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Feb. 4 (UPI) — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a federal lawsuit seeking information regarding allegations of discrimination against athletic shoemaker Nike Inc.

The EEOC has received complaints of systemic race discrimination against white workers via Nike’s diversity, equity and inclusion programs and other mechanisms, the federal agency said in a news release on Wednesday.

The EEOC filed its request for a court order for information on the matter in the U.S. District Court for Eastern Missouri, which is located in St. Louis.

“When there are compelling indications, including corporate admissions in extensive public materials, that an employer’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-related programs may violate federal prohibitions against race discrimination or other forms of unlawful discrimination, the EEOC will take all necessary steps — including subpoena enforcement actions — to ensure the opportunity to fully and comprehensively investigate,” said EEOC Chairwoman Andrea Lucas.

“Title VII’s prohibition of race-based employment discrimination is colorblind and requires the EEOC to protect employees of all races from unlawful employment practices,” Lucas said.

The federal agency is investigating claims that accuse Nike of engaging in a “pattern or practice of disparate treatment against white employees, applicants and training program participants in hiring, promotion, demotion or separation decisions,” the EEOC said in a news release.

The alleged discrimination includes selections for layoffs, internship programs and mentoring, leadership development and other career development programs, according to the EEOC.

The agency’s investigation and subsequent subpoena seek information involving allegations dating back to 2018, including the criteria used when choosing which workers would be laid off and the company’s tracking and use of worker race and ethnicity data.

The EEOC wants information on 16 Nike programs that are said to have provided race-restricted mentoring, leadership and career development opportunities.

Agency officials initially sought voluntary cooperation from Nike while undertaking the investigation.

Lacking cooperation, the EEOC filed the legal action seeking a federal court subpoena that compels Nike officials to provide the sought-after information.

An F-35C Joint Strike Fighter flying from the supercarrier USS Abraham Lincoln has shot down an Iranian drone said to have “aggressively approached” the ship. Separately, American officials say that small boats and a drone belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) harassed a U.S.-flagged merchant ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz. All of this comes amid a major ongoing U.S. military build-up in the region aimed squarely at Iran, as well as reports that American officials could be set to meet with their Iranian counterparts later in the week.

Reuters was first to report on the F-35C downing the Iranian drone, which was reportedly a Shahed-139. The Shahed-139 is a design roughly in the same class as the U.S. MQ-1 Predator, which could potentially carry small munitions. The Nimitz class USS Abraham Lincoln and elements of its strike group arrived in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility last month after being ordered to head to the region from the Pacific.

“An F-35C fighter jet from Abraham Lincoln shot down the Iranian drone in self-defense and to protect the aircraft carrier and personnel on board. No American service members were harmed during the incident, and no U.S. equipment was damaged,” U.S. Navy Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said in a statement to TWZ. “The unmanned aircraft aggressively approached a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier with unclear intent.”

“USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) was transiting the Arabian Sea approximately 500 miles from Iran’s southern coast when an Iranian Shahed-139 drone unnecessarily maneuvered toward the ship,” Hawkins added. “The Iranian drone continued to fly toward the ship despite de-escalatory measures taken by U.S. forces operating in international waters.”

What weapon the F-35C used to down the Iranian drone is unknown. The carrier-based version of the Joint Strike Fighter can be armed with AIM-9X Sidewinders and AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAM), and a 25mm gun pod, as well as various air-to-surface munitions. F-35Cs have been employed in the counter-drone role in the region in the past, downing uncrewed aerial threats launched by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen last year.

U.S. Marines also notably used a counter-drone vehicle lashed to the deck of the Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Boxer to knock down an Iranian drone as the ship transited the Strait of Hormuz back in 2019. In that instance, the uncrewed aircraft was described as having come within a “threatening range” of the Boxer.

As a general aside, drones inherently present a lower risk of escalation because there is no danger of crew on board being harmed. This also has impacts on the risk calculus for employing uncrewed aerial systems more provocatively, as well as shooting them down.

At the same time, U.S. operations in and around the Red Sea in recent years have underscored the very real threat that drones, and specifically ones of Iranian origin, present to American carriers and other warships. The Houthis in Yemen have actively targeted American naval vessels with kamikaze drones, as well as anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles, in the past.

“During a separate incident hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces harassed a U.S.-flagged, U.S.-crewed merchant vessel lawfully transiting the international sea passage. Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker,” Hawkins, the CENTCOM spokesperson, also said in his statement to TWZ. “Guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul (DDG 74) was operating in the area and immediately responded to the scene to escort M/V Stena Imperative with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force.”

“The situation de-escalated as a result, and the U.S.-flagged tanker is proceeding safely. CENTCOM forces are operating at the highest levels of professionalism and ensuring the safety of U.S. personnel, ships, and aircraft in the Middle East,” Hawkins added. “Continued Iranian harassment and threats in international waters and airspace will not be tolerated. Iran’s unnecessary aggression near U.S. forces, regional partners and commercial vessels increases risks of collision, miscalculation, and regional destabilization.”

The Joint Maritime Information Center of the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) office has also issued a notice regarding what appears to be the same incident, which also does not name the ship that was harassed. Iran has a long history of harassing (and even seizing) foreign commercial and naval vessels in and around the Persian Gulf, especially at times of increased geopolitical friction with the United States.

As already noted, this all comes as U.S. military forces continue to flow into the Middle East. There have been reports for weeks now about the prospect of new American strikes on Iran, at least in part in retaliation for the country’s violent crackdown on recent nationwide protests. More recently, U.S. President Donald Trump has voiced interest in reaching some kind of deal with authorities in Iran, including over the future of that country’s nuclear program. There are reports that U.S. and Iranian officials could meet as soon as Friday in Turkey.

“We have ships heading to Iran right now, big ones — the biggest and the best — and we have talks going on with Iran and we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump said just yesterday while speaking to members of the press at the White House. “If we can work something out, that would be great and if we can’t, probably bad things would happen.”

How today’s events will impact U.S. decision-making going forward remains to be seen.

Update: 2:52 PM Eastern –

Despite the incident, Trump still prefers a diplomatic solution to the tensions with Iran, according to the White House.

Trump “remains committed to always pursuing diplomacy first,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News. “But in order for diplomacy to work, of course, it takes two to tango. You need a willing partner to engage. And so that’s something the president and Special Envoy Witkoff are exploring and discussing right now.”

Witkoff, she added, “is set to have conversations with the Iranians later this week. Those are still scheduled as of right now, but of course, the president has always a range of options on the table, and that includes the use of military force. The Iranians know that better than anyone. Just look no further than the highly successful Operation Midnight Hammer, which took not just Iran but the entire world by surprise and completely obliterated their nuclear capabilities earlier last year.”

Speaking earlier on Fox News, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirms the shoot down of an Iranian drone that was “acting aggressively” towards the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) today over the Arabian Sea, though states that President Trump remains committed to… pic.twitter.com/sVPzPjZIy8

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) February 3, 2026

Update: 3:35 PM Eastern –

The official Iranian Tasnim news outlet reported that the drone in question was actually a Shahed-129. As we have previously reported, it is similar to an MQ-9 Predator drone.

“The Shahed 129 drone was on its usual and legal mission in international waters, engaged in reconnaissance, monitoring, and filming, which is considered a normal and lawful action,” Tasnim posited. “This drone successfully sent its reconnaissance and identification images to the center but then lost communication. However, the reason for this communication loss is being investigated, and details will be provided once confirmed.”

The War Zone cannot independently verify Tasnim’s claims. 

Iranian state media says the drone (that the US shot down) successfully carried out its reconnaissance mission before it abruptly “lost contact”

“The reason for this communication cut is under investigation”, according to Tasnim News Agencyhttps://t.co/JDmehOv9Uz pic.twitter.com/MqUSGqnlBi

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) February 3, 2026

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Feb. 4 (Asia Today) — Canada’s minister responsible for defense procurement toured major South Korean defense companies this week, praising their technology and production capabilities as Ottawa moves ahead with large-scale land and naval modernization plans.

