Swarms of Russian drones attack Ukraine nightly as Moscow puts new emphasis on the deadly weapon
Russia now often batters Ukraine with more drones in a single night than it did during some entire months in 2024, and analysts say the barrages are likely to escalate. On July 8, Russia unleashed more than 700 drones — a record.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mirror
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
BREAKING: Gangs and people linked to people-smuggling named and shamed with new sanctions
Gang leaders and individuals linked to people-smuggling have been named and shamed today in a world's-first sanctions scheme. The government announced on Wednesday that 25 people "at the heart of people-smuggling networks" have been targeted. They include gang leaders based in the Balkans and North Africa , suppliers of people-smuggling equipment in Asia and money movers in the Middle East, the Foreign Office said. The individuals face having their assets seized and will be banned from entering the UK after being sanctioned. It is the first time any government in the world has announced such a scheme, which is similar to the targeting of Russian oligarchs linked to the invasion of Ukraine. Those named carried out a range of jobs facilitating dangerous crossings - from providing fake passports, transporting engine parts and moving cash. Ministers hope the move will help deliver a hammer blow to an industry which has grown to be worth over £10billion a year in the last five years. UK firms who deal with sanctioned individuals will face hefty fines worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 'This is a landmark moment in the government's work to tackle organised immigration crime, reduce irregular migration to the UK, and deliver on the Plan for Change. 'From Europe to Asia we are taking the fight to the people-smugglers who enable irregular migration, targeting them wherever they are in the world and making them pay for their actions. "My message to the gangs who callously risk vulnerable lives for profit is this: we know who you are, and we will work with our partners around the world to hold you to account.' It comes days after a landmark treaty was signed with Germany - where gangs have been found to store small boat components - to work together on people smuggling. Announcing the sanctions regime would be put in place earlier this week, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "The new sanctions regime marks a decisive step in our fight against the criminal gangs who profit from human misery. It will allow us to target the assets and operations of people-smugglers wherever they operate, cutting off their funding and dismantling their networks piece by piece." We'll be bringing you the latest updates on this Breaking Politics News story. Please check back regularly for updates on this developing story HERE. Get email updates on the day's biggest stories straight to your inbox by signing up for our newsletters. Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you by following The Mirror every time you see our name.
Newsweek
23 minutes ago
- Newsweek
US Tracks Russian Military Jet Near Alaska
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) said it had detected and tracked a Russian military aircraft operating near Alaska on Tuesday, July 22, though it remained in international airspace. The Russian aircraft was operating in the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), NORAD said, without specifying its type. "This Russian activity in the contiguous U.S./Alaskan ADIZ occurs regularly and is not seen as a threat," NORAD said in a release. "An ADIZ begins where sovereign airspace ends and is a defined stretch of international airspace that requires the ready identification of all aircraft in the interest of national security." It comes amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine. U.S. President Donald Trump set a deadline for Russia to make peace or face deeper economic sanctions. He has also agreed to send more American weapons to Ukraine in response to Russia's recent intensification of its invasion. This is a developing article. Updates to follow.
