elijah Winnington has defended the coach saying he's a great guy and there's no hard feelings.

Swim coach spared axe over supporting Korean rival

On the eve of the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games, security in Paris is tight and athletes are navigating the risks. More than a million people have undergone screening to access the site of the Opening Ceremony.

Athletes navigate security risks at Paris 2024

Typhoon Gaemi has reached southeastern China after churning across the Taiwan Strait. The typhoon has prompted warnings of swelling rivers, flash floods, and waterlogging in cities and provinces that were hit by extreme rains several weeks ago.

Typhoon Gaemi hits China after pounding Taiwan, Philippines

The Olympic Games are set to officially open on Friday (July 25), with the French government pledging an "unprecedented" security operation to ensure the safety of the event. A force of 35,000 to 45,000 security personnel will be deployed, including 15,000 French military members and over 2,000 foreign police officers.

Major security operation in place to guard Paris Olympics

U.S. President Joe Biden pressed for a ceasefire to the 9-month-old war in Gaza in talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday (July 25), with Vice President Kamala Harris due to meet the Israeli leader later in the day.

Biden meets with Netanyahu, presses for ceasefire in Gaza

Counterterrorism officers are investigating after a man was allegedly found with chemical explosives and a knife at a Sydney shopping centre. Police moved in after shoppers heard a loud blast at Miranda Westfield.

Miranda

Man with knife and explosives arrested at Westfield

The Prime Minister is set to unveil a new Cabinet line-up after two senior members announced today they're retiring from politics. Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney and Brendan O'Connor will move to the backbench.

Canberra

Prime Minister set to reveal cabinet reshuffle

A limited curfew is still in place in Bangladesh after days of protests and a police crackdown. Some businesses and government offices are reopening, and partial internet service is being restored in some areas. Police have arrested more than 2,000 people. The United Nations has demanded an investigation of the Bangladeshi government's crackdown on student protesters.

Dhaka

UN demands investigation of Bangladesh's crackdown on protesters

President Joe Biden on Wednesday said abandoning his reelection campaign and endorsing his vice president, Kamala Harris, as the Democratic candidate was the best way to unite the country and save democracy, despite his ambition to win a second term.

U.S. Presidential Election

Biden says he bowed out to unite nation, backs Harris to beat Trump

On the eve of the Olympics the city of Paris is getting ready to put on a show For the next two and a half weeks the competition will unfold in some of the capital's most iconic sites all prepped for the occasion, while thousands of miles away the French Polynesian island of Tahiti is also getting ready to host the surfing events.

From Paris to Polynesia, final Olympic preparations underway

Thousands of people gathered in North Carolina for Donald Trump's first rally since Joe Biden pulled out of the race. It’s a key battleground state for both sides and the Republican nominee wasted no time in going on the attack against his likely opponent in November, Kamala Harris.

North Carolina

Trump slams Harris as ‘radical’ in first rally since Biden’s exit

In a fiery speech to the U.S. Congress skipped by some top Democrats, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed critics of his country’s war against Hamas as ‘useful idiots’ for Iran, and said America and Israel must stand together.

Netanyahu blasts Gaza war critics, Iran in fiery speech to U.S. Congress

A passenger plane has crashed and caught fire shortly after taking off from Nepal's capital, Kathmandu, killing 18 people, aviation officials say. The pilot was the only survivor of the crash and was treated in hospital.

Kathmandu

Nepal plane crash kills 18; pilot only survivor

Heavy rain from Typhoon Gaemi has flooded the Philippine capital Manila and nearby cities, forcing authorities to shut schools, offices and cancel flights and declare a state of calamity in a region that is home to 13 million people.

Manila

Typhoon Gaemi brings heavy rain to Manila, forcing evacuation

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told families of hostages held in Gaza that a deal that would secure their loved ones' release could be nearing, his office said.

Netanyahu in U.S. says hostage deal may come soon

U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris told cheering supporters in Wisconsin she now has enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party nomination and take on Donald Trump. Meanwhile, campaign donations have shot past $100M in the two days since she entered the presidential race.

Wisconsin

Harris slams Trump at first campaign rally

As Paris prepares to host the world for the Olympic Games, homeless advocates are accusing city officials of ‘social cleansing’ after tent camps were broken up and undocumented migrants were bussed out of the city in the lead up to the opening ceremony.

Paris officials criticized for pre-Olympic homeless sweep

The head of the United States Secret Service is stepping down over the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump after days of mounting pressure and criticism for failing to prevent the shooting.

SEE THE FULL STORY

Ukraine Invasion