TODAY

Foreign minister announces apparent reversal of France’s stance, saying Iran protest crackdown ‘cannot go unanswered’.

France has said it supports the European Union’s push to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a “terrorist organisation”, reversing earlier opposition to the move.

In a statement shared on social media on Wednesday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot appeared to link the planned designation to the Iranian authorities’ recent crackdown on antigovernment protests across the country.

“The unbearable repression of the Iranian people’s peaceful uprising cannot go unanswered. Their extraordinary courage in the face of the violence that has been unleashed upon them cannot be in vain,” Barrot wrote on X.

“With our European partners, we will take action tomorrow in Brussels against those responsible for these atrocities. They will be banned from European territory and their assets will be frozen,” he said.

“France will support the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the European list of terrorist organisations.”

EU foreign ministers are meeting on Thursday in Brussels, where they are expected to sign off on the new sanctions against the IRGC.

The move, being led by Italy, is likely to be approved politically, although it needs unanimity among the bloc’s 27 member-states.

Established after the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the IRGC is a branch of the country’s military that answers directly to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

It oversees the Iranian missile and nuclear programmes and plays a central role in Iran’s defence as well as its foreign operations and influence in the wider region.

While some EU member countries have previously pushed for the IRGC to be added to the EU’s “terrorist” list, others, led by France, have been more cautious.

They feared such a move could lead to a complete break in ties with Iran, impacting diplomatic missions, and also hurting negotiations to release European citizens held in Iranian prisons.

Paris has been especially worried about the fate of two of its citizens currently living at the embassy in Tehran after being released from prison last year.

The push by the EU to sanction the IRGC comes amid global criticism of a crackdown on a wave of demonstrations in Iran, which broke out last month in response to soaring inflation and an economic crisis.

The United States-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said it confirmed at least 6,221 deaths, including at least 5,858 protesters, linked to the weeks-long protest movement while it is investigating 12,904 others.

Iran’s government has put the death toll at 3,117, saying 2,427 were civilians and members of the country’s security forces and labelling the rest as “terrorists”.

Al Jazeera has been unable to independently verify these figures.

The protests also spurred renewed tensions between Iran and the US, as US President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to launch an attack against the country in recent weeks.

Trump designated the IRGC as a “terrorist” group in 2019 during his first term in office.

Canada and Australia did the same in 2024 and in November of last year, respectively.

Iran has warned of “destructive consequences” if the EU goes ahead with plans to list the IRGC, and it summoned the Italian ambassador over Rome’s spearheading of the move.

Plane vanished in remote jungle near eastern border with Venezuela; search hindered by dense terrain and adverse weather.

Bogota, Colombia – Search and rescue teams in Colombia are searching for a passenger plane carrying 15 passengers that went missing near the eastern border with Venezuela.

Two crew members were among the passengers, which included a Colombian congressional representative and a candidate running in the upcoming elections, according to local officials and media reports.

It remains unclear what caused the disappearance, but local Air Traffic Control sources say the plane’s flight history shows a sudden altitude drop 11 minutes before it was expected to land in Ocana.

The flight, operated by government-run commercial airline Satena, was en route from Cucuta to Ocana, two cities in the North Santander department bordering Venezuela, when it left radar coverage.

“The Accident Investigation Directorate of @AerocivilCol reports that it is gathering information regarding the loss of communication from aircraft HK4709, which was flying the Cucuta-Ocaña route with 13 passengers and 2 crew members,” wrote Maria Fernanda Rojas, Colombia’s minister of transport, in a post on X.

“The corresponding protocols have been activated, and we have already initiated PMU,” added Rojas, referring to the “Unified Command Post” set up to respond to emergencies.

The plane disappeared in a remote region characterised by dense jungle, complicating search-and-rescue efforts.

Among the passengers was Diogenes Quintero, a lower house lawmaker who holds a seat specially reserved for conflict victims. He was accompanied by ​​Carlos Salcedo Salazar, a candidate running for the same seat.

A local government official, who requested anonymity since they were not authorised to speak to the press, told Al Jazeera that authorities suspected that the plane had been affected by adverse weather conditions.

Drug trade

The Catatumbo region is also an active conflict zone and is home to the world’s largest cultivations of coca, the plant which produces the raw ingredient used to make cocaine.

Both the drug trade and the region’s strategic location on the Venezuelan border have made it a historic hotbed for armed conflict between rebel groups.

In January last year, violent clashes between the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Frente 33, a dissident group of the demobilised FARC fighters, displaced more than 50,000 people in the region.

The route from Cucuta to Ocana began operating only in June last year, marking an important milestone for a region that has historically had poor road connections to major cities.

The United States Federal Reserve is holding interest rates steady in its first rate decision of 2026.

Rates will remain at 3.5 to 3.75 percent, the Fed said on Wednesday, defying US President Donald Trump’s calls for more aggressive interest rate cuts.

“The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. Uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated,” the central bank said in its release announcing the decision.

Wednesday’s decision was widely expected. CME FedWatch, a tool that tracks expectations for monetary policy, forecast a more than 97 percent chance that the central bank would hold rates steady.

The tracker also expects two rate cuts in 2026, with the highest probability for the first cut occurring in June at the earliest.

“Available indicators suggest that economic activity has been expanding at a solid pace. Job gains have remained low, and the unemployment rate has shown some signs of stabilization,” the central bank said.

The decision comes amid signs of stabilisation in the US labour market. The US economy added 584,000 jobs in 2025, marking the lowest annual job growth since 2003. Payrolls rose by 64,000 jobs in October and 50,000 in December. While job growth remains weak, December’s figure represents a modest rebound from October, when the economy lost 105,000 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There are indications that the labour market may cool further in the months ahead. This week, both Amazon and UPS announced tens of thousands of job cuts, some of which were driven by a push towards increasing the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace.

Another threat to the US economy and the job market comes in the form of a looming government shutdown. That can happen as early as Saturday, and depending on its duration, it could slow spending as federal workers are temporarily left without paycheques.

Political tensions

The decision to hold interest rates steady comes despite Trump’s increased pressure on the central bank to cut rates. Fed Chairman Jerome Powell has long stressed the Federal Reserve’s independence, and Wednesday’s decision is the first since Powell’s rebuke of a criminal Department of Justice investigation into him. The central bank chair, whose term expires in May, called the inquiry a “pretext” to pressure him.

“The threat of criminal charges is a consequence of the Federal Reserve setting interest rates based on our best assessment of what will serve the public, rather than following the preferences of the president,” Powell said in remarks in early January in response to a subpoena.

Last week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case examining whether Trump has the legal authority to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook amid allegations of mortgage fraud.

Meanwhile, Fed Governor Stephan Miran’s term is set to expire this week. Trump picked Miran to temporarily fill the seat vacated by Adriana Kugler in August while seeking a more permanent replacement.

Miran was one of two central bank governors who voted to lower interest rates alongside Christopher Waller.

The developments come as Trump searches for a new Fed chair. He has explicitly called for further interest rate cuts and for a chairman who shares his views.

“Anybody that disagrees with me will never be the Fed Chairman!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social in December.

The political pressure has caught the attention of global central banks as well.

“The Federal Reserve is the biggest, most important central bank in the world, and we all need it to work well. A loss of independence of the Fed would affect us all,” Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Wednesday. Canada’s central bank held rates steady ahead of the US central bank’s decision.

Macklem was one of the central bank heads who earlier this month issued a joint statement backing Powell. Last September, Macklem said Trump’s attempts to pressure the Fed were starting to hit markets.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is flat, as is the Nasdaq, and the S&P 500 is down 0.1 in midday trading.

Tehran, Iran – The Iranian government is putting into place contingency plans for basic governance as the threat of another war with the United States and Israel looms large.

President Masoud Pezeshkian gathered governors of Iran’s border provinces as well as his economy minister in Tehran on Tuesday to delegate some responsibilities to the governors if a war breaks out, state media reported. A working group was also formed, tasked with ensuring the increased flow of essential goods, particularly food.

The governors have been given authority to import goods without using foreign currency, engage in bartering and allow sailors to bring in products under simplified customs rules, according to the government-run IRNA news agency.

