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Indonesia's defence minister ‌met Pakistan's air force chief in Islamabad to discuss a potential deal that ‌includes the sale of combat ‍jets and killer drones to Jakarta, three security officials with knowledge of the meeting Monday said.The talks come ⁠as Pakistan's defence industry moves forward with a ⁠series of defence procurement negotiations, including deals with Libya's National Army and Sudan's army, and ‍looks to establish itself as a sizeable regional player.Indonesia's Defence Ministry confirmed the meeting between Defence Minister Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin and Pakistan's Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu."The meeting focused on discussing general defence co-operation relations, including strategic dialogue, strengthening communication between defence institutions, and opportunities for mutually beneficial co-operation in various fields in the long term," defence ministry spokesperson Brigadier General Rico Ricardo Sirait told Reuters, adding the talks had not yet led to concrete ‌decisions.One source said the talks revolved around the sale of JF-17 jets, a multi-role combat aircraft jointly developed by Pakistan and China, and killer drones designed for surveillance and striking targets. The other two ‍sources said the talks were in an ⁠advanced stage and ‌involved more than 40 JF-17 jets. One of them said Indonesia was also interested in Pakistan's Shahpar drones.The sources did not share any discussions about delivery timelines and the number of years a proposed deal would span.The Pakistani military's public relations wing did not immediately respond to a request for comment.One additional security source with knowledge of military procurement talks said Pakistan was discussing the sale of JF-17 Thunder jets, air defence systems, training for junior, mid-level, and senior Indonesian air force officials, and engineering staff."The Indonesia deal is in the pipeline," retired Air Marshal Asim Suleiman, who remains briefed on air force deals, told Reuters, adding that the ​number of JF-17 jets involved ‌was close to 40.Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto was in Pakistan last month for a two-day visit for talks on improving bilateral ties, including ⁠defence.Indonesia has put in a slew ‍of orders for jets in the past few years, including 42 French Rafale jets worth $8.1bn in 2022 and 48 KAAN fighter jets from Turkey last year to strengthen its air force and replace its ageing air force fleet.Jakarta has also considered buying China's J-10 fighter jets and is in talks to purchase US-made F-15EX jets.Interest in the Pakistani ​military's weapons development programme has surged since its jets were deployed in a short conflict with India last year.The JF-17s have been at the centre of that growing attention, figuring in a deal with Azerbaijan and the $4bn weapons pact with the Libyan National Army. Pakistan is also eyeing a defence pact with Bangladesh that could include the Super Mushshak training jets and JF-17s, as ties improve with Dhaka.Reuters has also reported that Islamabad was in talks with Riyadh for a defence deal that could be worth between $2bn and $4bn and involves the ⁠conversion of Saudi loans into military supplies. 

The Wildlife Development Department at the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change has organised an on-site environmental field activity to disperse large quantities of wild plant seeds in Rawdat Umm Al-Sahanat in the Al-Kaaban area, using drones, with the contribution of Q Dron, a leading company in drone applications.The drones, equipped with GPS and smart spraying technologies, dispersed a total of 5,000 local seeds, including wild sidr, Qatari ghaf, salam, and samar trees. These seeds were collected from the same environment, then treated and coated with a natural, biodegradable organic material that ensures their protection and enhances germination upon contact with the soil. The drones distributed the seeds evenly and accurately across the Rawda (wild meadow), as part of the ministry's ongoing efforts to enhance natural vegetation cover and combat desertification.Dr Dhafi Heedan, assistant director of the Wildlife Development Department, explained that this step comes as part of a package of national initiatives adopted by the ministry to support the rehabilitation of degraded Rawdas and to increase vegetation cover, relying on innovative and environmentally friendly technological solutions.He noted that the use of drone technologies and artificial intelligence represents one of the most prominent future approaches to accelerating cultivation processes and restoring ecological balance in terrestrial areas, adding that this is one of the most important and prominent strategic projects of the department, contributing to expanding green areas and combating desertification in the country.Dr Heedan also thanked Q Dron for this voluntary initiative and its effective contribution to environmental protection efforts and the sustainability of natural resources, calling on all entities and the private sector to adopt similar initiatives that contribute to achieving Qatar’s national objectives and its international environmental commitments.Similarly, Hamad Rashid al-Ward, director of Q Dron, lauded the ongoing co-operation with the ministry, praising the advanced national environmental efforts in the country. He affirmed that the initiative was implemented entirely voluntarily by the company, in support of the state’s environmental goals and in pursuit of localising environmental expertise and modern technologies in the field of biodiversity conservation.The organisers of the activity worked on identifying the appropriate site through field studies and used drones to disperse seeds over wide areas, taking into account appropriate timing during the rainy season, thereby enhancing the chances of natural germination and the success of environmental rehabilitation of the Rawda. 

