South Africa wants other African countries to write it a check, The Pentagon prepares to zap drones, Putin visits islands seized from Japan in WWII

South Africa bills other nations for deportations

South Africa is asking other African countries to reimburse them for the costs of deporting their citizens, after spending nearly $18 million on a massive deportation campaign. In recent months, the government has deported or helped other nations repatriate more than 80,000 migrants as it responds to a surge in anti-immigrant protests and attacks on migrants. So far, South Africa has sought reimbursement from Malawi, Nigeria, and Ethiopia, and it may send additional requests. The campaign comes as anti-immigrant groups blame foreign nationals for crime and unemployment, which is among the highest in the world. However, the protests and deportations have also raised strained relations with South Africa’s neighbors, some of which accuse it of failing to protect their citizens.

The Pentagon wants to zap drone threats

Lasers that zap drones out of the sky and microwaves fry their electronics may sound like something out of Star Wars, but the Pentagon wants to make them part of its defense toolkit. The US is moving to speed up the deployment of directed-energy weapons across the US as flying drones become a growing security threat. Once approved, these systems could be stationed at military bases, airports, and other high-security locations.. The technology has already gotten some real-world testing, though not without hiccups: earlier this year, the military mistakenly used a laser to shoot down a US Border Protection drone near the Mexican border. The Pentagon says there’s no single solution to drone threats, but lasers will soon become a tool the US has at the ready.

Is Putin playing a spy game?

On Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin made his first-ever visit to the Kuril Islands, an archipelago seized by the Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called the trip “absolutely unacceptable.” Tokyo says the Kurils are Japanese territory and previously condemned Moscow for conducting military exercises near the islands. So why did Putin make the trip? Ukraine may be part of the answer. A July investigation from The New York Times dubbed Japan a Russian “den of spies,” where Moscow exploited weak espionage laws to obtain Japanese technology critical to Russia’s drones and missiles used in Ukraine. Since taking office, however, Takaichi has cracked down on foreign spy activities. If Putin’s Kuril stop was intended as a warning, however, it could backfire by pushing Japan closer to the United States, with whom Taikashi has cultivated a strong relationship.