“In addition to importing essential goods, governors now have the authority to bring in all goods that are directly linked with the livelihoods of the people and the needs of the market in order to balance the market and prevent hoarding,” Pezeshkian was quoted as saying at the meeting.

“Through enforcing this policy, a considerable part of the pressures resulting from the cruel sanctions are neutralised,” he said in reference to harsh restrictions imposed by the US as well as United Nations sanctions reimposed in September, which the Iranian government blames for the economic crisis the country is going through.

But while the government resorts to focusing on the basics, nearly all of Iran’s 90 million people and all sectors of the country’s beleaguered economy continue to suffer from an unprecedented internet shutdown.

The digital blackout was imposed by the theocratic state on January 8 as nationwide protests reached a boiling point, followed by the killings of thousands of Iranians.

The intranet set up to offer some basic services during the state-imposed shutdown is slow and has failed to shore up online businesses. Traditional shops are also struggling to bring in customers.

Economic trouble persists

Amid a large deployment of armed security personnel, most shops are now open in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar – where the protests against the poor economic conditions started on December 28 – and other downtown business districts.

But a shopkeeper at the Grand Bazaar told Al Jazeera that business activity is a fraction of what it was several weeks ago.

“There’s not much life and energy in the markets these days,” he said on the condition of anonymity. “The worst thing is that everything is still so unpredictable. You can see that in the currency rate too.”

Iran’s rial has been in freefall after markets partially reopened this week, degrading trust in the national currency.

The rial hit a new all-time low of about 1.6 million per US dollar on Wednesday. Each greenback had changed hands for about 700,000 rials a year ago and about 900,000 in mid-2025.

However, Central Bank of Iran chief Abdolnasser Hemmati said at the meeting with the governors in Tehran that the currency market was “following its natural course”.

He said $2.25bn worth of foreign currency deals have in recent weeks been registered in a state-run market set up to manage imports and exports, which he described as an “acceptable and considerable figure”.

The comments from Hemmati – who was also the Central Bank chief from 2018 to 2021 and was impeached as economy minister in March – immediately drew fire from the ultraconservative Keyhan newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is directly appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The newspaper said his comments run counter to the reality in the tumultuous currency market as well as Hemmati’s promises of price stability for essential goods when he re-emerged as the Central Bank governor last month.

While dealing with foreign pressure, Pezeshkian’s government has also been hounded by hardliners at home who have demanded immediate changes to his relatively moderate cabinet.

The infighting became so serious that the supreme leader publicly intervened, telling lawmakers in parliament and other officials during a speech last week that they are “forbidden” from “insulting” the president at a time when the country must focus on providing essential goods to the people.

Subsidy scheme

For his part, Pezeshkian has kept his rhetoric focused solely on “combating corruption” through an initiative that has eliminated a subsidised currency rate used for imports of certain goods, including food.

Pezeshkian’s government argued the subsidised allocated currency was being misused by state-linked organisations. The scheme was supposed to deliver cheaper imported food, but that has not been the case.

The money freed up by the initiative has been distributed as electronic coupons among Iranians to buy food from select stores at prices set by the government.

But each citizen will get only 10 million rials per month for four months. That figure amounted to just over $7 when it was announced during the protests early this month, but it is now worth closer to $6 as the fall of the national currency further erodes purchasing power.

To add insult to injury, the announcement of the subsidy scheme contributed to an abrupt tripling or quadrupling of prices for some essential goods, including cooking oil and eggs. Iran’s annual inflation rate remains untamed at nearly 50 percent and has been on a rising trajectory in recent months.

The top two state-run carmakers, which hold a large monopoly in Iran’s auto industry, have also been positioning themselves for yet another price hike as the end of the Iranian calendar year approaches in March.

One of the firms, Iran Khodro, said on Tuesday that it would increase prices by up to 60 percent while local media reported that the other, Saipa, was expected to follow suit. The government has reportedly intervened to delay or slow the price hikes.

TEDPIX, the main index of the Tehran Stock Exchange, continued its recent decline on Wednesday, losing 30,000 points to stand at 3,980,000. The index was at an all-time high of 4,500,000 last week, having made gains in early January.

At least 297 Nigerian refugees have voluntarily left the Minawao refugee camp in Cameroon’s Far North region to return to their home country. On Jan. 27, they were transported in five buses, as part of an ongoing scheme to repatriate a total of 3,122 refugees from the camp.

The first batch of the refugees, comprising 75 households, returned to Gwoza Local Government Area in Borno State, northeastern Nigeria, officially launching the fourth phase of the repatriation exercise. This comes in light of the Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum’s visit to the refugee camp in Cameroon on December 8, 2025. During this visit, he highlighted his administration’s dedication to ensuring a voluntary, safe, and dignified return for displaced persons.

The departure ceremony was attended by officials from Cameroon and Nigeria, as well as humanitarian partners from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Midjiyawa Bakari, the governor of the Far North region, praised the collaboration between the two countries and international organisations. He expressed hope for a successful reintegration of the repatriated individuals. 

“This homecoming is a testament to our collective resolve. We are not merely relocating people; we are restoring lives and rekindling hope within our communities,” Lawan Abba Wakilbe, the Chairperson of the Borno State Sub-Committee on Repatriation, said.

The number of refugees in the Minawao camp in Cameroon has recently surpassed 70,000, raising a significant concern for humanitarian organisations operating in Cameroon’s Far North region. Established in 2013, the Minawao camp is located approximately 70 kilometres from the Nigerian border and was originally intended as a temporary solution for those fleeing the attacks and atrocities committed by Boko Haram.

The camp continues to operate today. However, it currently accommodates more people than it was designed for, according to local sources. Humanitarian organisations in Cameroon and Nigeria have reported that the large refugee population in the camps is straining available resources and making it difficult to meet refugees’ essential needs, such as food, education, and medical care.

BREAKINGBREAKING,

Kremlin has not indicated whether it will agree to al-Sharaa’s repeated requests for Bashar al-Assad’s extradition.

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa is meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow as the latter seeks to shore up Russia’s presence in the country, including militarily, just over a year after al-Sharaa ousted Russia’s former ally, Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking at a news conference before their meeting on Wednesday, al-Sharaa thanked Putin for supporting unity in Syria and what he said was the “historic” role Russia had played in the “stability of the region”.

Putin expressed his support for al-Sharaa’s ongoing efforts to stabilise Syria and congratulated him on gaining momentum towards “restoring the territorial integrity of Syria”.

Putin and al-Sharaa spent more than a decade on opposing sides of Syria’s civil war, prompting concerns in Moscow about the future of Russia’s military presence there.

Before the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “the presence of our soldiers in Syria” would be discussed. They are stationed at the Khmeimim airbase and the Tartous naval base in Syria’s Mediterranean coastal region.

Earlier this week, Russia reportedly withdrew its forces from the Qamishli airport in Kurdish-held northeastern Syria, leaving it with only its two Mediterranean bases – now its only military outposts outside the former Soviet Union.

Amberin Zaman, a correspondent with the Middle East news outlet Al-Monitor, published footage that she said was from the abandoned base in Qamishli on Monday.

Syria had historically been one of Moscow’s closest allies in the Middle East. Their ties go back to the Cold War when the Soviet Union provided extensive military and other types of support to the Baathist regime in Damascus, led first by Hafez al-Assad and then his son Bashar.

Moscow had been worried about the possibility of a “populist anti-Russia” government emerging in Damascus when Bashar al-Assad was overthrown, Samuel Ramani, an associate fellow at the London-based RUSI think tank, told Al Jazeera.

“They feared he [al-Sharaa] would squeeze them out, but the Russians have been pleasantly surprised, even if they’ve had to downgrade their ties from before,” Ramani added.

Pragmatic approach

Al-Sharaa has taken a pragmatic approach, Ramani said, seeking to build his own relations with extra-regional powers as a hedge against possible political swings in the United States.

“The Republicans are lenient towards Syria engaging Russia as long as they keep Iran out,” Ramani said, “whereas the Democrats have been more sceptical overall and have wanted to move slower on the removal of sanctions and other issues.”

“Al-Sharaa also needs Russia, and that is why he is engaging,” he said.

