Russia Shoots Down Two Ukrainian Drones Near Moscow 

A view of the damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP)
A view of the damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP)
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Russia Shoots Down Two Ukrainian Drones Near Moscow 

A view of the damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP)
A view of the damaged skyscraper in the "Moscow City" business district after a reported drone attack in Moscow, Russia, early Sunday, July 30, 2023. (AP)

Russian air defenses shot down two drones aimed at Moscow overnight, officials said Wednesday, in what they described as Ukraine’s latest attempt to strike the Russian capital in an apparent campaign to unnerve Muscovites and take the war to Russia. 

The drones were intercepted on their approach to Moscow and there were no casualties, Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. The Russian Defense Ministry described it as a “terrorist attack.” 

One of the drones came down in the Domodedovo region south of Moscow and the other fell near the Minsk highway, west of the city, according to Sobyanin. Domodedovo airport is one of Moscow’s busiest. 

It was not clear where the drones were launched from, and Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment. Ukraine usually neither confirms nor denies such attacks. 

Flights were halted at Moscow's Vnukovo airport on July 30 and Aug. 1, when drones smashed into the Moscow City business district after being jammed by air defenses in two separate incidents. 

In May, Russian authorities accused Ukraine of attempting to attack the Kremlin with two drones in an effort to assassinate President Vladimir Putin. 

Recent drone attacks have aimed at targets from the Russian capital to the Crimean Peninsula. 



Body of Indian Sailor Missing After Oman Ship Attack Found

This frame grab taken from AFPTV video footage on July 12, 2026 shows cargo ships anchoring near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan. (AFPTV / AFP)
This frame grab taken from AFPTV video footage on July 12, 2026 shows cargo ships anchoring near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan. (AFPTV / AFP)
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Body of Indian Sailor Missing After Oman Ship Attack Found

This frame grab taken from AFPTV video footage on July 12, 2026 shows cargo ships anchoring near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan. (AFPTV / AFP)
This frame grab taken from AFPTV video footage on July 12, 2026 shows cargo ships anchoring near the Strait of Hormuz off the eastern coast of the United Arab Emirates at Khor Fakkan. (AFPTV / AFP)

The body of an Indian sailor who went missing after his ship was attacked off the coast of Oman has been recovered, a seafarers' union official said Wednesday.

Heramb Karmarkar, a 30-year-old marine engineer from the western Indian city of Pune, had been missing since Sunday's attack on the Cypriot-flagged GFS Galaxy.

"I got a call Tuesday evening from the company the ship belonged to informing me that Heramb Karmarkar's body has been found by the Omani coast guard," Manoj Yadav, of the Forward Seamen's Union of India, told AFP.

"This was almost 60 hours after we first received news that he was missing."

The other 23 crew members -- including 10 Indian nationals -- were rescued Sunday.

The US Central Command said the ship had been disabled by fire and damage to its engine room, accusing Tehran of attacking it.

India is one of the largest contributors of sailors to merchant shipping worldwide, with more than 320,000 active seafarers in 2025, according to officials.

On Tuesday, the Indian foreign ministry said attacks on commercial shipping in the region were "deeply worrisome".

"The targeting of commercial shipping and civilian infrastructure in the region must end," it said.

The attack came as Tehran announced it was closing the Strait of Hormuz and launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbors in retaliation for US strikes.

The Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route through which about a fifth of the world's oil passed before the war broke out on February 28, is a major point of contention between the United States and Iran.


Israel Court Halts Law Blocking Ultra-Orthodox Draft Dodger Arrests

Ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a vote on the Basic Law proposal at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a vote on the Basic Law proposal at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Court Halts Law Blocking Ultra-Orthodox Draft Dodger Arrests

Ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a vote on the Basic Law proposal at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, 13 July 2026. (EPA)
Ultra-Orthodox Knesset member Yitzchak Goldknopf attends a vote on the Basic Law proposal at the Knesset, Israel's parliament, in Jerusalem, 13 July 2026. (EPA)

Israel's Supreme Court suspended on Wednesday a contentious law passed just the previous day that would have blocked the arrest of Jewish ultra-Orthodox men who refuse military service.

The court said it was issuing a "temporary order suspending" the enforcement of the law after opposition leaders Yair Lapid and Avigdor Liberman and others petitioned against the legislation.

The Israeli parliament approved the legislation on Tuesday, drawing sharp criticism from the opposition as the army struggles with a shortage of personnel.

