Category World News

On Sunday, July 27, 2018, this is how things are going.

Fighting

• The administration of the region’s south in Russia reported on Sunday that falling debris from destroyed Ukrainian drones had an impact on train and rail power supplies in some areas of the Volgograd region. According to the administration, Governor Andrei Bocharov was quoted as saying on Telegram that there were no injuries as a result of the attacks.
• The Russian Ministry of Defense&nbsp reported that Russia had bombed 99 drones over 12 Russian regions, including the Crimean Peninsula and the Black Sea overnight.
• According to Ukrainian officials, Russia also launched a barrage of drones and missiles over the weekend that left three people dead in Dnipro and the surrounding area. The air force of Ukraine reported intercepting 183 drones and 17 missiles, but hits from 10 missiles and 25 drones were recorded in nine locations.
• According to the region’s governor, Oleg Melnichenko, drones have once more targeted Moscow, according to the city’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, and an industrial complex in the Penza oblast southeast of the capital. According to regional governor Alexander Khinshtein, two people were killed by Ukrainian drones in the Rostov region and another two were killed in the country’s Kursk region along its border.
• The Zelenyi Hai in the Donetsk region and Maliivka inside the Dnipropetrovsk region were declared by Russia’s defense ministry on Saturday, along with two additional villages in eastern Ukraine.
• A SBU security service official told the Reuters news agency that Ukrainian drones attacked a radio and electronic warfare equipment plant in Russia’s Stavropol region on Saturday night during a routine attack. Each production-related attack “slows down” production and weakens the military might of the enemy. The official told the agency, “This work will continue.” On Sunday, attacks on the plant continued.

Weapons and military assistance

• The Indian company Ideal Detonators Private Limited, which shipped $1.4 million worth of the explosive compound octogen to Russia in December, announced on Saturday that it complies with Indian regulations and that the cargo was intended for civilian industrial purposes. Financial institutions should not encourage any sales of the substance to Moscow, according to the US government, which has declared the compound to be “critical for Russia’s war effort.”

Diplomacy

• As the two former allies of the communist bloc try to strengthen ties following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia announced that it would launch direct passenger flights from Moscow to Pyongyang, North Korea’s capital, on Sunday. Russian aviation blogs report that regular flights between the capitals have been running since the mid-1990s after the 10-day Moscow-Pyongyang passenger rail service was resumed in June.
• Pope Leo and Metropolitan Anthony, a senior cleric in the Russian Orthodox Church, discussed the conflict in Ukraine on Saturday in an effort to sever ties between the two strained by Russia’s invasion.

Ceasefire

A large crowd gathered at a well-known Hindu temple in Uttarakhand, northern India, killing at least six people and injuring dozens more in a crush.

A high-voltage electric wire reportedly fell on a temple path in Haridwar city on Sunday, causing panic among the congregation.

Local police official Ritesh Saha, who spoke to The Times of India newspaper, claimed that the sight of the wire falling immediately sparked a panic and a desperate attempt to flee.

A senior government official in Uttarakhand, Vinay Shankar Pandey, confirmed the deaths. According to Indian media reports, hospital officials reported that one person died in the electrocution that followed, while another died in the stampede.

After the incident, police and emergency services arrived on the scene and immediately launched a rescue operation. According to officials, a nearby hospital transported about 35 injured people.

Pandey called The Associated Press news agency from Haridwar and said, “The situation is now under control.” However, “the panic had tragic repercussions.”

Authorities are looking into whether proper crowd control measures were in place and what caused the overhead wire to collapse. Millions of people visit the temple town annually.

Uttarakhand’s chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami posted on X: “It is very depressing to learn about a stampede on the way to the Mansa Devi Temple in Haridwar.”

In India, large crowds frequently gather at temples or pilgrimage sites, sometimes enraging the local infrastructure and security measures, at religious gatherings.

At least three people were killed and several others were hurt in a sudden crowd-surge at a Hindu festival in the coastal state of Odisha in June. Six people were killed in Goa, western India, the day before they were killed by thousands of people for a well-known fire-walking ritual.

Reinier de Ridder won the UFC Abu Dhabi title fight, defeating Robert Whittaker, who had previously won the title in the middleweight division, in a close fight at the Etihad Arena.

