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Air France and KLM announce pauses as Trump says ‘armada’ of US warships heading towards Middle East.

At least two European airlines have suspended flights to cities in the Middle East, with Air France saying it will temporarily stop service to Dubai as it continues to monitor the “geopolitical situation”.

Dutch airline KLM also halted flights until further notice to cities in Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia and would not fly through the airspace of several countries in the region, including Iraq and Iran, according to the Netherlands’ state broadcaster NOS.

France’s national carrier Air France told the AFP news agency in a statement on Friday that it was making the changes “due to the current situation in the Middle East”, adding that “the company has decided to temporarily suspend its service to Dubai”.

“Air France is monitoring the situation in real time and will provide further updates on its flight schedule,” the French airline said.

KLM told public broadcaster NOS on Friday that it had suspended flights until further notice to Tel Aviv, Dubai, Dammam and Riyadh and would not fly through the airspace of Iraq, Iran, Israel and several countries in the Gulf.

The airline did not disclose the reason for the suspensions and said it was in touch with Dutch authorities, according to NOS.

The latest flight disruptions come as United States President Donald Trump said on Thursday that a “big force” of US warships he described as an “armada” was heading towards the Gulf region, days after appearing to back away from threats of military action against Iran over a recent crackdown on antigovernment protests.

“We’re watching Iran,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One as he flew back from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

“You know we have a lot of ships going that direction, just in case … We have a big force going toward Iran,” he said.

Welcome to Bunker Talk. This is a weekend open discussion post for the best commenting crew on the net, in which we can chat about all the stuff that went on this week that we didn’t cover. We can also talk about the stuff we did or whatever else grabs your interest. In other words, it’s an off-topic thread.

This week’s second caption reads:

U.S. Navy Adm. Rich Correll, commander, U.S. Strategic Command, enters a launch control center at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, Dec. 15, 2025. Correll took command of USSTRATCOM on Dec. 5, 2025, after serving as the deputy commander for three years. Malmstrom is the first missile base he has visited in his new position. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jack Rodriguez Escamilla)

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Hundreds of businesses in Minnesota shut their doors on Friday and thousands of protesters turned out in the frigid cold as part of an economic protest against the immigration crackdown in the state.

The widespread rallies come after organisers encouraged residents to skip work or school and refrain from shopping in a show of opposition to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The ICE operation ordered by Trump administration in the state have been going on for more than six weeks.

The administration has characterised it as a public safety operation aimed at deporting criminals illegally in the country. Critics warn migrants with no criminal record and US citizens are being detained too.

On Friday, about 100 clergy members were arrested at the Minneapolis airport while holding a protest calling on US airlines to refuse to transport detainees arrested by ICE.

A spokesman for the airports commission told the Minnesota Reformer that the arrests took place after the “permitted activity went beyond agreed upon terms” and was to done to protect the public safety and airport access.

Thousands of federal officers have been deployed to Minnesota as part of “Operation Metro Surge”.

The killing of 37-year-old Minneapolis woman Renee Good earlier this month flared tensions across the state and brought condemnation from local officials.

“We want ICE out of Minnesota, and we want ICE out of every state, with their extreme overreach,” said Bishop Dwayne Royster, whose organisation Faith in Action is supporting local partners in Minneapolis during the strike. “We want Congress to stand up and provide oversight to ICE.”

Friday’s marches are thought to be the largest display of opposition to date to the current immigration policy in the state, as thousands of people walked downtown through temperatures of -10F (-23C).

As they made their way to the city’s NBA arena to hold an anti-ICE rally, taking place on the home court of the Minnesota Timberwolves, protesters chanted and played music.

On Friday morning, Minneapolis resident Corey Lamb closed his business, Harriet Grove Botanicals, in solidarity and headed to a protest. He objected to the presence of ICE agents in his city, and was outraged by Good’s death in early January.

He also saw the immigration raids as an economic threat to his business, and others in his community.

“We have a lot of friends that we rely on, we have a lot of businesses that we rely on, in order to make our business work,” Lamb told the BBC.

“When those individuals are struggling because they’re afraid of being detained or disappeared, it has an effect not only morally but economically on what’s going on here, and also in the greater Midwest.”

Lamb’s business was joined by hundreds of others, from restaurants and tattoo parlours to toy stores.

Kim Bartmann is the owner of six restaurants in Minneapolis, including four that remain open in the winter but that she shut on Friday.

While she supports the cause, she said the decision to participate had been a tricky one, given the costs.

“Everyone is in solidarity, but everyone needs to buy groceries and pay their rents,” she said, noting that staff at one of her locations had initially asked to stay open, before deciding the risk of backlash over not participating would be too great.

“Economically, it is a severe blow to my business,” she said.

She said sales at her restaurants, which include Barbette and Gigi’s Café, have already dropped more than 30% over the past three weeks as a result of the ICE operation, which has prompted her to limit her opening hours as customers and staff stay home.

“We have a lot of employees who are US citizens or have paperwork to work in the US who are still terrified to leave their homes,” she said.

ICE’s presence has outraged many of Minnesota’s residents, who have protested against their operations and other federal officers operating in their city.

This week, school officials in the suburb of Columbia Heights announced that four of their students had been detained by ICE, ranging from ages five to 17.

A two-year-old child was also detained on Thursday, while driving home from a grocery store with her undocumented father in south Minneapolis, according to CBS, the BBC’s US partner.

In a speech on Thursday, Vice-President JD Vance called for local Minnesota law enforcement to coordinate with federal officers to carry out immigration enforcement.