The court said it was suspending the law as it applies "to only certain segments of the population", and added that "the hearing on the petitions will be held as soon as possible".

Leaders of the insular ultra-Orthodox community have long opposed the conscription of its members, arguing that army service would pull young men away from religious study and erode their way of life.

Under an arrangement dating back to the country's founding in 1948, ultra-Orthodox men engaged in full-time religious study have been exempt from military service.

But calls to draft them have intensified in recent years as Israel has become embroiled in multiple wars.

The Supreme Court has also repeatedly challenged the exemption, culminating in a 2024 ruling that the government must conscript ultra-Orthodox men.

The new law would have frozen arrests of draft-age seminary students until November 30 -- well after the date of the October 27 general election, in which ultra-Orthodox parties are expected to back Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition.

This week the parliament also passed a bill declaring the study of Jewish religious texts a "fundamental value" of the state, a move widely seen as strengthening the ultra-Orthodox community's case for draft exemption.


US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
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US Reports ‘Wave of Strikes’ on Iran as War Returns

This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)
This US Navy handout photo released on July 10, 2026 and taken on June 29 by US Central Command Public Affairs shows an F/A-18F Super Hornet, attached to Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 103, preparing to land on the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77). (US Navy/AFP)

The United States launched a wave of strikes against Iran on Wednesday, after it reimposed a naval blockade in a return to war between the two foes.

Nearly a month after they signed a memorandum of understanding towards ending the Middle East war, the two sides resumed fighting with strikes on targets across the region.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted Bahrain, where the military said it had intercepted attacks against civilian targets, while Jordan's armed forces said they had downed three missiles from Iran.

US President Donald Trump, meanwhile, threatened to widen strikes next week to hit power plants and bridges unless Tehran returns to the negotiating table.

"Next week it gets really bad for them," he told Fox News. Despite a return to hostilities, mediated talks between the two sides have not formally ended.

At the heart of the resumption of hostilities has been the dispute over the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is crucial for global oil and gas flows.

- Agreement 'dismantled' -

Iran blockaded Hormuz after the US and Israel launched their massive attack on February 28, using it for leverage against its foes for months before briefly reopening it, and then again vowing it would be closed "until the US ends its aggression".

The US, in turn, has reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports, though Trump has backed down on a planned 20 percent levy on ships using the strait.

Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the renewed US blockade "has, in a way, dismantled the Islamabad memorandum", referring to the interim deal reached last month to halt hostilities and pursue peace talks.

Days after the return to war, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it launched "a wave of strikes... designed to further degrade military capabilities Iranian forces have used to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz."

Iranian state media reported explosions near the port city of Bandar Abbas, on the island of Qeshm and on Bandar Imam Khomeini. It later said fresh US strikes hit the southern port city of Bushehr, home to the country's only civilian nuclear plant.

In the capital Tehran, there was no sign of a return to conflict, with ordinary Iranians thronging cafes to watch the France-Spain World Cup semifinal in huge crowds, AFP journalists saw.

But in Kuwait, repeatedly targeted throughout the war, people were anxious.

"Every day, I wake up wondering whether the situation will de-escalate or worsen," said Mustafa Mohamed, a 39-year-old Sudanese accountant in the Gulf country.

"It has become difficult to feel at ease or plan anything because uncertainty grips everyone."

George Atef, a 38-year-old Egyptian civil servant in Kuwait, said: "What exhausts me most is not knowing when this situation will end -- the waiting itself has become draining."

- Trump scraps levy -

Since the war began, Iran has asserted its control over the Strait of Hormuz and opened fire on ships for taking routes it says are unauthorized.

"The retaliatory operations of the fighters will continue, and the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed until the United States ends its acts of aggression," the Guards said.

A Norwegian tanker was hit by an explosion caused by an unidentified device off the Omani coast early Tuesday, the crisis response company MTI Network said.

And Kuwait said one of its naval vessels was struck during an Iranian missile and drone barrage, wounding four crew members.

Trump meanwhile said he was scrapping a planned levy on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz that he announced Monday.

Since last week, renewed US attacks have killed at least 30 people in Iran, government spokesman Fatemeh Mohajerani said.

Separately, the military announced that seven of its personnel were killed in Wednesday's strikes on the southeast.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose country has not so far rejoined the war, warned Iranian leaders on Tuesday that Israel would deal a heavy blow if they launched an attack on his country.

Speaking from Dimona, a southern town widely believed to house Israel's undeclared nuclear arsenal, he told them: "Do not count on things remaining quiet if you attack us."