NEWS

The first round of Iran-US talks in Muscat produced no breakthrough. The next few weeks will determine whether they laid foundations or merely bought time before escalation.

When Iranian and American negotiators concluded several hours of talks in Muscat on February 6, publicly, neither side signalled any shift from its opening position. Iran insisted the discussions focus exclusively on the nuclear file. The United States arrived seeking a comprehensive framework that would also cover ballistic missiles, regional armed groups, and more broadly, issues Washington has raised publicly, including human rights concerns. Neither prevailed. Both agreed to meet again.

On the surface, this looks like a non-event. It was not.

The Muscat round was the first high-level diplomatic engagement between the two countries since the joint US-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, an escalation that Iran later said killed more than 1,000 people and involved strikes on three nuclear sites. That the two sides returned to the same palace near Muscat’s airport where previous rounds were held in 2025, and agreed to return again is significant.

But continuation is not progress. The distance between what happened in Muscat and what a deal requires remains vast.

Diplomacy conducted under military escort

The most striking feature of the Muscat round was not what was said, but who sat in the room. The American delegation was led by Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law. It also included, for the first time, Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of US Central Command, in full dress uniform.

His presence at the negotiating table was not incidental. It was a signal. The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group was operating in the Arabian Sea as the talks unfolded, and days earlier, US forces had shot down an Iranian drone that approached the carrier.

An Iranian diplomatic source told the Reuters news agency that Cooper’s presence “endangered” the talks. Another, quoted by Al-Araby TV, warned that “negotiations taking place under threat” could impose strategic costs rather than advance them. For Tehran, the message was unmistakable: This was diplomacy conducted in the shadow of force, not as an alternative to it.

Washington, for its part, sees this as leverage. President Trump, speaking on board Air Force One after the talks, described them as “very good” and said Iran wants a deal “very badly”, adding: “They know the consequences if they don’t. They don’t make a deal; the consequences are very steep.”

This is diplomacy framed as an ultimatum. It may create urgency. It is unlikely to create trust, and trust is what this process most desperately needs.

The structural problem

The US withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018, despite international verification that Iran was meeting its obligations. That decision shattered Iranian confidence in the durability of US commitments. Tehran’s subsequent incremental breaches of the agreement, steadily increasing enrichment levels from 2019 onwards, weakened its credibility, in turn.

This mutual distrust is not a negotiating obstacle that can be resolved with creative diplomacy alone. It is the defining condition under which any agreement must be built. The US has the capacity to impose enormous economic and military costs on Iran. But power does not automatically produce compliance. For commitments to hold, Iran must believe concessions will bring relief rather than new demands. That belief has been badly damaged.

Consider the sequence of events surrounding the Muscat round itself. Hours after the talks concluded, the US State Department announced new sanctions targeting 14 shadow fleet vessels involved in transporting Iranian petroleum, alongside penalties on 15 entities and two individuals. The Treasury Department framed the action as part of the administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign. Whether preplanned or timed for effect, the message was clear: Washington intends to negotiate and squeeze simultaneously.

For Tehran, which has consistently demanded that sanctions relief be the starting point for progress, this sequencing confirms precisely the pattern it fears. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi identified this dynamic explicitly, telling Iranian state television that “the mistrust that has developed is a serious challenge facing the negotiations.”

What actually happened in Muscat

Beneath the competing narratives, the outlines of the substantive discussion have begun to emerge. Iran reportedly rejected a US demand for “zero enrichment”, a maximalist position it was never going to accept in a first meeting. The two sides instead discussed the dilution of Iran’s existing uranium stockpile, a more technical and potentially more productive avenue.

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reported that diplomats from Egypt, Turkiye and Qatar had separately offered Iran a framework proposal: Halt enrichment for three years, transfer highly enriched uranium out of the country, and pledge not to initiate the use of ballistic missiles. Russia had reportedly signalled willingness to receive the uranium. Tehran has signalled both the enrichment halt and uranium transfer would be nonstarters.

Perhaps the most important development was the least visible. According to Axios, Witkoff and Kushner met directly with Araghchi during the talks, breaking from the strictly indirect format that Iran had demanded for most of last year’s rounds of negotiations. Iran had previously insisted on communicating with the US only through Omani intermediaries. Crossing that barrier, even partially, suggests both sides recognise the limits of indirect talks once bargaining becomes technical.

Oman’s framing was arguably the most honest assessment of the day. Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi described the talks as aimed at establishing “appropriate conditions for the resumption of diplomatic and technical negotiations”.

What the next few weeks will decide

Trump said a second round of talks would take place soon. Both sides indicated to Axios that further meetings were expected within days. The compressed timeline is notable. During last year’s rounds, weeks separated each session. The pace suggests Washington believes the diplomatic window is narrowing, and Tehran is at least willing to test that claim.

Several tests will show whether urgency produces substance or merely speed.

First, the scope question. The fundamental dispute over what the talks are about remains unresolved. Iran won the first procedural battle: The venue moved from Turkiye to Oman, regional observers were excluded, and Araghchi claims only nuclear issues were discussed. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said before the talks that the agenda needed to include “all those issues”. If the second round begins with the same fight over scope, it will signal that even the basics remain unsettled.

Second, Iran’s enrichment posture. Before the June 2025 war, Iran had been enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, a short technical step from weapons-grade. Tehran has said enrichment stopped following the strikes. But Iran has also conditioned International Atomic Energy Agency inspections of the bombed sites on new inspection arrangements, raising concerns among non-proliferation experts. Conversely, reports of enrichment resumption or acceleration would likely end the diplomatic track.

Third, the military environment. The US naval build-up in the Arabian Sea is not decorative. The drone shootdown near the Abraham Lincoln and Iran’s attempted interception of a US-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz in the days before the talks show how quickly signalling can slide into miscalculation. Whether the carrier group is reinforced, maintained or gradually drawn down in the coming weeks will reveal more about Washington’s assessment of diplomacy than any press statement.

Fourth, the sanctions rhythm. The same-day announcement of shadow fleet sanctions establishes a pattern. If Washington continues to layer new economic penalties between rounds of talks, Tehran will treat it as evidence that diplomacy is performance rather than process.

Fifth, backchannel activity. The most consequential diplomacy over the next few weeks may not occur in formal settings. Oman, Qatar, Egypt and Turkiye have been working behind the scenes to sustain dialogue. If those intermediary contacts remain active, space for de-escalation persists. If they fall silent, the margin for error narrows.

A managed deadlock is not a strategy

The most probable short-term outcome remains neither breakthrough nor war, but a managed deadlock in which both sides maintain maximal public positions while avoiding steps that would make future talks impossible. In practice, this is a pause sustained by caution rather than a settlement anchored in confidence.

For the broader region, the distinction matters urgently. Gulf states have no interest in becoming staging grounds for escalation. Public statements across the region have consistently emphasised de-escalation, restraint and conflict avoidance. But regional actors can facilitate, host and encourage; they cannot impose terms on either Washington or Tehran.

The Muscat talks did not fail. Neither did they succeed. They established that a channel exists, that both sides are willing to use it, and that direct contact between senior officials is possible.

But a channel is not a plan. The absence of war is not the presence of a deal. The period between Muscat and whatever comes next is a window in which miscalculation remains close to the surface, sustained only by the assumption that both sides are reading each other’s signals correctly.

The next round of talks will not produce an agreement. But it may show whether the two sides are building a floor beneath the standoff or simply postponing the moment when that floor gives way.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

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Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has slammed Israel’s “interference” in his country, saying its recognition of the breakaway region of Somaliland has further increased instability and weakened international order.

In an exclusive interview with Al Jazeera broadcast on Saturday, Mohamud said Somalia “will never allow” the establishment of an Israeli base in Somaliland and will “confront” any such move.

He also warned that the proposed Israeli base could be used as a springboard to attack neighbouring countries.

Mohamud’s comments came amid a regional outcry over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision in December to recognise Somaliland, a breakaway part of Somalia comprising the northwestern portion of what was once the British Protectorate.