Minnesota, and some of its cities, have so-called “sanctuary” policies, which limit the ways that local government and law enforcement cooperates with ICE. The Trump administration has criticised these policies as a threat to public safety.

Meanwhile, a Minneapolis FBI agent resigned this week over concerns about the bureau’s handling of the investigation into Good’s shooting, CBS News, the BBC’s US partner, reported. The New York Times was first to report the resignation.

Tracee Mergen left “in part due to the pressure on her to reclassify/discontinue the investigation” over Good’s death, CBS News reported, citing sources.

The BBC has contacted the FBI for comment.

Earlier this month, US media reported that at least six prosecutors in the Minneapolis US Attorney’s office resigned over the administration’s handling of the federal investigation.

French prosecutors say Russia-linked tanker ‘Grinch’ under investigation after interception in western Mediterranean.

The French navy has diverted an ‍oil tanker, suspected of being part of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet”, ‍towards the port of Marseille-Fos for further investigation, according to reports.

The office of the ​prosecutor in the southern French city of Marseille, which handles matters related to ‌maritime law and is investigating the case, said on Friday that the ship had been diverted, but did not specify where to.

A source close to the case told the AFP news agency that the tanker is expected to arrive on Saturday morning at the port of Marseille-Fos in southern France.

The ‘Grinch ‘ tanker was intercepted by French naval forces on Thursday while on the high seas in the western Mediterranean, between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco, France’s maritime police said in a statement.

It added that navies of other countries, including Britain, supported the operation.

Video footage released by the French military of the operation showed a unit of soldiers descending from a helicopter onto the deck of the Russia-linked ship. The boarding of the vessel involved a navy boat and two navy helicopters, according to reports.

The Grinch, which was sailing under a Comoros flag, left the Russian Arctic port of Murmansk in ​early January and is suspected of operating under a ‍false flag and of belonging to the secretive fleet of ships that enables Russia to export oil around the world despite international sanctions due to Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

The AFP news agency reported that a ship called “Grinch” is under United Kingdom sanctions, while another named “Carl” – with the same registration number – is sanctioned by the United States and European Union.

Prosecutors in Marseille said they were investigating the ship’s alleged failure to confirm its nationality.

The EU has ‌imposed 19 packages of sanctions against Russia, but Moscow has adapted to most measures ‌and continues to sell millions of barrels ⁠of oil to countries such as India and China, typically at discounted prices.

Much of the oil, which is key to financing its war in Ukraine, is carried by what is known as ‌a shadow fleet of vessels operating outside of Western maritime industry regulations.

In October, France detained another Russian-linked sanctioned tanker, the Boracay, off its ‍west coast and released it after a few days.

The Boracay’s Chinese captain is to stand trial in France in February over the crew’s alleged refusal to cooperate with investigators, according to French judicial authorities.

These are the key developments from day 1,430 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.

Here is where things stand on Saturday, January 24:

Fighting

• Four people were killed and five were injured in Russian attacks on Cherkasy, in an area of Ukraine’s Donetsk region that is still controlled by Ukraine, Governor Vadym Filashkin said on the Telegram messaging app.
• Filashkin said that Russian forces shelled settlements in the Donetsk region 10 times over the past day, and that 109 people, including 17 children, were evacuated.
• Russian forces attacked the village of Komyshuvakha in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region with glide bombs and other weapons, killing one person, regional Governor Ivan Fedorov said.
• Russian forces launched drones at Kherson city and several villages in the Kherson region over the past day, killing one person and injuring two others, the regional military administration said.
• Russian forces killed a 72-year-old man and injured two others, including a child, in Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk region, the head of the regional military administration, Oleksandr Hanzha, said.
• Ukraine’s Air Force said it shot down 76 Russian drones of 101 launched towards Ukraine over the past day.
• Several people were injured in Ukrainian attacks across front-line Russian areas and Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine, including five people injured on a bus in Russia’s Belgorod region, according to Russia’s TASS state news agency.
• The General Staff of Ukraine’s military claimed that Ukrainian forces hit a fuel depot and radar facilities, causing a fire, at the Penzanefteproduct fuel depot in Russia’s Penza region.
• The Russian Ministry of Defence said that its forces captured the village of Symynivka, situated about 47km (29 miles) northeast of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

Ukraine-Russia-US talks

• The first day of trilateral talks involving negotiators from the United States, Russia and Ukraine in Abu Dhabi concluded late on Friday night, the Ukrainian presidency said in a post on X, adding that talks would continue on Saturday.
• Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy issued a statement after Friday’s talks, saying “it is still too early to draw conclusions” about the substance of the negotiations.

• “By now, our team should already have at least some answers from Russia,” said Zelenskyy. “We will see how the conversation develops tomorrow and what results it produces,” he added.
• Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said on X that the meeting had “focused on the parameters for ending Russia’s war and the further logic of the negotiation process aimed at advancing towards a dignified and lasting peace”.
• The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Friday that the talks were scheduled to last for two days “as part of ongoing efforts to promote dialogue and identify political solutions to the crisis”.
• Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told reporters that talks between US and Russian officials on the eve of the Abu Dhabi meeting were “substantive, constructive and very frank”.

• Ushakov said that Russian Admiral Igor Kostyukov would be leading Moscow’s team in Abu Dhabi, and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev would meet separately on economic issues with Steve Witkoff, the envoy of US President Donald Trump.

