Northern

Three consecutive seasons of drought have left people in Northern Kenya facing an emergency. Communities in Mandera County rely on fertile land for their livestock to survive. Al Jazeera’s Haru Mutasa went to meet some of them.

Oystercatchers fly off as I step through stalks of storm-racked kelp for an icy dip in the winter-grey sea. Actually, the water feels unexpectedly warm, perhaps in contrast to the freezing wind. But it’s cold enough to do its job: every nerve is singing and I feel euphoric. I’m exploring the Antrim coast, which has some of the UK’s finest beaches, and proves excellent for a sustainable break – even in the stormy depths of winter.

Ballygally Castle is a great place to start and offers a Sea Dips and Hot Sips package that includes dry robes, hot-water bottles and flasks. The affordable castle, celebrating its 400th birthday this year, is perhaps Northern Ireland’s only 17th-century hotel.

The landscape outside is wild and green, but nearby Larne is well connected with a railway station and regular boats from Scotland. Getting here without flying or driving from my home in Essex involves three trains, two underground stops, two buses and a ferry (foot passengers from £38 each way, cabins from £35). It’s a surprisingly enjoyable adventure: a couple of comfortable hours by rail from London to Liverpool (advance tickets from about £20-25 each way), then a short hop to Hamilton Square and the docks. I fall asleep with a moonlit view of the Mersey and wake before sunrise over Belfast Lough, which I watch from the train window. By mid-morning, I’m on the beach with a post-swim buzz.

Inside the glowing castle are hot baths, log fires, slow-cooked Irish beef, hearty bowls of chowder and warm wheaten scones. Breakfasts include a cauldron of porridge with Waggle-Dance honey and Bushmills whiskey to add. The oldest part of the castle was built in 1625 with Scottish baronial-style turrets, pitched roof and thick stone walls pierced by musket holes.

A boggy afternoon hike takes me up windswept Sallagh Braes, a huge basalt amphitheatre crowned with rare mosses, where views stretch north over Antrim’s wooded glens and east across the sea to Scotland. The dramatic cliffs have appeared in Game of Thrones and the 2022 Viking epic The Northman. There are standing stones, crumbling sheepfolds and bronze age barrows. Mewing buzzards circle overhead and longhorns graze the moorland tussocks.

The next morning, I head 15 minutes up the coast on bus 162 to Glenarm Castle. The walled garden reopens in spring and hosts a tulip festival in early May. Ancestral seat of the earls of Antrim, Glenarm is home to the 15th earl and family. Their butler, George Lynn, who originally took the job for a couple of weeks and is still here 25 years later, runs perfectly pitched, book-ahead tours of the castle.

Exploring Glenarm village, there’s a red sandstone arch with an arrow marked Forest. Following it, I soon reach ferny riverside woods, where little waterfalls pour down through mossy banks and ivy-covered pines, while a red squirrel leaps through the leafless canopy. Heading back as a storm hits the coast at high tide, waves break right on to the bus windscreen. I decide to spend what’s left of the day inside, exploring Ballygally Castle. Through an inscribed stone doorway and up a spiral staircase, the highest room in the tallest tower is said to be haunted by Lady Isabella Shaw, imprisoned here after failing to produce a male heir.

Next day, I take the train to Portrush (via Belfast), spotting herons from the window as the train passes Ballycarry station. It’s a 20-minute walk from Ballycarry station to the exhilarating Gobbins cliff path, due to reopen early in 2026 as a newly upgraded circular route. A rainbow arcs over the fields as the Derry railway heads for the north coast.

From Northern Ireland’s oldest hotel, I’m now in one of the newest reopenings. The Portrush Adelphi hotel finished a fancy refurb in April last year. Rooms (from £152 a night) come with hexagonal juniper-laden gin miniatures from the Basalt distillery in homage to the nearby Giant’s Causeway. I stroll round town, have homemade soup and sea views at Babushka, and hop on a bus to Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge (£7.50/£15 for children/adults). The twice-hourly bus 402 connects Portrush with a series of attractions, including the Giant’s Causeway and the world’s oldest licensed whiskey distillery at Bushmills. Spectacular views of clifftop castles and long sandy beaches roll past the windows.