The territory sits astride one of the world’s most critical maritime choke routes, flanked by multiple conflicts in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Israel’s move made it the first country in the world to recognise Somaliland as an independent state and came months after The Associated Press news agency reported that Israeli officials had contacted parties in Somaliland to discuss using the territory for forcibly displacing Palestinians amid Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.

Israel and Somaliland have denied the claims, but a Somaliland official from the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation told Israel’s Channel 12 in January that an Israeli military base is “on the table and being discussed”, though its establishment depends on the terms.

Somalia has denounced Israel’s move as an attack on its territorial integrity and unity, a position backed by most African and Arab leaders, and urged Netanyahu to withdraw the recognition.

But Somaliland’s leader, Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi, known as Cirro, has welcomed Israel’s diplomatic move, praising Netanyahu for his “leadership and commitment to promoting stability and peace” in the region.

‘We will defend ourselves’

In his interview with Al Jazeera, Mohamud described Israel’s diplomatic manoeuvre as a “reckless, fundamentally wrong and illegal action under international law”.

He also pledged to fight back against any Israeli military presence in Somaliland.

“We will fight in our capacity. Of course, we will defend ourselves,” he said. “And that means that we will confront any Israeli forces coming in, because we are against that and we will never allow that.”

The Israeli recognition represents a dramatic shift in Somaliland’s fortunes after years of diplomatic isolation.

The region seceded from Somalia during a brutal civil war that followed decades under the hardline government of Siad Barre, whose forces devastated the north. While large parts of Somalia descended into chaos, Somaliland stabilised by the late 1990s.

Somaliland has since developed a distinct political identity, with its own currency, flag and parliament. But its eastern regions remain disputed by communities that do not back the separatist programme in the capital, Hargeisa.

In recent years, Somaliland developed ties with the United Arab Emirates – a signatory to the Abraham Accords with Israel – and Taiwan as it sought international acceptance.

In his interview, Mohamud said Israel’s move “interfering with Somalia’s sovereign and territorial integrity” also “undermines stability, security and trade in a way that affects the whole of Africa, the Red Sea and the wider world”.

He added that Israel’s deadly use of force against Palestinians in Gaza cannot be separated from what is happening in Somaliland, adding that it reflects the weakening of the foundations of global governance.

“Key among the global concerns is the weakening of the established rules-based international order. That order is not intact any more,” Mohamud said.

He warned that institutions created after World War II “are under grave threat”, as “the mighty is right” increasingly replaces adherence to international law.

The United States, meanwhile, has yet to signal a major shift on the question of Somaliland.

But in August, US President Donald Trump – who has previously lobbed insults at Somalia and Mohamud – suggested he was preparing to move on the issue when asked about Somaliland during a White House news conference.

“Another complex one, but we’re working on that one – Somaliland,” he said.

These are the key developments from day 1,445 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Sunday, February 8:

Fighting

• Russian forces launched more than 400 drones and about 40 missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine on Saturday, targeting the country’s power grid, generation facilities and distribution substations, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
• Ukrainian Minister of Energy Denys Shmyhal said two thermal power stations in Ukraine’s western regions were hit, and electricity distribution lines were also targeted.
• Zelenskyy said more than 1,000 apartment buildings remain without heating in bitterly cold temperatures in the capital, Kyiv, due to the attacks.
• The Ukrainian president criticised Moscow’s targeting of energy infrastructure, saying Russia must be deprived of the ability to use the cold winter weather as leverage against Kyiv. “Every day, Russia could choose real diplomacy, but it chooses new strikes,” he said.
• Poland suspended operations at the Lublin and Rzeszow airports near the border with Ukraine on Saturday following the Russian strikes. Polish authorities later said there had been no violation of the country’s airspace and reopened the two airports.
• The International Atomic Energy Agency said on X that Ukrainian nuclear power plants have reduced output due to the renewed military activity that affected electrical substations and disconnected some power lines.

• Ukrainian military and security officials said that Kyiv struck an oil depot in Russia’s Saratov region and a plant that makes missile fuel components in the Tver region in western Russia.
• Ukrainian forces also launched a strike on Russia’s Bryansk region, according to the governor there, using long-range Neptune missiles and HIMARS rocket systems. The attacks wounded two people and disrupted power in seven municipalities, the official said.
• The Russian TASS news agency said another Ukrainian missile attack on the border region of Belgorod caused power outages at several water supply facilities, and that experts are “investigating the extent of the outage”.
• The Russian Defence Ministry said its troops captured the village of Chuhunivka in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region, the state news agency RIA Novosti reported.

Peace talks

• Zelenskyy said the United States has given Moscow and Kyiv a deadline of June to reach an agreement on ending the war, after the two countries held two days of talks in Abu Dhabi this week.
• Zelenskyy said Washington has proposed talks in Miami in a week, and that Kyiv has agreed.
• The US also asked Russia and Ukraine to agree to a new ceasefire covering strikes on energy infrastructure as a de-escalation step during the talks, Zelenskyy said. He added that Kyiv was ready to stop attacks on Russian oil facilities and other energy infrastructure, but Moscow has yet to agree.
• The Ukrainian leader said he had reports from Ukrainian intelligence services on discussions in which Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev had proposed US-Russian cooperation deals worth as much as $12 trillion. Any such agreements between Moscow and Washington must not violate Ukraine’s constitution, Zelenskyy said.
• Zelenskyy added that Ukraine and Russia remain far apart in the discussions about territory. He said the US was proposing a free economic zone in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, which Russia mostly occupies, but that neither Ukraine nor Russia was thrilled by this idea.

• Earlier, the Ukrainian leader met his negotiating team in Kyiv and said Ukraine “needs results” that ensure “effective security guarantees” for the country.

• Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow that a third round of talks aimed at ending Russia’s war on Ukraine should take place “soon”. But he said there is no fixed date yet.

Politics and security

• Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdrii Sybiha said Kyiv supports a call for a ceasefire during the Winter Olympic Games after Italy and Pope Leo urged world leaders to use the Milano Cortina games to further peace.
• The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported that two suspects in the attempted assassination of top Russian military intelligence official General Vladimir Alexeyev “will soon be interrogated”. It cited a source close to the investigation.
• Alexeyev, the deputy head of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence arm, was shot in his Moscow apartment building and rushed to hospital on Friday. He underwent successful surgery and regained consciousness on Saturday, but remained under medical supervision, Kommersant added.
• Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov accused Ukraine of being behind the assassination attempt, which he said – without providing evidence – was designed to sabotage peace talks.
• US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order rescinding a punitive 25 percent duty on all imports from India over its purchases of Russian oil, the White House said. The two nations earlier announced a trade deal slashing US tariffs on Indian goods to 18 percent from 50 percent in exchange for India halting Russian oil purchases and lowering trade barriers.

Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes score for ‍United while Spurs captain Christian Romero sees red for a wild challenge.

Manchester United profited from Tottenham captain Cristian Romero’s red card to stretch their perfect start under Michael Carrick to four games, with a 2-0 win at Old Trafford in the Premier League.

Goals from Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes on Saturday ended an eight-game winless run against Spurs for the Red Devils, who cemented their position in the Premier League’s top four.

United close to within two points of third-placed Aston Villa and open up a five-point cushion over Liverpool in sixth.

A place in the top five is likely to secure a spot in next season’s Champions League due to the strong performance of English sides in European competition.

Spurs’ hopes of qualifying for the Champions League through their league position have long since disappeared, as another damaging defeat for Thomas Frank leaves Tottenham in 14th.

But there could be lasting consequences for Romero after his ill-discipline cost his side just days after a social media outburst aimed at the club’s hierarchy.

Frank said the Argentinian international had been “dealt with internally” after he described Tottenham’s threadbare squad as “disgraceful” following the closure of the transfer window.

Romero’s future as skipper had already been called into question, and the 27-year-old will now be suspended for four matches after his second red card of the season and sixth of his Spurs career.

The centre-back lunged in to catch Casemiro on the ankle on 29 minutes after playing himself into trouble just outside the Tottenham box.