Energy Crisis

• Maxim Timchenko, the head of Ukraine’s top private power producer DTEK, told the Reuters news agency that the energy situation in Ukraine was nearing a “humanitarian catastrophe” following repeated Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
• Ukrenergo, Ukraine’s state grid operator, says there are emergency power outages in most regions of the country following Russia’s latest aerial attacks.

Regional Security

• The Swedish Air Force said on Friday that it “intercepted two Su-35S escorting a Tu-22M [Russian military aircraft] over the Baltic Sea” on Thursday.
• France’s navy redirected the oil tanker “Grinch” to the port of Marseille-Fos for inspection, suspecting it is part of a “shadow fleet” of vessels Russia uses to export sanctioned oil, according to Reuters.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

The US has completed its withdrawal from the World Health Organization, ending its membership for the first time since 1948. Officials blamed WHO’s COVID-19 response, halted funding and limited future engagement, prompting warnings about global health risks.

We have what appears to be the first look at one of two new Gulfstream 700 (G700) VIP jets for the U.S. Coast Guard. The jet notably has a livery almost identical to that of a 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with a luxurious VVIP interior and clear ties to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) rather than a more typical Coast Guard paint scheme.

Aviation photographer Lennon Popp took a picture of the G700, seen at the top of this story, at Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday. This airport is home to Gulfstream’s main headquarters and manufacturing facility. The aircraft was using the callsign Gulf Test 96 (GLF96) at the time. What the timeline might be for formal delivery of the jet, if that has not already occurred, is unclear. The Coast Guard said in the past that it hoped to have the jets in hand no later than December 31, 2025. TWZ has reached out to DHS and the Coast Guard for more information. The Coast Guard currently falls under the purview of DHS.

The G700 acquisition does look to be proceeding on a very fast schedule, but what tradeoffs this may require is unknown. DHS and the Coast Guard only confirmed the order for the jets, referred to as Long Range Command and Control Aircraft (LRCCA), last October. The Coast Guard’s present LRCCA fleet consists of a C-37A and a C-37B, which are based on older and out-of-production Gulfstream V and G550 models, respectively. Various Gulfstream models are also in service across the U.S. military and with other U.S. government agencies, but none of them currently operate 700-series types.

The existing LRCCAs are regularly used as a VIP transport for the Secretary of Homeland Security (currently Kristi Noem) and other senior departmental leaders, as well as top Coast Guard leadership. The jets also have a role in larger continuity of government planning to ensure U.S. authorities can keep functioning in the event of a host of different severe contingency scenarios, including major hostile attacks and devastating natural disasters.

What is immediately eye-catching in Popp’s picture is the G700’s paint scheme, which is white over blue with red and gold cheat lines. The DHS seal is also painted on the side of the fuselage just behind the main cabin door, and the Coast Guard seal is seen on the side of the engine nacelle. “United States of America” is written in large lettering on the side of the fuselage, and there is a large American flag, depicted blowing in the wind, on the side of the tail.

In contrast, the Coast Guard’s two existing LRCCAs have a different livery. They are overall white with orange and blue bands around the forward end of the fuselage, similar to what’s found on all of the other fixed-wing aircraft the service operates.

As noted, the G700’s livery is virtually the same as the one that appeared unexpectedly on the 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) last month. We will come back to that aircraft, which carries the U.S. civil registration number N471US, later on. The paint scheme seen on N471US and now on the G700 is also very similar to what President Donald Trump had picked for the forthcoming pair of Boeing 747-8i-based VC-25B Air Force One aircraft during his first term. President Joe Biden subsequently reversed that decision, going back to the same iconic, Kennedy-era livery worn by the current VC-25A Air Force One jets that the VC-25Bs are set to replace. Last August, the Air Force told Inside Defense it was “implementing a new livery requirement for VC-25B,” but did not offer any further details.

The Coast Guard has shared some details about how the G700 LRCCAs will otherwise be configured.

“Gulfstream (as the OEM [original equipment manufacturer]) is the only vendor capable of acquiring G700s under a secure, strict, and time-sensitive process,” according to a formal justification for the sole-source contract that the Coast Guard posted online last October. “DHS and USCG require exacting follow-on cabin refresh, next generation satellite connectivity, and open the potential for a secure command and control communications suite to replicate capabilities of the C-37B.”

The document specifically mentions “Starshield installation” as part of the communications suite for the G700s. Starshield is a more secure cousin to SpaceX’s commercial Starlink space-based internet service intended for government customers. Starshield and Starlink have become increasingly ubiquitous across the U.S. military, including in support of tactical operations, and other U.S. government agencies, in recent years. This underscores SpaceX’s preeminent position in the satellite internet and communication marketspace, as well as when it comes to other space-related services, as you can read more about here.

“The G700 provides a combination of increased range, speed, seating capacity, and enhanced avionics in comparison to a used G550,” the justification document adds. “While a G550 is capable, it is no longer in production and USCG is at the mercy of the re-sell [sic] market to grow the LRCCA fleet in the required time.”

DHS and Coast Guard officials have stressed these points repeatedly in the past year in arguing for the need to modernize the LRCCA fleet. Members of Congress have previously leveled significant criticism on DHS, and Secretary Noem more specifically, over the plans to buy new jets, the total cost of which has been said be between $170 and $200 million. The price of a base model G700 before any alterations, painting, and other work is done is generally set at around $70 to $80 million.

Disputes over the allocation of funding and the decision to order the jets during a protracted government shutdown have drawn particular ire from some legislators. DHS has seen a huge boost in its total budget in the past year.

