Germany Urges Iran to Allow Protests after Summoning Ambassadorhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3896121/germany-urges-iran-allow-protests-after-summoning-ambassador
Germany Urges Iran to Allow Protests after Summoning Ambassador
People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador in Berlin on Monday in order to urge Tehran to stop its violent crackdown on nationwide protests over the death of a woman in police custody, the German foreign ministry said.
"We call on the Iranian authorities to allow peaceful protests and to not deploy further violence - in particular not fatal violence - against protesters," the ministry said on Twitter. "We also communicated that directly to the Iranian ambassador in Berlin today."
Asked about the possibility of further sanctions on Tehran in response to the violence, a ministry spokesperson had earlier said, "we will consider all options" with other European Union states.
Last week, the United States imposed sanctions on Iran's morality police over allegations of abuse of Iranian women.
Washington said it held the unit responsible for the Sept. 16 death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini after she was detained by morality police enforcing the country's strict restrictions on women's dress.
German Court Tries Two Men over Alleged Iran-backed Anti-Jewish Plotshttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288843-german-court-tries-two-men-over-alleged-iran-backed-anti-jewish-plots
German Court Tries Two Men over Alleged Iran-backed Anti-Jewish Plots
The two men were remanded in custody in Germany following their arrest last year in Denmark and subsequent extradition. (Reuters - file photo)
Two men went on trial in Germany on Friday accused of planning attacks on prominent pro-Israel public figures and spying on Jews on behalf of Iranian secret services.
Danish national Ali S. is charged with espionage, attempted murder, attempted arson and sabotage, while his alleged Afghan accomplice, Tawab M., is accused of attempted murder, AFP reported.
Ali S. allegedly spied on the head of the German-Israeli Society, the former Greens MP Volker Beck, as part of plans to assassinate him, according to prosecutors.
He is also accused of spying on the president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, Josef Schuster, as well as two Jewish grocers in Berlin as part of plans to carry out arson attacks.
Prosecutors say Ali S. in early 2025 took orders from the Quds Force, the foreign operations branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The two men were remanded in custody in Germany following their arrest last year in Denmark and subsequent extradition.
Volker Beck was in the public gallery at the opening of the trial, accompanied by police protection, Marayke Frantzen, a spokeswoman for the court in Hamburg, told AFP.
Both defendants exercised their right to remain silent after the indictment was read out, Frantzen said.
When the charges were announced in May, Beck called on Berlin to expel the Iranian ambassador as well as consular officials.
"Jewish life and a commitment to the Jewish and democratic state are repeatedly threatened with murder and attacked by the regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran on German soil," he said.
In July 2025, the foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador to Germany to protest following Ali. S's arrest in Denmark.
When the two men were charged last month the Iranian embassy in Berlin released a statement rejecting what it called "unfounded allegations made at the behest of Iran's enemies".
Ukraine Unleashes One of its Heaviest Drone Bombardments of Russiahttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288791-ukraine-unleashes-one-its-heaviest-drone-bombardments-russia
Destroyed military vehicles and anti drone nets at a road between frontline towns of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
Ukraine Unleashes One of its Heaviest Drone Bombardments of Russia
Destroyed military vehicles and anti drone nets at a road between frontline towns of Druzhkivka and Kostiantynivka, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 24, 2026. REUTERS/Anatolii Stepanov
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 Associated Press reported. 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 US peace efforts over the past year yielded no breakthrough.
The successful strikes, including hitting targets in Moscow and St. Petersburg, have buoyed Ukraine.
A serviceman of the 148th Separate Artillery Zhytomyr Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine fires a CAESAR self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops at a position on the front line, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine June 23, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer
Zelenskyy said he got further promises of foreign support when he attended a recent summit of G7 leaders, including from US 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.
SKorea Says to Train 500,000 'Drone Warriors' to Counter NKoreahttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288787-skorea-says-train-500000-drone-warriors-counter-nkorea
SKorea Says to Train 500,000 'Drone Warriors' to Counter NKorea
Motorists commute on a road along the Hangang River in Seoul on June 24, 2026. (Photo by Jade GAO / AFP)
South Korea will rapidly expand its drone and counter-drone capabilities to counter North Korea, including by training 500,000 "drone warriors" and distributing tens of thousands of unmanned systems across frontline units, the Defense Ministry said on Friday.
Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said the military planned to produce 110,000 drones by 2029 for deployment across the army, navy, air force and marines, but the ministry later revised this to about 60,000, with around 11,000 to be introduced in 2026.
According to Reuters, it said the systems would be issued across services, aiming to make drones a standard item for individual soldiers.
"Drones should no longer be equipment used by a limited number of units, but a universal combat tool," Ahn told a briefing, adding they should be used by troops like a "second personal weapon."
Ahn said Seoul would rely on 100% domestically produced components rather than Chinese parts in building the systems, in response to security concerns.
The announcement comes as both Koreas accelerate efforts to build drone capabilities, shaped by lessons from conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, where unmanned systems have emerged as game changers on the battlefield.
"Low-cost drones operated in large numbers are fundamentally changing the nature of warfare," Ahn said, warning North Korea was also advancing unmanned systems, increasing threats to military and civilian facilities in the South.
South Korea's plan includes expanding counter-drone systems such as lasers and high-power microwave weapons, and shifting operations so each service can conduct surveillance and strike missions using drones rather than relying on a centralized command.
A senior defense official said the military would also move quickly to acquire more than 20,000 low-cost, expendable drones and introduce AI-based swarm systems and loitering munitions.
The ministry said it would revamp procurement rules to speed up adoption of civilian technology and position the military as a major buyer to help build a domestic drone ecosystem.
The expansion comes amid political sensitivity over drone operations under the previous administration. A South Korean court this month sentenced former President Yoon Suk Yeol to 30 years in prison over a military drone incursion into North Korea that prosecutors said was aimed at justifying his 2024 martial law bid.
Current President Lee Jae Myung's government dismantled the drone operations command in the fallout from those allegations, with the plans on Friday aiming to replace it with a new organization focused on policy, capability development and support while leaving operations to individual military units.
South Korea also faces pressures from demographic decline, pushing the military to rely more on automation and unmanned systems to sustain combat capabilities.
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