Regional retaliation against the UAE for its role in Somaliland and Yemen has almost certainly disrupted Emirati weapons shipments to the RSF in western Sudan.
Regional retaliation against the UAE for its role in Somaliland and Yemen has almost certainly disrupted Emirati weapons shipments to the RSF in western Sudan.
Numerous reports that Egypt and Saudi Arabia have withdrawn overflight permission for arms shipments going from Abu Dhabi to eastern Libya, cutting that route for the time being.
Somalia also banned Emirati military flights in its airspace and kicked the UAE out of Bossaso, which was a vital stopover point for the other route that went to Chad/eastern Libya via Ethiopian and South Sudanese airspace.
[SudanTribune] Sudan announced on Monday the recovery of 570 artefacts looted during the ongoing conflict, following an international effort to track the stolen items.
Since April 2025, the Sudanese government has collaborated with Interpol and UNESCO to retrieve the pieces, which authorities said were smuggled out of the country through two neighbouring nations.
Minister of Culture and Information Khalid Aleisir is scheduled to speak in the eastern city of Port Sudan on Tuesday to provide the full details of the recovery operation. The Sudan News Agency reported that an official ceremony, under the theme “A Perfect Conclusion,” will mark the return of items spanning from the prehistoric era to the modern day.
The recovery of the artefacts is part of a broader national effort to protect cultural heritage and preserve Sudan’s historical identity amidst the instability. The National Museum in Khartoum, on the Blue Nile, had its entire collection looted, except for a single piece. The site was under the control of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) from the start of the conflict until the army regained control in March 2024.
More at the link
Posted by: badanov ||
01/13/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1772 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
#1
So which one of them will auction the "artifacts" off?
Posted by: chris ||
01/13/2026 0:05 Comments ||
Top||
#2
smuggled out of the country through two neighbouring nations
Pick:
Chad
South Sudan
Ethiopia
Eritrea
Egypt
Libya
Central African Republic
[SudanTribune] Three hospitals in the city of Dilling in South Kordofan State have ceased operations following targeted attacks involving drones and heavy artillery by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) led by Abdelaziz al-Hilu, the Sudan Doctors Network announced on Sunday.
The RSF and the SPLM-N have intensified their bombardment of Dilling, the second-largest city in South Kordofan, using artillery and drones over the past few weeks. These strikes coincided with aerial attacks on the state capital of Kadugli and have resulted in dozens of fatalities and the destruction of essential service facilities.
The Sudan Doctors Network said in a statement that the three major hospitals are now out of service and confirmed that four medical personnel were killed during the deliberate shelling by the RSF and al-Hilu’s movement.
[SudanTribune] The full extent of the devastation at Khartoum International Airport was revealed on Sunday, with aviation sources confirming that 28 aircraft were destroyed on the tarmac during the conflict that began in mid-April 2023.
The tally of destroyed planes includes cargo and passenger aircraft belonging to both national and foreign carriers. The fleet was caught in direct and violent targeting by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) during the initial stages of the war, leaving the airport’s facilities in ruins.
“The number of aircraft destroyed reached 28 planes,” an airline official told Sudan Tribune. The losses have left a significant gap in Sudan’s civil aviation capacity, complicating the sector’s efforts to return to normalcy even as the capital begins to see the first signs of air activity.
[SudanWarMonitor] The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) is nearing a deal with Pakistan to acquire jets, drones, and air defense systems, according to reporting by Reuters, citing Pakistani military sources.
Sudanese military officials have pinned high hopes on the deal after recent setbacks in Darfur and the central Kordofan region, where the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) are battling the army across a vast theater.
The deal with Pakistan includes more than 200 drones for scouting and kamikaze attacks, 10 Karakoram-8 light attack aircraft/jet trainers, Super Mushshak training aircraft, and potentially some JF-17 “Thunder” combat aircraft, which were developed jointly with China and produced in Pakistan.