A Joint Explanatory Statement report accompanying a draft Homeland Security spending bill making its way through Congress right now includes a new demand for monthly updates detailing the use of the Coast Guard’s LRCCA fleet. Among other things, those status reports must include “for official travel, the nexus to a statutory Department of Homeland Security mission and justification for [the] trip” and “any alcoholic beverages consumed on the flight and the source of such beverages.”

Hundreds of businesses are closing their doors in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the midwestern United States, as anti-ICE protesters continue to call for the federal agency to leave the city as part of a large-scale economic protest that has been named The Day of Truth and Freedom.

Friday’s walkout includes small businesses, unions, faith groups, and educators across the city, which has become a focal point of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s aggressive actions. The call, organised by a coalition of community groups, also urges a suspension of consumer spending.

“It is time to suspend the normal order of business to demand immediate cessation of ICE actions in MN,” the group organising the protest wrote on its website.

There are solidarity marches in cities across the US, including New York City, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Seattle, among others.

At the Minneapolis protest, the group is also planning a march that begins at 2pm local time (20:00 GMT) and ends at the Target Center — an arena in downtown Minneapolis.

Eyes on Target

The big-box retailer, in particular, has been in the crosshairs of organisers because of the company’s close ties to Minneapolis, where its headquarters are located, and it is the state’s fourth-largest employer.

The group is calling for Target stores to exercise protections under the Fourth Amendment, which would mean federal agents do not have the legal authority to enter a residence or place of business without a warrant signed by a judge.

In a document shared with organisers, the group pointed to two incidents of concern. One on January 8, when Customs and Border Patrol aggressively forced two US citizens onto the ground and subsequently detained them while working at a store in Richfield, Minnesota, a suburb of Minneapolis, and another three days later in nearby St Paul, where Customs and Border Patrol Chief Greg Bovino entered a store with other agents.

“Where Target leads, others follow. Our state is under occupation from federal agents, and they are attacking Minnesotans quite literally inside of Target stores. We need Target to stand with Minnesotans against these attacks,” the document said.

Target has been quiet about the protests and calls from its workers to take a stance. The company sent a memo to staff, according to Bloomberg News, warning of potential disruptions.

The pressure by anti-ICE protesters is the latest in a wave of pushback against the retail giant by progressives in the past year. There was a call for boycotts after the company rolled back its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which the company later attributed to a reason for a downturn in sales in early 2025.

The looming tensions have not made a dent on Wall Street, as the company’s stock is up 1.3 percent in midday trading.

Target did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

The political response

“The Trump Administration’s immigration enforcement operations have resulted in countless dangerous criminal illegals being removed from the streets – including rapists, murderers, burglars, drunk drivers, and more. Making American communities safer will create an environment in which all businesses can thrive in the long term and their customers can feel safe. Joe Biden and Democrat leaders should’ve never let countless dangerous criminal illegals enter our country to begin with. And now the Trump Administration is cleaning up the Democrats’ mess,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told Al Jazeera in a statement.

When pressed for a response to this reasoning and asked whether ICE would commit to holding accountable agents who break the law, the White House declined to provide additional comment.

The allegations concerning the agency’s conduct have led to the protests, including claims that ICE’s actions violated First and Fourth Amendment protections and threats towards protesters.

Among them are the fatal shooting of Renee Good, a case that has drawn scrutiny from civil liberties advocates, and the Department of Justice’s decision not to investigate the agent behind the shooting, which has invoked further outrage. One of the economic blackout’s calls is to hold Jonathan Ross, the agent who shot and killed Renee Good, legally accountable.

“I understand why people are choosing to participate in the January 23 blackout, and I support those decisions. At the same time, our small businesses, especially immigrant-owned businesses, are under a lot of pressure right now, and they could really use our support. However you choose to show up, I hope we keep our neighbours and local businesses in mind,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a statement provided to Al Jazeera.

Representatives for Governor Tim Walz did not respond to Al Jazeera’s request for comment.

Dozens of people rescued in Lampedusa after vessel crossed from Tunisia in dangerous conditions, Save the Children says.

One-year-old twin girls are missing at sea after a boat carrying dozens of migrants and refugees reached the Italian island of Lampedusa this week, nonprofit group Save the Children has said.

The organisation said on Friday that 61 people, including the missing twins’ mother and 22 unaccompanied minors, were rescued from the vessel a day earlier after crossing to Lampedusa in “extremely difficult conditions” made worse by Cyclone Harry.

“They described having departed from Tunisia, braving stormy seas for at least three days, and arriving in a state of great physical and psychological distress,” Save the Children said in a statement.

A man died after disembarking the boat, the group added.

The Central Mediterranean is the deadliest known migration route in the world, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Forty-nine people, including 12 children under age five, died last October when their boat capsized after leaving the Tunisian coastal village of Salakta.

“Nearly 1,000 deaths and disappearances have been recorded in the Central Mediterranean this year [2025], with the death toll since 2014 reaching more than 25,000,” the IOM said at the time.

“At least 30 children have lost their lives off the coast of Tunisia already this year [2025], compared to 22 in all of 2024.”

Tunisia has seen an increase in departures in recent years, according to the IOM’s Missing Migrants Project, which tracks crossings.

And in 2020, Tunisian nationals made up more than 60 percent of the Central Mediterranean crossings, the IOM said, as the country faced high unemployment rates as well as deepening socioeconomic and political hardships.

On Friday, Save the Children said people continued to risk their lives “on dangerous and often deadly journeys” due to an absence of safe migration routes.