Al-Sharaa played down Russia’s role in Syria’s war and sought to strike a friendlier tone during his first visit to Moscow in October despite Russia providing refuge to Bashar al-Assad and his wife, who fled the country in December 2024 as al-Sharaa-led opposition fighters advanced towards Damascus.

Al-Sharaa has requested al-Assad’s extradition and said at an event last month that there would be justice for Syrians who were victims of the former president’s repression.

Putin will be especially eager to maintain Russia’s presence in Syria, having lost another ally this month when the US sent special forces to abduct Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

On Tuesday, Russian Defence Minister Andrey Removich Belousov said after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart that Moscow was closely monitoring the situation in Venezuela and with Iran, which has close ties with Russia and has been facing threats of attack from the US in recent weeks.

Syria’s new leaders have reoriented the country’s foreign policy away from Russia and have said they’re seeking to build a strategic relationship with the US, which has been reciprocated by the Trump administration.

The US appeared not to follow through with warnings to the Syrian government against engaging the Kurdish-led, US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces this month but later helped broker a truce to end the fighting.

A fragile ceasefire is now in place and has been largely holding.

The B-21 Raider stealth bomber is one of the Air Force’s most ambitious weapons programs, designed to carry out deep-penetrating nuclear and conventional strikes over heavily defended skies and other missions its predecessor, the B-2, was never envisioned as doing. As the head of the U.S. Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), one of Gen. Stephen L. Davis’s main tasks is guiding the development of the Raider, of which 100 are currently slated for procurement and that number could grow substantially larger in the coming years.

In his first interview since taking command on Nov. 4, 2025, from Gen. Thomas Bussiere, Davis offered The War Zone exclusive insights about the B-21 and what it can bring to the table in a future high-end fight. As the leader of AFGSC, Davis also oversees B-1B Lancer, B-2A Spirit, and B-52 Stratofortress strategic bombers and all U.S. Air Force intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). During his Monday morning conversation with us, Davis talked about a host of other topics beyond just the Raider, including the future of the E-4C “Doomsday Plane,” the way forward for the troubled Sentinel ICBM program, and challenges posed by China and Russia.

You can read the first part of our interview here.

Some of the questions and answers have been lightly edited for clarity.

Q: What capabilities will the B-21 have by the time it achieves initial operating capability (IOC), and what will come later?

A: Right now, I’m focused on delivering the initial capability. And unfortunately, I can’t talk too much about the capabilities of the bomber. They are significant, and they are impressive. From the command’s perspective, we’re concentrating on getting everything in place up at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota to bed down that capability. Really, it’s the acquisition community that’s still delivering that plane, and I’m certainly interested in that, but I’m probably more focused on the bed down and getting those things right.

Q: Can you provide an update on the Raider’s Initial Operating Capability (IOC)?

A: As for IOC, we are thinking of it in an OPSEC framework. We are not building prototypes, and the infrastructure to support the B-21 is on time. The program remains a benchmark of acquisition and has validated the value of the digital engineering that went into it from the beginning; I can tell you that the penetrating global strike platform we are building and will get with the Raider is amazing.

Q:  Will the B-21 still be optionally manned?

A: That’s a future capability for the aircraft. Right now, we’re planning for the manned implementation of that aircraft and getting the crews ready to be at Ellsworth when the plane arrives.

Q: What roles will the B-21 be capable of executing beyond the standard deep strike mission set of the B-2? Will they be able to defend themselves kinetically from air threats as well as ground threats?

A:  I really don’t want to talk about those specific attributes of the B-21 because some of those are classified. What I can say is that it will continue to build on the capabilities of the B-2. As you know, in the environment and the places where it might operate, those people are improving their defenses, and likewise, we have to improve the capabilities so we can deliver for the president and the nation a penetrating bomber. Clearly, with a nuclear mission, there are places that we’re going to have to go to deliver nuclear weapons, if ever called upon by the president of the United States, and that’s something that I have to provide to the Department of War and to the president.

Q: We have heard so much about the Long-Range Strike family of systems, but so far, we only know of two members of that family, the B-21 and the Long-Range Stand-Off Weapon (LRSO). What other types of systems make up this family and when will we be able to meet them in the future? 

A: Well, once again, you hit me on all the classified aspects of the program. I would say any platform operating today is in a family of systems that’s connected to other things within the Department of the Air Force, and the Department of War, and that’ll continue to be the case of the B-21. And, as a matter of fact, we’re going to extend those, and it will be more connected than the B-2 in order to do its penetrating global strike mission. I think one thing you could add to family systems is the F-47 6th-generation fighter. You know, it’s going to be paired with the F-47 under certain circumstances. So we certainly consider that new 6th-generation stealth fighter as part of the family of systems that might be employed with the B-21.

Q: Any update on that program?

A: Nothing other than I believe it still remains on track. I was recently out of St. Louis, and they got a chance to take a look at the work that they were doing out there. As you know, Air Force Gen. Dale White has just been announced as the Direct Reporting Portfolio Manager for Critical Major Weapon Systems, leading the F-47 and the B-21 programs, so that will create some integration there as well. I know Dale. He’s a very talented acquirer, so I think that bodes well for both those programs.

Q: How will unmanned systems, specifically aerial drones, be paired with the future bomber force? What capabilities are you looking at in this regard? 

A: In terms of what we might incorporate into both the B-21 and the B-52 in future environments, we’re going to take every bit of information we get on board that aircraft to improve situational awareness. So I’m agnostic on where that comes from, whether that’s overhead capabilities, whether that’s remotely piloted capabilities, or UASs. Our plan is to integrate as much information as we can of that platform.

Q: Will B-21s be able to control collaborative combat aircraft (CCAs) or longer-range drones? What about the B-52J?

A: In terms of CCAs, I think where the Air Force is right now is that they’re building those to be incorporated into the F-47 primarily in fighter aircraft. That’s the first step. It’s certainly possible in the future that they might become part of that family of systems. When you think about long-range strike, when we’re doing [continental U.S.] CONUS-based missions, it really would limit the ability to use some of those platforms as they don’t quite have the extended flight envelopes that the B-21 and the B-52 have.

Q: And with the B-52, as far as working with CCAs, is that still to be determined?

A: I would say yes. I would think that the B-21 would be the more logical partner for that. But once again, we have to deliver that capability that the Air Force does and integrate with fighters. That’s the first step. Assuming that goes well. I think we’ll look at the next steps.

Q: What will it take to pierce China’s A2AD [anti-access/area denial] umbrella? What capabilities do you need to do the job, from a [ground moving GMTI/AMTI target indicator/air moving target indicator] space layer to drones to accompany B-21s? What is your vision?

A: We have a requirement to be able to do that day-to-day for the president. We have to be able to penetrate adversary air defenses and deliver capabilities as directed. And we’ll continue to do that, taking all the information we can get and integrating it into the B-21. Obviously, one of the great things about the B-21 is that it’s going to be much more capable. It will have more sensors. It will have more inputs to it that will make it even stronger and more capable as a penetrating bomber.

Q: What role will your bombers play in taking down the Chinese Navy?

A: That’s an operational plan. I really can’t talk much about it, other than to say that long-range strike contributes to every important mission set that we have in the Department of War. Obviously, one of the attributes of the modern force is the variety of weapons they can carry, and the number and types of targets they can attack. I think in any major confrontation that the U.S. would find itself in, you’re going to find your bomber forces are bringing those skill sets to bear.

Q: What makes the move to put a single pilot onboard the B-21, along with a weapon systems officer (WSO) instead of two pilots, possible, and why is that the right call? 

A: In terms of the crew complement for the B-21, that’s an ongoing discussion within the Department of the Air Force. No final decision has been made. Frankly, we had the same discussion on the B-2 on how it would be manned. And ultimately, they went with two pilots, in part because of the cost of the platform and the number they were producing. Actually, at the time, it was a requirement to have navigator or WSO experience to be a B-2 pilot. We went away from that over time, but that was one of the initial requirements. With B-21 pilots, it’s a different plane, as it has a number of different capabilities. So we think that the right thing to do is look carefully at that crew complement and decide how to best make that the most capable combat platform we can.

Q: Will the B-21 have creature comforts that the B-2 doesn’t have to help the crew out during long missions?