Ukraine launched British Storm Shadow missiles and its domestically produced long-range drones to hit several Russian oil and gas facilities, Ukrainian military and security officials said Thursday.Ukraine has previously used the British-made missiles ⁠to attack Russian industrial targets ⁠that it says help Moscow's war.The Ukrainian General Staff said that the air force used Storm Shadow cruise missiles to strike the Novoshakhtinsk oil refinery in Russia's Rostov region."Multiple explosions were recorded. The target was hit," the General Staff said on the Telegram app Thursday.It said the refinery was one of the biggest oil product suppliers in southern Russia and was supplying diesel and jet fuel to the Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.Ukraine's SBU security service ⁠said that the locally made long-range drones hit oil product tanks in the Russian port of Temryuk in the Krasnodar region and a gas processing plant in Orenburg in southwestern Russia.The Orenburg gas processing plant, the largest facility of its kind in the world, is located about 1,400km (about 870 miles) from the Ukrainian border.In the Krasnodar region, Russian regional authorities said that two oil product tanks caught fire at the southern port of Temryuk after the drone attack.Flames covered an area of about 2,000sq ⁠m, authorities at the Krasnodar operational headquarters said on the Telegram app.As Russia's war in Ukraine approaches its four-year mark and diplomatic efforts to end it have so far failed to produce any tangible results, both Kyiv and Moscow have stepped up their drone and missile attacks on energy facilities.Kyiv has increased its strikes on Russia's oil refineries and other energy infrastructure since August as it seeks to cut Moscow's oil revenues, a key source of funding for its war effort.The Ukrainian General Staff also said that Ukrainian troops hit a military airfield in the Russian city ⁠of Maikop in the republic of Adygea in the North Caucasus region.

Qatar's Milaha Group, in collaboration with Italian shipbuilding giant Fincantieri, held a workshop today titled "Underwater Innovation Forefront: Submarines, Drones and Dual-Use Integrated Solutions for Sea Defence and Strategic Infrastructures Resilience". The workshop showcased the latest technologies in submarines, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), and autonomous underwater drones, highlighting applications for both defense and civilian purposes. Participants included officials and experts from Qatar's defense, energy, cybersecurity, and maritime sectors, as well as international representatives from Italy. Discussions focused on integrated command and control systems, dual-use solutions for maritime defense, and protection of strategic infrastructure, including undersea cables, energy platforms, and ports. The event also analyzed emerging threats to the maritime environment and explored advanced capabilities to ensure the reliability and continuity of offshore energy and critical infrastructure assets. Milaha Group CEO, Fahad bin Saad Al Qahtani, said the workshop aimed to analyze current threats to the maritime environment, present advanced technologies with defense and civilian applications, and strengthen cross-sector integration to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure. Al Qahtani emphasized Milaha's long-standing role in Qatar's maritime and energy sectors, noting that the company has been a strategic partner in national development since 1957 and continues to support the country's maritime and economic readiness. He described the collaboration with Fincantieri as a strategic step to combine Milaha's national expertise with Fincantieri's global capabilities in underwater systems and autonomous maritime platforms. Fincantieri presented its DEEP dynamic performance system during the workshop, an AI-powered integrated platform for underwater drones. The system, recently demonstrated at the Italian Navy's Support and Sea Trials Center in La Spezia, combines autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), early-warning sensors, launch and recovery solutions, and a dedicated management system to enable continuous monitoring and early threat detection in complex maritime environments. The workshop highlighted that 98% of global internet traffic relies on submarine cables, alongside power transmission systems that underpin national communications and energy security. Fincantieri emphasized its role as an underwater systems integrator, capable of designing, building, and operating all key components to bridge the gap between defense requirements and dual-use civilian applications. Rear Admiral Francesco Milazzo of the Italian Navy emphasized that the underwater domain is now a decisive arena requiring continuous innovation and synergies. He also highlighted the key role played by the Italian National Hub for Underwater (PNS - Polo Nazionale della Subacquea), as well as the Italian Navy's initiative to create a NATO Center of Excellence for the Underwater Domain. Meanwhile, Ambassador Massimo Marotti of the Italian National Cybersecurity Agency also highlighted the critical role of international cooperation and the partnership between governments and private players in addressing cyber risks that threaten underwater infrastructures.

