today

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.”

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.

Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem has started making official trips using a new Gulfstream 700 (G700) VIP jet. The U.S. Coast Guard signed a contract to acquire two of these aircraft, the first known members of the G700 family to be operated by an arm of the U.S. federal government, last year. Pictures of one of the planes, wearing a livery nearly identical to one President Trump had previously picked for the future VC-25B Air Force One aircraft, emerged last month, as TWZ was first to report on.

Secretary Noem traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, yesterday on board the G700. She is scheduled to take a tour of the state’s border with Mexico today.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem is in Arizona for a border wall event

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) also released pictures recently showing Secretary Noem using the jet in relation to a trip earlier this week to Tupelo, Mississippi. Noem attended a roundtable there with first responders who had been part of the response to Winter Storm Fern.

TWZ has reached out to DHS and the Coast Guard for more information about the use of the new Gulfstream 700 aircraft. The Coast Guard currently falls under the purview of DHS.

It is clear that the G700 acquisition has been proceeding on a very fast schedule. DHS and the Coast Guard only confirmed that the two jets, referred to officially as Long Range Command and Control Aircraft (LRCCA), had been ordered last October. A Coast Guard contracting document released at that time said the goal was to have the jets in hand no later than December 31, 2025. It is unclear whether that particular deadline was met, but at least one of the jets is now in service. As TWZ has noted previously, it is also not clear what tradeoffs may have been required to keep to the aggressive delivery timeline.

The total cost of acquiring both G700s has previously been reported to be between $170 and $200 million. The price tag on a base model G700, before any alterations, painting, and other work is done, generally runs around $70 to $80 million.

The Coast Guard already operates two LRCCAs, a C-37A and a C-37B, which are based on older and out-of-production Gulfstream V and G550 models, respectively. The U.S. military and other U.S. government agencies operate a variety of other Gulfstream models, as well, but none of them currently fly newer 700-series types.

The existing LRCCAs are regularly used as VIP transports for the Secretary of Homeland Security, as well as other senior DHS and Coast Guard officials. In addition, the jets have a role in U.S. continuity of government plans, which are in place to ensure American authorities can continue to function in the event of any number of serious contingency scenarios, including major hostile attacks and devastating natural disasters.

As such, the LRCCAs are equipped with an extensive secure command and control communications suite. Previously released Coast Guard contracting documents specifically highlighted plans to integrate Starshield into the new G700s. SpaceX offers Starshield as a more secure government-focused cousin to its commercial Starlink space-based internet service. SpaceX has established a dominant position in the global satellite internet and communication marketspace, and Starshield and Starlink continue to see growing use across the U.S. government, including the U.S. military, where they have been used in support of tactical operations.

“The G700 provides a combination of increased range, speed, seating capacity, and enhanced avionics in comparison to a used G550,” the Coast Guard also noted in justification for the sole-source contract to Gulfstream for the jets. “While a G550 is capable, it is no longer in production and USCG is at the mercy of the re-sell [sic] market to grow the LRCCA fleet in the required time.”

Other details about the configuration of the new Coast Guard G700s are limited. The new livery is certainly eye-catching. The same scheme has also appeared recently on a 737 Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) with a luxurious VVIP interior and clear ties to DHS. That aircraft, which carries the U.S. civil registration number N471US, emerged unexpectedly in December 2025, as you can read more about here.

At the time of writing, DHS still does not appear to officially commented on its acquisition or use. This is despite the jet having been tracked flying in the Middle East along routes that matched up with those of the Coast Guard’s C-37B LRCCA. Both aircraft notably visited Jordan’s capital, Amman, at a time when Secretary Noem was said to have made an official visit there.

The paint scheme worn by the new G700 aircraft and N471US is also very similar to the one President Donald Trump had picked for the forthcoming pair of Boeing 747-8i-based VC-25B Air Force One aircraft during his first term. President Joe Biden subsequently reinstated plans to stick with the same iconic, Kennedy-era livery worn by the current VC-25A Air Force One aircraft that the VC-25Bs are set to replace. Last year, Inside Defense reported that the U.S. Air Force was “implementing a new livery requirement for VC-25B,” but no further details have emerged since then.

