SKorea, US Troops Hold Drills with Drones, Laser Sensors

A US soldier from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, runs in a smoke during South Korea and the United States combined combat demonstration as a part of the K-ICTC (Korea International Combat Training Competition) in Inje, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A US soldier from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, runs in a smoke during South Korea and the United States combined combat demonstration as a part of the K-ICTC (Korea International Combat Training Competition) in Inje, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
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SKorea, US Troops Hold Drills with Drones, Laser Sensors

A US soldier from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, runs in a smoke during South Korea and the United States combined combat demonstration as a part of the K-ICTC (Korea International Combat Training Competition) in Inje, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
A US soldier from 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, runs in a smoke during South Korea and the United States combined combat demonstration as a part of the K-ICTC (Korea International Combat Training Competition) in Inje, South Korea, Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korean and US troops held joint future combat drills involving drones, an unmanned vehicle and wearable laser sensors this week as part of efforts to modernize their militaries, Seoul's army said on Saturday.
The training came as South Korea's military conducts a series of annual Hoguk autumn exercises aimed at improving responses to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, Reuters reported.
More than 120 soldiers from both sides joined forces to fight against a trained team of opposing forces in a mock-up town that appeared similar to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, built at the Korea Combat Training Centre in the mountains in the eastern city of Inje.
The drills also mobilized various high-tech weapons systems aimed at beefing up future combat capabilities, with the troops wearing multiple integrated laser engagement systems (MILES), which uses lasers to simulate actual battle.
Several drones were flown for reconnaissance purposes, some also firing an assault rifle, while South Korea dispatched a multipurpose unmanned vehicle to carry wounded personnel.
Choi Jeong-Il, a captain of the South Korean army's 25th Infantry Division, nicknamed the TIGER brigade, said the unmanned assets and the MILES gear helped identify enemies and gauge the allied troops' casualties.
"We were able to confirm the enemy's movements using the drones, and hit them with the cutting-edge strike equipment, which allowed us to maximize the results of the operation while minimizing damage to our forces," he said.
First Lieutenant Derek Chen from the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the US 4th Infantry Division said the drills offered an "eye-opening experience" and the assets would be beneficial in future combat operations.



Prosecutor: Iranians Spied on London-based Journalists 'on Behalf of' Tehran

Police officers patrol outside Woolwich Crown Court as the trial of three Iranian nationals, charged with spying offenses on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service, takes place in London, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Police officers patrol outside Woolwich Crown Court as the trial of three Iranian nationals, charged with spying offenses on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service, takes place in London, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
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Prosecutor: Iranians Spied on London-based Journalists 'on Behalf of' Tehran

Police officers patrol outside Woolwich Crown Court as the trial of three Iranian nationals, charged with spying offenses on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service, takes place in London, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
Police officers patrol outside Woolwich Crown Court as the trial of three Iranian nationals, charged with spying offenses on behalf of Iran's foreign intelligence service, takes place in London, Monday, Oct. 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

Three Iranian men went on trial Tuesday charged with spying for Iran, allegedly laying the ground for a violent attack against at least one London-based journalist.

The Iranian nationals visited addresses linked to people including two journalists working for the Farsi-language Iran International television news network, which Tehran has labelled a terror organization.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 41, Farhad Manesh, 46, and Shapoor Noori, 57, who have all pleaded not guilty, appeared at Woolwich Crown Court in London accompanied by translators.

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones told the jury the three were accused of conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service, "in other words ... they spied on people of interest to the Iranian regime".

The trio undertook surveillance and reconnaissance between August 2024 and February 2025 with Sepahvand allegedly earmarked to carry out any attack, he said.

The trial would focus on steps taken "on behalf of the Iranian regime to target journalists and others considered to be hostile to or even just critical".

Iran International, which is based in London, had been critical of the Iranian government and supportive of opposition groups, he said.

The three accused did not deny visiting the addresses and taking photos and videos, but Sepahvand said he had been coerced and acted out of fear.

According to AFP, Manesh and Noori told the court they were not aware that what they were doing was to assist the Iranian intelligence services.

Emlyn Jones told the jury their intention was to "locate and target at least two journalists associated with ... Iran International and others".

"Their ultimate objective was that one or more of their targets would be subjected to serious violence, no doubt as retribution for their criticism of the Iranian regime and to try to silence and deter others who might dare to voice their criticism," he added.

The three defendants, all from London, are all charged under the National Security Act.

Sepahvand is also charged with engaging in surveillance, reconnaissance and open-source research with the intention to commit serious violence.

Manesh and Noori are also charged with engaging in surveillance and reconnaissance, with the intention that serious violence would be committed by others.

The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.


