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US approves $6.6bn sale of attack helicopters, assault vehicles to Israel

US approves .6bn sale of attack helicopters, assault vehicles to Israel

The approved sale includes 30 Apache helicopters, which Israeli forces have used to attack Palestinians amid the genocide in Gaza. Published On 31 Jan 202631 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Washington has approved $6.67bn in United States arms sales to Israel amid a fragile ceasefire in Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. The US Department of State said on Friday that Israel has been cleared to buy US-made weapons, including 30 Apache attack helicopters for $3.8bn and infantry assault vehicles to a value of $1.98bn. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list The Apache helicopters will be sold to Israel by Boeing and Lockheed Martin, the Reuters news agency reports. A third military contract was also awarded for $740m, according to Reuters, and another $150m will be spent on light utility helicopters. Israeli forces have widely used Apache helicopters to fire on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, where at least 71,662 people have been killed in Israel’s war on the enclave since October 2023, according to Gaza health officials. “The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the State Department said in a statement on Friday. “This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives,” the department said. The US also sends billions of dollars worth of military supplies each year to Israel, weaponry which is largely sent as aid rather than sales. Rights groups and United Nations experts have consistently called on the US to halt weapons shipments to Israel, which they say fuelled Israel’s ability to wage a genocidal war in Gaza. While the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip has largely held since taking effect on October 10, 2025, Israeli forces continue to launch attacks on Palestinians in the war-torn territory, killing almost 500 people despite the agreement to end fighting. Advertisement The State Department also said on Friday that it had approved a $9bn sale to Saudi Arabia for 730 Patriot missiles and related equipment, which is used to defend against incoming attacks. “This enhanced capability will protect land forces of Saudi Arabia, the United States, and local allies and will significantly improve Saudi Arabia’s contribution” to the integrated air and missile defence system in the region, the State Department said. The sale of the US missile defence equipment comes as US President Donald Trump has said that a large “armada” of US warships has been repositioned close to Iran, in anticipation of a possible US attack on Tehran. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman told Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian in a call earlier this week that the kingdom would “not allow its airspace or territory to be used for any military actions against Iran or for any attacks from any party, regardless of their origin”. Adblock test (Why?)

US Senate approves spending package, but short government shutdown likely

US Senate approves spending package, but short government shutdown likely

US gov’t funding impasse driven by Democratic anger over federal agents killing two people during immigration crackdown in Minneapolis. Published On 31 Jan 202631 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share United States senators have approved a last-minute deal to avert the worst impacts of an imminent government shutdown, after Democratic anger over the killing of two people by immigration agents derailed government funding talks. After hours of delay, the US Senate passed the compromise spending package on Friday by a bipartisan vote of 71 to 29. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list But a shutdown is still set to begin on Saturday because the House of Representatives is out of session until Monday, meaning it cannot ratify the Senate’s agreement before the midnight deadline on Friday – making a weekend funding lapse unavoidable. Senate leaders say the legislation approved on Friday will nonetheless greatly increase the chances that the shutdown ends quickly, potentially within days. “Technically, there will be a partial government shutdown come midnight on Saturday,” Al Jazeera’s Rosiland Jordan said, reporting from Washington, DC. “The earliest that the House of Representatives can take a look at the changes, which the US Senate approved late on Friday, is not before Monday. That’s because they’ve been in recess all this week. They should be coming back to Washington this weekend,” Jordan said. “The assumption right now from the Trump administration, which was in support of this compromise bill passed in the Senate on Friday, is that this can all be worked out very quickly early next week,” she said. But there is also a concern the shutdown could drag out longer, given political polarisation around President Donald Trump’s administration’s harsh immigration raids and the killing of US citizens at those operations. Advertisement “So there is the expectation that this could be resolved early next week. But there is the possibility that it may not be,” Jordan added. The funding impasse has been driven by Democratic anger over aggressive immigration enforcement following the fatal shootings of two US citizens – Alex Pretti and Renee Good – by federal agents in separate incidents this month in the northern city of Minneapolis amid a violent operation against undocumented migrants. The killings in Minneapolis have become a flashpoint that has hardened opposition to approving new money for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without changes to how immigration agencies operate. Under the deal negotiated between the White House and Senate Democratic leaders, lawmakers approved five outstanding funding bills to finance most of the federal government through the end of the fiscal year in September. The deal approved by the Senate separates funding for the DHS – which oversees immigration agencies – from the broader government funding package, allowing lawmakers to approve spending for agencies such as the Pentagon and the Department of Labor while they consider new restrictions on how federal immigration agents operate. Funding for the DHS has now been split off and extended for just two weeks under a stopgap measure intended to give lawmakers time to negotiate changes to the department’s operations. Senate Democrats had threatened to hold up the funding package entirely in an effort to force President Trump to rein in the DHS and his immigration crackdown. Democrats want an end to roving patrols by immigration enforcement agents, require immigration agents to ⁠wear body cameras and prohibit them from wearing face masks. They also want to require immigration agents to get a search warrant from a judge, rather than from their own officials. Republicans say they are open to some of those ideas. Much of the US media interpreted the White House’s flexibility as a recognition that it needed to moderate its crackdown on immigration following the Minneapolis killings. Adblock test (Why?)