The G700 acquisition, and the expected use of those aircraft by Secretary Noem, more specifically, were focal points for criticism from some members of Congress last year. Legislators had questioned whether this was an appropriate allocation of funding. The decision to order the jets during a protracted government shutdown also drew the ire of lawmakers. DHS has seen a huge boost in its total budget in the past year, linked largely to immigration enforcement and border security activities.

Even before the G700 contract was finalized, DHS and the Coast Guard had been pushing back against this criticism. They have consistently argued that it is of critical importance to acquire newer LRCCAs as the aging C-37A and C-37B jets have become increasingly difficult to operate and maintain, especially in light of the continuity of government mission.

TWZ has previously highlighted a larger trend in the expansion of executive aircraft operations during President Donald Trump’s second term. This has been especially pronounced in the acquisition of additional Boeing 747s in relation to the VC-25B program, including second-hand examples from German flag carrier Lufthansa to provide training support and as sources of spare parts. Work is also ongoing to repurpose a highly-modified ex-Qatari VVIP 747-8i, ostensibly gifted to the U.S. government, as what is now being called a VC-25 bridge aircraft ahead of the much-delayed VC-25Bs entering service. TWZ has raised significant questions about the feasibility of that plan in the past.

Regardless, at least one of the new G700s is now flying operational missions, including with the Secretary of Homeland Security aboard

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

United States border security chief Tom Homan has announced that the administration of President Donald Trump will “draw down” 700 immigration enforcement personnel from Minnesota while promising to continue operations in the northern state.

The update on Wednesday was the latest indication of the Trump administration pivoting on its enforcement surge in the state following the killing of two US citizens by immigration agents in Minneapolis in January.

Homan, who is officially called Trump’s “border czar”, said the decision came amid new cooperation agreements with local authorities, particularly related to detaining individuals at county jails. Details of those agreements were not immediately available.

About 3,000 immigration enforcement agents are currently believed to be in Minnesota as part of Trump’s enforcement operations.

“Given this increase in unprecedented collaboration, and as a result of the need for less law enforcement officers to do this work in a safer environment, I have announced, effective immediately, we will draw down 700 people effective today – 700 law enforcement personnel,” Homan said.

The announcement comes after Homan was sent to Minnesota at the end of January in response to widespread protests over immigration enforcement and the killing of Renee Nicole Good on January 7 by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent and Alex Pretti on January 24 by a US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer, both in Minneapolis.

Homan said reforms made since his arrival have included consolidating ICE and CBP under a single chain of command.

He said Trump “fully intends to achieve mass deportations during this administration, and immigration enforcement actions will continue every day throughout this country”.

Immigration rights observers have said the administration’s mass deportation approach has seen agents use increasingly “dragnet” tactics to meet large detention quotas, including randomly stopping individuals and asking for their papers. The administration has increasingly detained undocumented individuals with no criminal records, even US citizens and people who have legal status to live in the US.

Homan said agents would prioritise who they considered to be “public safety threats” but added, “Just because you prioritise public safety threats, don’t mean we forget about everybody else. We will continue to enforce the immigration laws in this country.”

The “drawdown”, he added, would not apply to what he described as “personnel providing security for our officers”.

“We will not draw down on personnel providing security and responding to hostile incidents until we see a change,” he said.

Critics have accused immigration enforcement officers, who do not receive the same level of crowd control training as most local police forces, of using excessive violence in responding to protesters and individuals legally monitoring their actions.

Trump administration officials have regularly blamed unrest on “agitators”. They accused both Good and Pretti of threatening officers before their killings although video evidence of the exchanges has contradicted that characterisation.

Last week, the administration announced it was opening a federal civil rights investigation into the killing of Pretti, who was fatally shot while he was pinned to the ground by immigration agents. That came moments after an agent removed a gun from Pretti’s body, which the 37-year-old had not drawn and was legally carrying.