Pupil Wounds 8 Girls in Istanbul School Knife Attack

30 September 2026, Türkiye, Istanbul: Ships are sailing on the Bosphorus. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
30 September 2026, Türkiye, Istanbul: Ships are sailing on the Bosphorus. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
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Pupil Wounds 8 Girls in Istanbul School Knife Attack

30 September 2026, Türkiye, Istanbul: Ships are sailing on the Bosphorus. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa
30 September 2026, Türkiye, Istanbul: Ships are sailing on the Bosphorus. Photo: Rolf Vennenbernd/dpa

A teenage girl wounded eight girls at a middle school in Istanbul on Tuesday, as she reportedly stabbed pupils indiscriminately with a knife, officials said.

The incident occurred around 8:40 am (0540 GMT) at a school in Basaksehir in the northwestern part of the city.

The alleged attacker, said to be a 15-year-old 10th grade student from another school, has been detained by police.

Writing on X, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said there were "eight people injured in the incident -- one in critical condition, and two in moderate-to-serious condition," who were being treated in hospital.

Speaking to reporters, Istanbul Governor Davut Gul said the attacker, who was wearing a school uniform, had stabbed the youngsters "indiscriminately".

"Five of pupils sustained minor injuries, they are likely to be discharged later today. Two are in a serious condition. One is currently undergoing surgery," he said.

"The pupil who carried out the attack lives in the same neighborhood and attends a different school. She entered the premises wearing school uniform and stabbed the children indiscriminately."

Basaksehir district governor Cemil Ozgur Onegi, who gave an injured toll of seven, said the attack was carried out by a high school student, AFP reported.

"Seven female students were injured as a result of a knife attack carried out by F.M., a 10th-grade student" from a high school in another district.

Last month, a teenager opened fire outside a school in western Türkiye, wounding 11 pupils, three of whom were seriously hurt, before being arrested.

In April, there were two back-to-back shooting attacks by teenagers on consecutive days in southern Türkiye that shocked the nation and sparked public concerns about security in Turkish schools.


Ukrainian Drones Kill Two, Hit Fuel Hub in One of Biggest Attacks on Moscow Region, Russian War Bloggers Say

Rescuers work at a site of a building of a sewing factory damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Rescuers work at a site of a building of a sewing factory damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
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Ukrainian Drones Kill Two, Hit Fuel Hub in One of Biggest Attacks on Moscow Region, Russian War Bloggers Say

Rescuers work at a site of a building of a sewing factory damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova
Rescuers work at a site of a building of a sewing factory damaged by a Russian air strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine in Kharkiv, Ukraine October 5, 2026. REUTERS/Sofiia Gatilova

Ukrainian drones killed two people and hit a major fuel depot overnight in one of the biggest attacks of the war on Moscow and the surrounding region, Russian military bloggers said.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said Ukraine had launched more than 650 drones towards the capital, most of which were shot down.

Andrei Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region which surrounds the capital, said that 185 Ukrainian drones had been destroyed or brought down over his region. He said seven people had been injured and that 47 houses, 4 apartments and 3 cars had been damaged, according to Reuters.

Prominent ‌war blogger Yuri ‌Podolyaka said an oil storage tank was hit ‌at ⁠the Volodarskaya oil storage ⁠and distribution facility, the biggest in the Moscow region. The facility stores diesel, gasoline and jet fuel. There was no official confirmation that it had been hit.

Volodarskaya is one of the major hubs in the distribution system of state pipeline monopoly Transneft and is linked to Moscow's main oil refinery. It supplies fuel to all three of the capital's large airports.

A ⁠Ukrainian war blog, Supernova+, published video purporting to show ‌a huge blaze at the site. ‌Reuters could not immediately verify it.

Ukraine has increasingly targeted oil refineries, depots and export ‌terminals in an effort to deprive Moscow of the revenues it ‌needs to finance the war that Russia began in February 2022.

Podolyaka and other Russian bloggers said, without citing evidence, that Ukraine's overnight attack was also intended to hit the Moscow oil refinery in the southeast of the capital, but that ‌Russian air defenses had prevented this.

The refinery, just inside the city ring road, has been hit several times, ⁠most recently ⁠on September 20, the main day of voting in Russia's parliamentary election.

Russia has recently intensified attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, sending waves of missiles and drones by night and day. Its latest targets have included bridges across the Dnipro river.

Vorobyov, the head of the Moscow region, said the body of a 71-year-old man had been pulled from under the rubble of a house and that a 20-year-old man had been killed in a nearby village.

The head of the town of Domodedovo, south of Moscow and home to the country's third-largest airport, said work was under way to restore electricity to villages that had been hit by drones.