By the end of this decade, drones could hunt criminals and deliver medical supplies.

According to government plans, drone couriers could be a permanent fixture in two years.

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Ministers also expect driverless flying taxis to be able to charge their first fares by 2030.

Drones are already being used by West Midlands Police to tackle violent crime and anti-social behaviour.

Last year, a drone helped police identify three suspects at a speed and distance that would have exceeded officers on the ground.

Meanwhile, victims of cardiac arrest must be saved by defibrillators dropped next to them by drones.

The Scottish Ambulance Service will run simulations in Edinburgh after a similar scheme in Sweden was a success and saved his first life in 2021.

The Department for Transport has unveiled its plan for how regulations and infrastructure will support the new technology.

The Future of Flight Action Plan will change existing visual line of sight rules for drone pilots and convert smaller airports into launch and landing sites.

Minister for Aviation and Technology Anthony Browne said: “We are ensuring Britain is at the forefront of this shift in transport, improving lives and boosting the economy.”

The Civil Aviation Authority said aviation may be “on the cusp of the greatest revolution since the jet engine”.

Drone technology could boost the economy by £45 billion by 2030.

The US has launched a devastating wave of airstrikes against Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Iraq and Syria in retaliation for the drone strike that killed three US troops.

Multiple long-range bombers and drones hit 85 targets with 125 bombs during the widespread military operation ordered by President Joe Biden on Friday.

The president said the attacks will continue “at times and places of his choosing” and warned militias in the Middle East: “If you harm an American, we will respond.”

Two two B-1 bombers flew from the US for the mission and hit multiple targets linked to the IRGC and Iranian-backed militias, including command and intelligence centers and areas where missiles and drones were stored.

Shocking images from Al-Qaim, an Iraqi border town, showed rockets flying from a munitions factory believed to have been hit by US bombers at midnight local time.

The massive operation is the first by the US to hit back after the deadly attack by Iranian-backed militias on the Tower 22 base near Jordan's borders with Syria and Iraq on Sunday.

Sergeant William Jerome Rivers, 46, Specialist Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, and Specialist Breonna Moffett, 23, were killed and dozens of troops were injured in the attack that raised further tensions in the Middle East.

President Joe Biden ordered the attacks just hours after attending the dignified transfer ceremony for their remains at Dover Air Force Base.

He held his hand over his heart as he watched their flag-draped coffins being carried across the tarmac after returning to their home turf.

Shortly after the solemn ceremony ended, he authorized the massive response he had been threatening for days.

“Last Sunday, three American soldiers were killed in Jordan by a drone launched by militant groups backed by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC),” Biden said on Friday.

“Earlier today I attended the dignified return of these brave Americans to Dover Air Force Base and spoke with each of their families.

“This afternoon, at my direction, U.S. forces targeted facilities in Iraq and Syria that the IRGC and affiliated militias use to attack U.S. forces.

“Our response started today. It will take place at times and places of your choice. The United States does not seek conflict in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world.

“But let anyone who wants to harm us know this: If you harm an American, we will respond.”

It is unclear what the next steps will be and when they will occur, or whether the days of U.S. warnings have caused militia members to disperse and go into hiding.

But the recent statement by Kataeb Hezbollah, one of the main Iranian-backed militias, suspending attacks on US forces did not affect the government's plans to retaliate.

National Security Council John Kirby said the response to the deadly drone attack will be “layered” and “potentially include multiple actions over time.”

“At 4:00 p.m. EST on February 2, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces conducted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force and affiliated militias,” U.S. Central Command said in a statement declaration. .

“US forces struck more than 85 targets, with numerous aircraft, including long-range bombers, flown from the United States.

'The air strikes used more than 125 precision munitions.

“The facilities affected included command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets and missiles, and unmanned vehicle warehouses, and logistics and munitions supply chain facilities of militia groups and their IRGC sponsors that facilitated attacks on U.S. and coalition forces. .'