Federal authorities have not opened a civil rights investigation into the killing of Good, who they have maintained sought to run over an ICE agent before she was fatally shot. Video evidence appeared to show Good trying to turn away from the agent.

On Friday, thousands of people took to the streets of Minneapolis and other US cities amid calls for a federal strike in protest against the Trump administration’s deportation drive.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison and other state and local officials have also challenged the immigration enforcement surge in the state, arguing that the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE and the CBP, has been violating constitutional protections.

A federal judge last week said she will not halt the operations as a lawsuit progresses in court. Department of Justice lawyers have dismissed the suit as “legally frivolous”.

On Wednesday, a poll released by the Marquette Law School found wide-ranging disquiet over ICE’s approach, with 60 percent of US adults nationwide saying they disapproved of how the agency was conducting itself. The poll was conducted from January 21 to January 28, with many of the surveys conducted before Pretti’s killing.

The poll still found widespread support for ICE among Republicans, with about 80 percent approving of its work. Just 5 percent of Democrats voiced similar approval.

Perhaps most worryingly for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms in November, just 23 percent of independents – potential swing voters in the upcoming vote – approved of ICE’s actions.

Indonesia, once in line to be the first export operator of the F-15EX Eagle II multirole fighter, has abandoned its plans to buy the Boeing-made jets. The deal had been in stasis for the last two years.

Speaking to reporters at the Singapore Airshow, Bernd Peters, vice president of business development and strategy for Boeing Defense, Space and Security, confirmed that the F-15EX for Indonesia “is no longer an active campaign for the Boeing company.”

The reason for the turnaround is unclear; Boeing deferred questions on this matter to the governments of Indonesia and the United States, which were working on the program under the Foreign Military Sales process.

TWZ has contacted Boeing for further details.

Back in February of 2022, the U.S. State Department approved a possible Foreign Military Sale to Indonesia of an F-15EX derivative known as the F-15ID, as you can read more about here.

By August of 2023, it appeared as if this was a done deal when Jakarta formally committed to buying up to 24 of the jets from Boeing. By now, the Indonesian version had been renamed F-15IND. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the purchase of the jets was signed in St. Louis, Missouri, the location of the F-15 production facility. Among those in attendance was Indonesia’s Minister of Defense, Prabowo Subianto, who had a tour of the F-15 production line.

“We are pleased to announce our commitment to procure the critical F-15EX fighter capability for Indonesia,” Subianto said. He added: “This state-of-the-art fighter will protect and secure our nation with its advanced capabilities.”

It’s unclear if Jakarta will instead buy another fighter type instead of the F-15.

However, it’s notable that the U.S. State Department’s approval for the F-15 deal came only hours after Indonesia’s announcement that it would be buying 42 of France’s Dassault Rafale multirole fighters. Deliveries of these are now underway.

At the time, we surmised that Washington may have been making a last-ditch effort to persuade Indonesia to opt for a mixed fleet of F-15 and Rafale jets. That bid now seems to have collapsed entirely, although we don’t yet know why. The overall cost of the F-15 deal was never made clear, but this, or production timelines, could have been sticking points.

Even without F-15s, the Indonesian Air Force is building one of the most modern and capable fighter fleets in Southeast Asia.

Aside from the Rafales, the Indonesian Air Force operates a mix of U.S. and Russian fighters.

The Viper fleet consists of around eight survivors from the 12 F-16A/B Block 15OCU fighters delivered beginning in 1989, plus 23 upgraded F-16C/Ds.

In terms of Russian-made equipment, Indonesia fields several different versions of the Sukhoi Flanker. These comprise five single-seat Su-27SKs and a pair of two-seat Su-30MKs, deliveries of which started in 2003, plus nine two-seat Su-30MK2s, the first of which was handed over in 2008. Since the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, sanctions on Russia have likely made it far trickier to support them.

