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Russian Drone Strikes Kill Two in Ukraine

Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
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Russian Drone Strikes Kill Two in Ukraine

Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)
Police experts work at the site of an apartment building destroyed by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine June 4, 2026. (Reuters)

Russian drone strikes killed two people in Ukraine, officials said Sunday, as world leaders gathered in London to discuss piling pressure on Moscow over its four-year war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will meet the leaders of France, Germany and Britain on Sunday for talks on the way forward as Russia suffers military setbacks in the invasion of its neighbor.

A Russian drone strike killed a 56-year-old man working as a minibus driver in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine wrote on Telegram on Sunday.

A 59-year-old man was killed in a separate attack in the central Dnipropetrovsk region, when Russian drones and aerial bombs rained down over two districts, regional military chief Oleksandr Ganzha posted on Telegram on Sunday.

The attacks wounded a 35-year-old man and damaged infrastructure, Ganzha said.

Ukraine recaptured more territory than it lost to Russian forces in May for the second straight month, AFP analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) showed earlier this month.

Russia's offensive has meanwhile led to rising prices, tax hikes, two-decade-high borrowing costs, business shutdowns and labor shortages, putting the economy in its trickiest spot since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Zelensky proposed a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in an open letter to the Russian leader on Thursday, saying he was also ready for a "full ceasefire".

Putin, speaking at Russia's flagship economic forum on Friday, rejected suggestions the Russian economy had collapsed, saying "we have descended to the same level at which Eurozone countries have been experiencing growth for the past few years."

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Russia Wants AI, Digital Cooperation with China, Putin Tells Xi

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
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Russia Wants AI, Digital Cooperation with China, Putin Tells Xi

FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, gestures while speaking to Chinese President Xi Jinping during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Sept. 16, 2022. (Sergei Bobylev, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP, File)

Moscow aims to cooperate with Beijing in the field of artificial intelligence and digital innovation, Russian President Vladimir Putin told China's Xi Jinping on Monday as the leaders met in Kyrgyzstan.

They arrived in the central Asian country for a two-day summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a regional bloc that seeks to serve as a counter-balance to the West.

Russia, with its troops bogged down in Ukraine, has deepened ties with its main oil customer China, which has never condemned Moscow for its four-and-a-half-year invasion.

"Cooperation is successfully developing on all fronts," Putin told Xi ahead of their talks.

They last met in May in Beijing.

"Digital innovations, including in artificial intelligence technologies, are also opening up new opportunities for the economic development of our countries," Putin said.

The Kremlin has in the past months sought to tighten its control over the online sphere, imposing intermittent mass internet shutdowns and restrictions on popular messaging apps.

Moscow is pushing Russians to embrace the state-backed Max messenger platform -- an unencrypted super-app similar to China's WeChat that critics say raises privacy and snooping concerns.

It has repeatedly threatened foreign-owned sites with bans, part of what rights advocates say is a broader attempt by authorities to control and monitor internet use.

World

Pentagon Signs 7-year Deals to Increase Missile Production

FILE - The Pentagon is seen from the air, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - The Pentagon is seen from the air, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
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Pentagon Signs 7-year Deals to Increase Missile Production

FILE - The Pentagon is seen from the air, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
FILE - The Pentagon is seen from the air, July 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

The Pentagon said on Monday it secured seven-year agreements with General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS) and Lockheed Martin to increase missile production.

The agreements are designed to "increase production quantities and accelerate delivery schedules for critical missile subcomponents supporting the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) interceptor programs," the Pentagon said.

World

Israel Signs Three-billion-euro Arms Export Deal with Greece

Greece to buy a defense system from Israel (Reuters)
Greece to buy a defense system from Israel (Reuters)
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Israel Signs Three-billion-euro Arms Export Deal with Greece

Greece to buy a defense system from Israel (Reuters)
Greece to buy a defense system from Israel (Reuters)

Israel's defense ministry announced Monday it had signed a deal with Athens worth approximately three billion euros (almost $3.5 billion) to set up the "Achilles Shield" aerial defense system for Greece. 

"Under the deal, Israel will build Greece a comprehensive, multi-layered air defense array, drawing entirely on Israeli-made systems and on the extensive operational experience Israel's defense establishment has gained during the war," the ministry said in a statement. 

"This is the largest defense export deal in the history of Israel-Greece relations, and one of the largest in the history of the State of Israel," it added. 

The deal was signed by the Israeli defense ministry's director general, Major General (Res.) Amir Baram, and his Greek counterpart, Ioannis Bouras, in Tel Aviv. 

A Greek defense ministry source had told AFP in late July about an upcoming purchase of Israeli-made anti-missile, anti-aircraft and anti-drone systems, part of a broader defense investment for the Achilles Shield of 4.2 billion euro ($4.8 billion). 

In a statement, the Greek Defense Ministry said the multi-billion euro purchase was part of "the greatest reform of its armed forces in its history". 

Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias was quoted in the statement as saying that recent technological developments "have long rendered existing defense doctrines completely obsolete". 

"Greece is the first country in the European Union to adopt" a multi-layered air defense system such as the Israeli one, he added. 

According to the Israeli Defense Ministry, the export deal includes the David's Sling, Barak MX and SPYDER interception systems, air surveillance radars, and "a new national command and control system". 

All the equipment is manufactured by Israeli defense contractors Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries and its subsidiary ELTA Systems. 

A supplementary 26 million euro deal was also signed to provide Greece with Rafael's defense systems against drones, the ministry said. 

"Israel and Greece share common strategic interests and face shared regional challenges," said Defense Minister Israel Katz, quoted in the statement. 

"At a time when actors with hegemonic ambitions are seeking to expand their influence and undermine stability in the region, Israel and Greece will continue to deepen their defense and strategic cooperation," he said, in a likely reference to Türkiye. 

Greece is now one of only four European NATO members to spend at least three percent of GDP on its military, amid decades of tensions with neighboring Türkiye. 

Israel has also increasingly locked horns with Türkiye, having struck a disused military base in northwest Syria, claiming it wanted to avert Turkish troops deploying to the facility. 

In 2023, Israel signed a deal with Germany to provide the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which was expanded in December for a total value of $6.5 billion, the country's largest-ever military export contract.