Russia Attacks Ukraine’s Danube Port, Ukraine Launches Drones Towards Moscow

A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
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Russia Attacks Ukraine’s Danube Port, Ukraine Launches Drones Towards Moscow

A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)
A firefighter works at a compound of a port which was hit during overnight Russian drone strikes in the town of Izmail, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa region, Ukraine, May 19, 2026. (Press service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout via Reuters)

A Russian air attack damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail city in the early hours of Tuesday, while Russian authorities said they had downed four drones launched by Ukraine that were headed towards Moscow.

Izmail, in the southern Odesa region and home to the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube River, is a frequently hit strategic location.

"Port infrastructure facilities in the city of Izmail were damaged," local officials said on Telegram, adding that nearly all aerial attack ‌weapons were destroyed. "Fortunately, ‌there were no casualties or significant destruction."

The Telegram post ‌showed ⁠firemen battling a ⁠fire at a building that had its windows blown out.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, two people were rescued and one person may still be trapped under rubble after a Russian drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.

There also were drone attacks in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia, local authorities said on Telegram.

Peace efforts to end the war that began with Russia's 2022 invasion ⁠of Ukraine have stalled. Each side has accused the other ‌of regular attacks on military, civilian and ‌energy targets. Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.

DRONE ATTACKS IN RUSSIA

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin ‌said on Telegram that four drones heading for the capital had been downed ‌and that emergency services had been deployed, but provided no further details.

The attack comes on the heels of a heavy Ukrainian drone attack on Moscow at the weekend, after which Russia struck the Ukrainian cities of Odesa and Dnipro with missile and drone attacks that ‌damaged residential buildings and injured dozens of people.

In the Russian Kursk region bordering Ukraine, a woman has died and two ⁠people were injured ⁠as a result of a Ukrainian attack on Monday evening, the Kursk operational headquarters said on Telegram.

Russia's southern Rostov region and Yaroslavl, northeast of Moscow, have also come under drone attacks along with a number of other areas in central Russia, regional authorities said on Telegram.

In Yaroslavl, where Russia has oil refining infrastructure, 'an industrial object' was damaged following the drone attack and emergency services were working to extinguish the fire, Governor Mikhail Yevrayev said. He did not name the asset.

Ukraine has sought to deprive Russia of energy revenues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote on X overnight that over the past few months Russian refining capacity has dropped by 10% and oil wells have been shut.

"(Russian President Vladimir) Putin has, of course, built a war chest - but certainly not enough to fight indefinitely," Zelenskiy said.



US Expands Charges Against Iranians in Massive Hacking Scheme

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters)
A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters)
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US Expands Charges Against Iranians in Massive Hacking Scheme

A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters)
A U.S. Justice Department logo or seal showing Justice Department headquarters, known as "Main Justice," is seen behind the podium in the Department's headquarters briefing room before a news conference with the Attorney General in Washington, January 24, 2023. (Reuters)

US authorities expanded its prosecution of a sprawling Iranian hacking network Tuesday, bringing to 17 the number of indicted suspects for an alleged campaign against universities, companies, and government agencies.

The Department of Justice unveiled a new indictment targeting eight additional individuals, with nine of the 17 defendants having already been indicted in 2018.

Prosecutors are offering a $10 million reward for information leading to the prosecution of five of them, identified as Behzad Mesri, Mojtaba Galekuhi, Arman Kahzadian, Keyvan Fayaz, and Saber Shahbazi Ballojeh.

All are linked to the Mabna Institute, an organization based in Iran that is said to have carried out hacking operations on behalf of the Iranian government and the Revolutionary Guards, prosecutors said.

The campaign, carried out mainly between 2013 and 2017, was aimed in particular at stealing scientific data and intellectual property.

The expanded case now covers the hacking of 144 US universities and 178 foreign universities, as well as at least 42 US companies, 11 foreign firms, five US government agencies, and two NGOs.

The hackers are said to have targeted more than 100,000 accounts belonging to professors, the Justice Department said.

They are believed to have stolen some 31.5 terabytes of data, including scientific articles, dissertations and other research work.

"More than eight years after making the original indictment public, these charges make clear that the passage of time will not deter us from identifying and pursuing those who target the United States from abroad," said US Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York.

The US Treasury announced in 2018 that it had imposed sanctions on the nine individuals initially indicted, as well as on a tenth suspect who was allegedly involved in an attempted extortion case against HBO, from which he had stolen the script of an unaired episode of the hit series "Game of Thrones."


Liberia Says Taking up to 1,200 US Deportees

Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025. (AP)
Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025. (AP)
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Liberia Says Taking up to 1,200 US Deportees

Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025. (AP)
Migrants deported months ago by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration's immigration crackdown arrive at Simon Bolívar International Airport, in Maiquetia, Venezuela, July 18, 2025. (AP)

Liberia said Tuesday it would receive up to 1,200 foreign nationals deported from the United States, as President Donald Trump pursues an unprecedented immigration crackdown.

