SOURCE: AP

Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country’s third-largest city. A strike around 1 a.m. Tuesday leveled a three-story commercial building in the southern coastal city of Sidon, a few days before Lebanon’s army commander is scheduled to brief the government on its mission of disarming militant group Hezbollah in areas along the border with Israel.

An Associated Press photographer at the scene said the area was in a commercial district containing workshops and mechanic shops and the building was uninhabited.

SOURCE: IANS

The Trump administration is preparing for a possible reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, even as American officials warn that the security situation in Venezuela remains “fluid” and continues to pose severe risks to U.S. citizens.

“As President Trump said, we are making preparations to allow for a reopening should the President make that decision,” a senior State Department official said, underscoring that no final determination has yet been made.

SOURCE: AP

British and French warplanes carried out an airstrike in central Syria on an underground facility where members of the Islamic State group are suspected to have stored weapons and explosives, the British defence ministry said Sunday.

The strikes occurred Saturday evening on the structure in the mountains just north of the historic town of Palmyra in the country’s Homs province, the ministry’s statement said. Britain and France are part of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS militants for more than a decade.

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan’s aviation authorities have issued permission to the Bangladesh national airline, Biman Airways, to start direct operations on the route of Dhaka-Karachi. 

According to a report on Friday in the Jang Newspaper, permission has been given on a test basis for a period that will last until March 30. The report, quoting civil aviation authority sources, said that details of flight schedules and operations will be finalised by next week, and Biman will operate its flights under Pakistan Civil Aviation rules. 

SOURCE: PTI

Pakistan Air Force has successfully conducted a flight test of the indigenously developed Taimoor Weapon System, capable of hitting targets at 600 kilometres, it was announced on Saturday (January 3, 2026).

This launch marks another significant milestone in the advancement of national aerospace and defence capabilities, the army said in a statement issued in Rawalpindi.

SOURCE: PTI

Global leaders on Saturday reacted sharply to the US strike on Venezuela and the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, with some expressing concern and urging restraint, while others backed Washington’s move.

Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores were captured in a large-scale US strike on the capital city of Caracas and will face criminal charges in New York, according to US President Donald Trump.The strikes and the capture prompted sharp criticism from key global players, including Russia and China.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Boeing, opens new tab was given an $8.6 billion contract for the F-15 Israel Program, the Pentagon said on Monday, after U.S. President Donald Trump met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Florida. “This contract provides for the design, integration, instrumentation, test, production, and delivery of 25 new F-15IA aircraft for the Israeli Air Force with an option for an additional 25 F-15IA aircraft,” the Pentagon said.

The Pentagon said the contract involved foreign military sales to Israel. The U.S. has long been by far the largest arms supplier to its closest Middle East ally.

SOURCE: PTI

Khaleda Zia’s funeral will be held on Wednesday, as Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday announced a three-day state mourning and a one-day general holiday following the death of the former prime minister.

In a televised address to the nation, Yunus urged people to maintain discipline and order during the funeral prayers and the observance of mourning across the country. At the death of former prime minister Begum Khaleda Zia, I declare three days of state mourning and a one-day general holiday tomorrow on the day of her Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayers), he said.

SOURCE: PTI

The Chinese parliament has expelled three high-ranking military officials in the latest crackdown against corruption.

The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on Saturday expelled Wang Renhua, head of the Central Military Commission’s (CMC) Political and Legal Affairs Committee; Zhang Hongbing, political commissar of the People’s Armed Police (PAP), and Wang Peng, director of the CMC’s training department.

SOURCE: PTI

US President Donald Trump on Sunday insisted Ukraine and Russia are “closer than ever before” to a peace deal as he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at his Florida resort, but he acknowledged the negotiations are complex and could still break down, leaving the war dragging on for years.

The president’s statements came after the leaders met for talks following what Trump said was an “excellent”, two-and-a-half-hour phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose invasion of Ukraine launched the war nearly four years ago. Trump insisted he believed Putin still wants peace, even as Russia launched another round of attacks on Ukraine while Zelenskyy flew to the United States for the latest round of negotiations.

SOURCE: FORBES

It has been a good year for Pakistan in terms of lucrative export contracts for the JF-17 Thunder fighter jet, which it jointly developed with China. Earlier in the year, Islamabad secured a deal to sell 40 JF-17C Block IIIs to Azerbaijan as part of a landmark $4.6 billion defense agreement. In another boon for Pakistani arms exports, Reuters reported on Dec. 22 that Pakistan reached another $4-4.6 billion deal with a powerful faction in the divided North African country of Libya. That deal includes the supply of 16 JF-17s and other military equipment to the Libyan National Army group commanded by Khalifa Haftar that controls eastern Libya.

The controversial deal—Libya remains under a highly ineffective United Nations arms embargo—could mark Pakistan’s first-ever sale of the 4.5-generation fighter jet to an Arab country. Given that Pakistan has good relations and even alliances with Arab countries that spend heavily on arms, why did it take so long for one of them to buy its combat-proven warplane?

SOURCE: IANS

Pakistan’s arms deal with the Libyan National Army (LNA) reflects a desperate miscalculation — one that violates international commitments, fuels unending war in Libya, and damages Islamabad’s global credibility, a report said on Friday.

By prioritising profit over peace, it warned, Pakistan risks inviting sanctions, diplomatic isolation, and ethical condemnation.

SOURCE: AP

Cambodia reported that Thailand hit a site in the country’s northwest with an airstrike on Saturday, even as the two countries held talks to try to put an end to renewed combat that erupted in early December just months after a ceasefire ended a previous round of border fighting.

Cambodia’s Defence Ministry said Thailand deployed F-16 fighter jets to drop four bombs on Saturday morning on a target in Serei Saophoan in the northwestern province of Banteay Meanchey. On Friday, Cambodia said a similar airstrike dropped 40 bombs on a target in Chok Chey village in the same province. There were no reports of casualties from that raid, but the ministry said that houses and infrastructure in the Chok Chey target area were destroyed.

SOURCE: REUTERS

Moscow is likely stationing new nuclear-capable hypersonic ballistic missiles at a former airbase in eastern Belarus, a development that could bolster Russia’s ability to deliver missiles across Europe, two US researchers have found by studying satellite imagery.

The researchers’ assessment broadly aligns with US intelligence findings, said a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share information not authorized for public release.

SOURCE: REUTERS

U.S. F-35 fighter jets were available to fly only half the time in 2024 due to maintenance shortcomings by Lockheed Martin (LMT.N), opens new tab, a report from the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General said.

The availability of F-35 aircraft in 2024 was 50%, 17% below the minimum performance requirement, the Pentagon watchdog said.