[Intellinews] The latest phone call between Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and US President Donald Trump was not significant because of its duration or tone, but for what it revealed about the current balance of power in the bilateral relationship. The 15-minute exchange, confirmed by the Mexican government on January 12, functioned as an exercise in crisis containment rather than diplomacy in the conventional sense.
According to the Mexican presidency, Trump again raised the possibility of direct US military involvement in Mexico’s fight against organised crime, an option the country explicitly rejected on constitutional and sovereignty grounds.
The episode must be understood within a broader strategic context. Since returning to the White House last year, Trump has ramped up his rhetoric around narcotics, singling out Mexican cartels as a direct national security threat to the United States. That framing hardened after the US military operation in Venezuela earlier this month, which resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuela operation has shifted perceptions in Mexico City from viewing Trump’s threats as rhetorical pressure to treating them as credible policy options, according to senior Mexican officials cited by The New York Times.
Against that backdrop, the phone call was less about persuasion than boundary-setting. Sheinbaum’s central objective was to eliminate ambiguity regarding US “assistance” on Mexican soil. She reiterated that cooperation was acceptable, intervention was not, and that any security collaboration must respect Mexico’s constitutional prohibition on foreign military operations.
This position, she said, was acknowledged during the call, with no further insistence from Trump, as she publicly stated during her morning briefing.
Rather than engaging Trump on principles alone, Sheinbaum anchored her argument in data-backed operational outcomes. She cited a reduction of up to 50% in fentanyl crossings into the United States and a 43% decline in fentanyl-related deaths north of the border, figures she attributed to joint security efforts.
She also highlighted a 40% reduction in homicides in Mexico since she took office, the dismantling of dozens of clandestine drug laboratories, and tens of thousands of arrests, data reiterated by El País.
A tactical calculation underpins this emphasis. Trump has repeatedly argued that Mexico is “captured” by organised crime and Sheinbaum is afraid of facing cartels, a claim he does not need to substantiate legally, only politically. In response, Mexico’s strategy has been to undermine the usefulness of that narrative by demonstrating measurable enforcement outcomes, even if those outcomes do not fully align with Trump’s preferred rhetoric of militarised escalation.
According to El País, senior Mexican officials privately describe this approach as “delivering the homework”: securing the northern border with 10,000 troops, expanding intelligence-sharing, extraditing high-value targets, and sharply reducing irregular migration flows. The broader objective is not limited to domestic security, but aims to remove any pretext for unilateral US action.
VENEZUELA AS A WARNING SIGNAL
The discussion of Venezuela during the call underscored the depth of Mexico's concern. According to the presidency, Trump inquired directly about Mexico’s position on the US intervention and Maduro’s ouster. Sheinbaum responded by restating Mexico’s long-standing doctrine of non-intervention, rooted in its constitution. She condemned the operation without escalating the exchange, and the issue was dropped, according to her own account.
However, the Venezuelan precedent has had a profound impact on Mexican threat perception. US prosecutors have accused Maduro of narcoterrorism and explicitly linked his government to Mexican cartels, mentioning Mexico dozens of times in the indictment, according to The New York Times.
Mexican officials are acutely sensitive to any narrative that associates their state with Venezuela’s legal or political situation, fearing it could be used to justify extraordinary measures.
Internal deliberations within Sheinbaum’s cabinet reflect this anxiety. While there is broad agreement on opposing US intervention, there is disagreement over how publicly confrontational Mexico should be.
Some officials worry that repeated condemnations of US actions could harden Washington’s stance during upcoming trade and tariff negotiations, including the high-stakes review of the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement later this year.
Publicly, US officials have struck a conciliatory tone. US ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson described the current relationship as the “most cooperative and mutually beneficial of recent decades” following the call between the two presidents, as stated in a public message.
That assessment aligns with the operational reality: intelligence cooperation has expanded, arms trafficking is now a formal item on the bilateral agenda, and high-level meetings are continuing, according to Mexican government briefings reported by multiple outlets.
