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Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
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Russia Drones Smash Power Network in Ukraine’s Odesa, Leaving 1.5 Million without Power

A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)
A local resident stands at a transport stop near a stopped trolleybus during a power outage after critical civil infrastructure was hit by Russian missile attacks, as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, in Odesa, Ukraine December 5, 2022. (Reuters)

All non-critical infrastructure in the Ukrainian port of Odesa was without power after Russia used Iranian-made drones to hit two energy facilities, leaving 1.5 million people without power, officials said on Saturday. 

"The situation in the Odesa region is very difficult," President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. 

"Unfortunately, the hits were critical, so it takes more than just time to restore electricity... It doesn't take hours, but a few days, unfortunately." 

Since October, Moscow has been targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure with large waves of missile and drone strikes. 

Norway was sending $100 million to help restore Ukraine's energy system, Zelenskiy said. 

Serhiy Bratchuk, spokesperson for Odesa's regional administration, said electricity for the city's population will be restored "in the coming days," while complete restoration of the networks may take two to three months. 

Bratchuk said an earlier Facebook post by the region's administration, advising some people to consider evacuating, was being investigated by Ukraine's security services as "an element of the hybrid war" by Russia. 

That post has since been deleted. 

"Not a single representative of the authorities in the region made any calls for the evacuation of the inhabitants of Odesa and the region," Bratchuk said. 

Odesa had more than 1 million residents before the Feb. 24 invasion that Russia calls a "special military operation" to "denazify" its smaller neighbor. 

Kyiv says Russia has launched hundreds of Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones at targets in Ukraine, describing the attacks as war crimes due to their devastating effect on civilian life. Moscow says its attacks are militarily legitimate and that it does not target civilians. 

Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said two power facilities in Odesa region were hit by Shahed-136 drones. 

Ukraine's armed forces said on Facebook that 15 drones had been launched against targets in the southern regions of Odesa and Mykolaiv, and 10 had been shot down. 

Tehran denies supplying the drones to Moscow. Kyiv and its Western allies say that is a lie. 

Britain's defense ministry said on Saturday that it believed Iran's military support for Russia was likely to increase in the coming months, including possible deliveries of ballistic missiles. 

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World

Hopes of Finding More Survivors of Venezuela Earthquakes Fade

Residents search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP)
Residents search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP)
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Hopes of Finding More Survivors of Venezuela Earthquakes Fade

Residents search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP)
Residents search through the rubble of a building that collapsed in the earthquakes in La Guaira, Venezuela, Tuesday, June 30, 2026. (AP)

Rescue teams ‌in Venezuela were losing hope on Tuesday of finding more survivors of twin earthquakes that struck the country last week, following hours of grueling work searching for victims beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings.

Rescue teams from Ecuador and the US halted operations early on Tuesday in Macuto, a town in La Guaira state — the area hardest hit by the June 24 earthquakes — after more than 40 hours of work, when they stopped receiving responses from a mother and her three children ‌trapped beneath ‌a nine-story building.

"In the end, we believe the ‌days ⁠have already passed ⁠and that what we will find now is death," said Major Jorge Montanero, leader of the EQ11 team from Guayaquil, located on Ecuador's Pacific coast.

"Unfortunately, things haven't developed favorably," he said as he stood amid rubble after cutting through four concrete slabs of the building in an effort to locate ⁠the four trapped victims.

Some 59,000 buildings were damaged ‌or destroyed by the twin earthquakes — ‌which hit just seconds apart with magnitudes of 7.2 and 7.5 ‌on June 24 — according to NASA estimates. The widespread devastation ‌can be seen from space.

Not all collapsed buildings have had professional rescue teams on site, with relatives and neighbors working to remove debris to pull out survivors or bodies, according to survivors and ‌residents from various areas.

"There is no doubt we are facing a figure higher than ⁠what has ⁠already been reported. I can offer an estimate: we are procuring — and this has been agreed with local authorities — 10,000 body bags," Gianluca Rampolla, the United Nations' resident coordinator in Venezuela, said on Monday from his office in Venezuela's capital, Caracas.

The government of acting President Delcy Rodriguez says at least 1,750 people have died and thousands have been injured as a result of the earthquakes. About 16,000 people were left homeless.

A website promoted by the country's political opposition puts the number of people still missing at around 43,000.

World

UK to Spend 'Record' £300 Bn on Defense Over Next 4 Years

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands beneath display of UAV drones, as he delivers a speech in Berkshire west of London, on June 30, 2026, following the publication of long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP). (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands beneath display of UAV drones, as he delivers a speech in Berkshire west of London, on June 30, 2026, following the publication of long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP). (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP)
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UK to Spend 'Record' £300 Bn on Defense Over Next 4 Years

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands beneath display of UAV drones, as he delivers a speech in Berkshire west of London, on June 30, 2026, following the publication of long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP). (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP)
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer stands beneath display of UAV drones, as he delivers a speech in Berkshire west of London, on June 30, 2026, following the publication of long-delayed Defence Investment Plan (DIP). (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP)

Outgoing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Tuesday that Britain would spend almost £300 billion ($397 billion) over the next four years to modernize its armed forces amid rising threats.