Stephen Fuhr, Canada’s minister of state for defense procurement, visited facilities operated by HD Hyundai and Hanwha during a three-day trip to South Korea, industry officials said Tuesday.

Canada is preparing to procure new submarines valued at up to 60 trillion won ($44.9 billion) and self-propelled howitzers worth about 8 trillion won ($6.0 billion). Korean firms used the visit to highlight their submarine construction, artificial intelligence applications and plans for local production in Canada.

HD Hyundai said Fuhr and his delegation toured its research and development center in Pangyo, south of Seoul, where they reviewed models of destroyers, frigates and submarines built by its shipbuilding arm, HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. The delegation also examined progress on autonomous ship technologies incorporating AI.

Earlier, Fuhr visited Hanwha Ocean’s Geoje shipyard and boarded the Jang Young-sil, a next-generation Korean submarine proposed for Canada’s Canadian Patrol Submarine Project. The project, with bids due in early March, is expected to reach up to 60 trillion won and has attracted competition from Germany’s TKMS.

Industry officials said Fuhr’s tight schedule, traveling from South Gyeongsang Province to Gyeonggi Province, reflected Ottawa’s intent to closely assess Korea’s special-purpose shipbuilding capacity. Analysts say Korean firms have emerged as strong contenders in the final stage of the bidding.

“It is meaningful that Korea, with less than 50 years of submarine development experience, is competing head-to-head with Germany,” said Jang Won-jun, a professor of advanced defense technology at Jeonbuk National University. He added that Korean submarine construction has reached roughly 90% to 95% of Germany’s technical level, with an edge in price competitiveness.

Industry sources said Fuhr spoke favorably of the technology on display, describing the facilities as “feeling like the future has already arrived,” remarks viewed as an implicit endorsement of Korea’s capabilities.

Beyond submarines, Canada is also advancing its Indirect Fire Modernization program, which emphasizes land-based systems and involves investments of more than $6 billion to acquire new self-propelled howitzers and long-range rocket systems.

Fuhr visited Hanwha Aerospace’s Changwon plant, where he toured production lines for the K9 self-propelled howitzer, K10 ammunition resupply vehicle and Cheonmu multiple rocket launcher, and observed live maneuver demonstrations. The company proposed an integrated firepower and mobility package and pledged to establish manufacturing operations in Canada to support local jobs and technology transfer.

Hanwha Aerospace CEO Son Jae-il said the company aims to become a key partner in Canada’s military modernization based on its track record in delivery and accumulated technological expertise.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260205010001719

Kremlin spokesperson says Russian forces would continue fighting until Kyiv makes necessary ‘decisions’ to end the war.

The number of Ukrainian soldiers killed on the battlefield as a result of the country’s war with Russia is estimated to be 55,000, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, adding that a “large number” were also missing.

President Zelenskyy’s remarks on Wednesday came in the run-up to the fourth anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and amid crucial ceasefire talks in Abu Dhabi, where negotiators are trying to end Europe’s largest conflict since World War II.

“In Ukraine, officially the number of soldiers killed on the battlefield – either professionals or those conscripted – is 55,000,” said Zelenskyy, in a prerecorded interview with France 2 TV.

Zelenskyy, whose comments were translated into French, added that on top of that casualty figure was a “large number of people” considered officially missing.

The Ukrainian leader did not give an exact figure for those who are still missing.

Zelenskyy had previously cited a figure for Ukrainian war dead in an interview with the United States television network NBC in February 2025, saying that more than 46,000 Ukrainian service members had been killed on the battlefield.

In the middle of 2025, the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC, estimated that close to 400,000 Ukrainian troops have been killed or wounded since the war began.

Last month, the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine reported that Russian attacks had killed 2,514 civilians and injured 12,142 in Ukraine in 2025, almost a third higher than the number of casualties in 2024.

Russia has also incurred heavy losses in the ongoing war.

In January, Ukraine’s military commander, Oleksandr Syrskii, was quoted as saying that in 2025 alone, almost 420,000 Russian soldiers were killed and wounded while fighting against Ukrainian forces.

An October 2025 estimate by British defence intelligence put the overall number of Russian soldiers killed or wounded in the war at 1.1 million.

Both Ukraine and Russia rarely disclose their own casualty figures in the war, though they actively report enemy losses on the battlefield.

Analysts say both Kyiv and Moscow are likely underreporting their own deaths while inflating those of the other side.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that Russia would keep fighting until Kyiv made the “decisions” that could bring the war to an end, while in Abu Dhabi, Ukrainian and Russian officials wrapped up a “productive” first day of new US-brokered talks, Kyiv’s lead negotiator Rustem Umerov said.

US President Donald Trump’s administration has been pushing both Kyiv and Moscow to find a compromise to end the fighting, although the two sides remain far apart on key points despite several rounds of talks.

The most sensitive issues are Moscow’s demands that Kyiv give up land it still controls and the fate of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, which now sits in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine.

Moscow has demanded that Kyiv pull its troops out of all the Donbas region, including heavily fortified cities regarded as one of Ukraine’s strongest defences against Russian aggression, as a condition for any deal to end the fighting.

Ukraine said the conflict should be frozen along current front lines and rejects any unilateral pullback of its forces from territory it still controls.

Russian forces occupy about 20 percent of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea and parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion.

Feb. 4 (UPI) — Savannah Guthrie, a Today show co-host, and her two siblings said Wednesday night that they are “willing to talk” to the person who may have taken their 84-year-old mother, as authorities search for a suspect.

In a video posted on Instagram, Savannah, reading a prepared statement flanked by her two siblings, Annie and Camron, said they are aware of a ransom letter sent to media outlets, but they need proof that the person has their mother, Nancy.

“We need to know without a doubt that she is alive and that you have her. We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen,” she said. “Please reach out to us.”

Savannah thanked the public for its support and prayers, describing her mother as “a kind, faithful, loyal and fiercely loving woman of goodness and light” who has “grandchildren who adore her and cover her in kisses.”

She said her mother’s “health, her heart, is fragile” and she lives in “constant pain,” requiring medicine that she now doesn’t have.

Speaking directly to Nancy, Savannah said that people are looking for her and will not rest until “we are together again.”

“We love you, Mom,” she said.

President Donald Trump, in a statement published after the video from the Guthries went public, said on his Truth Social platform that he spoke with Savannah and told her “I am directing ALL Federal Law Enforcement to be at the family’s, and Local Law Enforcement’s, complete disposal IMMEDIATELY.”

“We are deploying all resources to get her mother home safely,” the president said. “The prayers of our Nation are with her and her family.”

Law enforcement officials in Arizona said earlier Wednesday that they have not identified a suspect as they enter the fourth day of the search for Nancy.

In a statement posted to X, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos said investigators also haven’t identified any people of interest in the case. Officials believe Nancy was kidnapped from her Tucson-area home in the early hours of Sunday. She was last seen around 9:45 p.m. MST Saturday and was reported missing after she failed to attend church the next day.

“Detectives continue to speak with anyone who may have had contact with Mrs. Guthrie,” Nanos said in the statement.

“Detectives are working closely with the Guthrie family. While we appreciate the public’s concern, the sharing of unverified accusations or false information is irresponsible and does not assist the investigation.”

NBC News reported that the FBI joined about 100 detectives from the Pima County Sheriff’s Office in the search for Nancy. Trump earlier committed to sending additional federal agents to participate in the investigation.

Federal officials were assisting by analyzing cellphone data and cell towers in the area. Investigators said there was a technical problem with the surveillance cameras at Nancy’s home and they were trying to determine if neighbors had any footage of her abduction on their cameras.

Three media outlets reported they received ransom notes asking for millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for Nancy’s safe return. TMZ said the note it received mentioned a specific item damaged at the woman’s home. KOLD-TV in Tucson said it forwarded the email it received to the sheriff’s office and KGUN-TV, also in Tucson, said the note it received threatened to kill Nancy.

The sheriff’s department said it was aware of the alleged ransom notes and that it’s investigating their validity.