Giorgia D’Errico, the group’s director of institutional relations, said the European Union has responsibility for every decision that puts those fleeing poverty, violence and persecution at risk.

“We cannot silently watch the loss of human lives, including so many children, that has continued for years, making the sea, once again, a deadly border: this unacceptable massacre must end,” she said.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

A new defense spending bill making its way through Congress would add $240 million to the U.S. Army’s budget for the purchase of more MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones. This is despite top Army leaders having declared last year that they would stop buying “obsolete” MQ-1Cs amid continued questions about the uncrewed aircraft’s relevance, especially in future high-end fights.

The Senate Appropriations Committee released details about the latest draft Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 Fiscal Year, which it had negotiated with its counterparts in the House of Representatives, earlier this week. The funding boost for MQ-1C contained therein is more specifically said to be for the procurement of Gray Eagle 25M variants for the Army National Guard. Prime contractor General Atomics has already been under contract to deliver examples of this version of the MQ-1C to National Guard units since 2024.

As noted, the Army had moved to halt any future purchases of MQ-1Cs last year. The service did not request any funding to buy more Gray Eagles in its proposed budget for the 2026 Fiscal Year, though it did ask for $3.444 million for continued upgrades for its existing fleet of the drones.

“We will cancel procurement of outdated crewed attack aircraft such as the AH-64D [Apache attack helicopter], excess ground vehicles like the HMMWV [the High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicle, or Humvee] and JLTV [Joint Light Tactical Vehicle], and obsolete UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles] like the Gray Eagle,” Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy George had written in a joint letter outlining a major shakeup in modernization priorities last May. “We will also continue to cancel programs that deliver dated, late-to-need, overpriced, or difficult-to-maintain capabilities. Yesterday’s weapons will not win tomorrow’s wars.”

“Our Army must transform now to a leaner, more lethal force by infusing technology, cutting obsolete systems, and reducing overhead to defeat any adversary on an ever-changing battlefield,” that letter added.

Originally known as the Warrior, versions of the MQ-1C have been in Army service since the late 2000s. The drones are very much a product of the Global War on Terror era. The design is derived from General Atomics’ iconic MQ-1 Predator, but with features more tailored to the Army’s operational and logistical needs. It notably still has a heavy-fuel piston engine, like the Predator, despite General Atomics having separately moved to a turboprop on the MQ-9 Reaper. The Gray Eagle is also designed to operate with a smaller logistical footprint and have lower crew training requirements than the MQ-1 or MQ-9.

Army units today use Gray Eagles to perform intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) and attack missions, both independently and as part of crewed-uncrewed teams with AH-64 Apaches. The drones each have a sensor turret under the nose with electro-optical and infrared cameras, and can carry munitions and other stores on up to four underwing pylons.

Over the years, General Atomics has worked to improve the endurance and other capabilities of the MQ-1C. The aforementioned Gray Eagle 25M is the most recent iteration of the design, and was unveiled in 2022. This latest version has an improved engine, increased onboard power, and a new flight computer offering a significant boost in processing power. General Atomics has said that the Gray Eagle 25M also brings an open-architecture systems backend to the MQ-1C family, opening new opportunities for the rapid integration of additional capabilities.

General Atomics Aeronautical – Gray Eagle 25M

Questions have been building for years now about the future relevance of MQ-1C, as well as its MQ-1 and MQ-9 cousins, especially in support of large-scale conflicts against adversaries with robust integrated air defense networks. The service careers of the Gray Eagle, as well as the Predator and Reaper, have been almost exclusively defined by operations in permissive or semi-permissive airspace. U.S. operations targeting Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen in recent years underscored the vulnerability of the MQ-9, in particular, even to opponents with relatively limited air defense capabilities.

The Army and General Atomics are not unaware of these realities, and there have been significant investments made over the past decade or so to try to ensure the relevance of the MQ-1 and MQ-9 families. Heavy emphasis has been put on air-launched loitering munitions and other uncrewed aerial systems – capabilities the U.S. military now refers collectively to as “launched effects” – as a way to both increase the capability of the Gray Eagle (and the Reaper) and help keep those drones further away from threats.

General Atomics also disclosed last year that the MQ-1C had demonstrated its ability to shoot down other drones using millimeter-wave radar-guided AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire missiles, highlighting another potential role for the drones going forward.

General Atomics has also developed a self-protection pod that features threat warning sensors and a launcher for decoy flares that the MQ-1C and MQ-9 can carry. The Army had been working on a more capable podded electronic warfare system for the Gray Eagle called Multi-Function Electronic Warfare-Air Large (MFEW-AL), but indicated last year that it was backing away from that program.

Launched effects and new podded capabilities do still look key to the future of the MQ-1C in Army service.

“So, when we train on the West Coast, we’ll use an MQ-1 to lead the half [a group of helicopters] into the objective,” Col. Stephen Smith, head of the Army’s elite160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, the Night Stalkers, said last year during a talk about how his unit is preparing for future operations in more contested airspace.

“We can hang different capabilities on that platform [the MQ-1C]. So that platform could look like a Black Hawk. It could look like a [MH-]47. It could look like a Little Bird,” Smith added. “So we’re using that as a decoy, [and there are] potentially other capabilities on [the] side of that aircraft.”