By Perkin Amalaraj and Will Stewart

Published: 03:56 EST, January 21, 2024 | Updated: 12:11 EST, January 21, 2024

Furious Houthi rebels today vowed that Britain and the US will ‘pay a heavy price’ for bombing their territory in Yemen – but they would have to rely on a ‘lucky strike’ on coalition ships if they want to do real damage military experts have said.

British and US fighter jets and warships launched more than 100 missiles at more than 60 targets in Houthi-held territory in Yemen, with the attacks hitting an airbase, airports and a military camp, marking a dramatic escalation of the war in the Central resulted in the East.

In response, Houthi rebel leaders have vowed to retaliate and warned Britain and the US to “prepare to pay a high price,” saying their response is “beyond the West’s imagination ‘.

Admiral Lord West, the former First Sea Lord, and Charlie Herbert, a former British Army general, told MailOnline that the rebels will only be able to ‘respond with more of the same’ by firing drones and missiles at ships fire.

But they say that in reality it must be so ‘cynical’ about the extent of damage Houthis can inflict on allies and commercial shipping in the region, given the proven capabilities of British and US naval forces in shooting down rebel-fired missiles.

This was illustrated on Tuesday when HMS Diamond and US warships shot down 21 drones and missiles fired by the Houthis in their biggest attack yet, Admiral Lord West said.

However, Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society think tank, says there is a chance the rebels will inflict devastating damage and kill dozens of people as a result of a “lucky strike” using anti-ship ballistic missiles on ships in the Red Sea. Sea.

“Houthi attacks would target US and British assets in the region, mainly naval bases, although both countries of course also have static military bases that could be attacked,” Mendoza told MailOnline.

“However, as we have seen this week with the interdiction of Houthi drones and missiles by the British and American naval forces, our capabilities far exceed theirs. However, there is always a chance of damage from a lucky attack, or some other form of naval attack that is not anticipated,” Mendoza said.

Admiral Lord West agrees, saying: ‘Maybe they’ll get lucky and hit one of the ships in the Red Sea. If we had not shot down the rockets on Tuesday, hundreds would have been killed.”

The experts all say the Houthi rebels will now respond by launching more missiles at ships transiting the Red Sea, which could have more devastating consequences for global trade.

Mendoza said: “The biggest threat the Houthis pose remains to shipping passing through one of the world’s crucial trade areas. If they increase activities targeting ships entering the Red Sea, it will have a dramatic effect on global trade, and could also lead to loss of life and environmental disasters.”

Charlie Herbert a former Major General of the British Army who served Afghanistan,
agrees.

“There’s not much the Houthis can do in retaliation except fire more drones at ships transiting the Red Sea or hijack the ships,” Herbert said.

‘They will continue to do more of the same with more attacks. The US and Britain have few options to strike because we cannot let Iran and its allies close commercial shipping lanes.”

William Freer, our Research Fellow in National Security at Geostrategy, said that while there could be a ‘lucky strike’, it is not likely against the Allies’ advanced air defenses.

Freer said: ‘The Houthis have vowed retaliation, they have large stockpiles of drones and missiles to launch more numerous attacks on civilian shipping (although we don’t know how deep), but their weapons are unlikely to be able to overcome the British’s advanced air defenses will overwhelm. and American warships in the region.”

Lord Admiral West said that if the rebels fire more missiles at ships in the region, Britain and the US should launch further attacks on Houthi-run territory in Yemen to destroy their capabilities.

“We need to expand the locations we target,” said Lord Admiral West. ‘It’s a bit tit for tat, they have to realize that what they are doing is wrong. Their grandeur is popular in Yemen, but their attacks are not only against Israel, but also against world shipping.”

Meanwhile, Lord Admiral West said Houthi rebels could decide to launch terror attacks, but their geographical location would make this difficult for them.

It comes as Downing Street today dismissed scathing criticism from Turkey that British and US airstrikes on Houthi rebel targets in Yemen caused a ‘bloodbath’ in the Red Sea, amid fears the strikes could lead to a wider spread of violence in the Middle East.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan angrily condemned the strikes in a statement this morning, accusing Britain and the US of turning the Red Sea into a “sea of ​​blood”.