The Trump administration has launched a sweeping expansion to deportations where the government has argued it can send people to a country that is not their home nation.

"Liberia intends to accept up to 1,200 persons to be transferred from the United States of America within a year," the Liberian government said in a statement.

A first group of 20 deportees would arrive Thursday in the West African nation, it said, adding that they were "free to depart the country when they so desire" or apply for asylum.

The Trump administration has said it wants to send Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran immigrant who became a symbol of mass deportations, to the country after he was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, the New York Times reported.

In Africa, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea have become key transit points in the US immigration crackdown -- even as authorities there quickly send people onwards to their home counties.

Two former State Department officials told AFP that the United States is using visa bans and restrictions on African countries to strongarm them into taking people from third countries.

The Liberian government said it "has not demanded or received any compensation or promise of rewards in exchange for its consent to participate in the program".

"Liberia will receive support to help manage the program and strengthen its migration system more broadly, it said, insisting the arrangement was "entirely humanitarian".

The US State Department refused to comment on the scheme.

Liberia as a nation was founded in the early 19th century by a society which advocated for the return of former slaves and freeborn African-Americans from the United States.


US, South Korea Cut Drills Short After Trump Criticism

US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are seen at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on August 17, 2026. (Yonhap/AFP)
US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are seen at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on August 17, 2026. (Yonhap/AFP)
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US, South Korea Cut Drills Short After Trump Criticism

US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are seen at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on August 17, 2026. (Yonhap/AFP)
US Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters are seen at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek on August 17, 2026. (Yonhap/AFP)

Annual war games between South Korea and the United States will end around a week earlier than planned, both countries said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump ordered the "inappropriate and hostile" drills scaled back.

Trump said on Sunday that he had told the Pentagon to curtail the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises -- a day before they started -- citing his "good relationship" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang's state media criticized the drills on Wednesday as a "most immediate and open threat", without mentioning Trump's order.

Hours later, Seoul's military said the drills would wrap up on Friday, not on August 27 as originally planned.

"We have decided to adjust the UFS exercise period to run from the 17th to the 21st," South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The decision was made "at the suggestion of the US side", it added.

The Pentagon said the "substantially reduced" drills would "preserve essential readiness and... (cause) no degradation to US training objectives".

The exercises are designed to prepare for a possible attack by North Korea.

They were understood to consist of two phases: the first, focused on defending against potential North Korean threats, was due to run until Friday; and the second, focused on a counteroffensive, from August 24 to 27.

The second phase is now understood to have been scrapped.

A South Korean military official told AFP that Seoul viewed the decision as "unusual".

Nuclear-armed North Korea has long voiced outrage at the exercises, considering them dress rehearsals for an invasion.

Wednesday's commentary by the state-run Korean Central News Agency said they pose "the most immediate and open threat" to North Korea and "regional security".

It did not mention Trump's order or his desire to resume talks with Kim, with whom he has hinted at being in contact.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, said Pyongyang had deliberately avoided mentioning Trump.

North Korea was "sticking to general principles as if completely unaware of" Trump's comments, he told AFP.

"Showing awareness could suggest a degree of mutual understanding," but feigning ignorance signals that the issue could become a key bargaining point in any future talks with Trump, Hong said.

- 'Much safer' -

In the initial announcement on his Truth Social platform, Trump described the drills as unfriendly towards a country that had been respectful to him.

South Korea's Foreign Minister Cho Hyun told lawmakers on Wednesday that Seoul had not been informed in advance of Trump's plan to downsize them.

"Neither our government nor US government officials knew in advance what President Trump revealed via Truth Social," Cho said.

Trump has insisted that he is making the situation "much safer" through his ties with Kim.

Asked on Monday whether Kim had responded to his requests for a conversation, Trump said: "Yeah, he has."

He said the discussions had been "very positive", but provided no further detail.

"There has been persistent speculation that Washington could seek renewed talks with Pyongyang ahead of the November US midterm elections," Yang Moo-jin, former president of the University of North Korean Studies, told AFP.

"For Trump, a meeting with... Kim Jong Un could offer a chance to secure a foreign-policy legacy."

The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed US officials, that Trump is pushing aides to set up a meeting with Kim as soon as this autumn.

"Reducing exercises could have a positive impact on the possibility of US-North Korea dialogue," Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University, told AFP.

"The suspension of joint exercises has always been a prerequisite for North Korea to engage in dialogue with the US," he added.

Trump and Kim met three times in his first spell in the White House, but they have not held talks during his second term.

The United States stations about 28,500 troops in South Korea to bolster the country's defenses, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Trump has repeatedly criticized longstanding US alliances, casting doubt on Washington's commitment to security in East Asia and alarming regional partners.