A: I think the B-21 is going to be largely like the B-2 in how it supports the crews. There’s enough room for crew members to go on rest status. There’s a place to go to the bathroom, obviously, and to prepare food. All those things will exist in the B-21.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

China is showcasing itself as a solid business and trading partner to traditional allies of the United States and others who have been alienated by President Donald Trump’s politics, and some of them appear ready for a reset.

Since the start of 2026, Chinese President Xi Jinping has received South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Irish leader Micheal Martin.

This week, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer is on a three-day visit to Beijing, while German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is expected to visit China for the first time in late February.

Among these visitors, five are treaty allies of the US, but all have been hit over the past year by the Trump administration’s “reciprocal” trade tariffs, as well as additional duties on key exports like steel, aluminium, autos and auto parts.

Canada, Finland, Germany and the UK found themselves in a NATO standoff with Trump this month over his desire to annex Greenland and threats that he would impose additional tariffs on eight European countries he said were standing in his way, including the UK and Finland. Trump has since backed down from this threat.

China’s renewed sales pitch

While China has long sought to present itself as a viable alternative to the post-war US-led international order, its sales pitch took on renewed energy at the World Economic Forum‘s (WEF) annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this month.

As Trump told world leaders that the US had become “the hottest country, anywhere in the world” thanks to surging investment and tariff revenues, and Europe would “do much better” to follow the US lead, Chinese Vice Premier Li Hefeng’s speech emphasised China’s ongoing support for multilateralism and free trade.

“While economic globalisation is not perfect and may cause some problems, we cannot completely reject it and retreat to self-imposed isolation,” Li said.

“The right approach should be, and can only be, to find solutions together through dialogue.”

Li also criticised the “unilateral acts and trade deals of certain countries” – a reference to Trump’s trade war – that “clearly violate the fundamental principles and principles of the [World Trade Organization] and severely impact the global economic and trade order”.

Li also told the WEF that “every country is entitled to defend its legitimate rights and interests”, a point that could be understood to apply as much to China’s claims over places like Taiwan as to Denmark’s dominion over Greenland.

“In many ways, China has chosen to cast itself in the role of a stable and responsible global actor in the midst of the disruption that we are seeing from the US. Reiterating its support for the United Nations system and global rules has often been quite enough to bolster China’s standing, especially among countries of the Global South,” Bjorn Cappelin, an analyst at the Swedish National China Centre, told Al Jazeera.

The West is listening

John Gong, a professor of economics at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, told Al Jazeera that the recent series of trips by European leaders to China shows that the Global North is listening, too. Other notable signs include the UK’s approval of a Chinese “mega embassy” in London, Gong said, and progress in a years-long trade dispute over Chinese exports of electric vehicles (EVs) to Europe.

Starmer is also expected to pursue more trade and investment deals with Beijing this week, according to UK media.

“A series of events happening in Europe seems to suggest an adjustment of Europe’s China policy – for the better, of course – against the backdrop of what is emanating from Washington against Europe,” Gong told Al Jazeera.

The shifting diplomatic calculations are also clear in Canada, which has shown a renewed willingness to deepen economic ties with China after several spats with Trump over the past year.

Carney’s is the first visit to Beijing by a Canadian prime minister since Justin Trudeau went in 2017, and he came away with a deal that saw Beijing agree to ease tariffs on Canadian agricultural exports and Ottawa to ease tariffs on Chinese EVs.

Trump lashed out at news of the deal, threatening 100 percent trade tariffs on Canada if the deal goes ahead.

In a statement last weekend on his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote that Carney was “sorely mistaken” if he thought Canada could become a “‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States”.

The meeting between Carney and Xi this month also thawed years of frosty relations after Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou in late 2018 at the behest of the US. Beijing subsequently arrested two Canadians in a move that was widely seen as retaliation. They were released in 2021 after Meng reached a deferred agreement with prosecutors in New York.

In Davos, Carney told world leaders that there had been a “rupture in the world order” in a clear reference to Trump, followed by remarks this week to the Canadian House of Commons that “almost nothing was normal now” in the US, according to the CBC.

Carney also said this week in a call with Trump that Ottawa should continue to diversify its trade deals with countries beyond the US, although it had no plans in place yet for a free-trade agreement with China.

Filling the void

Hanscom Smith, a former US diplomat and senior fellow at Yale’s Jackson School of International Affairs, told Al Jazeera that Beijing’s appeal could be tempered by other factors, however.

“When the United States becomes more transactional, that creates a vacuum, and it’s not clear the extent to which China or Russia, or any other power, is going to be able to fill the void. It’s not necessarily a zero-sum game,” he told Al Jazeera. “Many countries want to have a good relationship with both the United States and China, and don’t want to choose.”

One glaring concern with China, despite its offer of more reliable business dealings, is its massive global trade surplus, which surged to $1.2 trillion last year.

Much of this was gained in the fallout from Trump’s trade war as China’s manufacturers – facing a slew of tariffs from the US and declining demand at home – expanded their supply chains into places like Southeast Asia and found new markets beyond the US.

China’s record trade surplus has alarmed some European leaders, such as French President Emmanuel Macron, who, in Davos, called for more foreign direct investment from China but not its “massive excess capacities and distortive practices” in the form of export dumping.

Li tried to address such concerns head-on in his Davos speech. “We never seek trade surplus; on top of being the world’s factory, we hope to be the world’s market too. However, in many cases, when China wants to buy, others don’t want to sell. Trade issues often become security hurdles,” he said.

While diplomatic circles welcome the recovery of the last Israeli captive’s remains in Gaza and the imminent partial reopening of the enclave’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a quieter, darker reality is taking shape on the ground.

According to comments by retired Israeli General Amir Avivi, who still advises the military, Israel has cleared land in Rafah, an area in the southern Gaza Strip that it had already flattened in more than two years of its genocidal war, to construct an enormous facility to entrench its military control and presence in Gaza for the long term.

Speaking to the Reuters news agency on Tuesday, Avivi described the project as a “big, organised camp” capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people, stating it would be equipped with “ID checks, including facial recognition”, to track every Palestinian entering or leaving.

Corroborating Avivi’s claims, exclusive analysis by Al Jazeera’s Digital Investigations Team confirms that ground preparations for this project are already well under way.

Satellite imagery captured from December 2 through Monday reveals extensive clearing operations in western Rafah. The analysis identifies an area of about 1.3sq km (half a square mile) that has undergone systematic levelling.

According to the investigation, the operations went beyond mere debris removal and involved the flattening of land previously devastated by Israeli air strikes.

The cleared zone is located adjacent to two Israeli military posts, suggesting the new camp will be under direct and immediate military supervision. The satellite evidence aligns with reports that the facility is to act as a controlled “holding pen” rather than a humanitarian shelter.

The trap of return

To analysts in Gaza, no humanitarian intent is behind this projected high-tech infrastructure, which they say is in fact a trap for Palestinians.

“What they are building is, in reality, a human-sorting mechanism reminiscent of Nazi-era selection points,” Wissam Afifa, a Gaza-based political analyst, told Al Jazeera. “It is a tool for racial filtering and a continuation of the genocide by other means.”

The reopening of the Rafah crossing, tentatively scheduled for Thursday, according to The Jerusalem Post, comes with strict Israeli conditions. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted on full “security control”.

For Palestinians hoping to return to Gaza, this means submitting to what Afifa describes as “human sorting stations”.

“This mechanism is designed to deter return,” Afifa said. “Palestinians will face interrogation, humiliation and the risk of arrest at these Israeli-run checkpoints just to go home.”

By leveraging facial recognition technology confirmed by Avivi, Israel is creating a high-risk ordeal for returnees, he said. Afifa argued it will force many Palestinians to choose exile over the risk of the “sorting station”, serving Israel’s longstanding goal of depopulating the Strip.

Permanent occupation within the ‘yellow line’

The Rafah camp is just one piece of a larger puzzle. Israel in effect occupies all of Gaza with a physical military presence in 58 percent of the Gaza Strip. Its forces directly occupy an area within the “yellow line”, a self-proclaimed Israeli military buffer zone established by an October ceasefire.

“We are witnessing the re-engineering of Gaza’s geography and demography,” Afifa said. “About 70 percent of the Strip is now under direct Israeli military management.”