But a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak snapped back: “We don’t agree with that. These were limited and targeted attacks in response to aggression.

“We acted in self-defense in accordance with Article 51 of the UN Charter,” she concluded, tight-lipped.

NATO today came to the defense of its members, saying the US-led attacks were aimed at protecting shipping through the Red Sea and urging Iran to “rein in its allies.”

“These attacks were defensive and intended to preserve freedom of navigation on one of the world’s most vital waterways. The Houthi attacks must end,” said Dylan White, a spokesman for the Western military alliance.

Britain and America launched sea and air strikes in response to months of disruptive attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea by the Houthis, forcing a coalition of countries including Britain and the US to deploy warships to to protect them.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he believed the attacks would damage the Iranian-backed group’s capabilities.

“We have been working with allies to carry out a series of attacks that, we believe, will degrade and disrupt capabilities – the kinds of things we have been targeting – missile and drone launch sites,” Sunak told reporters at the press conference. a visit to Ukraine.

“The first indications are that those attacks have been successful… Our goal is very clear: to de-escalate tensions and restore stability in the region,” he added.

The Houthis have been attacking shipping at the mouth of the Red Sea – one of the world’s busiest trade routes – since October. The move is in support of Hamas terrorists fighting Israeli forces, they say.

More than a dozen locations were bombed overnight by Western forces in attacks that included submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles and fighter jets.

The attacks hit the Al-Dailami air base north of Sanaa, the airport in the port city of Hodeida, a camp east of Saada, the airport in the city of Taiz and an airfield near Hajjah, Al-Masirah news channel said.

Four of Britain’s RAF Typhoons used Paveway IV guided bombs to ‘conduct precision strikes’ on two targets chosen to ‘reduce the Houthis’ ability to violate international law’. They were assisted by an RAF Voyager tanker aircraft.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the airstrikes also targeted sites linked to the Houthi’s unmanned drone, ballistic and cruise missile, coastal radar and air surveillance capabilities.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to unleash his country’s “wrath” on Vladimir Putin’s forces after Russia launched a wave of drone strikes on Ukraine in the early hours of New Year’s Day.

Ukraine announced it had destroyed a record number of Russian-launched Iranian-made Shahed kamikaze drones, downing 87 of 90.

In Odesa, one died and nine were injured when a fire broke out when debris from a Russian drone hit a high-rise building.

Zelensky said in his televised New Year’s address to Ukraine that Russia would soon face the “wrath of domestic production.”

Ukraine will have at least “one million” additional drones in its arsenal next year, Zelensky added, as well as F-16 fighter jets supplied by its Western partners.

“Our pilots already master the F-16 jets, and we will certainly see them in our skies,” he said.

Port infrastructure was damaged after explosions caused a fire, said Nataliya Humenyuk, spokeswoman for Ukraine’s Southern Armed Forces.

Odesa’s rebel mayor Gennady Trukhanov blasted Russia for staging an attack on Ukraine as the new year approached.

“They say how you celebrate the new year is how you will spend it,” he said.

“Well, this year Ukraine will break this rule.

“We will stand and we will win, because we have justice and God on our side.”

In the village of Belogorscha near Lviv, there was damage by Shahed drones to the Roman Shukhevych Memorial Museum as a result of a Russian attack.

Shukhevych had commanded the Nachtigall Battalion, a volunteer unit operating under the command of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN), as a sub-unit under the command of the German Abwehr special operations.

University dormitories were hit and destroyed in Dublyany, near Lviv.

“Tonight the enemy struck two places of national memory in Lviv: Dublyany University, where [Ukrainian nationalist] Stepan Bandera studied 100 years ago, and the Roman Shukhevych Museum. Symbolic and cynical. A war for our history,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.

In the Kharkiv region, Russia struck with four S-300 anti-aircraft guided missiles, three Kh-31P anti-radar missiles and one Kh-59, Ukrainian sources said.

In Russian-held Donetsk, pro-Moscow leader Denis Pushilin reported four deaths and 13 injuries.