Nanos said that while Nancy does have difficulties with mobility — making it unlikely she wandered off by herself — she does not have any mental or memory issues that may explain her disappearance.

Investigators said Nancy has a pacemaker that last connected to her iPhone around 2 a.m. Sunday. The phone was left behind at her home, CNN reported.

Savannah issued a statement thanking supporters.

“Thank you for lifting your prayers with ours for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant,” she said. “Raise your prayers with us and believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment.”

Last week, a prominent Saudi Sheikh, Mohammed Al-Issa, visited the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland to commemorate the 75th anniversary of its liberation, which signalled the end of the Nazi Holocaust. Although dozens of Muslim scholars have visited the site, where about one million Jews were killed during World War Two, according to the Auschwitz Memorial Centre’s press office, Al-Issa is the most senior Muslim religious leader to do so.

Visiting Auschwitz is not a problem for a Muslim; Islam orders Muslims to reject unjustified killing of any human being, no matter what their faith is. Al-Issa is a senior ally of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman (MBS), who apparently cares little for the sanctity of human life, though, and the visit to Auschwitz has very definite political connotations beyond any Islamic context.

By sending Al-Issa to the camp, Bin Salman wanted to show his support for Israel, which exploits the Holocaust for geopolitical colonial purposes. “The Israeli government decided that it alone was permitted to mark the 75th anniversary of the Allied liberation of Auschwitz [in modern day Poland] in 1945,” wrote journalist Richard Silverstein recently when he commented on the gathering of world leaders in Jerusalem for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Holocaust event.

READ: Next up, a Saudi embassy in Jerusalem 

Bin Salman uses Al Issa for such purposes, as if to demonstrate his own Zionist credentials. For example, the head of the Makkah-based Muslim World League is leading rapprochement efforts with Evangelical Christians who are, in the US at least, firm Zionists in their backing for the state of Israel. Al-Issa has called for a Muslim-Christian-Jewish interfaith delegation to travel to Jerusalem in what would, in effect, be a Zionist troika.

Zionism is not a religion, and there are many non-Jewish Zionists who desire or support the establishment of a Jewish state in occupied Palestine. The definition of Zionism does not mention the religion of its supporters, and Israeli writer Sheri Oz, is just one author who insists that non-Jews can be Zionists.

Mohammad Bin Salman and Netanyahu – Cartoon [Tasnimnews.com/Wikipedia]

We should not be shocked, therefore, to see a Zionist Muslim leader in these trying times. It is reasonable to say that Bin Salman’s grandfather and father were Zionists, as close friends of Zionist leaders. Logic suggests that Bin Salman comes from a Zionist dynasty.

This has been evident from his close relationship with Zionists and positive approaches to the Israeli occupation and establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine, calling it “[the Jews’] ancestral homeland”. This means that he has no issue with the ethnic cleansing of almost 800,000 Palestinians in 1948, during which thousands were killed and their homes demolished in order to establish the Zionist state of Israel.

“The ‘Jewish state’ claim is how Zionism has tried to mask its intrinsic Apartheid, under the veil of a supposed ‘self-determination of the Jewish people’,” wrote Israeli blogger Jonathan Ofir in Mondoweiss in 2018, “and for the Palestinians it has meant their dispossession.”

As the de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Bin Salman has imprisoned dozens of Palestinians, including representatives of Hamas. In doing so he is serving Israel’s interests. Moreover, he has blamed the Palestinians for not making peace with the occupation state. Bin Salman “excoriated the Palestinians for missing key opportunities,” wrote Danial Benjamin in Moment magazine. He pointed out that the prince’s father, King Salman, has played the role of counterweight by saying that Saudi Arabia “permanently stands by Palestine and its people’s right to an independent state with occupied East Jerusalem as its capital.”

UN expert: Saudi crown prince behind hack on Amazon CEO 

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid of Israel’s Channel 13 News reported Bin Salman as saying: “In the last several decades the Palestinian leadership has missed one opportunity after the other and rejected all the peace proposals it was given. It is about time the Palestinians take the proposals and agree to come to the negotiations table or shut up and stop complaining.” This is reminiscent of the words of the late Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban, one of the Zionist founders of Israel, that the Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”

Bin Salman’s Zionism is also very clear in his bold support for US President Donald Trump’s deal of the century, which achieves Zionist goals in Palestine at the expense of Palestinian rights. He participated in the Bahrain conference, the forum where the economic side of the US deal was announced, where he gave “cover to several other Arab countries to attend the event and infuriated the Palestinians.”

US President Donald Trump looks over at Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammad bin Salman al-Saud as they line up for the family photo during the opening day of Argentina G20 Leaders’ Summit 2018 at Costa Salguero on 30 November 2018 in Buenos Aires, Argentina [Daniel Jayo/Getty Images]

While discussing the issue of the current Saudi support for Israeli policies and practices in Palestine with a credible Palestinian official last week, he told me that the Palestinians had contacted the Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro to ask him not to relocate his country’s embassy to Jerusalem. “The Saudis have been putting pressure on us in order to relocate our embassy to Jerusalem,” replied the Brazilian leader. What more evidence of Mohammad Bin Salman’s Zionism do we need?

The founder of Friends of Zion Museum is American Evangelical Christian Mike Evans. He said, after visiting a number of the Gulf States, that, “The leaders [there] are more pro-Israel than a lot of Jews.” This was a specific reference to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, and his counterpart in the UAE, Mohammed Bin Zayed.

“All versions of Zionism lead to the same reactionary end of unbridled expansionism and continued settler colonial genocide of [the] Palestinian people,” Israeli-American writer and photographer Yoav Litvin wrote for Al Jazeera. We may well see an Israeli Embassy opened in Riyadh in the near future, and a Saudi Embassy in Tel Aviv or, more likely, Jerusalem. Is Mohammad Bin Salman a Zionist? There’s no doubt about it.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.

Feb. 4 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics’ common shares became the first single stock in South Korea to reach a market capitalization of 1,000 trillion won ($690.7 billion) as the benchmark KOSPI hovered near the 5,300 level.

The milestone came about two weeks after Samsung’s combined common and preferred shares exceeded 1,000 trillion won in market value.

The Korea Exchange said Samsung Electronics closed Wednesday at 169,100 won ($116.80), up 0.96% from the previous session. The shares have gained 31.6% from their closing level on Jan. 2 of 128,500 won.

Samsung opened lower, then turned higher late in the morning. After moving into positive territory in early afternoon trading, the stock set an intraday record of 169,400 won.

Individual investors bought a net 135.1 billion won ($93.3 million) of Samsung shares and institutional investors bought a net 650.2 billion won ($449.1 million), helping push the stock to the 1,000 trillion won threshold.

Analysts have linked the rally to rising memory prices amid expanding global investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure. Samsung posted 20 trillion won ($13.8 billion) in operating profit in the fourth quarter of last year, setting a quarterly record, and brokerages have forecast annual operating profit exceeding 130 trillion won ($89.8 billion) this year.

Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong attended a corporate roundtable on youth employment and regional investment expansion at the Blue House on Wednesday. The meeting included leaders from South Korea’s top conglomerates and marked President Lee Jae-myung’s first major gathering this year with business chiefs.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260204010001675

US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s probe seen as latest effort by Trump administration to roll back diversity and inclusion policies.

Nike is being investigated in the United States over claims that it discriminated against white workers through its diversity and inclusion policies.

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) said on Wednesday that it had filed a court motion to compel Nike to produce information related to allegations of “intentional race discrimination” against white employees.

The allegations relate to a suspected pattern of discrimination in “hiring, promotion, demotion, or separation decisions, including selection for layoffs; internship programs; and mentoring, leadership development and other career development programs”, the US government agency said.

The agency said it took the action after Nike had failed to respond to a subpoena for various information, including the criteria used in selecting employees for redundancies and setting executives’ pay.

EEOC chair, Andrea Lucas, an ardent critic of racial diversity initiatives who was appointed last year by President Donald Trump, said US anti-discrimination law is “colour-blind” and protects employees of “all races”.