The party of Pakistan's jailed former prime minister Imran Khan demanded a meeting with him Thursday, saying it was worried about his health as he has been barred from seeing his family and lawyers for over three weeks.Khan has been in jail since August 2023, serving a 14-year sentence on corruption charges, one of dozens of cases he says were made up in order for the army to keep him out of politics, a charge the military denies.Zulfikar Bukhari, spokesperson of Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, said no-one has seen Khan since November 4, and no reason had been given for not granting a meeting. Khan is being denied visits and medical support despite his status of a former prime minister."His health is our concern. We are worried about his illegal isolation," Bukhari told Reuters, demanding the government give Khan's family immediate access to him.Khan's family and party members have protested outside the jail in the garrison city of Rawalpindi in recent days demanding a meeting.A delegation from the party visited the prison to see Khan Thursday, but authorities again denied access, Bukhari said.Prison rules allow Khan to meet outsiders at least once a week, although prison authorities can suspend such access. There have been long gaps spanning weeks when Khan was not allowed to meet outsiders, the party said.Local media reported that the 73-year-old former international cricketer might be moved to a high-security prison to make meeting him more challenging.Khan's status has become a talking point on social media and #WHEREISIMRANKHAN was trending on X Thursday.Pakistan's interior ministry did not respond to a request for comment.A jail official told Reuters that the former premier was in good health, and that he was not aware of any plans to move him to any other facility. He spoke on the condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the media.Khan, elected as prime minister in 2018, was ousted in 2022 through a controversial vote in parliament after he fell out with military generals, who play a significant role in making or breaking governments.His arrest in May 2023 sparked protests against the military nationwide, leading to a crackdown on the party.The party emerged as the single biggest in the 2024 election, but says that rigging robbed it of more seats to help other parties form a coalition government under Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.Sharif and his allies deny the charges. 

Russia launched a new barrage of drones and missiles at the Ukrainian capital Kyiv Tuesday, officials said, killing seven people, wounding 21, and disrupting electricity and heating systems as Ukraine raced to finalise a US-backed peace deal.President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces launched more than 460 drones and 22 missiles, their second major strike on Kyiv this month. The air force said it had downed most of the drones and around half of the missiles."The primary targets were the energy sector and everything that keeps normal life going," Zelenskiy said in a post on the Telegram app. As Russia hit Kyiv in several waves of attacks, diplomatic talks on ending the war gained some momentum.Ukrainian, European, and US officials have held several rounds of talks in recent days, and Ukraine Tuesday signalled support for the framework for a peace deal while stressing that sensitive issues needed to be fixed."What matters most now is that all partners move toward diplomacy together, through joint efforts. Pressure on Russia must deliver results," Zelensky said, urging uninterrupted weapons and air defence supplies to Kyiv.Zelensky said that four Russian drones had flown over Ukraine's neighbours Moldova and Nato-member Romania. Romania said it had scrambled fighter jets to track drones which breached its territory near the border with Ukraine.Romania shares a 650-km land border with Ukraine and has had drones breach its airspace and fragments fall onto its territory repeatedly since Russia began attacking Kyiv's ports across the Danube.Ukraine's Energy Ministry said Russian strikes had disrupted electricity supplies to more than 102,000 people in five Ukrainian regions.Tymur Tkachenko, the head of the military administration for the capital, said damage was recorded at 13 sites across Kyiv. Residential and commercial buildings and infrastructure were damaged.Kyiv city officials also said heating supplies across several districts in the capital were restricted. The weather is unseasonably warm with temperatures hovering at about 8 degrees Celsius."The Russians are deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure and housing. Cynical terror," Tkachenko said on Telegram.Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians despite having killed thousands of them since launching its invasion in 2022. It says civilian infrastructure such as energy supplies are legitimate targets to hurt Ukraine's ability to fight.Ukrainian officials also said that port and energy infrastructure were damaged in the Black Sea port of Odesa, where six people were injured.