A military correspondent was reported to have been killed.

The Russian side claimed that 15 MLRS missiles had arrived.

As New Year’s Day arrived, explosions were heard again in the Kiev-controlled city of Kherson.

Air raid sirens were in force in the Volyn, Rivne, Lviv and Ternopil regions of Ukraine.

According to the capital’s military administration, the number of victims of the rocket attack on Kiev on December 29 has risen to 27.

The rescue operation continues and today the city has declared a day of mourning.

Putin’s barrage against Russia came as he delivered a New Year’s speech in which he claimed his troops were “heroes.”

“I would like to address our military personnel – all those who are on duty, who are on the front lines fighting for truth and justice,” he said.

‘You are our heroes. Our hearts are with you. We are proud of you and admire your courage.

“I am well aware that you now feel the love of those closest to you, the strong, sincere support of millions of Russian citizens, the support of the entire people.”

He claimed that “the most important thing that has united us is the destiny of the motherland.”

And he suggested that the Russians were distinguished by “grace.”

“We are united in our thoughts, tasks and in the struggle, both at work and on days off, showing the main characteristics of the Russian people: solidarity, mercy and determination,” he said in his shortest New Year’s speech in four years.

Despite billions of dollars in Western weapons, Ukraine struggled to make a major breakthrough in its 2023 counter-offensive against invading Russian forces.

Moscow, meanwhile, has increased pressure along the frontlines, seizing the eastern town of Marinka earlier in December and pushing for control of Kupiansk in the northeast.

Ukraine is urging Western allies to maintain military support.

Britain announced it would send hundreds more air defense missiles to Kiev after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We must continue to support Ukraine – for as long as it takes.”

Kim Jong Un has called for an “overwhelming” war readiness as he announced a military build-up and said he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea.

The North Korean leader lashed out at America in lengthy remarks on Sunday, capping five days of ruling party meetings that set economic, military and foreign policy goals for the coming year.

“Due to the enemies’ reckless attempts to invade us, it is a fait accompli that war could break out on the Korean Peninsula at any time,” he said, according to state news agency KCNA.

Kim pledged to launch three new spy satellites by 2024, build more military drones and expand his nuclear arsenal, which analysts say could already contain 20 to 60 nuclear warheads, if not more.

“The grave situation requires us to accelerate work to acquire overwhelming war response capabilities and thorough and perfect military preparedness to suppress any provocation by the enemies in one fell swoop,” Kim said.

North Korea already has one spy satellite in orbit, which was launched in November.

In July, the reclusive country unveiled two new types of military drones, which the Stimson Center said closely resembled the large US Global Hawk and the medium US Reaper. 38 North.

At this week’s meeting, Kim said he would no longer seek reconciliation and reunification with South Korea, noting the “ongoing, uncontrollable crisis situation” he said was caused by Seoul and Washington.

“I believe it is a mistake we should no longer make to regard the people who declare us as the ‘main enemy’… as a counterpart to reconciliation and unification,” KCNA quoted Kim as saying.

“North-South relations are no longer a kinship or homogeneous relationship, but have completely become a relationship between two hostile countries, two belligerents at war,” he said, calling the South a colonized state completely dependent on the United States for national defense and security. .

He ordered the military to prepare to “pacify the entire territory of South Korea,” including with nuclear bombs if necessary, in response to an attack.

Kim’s speech comes ahead of a year that will see crucial elections in both South Korea and the United States.

Experts predict North Korea will continue a campaign of military pressure around the U.S. presidential election in November, which could see the return of former President Donald Trump, who exchanged both threats and historic diplomacy with Kim.

“Pyongyang may be waiting for the US presidential election to see what its provocations can get the country in the next administration,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Women’s University in Seoul.

President Joe Biden’s administration says it is open to talks but imposed new sanctions as North Korea pushed ahead with more missile tests banned under United Nations sanctions.

Since last year, Kim’s military has tested more than 100 ballistic missiles, many of them nuclear weapons, aimed at the US mainland in violation of UN bans.