“Thanks to President Trump’s commitment to enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws, the EEOC has renewed its focus on even-handed enforcement of Title VII,” Lucas said in a statement, referring to a section of the 1964 Civil Rights Act that prohibits employment discrimination based on race, colour, religion or sex.

Nike, based in Beaverton, Oregon, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The EEOC’s action is seen as the latest move by the Trump administration to roll back policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in the workplace.

In one of his first acts upon returning to the White House, Trump signed an executive order to abolish “radical” and “wasteful” DEI initiatives introduced under his predecessor, Joe Biden.

Like many corporate giants in the US, Nike publicly backed social justice causes such as Black Lives Matter prior to Trump’s re-election in 2024.

Between 2020 and 2021, Nike’s share of non-white employees rose more than four percentage points, the most among firms apart from healthcare provider Danaher, according to a Bloomberg analysis of company data reported to the EEOC.

Feb. 4 (Asia Today) — Kakao Bank posted record earnings last year as growth in non-interest income offset pressure on lending revenue caused by tighter household loan regulations, the company said Tuesday.

The internet-only bank said net profit for 2025 reached 480.3 billion won ($348.6 million), up 9.1% from a year earlier. Fourth-quarter net profit rose 24.5% year over year to 105.2 billion won ($76.3 million), marking the first time quarterly earnings topped 100 billion won.

The results exceeded market expectations despite stricter government oversight of household lending in the second half of the year, which forced Kakao Bank to cut its loan growth target by half.

Interest income, still the bank’s largest revenue source, fell under regulatory pressure. Loan interest income declined 2.9% to 1.99 trillion won ($1.45 billion) from 2.05 trillion won ($1.49 billion) in 2024.

By contrast, non-interest income – including fees, platform revenue and fund management gains – jumped 22.5% to 1.08 trillion won ($790.6 million), surpassing 1 trillion won for the first time. Non-interest income accounted for 35.3% of total operating income, up about 5 percentage points from a year earlier.

Fund management performance was a major contributor. Kakao Bank said profits from the segment climbed about 28% to 670.8 billion won ($487.2 million), aided by expanded bond purchases in a high-interest-rate environment and a more diversified investment strategy.

Fee and platform revenue also continued to rise. Despite lower merchant fees for check cards, advertising revenue and loan comparison service income increased 54% and 37%, respectively. Total fee and platform revenue reached 310.5 billion won ($225.5 million), up 2.9% from a year earlier.

Looking ahead, Kakao Bank said it plans to further strengthen non-interest income this year by expanding products and services and by seeking growth opportunities in global and artificial intelligence-related businesses. The bank also signaled interest in mergers and acquisitions involving payment and capital companies to broaden its business scope into areas such as infrastructure and equipment finance.

An industry source said sustaining growth in non-interest income will be critical as lending expansion remains constrained, adding that the success of new business lines will play a key role in shaping future performance.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260205010001717

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), a United Nations agency, has issued a new report warning of an uptick in measles cases throughout the region.

On Wednesday, the organisation issued an epidemiological alert that called for member states to strengthen “routine surveillance and vaccination activities” in order to combat the spread of the disease.

“The sharp increase in measles cases in the Americas Region during 2025 and early 2026 is a warning sign that requires immediate and coordinated action by Member States,” PAHO said in a statement.

Overall, in the first three weeks of 2026 alone, PAHO documented 1,031 cases of measles in the Americas. Throughout 2025, a total of 14,891 cases were confirmed.

Some of the biggest outbreaks the PAHO highlighted were unfolding in North America, with countries like the United States, Mexico and Canada facing high numbers of cases.

What is measles?

Measles is a highly contagious airborne virus capable of infecting nine out of every 10 people exposed to it, if they are unvaccinated.

In most cases, symptoms of the disease clear up within several weeks. However, measles can be deadly or cause life-altering health complications, particularly among young children.

Some sufferers find themselves with ear infections and lung inflammation. Others experience pneumonia or encephalitis, a swelling of the brain that can cause lasting damage, including seizures and memory loss.

The only way to prevent measles and halt its spread is by taking a vaccine. That care is often administered through a combination vaccine known by the acronym MMR, for measles, mumps and rubella.

Doctors typically advise patients to get vaccinated early. For healthy children, the general guidance is to receive the first MMR dose before 15 months of age. The second and final dose is recommended before age six.

The MMR vaccine is widely considered safe. But in countries like the US, vaccination rates have fallen in recent years, in part due to conspiracy theories and misleading statements.

The country’s Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, for instance, has previously asserted that the vaccine “wanes very quickly”, despite the fact that it offers lifelong protection.

Kennedy has also claimed there were health risks associated with the vaccine. But experts, including at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have repeatedly maintained that most people encounter no serious problems – and that the vaccine is far safer than exposure to measles itself.

“There have been no deaths shown to be related to the MMR vaccine in healthy people,” the Infectious Diseases Society of America says on its website.

High numbers in North America

According to PAHO’s report on Wednesday, the US has seen 171 new cases of measles in the first three weeks of 2026. The country experienced a total of 2,242 cases in 2025.

One of the ongoing outbreaks has been in South Carolina, where 876 incidents of measles have been reported in recent months. Of that total, 800 sufferers were unvaccinated, 16 had only received a partial vaccination, and 38 had an unknown vaccination status.

Meanwhile, in Texas, an outbreak resulted in 762 cases of measles between January and August. Two unvaccinated children died in that outbreak, and there were 99 hospitalisations.

In 2000, measles had been declared eliminated from the US, a sign that cases were no longer spreading domestically, though some cases did occur after exposure to the virus abroad.

Mexico, too, had achieved its measles elimination status in 1996, after an extensive vaccination campaign. The entire Americas region was declared measles-free in 2016.

But both the US and Mexico risk seeing their measles elimination status revoked, as outbreaks continue.

In Mexico, for instance, there were 6,428 cases of measles in 2025, the highest of any country in the Americas. For the first three weeks of 2026, there have been 740 more cases.

PAHO typically determines which countries have elimination status, and the organisation has indicated that it will review the situation in the US and Mexico during a virtual meeting on April 13.

Canada, meanwhile, already saw its measles elimination status rescinded in November. It has seen several measles outbreaks since October 2024.

PAHO found that there were 5,436 cases of measles last year, and 67 in the first three weeks of 2026.

The country can win back its elimination status only if it stops measles transmissions resulting from its outbreaks for more than one year.

The U.S. Navy has shown no signs of reversing course on major changes to its pipeline for new naval aviators in its latest draft requirements for a replacement for its T-45 Goshawk jet trainers. The Navy has already axed carrier qualifications from the syllabus for prospective tactical jet pilots and has plans to significantly alter how other training is done at bases ashore. These decisions have prompted concerns and criticism, but the service argues that advances in virtualized training and automated carrier landing capabilities have fundamentally changed the training ecosystem.

Aviation Week was first to report on the recent release of the latest draft requirements for what the Navy is currently calling the Undergraduate Jet Training System (UJTS). The service is looking to acquire 216 new jet trainers to replace the just under 200 T-45s it has in inventory today. The Navy has been pursuing a successor to the T-45 Goshawk for years now, and the UJTS effort has been delayed multiple times. The goal now is to kick off a formal competition relatively soon, ahead of a final contract award in mid-2027.

A number of companies have already lined up to compete for UJTS. This includes Boeing with a navalized version of its T-7 Red Hawk, the TF-50N from Lockheed Martin and Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI), the M-346N offered by Textron and Leonardo (and now branded as a Beechcraft product), and the Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Freedom jet.

The newest UJTS draft request for proposals reinforces the aforementioned changes to the carrier qualification and so-called Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) training requirements. Though conducted at bases on land, FCLP landings have historically been structured in a way that “simulates, as near as practicable, the conditions encountered during carrier landing operations,” according to the Navy.

The Navy’s plan now is to eliminate the actual touch-and-go component of FCLP training, also known as FCLP to touchdown, at least for students flying in the future UJTS jet trainer. Instead, the syllabus will include what is described as FCLP to wave off, where student pilots in those aircraft will fly a profile in line with being waved off from a landing attempt on an actual carrier prior to touchdown.

