Author: Daily Sabah With Reuters
Ukraine’s air defence shot down 61 out of 103 drones launched by Russia in an overnight attack on Sunday, the air force said. It said that 42 other drones were “lost” in a reference to Kyiv using electronic warfare. There were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties.
Italy is in advanced talks with Elon Musk’s SpaceX over a 1.5 billion euro ($1.55 billion) deal for the company to provide secure telecommunications to the government, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday. Discussions are ongoing and a final agreement on the five-year contract has not been reached, but the project has already been approved by Italy’s Intelligence Services and Defence Ministry, the report said, citing unnamed sources. SpaceX and Italy’s Defence Ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment outside regular business hours. The report said the deal involves SpaceX supplying Italy with a full range of encryption…
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday that Russian and North Korean forces suffered heavy losses in fighting in Russia’s southern Kursk region. “In battles yesterday and today near just one village, Makhnovka, in Kursk region, the Russian army lost up to a battalion of North Korean infantry soldiers and Russian paratroops,” Zelensky said in his nightly video address, referring to a report by Ukraine’s top commander. “This is significant.” Zelensky provided no specific details. A battalion can vary in size but is generally made up of several hundred troops.
An Israeli military strike killed 12 people in a house in Gaza City early on Saturday, bringing the death toll from strikes across Gaza to 65 over the last day, Palestinian medics said, as mediators launched a new ceasefire push in Qatar. Residents and medics said at least 14 people had been in the house of the Al-Ghoula family when the strike took place in the early hours, destroying the building. People scoured the rubble for possible survivors trapped under the debris and medics said several children were among those killed. A few flames and trails of smoke continued to…
Ukrainian air defences downed 34 out of 81 drones launched by Russia overnight, the air force said on Saturday. It said that 47 drones were “lost”, in reference to Ukraine’s use of electronic warfare to redirect Russian drones.
Stephen Curry added another chapter to his legendary 3-point shooting career Thursday night, delivering a perfect 8-for-8 performance from beyond the arc for the first time as the Golden State Warriors routed the Philadelphia 76ers 139-105 in San Francisco. Curry dazzled with 30 points and 10 assists, becoming the first player in NBA history to make at least eight 3-pointers without a miss while recording double-digit assists in a single game. Having gone just 7-for-24 from long range over his previous two games, Curry matched his career-best in made 3-pointers without a miss by going 6-for-6 through three quarters. He…
U.S. President Joe Biden was briefed on Chinese cyber attacks on Department of Treasury networks and is working to mitigate risks, White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday. Chinese state-sponsored hackers breached the Treasury Department’s computer security guardrails this month and stole documents in what Treasury called a “major incident,” according to a letter to lawmakers that Treasury officials provided to Reuters earlier this week.
Hamas said a new round of indirect talks on a Gaza ceasefire resumed in Qatar’s Doha on Friday, stressing the group’s seriousness in seeking to reach a deal as soon as possible, senior Hamas official Basem Naim said. The new talks will focus on agreeing on a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces, he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump could be decisive in the outcome of the 34-month-old war with Russia and help stop Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin. Zelensky, facing advances by Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, said in an interview with Ukrainian television that Trump had told him he would be one of the first to visit Washington after the presidential inauguration this month. Zelensky also said a priority was to stabilise the front line early in the new year. Putin, he said, feared negotiations as they would be tantamount to a defeat for Russia. “Trump…
The Biden administration is urging Hamas to sign on to a new ceasefire deal that would ensure the release of hostages, White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Friday. Kirby said the White House welcomed Israel’s decision to send another team to Doha to continue negotiations. The Biden administration is making a final push to help broker a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas in its final weeks, to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of Hamas-held hostages there.