Russia Attacks Ukraine with Drone Barrage, Kills One

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7,  2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
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Russia Attacks Ukraine with Drone Barrage, Kills One

Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7,  2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)
Rescue workers clear the rubble of a residential building destroyed by a Russian airstrike in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Kateryna Klochko)

Russia launched a new barrage of drones in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Friday, killing one civilian and wounding more than 30 people in the center, south, and northeast of the country, Ukrainian officials said. The Interior Ministry said one person was killed in Ukraine's southern Odesa region as the Russian forces attacked with drones, damaging civilian infrastructure and residential houses.
According to the ministry's statement on Telegram, nine people were injured in the Odesa region. Four people were wounded in a drone attack on central Kyiv region and at least six private houses and several cars were damaged, the ministry said.
Russia also pounded the city of Kharkiv in the northeast with guided air bombs during the overnight attack, wounding at least 25 people, said Oleh Syniehubov, Kharkiv regional governor.
Russia has intensified its air attacks on Ukrainian cities and towns, sending swarms of drones almost daily with multiple night-time explosions and the constant sound of drones keeping residents awake.
Ukrainian officials have said frequent drone attacks were an apparent attempt to stretch Ukrainian air defense and increase pressure on the civilian population as the war against Russia nears the 1,000-day mark and Russian troops steadily advance in the east.
Ukraine's military said Russia launched more than 2,000 attack drones at civilian and military targets across the country in October.



Iran President Orders Start of Talks with US

 Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
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Iran President Orders Start of Talks with US

 Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk in a street in Tehran, Iran, 02 February 2026. (EPA)

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has ordered the start of nuclear talks with the United States, the news agency Fars reported on Monday, after US President Donald Trump said he was hopeful of a deal to avert military action.

"President Pezeshkian has ordered the opening of talks with the United States," Fars reported, citing an unnamed government source.

"Iran and the United States will hold talks on the nuclear file," Fars said, without specifying a date. The report was also carried by the government newspaper Iran and the reformist daily Shargh.

Tensions are running high ​amid a military buildup by the US Navy near Iran, following a violent crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last month, the deadliest domestic unrest in Iran since its 1979 revolution.

Trump, who stopped short of carrying out threats to intervene during the crackdown, has since demanded Iran make nuclear concessions and sent a flotilla to its coast. He said last week Iran was "seriously talking", while Tehran's top security official Ali Larijani said on X that arrangements for negotiations were underway.

Iranian sources told Reuters last week that Trump had demanded three preconditions for resumption of talks: Zero enrichment of ‌uranium in Iran, ‌limits on Tehran's ballistic missile program and ending its support ‌for ⁠regional ​proxies.

Iran has ‌long rejected all three demands as unacceptable infringements of its sovereignty, but two Iranian officials told Reuters its clerical rulers see the ballistic missile program, rather than uranium enrichment, as the bigger obstacle.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran was considering "the various dimensions and aspects of the talks", adding that "time is of the essence for Iran as it wants lifting of unjust sanctions sooner."

A senior Iranian official and a Western diplomat told Reuters that US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could meet ⁠in Türkiye in the coming day.

A Turkish ruling party official told Reuters that Tehran and Washington had agreed that this week's talks ‌would be focused on diplomacy, a potential reprieve for possible US strikes.

The ‍Iranian official said "diplomacy is ongoing. For talks to ‍resume, Iran says there should not be preconditions and that it is ready to show ‍flexibility on uranium enrichment, including handing over 400 kg of highly enriched uranium (HEU), accepting zero enrichment under a consortium arrangement as a solution".

However, he added, for the start of talks, Tehran wants US military assets moved away from Iran.

"Now the ball is in Trump's court," he said.

Tehran's regional sway has been weakened by Israel's attacks ​on its proxies - from Hamas in Gaza to Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis in Yemen and militias in Iraq - as well as by the ousting of Iran's ⁠close ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Last year the United States struck Iranian nuclear targets, joining in at the close of a 12-day Israeli bombing campaign.

TEHRAN DEMANDS LIFTING OF SANCTIONS

After five rounds of talks that have stalled since May 2023, several hard-to-bridge issues remained between Tehran and Washington, including Iran's insistence on maintaining uranium enrichment on its soil and refusal to ship abroad its entire existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Since the US strikes on Iran's three nuclear sites in June, Tehran says its uranium enrichment work has stopped. The UN nuclear watchdog has called on Iran repeatedly to say what happened to the HEU stock since the June attacks.

Western countries fear Iran's uranium enrichment could yield material for a warhead. Iran says its nuclear program is only for electricity generation and other civilian uses.

The Iranian sources said Tehran ‌could ship its highly enriched uranium abroad and pause enrichment in a deal that should also include lifting economic sanctions.


Russia Is Trying to De-Escalate Iran Tensions, the Kremlin Says

26 July 2023, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. (Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa)
26 July 2023, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. (Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa)
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Russia Is Trying to De-Escalate Iran Tensions, the Kremlin Says

26 July 2023, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. (Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa)
26 July 2023, Russia, Saint Petersburg: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov attends a meeting at the Konstantinovsky Palace. (Vladimir Smirnov/Kremlin/dpa)

The Kremlin said on ​Monday that Russia was still trying to de-escalate tensions around Iran, and that it had long ago offered its services to process or store ‌Iran's enriched ‌uranium.

Asked ‌if ⁠Russia ​was ‌discussing with Iran and the United States the possibility of taking Iranian enriched uranium, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "This topic has ⁠been on the agenda for a ‌long time."

"Russia has ‍been ‍offering its services for ‍quite a long time as a possible option that would lead to the removal ​of certain irritants for a number of countries," ⁠Peskov said.

"Right now, Russia is continuing its efforts, continuing its contacts with all interested parties, and maintains its readiness to de-escalate tensions around Iran to the best of its ability," he said.


US Envoy Witkoff to Visit Israel, Meet Netanyahu, Israeli Officials Say

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (AFP)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (AFP)
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US Envoy Witkoff to Visit Israel, Meet Netanyahu, Israeli Officials Say

US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (AFP)
US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff attends the world premiere of Amazon MGM Studios' "Melania" at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, on January 29, 2026. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump's ​senior envoy Steve Witkoff is expected to visit Israel for meetings ‌with Prime ‌Minister ‌Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu ​and ‌Israel's military chief, two senior Israeli officials said on Monday.

The ⁠officials said Witkoff's ‌visit to ‍the ‍country was expected ‍to begin on Tuesday.

It comes amid ​heightened regional tensions with Iran, ⁠and as the Trump administration presses ahead with its plan to end the Gaza war.