Night Stalker UAS Operations

Overall, the more central question has increasingly been how long the MQ-1C’s career with the Army will continue. Discussions in Ukraine about buying Gray Eagles in the months following Russia’s all-out invasion in 2022 highlight that there is still debate about the utility of armed drones in this general category in higher-end conflicts. At that time, Ukrainian forces were making heavy use of Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 drones, which offer a broadly similar array of capabilities to the MQ-1C. Growing air defense threats had largely pushed Ukraine’s TB2s out of the equation as the conflict dragged on, but they notably returned to use on a limited level last year.

The Army does still have a need for assets that can loiter for long periods of time and operate from austere areas, and ones that are not exquisite, particularly when operating across the broad expanses of the Pacific. Drones like the Gray Eagle could play useful supporting roles in areas further away from the front lines, such as providing more localized defense and situational awareness around island outposts.

Much about the Army’s vision for its future aviation capabilities, crewed and uncrewed, is still in flux. Even before the broader shakeup in modernization priorities last year, the service had moved to make major changes to its future aviation plans, heavily influenced by an ever-expanding threat ecosystem. The Army notably cancelled its Future Attack Recon Aircraft (FARA) high-speed helicopter program in 2024. The service also halted plans for a direct replacement for the now-retired RQ-7 Shadow drone last year.

Just last month, the Army issued a new contracting “challenge” to industry, calling for prospective short or vertical takeoff and landing (STOL/VTOL) capable drones to take over at least a portion of the roles currently being performed by Gray Eagles. TWZ regularly highlights the benefits of reduced runway dependence or complete runway independence in the context of expeditionary and distributed operations across an array of far-flung locales in a future major conflict. Not having to rely on established traditional runways opens the door to new operational possibilities and helps create targeting dilemmas for opponents that reduce vulnerability to friendly forces.

General Atomics has been working on a short-takeoff and landing-capable drone based in part on the MQ-1C, now referred to as Gray Eagle STOL, in recent years. There has already been extensive flight testing of a demonstrator, dubbed Mojave, from sites on land and ships at sea. Other companies in the United States are also working on STOL/VTOL-capable uncrewed aircraft designs that could be relevant to the Army’s future needs.

GA-ASI Mojave STOL UAS Completes First Dirt Operations

In the meantime, Congress looks set to keep the Army ordering more MQ-1Cs for at least a little while longer.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Drone footage shows ice building along the shores of Lake Michigan as a powerful winter storm driven by a stretched polar vortex threatens more than 160 million people across the US, bringing heavy snow, freezing rain and dangerous Arctic cold.

Everton manager David Moyes says it is a “big blow” that on-loan midfielder Jack Grealish has a stress fracture in his foot.

Moyes said he could not give a timescale for Grealish’s recovery.

The 30-year-old, who is on a season-long loan from Manchester City, has made 22 appearances in all competitions for Everton this season.

He has scored two goals and provided six assists.

Grealish played the full 90 minutes as Everton beat former club Aston Villa 1-0 in the Premier League on Sunday.

More to follow.

UK politicians have accused Trump of avoiding military service during the Vietnam War.

United States President Donald Trump has drawn criticism from British politicians after claiming that NATO forces stayed away from the front line during the war in Afghanistan.

The US president made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, a US broadcaster, where he again questioned the value of the military alliance and suggested that NATO allies would not come to Washington’s aid if requested.

Speaking on Thursday, Trump said the US had “never needed” NATO and claimed allied forces remained “a little off the front lines” during the Afghanistan conflict.

The comments prompted a backlash across the UK political spectrum, with critics pointing to the scale of NATO casualties during the 20-year war and raising questions about Trump’s own military record.

Allies’ losses

The United Kingdom lost 457 service personnel in Afghanistan. More than 150 Canadian soldiers were killed, along with 90 French soldiers. Denmark lost 44 soldiers – one of the highest per-capita death rates among NATO members – despite the country recently facing continued pressure from Trump to sell its semi-autonomous territory of Greenland to the US.

Stephen Kinnock, a junior British minister, described Trump’s remarks as “deeply disappointing” and said European forces had paid a heavy price while backing US-led operations.

“Many, many British soldiers and many soldiers from other European NATO allies gave their lives in support of American-led missions in places like Afghanistan and Iraq,” Kinnock told the UK’s Sky News broadcaster on Friday.

“I think anybody who seeks to criticise what [our armed forces] have done and the sacrifices that they make is plainly wrong,” he added.

‘How dare he’

Kinnock also noted that the US remains the only NATO member to have invoked Article 5, the alliance’s collective-defence clause, following the September 11, 2001 attacks, prompting allies to rally behind Washington.

He said NATO was the most successful international security alliance “in the history of the world”, with the US and its European partners, including the UK, playing a central role.

Other UK politicians highlighted Trump’s history of avoiding military service during the Vietnam War. Trump received multiple draft deferments, including one based on a diagnosis of bone spurs in his heels – a medical claim that has previously been questioned.

“Trump avoided military service 5 times,” Ed Davey, leader of the UK’s Liberal Democrats, wrote on X. “How dare he question their sacrifice.”

Exhausted by war, Damascus longs for unity as ceasefire sparks hope. But questions of integration and stability remain.

Damascus, Syria – Damascus had breathed a sigh of relief when a ceasefire between the Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) was announced on the night of January 18. Fireworks lit up the sky, car horns blared and Syrians gathered in Umayyad Square to dance in jubilation.

The hope was that the conflict that flared up in the past few weeks in northern Syria was now over, and that the country had resolved one of the major issues still dividing it in the year since the overthrow of longtime leader President Bashar al-Assad.