an hour ago
Trump rehashes years-old grievances on Russia investigation after new intelligence report
WASHINGTON -- WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump rehashed longstanding grievances over the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his first term, lashing out Tuesday following a new report from his intelligence director aimed at casting doubt on long-established findings about Moscow's interference in the 2016 election. 'It's time to go after people,' Trump said from the Oval Office as he repeated a baseless claim that former President Barack Obama and other officials had engaged in treason. Trump was not making his claims for the first time, but he delivered them when administration officials are harnessing the machinery of the federal government to investigate the targets of Trump's derision, including key officials responsible for scrutinizing Russia's attempts to intervene on Trump's behalf in 2016. The backward-looking inquiries are taking place even as the Republican administration's national security agencies are confronting global threats. But they have served as a rallying cry for Trump, who is trying to unify a political base at odds over the Jeffrey Epstein case, with some allies pressing to disclose more information despite the president's push to turn the page. Trump's attack prompted a rare response from Obama's post-presidential office. 'Our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response,' said Patrick Rodenbush, an Obama spokesman. 'But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction.' Trump's tirade, a detour from his official business as he hosted the leader of the Philippines, unfolded against the backdrop of a new report from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard that represented his administration's latest attempt to rewrite the history of the Russia investigation, which has infuriated him for years. The report, released Friday, downplayed the extent of Russian interference in the 2016 election by highlighting Obama administration emails showing officials had concluded before and after the presidential race that Moscow had not hacked state election systems to manipulate votes in Trump's favor. But Obama's Democratic administration never suggested otherwise, even as it exposed other means by which Russia interfered in the election, including through a massive hack-and-leak operation of Democratic emails by intelligence operatives working with WikiLeaks, as well as a covert influence campaign aimed at swaying public opinion and sowing discord through fake social media posts. Gabbard's report appears to suggest the absence of manipulation of state election systems is a basis to call into question more general Russian interference. By issuing it, she appeared to recover her standing in Trump's orbit, which just one month ago had seemed uncertain after Trump said she was 'wrong' when she previously said she believed Iran wasn't building a nuclear weapon. 'She's the hottest one in the room right now,' Trump said Tuesday night. 'Tulsi, great job — and I know you have a lot more coming.' Democrats, for their part, swiftly decried the report as factually flawed and politically motivated. 'It is sadly not surprising that DNI Gabbard, who promised to depoliticize the intelligence community, is once again weaponizing her position to amplify the president's election conspiracy theories,' Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, wrote on X. Russia's broad interference in 2016 has been established through a series of investigations, including special counsel Robert Mueller's report, which concluded that the Trump campaign welcomed the Kremlin's help but also found insufficient evidence to establish a criminal conspiracy. A House Intelligence Committee report also documented Russia's meddling, as did the Senate Intelligence Committee, which concluded its work in 2020 at a time when the panel was led by Republican Sen. Marco Rubio, who's now Trump's secretary of state. A different special counsel appointed by the Trump Justice Department to hunt for problems in the origins of the Russia investigation, John Durham, did find flaws, but not related to what Gabbard sought to highlight in her report. 'Few episodes in our nation's history have been investigated as thoroughly as the Intelligence Community's warning in 2016 that Russia was interfering in the election,' said Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. He added that every legitimate investigation, including the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee probe, 'found no evidence of politicization and endorsed the findings' of an intelligence committee assessment on Russian interference made public in 2017. Gabbard's document was released weeks after a CIA report that reexamined that earlier intelligence community assessment. That new review, ordered by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, did not dispute Russia had interfered but suggested officials were rushed in the assessment they reached. Ratcliffe has since referred former CIA Director John Brennan to the Justice Department for investigation, a person familiar with the matter has said. The department earlier this month appeared to acknowledge an open investigation into Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey in an unusual statement, but the status and contours of the inquiries are unclear. Besides Obama, Trump on Tuesday rattled off a list of people he accused of acting criminally 'at the highest level,' including Comey, his 2016 Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton and former national intelligence director James Clapper. He accused Obama, without evidence, of being the 'ringleader' of a conspiracy to get him. Obama has never been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the Russia investigation, and, in any event, a landmark Supreme Court opinion from last year shields former presidents from prosecution for official acts conducted in office. Trump launched his tirade when asked about the Justice Department's effort to speak with Ghislaine Maxwell, the former girlfriend of Epstein, who was convicted of helping the financier sexually abuse underage girls. 'I don't really follow that too much,' he said. 'It's sort of a witch hunt, a continuation of the witch hunt.' Trump is under pressure release more about the Epstein case. Democrats say Trump is resisting because of his past association with Epstein. Trump has denied knowledge of or involvement with Epstein's crimes and said he ended their friendship years ago.