The US has also stepped up exercises and deployed more military assets, including nuclear-armed submarines and large aircraft carriers, near the Korean Peninsula.

Kim said the return of such weapons has completely transformed South Korea into a “forward military base and nuclear arsenal” of the United States.

“If we look closely at the confrontational military actions of the enemy forces… the word ‘war’ has become a realistic reality and not an abstract concept,” Kim said.

Kim said he has no choice but to pursue his nuclear ambitions and forge deeper ties with other countries that oppose the United States. North Korea has close ties with both China and Russia.

“North Korea is preparing for a further escalation of tensions with Washington and Seoul for at least a year or more, and its hardline policies are likely to be accompanied by attempts at dialogue, including in the run-up to the US elections,” said Yang Uk. This was said by an analyst at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies.

“Kim is building on his success with the spy satellite to do three more, because he knows satellite capabilities are a powerful targeting tool for better nuclear command and control.”

South Korea will hold parliamentary elections in April that could impact the domestic and foreign agenda of conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol, who has maintained an aggressive stance toward Pyongyang.

South Korea’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) warned on Thursday that “there is a high probability that North Korea will carry out unexpected military provocations or conduct a cyber attack in 2024, when fluid political situations are expected with the elections.”

North Korea says it successfully launched its first military spy satellite in the past year and tested new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), believed to have the range to deliver a nuclear warhead anywhere in the United States to deliver.

A new reactor at North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear complex appears to be operating for the first time, the U.N. nuclear watchdog and independent experts said this month, providing an additional potential source of plutonium for nuclear weapons.

North Korea has not tested a nuclear weapon since 2017, but has taken steps to resume operations at its test site in recent years.

Kim said further military development will take place in 2024, including strengthening nuclear and missile forces, building unmanned drones, expanding the submarine fleet and developing electronic warfare capabilities.

The fleet of spy satellites would be the North’s first such capability.

That successful launch in November was preceded by two failed attempts last year when the new Chollima-1 rocket crashed into the sea.

The move increased regional tensions and led to new sanctions from the US, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Pyongyang has not yet released images of the new satellite, leaving analysts and foreign governments to debate its capabilities.

The apparent success also came after Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged to help North Korea build satellites.

South Korean officials said Russian help likely made a difference in the mission’s success, although experts said it was unclear how much help Moscow could have provided.

John Legend spent his 45th birthday playing drones with his wife Chrissy Teigen and their two eldest children Luna, seven, Miles, five, in Washington Square Park.

As the family stepped out to celebrate the superstar turning another year older, the All of Me singer appeared to be having a blast with his little ones, who were bundled up in padded black jackets and hats.

Teigen, 38, was every bit the doting wife as she stood next to her husband and walked arm in arm with him down the sidewalk to the public park in Lower Manhattan.

Between throwing a football around and flying drones, the cookbook author was spotted laughing.

For their relaxing outing, the mother of four wore an off-the-shoulder puffer jacket, leggings and $1,750 Prada boots.

The birthday boy looked warm in a beige puffer jacket with an off-white turtleneck, matching trousers and white sneakers.

Luna looked absolutely adorable in a graphic Moschino T-shirt with a teddy bear on it and her curly brown hair in pigtails.

Meanwhile, her brother wore a hoodie with cars on it and pants with racing stripes on the side.

The couple also share a son named Wren Alexander, born June 19, and daughter Esti, 11 months.

The model and Legend first met in 2006 while working on a music video shoot, and they subsequently got engaged in 2011.

Earlier this week, Luna was spotted visiting 30 Rockefeller Plaza with her parents.

On Christmas Day, their son Miles was scheduled to attend the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden.

On Boxing Day, Legend took their two oldest children back to play soccer in the park.

The happy couple waited two years before holding a wedding ceremony in Italy.

Teigen and her husband started their family with the birth of their daughter Luna, seven, in April 2016, and welcomed Miles two years later.

The couple planned to welcome a third child in 2020, although the author had to have an abortion to save her life.

The two welcomed Esti last January and surprised many of their fans with the arrival of Wren via surrogate five months later.