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tightens sanctionsHaitians face arrest and deportation as US ends TPS protectionsCopper heads for record close as US and China compete for supplyIsraeli troops withdraw from Qalandiya camp after two-day raidHalf of England and all of Wales in drought after driest July on recordTyphoon Dolphin forces almost 260,000 to evacuate in southern JapanCanada offers concessions to avert 50 percent US tariffsUS reviews Chinese access to Nvidia chips in offshore data centresEU presses Meta and TikTok as Spain and Morocco reinforce CeutaFAA orders crack inspections on about 470 Boeing 737 MAX jetsUS urges Israel to ease Lebanon tensions as Rome talks continueChina vows countermeasures over Philippine actions at Scarborough ShoalIndia's nuclear-armed submarine accelerates arms race with PakistanSpain imposes border checks on travellers from Italy in Schengen rowPezeshkian rejects resignation calls as war promises go unmetMeta ordered to pay $567 million over harm to young usersSaudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan sign mutual defence pactAdnoc reports 15 ships hit in Hormuz as Iranian oil exports stallUS says Hormuz reopening deal is close as Iran presses for transit tollsWHO urges Ervebo trial as Congo's Ebola cases pass 4,000US economy sheds 23,000 jobs as hiring figures are revised downThree killed in strikes on Kyiv suburb as Russian forces press toward SlovianskHouthi strikes on Yemeni army camps spill over into Saudi ArabiaUN index puts global food prices at a three-year highOpenAI halts part of Astra development as Chinese model escapes UK sandboxBrain injuries dominate as Iranian strikes wound nearly 700 US troopsAI models design working bacteriophage genomesUS Senate passes Russia and Iran sanctions billUS intelligence links Russia to explosive drone at Leipzig airportIsraeli ministers press to resume Gaza offensiveTop US commander seeks off-ramp from Iran warStudent opens fire at Thai school, killing at least fiveChina's exports jump almost a quarter in JulyUN warns Sudan's war is closing schools for millionsUkraine halts Black Sea farm exports after strikes on OdesaDe la Espriella sworn in as Colombia's presidentUkrainian drones hit Wildberries warehouse deep inside RussiaChina's rare-earth exports fall as Beijing expands Bayan Obo mineOil falls on Hormuz hopes as gold ends week higherUS intelligence warns Russia may provoke NATOTrump signs orders restricting birthright citizenshipIran's nuclear programme slowed but not stopped, assessment findsTrump unveils minerals and battery deals to counter ChinaUS long-range missile stocks run low as Trump denies shortageSK Hynix to invest $38 billion in chip capacityYen gives back half its gains after US-Japan interventionChina overtakes US in research spendingVenezuela's government and opposition meet under US mediationUS-Saudi nuclear deal raises proliferation questionsTrump renews bid to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook after court setbackCuba paralysed by total blackouts as Washington tightens sanctionsHaitians face arrest and deportation as US ends TPS protectionsCopper heads for record close as US and China compete for supplyIsraeli troops withdraw from Qalandiya camp after two-day raidHalf of England and all of Wales in drought after driest July on recordTyphoon Dolphin forces almost 260,000 to evacuate in southern JapanCanada offers concessions to avert 50 percent US tariffsUS reviews Chinese access to Nvidia chips in offshore data centresEU presses Meta and TikTok as Spain and Morocco reinforce CeutaFAA orders crack inspections on about 470 Boeing 737 MAX jetsUS urges Israel to ease Lebanon tensions as Rome talks continueChina vows countermeasures over Philippine actions at Scarborough ShoalIndia's nuclear-armed submarine accelerates arms race with PakistanSpain imposes border checks on travellers from Italy in Schengen rowPezeshkian rejects resignation calls as war promises go unmetMeta ordered to pay $567 million over harm to young users
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Symbolic image: US intelligence links Russia to explosive drone at Leipzig airportSymbolic image

US intelligence links Russia to explosive drone at Leipzig airport

5 sources

US intelligence has tied the explosive-laden drone stopped at Leipzig/Halle airport on Tuesday night to Russia, the Wall Street Journal reports. German federal prosecutors are running a counterterrorism investigation.

What happened

  • A bus driver kicked the drone out of the air near the southern runway late on Tuesday, 4 August, CDU lawmaker Detlef Seif said.
  • Surveillance video shows it flew onto the site at 19.28 and landed on the apron, close to Ukrainian cargo planes, the F.A.Z. reports.
  • Security sources confirmed the explosives Semtex and PETN to dpa; several media report the drone carried a SIM card.
  • Leipzig/Halle is the main base of NATO's Salis airlift, which flies Antonovs to the alliance's eastern flank.

The view from outside

Reuters, carried by the South China Morning Post, stresses that authorities have still not said where the drone came from or how it entered a restricted part of the airport. The Financial Times frames the case as a hybrid-threat alarm.

What could happen next

  • Reports of a defective detonator remain unconfirmed; it is open whether an impact or a remote fuse was intended.
  • A SIM card would allow steering from abroad, so the operator's location and the route into the restricted zone stay unclear.
  • Berlin's coalition is split over centralising air security spread across more than 40 agencies; the Bundeswehr expects 19 Skyranger 30 vehicles by 2028.
How the camps see it

  • Germany: Interior minister Dobrindt points to "foreign powers", prosecutors treat it as a serious attack, and Chancellor Merz has convened the National Security Council.

  • Russia: The embassy in Berlin calls the case a hastily concocted provocation serving Kyiv, denies any hybrid attacks by Moscow and speaks of anti-Russian hysteria.

Also involved

United StatesUkraine

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