Crimea strikes cause water and power cuts; war game designed to show how Nato countries could be defended amid fears of Russian aggression. What we know on day 1,705
A Ukrainian attack led to water and power cuts in occupied Crimea on Saturday, as a barrage of drones in several regions inside Russia left several dead, according to Russian authorities. Sergei Aksyonov, the Moscow-installed head of the Crimean peninsula, wrote on Telegram that due to the drone attack on local power grids “restrictions on the supply of electricity and water have been put in place”. He did not specify how many households had been affected in Crimea, which is home to more than 2.5 million people. The peninsula, which was seized from Ukraine by Russia in 2014, is a regular target for Ukrainian attacks.
A separate Ukrainian strike in part of the north-eastern Kharkiv region held by Russia killed at least three people and gravely wounded another on Saturday, the Moscow-backed authorities said.
Drones also rained down inside Russia. The country’s defence ministry said 616 of them had been shot down overnight across more than 20 regions of the country. During the day, drones hit Russia’s south-western Bryansk border region, killing at least three people, regional acting governor Yegor Kovalchuc said on Telegram.
In Ukraine, authorities said that at least five people died in several Russian drone and missile strikes in the country’s east. Dnipropetrovsk regional governor Oleksandr Ganzha on Saturday evening said three people were killed and at least 12 wounded when a Russian drone strike hit the town of Synelnykove, setting the fourth floor of a high-rise building on fire. Authorities in Sumy meanwhile said a Russian drone hit a farm, killing a 31-year-old woman and injuring four others.
Thousands of British and French troops have taken part in a military training exercise that included one of Britain’s largest airborne operations in two decades, the UK government said on Sunday. The war game is designed to show how Nato countries could be defended against a modern-day attack and comes during fears about Russian aggression in Europe amid Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
About 2,500 troops were involved in the seven-week exercise, in which 600 British and French paratroopers dropped from four RAF A400M Atlas transport aircraft over Germany. The exercise called Rhino Titan, held at the Sennelager military training centre in Germany, has been testing British troops’ ability against an enemy equipped with drones and electronic warfare. “The threats we face in the 21st century require an updated, modern approach to warfare – and our adaptable armed forces are preparing accordingly,” British defence minister Wes Streeting said in a statement.
Ukraine’s military has a “stable connection to Starlink”, the Ukrainian government said, 10 days after its ability to use the satellite communications system was suddenly restricted. But hours after the announcement, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose company owns Starlink, accused the Ukrainian military of violating the company’s terms. Neither Musk nor the US government, which operates Starshield using Starlink technology, took responsibility for imposing the curbs.
Bulgarians will vote in presidential elections on Sunday as Russia’s war in Ukraine spreads to the waters off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. Polls place acting president Iliana Iotova and ex-caretaker prime minister Andrey Gyurov as leaders in a race of 27 candidates. While the presidency is largely ceremonial, Sunday’s vote has taken on added significance after a series of drone attacks on merchant ships off Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast that likely killed about two-dozen international seafarers.
Continue reading...Kim Aris tells the Guardian chance to speak with detained Nobel laureate was ‘public relations’ move from military leaders
Myanmar’s former democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi appears to be in good physical and mental health but is living in near-complete isolation, her son has said after the first call with his 81-year-old mother in more than five years.
“She still sounds certainly all there mentally, and physically she sounds strong,” Kim Aris said. “I don’t think she has anybody outside of the military or the police around her, so essentially she’s been held in solitary confinement from what I gather.”
Continue reading...Offenders still at large after shots fired from vehicle outside licensed premises in Loganholme
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Four people have been injured after a drive-by shooting outside a venue hosting a boxing event, including a 19-year-old woman who was shot in the head.
Queensland police Detective Inspector Ian Galpin said a group of people were gathered at the passenger drop-off zone outside Fitzy’s Loganholme, south of Brisbane, about 8.18pm on Saturday when a Mitsubishi pulled up.
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Kimi Antonelli has reflected on his chances of converting pole position into victory at the United States Grand Prix.
McLaren's Lando Norris was left to settle for P8 after a challenging Q3 in Austin, one place behind his team mate Oscar Piastri.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has praised Kimi Antonelli for his pole position lap at the Circuit of The Americas.
George Russell will start from sixth for the United States Grand Prix while his team mate Kimi Antonelli claimed pole.
Ferrari topped all three Practice sessions in Texas, but it was Mercedes and Kimi Antonelli who denied Max Verstappen a third-straight pole position this season.