Looking further ahead, Indonesia has long been expected to buy 50 examples of the KF-21 new-generation fighter that the country is developing jointly with South Korea. Indonesia’s PT DI is an industry partner in the KF-21 alongside Korean Aerospace Industries (KAI), with a 20 percent share of the project. In the past, however, Jakarta has failed to make payments to secure its stake in the program, and its long-term commitment to the program has repeatedly been questioned.

(공식) KF-21 보라매 최초비행(220719)

A firm commitment to the KF-21 could also have spelled the end of the F-15 acquisition.

Buying both Rafales and KF-21s, as well as supporting older jets, involves enormous costs, not just in terms of upfront expenses, but also in terms of training and support.

At one point, Indonesia planned to buy Su-35s, which would have seen Russia receive half its payments in the form of exports of palm oil, rubber, and other commodities. Other big-ticket arms deals have seen Indonesia rely on loan payments, reflecting the precarious defense budget situation.

For Boeing, today’s news comes as a blow, although it will be tempered by the fact that, late last year, Israel signed a contract for 25 new F-15IA aircraft. These will be the first new Eagles that the country has acquired since 1999, and these jets will also be based on the F-15EX.

Meanwhile, the company says it’s still committed to working with Indonesia on existing programs like the country’s AH-64 Apache fleet.

“We feel the F-15 will continue to have a very bright future in the region,” Boeing’s Bernd Peters said.

Elsewhere in the Indo-Pacific region, Boeing last month received a $2.8-billion award for upgrades to South Korea’s F-15K Slam Eagle fleet, with work expected to be completed in 2037. You can read more about this program here.

Returning to the F-15EX, under the Fiscal Year 2026 budget proposal, the U.S. Air Force’s program of record is now set to grow from 98 to 129 aircraft, with the addition of at least one more squadron, which will be converting from the A-10. It seems quite possible that further growth of the program could occur. Originally, the Air Force had a minimum number of 144 jets to replace the F-15C/D force. Some of the Eagle units have switched to other platforms since then, but units that fly A-10s, F-16s, and even F-15Es could end up getting F-15EX if the service chooses to go such a route.

Beyond that, Poland has emerged as another potential export customer for the F-15EX.

Boeing is currently intent on ramping up F-15EX production to 24 aircraft annually. Between August and November of last year, deliveries were suspended due to production delays. The 16th F-15EX was delivered to the Air Force in December.

Whatever happens in terms of foreign sales, the future of the F-15EX with the U.S. Air Force looks increasingly bright.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Names of the rich and powerful are littered throughout the latest batch of the “Epstein files.” Here are some of the most prominent global figures.

Turkish Air Force F-16 Vipers can be seen flying over the skies of Somalia in new videos that have emerged online. The deployment of these jets comes as Turkey is seeking to increase its presence in the troubled nation where the al-Shabab extremist group is wreaking havoc.

One video shows a Turkish F-16 taking off, afterburner ignited, from an airport in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

F-16 fighter jets are currently conducting test flights over Mogadishu this morning. These aircraft arrived in Somalia on Wednesday, signifying Türkiye’s increasing support for the nation. It is quite probable that the Somali government is making preparations for the eventual… pic.twitter.com/VPMwXN0MIA

— Bahdo Online (@Baxdo_Online) February 3, 2026

Another video shows a Turkish Air Force F-16 flying at low altitude over the city.

The three Turkish F-16s landed at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu on January 28, according to Somali government officials. The jets were “accompanied by two military helicopters intended to support operations against Al-Shabaab across southern and central Somalia,” according to the Horn Review media outlet. “While there has been no confirmation of active airstrikes conducted by the jets, their presence alone introduces a new operational dimension.”

This deployment marks “the first time Turkey has forward deployed manned combat aircraft into Somalia, expanding its role beyond drones, transport aviation and advisory support,” the publication added.

“Ankara has been constructing a facility to host the F-16s over the past few months,” according to the Middle East Eye. “Turkish engineers [had] reportedly been working at the international airport for several days to prepare the site for the arrival of the jets.”

