Month: January 2026
India launched its first hypersonic missile on Monday, solidifying its place in an exclusive group of nations with this advanced capability.
The unveiling of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LR-AShM) also marks another milestone for India’s largely indigenous missile force after the introduction of the short-range hypersonic BM-04 last year, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
The South Asian country is mulling an integrated missile arsenal to counter the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force amid a territorial dispute with strategic rival China and long-running tensions with archfoe Pakistan. That branch, along with a fast-growing navy, has significantly expanded Beijing’s strategic reach in the Asia-Pacific.
Hypersonic missiles travel at least Mach 5, or five times the speed of sound, and can execute sharp maneuvers in their terminal phase, making them extremely difficult for existing defense systems to detect, track or intercept.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is rejecting reports that he retracted the comments he made in Davos last week during his conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday.
“To be absolutely clear, and I said this to the president, I meant what I said in Davos,” Carney said Tuesday on his way into a meeting with his cabinet, News.Az reports, citing CBC news.
Asked directly if he walked his comments back, Carney said “no.”
The prime minister said Trump called Carney on Monday and the pair had “a very good conversation” discussing everything from Arctic security to the situation in Ukraine and Venezuela.
Carney said he told the U.S. president that Canada was the first country to recognize the new direction Trump was taking with American trade policy and that Canada was “responding positively” to Trump’s moves.
“I explained to him our arrangement with China, I explained to him what we’re doing: 12 new deals on four continents in six months — he was impressed — and what we intend to do going forward.”
The prime minister said part of that conversation focused on the upcoming review of CUSMA and how Canada was prepared to use that review to build new relationships in the U.S.
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Somalia’s National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) announced on Tuesday that it had killed a senior al-Shabaab commander in an airstrike aimed at the terrorist group in the town of Kuunyo Barrow, located in the Lower Shabelle region.
The spy agency identified the terrorist as Abdullahi Hassan Abdi Cosoble, also known as “Abdullahi Wadaad,” describing him as al-Shabaab’s chief finance officer, News.Az reports, citing Anadolu agency.
NISA said Wadaad was responsible for overseeing extortion and managing illicit funds extracted from Somali civilians.
The operation was carried out in coordination with Somalia’s international security partners, NISA said in a statement.
Abdullahi Wadaad also led the group’s so-called “taxation unit” in Lower Shabelle and Banaadir regions, and was “notorious” for abuses against traders and civilians, the statement read.
The al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group has waged an insurgency against the Somali government for more than 16 years, frequently targeting security forces, officials, and civilians.
Since July last year, the Somali army, with the support of the African Union Support and Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) and other international partners, has stepped up operations against al-Shabaab.
The AU mission’s mandate was renewed by the UN Security Council in December for another year, with a UK-backed resolution extending its authorization until Dec. 31, 2026.
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The US, the UK, France, and Germany have praised the Syrian defense ministry’s decision to extend the ceasefire with the YPG terror group for an additional 15 days.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, the US and three European countries welcomed the ceasefire between the Syrian army and YPG terrorist organisation, calling on all parties to strictly adhere to the ceasefire and to exercise their utmost restraint, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
“We urge all external parties to join us in pursuit of peace and de-escalation of violence,” said the statement that was issued following a meeting between French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, German Deputy Foreign Minister Serap Guler, and US Special Envoy Tom Barrack.
In the statement, they reiterated all parties’ obligations to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure while also welcoming the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure the safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance.
“We urge all parties to swiftly agree to a permanent ceasefire, and to resume as soon as possible negotiations aiming at the peaceful and sustainable integration of North-East Syria into a unitary and sovereign state that effectively respects and protects the rights of all its citizens, based on the 18 January 2026 agreement, as the most effective path to stability in Syria.”
They called on all parties to avoid “any security vacuum” in and around Daesh detention centres and stated that, in order to address these concerns, the parties agreed to convene a meeting of the International Coalition against ISIS immediately.
“We reaffirm our support for an inclusive political transition in Syria, which protects the rights of all Syrians, and emphasise that the stabilisation of North-East Syria through peaceful means constitutes a central priority for preventing a resurgence of terrorism and for regional security,” it added.
The US, the UK, France, and Germany also underlined readiness to support and monitor, together with regional and international partners, the implementation of agreements between the parties.
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