Starmer, expected to leave office next month after losing the support of Labour MPs, announced the increase in defense spending as he launched his long-awaited 10-year Defense Investment Plan.

Britain will create a new £50 billion ($66 billion) defense export facility to help ⁠domestic firms compete internationally, ⁠ Starmer ⁠said.

Starmer said he had "no doubt" any future Labour government would build on his defense spending plan, when asked whether potential successor Andy Burnham had committed to future ⁠defense investment.

Asked whether Burnham, ⁠the Labour lawmaker expected to replace Keir Starmer as British prime minister, had given assurances he ⁠would raise defense spending in the next review, Starmer said the current program would serve as "a platform on which whoever comes after me can build."

Starmer announced he would step down ⁠earlier ⁠in June. Burnham, currently the only declared candidate to take over from Starmer, could be made prime minister as soon as next month.

World

Uncertainty Over Diplomacy Clouds Prospects for US-Iran Deal

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 30, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Ruters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 30, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Ruters
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Uncertainty Over Diplomacy Clouds Prospects for US-Iran Deal

Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 30, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Ruters
Vessels in the Strait of Hormuz near the beach of Bandar Abbas, Iran, June 30, 2026. Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA/via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Ruters

Top US envoys who have arrived in Doha will not hold a high-level meeting with Iran, a Qatari official said on Tuesday, casting doubt on the progress of efforts to bring a lasting halt to the Iran war and fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz. 

Instead, there will be technical talks this week on issues including regional security that could later be elevated to senior level, Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari told a media briefing. 

The arrival of US President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner and envoy Steve Witkoff in Doha on Tuesday followed exchanges of fire over the weekend that tested the June 17 interim accord between the United States and Iran.  

The 14-point pact allowed 60 days for the two sides to negotiate a permanent truce in the conflict, which began with ‌US and Israeli strikes ‌on Iran on February 28, and to resolve thorny issues including the future of Iran's ‌nuclear ⁠program. 

The conflict disrupted ⁠global trade in oil and other goods, exposed Gulf states to Iranian drone and missile fire and killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon. 

UNCERTAINTY OVER DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS 

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said dialogue with mediator Qatar on the implementation of the interim deal, including on the release of frozen Iranian assets, was likely to take place in Doha on Wednesday. 

"No meeting at any level with the American side has been scheduled for the coming days," he said. The White House had said on Monday that Kushner and Witkoff would hold "high-level meetings", with technical discussions to continue on the sidelines. 

The exact timing of the technical talks was not immediately clear. 

"We have a track on the nuclear side, you ⁠have a track on the economic and state performance issue, you have a track on security and ‌the regional security," said Al-Ansari.  

Despite the uncertainty over diplomatic moves, oil prices have fallen ‌on the de-escalation since the weekend and are set for their biggest quarterly loss since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.  

Vulnerable economies, however, could remain at ‌risk from food and fuel price increases even after energy markets feel relief, the UN trade and development agency said on ‌Tuesday. 

IRAN TRIES TO EXERT CONTROL OVER STRAIT 

After the war began four months ago, maritime traffic through the strait, which previously carried about a fifth of the global trade in oil and liquefied natural gas, came to a virtual standstill.  

Iran has since sought to exert control over the strait alongside Oman, which lies across the waterway, saying it plans to charge fees to ships and obstructing vessels that stray outside defined paths.  

Baghaei said on Tuesday that Tehran would "do ‌whatever is necessary to safeguard its interests" over the strait. 

Since last Thursday, the US has accused Iran of hitting at least two commercial ships with missiles or drones, and it bombed Iranian ⁠military facilities in response. 

Iran in ⁠turn launched missiles and drones at US military sites in the region on Sunday, with both sides accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire.  

The war pushed up global inflation and has put Trump under political pressure before midterm elections in November that will determine control of the US Congress.  

Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are both urging gasoline retailers to lower prices.  

On Monday, the White House said Trump had authorized a temporary suspension of some duties on imports of phosphate fertilizer from Morocco as US farmers grapple with shortages. Shipments of fertilizer through the Strait of Hormuz are expected to return to pre-conflict levels only gradually. 

"The meeting in Doha is going to be perhaps important, perhaps not," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We're going to find out."  

In Iran, where the theocratic leadership survived the war but faces domestic anger over a battered economy, two members of the Revolutionary Guards were killed in what the elite force described as a "terrorist" shooting in a western province.  

The interim deal between the US and Iran also provides for an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon.  

But Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri, an ally of Hezbollah, cast doubt on a separate, US-brokered framework deal between Lebanon and Israel to halt that war.  

Analysts said the deal risks entrenching a stalemate by tying Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon to Hezbollah's disarmament.