United had been the better side during the opening half hour, even against 11 men, and made their numerical advantage count.

Mbeumo stroked into the bottom corner for his third goal in four games since Carrick took charge, after a clever corner involving Fernandes and Kobbie Mainoo freed the Cameroon international at the edge of the box.

Amad Diallo and Matheus Cunha had goals ruled out for offside as the home side dominated but had to wait until nine minutes from time to make the points safe.

Fernandes showed Romero how to lead from the front with another fine individual display.

The United captain prodded in Diogo Dalot’s cross at the back post for his 200th goal or assist in 314 games for the club.

Carrick said before the game that United cannot afford to rush their choice of a new permanent manager.

But the former midfielder, who enjoyed a stellar playing career at Old Trafford, is making his case for that job as he continues overseeing United’s stunning turnaround in fortunes since the departure of Ruben Amorim last month.

Fernandes had plenty of praise for Carrick in a post-match interview with TNT Sports.

“The energy ⁠is different because we are winning games and when you win games, everything is brighter,” Fernandes said.

“Michael came in with the right idea of giving the players more responsibility and freedom to make decisions on the pitch. I was always sure Michael could be a great manager, and he is showing that.”

Meanwhile, it is now two Premier League wins in 16 for Frank and his Spurs side.

“I think the first 30 minutes were a good away performance,” Frank told TNT Sports after the game.

“I’m very proud of the players, the resilience, staying in the game, mentality [to] still be a threat at times, to try to create something. Very proud of them.”

Spurs keeper Guglielmo Vicario told TNT Sports that Romero had apologised to his teammates for the sending off.

“Yeah, of course, he’s disappointed, because he knows that this card could have been avoidable, and so he apologised,” he said.

“He made his mistake, but we know the player he is, and he’ll be back for sure, stronger, and he’s going to help us massively.”

No single party is expected to secure a clear majority in Sunday’s vote, raising the spectre of political instability.

Polls have opened in Thailand in a closely watched general election, with progressive reformers, military-backed conservatives and populist forces vying for control.

Polling stations opened at 8am local time (01:00 GMT) on Sunday and were set to close at 5pm (10:00 GMT).

More than 2.2 million voters had already cast ballots during an early voting period that began on February 1, according to the Election Commission.

The battle for support from Thailand’s 53 million registered voters comes against a backdrop of slow economic growth and heightened nationalist sentiment.

While more than 50 parties are contesting the polls, only three – the People’s Party, Bhumjaithai, and Pheu Thai – have the nationwide organisation and popularity to gain a winning mandate.

With 500 parliamentary seats at stake and surveys consistently showing no party likely to win an outright majority, coalition negotiations appear inevitable. A simple majority of elected lawmakers will select the next prime minister.

The progressive People’s Party, led by Natthaphong Ruengpanyawut, is favoured to win the most seats. But the party’s reformist platform, which includes promises to curb the influence of the military and the courts, as well as breaking up economic polices, remains unpalatable to its rivals, who may freeze it out by joining forces to form a government.

The party is the successor to the Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the House of Representatives in 2023, but was blocked from power by a military appointed Senate and later dissolved by the Constitutional Court over its call to reform Thailand’s strict royal insult laws.

The Bhumjaithai, headed by caretaker Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, is seen as the main defender and preferred choice of the royalist-military establishment.

Anutin has only been the prime minister since last September, after serving in the Cabinet of former Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who was forced out of office for an ethics violation regarding the mishandling of relations with Cambodia. Anutin dissolved parliament in December to call a new election after he was threatened with a no-confidence vote.

He has centred his campaign on economic stimulus and national security, tapping into nationalist fervour stoked by deadly border clashes with neighbouring Cambodia.

The third major contender, Pheu Thai, represents the latest incarnation of political movements backed by jailed former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and trades on the populist policies of the Thai Rak Thai party, which held power from 2001 until 2006, when it was ousted by a military coup.

The party has campaigned on economic revival and populist pledges like cash handouts, nominating Thaksin’s nephew, Yodchanan Wongsawat, as its lead candidate for prime minister.

Sunday’s voting also includes a referendum asking voters whether Thailand should replace its 2017 military-drafted constitution.

Pro-democracy groups view a new charter as a critical step towards reducing the influence of unelected institutions, such as the military and judiciary, while conservatives warn that it could lead to instability.

The opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics on Friday was marked by audible boos from the crowd as delegations from the US and Israel entered the San Siro stadium, Anadolu reports.

US Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the American delegation.

As Vance appeared on the stadium’s big screen, waving the US flag, the crowd responded with jeers, according to live coverage of the event.

“There is the Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha. Oops — those are a lot of boos for him,” an announcer was heard saying during the broadcast.

The reaction followed days of tension surrounding the participation of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in Olympic security.

The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the presence of Homeland Security Investigations personnel in Milan, prompting widespread protests and opposition from Italian lawmakers and citizens.

READ: Israel’s Netanyahu again dodges responsibility for Oct. 7 failures, blames army, past governments

“They’re not welcome in Milan,” said Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala in a radio interview, calling ICE a “militia that kills.”

Thousands gathered in Piazza 25 Aprile last weekend to demonstrate against the agents’ presence and raise concerns about civil rights violations.

International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry responded to concerns ahead of the ceremony, saying: “I hope that the opening ceremony is seen by everyone as an opportunity to be respectful of each other.”

The Israeli delegation, which included nine Olympians and one Paralympian, also faced a “smattering of boos” as they entered the stadium, though the crowd noise was largely drowned out by music.

Additional protests were reported in Cortina d’Ampezzo and Predazzo, where simultaneous parades were held.

Security remains a top concern for several delegations, with increased attention to political sensitivities throughout the Games.

More than 800 athletes have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s offensive on Oct. 7, 2023, as the sports community continues to suffer under bombardment, famine, and the collapse of infrastructure, according to Palestinian officials.

READ: US lawmaker calls for halt to weapons transfers to Israel amid Gaza violence

Move comes after council tried to oust PM Fils-Aime and the US recently deployed warship to waters near Haiti’s capital.

Haiti’s Transitional Presidential Council has handed power to US-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime after almost two years of tumultuous governance marked by rampant gang violence that has left thousands dead.

The transfer of power between the nine-member transitional council and 54-year-old businessman Fils-Aime took place on Saturday under tight security, given Haiti’s unstable political climate.

“Mr Prime Minister, in this historic moment, I know that you are gauging the depth of the responsibility you are taking on for the country,” council President Laurent Saint-Cyr told Fils-Aime, who is now the country’s only politician with executive power.

In late January, several members of the council said they were seeking to remove Fils-Aime, leading the United States to announce visa revocations for four unidentified council members and a cabinet minister.

Days before the council was dissolved, the US deployed a warship and two US coastguard boats to waters near Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, where gangs control 90 percent of the territory.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stressed “the importance” of Fils-Aime’s continued tenure “to combat terrorist gangs and stabilise the island”.

The council’s plan to oust Fils-Aime for reasons not made public appeared to fall to the wayside as it stepped down in an official ceremony on Saturday.

Fils-Aime now faces the daunting task of organising the first general elections in a decade.

Election this year unlikely

The Transitional Presidential Council was established in 2024 as the country’s top executive body, a response to a political crisis stretching back to the 2021 assassination of President Jovenel Moise.

It quickly devolved into infighting, questions over its membership, and allegations of corruption falling overwhelmingly short of its mission to quell gang violence and improve life for Haitians.

Just six months after being formed, the body removed Prime Minister Garry Conille, selecting Fils-Aime as his replacement.

Despite being tasked with developing a framework for federal elections, the council ended up postponing a planned series of votes that would have selected a new president by February.

Tentative dates were announced for August and December, but many believe it is unlikely an election and a run-off will be held this year.

Last year, gangs killed nearly 6,000 people in Haiti, according to the United Nations. About 1.4 million people, or 10 percent of the population, have been displaced by the violence.

