Why Japan says security threat is most ‘severe’ since World War IIThe security environment around Japan has become as severe and complex as it has ever been since the end of theSecond World War, the country’s latest defence report said, as it warned against growing defence coordination between Russia, North Korea and China.The assessment, outlined in Japan’s 2026 Defence White Paper, warned that “the possibility of serious situations” capable of shaking the post-war international order in East Asia “cannot be ruled out”.It added that a crisis similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could emerge in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in East Asia. The warnings came in an anime-style cover which Japan’s Ministry of Defence said was intended to convey a “futuristic image”.The image showed a smiling family in a gleaming cityscape rather than the troops, weapons and military insignia featured on many previous editions.James Reynolds4 August 2026 16:00Watch: Seven dead after Ukrainian drone strikes popular Russian beachSeven dead after Ukrainian drone strikes popular Russian beachJames Reynolds4 August 2026 15:25Russia says it hit Ukrainian military-linked vessels, port facilitiesRussia’s defence ministry claims its forces struck three vessels in the Ukrainian port of Mykolaiv and another in the Black Sea off Odesa that were being used “in the interests of the Ukrainian military”.In the port of Chornomorsk, Russian forces also struck a container terminal and a warehouse storing drones and drone components, it said.James Reynolds4 August 2026 15:25Ukraine accuses Russia of war crime after video shows drone hunting market vendorUkrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha on Tuesday accused Russia of committing a war crime after a video was released showing a drone chasing down and wounding a street vendor in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson.Footage released by Ukrainian police shows the drone pursuing an unidentified man around a van being used as a street stand before exploding after he dives for cover behind the vehicle.Police said the vendor, a man in his 50s, survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries.Reuters verified the location using buildings, the road layout and vegetation that matched satellite and archive imagery. The exact date could not be independently confirmed, but Ukrainian police and Sybiha said the incident occurred on Tuesday.In a post on Telegram, Sybiha said the attack formed part of a deliberate Russian campaign to intimidate civilians.“This barbaric Russian war crime in Kherson demands international condemnation and justice, but thousands of similar crimes never come to the public eye,” he said.The minister said the pilot of the Russian drone would have been aware they were targeting a civilian, branding them a “sadist”.Sybiha called for “a powerful defence and deterrence package for Ukraine, and reliable, guaranteed security”.Reuters4 August 2026 15:00Four killed by soldier during rampage in Russian-annexed CrimeaFour people have been killed in Russian-annexed Crimea after a soldier went on a rampage with a gun.The gunman opened fire on his fellow soldiers, killing one and wounding another, in an apparently random attack, the Moscow-installed governor Mikhail Razvozhayev said.He then went on to kill three civilians in Khmelnytske village, and injured three more, the local authorities said.The man, who has not been publicly identified, has since been detained, the governor said. Authorities are still working on a motive.It was unclear whether the death toll was expected to rise.James Reynolds4 August 2026 14:30’The world must see this’: Zelensky condemns Russian ‘drone safari’ pursuing civilian in KhersonUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday condemned what he called the deliberate targeting of civilians by Russian drones in Kherson.He said that “the world must see” the video circulating social media, showing a drone following an unidentified man selling vegetables before detonating.“Without pressure on Russia, the dismantling of its capacity for aggression, and real security guarantees, it is simply impossible to imagine the world being able to coexist with this evil,” he wrote in a post on X.“We must remain resolute in defending life. We must act and support life in ways that force Russia to seriously think about peace rather than expanding the range of its drones.”Police said the vendor, a man in his 50s, survived but suffered shock and shrapnel injuries. Reuters verified the location using buildings, the road layout and vegetation that matched satellite and archive imagery.The exact date could not be independently confirmed, but Ukrainian police and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said the incident occurred on Tuesday.James Reynolds4 August 2026 14:00Russia claims control of another Ukrainian villageRussia’s defence ministry says that troops have taken control of the village of Baksheivka in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region.The Independent could not independently confirm the battlefield report.James Reynolds4 August 2026 13:30In pictures: Rescuers work at a site of a Russian missile strike in Odesa on TuesdayA resident walks at a site of a Russian missile strike in Odesa (Reuters)A crater at a site of a Russian missile strike in Odesa on Tuesday (Reuters)Rescuers work at a site of a Russian missile strike (Reuters)James Reynolds4 August 2026 13:00UK awards £135 million torpedo weapons contract to BAE systemsBritain has awarded a £135 million contract to defence group BAE Systems to maintain and repair the Royal Navy’s torpedo weapons, the defence ministry said on Tuesday.The government said the three-year contract, part of the government’s defence investment plan, runs from July 2026 and will sustain around 315 jobs.James Reynolds4 August 2026 12:31Today: Ukraine strikes three warehouses across Russia, killing five, local officials sayUkrainian drones struck three warehouses across Russia overnight, including two run by online retailer Wildberries, killing five people, local officials said on Tuesday.Wildberries, which has become a frequent target of Ukrainian attacks – part of what Kyiv says is a campaign to bring the war home to ordinary Russians – said its warehouse near St Petersburg had caught fire but that there were no casualties.In the Tver region, to the northwest of Moscow, another Wildberries facility was damaged by drones, Vitaly Korolyov, the acting regional governor said. Nobody was hurt in that attack.But in the Moscow region, home to 22 million people, a drone attack on the city of Chekhov set an unnamed warehouse alight and killed five people, the governor, Andrei Vorobyov, said. A further 10 people were injured.Kyiv has sought to disrupt the operations of Wildberries, which is often described as Russia’s answer to Amazon and is a linchpin of the consumer economy.James Reynolds4 August 2026 12:00
