News of the World

[kyonides]

Canada Faces ‘Rapidly Changing’ Threats
in Arctic Region From Russia and China, Says Defence Minister

Canada faces growing competition in the Arctic region from Russia and China and must do “whatever is necessary” to defend the region, Defence Minister Anita Anand told a Senate committee on April 24.

“Our analysis of the threat is going to proceed on the basis that we need to do whatever is necessary—in terms of capabilities and human resources, to undertake the defence of that region, both individually, through NORAD, and collectively with other Arctic countries,” Anand told the Senate Committee on National Security, Defence and Veterans Affairs.

“Perhaps the most important point is that this is an ongoing analysis and an understanding that the threat environment is rapidly changing.”

Ananad said a growing number of Canada’s strategic competitors, including China and Russia, have “made it clear that the Arctic is key to their economic and security interests.” She said Russia has begun to bolster its “already significant military presence” in the region with additional nuclear-powered icebreakers and long-range precision-guided weapons, while China has begun to increase its activities in the region.

That warning was echoed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a trip to Canada’s Arctic in August 2022, where he warned Russia had opened hundreds of new and former Soviet-era Arctic military sites, while China declared itself a “near Arctic” state and has plans to build the world’s largest icebreaker.

China will work to mediate peace,
Xi tells Zelenksy in first call since war

Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy for the first time since Russia's invasion of Ukraine last year, fulfilling a longstanding goal of Kyiv which had publicly sought such talks for months.

Zelenskiy immediately signaled the importance of the chance to open closer relations with Russia's most powerful friend, naming a former cabinet minister as Ukraine's new ambassador to Beijing.

Describing the phone call as "long and meaningful," Zelenskiy tweeted: "I believe that this call, as well as the appointment of Ukraine's ambassador to China, will give a powerful impetus to the development of our bilateral relations."

Xi told Zelenskiy that China would send special representatives to Ukraine and hold talks with all parties seeking peace, Chinese state media reported.

Belarus units complete training
on Russian tactical nuclear missile systems

Units from Belarus returned home from Russia on Saturday after training on how to use the Iskander tactical missile system to launch nuclear weapons, the Belarusian defense ministry said.

It made the announcement exactly four weeks after President Vladimir Putin said Russia would station tactical nuclear weapons in neighboring Belarus, sending a warning to NATO over its military support for Ukraine.

In early February, Belarus said its armed forces were in autonomous control of Iskander mobile guided missile systems that Russia had already provided.

But when the units were sent to Russia on April 4 for additional training, Minsk made clear their sessions would include study of "the maintenance and use of tactical nuclear warheads of the Iskander missile defense system."

Senior Iranian ayatollah Abbas-Ali Soleimani assassinated

Iranian ayatollah Abbas-Ali Soleimani, a member of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership of Iran, was assassinated at a bank on Wednesday morning in the northern city of Babolsar, according to Iranian media reports.

Soleimani was a former representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei's representatives are clerics who officiate on behalf of the supreme leader at a provincial level.

Soleimani's killer has been detained, the Fars news agency said. The governor of Mazandaran, Mahmoud Hosseinipour, stated that Soleimani was killed by a security guard at the bank, according to Iranian state media. Initial investigations have indicated that the attacker fired aimlessly and did not know that Soleimani was there, although the attacker's motive is still not clear, according to Hosseinipour.

The Assembly of Experts is a powerful clerical body that supervises, appoints and in theory can sack the supreme leader.

The southern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan and one of Iran's poorest, faced months of intensive anti-government protests sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian woman in September.

Iran boosts the Russian invasion in Ukraine with 300,000 artillery shells

The Islamic Republic of Iran has boosted Russia’s war effort in Ukraine during the past six months by providing Moscow with more than 300,000 artillery shells, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The report is based on documents and unnamed officials who are reportedly familiar with the issue. Russian vessels have transported massive Iranian military aid across the Caspian Sea from Iran to Russian shores.

Russia has formally gained the status of being considered a leading global military power. However, the Russian military is lagging behind Western armies in several key technological areas, such as drone technologies and development.

Iran has emerged as a leading producer of drones and utilized them repeatedly to advance its aggressive expansionist policy across the Middle East. In February, the United States Defense Intelligence Agency published a seven-page report, confirming a comprehensive export of Iranian drones to the Russian war effort in Ukraine.

Russia has traditionally been the stronger power in the complex relationship between Moscow and Tehran. However, senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Anna Borshchevskaya, argues that Russia is increasingly becoming dependent on Iranian military expertise in drone technologies and other areas.

Jordanian lawmaker must face trial
for weapon smuggling - Israel's Cohen

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen called on Monday for the prosecution of a Jordanian lawmaker held on suspicion of trying to smuggle weapons into the West Bank.
...
The Amman foreign ministry said al Adwan was suspected of trying to smuggle arms and gold. Israel Police said only that a "security investigation" was underway.

"This is a very grave incident...an attempt to smuggle not just commercial goods but weaponry as well," Foreign Minister Eli Cohen told Ynet.

"The basic demand is for him to be put on trial and pay the price," he said. "Such an incident cannot be allowed to pass."

There have been calls in Jordan's parliament for al Adwan to be repatriated. Asked if Israel might make this conditional on a guarantee that he would face charges at home, Cohen said only that the two governments were discussing the matter.