Salmon fishers first strung the rope bridge between cliffs, 100 feet above a roiling ocean, near Ballintoy in the mid-18th century. Strong winds mean the bridge itself is closed today and I stroll the mile-long scenic path to the viewpoint feeling secretly relieved. There’s virtually no other company on this wintry afternoon but sheep on the hillside and bright stonechats perched on the brambles.

On my last day, I walk five blustery, dramatic miles of coast path to neighbouring Portstewart, catching a late lilac sunrise over Portrush harbour. Flocks of coral-legged turnstones swirl and scamper; huge gannets plunge into the foaming white waves at 60mph. From Harry’s Shack on Portstewart Strand, it’s a 20-minute bus ride to Louise McLean’s whitewashed cottage, firelit studio and welcoming workshop in a repurposed primary-school portable building.

Louise has been making baskets for 25 years and grows 15 types of willow in her wildlife-rich garden, inspired by the coast with its “undulating curves, waves, and weaves”. A sudden downpour thunders on the metal roof as we twist brown willow strands in the cosy, candle-dotted room and Louise tells me about her new residential workshops. They’re on Rathlin, Northern Ireland’s only year-round inhabited offshore island and one of many reasons to come back. Heading off on the first bus of the journey home, my head is full of wild weather and warm welcomes.

This trip was partly provided by Tourism Ireland with accommodation provided by Ballygally Castle (doubles from £88 room-only; Sea Dips package from £155). More information at ireland.com

Kaleena Smith scored 50 points, including 14 after regulation, to lead Ontario Christian to a 96-87 double-overtime triumph over San José Archbishop Mitty in a high-noon showdown between the top two teams in the state Saturday in the featured game of the Kay Yow Showcase at Mater Dei.

Tatiana Griffin contributed 20 points and 18 rebounds, while Dani Robinson added 16 points for the No. 1-ranked Knights (20-0), who overcame a 12-point deficit with four minutes left in the fourth quarter. Smith was fouled with 4.7 seconds left and made both free throws to pull Ontario Christian even at 78-78. Archbishop Mitty missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.

“I’m pretty confident I’ll make them in that situation,” Smith, who reached the 50-point mark for the second time this season, said of her free throws. “This is what I do. I was in a similar spot in the Southern Section finals last year and made them.”

Smith, a junior, made nine of 10 from the foul line and added four steals and three assists. Her career high for points in a game is 63, which she accomplished her freshman year.

No. 2-ranked Archbishop Mitty (12-2), which lost to Etiwanda in the Open Division state finals last season, got 25 points from McKenna Woliczko and 21 from Ze’Ni Patterson.

The Northern and Southern California powerhouses could meet again for the state championship in March.

“During a timeout in the fourth quarter I reminded them why they’re here,” Knights coach Aundre Cummings said. “The girls love being No. 1 in the country and the attention that brings but with that comes the pressure to prove yourselves.”

Civilians were seen fleeing several northern Aleppo neighbourhoods en masse as the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces and the Syrian military escalate their fighting after a breakdown in integration talks. Estimates vary widely, but some have placed the number of evacuees at more than 100,000.

Denmark could become the latest customer of the P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft, after the U.S. government approved the sale to the Scandinavian country and NATO member. The potential acquisition is of particular relevance when it comes to Denmark’s increasing focus on the defense of Greenland. However, it also underscores how an ‘alliance’ of P-8 operators is fast developing in the northern hemisphere, with growing possibilities for collaboration to maximize these aircraft’s effectiveness in a region of huge strategic importance.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced U.S. Department of State approval for the potential deal on December 29. The estimated $1.8-billion Foreign Military Sales (FMS) acquisition covers three aircraft, as well as related equipment, training, support, and other items. Notably, it does not include weapons or sonobuoys.

In September 2025, Danish Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen said that the government could invest “tens of billions of [Danish] kroner” in buying the P-8, highlighting official backing for the deal at the highest levels.

“I would prefer that we cooperate with other NATO countries to get the most for the money and to have a greater degree of flexibility. But if that is not possible, I am also willing for us to acquire the P-8 aircraft capacity ourselves, which can basically hunt submarines,” Poulsen added.