The UN approved an international security force to help police restore security, but more than two years later, fewer than 1,000 of the intended troops – mostly Kenyan police – have been deployed. The UN says it aims to have 5,500 troops in the country by the middle of the year, or by November at the latest.

As Thailand prepares to vote on Sunday in a nationwide election, the country’s months-long border dispute with Cambodia continues to cast a shadow over election proceedings.

Brief but deadly armed clashes in May last year on a disputed section of the Thai-Cambodia border escalated into the deadliest fighting in a decade between the two countries, killing dozens of people and displacing hundreds of thousands.

Fallout from the conflict toppled the government of Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra – daughter of the billionaire populist leader Thaksin Shinawatra – before bringing Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to power in September.

Now, while the fighting may have ceased, the conflict remains an emotive topic for Thais and a means for Anutin to rally support for his conservative Bhumjaithai Party as a no-nonsense prime minister, unafraid to flex his country’s military muscle when required, analysts say.

“Anutin’s party is positioning itself as the party that’s really willing to take the initiative on the border conflict,” said Napon Jatusripitak, an expert in Thai politics at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.

“It’s a party that has taken the strongest stance on the issue and the most hawkish,” Napon said of the recent military operations.

Anutin had good reason to focus on the conflict with Cambodia in his election campaign. The fighting created a surge in nationalist sentiment in Thailand during two rounds of armed conflict in July and December, while the clashes also inflicted reputational damage on Anutin’s rivals in Thai politics.

Chief among those who suffered on the political battlefield was the populist Pheu Thai Party, the power base of Thailand’s former prime minister Thaksin and his family.

Pheu Thai sustained a major hit to its popularity in June when a phone call between its leader, then-Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn, and the strongman of Cambodian politics, Hun Sen, was made public.

In the June 15 call, Paetongtarn referred to Hun Sen, an erstwhile friend of her father, as “uncle” and promised to “take care” of the issue after the first early clashes between Thai and Cambodian troops, according to Reuters news agency.

For factions in Thailand’s politics and Thai people, Paetongtarn’s deference to Hun Sen was beyond the pale of acceptable behaviour for a prime minister, especially as she appeared to also criticise Thailand’s military – a major centre of power in a nation of more than 70 million people.

Hun Sen later admitted to leaking the call and claimed it was in the interest of “transparency,” but it led to the collapse of Paetongtarn’s government. She was then sacked by the constitutional court at the end of August last year, paving the way for Anutin to be voted in as Thailand’s leader by parliament the following month.

The border conflict with Cambodia has given a major boost to Thailand’s armed forces at a time of “growing popular discontent with the military’s involvement in politics, and with the conservative elite”, said Neil Loughlin, an expert in comparative politics at City St George’s, University of London.

Anutin’s government focused its political messaging when fighting on the border re-erupted in early December. Days later, he dissolved parliament in preparation for the election.

“Bhumjaithai has leaned into patriotic, nationalist messaging,” said Japhet Quitzon, an associate fellow with the Southeast Asia programme at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC.

“Anutin himself has promised to protect the country at campaign rallies, signalling strength in the face of ongoing tensions with Cambodia. He has vowed to retaliate should conflict re-emerge and will continue protecting Thai territorial integrity,” Quitzon said.

‘War against the scam army’

During the fighting, Thailand took control of several disputed areas on the border and shelled Cambodian casino complexes near the boundary, which it claimed were being used by Cambodia’s military.

Bangkok later alleged some of the casino complexes, which have ties to Cambodian elites, were being used as centres for online fraud – known as cyber scams – a major problem in the region, and that Thai forces were also carrying out a “war against the scam army” based in Cambodia.

Estimates by the World Health Organization say the conflict killed 18 civilians in Cambodia and 16 in Thailand, though media outlets put the overall death toll closer to 149, before both sides signed their most recent ceasefire in late December.

While the fighting has paused for now, its impact continues to reverberate across Thai politics, said the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute’s Napon.

Pheu Thai is still reeling from the leaked phone call between Paetongtarn and Hun Sen, while another Thai opposition group, the People’s Party, has been forced to temper some of its longstanding positions demanding reform in the military, Napon said.

“[The People’s Party] vowed to abolish the military’s conscription and to cut the military’s budget, but what the border conflict with Cambodia did was to elevate the military’s popularity to heights not seen in longer than a decade since the 2014 coup,” Napon told Al Jazeera.

“Its main selling point used to be reform of the military, but after the conflict it seems to be a liability,” Napon continued.

The party has now shifted its criticism from the military as an institution to specific generals, and turned its focus back to reviving the economy, which is expected to grow just 1.8 percent this year, according to the state-owned Krungthai Bank.

In the past two weeks, that messaging seems to be hitting home, Napon said, with the People’s Party once again leading at the polls despite a different platform from 2023.

“It will be very different from the previous election,” Napon said.

“Right now, there’s no military in the picture, so it’s really a battle between old and new,” he added.

Armed groups in Nigeria have killed more than 200 people in several attacks in recent days.

Meanwhile, all the Christian worshippers abducted from churches last month have been released.

How serious is Nigeria’s security situation – and what progress is being made?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

James Barnett – non-resident research fellow at the Hudson Institute, specialising in armed groups in Nigeria

Oluwole Ojewale – regional coordinator for West and Central Africa at the Institute for Security Studies

Melvin Foote – founder and president of Constituency for Africa, and a specialist on US-Africa policy

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says he hopes talks with the United States will resume soon, while US President Donald Trump pledged another round of negotiations next week following mediated discussions in Oman.

Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Saturday that Iran’s missile programme was “never negotiable” in Friday’s talks, and warned Tehran would target US military bases in the Middle East if the US attacks Iranian territory.

He added that despite the negotiations in Muscat being indirect, “an opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation”. The talks were “a good start“, but he insisted “there is a long way to go to build trust”.

Iranians in the capital, Tehran, however, seemed less positive.

“In my opinion, like previous times, negotiations will end without results because both sides are sticking to their own positions and not willing to back down,” a woman who asked to remain anonymous told Al Jazeera.

Abdullah al-Shayji, a US foreign policy expert at Kuwait University, said he hopes for a new deal between the two foes but is not feeling optimistic.

“There is a strong position” from the US and “being provoked by” Israel to “clamp down on the Iranians because they feel that Iran is at its weakest point” so that it will be easy to extract concessions from it, especially after last month’s antigovernment demonstrations, al-Shayji said from the Al Jazeera Forum in Qatar’s capital Doha.

‘Inalienable right’

Despite calling the talks “very good” on Friday, Trump signed an executive order effective from Saturday that called for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries still doing business with Iran.

The US also announced new sanctions against numerous shipping entities and vessels aimed at curbing Iran’s oil exports.

More than one-quarter of Iran’s trade is with China, including $18bn in imports and $14.5bn in exports in 2024, according to World Trade Organization data.

Nuclear enrichment is Iran’s “inalienable right and must continue”, Araghchi said, adding, “We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment. The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

Iran’s missile programme is non-negotiable because it relates to a “defence issue”, he said.

Washington has sought to address Iran’s ballistic missile programme and its support for armed groups in the region – issues that Israel has pushed to include in the talks, according to media reports.

Tehran has repeatedly rejected expanding the scope of the negotiations beyond the nuclear issue.

“The Iranians are vehemently opposed to any concessions,” said al-Shayji, as is the US, which makes it extremely hard for countries leading mediation efforts to “get them closer together”.

Friday’s negotiations were the first since nuclear talks between Iran and the US collapsed last year following Israel’s unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, which triggered a 12-day war.

Following widespread antigovernment protests in Iran last month, Trump ramped up threats against the country, deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln to the Middle East.

‘Peace through strength’

Trump’s lead negotiators in Oman, special envoy Steve Witkoff and presidential adviser Jared Kushner, visited the aircraft carrier stationed in the Arabian Sea on Saturday.

In a social media post, Witkoff said the aircraft carrier and its strike group are “keeping us safe and upholding President Trump’s message of peace through strength.”

