Russia and Syria will hold further talks over Russian military bases in Syria, Russia's news agencies reported, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov after his talks with Syrian officials.

"This issue requires additional negotiations," TASS news agency cited Bogdanov as telling journalists. Bogdanov is heading Russia's delegation to Damascus for the first time since Moscow's ally President Bashar al-Assad was toppled.

He added that so far there have been no changes to the presence of Russian military bases in the country.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Rwandan President Paul Kagame on Tuesday that Washington was "deeply troubled" by escalation in the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly the fall of the city of Goma to Rwandan-backed rebels.

The call came as the United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider measures to halt an offensive by Rwandan troops and M23 rebel forces in eastern Congo as a conflict there escalates.

Source: Reuters

Ukraine fired Deputy Defense Minister Dmytro Klimenkov, responsible for arms procurement, amid escalating tensions over the country’s defense acquisition system.

Defense Minister Rustem Umerov criticized the procurement agency, arguing it “failed frontline troops” and compared it to an “Amazon” model that compromised confidentiality.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s National Anti-Corruption Bureau has launched a criminal probe into Umerov over alleged abuse of power, further deepening the crisis.

Source: Reuters

Spain is adapting its Juan Carlos I aircraft carrier for unmanned aerial systems, following global trends in naval aviation.

Airbus & Navantia to integrate the SIRTAP drone into the carrier, inspired by Türkiye’s TCG ANADOLU, the world’s first drone carrier.

Unlike Türkiye’s armed Bayraktar TB3, SIRTAP is currently an ISR platform.

Source: TWZ

Poll shows 85% of Greenlanders oppose U.S. annexation, with only 6% in favor and 9% undecided.

Despite its Mexico-sized landmass, Greenland has just 57,000 residents and gained broad autonomy in 2009, including the right to declare independence.

Source: Reuters, Berlingske

Pentagon has stripped retired Gen. Mark Milley of his security clearance and personal security detail.

Milley may also face a demotion, with a Pentagon review board considering removing a star, which could impact his pension and retired status.

The move follows controversy over Milley’s alleged remarks in Bob Woodward’s book, where he reportedly called Trump “fascist to the core” and raised concerns about Trump’s mental stability and control over nuclear weapons.

Another Russian oil refinery was hit by Ukrainian kamikaze UAVs, this time targeting Lukoil’s Nizhny Novgorod facility in Kstovo.

It is one of the largest refineries in the country, with an installed capacity of 17 million tonnes per year.

Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have withdrawn from ECOWAS with effect from 29 January 2025.

ECOWAS Statement

The United States Navy has officially banned its members from using China's DeepSeek for fear of “potential security and ethical concerns associated with the model’s origin and usage”.

Source: CNBC

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry:

Robert Fico is looking for enemies and has found them in Ukraine. We advise him to look not abroad, but in the mirror.

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa asked Moscow to hand over the ousted president Bashar Assad.

Source: Reuters

Israeli forces shot down a drone in the Israeli airspace coming from Egypt that was smuggling weapons in the border areas.

Source: Al Jazeera

Zelensky:

Putin does not want Trump to help Kiev, because it will make Ukraine even stronger.

International pressure on Putin is necessary. China can play a particularly important role in this.

Source: FOX News

NATO confirmed a Russian plot to assassinate Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger, whose firm supplies arms to Ukraine.

This marks NATO’s first official acknowledgment of the attempt, foiled by U.S. and German intelligence in July 2024.

NEW: China's Alibaba unveiled its upgraded AI model Qwen 2.5-Max, claiming it surpasses DeepSeek-V3, GPT-4o, and Llama-3.1-405B.

288 Romanian mercenaries surrendered to Rwanda after crossing from Goma, now under M23 control.

An estimated 800 Romanians are active in the DRC, hired for security.