Ukraine struck a heat and power station in the Moscow region Sunday with drones, triggering a major fire and cutting off heating for thousands in one of Kyiv's biggest attacks to date on a power station deep inside Russia.In the fourth year of the deadliest European conflict since World War Two, Russia has been pummelling Ukraine's electricity and heat infrastructure while Kyiv has up until now mostly focused on trying to knock out Russia's oil refineries, crude terminals and pipelines. But early Sunday, Ukrainian drones struck the Shatura Power Station, about 120km east of the Kremlin, Moscow region governor Andrei Vorobyov said.Video footage on Telegram showed balls of flames and black smoke rising into the night sky from the power station. Reuters was able to confirm the location, though not the date of the video. "Some of the drones were destroyed by air-defence forces. Several fell on the territory of the station.A fire broke out at the facility," Vorobyov said. Vorobyov said that backup power had been switched on and that mobile heating systems were being deployed to the area where the temperature was around freezing point. "All efforts are being taken to promptly restore heat supply," Vorobyov said. The town of Shatura has a population of about 33,000.One local resident said that there was no heating. Three transformers at the power station caught fire, the *Kommersant newspaper cited the emergencies ministry as saying. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.In recent weeks and months, there have been repeated power and heat outages in parts of Ukraine due to Russian attacks. Ukraine has tried to undermine Russia's war economy by targeting its oil revenues.Ukraine has also hit some power and heating installations in Ukrainian regions controlled by Russian forces and in Russian regions neighbouring Ukraine, but has thus far not inflicted major damage on electricity and heat stations serving Moscow and the surrounding region, which has a population of more than 22mn.Russia's defence ministry said Sunday it had downed 75 Ukrainian drones, including 36 over the Black Sea and several over the Moscow region. Russia's Vnukovo airport halted flights Sunday for about an hour before restoring them. The Shatura power station, one of Russia's oldest, was founded under Vladimir Lenin after the Bolshevik revolution, and used to run on peat. It now uses mostly natural gas.

Russia and Ukraine traded claims on Wednesday over the downing of military drones, as the conflict between the two countries continues unabated since Feb. 24, 2022. Ukrainian authorities said their air defense systems had shot down 61 Russian drones across northern, southern, and eastern regions of the country.Meanwhile, Russia's Ministry of Defense announced in a statement that its air defense forces had destroyed 40 Ukrainian drones over several areas during the previous night.Reports from both sides regarding the ongoing Russian military operation in Ukraine have frequently contradicted each other, particularly in terms of battlefield developments.

Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had killed 1,165 Ukrainian soldiers and shot down 116 drones. In a statement, the ministry reported strikes on Ukrainian positions across 147 locations along the front lines, claiming damage to armored vehicles, artillery systems, ammunition depots, and electronic warfare stations.It also said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure and railway cars used to transport Ukrainian troops to the Donbas region, as well as facilities involved in the production and launch of long-range drones and storage sites for unmanned boats.Since the start of the war on Feb. 24, 2022, both Russia and Ukraine have issued near-daily battlefield updates, often asserting gains or repelling attacks. These claims are difficult to independently verify due to the ongoing conflict.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine confirmed that a humanitarian convoy operated by the international organization came under attack by Russian drones while delivering aid to a frontline area in southern Ukraine. Matthias Schmale, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, strongly condemned the incident, saying that two World Food Programme (WFP) trucks were damaged after being struck by drones. He added that no casualties were reported among humanitarian personnel. Schmale emphasized that attacks targeting humanitarian operations represent a grave breach of international humanitarian law and could constitute war crimes, reiterating the need to ensure the safety of aid workers and civilians in conflict zones. He further noted that since the start of the conflict, humanitarian convoys have repeatedly encountered security risks while attempting to deliver vital assistance to areas near the frontlines.

Russia and Ukraine have each claimed to have intercepted dozens of drones overnight, in the latest exchange of aerial attacks in the war that has now entered its fourth year. Russia's Ministry of Defence said on Monday that its air defence systems had downed 103 Ukrainian drones across several regions. The ministry stated that 40 of the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were destroyed over the annexed Crimean Peninsula, 26 over the Astrakhan region, and 19 over the Black Sea. Additional drones were reported intercepted over the Rostov region (14), the Sea of Azov (2), and one each over Belgorod and Kalmykia. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force reported that its forces had shot down 69 out of 82 drones launched by Russia during an overnight assault targeting the country's north, east, and south. The type of drones used in the attacks was not specified by either side. Both nations have increasingly relied on drones for reconnaissance and long-range strikes, with drone warfare becoming a defining feature of the conflict. Since Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022, both sides have regularly issued claims of successful interceptions and repelled attacks. However, independent verification remains difficult due to the ongoing hostilities and limited access to frontline areas.

Russia and Ukraine exchanged reports of downing drones, in a continuation of the conflict between the two sides that has been ongoing since February 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defense reported Sunday that its air defense systems destroyed 32 Ukrainian drones overnight. For its part, Ukrainian authorities announced that, according to preliminary data, air defense forces downed 103 drones in the north, east, and south of the country. Since the beginning of the war, which has entered its fourth year, Russia and Ukraine have exchanged almost daily reports confirming that each side has repelled attacks from the other side, without verifying these data from an independent source, given the circumstances of the ongoing war.