Witkoff said he spoke with the pilot who downed an Iranian drone that approached the carrier “without clear intent” on Tuesday.

“Proud to stand with the men and women who defend our interests, deter our adversaries, and show the world what American readiness and resolve look like, on watch every day,” said Witkoff.

While Trump has sought to use the aircraft carrier’s deployment as a means to exert pressure on Iran, al-Shayji said this cannot be a long-term strategy.

“He [Trump] can’t keep his forces at alert stage for too long. This would really discredit Trump’s administration regarding being very harsh and hard-liners on Iran,” he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to meet Trump on Wednesday to discuss the Iran talks, his office said in a statement.

Netanyahu “believes any negotiations must include limitations on ballistic missiles and a halting of the support for the Iranian axis”, it said, referring to Iran’s allies in the region.

During the 12-day war, US warplanes bombed Iranian nuclear sites.

Araghchi expressed hope that Washington would refrain from “threats and pressure” so “the talks can continue”.

One year into Donald Trump’s return to office, a wave of hardline actions – from volatile ICE raids to growing concern over political pressure on the media – has raised alarm about the expansion of the president’s power.

Then with US midterms approaching, attention is turning to whether there is any meaningful challenge to Republican grip on Congress.

So what happens next?

This week on UpFront, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with journalist and author Chris Hedges about Trump’s second presidency and whether US democracy is on the decline.

India recover from 77-6 as captain Suryakumar Yadav hits an unbeaten 84 in 29-run World Cup win against United States.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav led ‌by example as the tournament co-hosts began their Twenty20 World Cup title defence with a 29-run victory against the United States in a group A contest on Saturday.

India recovered from a dire 77-6 to post a decent 161-9 with Suryakumar hitting a scintillating 84 not out off 49 balls.

The US managed 132-8 in reply, putting up a decent fight but never really coming ⁠close to chasing down the target.

Earlier, the predominantly Indian fans at the Wankhede Stadium probably expected sixes and fours to rain down after US captain Monank Patel elected to field.

Instead, it was a long procession of India’s top-order batters returning to the pavilion after a spectacular meltdown of the world’s top-ranked T20 team.

Opener Abhishek Sharma, currently the world’s number one T20 batter, fell for a first-ball duck in perhaps an inkling of what was in ⁠store for the home side.

The real nightmare unfolded in the final Powerplay over when Shadley van Schalkwyk claimed three wickets in five deliveries to leave India reeling on 46-4.

Ishan Kishan (20) and Tilak Varma (25) could not convert their starts, while Shivam Dube departed with a golden duck against his name in that eventful over from van Schalkwyk.

It could easily have been worse, but bowler Shubham Ranjane could not hold onto a return catch from Suryakumar when the batter was on 15.

Wickets kept tumbling at the other end though.

Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya and ‌Axar Patel perished trying to swing their way out of trouble.

Suryakumar responded to the crisis with a captain’s knock as he raced to a 36-ball fifty before plundering 21 runs from the final over from Saurabh Netravalkar.

India’s pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah missed ‌the match due to illness, and they were also forced into replacing Harshit Rana, who was ruled out of the tournament barely 24 hours before ‌their opening match with a thigh injury.

Mohammed Siraj (3-29) vindicated his last-minute ⁠inclusion as Rana’s replacement with a two-wicket burst, while Arshdeep Singh also tasted success as they reduced the US to 31-3 in the six Powerplay overs.

Sanjay Krishnamurthi (37) and Milind Kumar (34) defied India for a while with a 58-run stand, but once the partnership ‌ended, India were firmly in charge.

In Colombo, the Netherlands nearly pulled off a major upset before Faheem Ashraf’s breezy cameo secured Pakistan’s nervy three-wicket win with three balls to spare in another group A contest.

In a group C match in Kolkata, West Indies fast bowler Romario Shepherd claimed four wickets in five balls, including a hat-trick, as the twice champions thumped Scotland by 35 runs.

The Super Bowl, the biggest event in American football, is set for Sunday with the Seattle Seahawks facing the New England Patriots at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

The massive sporting event is set to energise fans in both cities and will send thousands this year to the San Francisco Bay Area. Those unable to make the trip are still expected to spend heavily on food, drinks and watch parties across the United States.

Historically, the Super Bowl has been a major economic boon for host cities. For the Bay Area, the event is part of a stretch of three major sporting spectacles lifting the regional economy.

A local boost?

In 2024, the Bay Area Host Committee commissioned a report forecasting the economic impact of the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, the 2026 Super Bowl, and the FIFA World Cup, all taking place in the region. The report estimated that Sunday’s game alone would generate between $370m and $630m in economic output for the Bay Area.

Last year’s Super Bowl was hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana. State officials reported the event brought in 115,000 visitors who spent $658m in the city.

For consumers, Bank of America estimates a 77 percent jump in spending near the stadium. A study analysing spending patterns from Super Bowl games between 2017 and 2025 found that, on game day, spending surged in the postal code closest to the stadium, with the biggest surge in food and parking costs.

Hosting the game does come with its own expenses for cities.

In the case of Santa Clara, it is small compared with the forecasted output. Last year, it was projected the city would cost them $6.3m, which includes training personnel for the influx of visitors and other logistical needs. However, other games have cost municipalities much more. When Atlanta hosted the Super Bowl in 2019, it cost the city an estimated $46m.

In 2023, the day after the game, which was played in Glendale, Arizona, outside of Phoenix, was the single busiest at Phoenix Sky Harbor international airport in its history, with more than 200,000 passengers passing through the airport, which is a hub for American Airlines and where budget carriers Southwest Airlines and Frontier maintain a large presence.

Other cities have used major sporting events to kick off large-scale infrastructure projects. In 2004 – ahead of the Super Bowl in Houston, Texas – METRO, the city’s transit authority, launched its first light rail line just a month before the game. The line, now one of three in the system, runs from downtown Houston to the city’s football stadium.

Prior to its launch, Houston was the only major metropolitan city in the US without a rail system.

But not all infrastructure projects paid off. Las Vegas built Allegiant Stadium in the neighbouring suburb of Paradise when the city acquired the Raiders football team from Oakland during the 2020 season. A year later, in 2021, Las Vegas won the bid to host the 2024 Super Bowl. The stadium cost $1.9bn. Nearly $750m came from hotel taxes, but the rest was shouldered by local taxpayers.

“The economic benefits are relatively short-term, not just in duration, but also in scope. They’re limited to certain industries and specific locations,” Michael Edwards, a professor of sport management at North Carolina State University, told Al Jazeera.

“The NFL [National Football League] often uses the Super Bowl as a carrot to encourage cities to invest taxpayer money in new stadiums. You’re seeing that dynamic play out in places like Chicago and Cleveland, where officials are considering domed stadiums. Part of that push is almost certainly driven by the possibility of hosting a Super Bowl, which the league dangles as an incentive,” Edwards said.

Food spending

For those who can’t make it to the game itself, there is still a surge in Americans heading to bars and restaurants to watch the game or spending money throwing a watch party.

The National Retail Federation, which has been tracking Super Bowl spending for the last decade, expects that Americans will spend a record $20.2bn, or $94.77 per person, on the big game with 79 percent of that on food.

Spending has skyrocketed since 2021 when consumers spent $13.9bn, or $74.55 per person. However, that dropped from $17.2bn in 2020 when the Super Bowl happened about a month before the COVID-19 lockdowns in the US began.

For those hosting a Super Bowl watch party at home, it will cost more than last year to stock up on the quintessential game-day foods. Wells Fargo estimates that hosting 10 people will cost about $140 per person, up from $138 last year.

Chicken wings, a staple for football fans, are a bright spot for wallets; prices are down 2.8 percent compared with this time last year. Potato chip prices are flat, but dips like salsa have jumped 1.7 percent.

Healthier options are getting more expensive as well for those opting for a veggie platter. Cherry tomatoes are up 2 percent, celery has risen 2.6 percent, and both broccoli and cauliflower are up 4 percent. Beer prices are also climbing, up 1.3 percent from a year ago.