F-18 Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP). Touch-and-Go Landing.

“The Naval Aviation Enterprise has determined that the UJTS air vehicle will conduct FCLP [field carrier landing practice] to wave off,” a Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokesperson explained to Aviation Week. “However, FCLP to touchdown will be trained via other means in the UJTS system of systems.”

TWZ has reached out to NAVAIR for more information about the other elements of the planned “UJTS system of systems” that will be used to support continued FCLP to touchdown training requirements.

As noted, the Navy has already cut the carrier landing qualification requirement from the pipeline for individuals training to fly F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and F-35C fighters, as well as EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft. At least as of last August, carrier qualifications were still part of the syllabus for student aviators in line to fly E-2 Hawkeye airborne early warning and control aircraft, as well as for all international students.

“Field Carrier Landing Practice (FCLP) landings ashore are still required for graduation,” a Navy spokesperson also told TWZ in August 2025, but did not specify whether or not this meant “to touchdown.”

TWZ has reached out to the office of the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) for more information on current and future planned naval aviation training requirements.

All of this has major ramifications for the forthcoming UJTS jet trainer competition. Not even having to perform FLCPs to touchdown, let alone actual carrier qualifications, fundamentally changes the aircraft designs that can be considered to replace the carrier-capable T-45s. Carrier landings and takeoffs stress airframes, especially landing gear, in completely different ways compared to typical operations from airbases on land.

US Navy T-45 Goshawk carrier qualifications on USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78)

As it stands now, only SNC’s clean sheet Freedom offering is explicitly designed for touch-and-goes on carriers and FCLP-to-touchdown landings ashore, and the company has been putting heavy emphasis on the continued importance of those capabilities. The other competitors that have emerged so far have presented variations on existing land-based jet trainer designs.

Freedom Family of Training Systems (FoTS)

“The strategic decision of moving carrier qualifications from the training syllabus to their fleet replacement squadrons was driven by increased technological capabilities in the fleet, as well as the need to reduce training pipeline times, enabling the fleet to receive qualified pilots faster,” the aforementioned Navy spokesperson also told TWZ last August. “After earning their initial qualifications after graduation, naval aviators in the strike pipeline are required to complete touch-and-goes and carrier landings at sea during their assignment at the Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS).”

FRSs provide initial training on specific types of aircraft before individuals move on to operational units. What this all means, in functional terms, is that the Navy is planning for a future where tactical jet pilots will not make a full FCLP landing, let alone touch down on a carrier, until after they are winged and flying a front-line aircraft.

Though not explicitly mentioned, the “increased technological capabilities” referred to here include the Navy’s substantial investments in virtualized training and automated carrier landing capabilities, such as Magic Carpet, in recent years.

Flight Ready: Magic Carpet

Flight Ready: Live, Virtual, Constructive

There is also a cost benefit arguement to be made. Eliminating the need for features required for carrier-based operations could help keep down the price tag of any future T-45 replacement, as well as reduce developmental risk. The overall changes to the training syllabus will have their own cost impacts with the cut down in time and resources required for a student pilot to get their wings.

At the same time, concerns and criticism have been voiced about the possible downstream impacts of cutting elements long considered critical to naval aviation training. What can be done in virtualized aviation training environments, in particular, has become very impressive in recent years, but they still cannot fully recreate the experience of live training events.

“Carrier qualification is more than catching the wire. It is the exposure to the carrier environment and how an individual deals with it,” an experienced U.S. Navy strike fighter pilot told TWZ back in 2020. “The pattern, the communications, the nuance, the stress. The ability to master this is one of our competitive advantages.”

The Navy does still has yet to issue a final set of requirements for the UJTS jet trainer. However, signs only continue to grow that the service is committed to its new vision for training future naval aviators.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

Zelenskyy expects talks to soon lead to another prisoner exchange.

Ukrainian and Russian officials have wrapped up their first day of United States-mediated peace talks and are set to reconvene Thursday, according to Kyiv’s chief negotiator.

Rustem Umerov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, described Wednesday’s negotiations in Abu Dhabi as “substantive and productive”. Talks are due to continue into a second day, his spokesperson Diana Davityan said, though no major advance towards ending the nearly four-year war was announced.

The positive outlook came despite fears the talks would be marred by a new wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine. Ukrainian authorities said the latest strikes included one that killed seven people at a crowded market, while others further damaged Kyiv’s power infrastructure amid freezing temperatures.

Nevertheless, the talks “focused on concrete steps and practical solutions”, said Umerov.

Negotiations must ‘genuinely move towards peace’

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in an evening address, said it was imperative the talks yield concrete results and that he anticipated a prisoner exchange “in the near future”.

“People in Ukraine must feel that the situation is genuinely moving toward peace and the end of the war, not toward Russia using everything to its advantage and continuing attacks,” Zelenskyy said.

The Kremlin said that the “doors for a peaceful settlement are open,” but that Moscow will continue its military assault until Kyiv agrees to its demands.

The central hurdle in ending the war is the status of embattled eastern Ukraine, where Russia continues to make slow, painstaking advances.

Moscow is demanding that Kyiv withdraw its forces from large parts of the Donbas, including heavily fortified cities atop vast natural resources, as a precondition to any deal.

It also wants the world to recognise Russian sovereignty over territory it has seized in the war.

Kyiv is instead pushing for the front lines to be frozen at their current positions and rejects any unilateral troop withdrawal. Polls show that the majority of Ukrainians oppose a deal that hands Moscow more land.

“I think that Ukraine doesn’t have any moral right to give up our occupied territories … because my friends were fighting for that and they died for that,” Sofiia, a resident of Ukraine’s Poltava region, told Al Jazeera.

Unresolved issues ‘diminishing’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said it would likely take time to achieve a diplomatic breakthrough but claimed the administration of President Donald Trump had helped “substantially diminish” the number of unresolved issues between the warring parties.

“That’s the good news,” Rubio told reporters Wednesday. “The bad news is that the items that remain are the most difficult ones. And meanwhile the war continues.”

Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi said Kyiv was “interested in finding out what the Russians and Americans really want”.

He added that the talks – only the second direct engagement between Ukrainian and Russian officials in more than three years – focused on “military and military-political issues”.

Russia occupies about 20 percent of Ukraine’s national territory, including Crimea and ⁠parts of the eastern Donbas region seized before the 2022 invasion.

Zelenskyy on Wednesday said that the number of Ukrainian troops killed since the start of the war stood at about 55,000, with a “great number” also missing in action.

Total wartime casualties, including both killed and wounded, are estimated to extend into the hundreds of thousands for both sides.

Caracas, February 4, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Chavista supporters filled the streets of Caracas on Tuesday to demand the release of President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady and Deputy Cilia Flores.

The rally marked one month from their kidnapping on January 3 as part of a US military attack against Venezuela.

“We, as an organized people, are making a call to the international community. We work every day to build a country with sovereignty and we will maintain our demand. We will continue protesting,” activist Jonas Reyes told reporters. He also paid tribute to the Venezuelan and Cuban civilians and military personnel killed during the bombing.

Venezuelan government leaders also announced plans to mobilize on February 14, Valentine’s Day, to celebrate what they described as “the profound love of Maduro and Cilia,” as well as on February 27 and 28 to commemorate the 1989 popular uprising known as El Caracazo.

On Tuesday evening, Venezuela’s acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, said that over the past 30 days Venezuela has “transformed and matured” the impact of US aggression into “tranquility,” while promoting national dialogue.

“It is a great victory for the people that there is stability,” Rodríguez told media, adding that “there is a national outcry” for the freedom of Maduro and Flores. She spoke from the Miraflores Palace alongside National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The pair’s kidnapping took place amid a US attack involving 150 aircraft, including electronic warfare jets, bombers, assault helicopters, and drones invading Venezuelan airspace.