Kimi Antonelli was unbeatable in Qualifying for the United States Grand Prix, with the Italian sealing pole position for the seventh time in 2026.
DanÅke Carlsson posted a photo:
CLEVELAND (ANP/AFP) - De voormalige Amerikaanse president Barack Obama heeft tijdens een rally voor Democratische kandidaten voor de midtermverkiezingen in Ohio en Michigan ernstige kritiek geleverd op president Donald Trump.
Obama geeft Trump de schuld van de gestegen kosten voor levensonderhoud. Volgens hem heeft de huidige president een "aantal slechte beslissingen" genomen. "Het belangrijkste is dat hij een onnodige oorlog is begonnen waar niemand om heeft gevraagd."
"Na twee jaar chaos, wreedheid, corruptie en onbekwaamheid, krijg je de kans om te zeggen 'genoeg is genoeg'", zei Obama in Cleveland.
De oud-president nam het in Michigan ook op voor de islamitische Democraat Abdul El-Sayed, die kandidaat is voor een zetel in de Senaat. Trump noemde hem onder andere "een communistische loser die joden en Israël haat".
VANCOUVER (ANP) - Shorttracker Jens van 't Wout heeft bij de eerste wedstrijd in de World Tour in Vancouver goud gewonnen op de 500 meter. Hij bleef de Canadees Maxime Laoun en de Turk Furkan Akar voor.
Van 't Wout is de olympisch kampioen op de 1000 en de 1500 meter en op de aflossing. Op de Spelen in Milaan veroverde hij brons op de 500 meter.
Xandra Velzeboer behaalde zilver op de 1000 meter. De Zuid-Koreaanse Minjeong Choi won goud en de Italiaanse Gloria Ioriatti haalde brons.
Velzeboer is de olympisch kampioene op de 500 en 1000 meter en de regerend wereldkampioene op de 500 meter.
AUSTIN (ANP) - Max Verstappen is er in Austin niet in geslaagd voor de derde keer op rij poleposition te veroveren in de Formule 1. De viervoudig wereldkampioen van Red Bull moest in de kwalificatie voor de Grote Prijs van de Verenigde Staten alleen zijn meerdere erkennen in WK-leider Kimi Antonelli en veroverde de tweede startpositie. Verstappens teamgenoot Isack Hadjar en de Monegask Charles Leclerc van Ferrari vormen de tweede startrij.
Verstappen was in de kwalificatie voor de afgelopen GP's in Maleisië en Singapore wel de snelste. Na een moeizame start van het seizoen heeft de 29-jarige Nederlander de snelheid van de Red Bull gevonden. In Maleisië veroverde hij zijn eerste poleposition en overwinning van het seizoen, om dat een week later in Singapore te herhalen.
Verstappen is het hele weekend al snel in Texas. In de trainingen reed hij twee keer de tweede en een keer de derde tijd. Ook de Ferrari's maakten indruk, maar in de kwalificatie kwam dat er niet helemaal uit. De Italiaan Antonelli zette in de laatste kwalificatiesessie als eerste een goede tijd neer (1.34,035), waar Verstappen een kleine twee tienden op moest toegeven. In een tweede poging kwam geen enkele coureur meer aan die tijden. Verstappen kon pole vergeten na een foutje in zijn tweede run.
De viervoudig winnaar in Austin toonde zich ontevreden met het beslissende laatste deel van de kwalificatie. "Dit was niet wat ik wilde. Q1 en Q2 waren nog wel goed, maar Q3 niet. Ik had geen goede balans meer en gleed wat weg. Dit is niet hoe ik het wilde, maar ik heb alsnog P2. Daar doe ik het voor", zei Verstappen in het flashinterview.
Antonelli verwacht zondag een spannende strijd met Verstappen. "Richting de eerste bocht probeer ik de koppositie vast te houden en dan het tempo op te voeren, maar Verstappen is al het hele weekend snel", reageerde de Italiaan.
De race begint zondag om 21.00 uur op het Circuit of the Americas. In het WK leidt Antonelli met 340 punten. Om zondag al wereldkampioen te worden, moet de Mercedes-coureur winnen en moet zijn Britse teamgenoot George Russell niet meer dan 2 punten halen. Ook mag Lewis Hamilton dan niet hoger dan vijfde eindigen. Na de race in Austin volgen nog vijf grands prix.
The Guardian's Alexis Petridis with a top 20 of Leonard Cohen songs. But which of the tunes ranked by him made the cut? Waiting For The Miracle? Is that in there? What about Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye? And where did Hallelujah place?