Advertising hits records

The Super Bowl is airing on NBC with the network getting a boost in advertising spending for the big game. NBC sold out of advertising spots for the Super Bowl in September for a record $10m on average for a 30-second spot – up from $8m on average last year when the games aired on Fox.

NBC also benefits from a collection of sporting events all taking part in February that drive up advertising revenue, including from the Winter Olympics. The opening ceremony is on Friday and will run until February 22. NBC has exclusive broadcasting rights for the Olympics in the US.

“With the resurgence of the Olympic movement, our strongest Sports Upfront in history, the early sell-out of Super Bowl LX, and the remarkable return of the NBA, NBCUniversal has solidified itself as a sports powerhouse, and brands have taken notice,” Mark Marshall, chairman of NBCUniversal’s global advertising and partnerships, said in a release.

The last time the games were in the same year, back in 2024, the two events were the most-watched events on linear television.

On Wall Street, the looming sporting events set to air on NBC have sent parent company Comcast’s stock surging up more than 4 percent over the past five days.

Saurara a: Apple Podcast | Spotify | RSS

Kina dauke da ciki na watanni tara, ba takalmi a ƙafa, kina gudu cikin ƙaya, kura da tsoro.

Kusan shekaru goma, Ya Busam Ali ta shafe tana rayuwa a matsayin yar gudun hijira, tana tafiya me nisa a kowace kakar noma zuwa gonakin da ‘yan ta’adda ke iko da su, domin kawai ta kula da kanta da ‘ya’yanta.

Wannan shirin na #BirbishinRikici ya bi labarin yadda ta tsira, juriyarta, da ƙarfin zuciyar da ke tura ta ci gaba da tafiya duk da ƙalubalen da ke gabanta.

Mai Gabatarwa: Rukayya Saeed

Marubuciya: Sabiqah Bello

Muryoyin Shiri: Sabiqah Bello

Fassara: Rukayya Saeed

Edita: Aliyu Dahiru

Furodusa: Al-amin Umar

Babban Furodusa: Anthony Asemota

Babban Mashiryi: Ahmad Salkida

The entire U.S. military is now pushing to acquire hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of new drones, especially smaller types, in the coming years, spurred on by new direction from the Pentagon. In turn, a demand for new containerized launchers capable of rapidly deploying and, if need be, recovering those uncrewed aerial systems has now emerged. On several occasions in the past, TWZ has called attention to the value of exactly these kinds of launch capabilities, for use on land and at sea, especially for employing fully networked swarms.

Earlier this week, the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) laid out broad requirements for what it referred to as a Containerized Autonomous Drone Delivery System (CADDS). DIU’s central focus is on leveraging new and improved commercial-off-the-shelf technologies to help meet U.S. military needs.

“The Department of War (DoW) faces a robotic mass challenge: current methods for deploying and sustaining unmanned aerial systems (UAS) rely on direct human interaction to launch, recover, and refit each system,” the CADDS notice explains. “This 1:1 operator-to-aircraft model limits deployment speed and scale while exposing operators to unnecessary risks.”

The “problem” to solve then is that “the DoW requires the ability to deploy large quantities of UAS rapidly, while minimizing the risk and burden to human operators executing kinetic and non-kinetic UAS operations in contested environments,” it adds.

To that end, “DOW seeks innovative solutions that enable the storage, rapid deployment, and management of multi-agent systems to provide either persistent UAS coverage over extended periods or massed effects within a single geographic region and time,” per DIU. It needs to be “employable from land and maritime platforms, in both day and night conditions, and during inclement weather.”

These have to be “designs [that] can be transported by military or commercial vehicles (land, sea, air)” and that “can be quickly positioned and made operational with minimal handling or setup.” They also have to be able to provide “automated functions for drone storage, launching, recovering, and refitting within the containerized platform; the intent is for the system to exist in a dormant state for a period of time and launch UAS upon command.”

DIU does not name any particular drones that the CADDS has to be able to accommodate or say how many UASs a single launcher should be able to hold. The notice does say the system will need to support “homogeneous and heterogeneous mixes of Government-directed UAS.”

The launch system also has to be capable of being set up and broken back down in a time frame measured in minutes and have a small operational footprint. “Ideally, the system should require a crew of no more than 2 personnel,” per DIU.

When it comes to the “autonomous” element of the launch system, DIU says it needs to support “both operator-on-the-loop and operator-in-the-loop decision-making processes.”

The market space for containerized launchers for various payloads, and for use on land and at sea, has been steadily growing globally in recent years. There has already been a further trend in the development of such systems for launching loitering munitions and other uncrewed aerial systems, or the adaptation of existing designs to be able to do so.

As one example, in the past year or so, Northrop Grumman has begun touting the ability of what it is currently calling the Modular Payload System (MPS) to launch drones, as seen in the computer-generated video below. TWZ was first to report on the development of that system all the way back in 2018, when it was being presented solely as a way to surface-launch variants of the AGM-88 anti-radiation missile. MPS is also now being pitched as a launcher for the Advanced Reactive Strike Missile (AReS), a surface-to-surface missile derived from the AGM-88G Advanced Anti-radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range (AARGM-ER) and its Stand-in Attack Weapon (SiAW) cousin.

Modular Payload System: Launching from Land or Sea

Last year, another concept for a containerized launcher capable of holding up to 48 drones at once also emerged from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Back in 2024, Germany’s Rheinmetall and UVision in Israel had also unveiled two very similar designs, specifically for launching members of the latter company’s Hero series of loitering munitions.

This is just a small selection of the designs that have been seen to date. Firms in China have been particularly active in this regard, and developments in that country have often also been tied to work on swarming capabilities.

中国电科陆空协同固定翼无人机“蜂群”系统

中国电科大规模无人机蜂群任务全流程试验

Container-like launchers for uncrewed aerial systems, often mounted on trucks, have already been in service in many countries for years. This includes Iran, where they are used to launch Shahed-type kamikaze drones, as can be seen in the video below.

Баражуючий іранський боєприпас «Shahed 136»

However, many of these systems are focused squarely on the launch aspect and lack the recovery and refit capabilities that DIU has outlined for CADDS. Chinese drone firm DJI and others in the commercial space are increasingly offering container-like ‘docks,’ but which are often designed to accommodate just one uncrewed aerial system at a time.

What is particularly interesting here is how many of the stated CADDS requirements actually sound very similar, at least in very broad strokes, to a containerized system capable of launching, recovering, and recharging thousands of small, electrically-powered quadcopter-type drones at the touch of a button that the Chinese company DAMODA rolled out last year. That launcher, dubbed the Automated Drone Swarm Container System, is for drone light shows for entertainment purposes rather than military use.

Behind the Scenes of DAMODA Automated Drone Swarm Container System.✨

China just dropped a new level of drone swarm tech | One-click auto-deploy of thousands | by DAMODA

Still, as we previously wrote:

It is worth reiterating that DAMODA’s Automated Drone Swarm Container System, at least as it exists now, is clearly designed for entertainment industry use first and foremost. Though the company’s drone light show routines are certainly visually impressive and often go viral on social media, they are pre-scripted and conducted in a very localized fashion. What the company is offering is not a drone swarm capable of performing various military-minded tasks in a highly autonomous manner at appreciable ranges from its launch point.

At the same time, large-scale drone light shows put on by DAMODA (and a growing number of other companies), do highlight, on a broad level, the already highly problematic threats posed by swarms. The new Automated Drone Swarm Container System underscores the additional danger of these same threats hiding in plain sight. The steady proliferation of advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning, especially when it comes to dynamic targeting, will only create additional challenges, as TWZ has explored in detail in this past feature.

This is not theoretical, either. As mentioned, in June [2025], Ukrainian forces launched multiple drone attacks on airbases across Russia with the help of covert launchers loaded on the back of unassuming civilian tractor-trailer trucks. This entire effort was dubbed Operation Spiderweb and took months of planning.