Yet analysts warn against overinterpreting diplomatic language. Guadalupe Correa Cabrera of George Mason University told DW that structural asymmetry leaves Mexico with limited leverage and that unilateral US actions, including targeted strikes or covert operations, cannot be ruled out.
Ulises Flores Llanos of FLACSO offered a more cautious assessment, telling DW that Trump’s confrontational rhetoric is often followed by negotiation, but still requires careful management.
The upcoming binational security meeting in Washington on January 22-23 will be a critical indicator. Mexican officials, including the foreign minister and the security secretary, are expected to present updated enforcement data and seek firm commitments against unilateral action. According to El Economista, the outcome will clarify whether the United States is prepared to operate within existing coordination mechanisms or intends to escalate demands and, potentially, take unilateral action.
🇸🇾 #Syria: Multiple Syrian government websites were hacked and defaced in a coordinated cyberattack targeting official ministry servers.
At least six ministries and more than 1700 Syrian websites were affected. The Ministry of Information’s website was defaced with Kurdistan and… pic.twitter.com/V8Og97Dt6L
Multiple Syrian government websites were hacked and defaced in a coordinated cyberattack targeting official ministry servers.
At least six ministries and more than 1700 Syrian websites were affected. The Ministry of Information’s website was defaced with Kurdistan and Rojava flags, with Kurdish hackers saying the attack was in protest of government policies and its support for Syrian Army (HTS) and SNA operations amid recent clashes in Aleppo’s Kurdish neighbourhoods, where Syrian forces carried out executions against Kurdish rebels and civilians.
It sounds like the Kurds are annoyed.
Posted by: badanov ||
01/13/2026 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[1789 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria/HTS
#1
Kurds vs Turkey via HTS Syria --- bunch of pretty girls were killed over the weekend in hostilities.
[IsraelTimes] Declaration signed by Netanyahu and visiting German interior minister Alexander Dobrindt a message to Israel’s enemies that ‘our eyes are on them at all times and everywhere,’ PM says.
Israel and Germany signed a security pact Sunday to expand cooperation on counterterrorism and cyber defense, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, citing threats posed by Iran ...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneously taking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet militias to extend the regime's influence. The word Iran is a cognate form of Aryan. The abbreviation IRGC is the same idea as Stürmabteilung (or SA). The term Supreme Guide is a the modern version form of either Duce or Führer or maybe both. They hate JewsZionists Jews. Their economy is based on the production of oil and vitriol... and its allies.
"Iran and its proxies — Hezbollah, Hamas ..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,... and the Iran's Houthi sock puppets ...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is God is Great, Death to America™, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews They like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him... s — threaten not only Israel but also regional stability and international security," a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
"The declaration signed today anchors deep cooperation with Germany in the fields of cyber security, counterterrorism and advanced technologies.
"Israel’s enemies should know: our eyes are on them at all times and everywhere," the statement added.
The declaration was signed by Netanyahu and visiting German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt.
"I think Germany and Israel are natural partners. We’ve cooperated on the Arrow III, we’ve cooperated in many areas," Netanyahu said in a separate statement.
The initiative formalizes a broad security partnership between the security apparatuses of both countries, the statement said.
Last month, Germany approved a $3.1 billion expansion of a contract for the Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile defense system, which is Israeli-made and developed with US support.
The deal, originally signed in 2023, is now worth approximately $6.5 billion. Israel says it is the country’s largest-ever military export contract.
Earlier on Sunday, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar held talks with Dobrindt, during which he urged the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "terrorist organization."
The call came as Iran has been rocked by deadly protests, initially sparked by anger over the rising cost of living but quickly evolving into a broader movement challenging the theocratic government that has ruled the country since the 1979 revolution.
The meetings came two days after Germany called on Israel to halt its controversial E1 settlement project, warning that its construction carries the risk of creating more instability in the West Bank and the region.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
01/13/2026 00:00 ||
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[1761 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
..one of the armed feet of the Moslem Brüderbund millipede,...