This assessment of a permanent foothold is reinforced by Netanyahu’s own remarks to the Knesset on Monday. By declaring that “the next phase is demilitarisation”, or disarming Hamas, rather than reconstruction, Netanyahu signalled that the military occupation has no end date.

“The talk of ‘reconstruction’ starting in Rafah under Israeli security specifications suggests they are building a permanent security infrastructure, not a sovereign Palestinian state,” Afifa added.

A ‘show’ of peace

For the more than two million Palestinians in Gaza, the hope that the return of the last Israeli captive would bring relief has turned into frustration.

“There is a deep sense of betrayal,” Afifa said. “The world celebrated the release of one Israeli body as a triumph while two million Palestinians remain hostages in their own land.”

Afifa warned that the international silence regarding these “sorting stations” risks normalising them. If the Rafah model succeeds, it would transform Gaza from a besieged territory into a high-tech prison where the simple act of travel becomes a tool of subjugation, he said.

“Israel is behaving as if it is staying forever,” Afifa concluded. “And the world is watching the show of peace while the prison walls are being reinforced.”

The U.S. Air Force general who oversees America’s intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) force sees a long future ahead for the new LGM-35A Sentinel after it eventually enters service. At the same time, he has acknowledged challenges surrounding the Sentinel program, which is still being restructured nearly two years after huge cost overruns triggered a full review. Northrop Grumman, the prime contractor for the missile, says it is now working with the Air Force to try to re-accelerate the program, which is now years, if not decades, behind schedule.

Air Force Gen. Stephen Davis, head of Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), recently discussed Sentinel, as well as the existing Minuteman III ICBMs the new missile is set to replace, among other topics, with TWZ‘s Howard Altman. This was Davis’ first interview since taking command of AFGSC in November.

Today, there are 400 Minuteman IIIs loaded in silos spread across five states. The Air Force’s goal is to replace them, one-for-one, with new Sentinels. In 2020, the Air Force declared Northrop Grumman as the winner of the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) competition that led to Sentinel.

“Sentinel is probably the biggest program going on in the Department of War right now, certainly in the Department of the Air Force,” Davis said. “Sentinel brings some important new capabilities that we actually have to deliver for the warfighter, for USSTRATCOM [U.S. Strategic Command].”

Much about the new LGM-35A is classified. The Air Force and Northrop Grumman have talked broadly in the past about it offering greater range and improved accuracy, as well as reliability and sustainability benefits, over the aging Minuteman IIIs. The stated plan is for each Sentinel to carry a single W87-1 nuclear warhead inside a Mk 21A re-entry vehicle, but that loading may change in the future, as you can read more about here.

Enabling Peace Through Deterrence

Gen. Davis also called attention to the benefits that are expected to come from Sentinel’s use of open-architecture systems and a supporting infrastructure that is more digital in nature. In general, open architectures, especially software-defined ones, are intended to make it easier to integrate new and improved capabilities and functionality down the line.

“I think Sentinel is going to be a bit easier with some of the things we’re designing into the program, the digital infrastructure, the open architecture,” Davis said. “I think it will make it easier to upgrade and keep that missile relevant. I don’t have any worries about being able to do that in the future.”

The Minuteman III, also known by the designation LGM-30G, first entered operational service in 1970. The missiles, as well as their supporting infrastructure, have received incremental upgrades since then. The design is an evolution of the earlier Minuteman I and II types that entered service in the 1960s. The Air Force did field a newer ICBM, the LGM-118 Peacekeeper, in the 1980s, but withdrew the last of those missiles from service in 2005 as a result of U.S.-Russian arms control agreements. 

LGM-118 MX Peacekeeper ICBM

“We have the challenge of continuing to sustain Minuteman III until we can get Sentinel up online,” Davis said. “We’ve continued to modernize that to keep it relevant. It will continue to sustain it until Sentinel comes on.”

The original program timeline for the Sentinel called for it to begin entering service in 2029. The Minuteman III would continue to serve into 2036 as the Air Force transitioned fully to the new missile.

What the current timeline for Sentinel is now is unknown. In 2024, delays and cost overruns triggered a formal legal requirement for a review of the program, referred to as a Nunn-McCurdy breach, as you can read more about here. This, in turn, prompted an effort to restructure the program that was expected to take 18 to 24 months. At that time, the Pentagon’s Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation (CAPE) projected the total acquisition costs could soar to approximately $140.9 billion, an 81 percent increase over the original estimates, even with the restructuring.

Even then, it had begun to emerge that the bulk of the issues with the Sentinel program were tied to the ground-based infrastructure rather than the missile itself. It has since become clear that the Air Force did not have a full understanding of the magnitude of the physical construction that would be required. This has been compounded by the determination that reusing existing Minuteman III silos is no longer viable, and that entirely new silos will have to be built.

The understanding that it would be possible to reuse substantial parts of the existing Minuteman III infrastructure factored heavily into the original basing plan for Sentinel. The Air Force had considered and rejected a wide range of alternatives, including launchers positioned at the bottom of lakes or in tunnels.

With the Nunn-McCurdy breach, the timeline for replacing Minuteman III has fallen into limbo, at least publicly. Last September, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a Congressional watchdog, released a report saying the Air Force was considering options for extending the service life of Minuteman III out as far as 2050.

During a quarterly earnings call today, Northrop Grumman CEO Kathy Warden discussed Sentinel and said that the restructuring effort is still underway, creating continued timeline uncertainty.

“We are in the middle of supporting the U.S. Air Force as they restructure the Sentinel Program,” Warden said. “Coming out of that, they will firm [up] a schedule that both locks in new time ranges for milestone B [entry into the engineering and manufacturing development phase], initial operating capability, final operating capability.”

“I don’t want to get ahead of the Air Force in talking about that, but certainly, as I have shared, and the Air Force has, as well, we are working to accelerate the timelines that were published coming out of the Nunn-McCurdy breach two years ago,” she continued. “So that is the goal, and we’re making good progress to identifying options to do so. We still believe that the program will be in development for several years and not transitioning into production until later in the decade, and that production will very much be guided by the milestone achievement during development.”

Overall, the Air Force and Pentagon leadership continue to view the Sentinel program as a top national security imperative. The announcement of the GBSD effort to replace Minuteman III and the selection of Northrop Grumman’s design had prompted new discussions about the utility of the ground-based leg of America’s nuclear triad. As it stands now, the primary purpose of America’s silo-based ICBMs is to act as a ‘warhead sponge’ that would force any opponent to expend substantial resources on trying to neutralize it in a future nuclear exchange. It also stands as the fastest nuclear response option in the Pentagon’s strategic portfolio. A the same time, the deterioration in the security situation around the globe, with China drastically expanding its nuclear arsenal and Russia at war with its neighbor in Europe, among other proliferation and strategic weapons development concerns, have bolstered the case for Sentinel and nuclear modernization as a whole.

As AFGSC’s Gen. Davis has now told us, the hope is also that the benefits the Sentinels will bring when they finally do enter service will ensure they remain on guard for decades to come.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

A Russian drone strike on a passenger train in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region has killed at least five people. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy denounced the attack as an act of terrorism.

One of NASA’s high-flying WB-57F research aircraft went skidding down the runway on its belly at Ellington Airport in Houston, Texas, earlier today.

The incident occurred at around 11:30 AM local time, according to KHOU, a local CBS affiliate in Houston. KHOU has shared video footage showing the two-seat WB-57F spraying sparks and smoke after making contact with the runway. Additional footage shows the pilot exiting the plane with the help of first responders on the ground.

Plane appears to land without gears at Ellington Airport in Houston

NASA plane makes belly landing at Ellington Field, video shows

“Today, a mechanical issue with one of NASA’s WB-57s resulted in a gear-up landing at Ellington Field. Response to the incident is ongoing, and all crew are safe at this time,” NASA’s official account on X wrote in response to KHOU‘s report. “As with any incident, a thorough investigation will be conducted by NASA into the cause. NASA will transparently update the public as we gather more information.”

KHOU also reported that Ellington’s runway 17R–35L was closed as efforts were made to move the stricken WB-57F.