The F-16 deployment is a way for Ankara “to step up strikes on al-Shabaab militants and protect its growing interests in the Horn of Africa country,” Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

“The move is meant to bolster Turkish drone operations against the Islamist group,” which is linked to al-Qaeda and has been waging an insurgency against the government in Mogadishu for two decades, Bloomberg posited. “The Indian Ocean city — Somalia’s capital — is home to Turkey’s largest overseas military base, while Ankara is building a nearby site to test missiles and space rockets.”

Turkey has a growing interest in the country’s energy industry and wants to increase trade overall, according to Middle East Eye. In addition, Somalia has vast untapped mineral wealth. The country “holds significant potential in critical minerals such as aluminium, copper, iron, rare earth elements, and titanium,” according to the SMA Oxford consulting firm. These minerals are vital for clean energy technologies, including batteries, electric vehicles, and energy storage systems for civilian and military use.

Ankara’s deployment of its F-16s comes as al-Shabab has been resurgent across Somalia.

The jihadi group’s actions have spurred the Trump administration to carry out an increasing number of airstrikes against the group.

“These airstrikes have grown sharply in number during U.S. President Donald Trump’s time in office as Washington targets the al-Shabab and ISIS-Somalia jihadist groups,” Semafor reported. “A year into Trump 2.0, the number of strikes in Somalia is already at 144. That is more than half of the tally from Trump’s entire first term, which was itself record-breaking, according to the nonprofit think tank New America.”

There may be another motivating factor for Turkey to bring F-16s to Somalia. Israel, its regional rival, “became the first country to recognize the Republic of Somaliland, a northeastern part of Somalia that has claimed independence for decades,” Reuters reported. “Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Israel would seek immediate cooperation in agriculture, health, technology and the economy.”

Turkey and Israel have long jostled for influence in the Middle East, and now it appears this competition has spread to the Horn of Africa, where Turkey continues to expand its footprint. Somalia is strategically located, with a long Gulf of Aden coastline across from Yemen and another coastline along the Arabian Sea section of the Indian Ocean.

The Turkish government is increasing its training and support activities in Somalia aimed at strengthening the country’s security and stability, Turkey’s Minister of Defense, Yaşar Güler, recently stated, according to TIKLS Briefs, a daily newsletter delivering security analysis and news on the Horn of Africa. “Turkey has also established new military facilities in Somalia, including the Somali Air Command and the TURKSOM training camp in Mogadishu.”

“In Somalia, we recently established the Air Force Command, which includes facilities for helicopters and drones,” added Güler.

Turkey entered Somalia in 2011, helping to build the Somali National Army (SNA) by providing training, vehicles, equipment, and financial support, TIKLS Briefs noted.

This is not the first time Turkey has forward-deployed its Vipers.

As we previously reported, Ankara sent six F-16s to Azerbaijan during a flare-up with that nation’s fighting with Armenia in 2020. You can see a satellite image of that deployment below.

There were six F-16s at Gabala International Airport in Azerbaijan, an Oct. 19 @Maxar satellite image shows. It’s likely that these are the Turkish Air Force fighter jets that moved from Ganja after the city was shelled. https://t.co/49CICDF6QS

— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) October 25, 2020

It is unknown at the moment how long the Turkish F-16s will stay in Somalia. Regardless, it appears that Turkey is planning to maintain a military presence in this war-torn country for quite some time.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

Heavy flooding has forced more than 50,000 people to evacuate northern Morocco. Residents say the floods followed weeks of heavy rain after years of drought.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

This is a breaking news story.

Six British ‍pro-Palestinian activists ‍have been acquitted of aggravated burglary relating to a 2024 raid on ⁠a factory operated by ​Israeli defence firm Elbit, with ‍a jury unable to reach verdicts on charges of criminal damage.

Prosecutors ‍at ⁠London’s Woolwich Crown Court said on Wednesday the six defendants, whose trial began in November, were members of the now-banned group Palestine ​Action, which organised ‌the assault on the Elbit Systems United Kingdom facility in Bristol, southwest England, in ‌August last year.