On January 5, Maduro and Flores were arraigned in New York on charges including drug trafficking conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty, and Maduro stated before judge Alvin Hellerstein that he is “a prisoner of war.”

The next court hearing, originally scheduled for March 17, was postponed until March 26 following a request from the US Justice Department.

US prosecutors argued that the extension would allow “the ends of justice to outweigh the interests of the public and the defendants in a speedy trial.”

February 3 also saw US-bases solidarity gather outside the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn where Maduro and Flores are being held.

In slogans and posters, activists described the Venezuelan president and first lady as “victims of kidnapping” and demanded that the US government cease its “political persecution.”

“They are innocent of all charges. The guilty parties are the same ones who have been violating the sovereignty of Venezuela and so many countries of Our America,” activist and academic Danny Shaw told reporters. “This has nothing to do with a war on drugs. We have suffered from fentanyl and heroin, and that has nothing to do with Venezuela, much less with its president.”

Shaw vowed that solidarity movements would continue to rally and expressed confidence in the legal efforts of Maduro and Flores’ defense teams.

A separate demonstration in solidarity with the Venezuelan people and denouncing US aggression also took place in New York’s Times Square and some 60 cities around the world.

For her part, Acting President Delcy Rodríguez said she has held direct phone conversations with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which she said were guided by “interpersonal respect.”

Rodríguez has defended a fast diplomatic rapprochement with the Trump administration, arguing that the two nations can solve “differences” through diplomacy.

Washington’s new chargé d’affaires, Laura Dogu, is already in Venezuela and visited the presidential palace on Monday, February 2.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled in favour of a California redistricting measure meant to net the Democratic Party more congressional seats, rejecting a challenge from the state Republican Party.

There was no dissent in Wednesday’s decision, and the conservative-majority court did not offer any explanation for its decision.

Instead, its order was comprised of a single sentence, stating that the Republican application “is denied”.

Previously, in December, the Supreme Court had allowed a similar redistricting measure, designed to benefit Republicans in Texas, to move forward.

Democratic officials in California have applauded Wednesday’s decision as fair, given that Republican President Donald Trump has led a nationwide push to redraw congressional districts in his party’s favour.

“Donald Trump said he was ‘entitled’ to five more Congressional seats in Texas,” California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a written statement.

“He started this redistricting war. He lost, and he’ll lose again in November.”

California’s Attorney General Rob Bonta echoed Newsom’s remarks, blaming Trump for launching a kind of redistricting arms race that threatened to disenfranchise Democratic voters.

“The US Supreme Court’s decision is good news not only for Californians, but for our democracy,” Bonta said in the statement.

The Supreme Court’s decision marks a win for Democratic efforts to counter the Trump-led redistricting efforts, which began last year in Texas.

In June last year, reports emerged that Trump had personally called Texas state politicians to redraw their congressional districts to give Republicans a greater advantage in Democrat-held areas.

Each congressional district elects one person to the US House of Representatives, which has a narrow Republican majority. Out of 435 seats, 218 are held by Republicans, and 214 by Democrats.

Texas, a Republican stronghold, proceeded to approve a newly revamped congressional map in August, overcoming a walkout by Democratic legislators.

That, in turn, prompted Newsom to launch a ballot initiative in California to counteract the Texas effort.

Just as the new Texas congressional map was designed to increase Republican seats by five, the California ballot initiative, known as Proposition 50, was also positioned to increase Democratic representation by five.

Voters in California passed the initiative overwhelmingly in a November special election, temporarily suspending the work of an independent redistricting commission that had previously drawn the state’s congressional maps.

Newsom, a possible 2028 presidential contender, framed Proposition 50 as a means of fighting “fire with fire”.

The new map approved under Proposition 50, however, will only be in place through the 2030 election, and Newsom has pledged to repeal it, should Republicans in Texas do the same with their new map.

The push to redistrict for partisan gain — a process known as gerrymandering — has long faced bipartisan pushback as an attack on democratic values.

Normally, redistricting happens every 10 years, after a new census is taken, to reflect population changes.

But this mid-decade redistricting battle comes before the pivotal 2026 midterm elections, which are slated to be a referendum on Trump’s second term as president. Trump has already expressed fear that he might be impeached, should Congress switch to Democratic control.

Partisan gerrymandering is not necessarily illegal, unless it purposefully disenfranchises voters on the basis of their race. That, in turn, is seen as a violation of the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, an important piece of civil rights legislation from 1965.

In response to the passage of Proposition 50, Republicans in California sued Newsom and other state officials in an effort to overturn the new congressional map.

They argued the new map was created “specifically to favor Hispanic voters” and would dilute the representation of Republican voters in the state.

The Trump administration joined the lawsuit on November 13, backing the state Republicans.

But Bonta, the California attorney general, argued the redistricting process was legal. In court filings, he also maintained that Trump’s backing of the lawsuit was driven by self-interest.

“The obvious reason that the Republican Party is a plaintiff here, and the reason that the current federal administration intervened to challenge California’s new map while supporting Texas’s defense of its new map, is that Republicans want to retain their House majority for the remainder of President Trump’s term,” his court filing said.

Bonto also called on the Supreme Court not to “step into the political fray, granting one political party a sizeable advantage” by overturning Proposition 50.

The victory for California Democrats on Wednesday comes as redistricting fights continue across the country.

Already, states like North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri have adopted new congressional maps to favour Republicans. There has been pushback, though.

In December, Indiana’s Republican-led legislature voted down a partisan redistricting measure, despite pressure from Trump to pass it.

The Gaitanist Army of Colombia (EGC), the country’s largest criminal organisation, has announced it will temporarily suspend peace talks in Qatar after Colombian President Gustavo Petro reportedly pledged to target its leader.

In a social media post on Wednesday, the EGC, sometimes referred to as the Gulf Clan, indicated the suspension would continue until it received updates from the Petro administration.

“By order of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the EGC delegation at the negotiating table will temporarily suspend talks with the government to consult and clarify the veracity of the information,” the group wrote in a statement on X.

“If the media reports are true, this would be a violation of good faith and the Doha commitments.”

Colombia’s Defence Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed the reports later on Wednesday, sharing a list of three drug “kingpins” that Petro’s administration would prioritise as “high-level targets”.

Among the three targets was the EGC’s leader, Jesus Avila Villadiego, alias Chiquito Malo. A reward for his capture was set at 5 billion Colombian pesos, equivalent to $1.37m.

The other two “kingpins” included top rebel commanders identified only by their aliases: Ivan Mordisco and Pablito.

The public announcement echoes a private one cemented during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday at the White House, when Petro met United States President Donald Trump in person for the first time.

For months, Trump has pressured the Petro administration to take more “aggressive action” to combat narcotics trafficking out of Colombia.

In response, Petro and his team presented the Trump administration on Tuesday with a dossier on their counter-narcotics operations titled, “Colombia: America’s #1 Ally Against Narcoterrorists”.

The presentation featured statistics on cocaine seizures, programmes to eradicate coca crops, and the high-level arrests and killings of drug lords.

But the commitment to collaborate with the US in the pursuit of Chiquito Malo’s arrest has thrown negotiations with the EGC into peril.

It has also raised questions about the future of Petro’s signature policy, “Total Peace”, which was designed to open talks with rebel groups and criminal networks in an effort to halt Colombia’s six-decade-long internal conflict.

The EGC is a major criminal group with almost 10,000 members, according to a recent report by the Ideas for Peace Foundation.

In December, the US also designated the group as a “foreign terrorist organisation”, as part of its ongoing efforts to crack down on drug trafficking.

The EGC has been engaged in high-level discussions with the Colombian government in Doha since September 2025. The two parties signed a “commitment to peace” on December 5, which outlined a roadmap to the EGC putting down arms.

The first step towards demobilisation was for the group to gather its forces in temporary zones, beginning in March. The government had suspended arrest warrants in December for EGC commanders, including Chiquito Malo, who were due to move to these areas.

But the government’s plans to detain the drug lord, declared yesterday at the White House, destabilised this process, according to analysts.