All three of NASA’s WB-57Fs are based at the Johnson Space Center, also located in Houston. The aircraft are well known for their high-altitude capabilities, and can fly as high as 63,000 feet depending on how they are configured. They can carry different sensors and other systems in modular payload bays under the fuselage, as well as in their noses and underwing pods. Though roughly similar in some respects, the WB-57F should not be confused with the U.S. Air Force’s higher-flying U-2s. NASA also operates a pair of ER-2 aircraft, which are modified U-2s.

The WB-57Fs, originally developed for the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War as high-flying intelligence-gathering platforms, are now used for various scientific research purposes. The jets have also been used to support various U.S. military operational and test and evaluation-type missions. One of them was notably called upon to help in the response to weeks of still unexplained drone incursions over Langley Air Force Base in Virginia in December 2023, which TWZ was first to report. Many aerial videos of space launches that we see are taken by the WB-57Fs, as well.

Overall, NASA’s WB-57Fs are the definition of an extremely low-density, high-demand asset, and what long-term impacts today’s belly landing may have on the future of the fleet remain be seen.

Update: 4:20 PM EST —

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has now provided TWZ with the following statement:

“A Martin WB-57 landed with its gear up at Ellington Airport in Houston around 11:25 a.m. local time on Tuesday, Jan. 27. Two people were on board. The FAA will investigate.”

Howard Altman contributed to this story.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

World number two Nelly Korda has called the lack of a mixed gender indoor virtual league “an unbelievable miss” following the launch of a women’s competition backed by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The WTGL will be held in the same Florida venue as the men’s TGL, which is currently midway through its second season.

Some of the world’s best female golfers will compete in a season of team matchplay in the SoFi Center in Palm Beach Gardens, but Korda suggested not combining the men and women’s events was a missed opportunity.

“I have mixed feelings on it, and I’m surprised no other girls have spoken out about it,” she said.

“It’s a huge and unbelievable miss that we’re not playing alongside the men.

“There’s no greater way to grow the game, and it would have been revolutionary. It would have been the first time, I think, that men and women are on the same playing field, playing for the same exact amount of money.

“But I also think it’s great that we are getting this opportunity, so that’s my mixed feelings.”

The indoor golf set-up features teams of players hitting shots at a five-storey-high simulator screen before moving to a short-game area with bunkers and a green that can rotate 360 degrees, creating hole-to-hole variations.

Asked about the prospect of a mixed-gender event, Mike McCarley, a former TV executive who founded the TGL alongside McIlroy and Woods said the idea had been discussed.

“I think that is something that’s interesting to us and is interesting to the LPGA and is interesting to a lot of the players we’re talking to,” said McCarley.

“Right now, we’re really focused on building (the TGL) out and providing, frankly, a nice stage and really nice platform to showcase the players and their personalities.”

Korda, 27, is yet to commit to entering the event, saying she is “still weighing out the time commitment” required to play in the tournament.

World number one Jeeno Thitikul and British golfers Charley Hull and Lottie Woad are among the players confirmed to compete.

Atlanta Drive beat New York GC 4-3 to win the first TGL title last year, with a prize pot of £10.39m being split between the two finalists.

This season’s competition, external began on 28 December, with a best-of-three final set to start on 23 March.

The start date and prize pot for the women’s competition is yet to be announced, beyond it being scheduled to take place in winter 2026-27.

Kim Keon Hee’s husband, Yoon Suk Yeol, is potentially facing the death penalty over his role in declaring martial law in 2024 while president.

A South Korean court has sentenced former First Lady Kim Keon Hee to one year and eight months in prison after finding her guilty of accepting bribes from the Unification Church, according to South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday cleared Kim, the wife of disgraced ex-President Yoon Suk Yeol, of additional charges of stock price manipulation and violating the political funds act.

Kim was accused of receiving bribes and lavish gifts from businesses and politicians, as well as the Unification Church, totalling at least $200,000.

The prosecution team had also indicted Unification Church leader Han Hak-ja, now on ‌trial, after the religious group was suspected of giving Kim valuables, including two Chanel handbags and a diamond necklace, as part ‌of its efforts to win influence with the president’s wife.

Prosecutors in December said Kim had “stood above the law” and colluded with the religious sect to undermine “the constitutionally mandated separation of religion and state”.

Prosecutor Min Joong-ki also said South Korea’s institutions were “severely undermined by abuses of power” committed by Kim.

The former first lady had denied all the charges, claiming the allegations against her were “deeply unjust” in her final testimony last month.

But she has also apologised for “causing trouble despite being a person of no importance”.

“When I consider my role and the responsibilities entrusted to me, it seems clear that I have made many mistakes,” she said in December.

Kim’s husband, the country’s former President Yoon, was ousted from office last year and has been sentenced to five years in prison for actions related to his short and disastrous declaration of martial law in December 2024.

Yoon could still be facing the death penalty in a separate case.

In 2023, hidden camera footage appeared to show Kim accepting a $2,200 luxury handbag in what was later dubbed the “Dior bag scandal”, further dragging down then-President Yoon’s already dismal approval ratings.

The scandal contributed to a stinging defeat for Yoon’s party in general elections in April 2024, as it failed to win back a parliamentary majority.

Yoon vetoed three opposition-backed bills to investigate allegations against Kim, including the Dior bag case, with the last veto in November 2024.

A week later, he declared martial law.

Kim’s sentencing comes days after former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo was sentenced to 23 years in prison – eight years longer than prosecutors demanded – for aiding and abetting Yoon’s suspension of civilian rule.

US president says he still has confidence in Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem amid calls for her resignation.

US President Donald Trump said his administration intends to “de-escalate” the spiralling crisis in the state of Minnesota after federal agents killed two United States citizens, including intensive care nurse Alex Pretti, who was shot by two Border Patrol officers over the weekend.

“I don’t think it’s a pullback. It’s a little bit of a change,” President Trump told Fox News on Tuesday.

“We’re going to de-escalate a little bit,” Trump said, referring to a sweeping federal immigration crackdown in Minneapolis that has led to weeks of protests, the killing of Pretti and Renee Good, and a standoff between state and federal officials.

Top Trump officials, including Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, are under fire from Democrats and a growing number of Republicans over how they responded to Pretti’s shooting.

Pretti was filming Border Patrol officers with his phone when he was shot and killed on Saturday.

He was also a licensed gun owner with a permit to carry a weapon in public, which he was wearing at the time of the shooting and which appears to have been confiscated by officers before he was killed.

Trump told Fox News that he still had confidence in Noem despite calls for her resignation.

Noem, who oversees both Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP), responded to the killing by accusing Pretti of engaging in “domestic terrorism” and suggested the ICU nurse had brandished his weapon at Border Patrol agents during an altercation.

Noem’s remarks preceded any investigation findings and broke with the longstanding protocols of how US officials discuss a civilian shooting by law enforcement. Her characterisation of events also conflicted with preliminary video evidence showing that Pretti did not take out his weapon at any time while he was tackled and later shot and killed by officers.

A CBP official informed Congress on Tuesday that two federal officers fired shots during the killing of Pretti.

According to a notice sent to Congress, officers tried to take Pretti into custody and he resisted, leading to a struggle. During the struggle, a Border Patrol agent yelled, “He’s got a gun!” multiple times, the official said in the notice, according to The Associated Press news agency.

A Border Patrol officer and a CBP officer each fired Glock pistols, the notice said.

Investigators from CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility conducted the analysis based on a review of body-worn camera footage and agency documentation, the notice said. US law requires the agency to inform relevant congressional committees about deaths in CBP custody within 72 hours.

As the Canadian military assesses how it would best deal with a potential invasion from Russia, Ottawa is pushing ahead with plans to significantly bolster its armored forces. On the wish-list are more than 250 armored fighting vehicles (AFVs), as well as an upgrade for the Canadian Armed Forces’ existing Leopard 2 main battle tanks (MBTs).

These plans were outlined by representatives of the Canadian Armed Forces speaking at Defense IQ’s International Armored Vehicles conference in England last week, their comments later published by Shephard’s Defense Insight. Events of this kind are typically conducted under Chatham House rules, meaning that information can be freely shared with the public, but the identity of the speakers cannot be disclosed.