Myanmar election delivers walkover win for military-backed political party

Myanmar election delivers walkover win for military-backed political party

Myanmar’s military rulers say polls were free and fair as UN reports 170 killed in air attacks during election period. Published On 31 Jan 202631 Jan 2026 Click here to share on social media share2 Share Myanmar’s military-backed party secured a sweeping victory in the country’s three-phase general election, according to state media, following the tightly controlled voting held amid civil war and widespread repression. The final of three rounds of voting last weekend wrapped up an election that began on December 28, more than four years after the military seized power in a coup that overturned the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of list Dominating all phases of the vote, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won an overwhelming majority in Myanmar’s two legislative chambers, state media reports. The USDP secured 232 of the 263 seats up for grabs in the lower house and 109 of the 157 seats announced so far in the upper chamber, according to results released on Thursday and Friday. A spokesman for the country’s military rulers, Zaw Min Tun, said Myanmar’s parliament is now expected to convene to elect a president in March, with a new government set to take over in April, according to a report in the pro-military Eleven Media Group. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been in political turmoil since the 2021 coup, with the crushing of pro-democracy protests prompting a nationwide rebellion. Thousands have been killed, and about 3.6 million people have been displaced, according to the United Nations. Local newspapers feature headlines covering the conclusion of Myanmar’s general election on January 26, 2026, in Yangon, Myanmar [Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images] ‘Vote purely out of fear’ The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has said it will not endorse Myanmar’s electoral process, and human rights groups and some Western countries have also expressed concerns about the credibility of the election. Advertisement The UN human rights office said that large segments of the population, including minorities such as ethnic Muslim-majority Rohingya, were excluded from voting since they have been denied citizenship, and many have also been displaced outside the country. At least 170 civilians were killed in air strikes during the election period, and about 400 people were arrested, according to the UN. “Many people chose either to vote or not to vote purely out of fear,” UN human rights chief Volker Turk said. Myanmar’s military rulers insist the polls were free and fair, and supported by the public. A spokesperson for the United States Department of State, which has muted its critiques of foreign elections in the second Trump administration, said it was monitoring the situation and “will assess the military regime’s next steps”. Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy was dissolved along with dozens of other parties, and some others declined to take part, drawing condemnation from critics who say the process was designed to legitimise military rule. Under Myanmar’s political system, the military is also guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary seats, ensuring continued control even if power is formally transferred to a civilian-led administration. Adblock test (Why?)

CM Rekha Gupta’s Delhi Government set to built rehab and reform centre for juveniles in Alipur; what facilities will be provided?

CM Rekha Gupta’s Delhi Government set to built rehab and reform centre for juveniles in Alipur; what facilities will be provided?

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta led Delhi government has announced to construct a modern integrated complex equipped with state-of-the-art facilities in North Delhi’s Alipur for the reform and rehabilitation of children in conflict with law or juveniles. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by the Chief Minister and attended by members of the Juvenile Justice Committee and officials from the Department of Women and Child Development.