Even in an overt operational context, readily deployable containerized systems capable of acting as hubs for drone operations across a broad area with limited manpower requirements could offer a major boost in capability and capacity. Ships, trucks, and aircraft, which could themselves be uncrewed, could be used to bring them to and from forward locations, even in remote areas. If they can support a “heterogeneous mix” of uncrewed aerial systems, a single container could be used to support a wide array of mission requirements, including intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, electronic warfare, kinetic strikes, and/or communications signal relay.

An inherent benefit of a drone swarm, in general, is that each individual component does not have to be configured to perform all of the desired tasks. This creates additional flexibility and resilience to threats, since the loss of any particular drone does not necessarily preclude the swarm from continuing its assigned missions. There are tangential design and cost benefits for the drones themselves, since they can be configured to carry only the systems required for their particular mission demands.

Army Aviation Launches Autonomous Pack Hunters

TWZ previously laid out a detailed case for the many benefits that could come along with loading containers packed with swarms of drones onto U.S. Navy ships. Many of those arguments are just as relevant when talking about systems designed to be employed on land. Containerized systems are often readily adaptable to both ground-based and maritime applications, to begin with.

Drone swarms are only set to become more capable as advancements in autonomy, especially automated target recognition, continue to progress, driven by parallel developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning, as you can read more about here. Future highly autonomous swarms will be able to execute various mission sets even more efficiently and in ways that compound challenges for defenders. Massed drone attacks with limited autonomy already have an inherent capacity to just overwhelm enemy defenses. In turn, electronic warfare systems and high-power microwave directed energy weapons have steadily emerged as some of the most capable options available to tackle swarms, but have their own limitations. Even powerful microwave systems have very short ranges and are directional in nature, and electronic warfare systems may simply not work at all against autonomous drones.

In terms of what DIU is now looking at for CADDS, the stated requirements are broad. It remains to be seen what options might be submitted, let alone considered for actual operational U.S. military use.

Still, DIU has laid out a real emerging capability gap amid the current push to field various tiers of drones to a degree never before seen across America’s armed forces, which counterinsurgency launch systems look well-positioned to fill.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, said that the steadfastness of Palestinians in Gaza despite genocide, shows ‘the failure of Israel’. Barghouti is at the Al Jazeera Forum, an event focusing on geopolitical shifts in the Middle East.

Iraq launches investigations into ISIL detainees from Syria, with 7,000 expected to arrive in total.

United States forces have transported a third group of ISIL (ISIS) detainees from Ghwayran prison in Syria’s Hasakah province to Iraq by land, as activity around a US military base in the region points to possible operational changes, an Al Jazeera correspondent reports.

The transfer on Saturday forms part of a trilateral arrangement, which has emerged as part of a painstaking ceasefire after deadly clashes involving the Syrian government and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), under which detainees held in northeastern Syria are being relocated to Iraqi custody. US forces are the third party to that agreement.

Earlier, US Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed the start of a broader operation to move detainees from facilities across the region, with officials outlining a plan to transfer about 7,000 prisoners.

Iraq has launched investigations into ISIL detainees from Syria over atrocities committed against its citizens.

Security developments in northeastern Syria have accelerated in recent weeks in the wake of government forces sweeping across the north and SDF retreats.

On Saturday, SDF governor-designate Nour Eddien Ahmad met a Damascus delegation at the Hasakah government building before a Syrian national flag-raising ceremony.

The meeting carries political significance as the agreement between Damascus and the SDF allows the group to nominate the governor of Hasakah, with Ahmad expected to be formally appointed by the Syrian government.

The visiting delegation includes senior government security officials, underscoring Damascus’s expanding administrative control in the province. The raising of the Syrian national flag over the government building signals the reassertion of central government authority in Hasakah.

Syrian government forces entered the city of Qamishli earlier this week, one of the remaining urban strongholds of the Kurdish-led SDF, following a ceasefire agreement reached on Friday last week.

The accord ended weeks of confrontations and paved the way for the gradual integration of SDF fighters into Syrian state institutions, a step Washington described as an important move towards national reconciliation.

The agreement followed territorial losses suffered by the SDF earlier this year as government troops advanced across parts of eastern and northern Syria, reshaping control lines and prompting negotiations over future security arrangements.

Separately, an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground reported that US personnel vacated most watchtowers surrounding a military installation in the al-Shaddadi area of Hasakah province, leaving only the western tower staffed.

Soldiers were also seen lowering the US flag from one tower, while equipment used to manage aircraft take-offs and landings at the base’s airstrip was no longer visible.

No combat aircraft were present at the facility, although a large cargo aircraft landed at the base, remained for several hours, and later departed.

The US established its formal military presence in Syria in October 2015, initially deploying about 50 special forces personnel in advisory roles as part of the international coalition fighting ISIL. Since then, troop levels have fluctuated.

Reports in mid-2025 indicated that roughly 500 US troops withdrew from the country, leaving an estimated 1,400 personnel, though precise figures remain unclear due to the classified nature of many deployments.

US forces continue to focus on countering ISIL remnants, supporting the Syrian government now, providing intelligence and logistical assistance, and securing oil and gas infrastructure in Hasakah and Deir Az Zor provinces.

The US carried out another round of “large-scale” attacks against ISIL in Syria in January, following an ambush that killed two US soldiers and a civilian interpreter in the city of Palmyra in December.

Who: Liverpool vs Manchester City
What: English Premier League
Where: Anfield, Liverpool, UK
When: Sunday at 4:30pm (16:30 GMT)
How to follow: We’ll have all the build-up on Al Jazeera Sport from 13:30 GMT in advance of our live text commentary stream.

Liverpool host City for a match with huge ramifications for the title race and the battle to qualify for next season’s Champions League.

City trail leaders Arsenal by six points and could find themselves nine adrift by the time they kick off, with the Gunners hosting Sunderland on Saturday.

Liverpool could also be four points outside the top five, which should secure a place in the Champions League, should Manchester United and Chelsea win on Saturday.

The champions head into the weekend in sixth place on 39 points but in high spirits after a commanding 4-1 win over Newcastle United last weekend, while ⁠City dropped points against 14th-placed Tottenham Hotspur, surrendering a two-goal advantage in a 2-2 draw.

Hugo Ekitike and Florian Wirtz, two of Liverpool’s big-money summer signings, are beginning to deliver returns. Ekitike scored twice in the win over Newcastle to take his tally for the season to 15, while Wirtz has netted six times in 10 matches since ending a 22-game wait for his first Liverpool goal.

City’s Erling Haaland, meanwhile, is experiencing an unusual lean spell with just two goals in his last 12 games. He has never scored for City at Anfield.

Slot targets improved display against City

Liverpool are eager to ‌showcase how far they have progressed after losing 3-0 to City in November, manager Arne Slot said on Thursday.

“I mainly remember the game we played at Etihad, and we were outplayed for large parts in the first half,” Slot told reporters.

“So, this is another moment to see where we are in the development of this team. We know the importance of ⁠a result.”

Liverpool have endured a difficult season so far, but have regained some measure of form in recent weeks.

“It’s the end phase of the season, so results matter more,” Slot said.

“We have not found the consistency for the results, but we have shown against ‌all the [teams], that we can compete.”

Liverpool know there has to be ‘life after Virgil’

Slot also explained the club’s decision to recruit four central defenders during the winter transfer window – Jeremy Jacquet, Ifeanyi Ndukwe, Mor Talla Ndiaye and Noah Adekoya – describing it as planning ‌for life after captain and star centre-back Virgil van Dijk, who will turn 35 this year.

“Hopefully, Virgil can stay fit for multiple years, but this club is not stupid,” Slot said.

“We do know, somewhere in the upcoming years, there is life after Virgil, but that is for every position. We don’t think about short term only.”

Slot singled out the Jacquet for extra praise. The France under-21s defender was also linked with Chelsea, but will move to Anfield in July after Liverpool agreed to a big-money deal to sign him from Rennes, where he will finish the season.

“Such a big talent and another example of the model we’re using at this club,” Slot said.

