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The Iranian men’s national football team will attempt on Friday to advance into the knockout round of the 2026 FIFA World Cup despite long odds, logistical hurdles and festering geopolitical tensions no other club in the tournament is facing. The team surprised many football fans when it earned two draws in recent days against New Zealand…

Senate Republicans are scrambling for a strategy to pass the SAVE America Act, a sweeping election reform bill, along with $67 billion to $350 billion in defense spending after holding a contentious meeting with President Trump this week. Trump told GOP senators in blunt terms during the meeting Wednesday in the Senate’s Mansfield Room to…

Republican lawmakers are divided over the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s ouster of Gen. Chris Donahue, the U.S. Army Europe and Africa commander, Some GOP lawmakers hammered Hegseth, who served in the National Guard and fought in Iraq, accusing him of rankling the ranks at the Pentagon and pushing out an experienced and well-respected military officer,…

Russian air defenses intercepted 660 Ukrainian drones in a major nighttime attack on 12 Russian regions as well as the Russia-held Crimean peninsula, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday.

It appeared to be one of the biggest drone attacks on Russia and the illegally annexed Crimea since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine more than four years ago. The previous biggest Ukrainian attack over the past year was 556 drones on May 17.

In an effort to turn the tables on Russia’s grinding war of attrition, Ukrainian long-range drones have for months been battering targets, including oil production and energy facilities, behind the front line and deep inside Russia. The campaign has choked Russian fuel supplies and military deliveries, stalling Russia’s efforts on the battlefield, Western officials and analysts say, and heaped pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Initial damage reports from Russia after the overnight attack provided scant information. Russia’s Defense Ministry usually doesn’t say what was targeted in Ukraine’s drone attacks, nor does it detail any damage.

Successful drone attacks hearten Ukraine

The major attack came hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on X that he had ordered “a 40-day influence operation,” believed to mean an escalation of attacks, aimed at “compelling (Russia) to end the war” after U.S. peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.

The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.

Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from U.S. President Donald Trump, and that the promised aid will help Ukraine step up its effort to force Putin to the negotiating table.

A NATO summit next month could be another key moment in beefing up Ukraine’s military.

A Russian chemical plant is reportedly hit

In the Tula region just south of Moscow, a private house was damaged by the attack and a woman was wounded, Tula Gov. Dmitry Milyaev said in an online statement as reports of damage caused by the attack began to emerge.

He also said a power line was damaged and an unspecified industrial facility in the city of Novomoskovsk.

Russian independent online outlet Astra reported that a chemical plant and a hydroelectric plant in Novomoskovsk were attacked and caught fire. The Associated Press couldn’t independently verify the report, and there was no official confirmation.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin also reported that 47 Ukrainian drones were downed as they flew toward the Russian capital. He did not report any casualties or damage.

Ukraine says 2 civilians were killed in Russian attacks

Two people were killed and seven others injured in Russian attacks on the northeastern Kharkiv region over the previous 24 hours, regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Friday.

Russian forces struck the city of Kharkiv and 16 other settlements across the region using guided aerial bombs and drones of various types, Syniehubov said.

Ukraine’s Defense Forces overnight stopped 174 of 189 Russian drones, the Ukrainian air force said. However, four of seven Iskander-M ballistic missiles that were fired got through air defenses and struck various locations, it said.

Ukrainian officials reported damage to energy facilities, homes and other civilian infrastructure in the capital, Kyiv, the southern Odesa region and Sumy in the northeast.

The post Ukraine unleashes one of its heaviest drone bombardments of Russia appeared first on MS NOW.

Massive search-and-rescue operations are underway in Venezuela Friday as civilians and emergency workers rushed to find those trapped beneath the rubble more than a day after devastating twin earthquakes killed over 230 people.

Disney showed fresh footage for Hexed at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on Friday and premiered a surprise theatrical short starring Disney character star Stitch. Entitled Lilo & Scratch, the short takes up after the original 2002 animation Lilo & Stitch, and co-stars Stitch alongside a new cat character intent on eating the former’s […]

The Radio 2 presenter said he was now “concentrating on getting better”.

The decision was welcomed by many tenants – but landlords fear it will worsen housing conditions.

Venezuelans living in the U.S organize donation drives in response to the devastating earthquakes.

(Image credit: Lucio Vasquez)

American superstar Serena Williams will make her highly-anticipated singles comeback at Wimbledon against Australia’s Maya Joint in the first round.

American superstar Serena Williams will make her highly-anticipated singles comeback at Wimbledon against Australia’s Maya Joint in the first round.

A red warning for extreme heat remains in place for the south-east but cooler air is starting to move in from the west as Elizabeth Rizzinni explains.