The six – Charlotte Head, ‌29, Samuel Corner, ⁠23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Zainab Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and ‌Jordan Devlin, 31 – all denied charges of aggravated burglary, violent disorder ‍and criminal damage.

More to come …

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.

‘We won’t see anything on national territory that resembles what’s been seen in the US,’ Italy’s interior minister says.

Agents from the divisive United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency will have no operational role in the Winter Olympics, Italy’s interior minister has said days before the Milan-Cortina Games open.

ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which is a separate investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) from the department carrying out the US immigration crackdown, will operate within US diplomatic missions only and “are not operational agents” and “have no executive function”, Matteo Piantedosi told the Italian Parliament on Wednesday.

He said the outrage over the HSI presence, including the Milan mayor’s warning that they were not welcome in the city during the February 6-22 Winter Games, was “completely unfounded”.

“ICE does not and will never be able to carry out operational police activities on our national territory,” Piantedosi said.

The minister aimed to clarify the news of the contentious deployment of ICE agents, which prompted protests in the Italian metropolis.

“Security and public order are ensured exclusively by our police forces,” he said.

“During the Milan-Cortina Games, the members of this agency will be engaged solely in analysis and information exchange with the Italian authorities,” he added.

“The presence of personnel linked to the ICE agency is certainly not a sudden and unilateral initiative to undermine our national sovereignty, as some have portrayed, but rather compliance with a legally binding international agreement entered into by Italy.”

Last week, the US agency said it will support the “Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service and host nation to vet and mitigate risks from transnational criminal organisations”.

Following the announcement, Milan Mayor Giuseppe Sala said ICE would not be welcome in his city.

“This is a militia that kills … It’s clear that they are not welcome in Milan. There’s no doubt about it. Can’t we just say no to [US President Donald] Trump for once?” he said in an interview with RTL 102.5 radio.

ICE said its operations in Italy are separate from the immigration crackdown ordered by Trump in the US.

The Italian interior minister confirmed that the agency’s role would be limited.

“We will not see anything on national territory that resembles what has been seen in the media in the United States,” Piantedosi said.

“The concerns that have inspired the controversy of the last few days are therefore completely unfounded, and this information allows me to definitively dispel them.”

Snooker legend and BBC commentator John Virgo has died aged 79.

Virgo enjoyed an 18-year professional career, winning the 1979 UK Championship among four non-ranking titles.

He is perhaps best known for his post-playing career, co-presenting snooker TV programme Big Break from 1991 to 2002.

Following his retirement in 1994, Virgo took up a full-time commentary position with the BBC.

He was part of its coverage for last month’s Masters.

Seven months after the Washington peace accord between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, the implementation of its terms stands at 23.3 per cent. The accord was signed in June 2025 under the watch of the President Donald Trump administration.

In January 2026, the Barometer of Peace Agreements in Africa reported that, while diplomatic initiatives have advanced, essential security obligations remain unmet, making the core implementation of the peace deal unfulfilled. Released on Feb. 1, the BPAA report reveals that progress remains limited and unequal, and is losing its dynamism. 

The report highlights several positive developments observed between Jan. 1 and Jan. 31, particularly in the institutional and diplomatic context. The African Union adopted a new mediation framework in Lome, and facilitators conducted tours in Kinshasa, Kigali, and Bujumbura. However, these efforts have not resulted in tangible progress. 

The Doha process, designed to complement Washington’s framework, has stalled since November 2025, leaving six protocols unresolved and further complicating coordination between parallel peace efforts, according to the BPAA.

Another key observation of the report is that the AU’s new mediation structure, though innovative, suffers from unclear coordination and lacks a standard methodology, raising concerns about its ability to harmonise Washington and Doha processes effectively.

Angolan President João Lourenço engaged Congolese authorities, opposition, and civil society in consultations to revive dialogue. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress held hearings on the state of the peace process, underscoring Washington’s sponsorship of the accord.

On the ground, however, the BPAA revealed that clashes between the Congolese army and the M23 rebels continued across North and South Kivu, undermining ceasefire commitments despite the group’s withdrawal from Uvira in line with international demands.