“It’s a beautiful feeling, and I am sure it exists in every Syrian … we wish for all of Syria to be united,” said one Damascus resident, Saria Shammiri.

Yet the celebration was short-lived.

Fighting resumed the next morning as the government’s lightning push forced SDF leader Mazloum Abdi to accept less favourable terms: a withdrawal from Raqqa and Deir Az Zor, in northeastern Syria, further east towards Hasakah, a new ceasefire, and a four-day ultimatum for the SDF to fully integrate into state structures.

Anger towards the SDF

As the clock ticks down on that deadline, in Damascus and other areas outside SDF control, frustration towards the Kurdish-led forces has hardened after 15 years of division.

“The terrorist SDF doesn’t belong to this land … they are not Kurdish. They are occupiers,” said Maamoun Ramadan, a 75-year-old Syrian Kurd living in Damascus.

For many here, the SDF is no longer seen primarily as a force that fought ISIL (ISIS) at the height of Syria’s war, but as an actor that entrenched a parallel authority backed by foreign powers, such as the United States, keeping large parts of the country beyond the central government’s reach.

In cafes, taxis and government offices, the language is increasingly blunt. The SDF is accused of delaying reunification, monopolising oil and agricultural resources in the northeast, and shielding itself behind US support while the rest of the country endured sanctions, collapse and war. The renewed fighting has reinforced a belief among many Syrians that the standoff could only ever end through force or submission. But, still, many want a peaceful resolution.

“Dialogue is the foundation of peace,” said Sheikhmos Ramzi, a butcher, “the solution lies at the negotiation table. Violence only brings more violence.”

Anxious wait

There is also an undercurrent of anxiety. While the prospect of reunifying territory is popular, few in Damascus are blind to the risks. A prolonged confrontation could draw in regional actors, unsettle fragile border areas, or reignite communal tensions in the northeast, where Arab tribal communities, Kurds, and others coexist uneasily after years of shifting alliances.

Some residents privately express concern about what integration will actually mean on the ground. Will SDF fighters be absorbed into national forces, sidelined, or prosecuted? Will local administrations be dismantled overnight? And can a central state, stretched thin after years of war and economic crisis, realistically govern and stabilise territory it has not controlled for more than a decade?

For now, however, those questions are largely drowned out by a dominant mood: impatience. The ceasefire was welcomed not as an endpoint, but as a step towards what many here see as an overdue resolution. The government’s advances are framed as restoring sovereignty, not opening a new chapter of conflict.

In Damascus, unity is the word repeated most often. But it is a unity shaped by exhaustion, resentment and the desire to finally close one of the last unresolved fronts of Syria’s long war.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has deployed a military radar in the Somali region of Puntland as part of a secret deal, amid Abu Dhabi’s ongoing entrenchment of its influence over the region’s security affairs.

According to the London-based news outlet Middle East Eye, sources familiar with the matter told it that the UAE had installed a military radar near Bosaso airport in Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region earlier this year, with one unnamed source saying that the “radar’s purpose is to detect and provide early warning against drone or missile threats, particularly those potentially launched by the Houthis, targeting Bosaso from outside”.

The radar’s presence was reportedly confirmed by satellite imagery from early March, which found that an Israeli-made ELM-2084 3D Active Electronically Scanned Array Multi-Mission Radar had indeed been installed near Bosaso airport.

READ: UAE: The scramble for the Horn of Africa

Not only does the radar have the purpose of defending Puntland and its airport from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, but air traffic data reportedly indicates it also serves to facilitate the transport of weapons, ammunition, and supplies to Sudan’s paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), further fuelling the ongoing civil war in Sudan.

“The UAE installed the radar shortly after the RSF lost control of most of Khartoum in early March”, one source said. Another source was cited as claiming that the radar was deployed at the airport late last year and that Abu Dhabi has used it on a daily basis to supply the RSF, particularly through large cargo planes that frequently carry weapons and ammunition, and which sometimes amount to up to five major shipments at a time.

According to two other Somali sources cited by the report, Puntland’s president Said Abdullahi Deni did not seek approval from Somalia’s federal government nor even the Puntland parliament for the installation of the radar, with one of those sources stressing that it was “a secret deal, and even the highest levels of Puntland’s government, including the cabinet, are unaware of it”.

READ: UAE under scrutiny over alleged arms shipments to Sudan

Former United States Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended his prosecution of President Donald Trump, rejecting Republican claims that the cases were politically motivated.

Testifying before lawmakers at the House Judiciary Committee, Smith said the two federal cases, one over Trump’s handling of classified documents and the other over efforts to overturn the 2020 election, were based on evidence, not politics.

Both cases were dropped after Trump was re-elected in November 2024, in line with longstanding Department of Justice policy barring the investigation or prosecution of a sitting president. Smith resigned shortly before Trump’s inauguration in January 2025.

The hearing marked the first time the US public heard at length from Smith since his resignation. He told the panel that he expected Trump’s Justice Department to try to bring criminal charges against him.

These are the key takeaways:

What specifics do we know about the cases?

Smith, a public corruption prosecutor, was appointed in November 2022 to oversee the investigations into Trump.

These are the two cases he investigated:

Classified documents

Smith investigated Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents after he left office at the end of his first term.

The criminal case included 31 counts under the US Espionage Act for the willful retention of national defence information, each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Separate charges accused Trump of conspiring to obstruct justice and making false statements to investigators.

Prosecutors alleged that Trump removed highly sensitive documents from the White House when he left office in 2021 and later stored them at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

2020 election results

The second case focused on Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Joe Biden. Prosecutors argued that Trump sought to block the lawful transfer of power after the vote, rather than accept the outcome.