“The proposed sale will enhance Denmark’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing a credible force that is capable of deterring adversaries and participating in NATO operations,” the DSCA said in its announcement. “The proposed sale will support its goal of improving national and territorial defense as well as interoperability with U.S. and NATO forces.” While the deal still needs to be cleared by Congress before a contract can be signed, this would appear to be just a formality.

The proposed package also includes four examples each of the Multifunctional Distribution System Joint Tactical Radio System (MIDS JTRS) and the AN/AAQ-24(V)N Guardian anti-missile laser countermeasures system, plus eight LN-251 Embedded Global Positioning Systems/Inertial Navigation Systems. Denmark is additionally cleared to receive an undisclosed number of MX-20HD electro-optical and infrared systems, AN/AAQ-2(V) acoustic systems, AN/APY-10 maritime surveillance radars, and AN/ALQ-213 early warning management systems.

The ALQ-213 is notable in that it is a product of the Danish Terma company; it brings together the various items of aircraft survivability equipment on a given platform, coordinating between the various threat-warning and dispensing systems to automatically dispense the appropriate sequencing pattern and expendables to protect the aircraft, as outlined in the video below.

Electronic Warfare Management System for C-130J

In 2025, Boeing — the manufacturer of the P-8 — and Terma signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in 2025 to explore closer cooperation on the Poseidon program, including maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) support in Denmark. Potentially, Denmark could become home to an MRO hub that could service its own P-8s, as well as those of other customers.

The timelines for the construction and delivery of the aircraft were not announced.

For the Royal Danish Air Force (RDAF), the P-8 would provide an enormous leap in capability. Currently, it has no dedicated fixed-wing maritime patrol aircraft. Instead, it relies on three multirole Bombardier CL-604 Challenger bizjets that can be equipped with various sensors for maritime work. However, their lack of weapons and anti-submarine warfare kit means they are best suited to tasks such as fisheries protection, pollution control, and search and rescue.

The RDAF also has MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, which primarily operate from naval vessels.

For the RDAF, the main areas of maritime operation are in the North Atlantic Ocean around Greenland and the Faroe Islands, as well as in the Baltic Sea.

Denmark’s lack of true long-range maritime patrol capabilities is especially surprising considering the vast maritime areas involved. Not only are these part of the Danish Armed Forces’ key responsibilities in terms of homeland defense, but they are also regions of growing strategic importance, with heightened Russian naval activity in the North Atlantic and Arctic.

As well as a ramp-up in operations by the Russian Navy, especially involving submarines, with increasingly advanced capabilities, Greenland has also emerged as a potential flashpoint, something we have explored in depth in the past.

Greenland’s importance lies in its strategic location between North America and Russia. Though the island has a significant degree of autonomy, it remains part of the kingdom of Denmark. In recent years, there has been increased interest in the natural resources of this island, which is normally classified as the world’s biggest. The potential for mining for rare earth minerals, including uranium and iron, makes it a particular prize.

In terms of trade, Greenland lies on the shortest route from North America to Europe, further underlining its strategic importance to the United States.

Greenland has long been militarized, with the United States at the forefront of this throughout the Cold War, under an agreement with Denmark. Today, it still supports a U.S. radar base, which was transferred to the command of the U.S. Space Force in 2020.

U.S. President Donald Trump has highlighted the importance of the island to military efforts to track Chinese and Russian ships, which he said are “all over the place.” Trump has also repeatedly expressed his desire to acquire Greenland, describing the island as “critical” for national and economic security. In response, Greenland’s prime minister has said the territory is not for sale, adding that “Greenland belongs to the people of Greenland.”

Not surprisingly, Greenland has been central in Denmark’s Arctic Capability Package, first unveiled in 2021.

In October 2025, Denmark announced $4.2 billion of additional defense spending to cover the Arctic and North Atlantic regions, including Greenland. At the same time, it also said it would increase its F-35A fleet to 43, buying another 16 of the stealth jets at a cost of $4.5 billion.

The plan also includes buying two new Arctic ships, early warning radar, and maritime patrol planes. Denmark will also establish a new Arctic command headquarters in Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, alongside a new military unit under Joint Arctic Command in Greenland.