Canada already had a plan in place to introduce new AFVs, although the timeline for this has been brought forward. At one point, the new vehicles were expected to be inducted in 2035, but, in a reflection of the new urgency for defense modernization, they are now required to be fielded between 2029 and 2031.

This also appears to be the first time that the number of new AFVs has been officially pitched at 250.

The AFVs are required for the Canadian Army’s armored cavalry forces, specifically the two new medium cavalry (MEDCAV) battalions that are planned to be fielded by the future Maneuver Division.

The vehicles will require both a high level of tactical mobility as well as STANAG Level 6 blast protection, officials say. Level 6 constitutes protection against, for example, 30mm automatic cannonfire, or the detonation of a 15mm artillery shell at 10 meters (33 feet).

According to Shephard, the AFVs are also needed in a highly modular configuration, allowing the fleet to be equipped with cannons and/or mortars for direct fire, as well as for launching loitering munitions. Other versions will be configured as munitions carriers or for command and control (C2) operations.

In the past, three vehicles had been identified as meeting the AFV requirement: the Anglo-Swedish BAE Systems CV90, the South Korean Hanwha Redback, and the German Rheinmetall Lynx. Potentially, many other types could also be considered.

It’s not clear to what degree the new AFVs might be expected to have special modifications for the region in which they will chiefly operate. It is notable that Russia is well-trained for fighting in northern latitudes and is introducing a variety of weapons systems that are optimized for this kind of environment. In contrast, meanwhile, the U.S. Army is only slowly returning to more robust preparations for warfare in Arctic conditions.

Currently, the Canadian Army’s tracked AFV fleet is dominated by variants of the Tracked Light Armored Vehicle (TLAV), which is a derivative of the Cold War-era M113. The service also operates more modern wheeled AFVs, including the Bison (a Canadian version of the LAV II used by the U.S. Marine Corps), the improved LAV 6.0, and the Coyote (a version of the Bison configured for battlefield reconnaissance).

A tracked AFV will ensure the MEDCAV battalions have the requisite off-road mobility and ability to negotiate challenging obstacles, especially vital in the Canadian North. Tracked vehicles are also better able to keep pace with tanks.

As for the Canadian Army’s MBT fleet, this is also slated for an upgrade.

Under the Heavy Direct Fire Modernization (HDFM) project, Ottawa wants to bring its current fleet of German-made Leopard 2A6 MBTs to a new standard, known as Leopard 2A6M, by 2033.

Overall, the country now has a force of 103 Leopard 2A4, 2A4M, and 2A6M vehicles, which are being supported under a contract awarded in 2024. The last of these vehicles is expected to be withdrawn from operational service in 2035. Meanwhile, the oldest Leopard 2A4 versions are only used for training. Canada also donated eight Leopard 2s to Ukraine in 2023.

HDFM replaces most of the remaining analog systems in the Leopard 2A6M fleet and modernizes existing systems, including the optics and fire-control system. The result brings the 2A6M in line with the more advanced Leopard 2A4M fleet.

Canadian Army – Leopard 2A4M CAN Main Battle Tanks Live Firing + On The Move [720p]

The HDFM upgrade is only a stopgap, however, before Canada selects a new MBT. At the International Armored Vehicles conference, officials confirmed that Canada plans to “identify and begin procurement” of a new MBT by 2030. It’s also envisaged that, before the last of the Leopard 2s are retired, these older tanks and the new MBT will serve together within additional armored battalions and companies. The Canadian Forces want these units to be operational by 2037.

“The force design may require additional armored or armored cavalry battalions, but it is just too early at this point to say how many,” one source stated at the conference, as reported by Shephard.

This is part of a wider rethinking of the military, with the aim of having a warfighting concept for 2040.

“We recognize that the army we have is not the army we need, and we are taking the necessary funded steps to bridge that gap,” the source continued. “We are changing our structure, we are modernizing our fleet, we are growing our armored capability. We are no longer just talking about the future; we are actively building it.”

Against this force-structure planning and decisions over new fighting vehicles, Canada is increasingly looking at the kinds of land warfare scenarios it might face in the future.

Earlier this month, TWZ spoke to the operational commander for the Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) about how the Royal Canadian Air Force is looking to counter the growing threats China and Russia pose to the High North.

Simply put, the vast swaths of the Arctic are increasingly of both strategic and economic interest for all the major global powers, and this has been underscored by the growing intensity of Russian and Chinese military and civilian maritime activity in the region.

These same potential threats are also driving a reconfiguration of the Canadian Army.

Remarkably, however, the Canadian Armed Forces are reportedly also now looking at how they would respond to a hypothetical U.S. military invasion of Canada. Officials have stressed that they don’t think it is likely that U.S. President Donald Trump would order an invasion of Canada, and that the war-gamed scenarios were entirely conceptual in nature.

Interestingly, these concepts reportedly involve the Canadian Armed Forces adopting asymmetric tactics, “similar to those employed against Russia and later U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan,” according to two senior Canadian government officials, who spoke to The Globe and Mail on condition of anonymity.

The same newspaper suggests that this war-gaming is the first time in a century that the Canadian Armed Forces have looked at a hypothetical American assault on the country, which is not only a founding member of NATO but also, under NORAD, a close partner with the U.S. military in continental air defense. Canada is expected to be part of the Trump administration’s forthcoming Golden Dome missile defense system.

Undoubtedly, however, relations between Canada and the United States have cooled dramatically in recent years.

While officials in the Trump administration have hammered home their goal of U.S. regional dominance as an overarching geostrategic objective, the president himself has made threats to annex Canada. Last year, Trump said that the border between the two countries was no more than an “artificially drawn line” and one that might be redrawn using force and persuasion.

Last week, Trump posted an altered image on his social media account that placed the American flag over Canada, Greenland, and Venezuela.

“We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it,” Trump told reporters earlier this month.

The ongoing Greenland issue, which has led to considerable consternation in Europe, has also now drawn in Canada.

Reports emerged last week that Canada was considering sending a small contingent of troops to Greenland. Here they would conduct maneuvers alongside eight European countries, part of a military exercise that is seen as a show of solidarity for Denmark, of which the self-ruling island is a territory.

Last week, Trump posted on Truth Social that Canada was opposed to having the Golden Dome over Greenland “even though The Golden Dome would protect Canada. Instead, they voted in favor of doing business with China, who will ‘eat them up’ within the first year!”

Clearly, no one within the Canadian Armed Forces expects to be taking up arms — whether using AFVs or guerrilla tactics — against a U.S. invasion.

However, it is very telling how such a ‘what if?’ is apparently now being considered at a theoretical level. This kind of thinking, as well as the renewed impetus to acquire new and modernized armored fighting vehicles and tanks, underscores just how shifting strategic priorities across the High North are being felt by all of the countries within the region, with Canada no exception.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Package-delivery giant targets savings of $3bn in 2026 amid push to slash deliveries for Amazon.

United Parcel Service, one of the world’s largest package-delivery companies, has announced plans to slash up to 30,000 jobs amid a push to cut costs and boost profits.

UPS, based in the US state of Georgia, will make the cuts as part of efforts to achieve savings of $3bn in 2026, UPS chief financial officer Brian ⁠Dykes said on an earnings call on Tuesday.

Dykes said the job cuts, part of plans to reduce UPS’s reliance on deliveries for its largest customer, Amazon, would be achieved through attrition and voluntary buyouts.

“We expect to offer a second voluntary separation programme for full-time drivers,” Dykes said.

UPS will also shut 24 buildings in the first half of the year and evaluate other buildings for closure in the second half, Dykes said.

He said the savings would be on top of $3.5bn in savings achieved in 2025 through cost-cutting measures, including the elimination of 26.9 million labour hours and the closure of 93 buildings.

Sean O’Brien, president of the Teamsters union, slammed the job cuts in a statement posted on social media.

“Corporate vultures giggled about giving their disrespectful driver buyout program another shot,” O’Brien said.

“Reminder: Teamsters overwhelmingly rejected UPS’s insulting payoff last year. We still know our worth. Drivers still endure violent winters and brutal heat to make UPS its billions. UPS must honor our contract and reward our members.”

UPS announced last year that it would reduce shipments for Amazon by half as part of plans to focus on a smaller volume of more lucrative deliveries.