De Ridder (21) defeated the Australian by split decision to claim his third victory of 2025. Two of the three judges scored the 84-pound (185-pound) bout for de Ridder 48-47, while a third scored it 48-47 for Whittaker.

In a post-fight interview on Saturday, de Ridder said, “I don’t want to fight like this [Whittaker], man, this guy was too tough.” I anticipated having him down. He was extremely durable and tough. Heavy f****** hands”.

When Whittaker dropped the Dutchman with a right hand to the chin in the opening minute, he had to survive a brutal knockdown in round three.

De Ridder survived the attack, maintained his overall dominance in strikes (he landed 169 strikes overall, compared to 100 for Whittaker, according to official UFC statistics), and rallied to win the final two rounds by repeatedly slamming the 34-year-old with repeated knees to the body and constant grappling.

There was little to break the pair apart throughout the five-round fight. The split decision was reflected in the contest’s closeness when the final bell rang.

De Ridder won the Ultimate Fighting Championship for the fourth time in his Ultimate Fighting career. In addition to his five most recent fights, Whittaker (29-7) has now lost three straight.

De Ridder, who is 13th overall going into the Whittaker fight, requested a title shot after winning the middleweight championship match between Dricus Du Plessis and Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 319 on August 16.

It would be better if I faced Khamzat [Chimaev] or Dricus [Du Plessis] because I want to finish a man in the first round. Give me a title shot.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan defeated Marcus McGhee unanimously in the co-main event. Yan outperformed his rival in terms of takedowns, significant strikes, and total strikes.

The West Africans won the 2025 edition with a record-extending 10th title in 13 different competitions, or “Mission X” as they called their efforts, thanks to the triumph in Rabat on Saturday.

Morocco, who had a lead after 24 minutes but only conceded three more, suffered their second straight final defeat.

Esther Okoronkwo scored the first goal, the second, the second, and Echegini’s stunning free kick that the home crowd was waiting for.

Morocco opened the scoring after 12 minutes as Nigeria conceded for the first time in open play at the 21, 000-seat Stade Olympique in the capital thanks to a jubilant crowd.

Nigeria had a number of chances to clear the ball, but Chebbak’s perfectly placed, rising shot prevented goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie from getting the ball.

The lead doubled 12 minutes later when Sanaa Mssoudy, who had been a goalkeeper for five games, fired a low shot into the far corner of the net to end a five-game goal drought.

In the opening half, Nigeria had more possession than the host nation, but Khadija Er-Rmichi, the team’s goalkeeper, was unaffected.

After a VAR review revealed a Folashade Ijamilusi cross striking Nouhaila Benzina’s hand, Okoronkwo converted Er-Rmichi for a penalty after the Moroccan lead halved after 64 minutes.

The team equalized seven minutes later when Ijamilusi pushed the pull-back into the net from close range after the goal had lifted the pressure of the increasingly assertive Nigeria.

FOR THE TENTH TIME, CHAMPIONS OF AFRICA! 🏆🇳🇬

Tell your neighbors, and tell everyone else that Super Falcons once more rule the world! #MORNGA #Champions #WAFCON2024 #MissionX #SoarSuperFalcons #WAFCON2024 twitter.com/tiUQZleMEy

After drawing 1-1 in the regular-time playoffs in Casablanca, Ghana came out on top of the table and won a penalty shootout 4-3 over South Africa.

After South Africa saved two subpar spot kicks in a row to give Ghana the lead, 19-year-old Nancy Amoh converted the winning penalty with a low shot into the net.

South Africa took the lead after 45 minutes when Ghana goalkeeper Cynthia Konlan made a blunder and Nonhlanhla Mthandi headed it into the net.

On 68 minutes, persistent Ghanaian pressure finally paid off with an assist from Andile Dlamini, a long-serving South Africa shotstopper, and an Alice Kusi header that hit the crossbar.

The Black Queens’ victory in the group stage was especially sweet because they were outplayed when they lost to Banyana Banyana (The Girls) with a score of 2-0.

South Africa has lost four of its five bronze medal games while Ghana has won the four third-place playoffs they were eligible for.