“[The EGC] interpret this as a direct threat where, if any commander who has arrest warrants … goes to the temporary zones, he runs a high risk,” said Gerson Arias, a conflict and security investigator at the Ideas for Peace Foundation, a Bogota-based think tank.

The Colombian Supreme Court in January approved Chiquito Malo’s extradition to the US in the eventuality of his capture, but the final decision to extradite him resides with the president.

By declaring the drug lord a “target” at the White House, Petro signalled support for capturing and extraditing the EGC commander.

Potential US involvement in the operation also appears to have unsettled the criminal organisation, according to experts.

“It is very different for Chiquito Malo to be pursued solely by the Colombian government than for him to become a target of joint strategic value involving US intelligence,” said Laura Bonilla, a deputy director at the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation, a Colombian think tank.

Although the EGC suspended its peace talks on Wednesday, it stressed that it remained open to resuming negotiations.

“It should be clarified that the suspension is temporary, not permanent, which indicates that they [the talks] will resume shortly,” a lawyer for the group told Al Jazeera, on condition of anonymity.

The representative added that, for talks to continue, the EGC requires that “legal and personal security guarantees” and “the commitments agreed upon in Doha, Qatar, are fulfilled”.

Good news for Ukraine: it looks increasingly likely that it will get its hands on European-made Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles, a class of weapon that it badly needs to redress the balance against Russian fighter jets. Bad news: the Meteors would likely only be made available once Kyiv acquires Saab Gripen fighters, a plan that remains questionable, especially in terms of the timelines for when they might materialize.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense confirmed that the Meteor was one of the weapons being lined up for the next Swedish security aid package for Ukraine. Also on the agenda were the Gripen E and undisclosed air defense systems, Saab radars, electronic warfare systems, and drones, including long-range one-way attack drones. The announcement came after talks between the Ukrainian Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov and his Swedish counterpart, Paul Jonsson.

At the Singapore Airshow this week, a Saab official told Defense News that transfer of the Meteor was under discussion and that it would be “natural” for it to be included in any Gripen package.

“The Meteor missile would be a natural content in a weapon package for any Gripen user […] discussions are taking place with several export nations, including Ukraine,” said Jussi Halmetoja, operations advisor in the air domain at Saab.

The Ukrainian Air Force’s need for a weapon in the Meteor class has long been apparent.

As we have discussed in the past, the Meteor is one of the most capable air-to-air missiles in operational service anywhere in the world.

Its key feature is its unique ramjet propulsion system, which can be throttled during different phases of flight. This ensures the missile still has considerable energy reserves during the terminal attack — it’s at this point that more conventional air-to-air missile motors lose energy, leading to a decrease in agility.

Meteor

Propelled by its ramjet motor, the Meteor’s all-important ‘no-escape zone’ is therefore far greater than for comparable weapons. This means the target has a much-reduced chance of evading the missile at the endgame of the engagement, something that would otherwise be far more realistic, using high-energy maneuvering. Another advantage of being able to throttle the motor is that the missile’s autopilot can calculate the most efficient route to the target for very long-range shots.

Highly significant for Ukraine is the fact that the Meteor is among the longest ranged of any Western air-to-air missile, generally considered to be able to engage certain types of targets out to around 130 miles.

The Meteor has an active radar seeker for the terminal phase and a two-way datalink. The datalink feeds the missile with in-flight updates as it flies out to its target and provides the pilot in the launch aircraft with information on the Meteor’s fuel, energy, and tracking state. That data can help determine if and when to fire another, disengage, or even assign a different target of opportunity.

Currently, the Ukrainian Air Force’s most capable air-to-air missile is the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), which arms its F-16 fighters.

Ukraine’s AMRAAMs include the AIM-120C version, which, as we’ve discussed in the past, offers some significant advantages over the earlier AIM-120A/B models. Most importantly, the AMRAAM is Ukraine’s first active-radar-guided air-to-air missile. This is a class of weapons that was long sought after by Ukraine. Early on in the conflict, one of its fighter pilots, the late Andrii Pilshchykov, better known by his callsign “Juice,” told TWZ: “The lack of fire and forget missiles is the greatest problem for us.”

According to data from one of its operators, the AIM-120C-5 subvariant provides a maximum range of around 46 miles, although the actual range of the missile is tightly controlled information and based on many engagement factors.

For all its capabilities, the AMRAAM’s reach is far outstripped by Russia’s long-range R-37M air-to-air missile, known to NATO as AA-13 Axehead. Typical Russian tactics involve firing the R-37M from outside the range of the missiles carried by Ukrainian fighters.

Mainly used by Su-35S Flanker multirole fighters and MiG-31BM Foxhound interceptors, the R-37M is a missile we have examined in detail in the past.

Last week, we discussed a video showing the shootdown of a Ukrainian Air Force Su-25 Frogfoot close air support jet, apparently by an R-37M.

With a reported range of 124 miles against certain types of targets, the R-37M flies to its target on a lofted trajectory, controlled by an inertial navigation system with mid-course radio correction, and uses an active radar seeker for its terminal phase attack.

Speaking to TWZ back in 2022, Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum pilot Pilshchykov said that the R-37M, typically fired from within Russian airspace, was “limiting our capabilities to conduct our missions. Of course, if you’re maneuvering, we are not able to provide an airstrike or something else, so the game is still very, very, very tough in the air and very, very risky. If you’re not aware of the launch of a missile, you’re dead.”

As it stands, the Meteor is the best candidate for Ukraine to try and redress the balance in the air war when faced by the far-reaching R-37M, and would finally put Russian aircraft at risk within their own missile ranges.

The Meteor is a product of the European MBDA missile house, with manufacture undertaken by its U.K. branch. Other partners in the Meteor program are France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Sweden, which placed an order for more of the missiles last year. All of these nations are firm supporters of Ukraine, but whether they approve a transfer of the missiles to Kyiv will also depend on how they judge the intelligence risk. After all, the wreckage of such a long-range weapon is very likely to end up on Russian territory, which would expose its technologies to analysis and exploitation.

However, Ukraine will only be able to use the Meteor once it starts to receive Gripens (or, alternatively, Dassault Rafales offered by France).

As it stands, Ukraine has signed letters of intent to acquire as many as 150 Gripen E fighters from Sweden and up to 100 Rafales from France over the next 10 years.

For Ukraine, the Gripen and Meteor could be used in a very powerful combination with the two Saab 340 airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) aircraft equipped with Erieye radar that have been donated by Sweden.

The Saab 340 AEW&C will be able to work as a fighter control asset, detecting targets, prioritizing them, and then assigning them to the fighters for interception. Using its datalink, the radar plane can also directly provide the missile with mid-course guidance updates. In fact, the fighter pilot may never have to use their own radar to engage a target. Instead, the missile is assigned a target, is fired, and then gets continuous updates from the AEW&C platform.

Erieye explained

As we have discussed in the past, either the Rafale or Gripen E would become the most advanced combat aircraft in Ukraine’s inventory, but there remain glaring questions about whether the acquisition of one of these aircraft types, let alone two, is actually feasible, especially in such numbers.

The letters of intent underscore Ukraine’s political commitment to buy these fighters, but don’t constitute a purchase deal. For Ukraine, there’s nothing to lose here, and it can cement its relationships with the nations that support it by showing interest in huge arms buys without any liability.

The same applies to the Meteor.

However, official discussions about the missile, together with the Gripen and Rafale, once again signal the scope of Kyiv’s ambitious re-equipment plans, especially when it comes to its air force.

A faster route to getting Meteor operational in Ukraine might involve Sweden providing secondhand Gripen C/Ds, something that has been proposed in the past.

Swedish officials have said it would take around three years for new-build Gripen Es to arrive in Ukraine. With an urgent need for fighters, Ukraine has said in the past that it wants to get its first Gripens delivered by 2026. The earlier Gripen C/D is also compatible with the Meteor.