It would seem likely that the RDAF will station at least one P-8 in Greenland, if only on a rotational basis. This would parallel what it has done with one of its CL-604s since 2021, when it was announced that one of the jets would be based at Kangerlussuaq year-round to perform maritime surveillance.

Providing the deal is signed off, with the P-8, Denmark will be getting the heaviest and most powerful in-production maritime patrol aircraft on the market, rather than a smaller or cheaper solution.

As well as its performance advantage, the P-8 is also a true multi-mission platform. As well as weapons, it carries a range of sensors for use during anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR), and search and rescue missions. Furthermore, even with its standard electronic support measures (ESM) suite, the P-8 can act in an electronic intelligence collection role, specifically on enemy air defenses and electronic order of battles. This is of relevance overland, as well as during maritime missions.

Its price tag is the main reason for the relatively small number of aircraft in the initial Danish package, although more could be added later.

The RDAF will also be able to expand the capabilities of its small P-8 fleet by using them in conjunction with its four MQ-9B SkyGuardian unmanned aerial systems, which were ordered in July 2025 and are due to be delivered between 2028 and 2029.

At the same time, Denmark will be joining a growing P-8 operators’ group that will be active in the region.

The United Kingdom has nine examples of the Poseidon MRA1 (equivalent to the P-8A) operational, while Norway has five P-8As.

Germany ordered eight P-8As, with the first of these being delivered in November 2025. Berlin has said these P-8s will be deployed periodically to RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, where they will support the resident U.K. Royal Air Force Poseidon fleet of nine aircraft.

The United Kingdom and Norway have also discussed plans to cooperate on P-8 operations, and adding Denmark (and Germany) to this initiative would provide a major boost for NATO’s ability to effectively patrol the North Atlantic. This includes the strategically vital Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom Gap, better known as the GIUK Gap, a critical bottleneck that is closely monitored. If Russian submarines can sneak through undetected, they have a much better chance of disappearing into the Atlantic without being traced. During a full-blown conflict, this would likely include wreaking havoc on NATO shipping and naval flotillas and executing pinpoint attacks on key land targets. While it is very much a multi-mission platform, this kind of mission remains central to the P-8’s existence.

Finally, Canada has 14 P-8As on order with an option for two more, with deliveries scheduled between 2026 and 2027. Canada is another country that has responded to the demands of a steadily more contested Arctic region by investing in maritime patrol and surveillance.

With this in mind, should Denmark’s P-8 deal be signed off, the Royal Danish Air Force will enjoy commonality with several regional partners, making it more straightforward to conduct joint operations, collaborate on training, and maximize interoperability and data exchange during operational missions. Aside from that, Denmark getting its hands on the Poseidon would be a huge deal for them, providing it with an aircraft capable of launching sizeable weapons, including anti-ship cruise missiles.

Whether Denmark gets the P-8 or opts for an alternative platform, the approval of the sale is another indicator of NATO’s growing focus on Arctic surveillance, via robust maritime patrol capabilities. For Denmark, buying the P-8 would also be a firm statement of its intent to protect the strategic waters surrounding Greenland.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

A federal judge in San Francisco on Wednesday barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement and its Justice Department counterpart from “sweeping” civil arrests at immigration courthouses across Northern California, teeing up an appellate challenge to one of the Trump administration’s most controversial deportation tactics.

“This circumstance presents noncitizens in removal proceedings with a Hobson’s choice between two irreparable harms,” Judge P. Casey Pitts wrote in his Christmas Eve decision.

“First, they may appear in immigration court and face likely arrest and detention,” the judge wrote. “Alternatively, noncitizens may choose not to appear and instead to forego their opportunity to pursue their claims for asylum or other relief from removal.”

Wednesday’s decision blocks ICE and the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review from lying in wait for asylum seekers and other noncitizens at routine hearings throughout the region — a move that would effectively restore pre-Trump prohibition on such arrests.

“Here, ICE and EOIR’s prior policies governing courthouse arrests and detention in holding facilities provide a standard,” the judge said.

