Britain and Ukraine are set to sign a defence partnership aimed at addressing the threat of low-cost drones, Downing Street announced ahead of a visit from Ukraine’s leader on Tuesday.

Since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran late last month, Tehran has mainly used ballistic missiles to attack Israel but has relied on drones to strike targets in Gulf states.

The UK-Ukraine agreement will “boost global defensive capability against the proliferation of low-cost, high-tech military hardware, including drones”, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said in a statement.

It seeks to leverage Ukraine’s “expertise” in fending off drones from its years-long war with Russia, as well as Britain’s industrial base, “to manufacture and supply drones and innovative capabilities”.

“Drones, electronic warfare and rapid battlefield innovation are now central to national and economic security, and that has only been further magnified by the conflict in the Middle East,” Starmer said in the statement.

“By deepening our defence partnerships, we are strengthening Ukraine’s ability to defend itself from Russia’s brutal, ongoing attacks, while ensuring the UK and our allies are better prepared to meet the threats of the future.”

The deal would also provide 500,000 pounds ($670,000) to fund an “AI Centre of Excellence” to be integrated into the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to London on Tuesday comes after he expressed concerns that global attention on the Middle East conflict could overshadow Ukraine’s war with Russia.

Ukraine’s European allies have vowed to keep up their support for Kyiv after Washington partly rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices sent soaring by the Middle East war.

• Security tightened, investigation underway in Maiduguri.
• Multiple blasts hit post office, market, hospital, and Kaleri.
• Security say attacks follow pattern of Boko Haram insurgency.

MAIDUGURI: At least 23 people were killed and 108 injured in suspected multiple suicide-bomb attacks in Maiduguri city, capital of Nigeria’s insurgency-hit northeastern state of Borno, the state police command said in a statement late on Monday.

Borno is at the heart of Nigeria’s extremist insurgency for the past 17 years, which has claimed thousands of lives and displaced 2 million people.

The first blast went off at a post office in the city centre and was immediately followed by another at the popular Monday market nearby, two security sources and three Maiduguri residents told Reuters on Monday.

One blast hit the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and another struck the eastern neighbourhood of Kaleri, all in the early evening of Monday.

“Preliminary investigation reveals that the incidents were carried out by suspected suicide bombers,” the state police said in the statement, without saying who was responsible.

Police said normalcy had been restored and security forces had tightened patrols across the city to prevent further attacks, adding that an investigation into the circumstances of the attack was underway.

Security analysts said the attacks had the hallmarks of insurgent group Boko Haram, which together with Daesh West Africa Province, has been escalating attacks against the Nigerian military in Borno.

Maiduguri is among the safest cities in Borno state but at least five worshippers were killed and 35 others injured on Christmas Eve last year when a suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive inside a mosque.

Besides the insurgency in the northeast, militants have also been expanding in the northwest of the country, where bandit gangs have caused havoc through kidnappings and attacks on communities and schools.

The United States carried out air strikes in Nigeria’s northwest in December and has begun deploying a small number of troops to train Nigerian forces confronting militants.

A new national survey suggested that the United States citizens’ attitudes towards Israel have worsened significantly in recent years, largely driven by increasingly negative opinions among Democrats and independent voters, Fox News reported.

The poll, conducted by NBC News, comes at a time when support for Israel has become a contentious issue within the Democrats, more than two years after the outbreak of the Israel–Hamas war in Gaza.

According to the survey conducted between February 27 and March 2, only 32% of Americans currently hold a positive view of Israel, while 39% express a negative opinion. The results mark a notable shift compared with three years ago, when public sentiment was more positive, with 47% viewing Israel favourably and 34% negatively.

Much of the decline in positive sentiment appears to stem from changes in opinion among Democrats and independent voters, according to the survey.

In 2023, Democratic views on Israel were fairly evenly split, with 34% expressing positive opinions and 35% negative ones. The latest poll, however, showed a sharp shift, with only 13% of Democrats now viewing Israel positively and 57% expressing negative views.

Among independents, favourable opinions have also dropped substantially, moving from a 40% positive to 22% negative balance previously, to 21% positive and 48% negative in the latest findings.

Republican attitudes towards Israel, by contrast, have seen only a modest change. Positive views among Republicans declined from 63% in 2023 to 54% now, while negative opinions rose slightly from 12% to 18%, according to the survey.

The poll was conducted during a period when the US and Israel had begun military strikes against Iran. It also found that Americans are now nearly evenly divided on whether they feel greater sympathy for Israelis or Palestinians.

In 2013, Americans expressed stronger sympathy for Israel by a margin of 45% to 13%. Today, the gap has effectively disappeared, with 40% saying they sympathise more with Israel and 39% indicating greater sympathy for Palestinians.

The shift has been particularly pronounced among Democrats. In 2013, they leaned towards Israel by a margin of 34% to 18%. The latest poll showed a dramatic reversal, with 67% now saying they sympathise more with Palestinians and only 17% with Israel.

Independents have also moved in a similar direction. Thirteen years ago, they were more sympathetic to Israel by a 37% to 10% margin. Now, they lean towards Palestinians by 37% to 27%.

Republicans, however, continue to show strong support for Israel. In 2013 they favoured Israel by a 67% to 8% margin, which has remained largely consistent today at 69% to 13%.

The findings also highlighted a clear generational divide, with younger Americans showing a greater decline in favourable views and sympathy towards Israel compared with older age groups.

While most Republicans remain broadly supportive of Israel, the ongoing war in Gaza has intensified disagreements among Democrats, with the issue emerging as a significant point of debate in the party’s 2026 primary contests.

Israel’s military in Gaza over the past two and a half years has resulted in more than 72,000 deaths, according to health authorities in the Palestinian territory.