The think tank further observed that monitoring structures have weakened, with the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism and Joint Oversight Committee failing to meet in December and January, leaving violations and delays unaddressed.

Humanitarian access remains restricted, with displaced populations and civilians caught in escalating violence, underscoring the urgent need for both governments to prioritise civilian protection and relief.

“The global execution rates remain unchanged at 23.3% without evolution as compared to the level recorded in November and December 2025, and the intensification of fighting continues, exacerbating the already precarious conditions of the civilian population,” the report stated.

Despite the expedited Washington process, the situation on the ground remains troubling, with tensions between the two countries persisting. As the accord enters its eighth month, the gap between diplomatic promises and realities on the ground raises pressing questions about whether regional and international actors can salvage momentum before the agreement slips into irrelevance.

Video has emerged that is said to show a Russian-made Mi-28NE Havoc attack helicopter flying over the Iranian capital Tehran. Last week, pictures had also appeared online that looked to show at least one Mi-28NE in Iran. The arrival of Havocs in Iran might also point to the delivery of weapons and other materiel from Russia, or plans to do so soon, amid a new spike in geopolitical friction between the Middle Eastern country and the United States.

TWZ has not been able to independently confirm where and when the footage in question, seen in the social media post above, was taken. However, the pictures that began circulating online last week look to have taken at a hangar belonging to Iran’s Pars Aerospace Services Company (PASC). Situated at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, PASC is tied to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and is subject to sanctions in the United States and other Western countries.

🇷🇺🇮🇷 It is believed that Iran has received the first batch of Mil Mi-28NE attack helicopters ordered in Russia.

Photos of a Mil Mi-28 helicopter in digital desert camo stationed in a hangar have emerged on social media.

The arrival of the first Havocs in Iran was also… pic.twitter.com/SgZxwy9ivP

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) January 28, 2026

Geo-Location of the warehouse where the recently delivered to Iran Mil-28 helicopter photo is taken.
Pars Aerospace Services Company in Tehran.
35.69899, 51.29459 pic.twitter.com/VV7ruGVPWj

— Mehdi H. (@mhmiranusa) January 28, 2026

In addition, on January 3, Iranian journalist Mohamad Taheri wrote “Inshallah you have a good military service,” according to a machine translation of a Persian-language post on X, which included a stock picture of an Mi-28 wearing a two-tone desert camouflage scheme. Taheri has been associated with Iran’s quasi-official Tasnim News Agency. Tasnim was among the first to report on a possible Iranian acquisition of Havocs, as well as Su-35 Flanker fighters and Yak-130 jet trainers, all the way back in 2023. The Yak-130s appeared in Iran that same year. There had been talk of a batch of Su-35s originally built for Egypt, but that were never delivered, being sent instead to the Iranians. However, at least some of those jets appeared instead in Algeria last year.

The two-seat Mi-28 traces back to before the fall of the Soviet Union, with the original variant making its first flight in the 1980s. The project was shelved in the 1990s and then subsequently revived. The first version to enter actual operational service was the Mi-28N in the late 2000s. Russia subsequently introduced an NE export version, different subvariants of which have been delivered to foreign customers in the past. A further upgraded NM variant for the Russian military was also developed in the 2010s, but has been slow to enter operational service. You can read more about the Mi-28 family in this past TWZ feature.

Mi-28s are armed with a 30mm automatic cannon in a turret under the nose and can carry various munitions, including anti-tank guided missiles and unguided rockets, on four pylons, two on each of a pair of stub wings on either side of the fuselage. The default sensor suite on the Mi-28N includes a mast radar and a turreted infrared video camera under the nose.

The exact configuration of any Mi-28s for Iran, and how many the country may have ordered in total, is unclear. The recently emerged video is too low quality to see any fine details, though it does appear to be fitted with a mast-mounted radar that has been lacking on certain other export versions of the Havoc. The still pictures show a partially disassembled helicopter, which also makes it very difficult to assess the overall configuration. The images do not offer a clear view of the nose, either, where various sensors, as well as the turreted main gun, are located.

