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WASHINGTON — Senators approved Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Francis Donovan’s fourth star late Friday, along with his ascension to head up US Southern Command. Confirmed by voice vote on the chamber floor, Donovan will take over the reins from Acting Commander Lt. Gen. Pettus, though SOUTHCOM did not immediately respond to questions about when that handover will occur.  Changes at the command have been ongoing for months after Adm. Alvin Holsey announced plans in October to suddenly step down from the SOUTHCOM commander post just as the US military began striking more small boats in the Caribbean Sea. Donovan was serving…

Feb. 2, 2026 Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org Washington and its allies face a bottomless list of tasks, challenges, and uncertainties in every region of the globe. The geopolitical outlook has seldom been so unsettled. The good news is that some answers, at least, already are clear. Nearly every day brings headlines further affirming the enduring importance of airpower. If everything else is changing or murky, that, at least, is neither. Also clear is the right…

Iran Press TV Monday, 02 February 2026 12:03 AM Hamas has hailed the reopening of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza Strip as a significant achievement of Palestinian resilience, pledging to make every effort to restore the vital crossing to full operation. Senior Hamas official Taher Al-Nunu said on Sunday that the Rafah crossing is crucial for alleviating Gaza’s severe humanitarian crisis. He called for the entry of heavy machinery, and caravan homes to improve living conditions in the territory. Al-Nunu said Israel was pursuing a policy of collective punishment and forced displacement against Palestinians in Gaza. The crossing, seized…

The undefeated UFC welterweight contender, currently ranked No. 2 at 170 pounds, was expected to make his Octagon return in early 2026. Instead, “Nomad” will spend the rest of the year rehabbing his knee following a second knee injury and subsequent surgery.“A fighter’s path has never been easy,” Rakhmonov posted to social media. “Life doesn’t give us challenges we can’t overcome. Every dream comes at a price and sometimes that price is your health. Today, I have to be honest. Due to ongoing injuries, I’ve had another surgery and will need time to fully recover. As a result, my return…

Denmark commissions Rheinmetall to supply ammunition – initial orders under framework agreement worth hundreds of millions of euros Rheinmetall has been commissioned by Denmark, a member of the EU and NATO, to supply ammunition. The signing of a large-volume framework agreement was marked by a ceremony on 30 January 2026. The agreement has a term of seven years. It covers the supply of several types of ammunition. These include medium-calibre ammunition for infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 120 mm ammunition for main battle tanks and 155 mm ammunition for artillery.The first orders in the medium-calibre ammunition sector include…

Featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski successfully defended his title in the UFC 325 main event on Saturday, defeating Diego Lopes via unanimous decision in a rematch. Volkanovski and Lopes first fought last April in the UFC 314 main event. “The Great” won via unanimous decision to become a two-time featherweight titleholder. In the rematch, Volkanovski logged a more convincing win than in their first fight. Check out the fight highlights below. UFC 325 Highlights: Volkanovski vs. Lopes

If you’ve ever followed Middle East news and felt like the IRGC keeps popping up everywhere, protests in Iran, missile tests, regional conflicts, sanctions headlines, you’re not imagining it.The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps isn’t just another military unit. It’s more like a multi-layered power system, woven deep into Iran’s politics, economy, security, and even daily life.So, what is the purpose of IRGC, really? That’s the question most articles rush to answer with buzzwords like military force or elite guards. But those labels barely scratch the surface.The IRGC was born out of revolution, not routine defense. Created in 1979, it wasn’t…

GRAZ, Austria — Russia earned over $15 billion from arms exports in 2025, supplying military equipment to more than 30 countries despite Western sanctions aimed at isolating Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin announced last week, though questions remain about the number’s validity.Speaking at a Jan. 30 meeting of the Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation in Moscow, Putin said export contracts had been “reliably fulfilled” despite mounting pressure from Western nations attempting to block Russia’s defense partnerships. The revenue, he said, would help modernize defense enterprises, expand production capacity and fund research programs.The $15 billion figure represents a…

Listen to the article 2 min This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: Walmart is preparing to launch a new cross-border shipping program called Walmart Exports in early 2026 for sellers using its third-party fulfillment offering, according to an email to sellers shared by shipping software provider GeekSeller. The service will enable eligible Walmart Fulfillment Services items to be delivered from the U.S. to shoppers in Mexico and Canada, with additional countries added over time, per the email. Eligible products will automatically be enrolled in the new program, with Walmart handling the picking,…

Microsoft rounded off January by adding more devices to the list of those affected by the hibernation issue it claimed had been fixed by an out-of-band update. The company acknowledged that problems remained via its Release Health Dashboard on January 30. The company noted that Secure Launch-capable PCs with Virtual Secure Mode (VSM) enabled “are also impacted by this issue.” There’s no emergency update this time. Instead, Microsoft wrote: “We plan to resolve this issue in a future Windows update.” The January 13 security update for Windows 11 23H2 left some PCs with Secure Launch unable to shut down or…