“Young, very talented players, sometimes at the start of their careers or sometimes already a little bit a few years into their career, but always players that are young and can improve us in the short term but also definitely in the long term.”

Guardiola emphasises mental fortitude ahead of tough trip

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said ‌mental strength separates elite players from the rest as his team prepares for the game against Liverpool.

“The biggest stages and the biggest games always need big personalities,” Guardiola told reporters on Friday.

“I have said many times, it’s not about the skills of the players in the top leagues. In ⁠the top clubs, the skills are there. I never know one player that is not good enough to play in the top clubs, it is how you behave.

“How you play in the latter stages of the biggest competitions is what defines you as a player. The mind of the players you have defines the big teams.”

Guardiola said that despite their travails this season, playing Liverpool at Anfield is still one of the toughest away fixtures in football.

“They remain an exceptional team,” he said. “Top-class manager and an exceptional team, no doubt.”

City boss lauds Haaland as ‘world’s best striker’ but won’t confirm Liverpool start

Guardiola insisted Haaland is the “best striker in the world” despite refusing to confirm if the misfiring City star will start Sunday’s crucial clash.

“I don’t know until tomorrow. But all I say is Erling is the best. Erling is the best striker in the world,” Guardiola told reporters.

The 55-year-old also doubled down on his comments about the “hurt” he feels for victims of conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan after Jewish community leaders told him to “focus on football”.

“To be honest, I didn’t say anything special. I think, why should I not express how I feel just because I am a manager? So I do not agree, but I respect absolutely all opinions,” he said.

“What I said basically is how many conflicts there are right now around the globe or around the world. How many? A lot, right? I condemn all of them. All of them.”

Head-to-head

The two clubs have faced each other on 219 occasions, with Liverpool winning 110 of those games, City winning 61, and 58 ending as draws.

While City comfortably won their home league game against Liverpool this season, their only victory away to Liverpool since 2003 came in an empty stadium during COVID restrictions in 2021.

Liverpool’s team news

Slot confirmed that defender Jeremie Frimpong will miss the game, ‌but Joe Gomez could return to the squad to bolster the defensive ⁠line.

Dominik Szoboszlai is expected to continue deputising for Frimpong at right-back.

Alexander Isak, Conor Bradley and Giovanni Leoni all remain on the sidelines with long-term injuries.

Predicted lineup:

Alisson (GK); Szoboszlai, Konate, Van Dijk, Kerkez; Gravenberch, Mac Allister; Salah, Wirtz, Gakpo; Ekitike

City’s team news

City could be without Bernardo Silva, who has a back issue, so Nico O’Reilly could move into midfield to replace him.

Ruben Dias has returned from injury but likely lacks full match fitness and sharpness, so Abdukodir Khusanov will likely start in the centre of defence alongside new signing Marc Guehi.

Predicted lineup:

Donnarumma (GK); Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, Ait-Nouri; Rodri, O’Reilly; Semenyo, Foden, Cherki; Haaland

Lahore, Pakistan – As funerals were held on Saturday for more than 30 people killed in a suicide bombing at a mosque in Islamabad, analysts warned the attack could be part of a broader attempt to inflame sectarian tensions in the country.

A suicide bomber struck the Khadija Tul Kubra Mosque, a Shia place of worship, in the Tarlai Kalan area of southeastern Islamabad during Friday prayers.

In a statement, the Islamabad administration said 169 people were transferred to hospitals after rescue teams reached the site.

Hours later, a splinter faction of the ISIL (ISIS) group in Pakistan claimed responsibility on its Telegram channel, releasing an image it said showed the attacker holding a gun, his face covered and eyes blurred.

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif said mosque security guards tried to intercept the suspect, who opened fire before detonating explosives among worshippers. He alleged the attacker had been travelling to and from Afghanistan.

Security officials on Saturday told Al Jazeera that several key arrests had been made, including close family members of the suicide bomber in Peshawar and Karachi. They did not clarify whether there was evidence of their involvement in the plot.

Capital under fire?

Islamabad had seen a relative lull in violence in past years, but things have changed in recent months. The bombing marked the second major attack in the federal capital since a suicide blast targeted a district court in November last year.

Abdul Sayed, a Sweden-based analyst on conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan, said ISIL’s Pakistan branch, referred to as ISPP, claimed responsibility for what appears to be its deadliest operation in the country since its formation in May 2019.

“Since its formation, ISPP has carried out approximately 100 attacks, more than two-thirds of which occurred in Balochistan. These attacks include three suicide bombings targeting Afghan Taliban members, police, and security forces in Balochistan,” Sayed, founder of the Oxus Watch research platform, told Al Jazeera.

Pakistan has witnessed a steady rise in violence from fighters over the past three years. Data released by the Pak Institute of Peace Studies for 2025 recorded 699 attacks nationwide, a 34 percent increase compared with the previous year.

Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban, who returned to power in August 2021 following the withdrawal of United States forces, of providing a haven to armed groups that launch attacks inside Pakistan from Afghan soil.

The Afghan Taliban condemned Friday’s mosque bombing and have consistently denied sheltering anti-Pakistan fighters.

In October, this very issue ignited the deadliest border clashes between the two sides in years, which killed dozens of people and led to evacuations on both sides.

A United Nations report last year stated that the Afghan Taliban provides support to the Pakistan Taliban, or TTP, which has carried out multiple attacks across Pakistan.

The report also said the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has ties with both the TTP and ISIL’s affiliate in Khorasan Province (ISKP), indicating a convergence of groups with distinct but intersecting agendas.

Just days ago, Pakistan’s military concluded a weeklong security operation in the restive southwestern Balochistan province, claiming the deaths of 216 fighters in targeted offensives.

A military statement on Thursday said it followed the province-wide attacks by the separatist BLA carried out to “destabilise the peace of Balochistan”.

Fahad Nabeel, who heads the Islamabad-based consultancy Geopolitical Insights, said Pakistan is likely to maintain its hardened stance towards Kabul, citing what he described as Afghanistan’s failure to act against anti-Pakistan fighter groups.

He added that officials would probably share preliminary findings of the investigation and point to a possible Afghan link.

“The upward trajectory of terrorist attacks witnessed last year is expected to continue this year. Serious efforts need to be made to identify networks of facilitators based in and around major urban centres, who are facilitating militant groups to carry out terrorist attacks,” Nabeel told Al Jazeera.

Sectarian fault lines

Manzar Zaidi, a Lahore-based security analyst, cautioned against equating the latest bombing with the district court attack last year.

“The last year’s attack was essentially a target on a state institution, whereas this one was plainly sectarian in nature, something that has certainly gone done in the recent times, and that is why I will urge caution against a knee-jerk reaction to conflate the two incidents,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shia make up more than 20 percent of Pakistan’s population of about 250 million. The country has experienced periodic bouts of sectarian violence, particularly in Kurram district in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan.

Regional tensions have added to domestic anxieties.

Zaidi said armed groups in the region backed by Iran remain alert amid “the simmering geopolitical tensions”.

“For Pakistan, it really has to keep a close eye on how things develop in Kurram region, where things can get out of control and there could be a fallout. The region currently has an uneasy peace; that can easily be instabilised,” he said.

Kurram, a tribal district bordering Afghanistan, has a roughly equal Sunni and Shia population. It has long been a flashpoint for sectarian clashes and witnessed prolonged fighting last year.

Nabeel said a timely conclusion to the investigation could shape the government’s response and help prevent the attack from becoming a trigger for wider sectarian unrest.

“However, the possibility of low-intensity sectarian targeting in different parts of the country is likely,” he warned.

Sayed added that an examination of Pakistani nationals who joined ISIL and affiliated groups shows that many came from anti-Shia Sunni armed organisations.

“The role of these sectarian elements is therefore an important factor in understanding such attacks. Moreover, such attacks appear significant in facilitating further recruitment of anti-Shia Sunni extremists within Pakistan, thereby contributing to IS efforts to strengthen its networks in the country,” he said.