The firm’s reported revenues of $24.5bn for the final three months of 2025, taking earnings for the year to $88.7bn, and projected revenues in 2026 are expected to hit $89.7bn.

UPS shares were largely unmoved on Tuesday, closing 0.22 percent higher.

Despite rampant speculation that it would eventually head to the Middle East amid growing tensions with Iran, an EA-37B Compass Call’s arrival in Germany yesterday had nothing to do with current events, according to the U.S. Air Force. The specialized electronic warfare (EW) jet made its first trip to Europe to show off its capabilities as the U.S. Air Force transitions from the EC-130 Compass Call turboprop aircraft.

“The aircraft is also slated to visit Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany and RAF Mildenhall, England, marking the platform’s introduction to Airmen, units and NATO Allies in the U.S. Air Forces in Europe area of responsibility,” U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Force Africa (USAFE) stated in a release. “The roadshow’s inclusion of multiple installations and units highlights the aircraft’s flexibility to integrate into various mission sets and teams, serving as a key node for joint and coalition operations.”

The Air Force statement about the EA-37B’s visit to Europe follows suppositions made in many posts on X and shows the limits of online speculation based just on tracking data. The conjecture is understandable given the electronic warfare capabilities such a jet could bring to the fight, jamming radars and interfering with Iranian communications and command and control.

The EA-37B, however, is not yet operational, Kris Pierce, spokesman for the 55th Wing at Offutt Air Force Base told The War Zone Tuesday afternoon.

“We are still in training and testing phase,” he said. “We are still trying to figure out the capabilities.”

The new Compass Call is a heavily modified Gulfstream G550 business jet. It leverages the Israeli-developed Conformal Airborne Early Warning (CAEW) configuration, which has large ‘cheek’ fairings on either side of the fuselage, among other distinctive features.

The Air Force is planning to procure 10 of these jets to replace the aging and ever smaller fleet of turboprop EC-130H Compass Call planes, of which only four remain. The 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron flew the first training sortie for the EA-37B on May 2, 2025.

Many of the EA-37B’s mission systems are directly ported over from the EC-130H, which is why the two very different aircraft share the same nickname. Both aircraft are designed to provide critical stand-off jamming support, including against enemy radars and communications systems. They also have a secondary intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) function given their ability to spot, track, and geolocate various types of emitters.

The EA-37B also offers new capabilities that go beyond what is found on the EC-130H. The Air Force has said in the past that the aircraft’s designation reflects its ability to not only attack, but also destroy certain targets, as you can read more about here.

In addition, the G550-based aircraft can reach higher altitudes than the EC-130H, giving it a better field of view to provide effects across the electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) over longer distances and larger areas. The jet also offers speed, range, and endurance benefits over its turboprop predecessor. 

“One of the most important aspects of success in conflict is information superiority,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Tyler Laska, 41st Electronic Combat Squadron EA-37B pilot. “Every moment of hesitation that we can implant into an adversary’s decision-making process increases the survivability of our men and women on the leading edge of every domain.” 

The value of Compass Call aircraft was recently highlighted during the recent pressure campaign against Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. An EC-130H likely played a role in jamming radars and communications to make it harder for Venezuelan forces to respond during Maduro’s eventual capture. E/A-18G Growler jets also played a major role in that effort.

You can see a video of the EC-130 arriving in the Caribbean below.

As we noted in an earlier story: “Previous iterations of the EC-130H-based Compass Call system have proven their value in combat zones on multiple occasions in the past two decades. A contingent of these aircraft was continuously forward-deployed in the Middle East, from where they also supported operations in Afghanistan, between 2001 and 2021. EC-130Hs supported the raid that led to the death of Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in 2011 and prevented the detonation of an improvised explosive device that might have killed then-Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who later rose to the rank of General and also served as Secretary of Defense under Trump, in Iraq in 2003, among many other exploits, according to a recent story from Air Force Times.”

Had the EA-37B that landed at Ramstein been bound for the Middle East as online trackers posited, that would have been a big deal indeed, marking its first foray into potential combat. Still, this tour, following the two last year to Asia, is a first introduction to a large number of U.S. and allied airmen, of an important new airborne EW platform.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

One of the most enigmatic weapons in the arsenal of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF), the PL-17 very long-range air-to-air missile, appears to have been shown for the first time at close quarters. The missile has been around for a relatively long time, but next to no official details about it have been released. Meanwhile, the threat that it and other Chinese air-to-air missiles pose has triggered a flurry of weapons development in the United States.

As is often the case with such images, we must note that the photo of the PL-17 appears authentic, but we cannot be certain of that. The date and location of the image are also unclear, but it shows a PL-17 (more accurately, a full-size mock-up of one) on a display stand at a tradeshow or exhibition. A man poses in front of the missile, face censored, while behind the weapon is a board promoting the J-20 stealth fighter.

We have become accustomed to ‘leaks’ out of China over many years when it comes to new military aircraft designs and their weaponry. Combined with the fact that the PL-17 was first publicly revealed in a blurry photo close to 10 years ago, its appearance at a tradeshow at this point might not be entirely surprising.

For its part, the PLAAF has published official imagery of the PL-17 (albeit showing the missile at a considerable distance, with no real detail visible). The release of the PLAAF photo, seen below, in 2023, was taken as confirmation that the missile was in operational service, or close to it, arming the J-16 Flanker.

When the missile first appeared in public, in 2016, it was dubbed PL-XX in the West; subsequently, the PL-20 designation was suggested, but PL-17 is now confirmed, at least based on the new photo. There are reports that the missile received the Western reporting name CH-AA-12 Auger when it entered service.

From the start, the PL-17 was considered to be a very long-range AAM, based on its prodigious size, roughly 20 feet long. For a missile with this reach, key targets are likely high-value, larger assets, including tankers and airborne early warning aircraft.

In detail, the PL-17 features a dual-pulse rocket motor, while control is provided by four relatively small tail fins and a thrust-vectoring nozzle. Reportedly, the missile has a range of around 250 miles, although that number is dependent on a huge array of factors, and actual range can vary dramatically based on the engagement circumstances. It is thought to have a top speed of at least Mach 4.

Guidance is thought to be achieved through a combination of a two-way datalink and an active electronically scanned array (AESA) seeker, which is said to be highly resistant to electronic countermeasures. There are also reports of a passive anti-radiation seeker to supplement the main seeker. This could be especially useful against airborne early warning and ground moving target indicator (GMTI) radar aircraft.

However, using the PL-17 to its full potential, in terms of range, engagements would likely involve targeting data provided by standoff assets, such as friendly airborne early warning aircraft (a capability set that China has invested heavily into), other aircraft closer to the target, ground and surface-based radar, or even satellites.

In the past, there had been speculation about a possible optical window on the side of the nose of the missile that could indicate an additional infrared seeker, although there is no sign of that in the full-size mock-up version.

So far, the PL-17 has only been seen carried by the J-16, although there has been an assumption that it would be adapted for external carriage on the J-20, too.

Certainly, it seems too large to be used to arm the J-10 series or even the J-35, which would seem to raise a big question about its potential export prospects. On the other hand, the missile may well be envisaged as armament for forthcoming Chinese combat aircraft, most notably the J-36 sixth-generation jet, which features extensive internal weapons capacity.

Regardless, the existence of the PL-17, along with other advanced Chinese air-to-air missile developments, has become a very serious issue for the U.S. military. Concerns about China eroding the ‘missile gap’ with the West have driven work on the still highly classified AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, among other long-range air-to-air missile initiatives.

Last year, the U.S. Navy introduced, at least on a limited scale, an air-launched version of the Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) under the AIM-174B designation. The range of this weapon is classified but should be far in excess of that of the AIM-120D Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), probably at least double and perhaps even triple the range, against large targets. This would imply an ability to hit some types of aerial targets over multiple hundreds of miles.

How The Navy’s New Very Long-Range AIM-174 Will Pierce China’s Anti-Access Bubble

For now, many questions remain about the full capabilities and technical features of the PL-17. Should the new photo be genuine, however, it would confirm that Beijing is willing to expose at least some aspects of the big missile to a broader audience. With that in mind, we might well learn more about this weapon soon.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com