The charges followed a wide-ranging investigation into the events leading up to the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. Trump was indicted on four counts, including conspiracy to defraud the US and conspiracy against the rights of voters.

Smith did not accuse Trump of directly inciting the Capitol riot. Instead, the case centred on Trump’s actions in the weeks between his election defeat and the violence in Washington, examining efforts to pressure officials, advance false claims of fraud and interfere with the certification of the election results.

What were the main takeaways from Thursday’s testimony?

‘No one should be above the law’

Smith said his investigation into Trump was driven by evidence and the law.

“We followed the facts and we followed the law. Where that led us was to an indictment of an unprecedented criminal scheme to block the peaceful transfer of power,” Smith said.

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in criminal activity. If asked whether to prosecute a former president based on the same facts today, I would do so regardless of whether that president was a Republican or a Democrat,” Smith said in his opening remarks.

“No one should be above the law in this country, and the law required that he be held to account. So that is what I did,” Smith added.

Still, the special counsel said he stopped short of filing a charge of insurrection against Trump. That was pursued in the House impeachment of Trump in the aftermath of January 6, though the president was acquitted of the sole count of incitement of an insurrection by the Senate.

Cassidy Hutchinson

Republicans have long focused on challenging the testimony of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson, which was a key moment in the congressional investigation into the January 6 attack.

Hutchinson told the committee she had been informed that Trump tried to grab the steering wheel of his presidential vehicle as he demanded to go to the US Capitol. Other witnesses later disputed that account.

During the hearing, Republican Representative Jim Jordan, the committee’s chair, pressed Jack Smith on the episode. “Mr Smith, is Cassidy Hutchinson a liar?” Jordan asked.

Smith said Hutchinson’s account was second-hand and that investigators were unable to confirm it. He said the Secret Service agent in the vehicle at the time did not back up the claim.

Jordan pressed whether Smith would have brought Hutchinson forward to testify anyway, and Smith said he had not made “any final determinations”.

Jordan seized on that response, arguing it showed prosecutors were determined to go after Trump.

In fact, Smith said, one of the “central challenges” of the case was to present it in a concise way, “because we did have so many witnesses” – state officials, Trump campaign workers and advisers – to testify.

“Some of the most powerful witnesses were witnesses who, in fact, were fellow Republicans who had voted for Donald Trump, who had campaigned for him and who wanted him to win the election,” Smith added.

‘Threats to democracy’

One Democrat, Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington, asked how he would describe the consequences – for US democracy – of not holding Trump accountable for alleged violations of the law and his oath.

“If we do not hold the most powerful people in our society to the same standards of the rule of law, then it can be catastrophic,” Smith said.

“Because if they don’t have to follow the law, it’s very easy to understand why people would think they don’t have to follow the law as well.”

Smith continued, “If we don’t hold people to account when they commit crimes, that it sends a message that those crimes are OK, that our society accepts that… It can endanger our election process, it can endanger election workers, and ultimately our democracy.”

‘I don’t get it’

Smith sharply criticised Trump’s decision to issue mass pardons for people convicted in connection with the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

On his first day back in office, Trump granted clemency to all those charged over the riot, including hundreds who had been accused or convicted of assaulting police officers.

When asked about the move, Smith said: “The people who assaulted police officers and were convicted after trial, in my view and I think in the view of the judges who sentenced them to prison, are dangerous to their communities. As you mentioned, some of these people have already committed crimes against their communities again, and I think all of us – if we are reasonable – know that there is going to be more crimes committed by these people in the future.

“I do not understand why you would mass pardon people who assaulted police officers,” Smith said on Thursday. “I don’t get it. I never will.”

According to reports, at least 140 police officers were injured during the Capitol attack.

Smith defends his work

Republican lawmakers sought to portray Smith as an overly aggressive prosecutor who needed to be restrained by senior Justice Department officials as he pursued cases against Trump before the former president’s potential return to office.

They focused, in particular, on Smith’s decision to obtain phone records for members of Congress, including then–House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, arguing the move amounted to overreach.

In a heated exchange, Republican Representative Brandon Gill of Texas accused Smith of using nondisclosure orders to “hide” subpoenas from both their targets and the public.

Smith rejected those claims, saying the collection of phone records was a routine investigative step aimed at understanding the “scope of the conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election.

“My office didn’t spy on anyone,” Smith said.

He added that nondisclosure orders were sought because of concerns about witness intimidation, pointing to Trump’s public warnings that he would be “coming after” people who crossed him.

“I had grave concerns about obstruction of justice in this investigation, specifically with regards to Donald Trump,” Smith said.

Smith said prosecutors are not required “to wait until someone gets killed before they move for an order to protect the proceedings”.

Trump responds

Trump appeared to be following Smith’s testimony live, posting on Truth Social as the hearing unfolded and praising Republicans for their attacks on the former special counsel.

“Deranged Jack Smith is being DECIMATED before Congress. It was over when they discussed his past failures and unfair prosecutions,” Trump wrote. “He destroyed many lives under the guise of legitimacy. Jack Smith is a deranged animal, who shouldn’t be allowed to practice Law.”

Trump framed the investigations as a “Democrat SCAM” and said those involved should “pay a big price”.

Trump has deployed similar tactics in the past, using his social media account in September to direct the Justice Department to indict other critics of his actions, including New York Attorney General Letitia James and former FBI Director James Comey.