Russian Helicopters, the main helicopter conglomerate in Russia today, also notably unveiled a further improved NE variation in 2018 that was said to incorporate lessons learned from the conflict in Syria. This included a directional infrared countermeasure system to provided add defense against incoming heat-seeking missiles, as well as other survivability improvements. It had new engine air filters, a particularly desirable feature for operations in desert environments, and a digital camouflage scheme, as well. The Mi-28 seen in the pictures that emerged last week looks to have the air filters, though they are covered by tarps, and has a digital paint job.

An image reportedly depicting an Mi-28NE attack helicopter recently delivered from Russia to Iran, featuring digital desert camouflage and lacking specialized screen-exhaust devices (SEDs), also known as infrared signature suppressors. https://t.co/e6AZK0g7OW pic.twitter.com/Etc5eo4RPo

— H. Memarian (@HEMemarian) January 28, 2026

New Mi-28s in any configuration would be a notable addition to the Iranian arsenal. The main attack helicopter in service in Iran today is the AH-1J International Cobra, which the country first acquired during the reign of the Shah. The Islamic Republic has made some upgrades to its AH-1 fleet since the 1970s, with the resulting helicopters variously referred to as Toufans or Panha 2091s. However, at their core, these are American-made helicopters that are increasingly difficult for the current regime in Tehran to sustain. The Havoc is more survivable overall and can carry a greater weapons load, as well.

IR Iran unveils Toufan 2 helicopter (upgraded Cobra)

If Iran’s Mi-28s feature the infrared sensor turret and the mast-mounted radar, the helicopters could offer an even greater boost in capability, even at night or in poor weather. That, in turn, could be valuable for responding to any kind of foreign ground incursion in the future, or to internal threats to the regime. At the same time, when an Iranian Havoc fleet might reach a level of real operational capability, and how well the country is able to sustain the helicopters going forward, remains to be seen. Moscow’s own demands in relation to the war in Ukraine have created additional challenges for foreign operators of Russian-made helicopters and other materiel.

As noted, the appearance of Mi-28s in Iran could also reflect larger deliveries of weapons and other materiel from Russia, or the potential for that to occur in the near future. In January, online flight tracking data showed at least five flights by Il-76 airlifters from Russia to Iran, which could have been carrying Havocs or other cargo. Those aircraft could also have been bringing cargo back to Russia from Iran, or carrying payloads both ways. Ties between Moscow and Tehran have grown, in general, in recent years, as Russia has found itself increasingly isolated globally over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. There has been much talk of Iran receiving exchanges in kind for its support to the Russian war effort.

Flight-tracking data from Flightradar24 shows at least five Russian Il-76 cargo aircraft flying to Tehran in the past 48 hours, pointing to a spike in undeclared Russian deliveries to Iran. pic.twitter.com/jLP8bz45iA

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) January 1, 2026

In addition, since the end of the 12 Day War with Israel, Iran has been looking to bolster various ends of its depleted arsenal. There have been reports that Iran has also been seeking new air defense systems from China, another country the regime in Tehran has been working to expand its ties with. China reportedly continues to be an important source of materials to support Iranian missile programs, as well.

The Mi-28 imagery has come amid the backdrop of a new surge in geopolitical friction with the United States. Just today, American authorities announced that an F-35 Joint Strike Fighter flying from the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Arabian Sea shot down an Iranian drone that had “aggressively approached” the ship. U.S. officials also accused the IRGC of harassing a U.S.-flagged merchant vessel transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

All of this follows a major build-up of U.S. military forces in the region for weeks now, together with a steady stream of reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering new strikes on Iran, at least in part in retaliation for that country’s violent crackdown on nationwide protests last month. Trump has also expressed interest in finding a negotiated arrangement of some kind with Tehran, with reports that American and Iranian officials could meet as early as Friday in Turkey.

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

When it comes to Mi-28s for Iran, evidence is growing that at least one of the helicopters has now been delivered, and more details may now continue to emerge.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com