While we wait for any final Gripen or Rafale deals to be concluded, Ukraine has at least made a first step toward acquiring an air-to-air missile that would finally allow its pilots to engage Russian aircraft at extended ranges, which would offer a powerful challenge to Russia’s current freedom of movement in the air war.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

As the prospect of a conflict between the United States and Iran looms, analysts within Israel have questioned the country’s capacity to determine the outcome of a confrontation in a region that, just months ago, it had regarded itself as on the brink of dominating.

“The [Israeli] opposition are accusing [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu of giving in to [US President Donald] Trump and ending the war on Gaza too soon,” said Israeli political analyst Ori Goldberg. “[Israel is] being hounded out of Lebanon, [its] freedom to operate within Syria has been halted. All that’s left to [Israel] is the freedom to kill Palestinians, and with Qatar, Turkiye and Egypt now being involved in Gaza, over Israel’s objection, it won’t be allowed to do that for much longer.”

While senior Israeli figures including Netanyahu are liaising directly with the Trump administration over a possible attack on Iran, analysts say it is increasingly clear that Israel’s ability to shape regional developments is diminished.

After two years of genocide in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 71,800 Palestinians, the US now appears to have taken the lead and has overruled Israel when it objected to the admission of Turkiye and Qatar to the board that will oversee the administration of Gaza.

In Syria, Israeli ambitions to hobble the new government of President Ahmed al-Sharaa also appear to have fallen foul of Trump’s White House, which is actively pushing the Netanyahu government to reach an accommodation with Damascus. In Lebanon, too, the US continues to play a defining role in determining Israeli actions, with any possible confrontation between Hezbollah and Israel said to be dependent upon Washington’s green light.

What influence Israel could wield over US action in Iran, according to many, is uncertain, even to the point that Washington could enter negotiations with no regard for Israeli concerns.

“There’s a worry that Donald Trump will not strike in Iran, which will continue to endanger Israel, and instead negotiate a conclusion that’s good for him as a peacemaker and leave the regime in place,” Netanyahu’s former aide from the early 90s and political pollster, Mitchell Barak, told Al Jazeera from West Jerusalem. “He’s transactional. That’s what he does. It’ll be like Gaza. Israel will secure their ultimate victory, then lose control to the US, whose interests – under Trump – don’t always align with ours.”

‘Big Bad Wolf’

While analysts’ expectations that Netanyahu could influence Trump’s actions in Iran may be limited, their sense that a fresh war would buy the Israeli prime minister relief from his current difficulties seems universal.

“Iran is Israel’s ‘Big Bad Wolf’,” Chatham House’s Yossi Mekelberg said of the geopolitical opponent that many in Israel believe exists only to ensure Israel’s destruction.

Mekelberg added that a war with Iran would serve as a useful distraction from Netanyahu’s domestic troubles, such as an inquiry into government failures related to the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, his attempt to weaken the oversight powers of the judiciary, and his ongoing corruption trials.

“There’s a saying in Hebrew: ‘the righteous have their work done by others.’ I’m not for a moment saying that Netanyahu is righteous, but I’m sure he’s keen on having his work done by others,” Mekelberg said.

War fears

How much public appetite there may be for a confrontation with Iran is unclear.

Israel was able to heavily damage Iran during the conflict it started in June last year. But Iran was also able to repeatedly pierce Israel’s defences, making it clear that the Israeli public is not safe from the wars its state pursues in the region.

The threat – rather than the reality – of a confrontation with Iran also serves the prime minister’s ends, Goldberg noted. “Netanyahu has no need for a war. He doesn’t really need to do anything other than survive, which he’s proven adept at,” the analyst said, referring to the absence of any credible political rival, as well as the risk that an actual war may highlight Israel’s diplomatic weakness in its dealings with the US.

“There’s this joke phrase that became popular with those resisting Netanyahu’s judicial reform: ‘This time he’s done’,” Goldberg said. “Netanyahu’s never done. He committed a genocide, and all people in Israel can object to is the management of it. He’s currently losing military and diplomatic influence across the region, and few are noticing. I can’t imagine that this will be ‘it’ either.”

But in a message, released as part of the latest batch of the Epstein files, headed “draft statement” sent by a “G Maxwell” to Jeffrey Epstein in 2015, she wrote: “In 2001 I was in London when [redacted] met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family.”

Feb. 4 (UPI) — Ryan Routh, who was convicted for an attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in Florida, was sentenced to life in prison plus seven years Wednesday.

Before announcing the sentence, Judge Aileen Cannon called Routh an “evil” man.

Routh, 60, was convicted of hiding in the bushes at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach in September 2024. He pointed a military-grade SKS rifle toward Trump, who was then a candidate running for his second term, and a Secret Service agent.

He defended himself in the trial that ended in September. When the verdict was read, he stabbed himself in the neck with a pen.

Prosecutors argued in a court filing that Routh deserved a life sentence.

“Routh’s crimes undeniably warrant a life sentence — he took steps over the course of months to assassinate a major presidential candidate, demonstrated the will to kill anybody in the way, and has since expressed neither regret nor remorse to his victims.

“Routh’s crimes of conviction reflect careful plotting, extensive premeditation, and a cowardly disregard for human life,” prosecutors wrote. “Routh’s motive for his crimes was unconscionable — preventing the American people from electing the candidate of their choice for President. Routh’s gloss on his crimes has always been that anything he may have done was justified by events in Ukraine or American domestic politics.”

Since the conviction, Routh has been represented by court-appointed attorney Martin Roth. He requested a 27-year sentence and argued that he didn’t get a fair trial because he represented himself.

“Defendant recognizes that he was found guilty by the jury but asserts that the jury was misled by his inability to effectively confront witnesses, use exhibits, or affirmatively introduce impeachment evidence designed to prove his lack of intent to cause injury to anyone,” Roth wrote.

Routh had a psychiatric evaluation before the trial, which showed he had bipolar disorder and narcissistic personality disorder.

His family submitted letters of support to the court.

Routh’s son Adam wrote that his father “wants to move forward in the right way and continue to be someone who contributes to our family and his community.” He said, “we still need him, and he still has people who love and support him.”

Routh’s sister Nancy Meyers asked the court to consider placing her brother in a prison in North Carolina. She said the family was devastated by his actions but “committed to assisting him with his rehabilitative efforts.”

Maja T was part of a group that attacked participants at Budapest’s ‘Day of Honour’, a major neo-Nazi event.

A Hungarian court has jailed a German anti-fascist activist for eight years for attacking participants at a far-right rally in Budapest.

Maja T, 25, was sentenced on Wednesday after being convicted of involvement in violence ahead of the annual “Day of Honour” commemoration in Budapest. The event is one of the biggest neo-Nazi rallies in Europe.

The defendant was accused of attempted aggravated bodily harm causing life-threatening injuries and assault committed as part of a criminal organisation.

“We all know what verdict the prime minister of this country wants,” Maja T told the court before the guilty verdict was given.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has previously designated anti-fascist groups linked to the attacks as “terrorist” organisations.

Orban’s spokesman, Zoltan Kovacs, welcomed the sentence in a message on X, branding Maja T an “antifa terrorist” – a reference to the left-wing protest movement.

Maja T was extradited from Germany to Hungary in December 2024. Supporters of the activist have criticised detention conditions, as well as the chances for a fair trial in Hungary.

Last year, Germany’s Constitutional Court ruled that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody.

Maja T’s father, Wolfram Jarosch, said the sentence confirmed his “fears” before the hearing. “This was a political show trial,” he said in a statement.

The conviction can be appealed.

Far-right protest

Prosecutors said Maja T was one of 19 members of a multinational far-left group that travelled to Hungary and attacked nine people, including German and Polish citizens, whom they identified as far-right extremists. Victims of the attack suffered broken bones and head injuries.

The annual rally in the Hungarian capital marks the failed attempt by Nazi and allied Hungarian soldiers to break out of Budapest during the Red Army’s siege of the city in 1945.

A number of people accused of participating in the 2023 “Day of Honour” attacks have been tried in Hungary and Germany. One woman received a five-year prison sentence in Germany.

Italy and France have refused to surrender two suspects to Hungary, with courts in both countries citing the risk of “inhumane treatment” in prison.