Authorities have long curbed arrests at “sensitive locations”— such as hospitals, houses of worship and schools — putting them out of reach of most civil immigration enforcement.

The designation was first established decades ago under ICE’s predecessor agency, Immigration and Naturalization Services. ICE absorbed the prohibitions when the agency was formed in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Courts were added to the list under President Obama. The policy prohibiting most courthouse arrests was suspended during the first Trump administration and reinstated by President Biden.

Internal ICE guidance from the Biden era found “[e]xecuting civil immigration enforcement actions in or near a courthouse may chill individuals’ access to courthouses and, as a result, impair the fair administration of justice.”

Nevertheless, the agency’s courthouse policy was reversed again earlier this year, leading to a surge in arrests, and a staggering drop in court appearances, court records show.

Most who do not show up are ordered removed in absentia.

Monthly removal in absentia orders more than doubled this year, to 4,177 from fewer than 1,600 in 2024, justice department data show.

More than 50,000 asylum seekers have been ordered removed after failing to appear in court hearings since January — more than were ordered removed in absentia in the previous five years combined.

“ICE cannot choose to ignore the ‘costs’ of its new policies—chilling the participation of noncitizens in their removal proceedings —and consider only the policies’ purported ‘benefits’ for immigration enforcement,” Pitts wrote in his stay order.

That ruling likely sets the San Francisco case on a collision course with other lawsuits seeking to curb ICE’s incursions into spaces previously considered off-limits. This suit was brought by a group of asylum seekers who braved the risk and were detained when they showed up to court.

One, a 24-year-old Guatemalan asylum seeker named Yulisa Alvarado Ambrocio, was spared detention only because her breastfeeding 11-month-old was with her in court, records show. Administration lawyers told the court ICE would almost certainly pick her up at her next hearing.

Such arrests appear arbitrary and capricious, and are unlikely to survive scrutiny by the courts, Judge Pitts ruled Wednesday.

“That widespread civil arrests at immigration courts could have a chilling effect on noncitizens’ attendance at removal proceedings (as common sense, the prior guidance, and the actual experience in immigration court since May 2025 make clear) and thereby undermine this central purpose is thus ‘an important aspect of the problem’ that ICE was required, but failed, to consider,” Pitts wrote.

A district judge in Manhattan ruled the opposite way on a similar case this fall, setting up a possible circuit split and even a Supreme Court challenge to courthouse arrests in 2026.

For now, the Christmas Eve decision only applies to ICE’s San Francisco Area of Responsibility, a region encompassing all of Northern and Central California, as far south as Bakersfield.

The geographic limit comes in response to the Supreme Court’s emergency decision earlier this year stripping district judges of the power to block federal policies outside narrowly-tailored circumstances.

The administration told the court it intends to appeal to the 9th Circuit, where Trump-appointed judges have swung the bench far to the right of its longtime liberal reputation.

Northern Ireland are 69th in the Fifa world rankings, 57 places below Italy and 27 adrift of Wales, but two spots above Bosnia.

Michael O’Neill’s side finished third behind Germany and Slovakia in the World Cup qualifying group but secured their play-off place thanks to their Nations League success.

Italy, Wales and Bosnia all finished second in their groups, behind Norway, Belgium and Austria respectively.

Northern Ireland are looking to qualify for their first major tournament since Euro 2016, when they were knocked out in the second round by a Wales side who went on to reach the semi-finals under Chris Coleman.

O’Neill was in the midst of his first, nine-year spell in charge of Northern Ireland at the time and is now three years into his second stint as his country’s manager.

“Down the years they’ve just had something and they know what they are. They’ve got a brilliant manager who I really like,” Bellamy added.

“I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time with him as well, and I loved him. No wonder his players do well. They won’t be playing at their home ground [against Italy], but I just feel they’ll be comfortable in any situation you throw them into.

“There will be pressure coming on Italy because they haven’t qualified for two World Cups. If I was Italy going into that game, with everyone expecting you to win, I’m telling you I’d be edgy. I wouldn’t be comfortable with it.

“Italy is one of the greatest nations in football and that’s a lot of responsibility to shoulder. To have to play a team like Northern Ireland, I’d just be thinking let’s get through this and see what happens in the other game.”